1st time grower w/ bubbleponics system, NL x Skunk 1

Hello everyone, so this is my 1st grow ever, and this is my set up...

- 20"x36"x64" grow tent
- complete Stealth hydro bubbleponics system
- 2 85watt CFLs w/ reflectors ( each bulb is pushing 4200 lumens @ 6500K )
- small desk fan
- complete set of fox farm nutrients and schedule
- 3 Northern light x skunk #1 (fem)

So, I started this a week ago and just got the tent today and set it up. I started the seeds in wet paper towel in a zip lock bag, after 24 hours I switched them to rockwool cubes that had been soaking, and placed them in the bubbleponics system. Now I had some problems with two of the seeds ( I broke one transplanting and another pushed itself out of the rockwool over night and died ). So I had to start two more seeds a couple of days after ( one is looking good the other still hasnt popped ). I just started nutes at 1/2 the recommended dosage on sunday, and the plants seem to be taking it well. Also I've got them on 18/6 for a light schedule. Otherwise thats about all I can think of right now, but please feel free to give advice since this is my first grow, thanks for looking.

Just a quick add, the tall plant is 7 days old, and the shorter one is 4 days old, still waiting on the third to pop...

Im getting the 400 hps/400mh with 53,000 lumens. nice to see bubbleponics in action. I have a slightly larger tent at 4x4x7. And also getting the northern lights, train wreck, ak48 auto. Do you use areomisters? Or have you ever. I would lighten up on the nutes a bit so you don't burn your little girls. Happy growing

Thanks for the comments rome, yeah I plan on flowering with a 400w hps or maybe a 250w, not sure yet. I dont have a aeromister going, and I have never used one. I just have a water pump in the reservior w/ an air pump and 2 airstones going. I need to upgrade my air pump thou, I tried to split the one pump to both airstones but its not stong enough to push for both. I'll keep my eye out for burning from the nutes but so far they seem to be taking it well.

So I decided to germ one more seed, its an extra I got from attitude called super critical haze, so hopefully I'll be adding it to the system soon...

So I've been looking at flowering lights and I'm not sure what to go with, I know I want a hps but I dont weather to get a 400w or a 250w. My tent is pretty small, would a 250w do the deed...anyone?

Hey, just some pics from today, Day 8 for the big one, day 5 for the little one

You'll want at the least 3,000 lumens per square foot. So you will need at least 15,000 lumens. Thats on the low side though so I would say go with the 400. Can't go wrong with more light. Better to have more than not enough.

Dude lower your lights quick, those are really streching!!! See the twisting stalk of pic 1. You'll want to be within 2in of your plants' tops. Otherwise they will strech out and might not make it. A suggestion if you want it. Go to home depot and get phillips fluor t12 plant bulbs and their budget shop ballast, 20 bucks total, and hang that 2in above the plants as the main light. Take the hoods off of the cfls and drop them next to the middle of the plants. The sooner you do this the better. You'll also want to cut a plastic straw down to just shorter than the plant in pic 1 and then slice the straw down the middle so you can fit it around the stem of plant 1. You'll want to run a 24 on light cycle for the 1st 4 wks. Make sure you keep the light close. That tasteling in pic 1 looks iffy so you should hurry. Also, good reading in the newb section is Mr. Widows article. If you need help just ask and I'll be more than happy to help. I am also interested in the bubbleponics system so am curious about preformance too. I would like to help you out so we can see how it works so I will subscribe. Also, careful with the fox farm. Use that cut in half to start and watch the ph.

I had a bubbleponics system similar to yours... I hope you added a release valve on the side to release nutes... i had to pick up the top lid with 6 five foot plats to change the nutrients...I suggest using coco coir...you could grow easier and alot more in that grow tent..Look it up

Okay, so I lowered my lights, I'll see about getting another light soon. I also put a cut straw on the tall plant. As far as growing more, the other NL x Skunk seed popped finally, as well as the super critical haze, so I added them both to the setup last night... So now I have the two plants and the two seedlings at this moment. Also, I took the water temp last night and it was in the low 80s, so I now have a fan blowing across the reservoir container and the water temp has dropped to the low 70s. I also dont have a release valve for the nutes I'm just adding them into the reservoir for right now.

Looks much better! I learned the hard way when I started. You want to focus on your roots and stems when they are seedlings. A good base will help you in the long run. Do you have a ph meter? I would get one of these as soon as you can. The release valve is not mission critial but adding that will take away headaches in the long run. The ph meter, the release valve, and the fluor lights can all be found easily at lowes or home depot and probably for no more than $50. More like 40 and under, I just picked up these items last night for around $35 but could have spent 50 if I wanted topline stuff.

I'm about to run to home depot right now, could someone elaborate on how the release valve works w/ the nutes, thanks!

You need the release valve so you can empty your res and refresh your water and nute solution. Think of your res as a fish tank with a beta fish and no filter or cirulator. After a while the water will be usless to the fish because it is full of poopies and has no oxygen. Kinda the same concept with the plants. After a while the water will stagnate and will need to be changed. You need warm temp, food, and water to create bacteria. Your res will become a living petre dish that does not like plants. So the release valve will enable you to easily drain off old water. you will not need to drain alot out just enough to have a enough freshness to the water. So if its five gallon res you would want to take out 2.5 gal at least. My suggestion is to buy a cheapo release valve and get some 1/4in clear tubing about 3-4 ft long. Attach the tubing to the release valve. If you go to the plumbing section look for quick connect release valves. A word on FF nutes. Make sure you got the hydroponic nutes. You should be running big bloom right now while they are still seedlings. Some people might not agree with FF schedule but I do. Big bloom will help the seedling adapt to the nutes you will feed them later and also help with root growth and salt breakdown. After two weeks go to the grow big but at 1/2 what they say and build up to full strength after 3 weeks.

Does this help?

Dragon and Photo, thanks for the info. I'm surre he's happy with the help. Me too. I just got the basic same set up and just got my venus fly trap, and white castle,ak-48. I have 430w son with 6 site bubbleponics. Got the drain btw. With the air cooled tube light it should be cool enough to run a 190 cfm thru it to keep it cool? Also can I grow ak-48 auto's with the white castle? Just pull the auto's out when they are done? As that would be a month earlier. Thanks for the help in advance.

Normal, Im going to stick with this grow from babbies to full grown laddies. I'm going to be doing this exact set up almost to a T so I'd like to get and give info along the way. Mine can't start till may 1. Wife and I are going to myrtle beach for a week so I cant get them going. One thing you can do too is add CO2. Take 5 teaspoons of sugar in 4 cups of warm water and then add a brewer's yeast tablet, find it at any brew supply store. Place the bottle into the grow tent and as the mixture ferments it produces lot's of CO2. Replace this weekly. You have to turn off or turn down your exhaust fan for 15 min every so often to not lose the point of the CO2.

Hey guys, I just got back from petsmart picking up a dual air pump. So I went to home depot and I guess I went to the wrong one cause they didnt have shit. But I did see the light and ballast you were talking about lando but its to big for my tent! Its okay thou, I have another 85w cfl I'll be adding anyday now... but the spectrum it flowering, would that be okay? Also, I changed out my res today ( its 6 galllons ) and added the nutes, and yeah I made sure to get the hydroponic kind of ff lando. Oh and yeah I got a release valve on the bottom of my res! One last thing is after last night when the water temps were in the low 80s I noticed a smell of the water almost fishy like... i dunno, but I was thinking of starting to add hydrogen peroxide to the res, which I could definitly use some advice on, and if I should do or not do.

No norml I wouldnt add peroxide to the res for a couple of reasons. First, hydrogen peroxide is an oxidizer. If you add that in with your nutes and your ph is off you run the risk of a reaction. OK city booming was nitrogen mixed with phos and peroxide. Obv, you dont have pure peroxide and nothing will blow up, but their would be a chemical reaction and may render your nutes usless. Second, it will hurt the roots plain and simple. As long as you changed the water you will be fine that fishy odor is from organic nutes being in warm water.

As for the light you might want to get a stronger, 140w cfls, if you cant fit a fluor ballast in their. Sorry i didnt see the tent dimensions.

Romeo8. Yes just pull the autos out after they are done. Buy a microscope and check the tri's before you do that though. Better to wait till they fill out. As for growing an auto with a regular plant i wouldnt if they are in the same system. Different life cycles so different nutes. If you grow them together your ak will finish right before your white castle starts to sex and flower. They will not have a chance to flush and will also not have large buds. With some modification of your system you could maybe do this but it might be worth to just grow the autos first. If I was you I would try and clone the ak and just have fresh tastes all the time and not grow the white castle. Or grow the ak first and then the white castle. This would also give the white castle more space to grow.

As for cooling the light. 190cfms is alot of air movement, should be plenty to cool the light. 430w what though? MH? HPS?

430w son agro. It's a hps with 30% more blue spectrum than regular hps. Was going to get 400 hps and 400 mh switchable but the company got broken into and stole everything. lol I didnt want to wait. Getting the switchable one 2nd grow. Thanks for the info. Don't want to waste 1000 bucks on everything. I want to do it right.

Yeah I'm thinking of getting a switchable light so I dont have to deal with these cfls... like soon