1st Time Grow in Cool Cab

Hey All…
I posted this thread in another fourm so I apologize if I am breaking any rules but I need some help please.
I recently purchased an all in one hydro setup. I had some issues with my first grow. I don’t know what I did wrong (I followed the instructions to the letter), but my plants just stopped growing and the leaves curled up after 2 weeks. Anyway I decided to flush the whole thing and start from scratch. I am hoping you can help me with this. I see OROD has the same setup as me and is having better results. I have gotten advice to ease up on the nutes, but to play it safe I am asking my RIU compadres to help out. I will post pics as the days go by but here is what I have done so far.
1. I started with 12 gallons of distilled water in the reservoir.
2. I have openings for 14 plants and netpots so I put seeds in all of them and placed them inside.
3. The seeds are 12 good bagseed---1 Northern Lights---1 White Widow (didn’t want to waste too many good seeds in case it doesn’t turn out too well again).
4. I added 2 tsp of Superthrive to the reservoir.
5. I added 2 tsp of Moon Dust (the all in one nute mix supplied with the hydrochamber).
6. My ph is at about 5.5-6.0
7. My ppm is consistently about 300
8. My 2 90w LED grow lights are about 6 inches above the top of the netpots.
9. The water drip is about 1 per 2 seconds on each pot.

That’s it for now. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do?

Hello...
It has been 6 days and I have a question. Some of my seeds havent sprouted, but thats ok, I have plenty. The question is that I have 1 plant that seems to look ok except it has some white fungi type mold at the very bottom of the plant. I havent added anything yet. Also I am using 2 90w LED lamps. They are at about 12-16 inches above the tops. Should I lower or raise them? But I will start tomorrow night so if I can get some help before then it would be appreciated.

thats a well nice setup dude

Ok... Here are the 10 day pics...
I am going to heed your advice O and get at least 1 more airstone. My temps are consistently in the mid 60s so I dont know what to do about the CO2 boost. I think I may get one anyway. I wouldnt hurt either way would it. I am hoping it could at least help.
Anyway, if you dont mind check these pictures out and give me some good advice.

Incidentally today at day 10 I added
6 tsp of Fox Farm Big Bloom
2 tsp of Superthrive

All to a 12 gallon reservior.

Hi fish I am also trying the exact system minus some of ur nutes (superthrive, Big Bloom) I got the Co2 boost I am only on day 7 though and everything is looking good, the Co2 has only been on for 2 days on high. So cant tell u a big change, but it will definetly help (cant hurt all plants live on and need Co2). Just remember when u take the tape off the bucket it will expire in 3-4 months no matter how much or how little u use it. It's not a gas it's actually a living fungus or bacteria that is slowly dieing out and gives off Co2. I am concerned about the proper PPM using only Moon Dust, there guidelines are for tomatoes, I need to know what a mix of Northern LightsxSkunk will like during it's life cycle. So if you have a general idea of whats working for you I would appreciate it. I have started with rooted clones and they already have grown over a inch on day 5 and stalks were strong, finally rooted up and took hold in rocks on day 4 so that looks good on this ebb and flow watering system. I was recommended by the company to have the new LED lights 1-3 inches about plants, I have kept it at 3-6 and seems to be getting plenty of light to all the plants especially 5 or 6 inches above, so the light can spread out, but dont put too high so your leaves can soak in the required lighting for photosynthesis. Not sure on your airpump situation, but my opinion is that one is enough. I would raise my tempurature to at least 80, I keep mine around 84. Most plants like 75-85(so ive been told) but it'll vary on type of strain you are using. I think 80-85 you cant go wrong with marijuana it generally like warmer almost tropical weather but some will like it cooler and some will like it warmer. But I think the majority grow good in the mid 80s. Manipulate your exhaust or intake fans to help with temperature. Right now it's cool here so I have one intake on and the other off, as well as the exhaust is off. It been staying close to 85 after doors are closed and heat builds up. Oh yah and try not to let it drip directly on your seedlings as this can cause mold, root rot, etc. Please give me feedback too. Especially on your nutrient situation and if u think its working.

Oh yah i forgot to say dont be afraid to put those lights directly on top, just try no to touch. It can get real close and not burn the plants. After running for hours touch it directly on lens with a clean hand you could hold there all day it's not hot. Way better than old school lights hot, and risk of burning plants if too close.

Hey Smoke!!! Great info! Thanks for being so thorough. I will try to do the same.

Ok you know the deal if you read from the first post so I'll tell you what the deal is as of today. I am at day 14 and I changed all the water in my res. What a pain in the ass though. Unhooking the lines and cleaning up after spilling the water around was a real hassle. And the res is really heavy with all the water inside so trying to be easy not to damage the expensive cabinet that I know I overpaid for was a real chore. Took about an hour and I got everything back working with new water. I let the water run for about 20 mins before I added the plants. I noticed that some of the drippers were not running that great so I screwed the tops off and pulled them from the main line and they were pretty dirty. Probably from the nutes and the slow drip I have them on. I cleaned them and blew the lines and all was ok. One problem though was that one of the drippers is not able to shut no matter how tight I turn so I have that 1 dripping to the side on the rocks. It seems to be getting pleanty of water anyway with the fogger and drippers all is moist.
After getting everything all sparkly clean I added about half the recommended for my tank size Grow Big and Big Bloom to a gallon of water and mixed it up good and then poured it in. I waited about an hour and checked my levels and I was at perfect PH and my ppm's were at about 600. So I added some of that Bushmaster they supplied to the res and then mixed up some spray grow (also supplied) and sprayed the plants too. I turned the fans of for about 30 mins to make sure I didnt have spray just laying on the leaves and then I turned it all off again. But today for the first time I had a good whiff of that sweet smell when I opened the cab after about 2 hours. Nice!!! Im thinking/hoping it is the White Widow showing off to her neighbors?

Anyway I havent used the Moon Dust at all in this attempt. I think it may have locked my roots up in my first grow so until I get better at working with it I will just store it. And I had the Fox Farms products from my outdoor grow last year and it turned out really nice for a first grow. REALLY NICE!

Anyway here are the pics for 14 days let me know what you all think? The first 2 pics are the WW and Northern Lights from seedbanks. The rest are from my outdoor grow last year which turned out well so I saved the seeds.

I was curious about emptying out the res. Since it's heavy i was going to siphon most out before i went to move it, but what did you do with your netpots, did you have roots hanging? Im afraid to shock them if the roots are out of water. Ne info would b nice. Oh and they say you cant over warer so i wouldn't stress the drip problem as long as its dripping and not directly on seedlings. Nice pics!

Siphoning would be a good idea. I will do it next time. Funny thing about the roots, I didnt have any hanging out. Last grow a few weeks ago they were way out the bottom at least 2-3 inches. Im not going to sweat it too much though, my plants look way better this time. About the overwatering... DONT YOU BELIEVE IT! I had mold all over the tops of my pluge from that. I would slow the drip down as much as you can. And about the advice they give---I dont want to sound harsh, but so far I havent had much luck with their advice except for turning off the fans to get the temps to a higher level. Took me almost 2 weeks to get a question answered by them the first time and by that time my plants locked up.
Keep In Touch

Yah they not to good with customer service. Ok I will fix my heads for a slower drip thx! Ive been lowballing there guidelines as far as when to raise the ppm and how much. Ive going with their guidelines but staying on the lowside, what would u recommend?? And 1 more question when do you trust your tds meter i fill the cap bout half full and push it on. As soon as it clicks in place a number jumps up ex. 600 but 10 secs later it settles around 530 is the first number more accurate or the number after it settled?? It didnt jump like this until i upped the fertilizer, just the fresh water stayed pretty consistent to the first number that popped up.

is ur water heated in ur tubs?i had 2 get a heater kept it around 78,they loved it.now i grow in soil-less hectic.

Ok here we go...
Smokey---Definitley go lower on the nutes to what they recommend. I did the exact to the letter the first time and messed my grow up. So although I think the Moon Dust is good (I just didnt use it this time) I would go half of what they say. Seems like the ppms go up over time with that and you could always add if you need more right. On the TDS they sent, I know what you mean. I usually just fill the meter bottom 3/4 and then pour some into the ph tube they sent. Then I test both with the same water. The water does come out the TDS meter sometimes but I usually go with the middle of the higher and low number. But on the TDS if you are close to the high end I would just go with the high reading and add some distilled water to flush a bit just in case. In your example 600/530 I would just go with about about a 560-575 and go from there. But those numbers sound good to me. I had it at 1400 using their guide then had a rough time getting it down to 300-500 where it probably should be at the first week. I think the jump in the numbers might have something to do with the nutes settling to one side or the other of the meter container. About the customer service they told me that it is because they are really busy---meanwhile it says 24-7 customer service via email on their site. I emailed them one time and they didnt get back to me until 10 days later. Im glad I didnt use my good seeds on that grow. I also told them that they are probably busy because of all the rep they are getting on grow sites, and that if they dont straighten things out over there they will have plenty of time to get back to us because they wont be very busy due to increasingly bad rep. I hope they get their act together. I paid big money for a plug and play system and it turns out that there is much more to it than that. I bought it because I am not that technically inclined so I NEED my customer service.

And Villian...Good call! I thought of that but I didnt think I should put a heater in thinking it may mess up the plants in some way. But if anyone can let me know what kind I can get I would appreciate it. I have a 12-13 gallon tank.

There is a oscillating heater within 5 ft of the unit. So the water temp has been warm in my unit, well what was coming out of dripheads was. Ill let you know when I know more (first time indoorgrower). Good luck . oh and one more thing do you guys know where i can look up my particular strain to see how much fertilizer they like?? (Northern LightsxSkunk 1) THX Happy Growing

if ur temps are up 75-85 like they should be then i dont see what could be holding them back. I am using only Moon Dust and having great results they are 8-10 in and my nutes are at 900 now. They are looking great, so I think if your temps are up and lights are close within 6 inches of plant top, then I would reconsider your nutes, Superthrive and Fox. I am only using spray n grow and moon dust.. GL Just seen ur message in the other thread, so I thought I may throw that out there for ya. You started from seed right? How far along are you? Pay attention to Orod timeline he had a slow start cause started at seed as well might be all it is. happy growing

Whats up with pink light ?

Hey thanks Smoke...
I was at around 55-60 temps when I started. I used the weekly guideline with the grow kit and maybe I overnuted them because they werent ready for that much nutes. I am at around 75 degrees now so maybe I can save them. I am actually trying to get my ppms back down. They are at 1000 and as yoou see my plants are small. I will definitley learn from this and not be so anxious next grow. I am really appreciating the response from you and the advice though. I looked through your journal yesterday and sounds like you were always trying to change things too. Im glad you got it working though. I noticed that even though you had troubles your growth was really pretty good. As for me, I will try to save this grow. But next time I will try some different thinge like germinating the seeds before putting them in the unit. And leaving the cab alone!!! I need to leave it closed for a while and let it work. I will definitley keep you posted and thanks alot. I will take some new pics on Sunday but havent had any real growth since the last update.

The pink light is from the LEDs. I had them on when I took the pics.

You can let it start on your drip system it's just a week or so longer than there guideline. And my advice with the PPM is go by height not weeks while vegging and just adding a 1/4 teaspoon at a time and if your plants start to turn down then your at too much fertilizer, so just add fresh water. When I was under 5 inches, i was around 300 ppm, 8-500 ppm, now i took a big hop to 870 almost 900 and they are about 10 and well see how they react to it in the next day or two. But you are in my opinion way too high on fertilizer, if it was me i would drain half the res out with a siphon about halfway. And top back off with clean water. Check and get your ppms to 300 -400 if under 6 in so you dont burn em or put em in toxic shock. then check your ph(5.5-6.5). For me it seems like a full teaspoon is about 150 ppm (with Moon Dust). I think u should def dillute your res. water though cause if you look at the chart it doesnt call for over a 1000 PPM until over 12 inches tall and usually when you switch to flowering. GL Hope this helps. Fix water asap PPM, PH and keep temperature up and lights fairly close and you can leave it for 2 or 3 days and see how much PPM its used if its used it add a lil at a time 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. If PPM is same dont add, IF PPM is more add water to offset balance. That is a good guideline I found on one of these threads about nutrient levels. Oh and the PH is actually just as important if not more important the nutes. You can save them dont panic GL Im ready to see some pics of tall budding beauties.

A good way to siphon rez would be to use a Python. I use one to change the water in my fish tanks. Buy it at a local pet store. It hooks to your bathroom faucet. Works wonders. You can even use your bathtub if you want to save the nutes for your outdoor garden.

Hey thanks. But I don't have access to a faucet where my res is. Can you recommend one that works independently? I can siphon to the sump pump in my grow area. it would help a lot. I saw a couple online that battery operated. But I would.appreciate any. Help you can give.
Thanks