First Grow - Too Many Questions.

[Zakk]

Alright, I would like to start my first grow soon, but I'm taking it slow, not rushing into anything, and making sure I do this without wasting much money/time. That means, lots of questions for you guys

I will be following the following grow and more or less just mimicking...

https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/344359-pineapple-express-g13-labs-seed.html


So far, I'm just gathering a list of supplies. I'll probably be going through Amazon for most of it as I get free 2 day shipping and have a credit card through them with an enormous limit

Shopping List
Grow Tent (need to measure closet room)
1 Water Farm General Hydroponics GH4120 WaterFarm Complete
Flora Nova Bloom General Hydroponics GH1631 1 Pint Flora Nova Bloom
400 Watt Light LEDwholesalers GYO2009 3-Piece 400 Watt Hydroponic 6-Inch Cool Tube Grow Light Set
Ventilation Tube Dundas Jafine AF625ULPZW Aluminum Foil UL Listed and Marked Duct, 6-Inches by 25-Feet
Blower Fan LEDwholesalers GYO2402 6-Inch 240 CFM Air Duct Inline Hydroponic Booster Fan
Carbon Air Filter (Most likely homemade)
Air Pump Tetra 77854 Whisper Air Pump, 60-Gallon
Light Timer Intermatic TN311 15 Amp Heavy Duty Grounded Timer
PPM/PH Monitor
Thermometer

Alright, I'll stop here for now.

First questions,

1. Do I have everything I need?
2. Are the links I picked out decent stuff/worth the price?
3. What should I go with for the rest of the items?

I'm still researching so hopefully I'll answer these on my own, but thanks for any help

 

[hotrodharley]

If no tent I suggest you actually calculate your air requirements before buying any air handling equipment.

http://botanical.com/hydro/air/calculating_fan_requirements.html

 

[Bluehillsmoker]

Dude if you dont plan on spending time or money on the project your in the wrong buisness, Im on year number 3 with only a couple of successful harvest under my belt, there is a learning curb you cant get around. Be prepared to be mad, sad, confused, and scared all at the same time. People tend to get in your way, dont complain. One light, and one bucket seem like a small project for a room. Are you going to use a grow tent in a room or a room by itself? And to answer

1. No, you need PH Down, you have Bloom nutrients but no Veg. I would suggest getting six of those buckets total, there are plenty of 5gal. bucket systems out there for dirt cheap, or give me a write and will point you in the direction to build your own.

2. They are ok, but after the cost of lights, nutrients, tools, seeds, and everything else. Are you sure you want to pay for a Hydro system to? Build your own, or go soil, is the best decision, specifically if this is your first time.

3. PH Down, Grow nutrients, and maybe a tent

 

[halfaweek]

1st he said watse time not spend time
2nd my nutes dont need ph up or down and i test all the time
3rd when building your own hydro you might want to know how they work so i say if you have the money buy them

 

[Bluehillsmoker]

@halfaweek. It takes an experienced grower to make a soil that requires no Ph adjustment. A hydro setup ALWAYS requires a gallon of Ph down, if you dont adjust yours, you are only getting half the potential if you did. And I buying vs bulding, look a stinkbud harvest an lb. every week and tell me that building is not better than buying. He used the money he saved from buying a crappy hydro setup that you can get the parts to make at home depot, on good genetics and tools he needed. In this game, take the money out the hands of companys and keep it in the pocket of the common man.

 

[ranchos429]

You got a 6in cooltube and 6in ducting,but a 4in fan,I would get a 6in fan instead so they all fit right.

 

[Zakk]

If no tent I suggest you actually calculate your air requirements before buying any air handling equipment.

http://botanical.com/hydro/air/calculating_fan_requirements.html

I had planned on building the tent so it would be a little more sturdy, unless the tents you can find on Amazon hold up fairly well? Either way, thank you for the link, I'm sure I'll need it after I get the specs of my tent figured out.

Dude if you dont plan on spending time or money on the project your in the wrong buisness, Im on year number 3 with only a couple of successful harvest under my belt, there is a learning curb you cant get around. Be prepared to be mad, sad, confused, and scared all at the same time. People tend to get in your way, dont complain. One light, and one bucket seem like a small project for a room. Are you going to use a grow tent in a room or a room by itself? And to answer

1. No, you need PH Down, you have Bloom nutrients but no Veg. I would suggest getting six of those buckets total, there are plenty of 5gal. bucket systems out there for dirt cheap, or give me a write and will point you in the direction to build your own.

2. They are ok, but after the cost of lights, nutrients, tools, seeds, and everything else. Are you sure you want to pay for a Hydro system to? Build your own, or go soil, is the best decision, specifically if this is your first time.

3. PH Down, Grow nutrients, and maybe a tent

Its not that I don't want to spend time/money, I just don't want to waste it on some outdated method or poor equipment, which is why I made this thread, so I can check up with everyone as I go. I plan on reading and reading until I've got everything covered, and even then I know I'll still make some mistakes.

I had planned on making my own grow tent out of plywood and mylar so it would be sturdy, I don't have a whole room I can dedicate to growing so I just wanted to start with a small closet build. Start small, move up.

The hydro system will pay for itself in one low yielding grow, its not overly expensive.

I'll add PH down to the list. Makes sense.

@halfaweek. It takes an experienced grower to make a soil that requires no Ph adjustment. A hydro setup ALWAYS requires a gallon of Ph down, if you dont adjust yours, you are only getting half the potential if you did. And I buying vs bulding, look a stinkbud harvest an lb. every week and tell me that building is not better than buying. He used the money he saved from buying a crappy hydro setup that you can get the parts to make at home depot, on good genetics and tools he needed. In this game, take the money out the hands of companys and keep it in the pocket of the common man.

In that thread, no one had anything but good things to say about the Waterfarm and it is fairly cheap. I think it would be a good start for me.

 

[Zakk]

@halfaweek. It takes an experienced grower to make a soil that requires no Ph adjustment. A hydro setup ALWAYS requires a gallon of Ph down, if you dont adjust yours, you are only getting half the potential if you did. And I buying vs bulding, look a stinkbud harvest an lb. every week and tell me that building is not better than buying. He used the money he saved from buying a crappy hydro setup that you can get the parts to make at home depot, on good genetics and tools he needed. In this game, take the money out the hands of companys and keep it in the pocket of the common man.

Next grow when I will have more room to expand, will definitely be homemade, but for the lowcost of the WaterFarm I think it's worth the time saved this time.

You got a 6in cooltube and 6in ducting,but a 4in fan,I would get a 6in fan instead so they all fit right.

Good catch, I overlooked that. Thanks

 

[Krondizzel]

Alright, I would like to start my first grow soon, but I'm taking it slow, not rushing into anything, and making sure I do this without wasting much money/time. That means, lots of questions for you guys

I will be following the following grow and more or less just mimicking...

https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/344359-pineapple-express-g13-labs-seed.html


So far, I'm just gathering a list of supplies. I'll probably be going through Amazon for most of it as I get free 2 day shipping and have a credit card through them with an enormous limit

Shopping List
Cabinet Supplies
- Wood
- Mylar Emergency Mylar Thermal Blankets (Pack of 10)
- Chicken Wire
1 Water Farm General Hydroponics GH4120 WaterFarm Complete
Flora Nova Bloom General Hydroponics GH1631 1 Pint Flora Nova Bloom
400 Watt Light LEDwholesalers GYO2009 3-Piece 400 Watt Hydroponic 6-Inch Cool Tube Grow Light Set
Ventilation Tube Dundas Jafine AF625ULPZW Aluminum Foil UL Listed and Marked Duct, 6-Inches by 25-Feet
Blower Fan VenTech 4" Inline Fan 190 CFM Hydroponics Inline Duct Fan Exhaust Blower Fan
Carbon Air Filter
Air Pump Tetra 77854 Whisper Air Pump, 60-Gallon
Light Timer Intermatic TN311 15 Amp Heavy Duty Grounded Timer
PPM/PH Monitor
Thermometer

Alright, I'll stop here for now.

First questions,

1. Do I have everything I need?
2. Are the links I picked out decent stuff/worth the price?
3. What should I go with for the rest of the items?

I'm still researching so hopefully I'll answer these on my own, but thanks for any help

First off, shop around. I've seen some horrible amazon pricing. Straight up.

2. Buy a tent, it will save you some headache for sure. Preplanned and thought out is nice, saves you from having to modify crap as you go and learn.

3. I hate those tetra pumps to be honest.

4. PPM/PH monitor? If so, bluelab trimeter is nice. Don't do drops or strips, eyeballing just isn't good enough. You want to really know what those numbers are. With that PH pen, don't let the electrode dry up otherwise it can possibly ruin the tip.

5. Thermometers are a pain in the ass sometimes for me. I literally have several because they all read different numbers, even with two placed side by side. Digital, manual, whatever. So... I wouldn't trust just a single temp gauge to be honest. You'll also want to know what your humidity is.

 

[Zakk]

First off, shop around. I've seen some horrible amazon pricing. Straight up.

2. Buy a tent, it will save you some headache for sure. Preplanned and thought out is nice, saves you from having to modify crap as you go and learn.

3. I hate those tetra pumps to be honest.

4. PPM/PH monitor? If so, bluelab trimeter is nice. Don't do drops or strips, eyeballing just isn't good enough. You want to really know what those numbers are. With that PH pen, don't let the electrode dry up otherwise it can possibly ruin the tip.

5. Thermometers are a pain in the ass sometimes for me. I literally have several because they all read different numbers, even with two placed side by side. Digital, manual, whatever. So... I wouldn't trust just a single temp gauge to be honest. You'll also want to know what your humidity is.

1. I've actually been on Craigslist a lot, I'm gonna keep an eye on this, see if I can't save some money buying slightly used.
2. I've had more and more people tell me this, I think I'm gonna take your advice on this one.
3. Any reason why?
4. Damn these are expensive, I'm going to wait to buy this last, hopefully one pops up on Craigslist cheaper.
5. Good call on the humidity also.

 

[Krondizzel]

1. I've actually been on Craigslist a lot, I'm gonna keep an eye on this, see if I can't save some money buying slightly used.
2. I've had more and more people tell me this, I think I'm gonna take your advice on this one.
3. Any reason why?
4. Damn these are expensive, I'm going to wait to buy this last, hopefully one pops up on Craigslist cheaper.
5. Good call on the humidity also.

My reason why? Just a personal preference I suppose. I use the commercial air pumps. I need to supply more air since I have a bigger setup, so, I simply have to use bigger pumps, or, a ton of smaller ones.

Craigslist is awesome. Straight up.

I'd hook you up with my 4x8x7 tent that I don't use anymore lol. Upgraded to a 12x12x7. That's basically what I mean with the air pumps... Just needed to upgrade. Tents are very very nice to have, I would suggest building your own stuff after a few grows, just so you have an idea of what you're getting into. Tents are cheap and work great. I totally recommend them!

 

[Zakk]

Im thinking about changing it up, instead of a single box with a 400w bulb, I may go with 2 boxes in a tent with a 600w setup.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005DOS0R8/ref=aw_d_detail?pd=1

Any issues going to be caused by my idea?

(Still unsure of tent size, measuring closet later)

Also, probably just going with this for now to measure PPM. Cheap and great reviews.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002C0A7ZY?qid=1357469594&sr=8-46