Suggestions for first indoor

I'm starting a first indoor grow soon and since I've been checking this forum for quite a while now it was finally time to join in and ask for some advise for this small grow.

As of right now, I've only purchased the tent, CFL+Euro, Base nuts, Rooting gel, propagator, and all sorts of gardening accessories such as pipes, rockwell, 4mm systems etc...

So I would like some suggestions/corrections on how I'm planning the whole thing. I've read quite a bit on this forum before asking the same stupid questions all over again. Some stuff thou' I couldn't really get a precise answer to, so I break down each "department" and try to be as clear as possible.

I plan on growing in 2 tents, 1 vegg and 1 to flower only when needed. Sort of a non-continuous Perpetual Harvest. I don't want to run the flowering room constantly but only when needed. Since I only grow for myself, I don't really plan to harvest 1Kg every couple months. But I do want to keep Mother plants healthy since seeds tend to get pricey and I don't have access to third party clones.
Thanks again for any bit of advise you might want to share.



Grow space:
80x80x160 (cm); 2x 200mm ex, 1x 150mm in, 2x Lower Mesh Passive Intakes

Lights:
Veg: 125W CFL
Flo: 400W/600W HPS – Not sure if I should play safe and go with a 400W or just put a 600W. My main concern isn’t really the power consumption, since I’ve read there is very little difference on the bill, but mostly Tº control since a 600W will most probably require a more powerful extractor and that would increase the noise of the whole set up. I was thinking to use a Ø150mm CoolTube which should be fine for both 400W and 600W.

Air Flow:
I recon a Ø150mm 190m3/H – 300m3/H extractor hooked to a CoolTube should be plenty for my space, depending on the hps. What I’m wondering is if an intake fan will be needed, or will the passive intakes be sufficient. Noise is really a big one since the grow tent is in a living area.

Odor Control:
Hopefully, depending on the strain, a Ø150mm 300m3/H--400m3/H Carbon Filter will be enough, with the extractor sucking air from the room through the filter and pushing it out through the cooltube: AIR IN->FILTER->EXTRACTOR->COOLTUBE->AIR OUT

Growing Method:
I’ve opted for a Hydro drip feed in Rockwell cubes and clay pebbles for vegg, but I’ve purchased some sprinklers, styro lids and net pots, just in case. After reading quite a bit on this forum, I wanted to start with DWC for its simplicity but top feed doesn’t seems too complicated and I’d rather keep feeding on a “Lights On” schedule as opposed to continuous, only for noise reasons. I’ve bought bits and pieces to assemble a system and did not purchase a complete kit, so I’m open to any suggestions. Aero seemed like the way to go but for a first indoor grow I’d rather start with Hydro and see how it goes.

Nutrients:
Just reading about these gave me a headache. So I went with the best local option, Ghe Flora Series Grow+Bloom+Micro. I haven’t got any additives yes but Bio Roots, Diamond Nectar and Bio Bloom are also available at the store. Not sure if it’s worth the money in my case.
Now this is out of the way, the store recently added Advanced Nutrients. Since I’ve already got the base nutrients, maybe I could use the additives from AN, such as Voodoo, Big Bud and Candy. Now, I’ve already read plenty of comparisons between the two brands but it would be great to hear from Ghe base users who also use ANs additives.

Strains:
- Sleestack x Skunk nº1
- White Widow Feminised
- Delahaze Feminised

The first 2 should be fine but I’m really not sure about the Delahaze. Was meant to be veg’d inside and then transplanted out, but it’s not going to happen. So now I have to figure out whether I should keep the seeds and wait or try indoor. I’ve seen some great diaries on this one and was looking forward to have it rise under the sun. Now the question is: Is it reasonable to start a grow of Delahaze in such a small space? Being able to grow a nice Sativa indoor would be Deluxe right now. Maybe after a first grow of Widow I could try with a couple of Haze clones or even just one and get a little bondage going on. I know it can get pretty out of control with a sativa, even outdoors. I could always raise the tent and keep the reservoir underneath to gain some height but it’s probably not worth the effort in that case.
Any recommendation from Delahaze growers regarding space is much appreciated.


Cheers!

RB

Raul....welcome to RIU

looks like you got a good handle on what to do

What I would suggest is a nice simple hydro run to get your feet wet. You already have the GH nutes so id say to try a hempy bucket out and run the lucas formula and some cal/mag. Thats the simplest way iv found for someone to learn and it produces great. DWC is simple to people who have some experience but it definitely isnt as easy as u think. Just my thoughts on the matter

Thanks for the welcoming Indoor Sun King[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]![/FONT]

I agree Jbone77, Top Feed 3 times during Lights-On seems less complicated than running a continuous DWC and constantly having to monitor the water line. So you think I should go with like 20L/5gl buckets and air-stones? I'm just not sure if I should use the same method for both Veggin' and Flowering. Bubblers are convenient in that you can just move individual plants from a vegg room to a budding room and have an even canopy while having control over each plant, where in an Ebb & Flood bed system you loose that individual control. But I doubt there should be too much difference in Strains between the Widow and the Sleestack X Sknk1 so these two should get along as roommates(correct me if I'm wrong, I'd never heard of the Sleestack before I got the seeds).

I'm checking the Lucas Formula and other GH charts right now. The manufacturer's chart seems to serve only as a reference, although many said to have followed it and gotten great results. I'm still deciding whether to use the Lucas formula or stick with the three parts, probably not exactly like on the GH's chart. There are some posts out there where GH users share their own schedules, I might look for one of these and include Flora Grow since I bought it. Same thing with the additives, some swear by them while some believe it's a waste of money. I'd rather put the money in a better extractor, but I might get GH's Go Roots and the Kleen stuff.

What im saying is dont use a DWC or a drip ring for your first hydro run. They work great but in my opinion your first run you should just concentrate on your nutes. A hempy bucket is a bucket filled with perlite, or perlite/vermiculite, or perlite/coco, with a hole 2" up from the bottom, no pumps to worry about or drip rings to clog. I use 100% perlite. They are simple and they produce great. Its passive hydro so you get the hydro growth with little investment. I suggest the lucas formula because you already have it, its easy to learn on, the 3 part is nice but your going to get excited like we all did, add to much grow and burn your shit up and slow it way down defeating the main benefit of hydro. Its hard, not impossible, to burn with lucas. I always seem to have a cal/mag issue so I add it. I would wait on additives and decide if you want to add them at a later grow. After a couple runs with hempys, try a dwc or drip feed and see what you think. I did but went back to hempys because of the simplicity and the ability to move them any time I want.

I use the basic Lucas Formula...GH Maxigrow and Maxibloom ....7 grams per 4 litres (plus 5ml of Cal-Mag)... pH to ~ 5.8

it has been proven to work well by many of growers.....there may be better, but hard to find one simpler...and inexpensive compared to many.

I know virtually nothing about hydro but bozo has pointed me to coco hempy buckets they seem so damn easy and you have to try to fail to screw up. So maybe look into that. Im currently growing in soil and just now getting my feet wet coming close to harvest.

Twizzlor said:

I know virtually nothing about hydro but bozo has pointed me to coco hempy buckets they seem so damn easy and you have to try to fail to screw up. So maybe look into that. Im currently growing in soil and just now getting my feet wet coming close to harvest.

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yup, hempy is awesome....a very simplistic hydro method....near fool proof, i think easier than soil

Indoor Sun King said:

yup, hempy is awesome....a very simplistic hydro method....near fool proof, i think easier than soil

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Thats what i was told so it looks like my soil which is crap anyway is going in the other garden lol. If you cant beat em join em right lol.

Coco hempys are great also, 100% perlite is still the easiest to learn on, the coco takes a lil more experience than perlite, both are pretty easy tho.

Jbone77 said:

Coco hempys are great also, 100% perlite is still the easiest to learn on, the coco takes a lil more experience than perlite, both are pretty easy tho.

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I agree Jbone77...i started with perlite/vermiculite (3:1 ratio)....dead simple.....my current hempy is 100% large perlite

The hempy looks like an easy grow, but I'm not even considering hand feeding or a drain to waste? Although I have plenty of perlite and empty buckets. I might use the Lucas Formula and just have a planter on top of a reservoir with drip feeds on timer. I can see the benefit of the hempy if you're on a budget or don't have much equipment at hand.

Indoor Sun King what growing method do you use?

currently.....hempy in a 2 litre pop bottle ...soil capped... Indoor/Sunshine

Hand watering every other day beats the hell out of daily ph maintenance and weekly res cleans and changes but thats just me, they all work

I'm sure it is. But you need to drain to waste right? That would be an issue where I plan to grow, unless it was really minimal. Do you mix nutes for each watering or every week?

I use 3.5 gallon buckets, fed a gallon every other day. Yeah you have run off but you use a catch tray and either dump it or use a shop vac to suck it out. Its hydro, your going to have to deal with daily maintenance and water no matter what method you use.

Yeah but using 6 x 3,5gal would still require more work to me than changing an 8gal tank twice a month, and I also need a system that can be unattended (meaning no heavy maintenance) for at least 4 days at times. The Ph in hydro is also a concern but I think it would suit my needs best. I've just finished building a small basic top-feed system that should get me started. But I'll keep the Hempy in mind for a spring roof-top maybe, where drainage isn't an issue. After you've mentioned it I looked around and seen some pretty dense stuff grown in these. Like I said, I'm focusing more on an automated feeding cycle right now but thanks for the suggestion!

Regarding Top-Feed, I'd like to find a 4mm connector or manifold that would plug to a 10mm or 13mm. I got a cheap white plastic manifold for 4mm but I'd like to find something better. There store them in some UK gardening sites but if someone uses something similar I'd like to hear from them.

My last advice, if you develop a system that feeds 6 plants on a 8 gallon res that can run unattended for atleast 4 days at a time that only gets a res change every 2 weeks, patent it

Jbone77 said:

My last advice, if you develop a system that feeds 6 plants on a 8 gallon res that can run unattended for atleast 4 days at a time that only gets a res change every 2 weeks, patent it

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No. I meant 8gal/Plant but it's actually 6ish/plant in one 145L tank which is the smallest I had. Since this is for Mothers, I don't even think I'll reach 6 vegging plants for a while as the Delahaze Clones won't spend much time on 18/6. I don't think I will need to change the tank every week but every second week. I will adjust the Ph accordingly and see how it goes for a slow growth. If the Ph bounces too much I will adapt but hopefully it should work out. Only adjustment is to raise the tent 40cm to fit the tank underneath it.

Regarding the Hempy I still would like to know if you mix nutes every second day for each feeding or do you mix a batch every 2 feedings or so? I've seen a few articles on it but nothing regarding Ph control. Is it more stabilised in Perlite or 50/50 Coco?