first time hydro grow...help and info needed please.

C

charlie olsen

Member
hey guys, my wife and i are new to hydro, brand new to growing actually. we have a nice setup in 2X5 foot closet with a 400w lumatek ballast going to a 400w bulb. our ebb and flow system is setup and ready to go with 10 gallons of ph balanced water in the resevoir. we have the general hydroponics flora series all 3 kinds; the grow, the blend, and the micro. we started germinating a few seeds and planted them in rockwool plugs. Plants have been under 24 hour light and have sprouted. we are also seeing textured leaves. we've yielded good results from what we've done so far, but we don't really know what to do next. So here is a list of questions we have to take those next couple of steps.
-When should we move our plants into larger rockwool cubes(we have the 6x6 inch ones?
-When should we start feeding them? How often?
-Should we adjust our lighting anytime soon?
-How often should we be watering them (while still in rw plugs)?
-Should we water them (if so how often) after they are in the 6x6 rw cubes? (or should we start the ebb and flow system with nutrients right away?)
　
I think that's about it for now. Thanks in advance for the help it will be much appreciated.
 
Encomium

Encomium

Active Member
charlie olsen said:
hey guys, my wife and i are new to hydro, brand new to growing actually. we have a nice setup in 2X5 foot closet with a 400w lumatek ballast going to a 400w bulb. our ebb and flow system is setup and ready to go with 10 gallons of ph balanced water in the resevoir. we have the general hydroponics flora series all 3 kinds; the grow, the blend, and the micro. we started germinating a few seeds and planted them in rockwool plugs. Plants have been under 24 hour light and have sprouted. we are also seeing textured leaves. we've yielded good results from what we've done so far, but we don't really know what to do next. So here is a list of questions we have to take those next couple of steps.
-When should we move our plants into larger rockwool cubes(we have the 6x6 inch ones?
-When should we start feeding them? How often?
-Should we adjust our lighting anytime soon?
-How often should we be watering them (while still in rw plugs)?
-Should we water them (if so how often) after they are in the 6x6 rw cubes? (or should we start the ebb and flow system with nutrients right away?)
　
I think that's about it for now. Thanks in advance for the help it will be much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Good luck on the grow you 2! My first grow is going as we speak and a set up very similar to yours. My 2 cents...

You could transfer them into the 6x6 slabs right now or you could wait until you see little roots coming out of the bottom of your plugs to do so which is probably a better option.

Seedlings/Sprouts don't really need nutrients yet as the seed coating provides nutrients for them to start. If you do add nutrients go extremely easy (like 1/4 strength) and adjust as necessary.

You want your plugs damp but not soaking wet I believe. I only had to water mine every other day but yours could be different.

Rockwool holds a lot of moisture. I only watered my girls once a day using 24 hour light and they were just fine.
 
C

charlie olsen

Member
Hey thanks for all the info I appreciate it. I wasnt able to get on here for a couple days to check so I just had to wing it, but i actually ended up doing pretty much all the same things that you had said. We did wait for the roots to sprout out the bottom before putting them into the 6x6s. I did not start feeding them at all, but they look ready to be fed so I think I might start it tonight. They're all 7-9 days old, by the way. I have 6 plants in my 2x2 table. How much should I start off feeding them.. Is flooding the table for 15 minutes a day 4 times a day too much right now? I also still have them under 24 hours of light,but as soon as I start the feeding I planned to take the lights down to 18/6...does that seem about right?

Oh and hows your grow going? How far along are you?
 
KevinSmith

KevinSmith

Active Member
hmmmm Encomium said everything I was going to say! lol
You can check out what I did right and wrong here hehe
https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/395515-new-grow-journal.html

I use ebb and flow with the plants in rockwool in a basin of hydroton.
I water once a day as the cubes retain moisture and the tray never drains 100%
You need to monitor your conditions though. You don't want the cubes to get crispy dry but you want them to dry out somewhat.

Is the 400W bulb metal halide or hps?
I started veg. nutes after 8 days from seed 1.5' avg. I started at 1/4 strenght and increased every week up to full.
 
Encomium

Encomium

Active Member
Hey again. You can start feeding them with 1/4 strength nute solution. When I started mine in veg they only had to be fed once a day for 15 minutes. Rockwool holds water very well so I wouldn't go beyond twice. Try just once and see how it goes; feel the RW after the first day just before lights off, it should be slightly damp to the touch. <br /> <br />

You can keep the lights on 24/7 if you want but you can also switch them to 18/6. MJ doesn't need any "down" time during veg and typically the normal temperature changes from a lights out period serves to increase space between stems (or so I've read). If you do go down to 18/6 I'd say you should go 1 hour less per day until you've reached 18/6 just to be safe. <br /> <br />

My grow's going excellently ty :). I'm on day 26 of flowering and everything's going so smooth I'm a little baffled lol. Anyways, cheers and keep up the good work.

DSCN2468.jpg
DSCN2469.jpg

Edit: Pics are from a few days ago.
 
KevinSmith

KevinSmith

Active Member
I vegged really long 80 days.
Started on Jan 1 2011 (my new years ladies)
With the cool tube these ladies have about 6' if they need it in my flower box
 
Encomium

Encomium

Active Member
KevinSmith said:
I vegged really long 80 days.
Started on Jan 1 2011 (my new years ladies)
With the cool tube these ladies have about 6' if they need it in my flower box
Click to expand...
Very nice man. Yea I checked out your journal and posted. Trying to figure out how to sub to it (hint hint). As to my initial set up I only had 3 usable feet to grow since my E&F were a foot and a half and the lighting set up was another foot. I just upgraded to a bigger tent now so I've released the strings I had on my girls. I'll probably reintroduce my other 2 plants into the tent again once I get a 3 x 3 grow tray.
 
d6520

d6520

Well-Known Member
KevinSmith said:
I vegged really long 80 days.
Started on Jan 1 2011 (my new years ladies)
With the cool tube these ladies have about 6' if they need it in my flower box
Click to expand...
80 days vegge???? dam!!!! i bet ur yield was pretty sick..... im plannin on vegging for about 6 or 7 weeks
 
KevinSmith

KevinSmith

Active Member
lol click on thread tools top right and (for me in firefox they seem to be blacked out but you can click on em anyway) click on the bottom option to subscribe :)
 
jadf52

jadf52

Active Member
This is the result of my first grow. I have some good bud and made a taste of bubble hash and Keif . These are some pic's of my first grow room attempt it has a clone /Mother area and a flower room my last yieldiphone 037.jpgiphone 055.jpgiphone 025.jpgiphone 033.jpgiphone 032.jpgiphone 034.jpgiphone 044.jpg was 14oz with 4 plants . This next grow is with one clone from last grow and done in a screen style
 
C

charlie olsen

Member
KevinSmith said:
Is the 400W bulb metal halide or hps?
I started veg. nutes after 8 days from seed 1.5' avg. I started at 1/4 strenght and increased every week up to full.
Click to expand...
Hey thanks for jumping in kevinsmith. Um I actually dont remember and I threw out the box so i dont know. What would be the difference in the two?

Hey encomium good hearing from ya. Glad to hear the grow is going so well!
I really like the idea of cutting down the light hours slowly like that. And since you both have said to start out at 1/4 strength for the nutrients so I'll start with that once a day and see how things go!
 
Encomium

Encomium

Active Member
Man jad that's a clean looking set up. You know I like the look of a heavily LST or scrogged plant but I'd be worried if something drastic happened to the plant. With multiple plants at least you have more than just the one plant as a failsafe.
 
jadf52

jadf52

Active Member
Yea one plant and all the risk .. it's a learning thing for me right now. next up i want to try sea of green from clones. then compare yields to all overhead costs from each grow style
first one was 4 plants 600watt hps
second 1 plant screen of green
 
Encomium

Encomium

Active Member
charlie olsen said:
Hey thanks for jumping in kevinsmith. Um I actually dont remember and I threw out the box so i dont know. What would be the difference in the two?

Hey encomium good hearing from ya. Glad to hear the grow is going so well!
I really like the idea of cutting down the light hours slowly like that. And since you both have said to start out at 1/4 strength for the nutrients so I'll start with that once a day and see how things go!
Click to expand...
Hehe, your thread got sort of cluttered. Anyways, Metal Halide lamps are ideal for vegging (spectrum thing) and HPS are better for flowering. I think you can veg with HPS as well but for sure get a HPS when you switch your girls to 12/12. Now as far as bulbs go this thread made me upgrade to Hortilux about a week and a half into flowering. They are a bit more pricey though (@ $65 more) but hopefully they'll be worth it. Maybe I got hoodwinked by someone that has stock in Hortilux I dunno but one of the bulbs I did have stopped working so I went with it.

Jad, I'd like to see your progress sometime, you got a journal or anything? I'm not sure yet where to go with my next grow though I'm leaning towards a SOG approach myself. Cheers.
 
jadf52

jadf52

Active Member
Hey Encom this is my first attempt so i am still learning every time i talk to a grower. The Veg room has Fluor light and the flower room uses a switchable 350 to 600 watt hps so far good results learning every day
 
Encomium

Encomium

Active Member
My first grow here as well! So far having a lot of fun. Researched quite heavily going in but still managing to make my fair share of mistakes here and there. Good luck with your grow!
 
KevinSmith

KevinSmith

Active Member
charlie olsen said:
Hey thanks for jumping in kevinsmith. Um I actually dont remember and I threw out the box so i dont know. What would be the difference in the two?

Hey encomium good hearing from ya. Glad to hear the grow is going so well!
I really like the idea of cutting down the light hours slowly like that. And since you both have said to start out at 1/4 strength for the nutrients so I'll start with that once a day and see how things go!
Click to expand...

The way to tell visually if it is MH or HPS is MH looks sort of blue while HPS looks very orange in color.
 
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