150watt HPS/CFL DWC Hydro Grow. First Attempt

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nlmw42

Active Member
Hey everybody. I have been obsessing about the grow operation's layout and action for quite some time now.. Its my first time growing seriously. I have been reading on here for months now and i almost feel like ive done it before. Lol. I'm quite a Google studier. Well anyways, here's the good stuff. Any help or comments are so greatly appreciated.

I have a closet that is partitioned with my grow box and painted with white walls. The area of the grow cab is 4ft long, by 3ft wide and 4ft high.

I have a 150 watt hps light from HTG supply. Also 4 blue 6500K 26 watt clfs. (2 socket splitters hanging from the top of the cab.)

I have a fan blowing constantly at the base.

I also have a DWC setup i have constructed. with airstones and all the other standard shit.

I started the grow a few weeks ago.. I started seeds that i found out of some really good bud... i stared them in rockwool, and just watered them until they rooted. When they rooted i put them in the DWC system with the nutes and shit. Then a few of my plants died. But 2 that were in there from the beginning are looking healthy as FUCK! wouldnt u think if i was a nutrient prob then all the plants would have died??

i also have 4 new sprouts that are under some flouro's until ready to go under hps. any suggestions on what i should do with this new generation of plants so they can grow well and produce for me?? any tips hel!!

haha sorry for the novel.
 
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nlmw42

Active Member
so i thought i had a nutrient problem in my DWC. I was thinking it was 1 of two things.

1. i put the seedlings into the dwC system too soon and the nutrients were too much...

2. They are the wrong type of nutrients.
( the label is missing and the NPK value is unknown. But i did have some small plants that grew with the nutes under CFL.. but not enough light to bud the plants.

the plants are turning yellow.

thinking it was most likely a nutrient problem, i rinsed the resivoir and filled with water. and a verrrrry small amout of nutes.

anything else i should be doing thats apparent???

any help?
 
P0t Sm0k3r

P0t Sm0k3r

Active Member
Sounds like the same thing I did prior to ordering my setup. Googled everything.......until I found this site. Now its my new home.

What type of nutes are you using?

Im running a DWC setup as well.Pretty close to yours...... 250 MH/HPS light, 2 6500k and 2 3000k CFLs (from HTG Supply as well)

The first couple of times I used FoxFarm nutes, I was having some issues...nute burn.

Since then, I only use half of what FF schedule says. Now my plants are bushy as hell.

You def. need a PH, PPM, and ec meter.

Hydro Ph should be around 5.5. - 6.5 (mine plants seem to like it around 6.2 -6.5??)
 
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nlmw42

Active Member
yeah il definayely need to get some different nutes then...

how long should i wait until putting my seedlings in the DWC system? i dont wanna give them too much to handle.

and thanks, il definately be grabbing a ph meter, ppm meter and all that good stuff.

another 2 questions...

im thinking of buying the 400 watt hps with mh bulb and hps bulb included with ballast and all from HTG supply for 160 bucks.. how large of an area would that be able to cover? and also what about heat? in comparison to my 150 watt?

and also what nutrients do u guys reccomend... on the cheap side??

thanks again
 
P0t Sm0k3r

P0t Sm0k3r

Active Member
How many plants are you lookin to do?

IMO Id stick with what you have and learn it first, before jumping into the bigger stuff. Obviously going bigger = more heat. From what Ive read on here 400w and bigger you have to have a inline fan to cool the bulbs. Thats why I got a 250w.

My nutes, Im using the complete line of FoxFarm: BigBloom, GrowBig, TigerBloom, Open Seasme, Cha Ching, and Beastie Blooms. Im also using Grandmas Molassas, Sweet Leaf.

Cheap side?? Well the BB,GB TB are too bad, about 15$ a bottle. The OS,CC, and BB were a tad bit more 70$ for all 3. Again reading this forums, and looking at some of these guys crops its worth! Just dont make the same mistake I did with ordering your GrowBig(if you go with FoxFarm stuff). I didnt pay attention that the GrowBig came in 2 kinds: One for soil, one for Hydro. Stupid me, bought the 3 pack of BigBloom, GrowBig, TigerBloom in which it contained GrowBig for soil. Then I wondered why I was having nute burn. The soil GrowBig is stronger( 6-4-4) as the Hydro GrowBig is (3-2-6).

^^^
I like to write novels too!
 
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nlmw42

Active Member
well im not really sure how many plants i am going to be able to cram under a 150 watt hps and 4 cfls... its a 4 by 3 space... im guessing like 10 or so to begin with, im going to take clones of all the plants during veg, label the clones with the corresponding plants and flower the plants. Then throw out the clones of the dads.

soil probalby end up with 5 or so females.. how many plants can a 150 watt cfl sustain?

where do u get your nutes from??

thanks bro.
 
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nlmw42

Active Member
really?! thats nice! i might be good with one then. How many plants is ur 400 watt able to provide nicely for?
 
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nlmw42

Active Member
nice. I really need some supplies to get my grow where i want it. My location has not a single useful shop for miles.

Shit's Weak!!

on the shopping list-
NUTES!!!
400 watt hps mh conv
Grow Bags
Soil???
water pump
and PROPER tubing!


if anyone has suggestions reguarding these things, please share.. Dont be afraid! muwahhahhahha!
 
N

nlmw42

Active Member
yeah thats where im going.

im gonna get the starter kit from Technaflora/BC Nutes.

it consists of BC Grow BC Bloom and BC Boost. And some other added goodies. How is BC Nutrients and Technaflora for hydroponics? im not sure if its soil or hydro.

im planning on ordering tomorrow. =D
 
theotherc

theotherc

Well-Known Member
nlmw42 said:
nice. I really need some supplies to get my grow where i want it. My location has not a single useful shop for miles.

Shit's Weak!!

on the shopping list-
NUTES!!!
400 watt hps mh conv
Grow Bags
Soil???
water pump
and PROPER tubing!


if anyone has suggestions reguarding these things, please share.. Dont be afraid! muwahhahhahha!
Click to expand...
Soil ? Are you going Hydro or doing a Soil grow?
 
theotherc

theotherc

Well-Known Member
nlmw42 said:
hydro bro!
Click to expand...

Yeah dont use soil for Hydro. Like Wyte said some rockwool and hydroton. Or you could do hempy buckets. Cheapest easiest way to grow hydro. I know folks use rockwool cubes, I haven't tried yet. I used the 1 inch peat plugs in hydroton and worked great.
 
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