Best setup fro Veg? Soil vs Bubble vs Drip vs Ebb

Black SS

Active Member
Hello RIU
I'm new here and have seen many different examples of great grow setups. Every one has there own opinons on what works best for them. i was originaly going to start with a drip irragation but i seen a few grows with bubbleponics that made me change my mind. What i'm trying to do is give my plants the best start off as possible. Any infomation, grow pictures or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks~ Black SS
 

nickbbad

New Member
Well have you grown before? And what kind of $ you looking to spend ? If its you first grow soil is the most forgiving and easiest but if you have experience and the $ and are planning on growing a lot of weed you may want to think about the others cause they take a little less time and you don't have to constantly be buying and getting rid of soil. as far as yield and quality you'll probably get close to the same amount no matter what you use unless you fuck something up. And as far as which hydroponics system to use I think its mainly a matter of preference <<< although drip systems have a tendency to clog if you dont get big enough tubes.
 

olosto

New Member
Hi! Sort new med grower here.

I'm new so my opinion is worth what ya paid for it but here goes.

After researching stuff on this site and others, I went with a rubbermaid 14l tub and 6 3.75 inch netpots with hydroton and the 3 fox farm (hydro gro big, tiger bloom, big bloom) nutes. I installed 2 14 (2.99) inch airstones to one of the walmart double outlet air pumps ($10), and tubeing 2 bucks. The rubbermaid was 4.50. This setup is STILL producing for me. I got a 15 dollar ph pen and a 15 dollar ppm pen from ebay, makes life so much easier!

Its really cheap and easy to get setup and actually works well!

If you shop around for lights there are some really good deals out there. I just picked up a lightly used lumatek 600w for 128 and another cooltube (i think they are rejects but still work fine..) for 15 bucks. It needed the cordset for that was 27. Basically 300 for a producing 600w setup. I can't guarntee you will find light bargins like that but surely for 200 you could get a nice 400w setup. I also got a tent that was 100. Each piece was bought slowly, you don't need to blow your wad all at once. These babies take some time to grow!
 

Black SS

Active Member
Thanks Nickbbad
I am a new grower, this will be my first grow. i'm not in a rush to grow, id rather do it right the first time. I don't want to have a huge grow, just about 6-10 plants flowering at a time. I'm just taking my time picking up supplys... I have picked up few things, most of the supplys i would need for a drip or an ebb and flow. i'll put up pics of the supplys i have picked up a little later.
 

Xan2

Well-Known Member
If you can afford hydro then go for it. You would get bigger yeilds. It's not so complicated, soil can be as much trouble if not more when growing lots. Drip, ebb&flow, dwc are all good for vegetation. I have my self a ebb table a dwc tub and few dirt grow... and i would say DWC is the way to go... veg and flower.... grow faster... but they are all good. Soil is cheaper.
 

Black SS

Active Member
Hey Guys
I'm sorry I can't post the pictures, every time i try it says unable to complete task because of missing security token... what ever that means:confused:... hopefully i will get a reply from an admin soon to help me outm unless one of you guys know what i'm doing wrong... please advise? Black SS
 

Black SS

Active Member
If you can afford hydro then go for it. You would get bigger yeilds. It's not so complicated, soil can be as much trouble if not more when growing lots. Drip, ebb&flow, dwc are all good for vegetation. I have my self a ebb table a dwc tub and few dirt grow... and i would say DWC is the way to go... veg and flower.... grow faster... but they are all good. Soil is cheaper.
Thanks Xan2,
Thats the kind of advise i'm looking for, i am planning on going hydro for flower but still haven't decided what setup i'm going to use for veg. My original plan was drip for veg but seen a few grows that started with bubbleponics for veg and the plants looked great.
 

Black SS

Active Member
There are a few pictures of the supplies i have already picked up. The only other things i think i may need to pick up are my flowering lights,(Still Don't know if i'm going to get a HPS or a T5 setup)my nutes, ph tester, and some Mylar. Any other advise would be appreciated :mrgreen:




 

nickbbad

New Member
if your going all out and getting a hydro setup definitely get yourself a HPS , otherwise your going to end up buying more and more cfls and they still wont do as good of job. how many plants are you doing and what kind of space do u have? You should also be thinking about ventilation. what kind of vent fan are you going to be getting and what youre going to be using for smell. also where are you venting 2. A 600 watt hps should do the trick for your setup. I like these fans cause there compact and quite https://www.rollitup.org/grow-room-design-setup/61475-these-fans-real-deal.html. Also here are a couple threads on smell by panhead https://www.rollitup.org/grow-room-design-setup/63004-my-3-carbon-filter.html and https://www.rollitup.org/grow-room-design-setup/86320-my-highest-reccomendation-inexpensive-unit.html. And about the mylar I personally hate the stuff because its hard to clean and rips easily . Panda paper(or simular) is a better alternitive or there is this stuff Sunleaves Ultreflect which you should be able to find at your hydroshop
 

Black SS

Active Member
if your going all out and getting a hydro setup definitely get yourself a HPS , otherwise your going to end up buying more and more cfls and they still wont do as good of job. how many plants are you doing and what kind of space do u have? You should also be thinking about ventilation. what kind of vent fan are you going to be getting and what youre going to be using for smell. also where are you venting 2. A 600 watt hps should do the trick for your setup. I like these fans cause there compact and quite https://www.rollitup.org/grow-room-design-setup/61475-these-fans-real-deal.html. Also here are a couple threads on smell by panhead https://www.rollitup.org/grow-room-design-setup/63004-my-3-carbon-filter.html and https://www.rollitup.org/grow-room-design-setup/86320-my-highest-reccomendation-inexpensive-unit.html. And about the mylar I personally hate the stuff because its hard to clean and rips easily . Panda paper(or simular) is a better alternitive or there is this stuff Sunleaves Ultreflect which you should be able to find at your hydroshop
Thanks Nickbbad
I was originally going to go with a Lumatek 600 w HPS light setup but then I started reading these post that recommend T5 over HPS because of the different color bulbs that can be used in at the same time giving your plants the best light needed during flowering. Also the fact that you can put the light extremely close to plants without burning them producing a more compacted buds and better yield. Also the T5 lights are suppose to be better because they don’t produce as much heat and use less energy than a HPS system. Some people here also say that the lumens between T5 and HPS are comparative because of the usable light the plants receive. Like I said before , I am new grower and don’t know much about the ends and out of production, all I’m trying to do is get as much information as I can so I can make a educated decision on what would be best for my setup. Ok, to answer your other questions, I’m planning on growing 6 - 10 plants at a time. I have my whole basement to set up my grow rooms so space is not an issue for 6 -10 plants I believe. I don’t know much about ventilation helpfully someone can help me out with that. I and as for fans I was just going to pick up a 8 -12 in oscillating fan from someplace like HD or Walmart. I was told that mylar was better than black and white poly paper but I haven’t done research on that either, I just know never use foil unless you want your house to burn down. I Believe I answered all the question. Thanks again for all the advice, and please keep it coming ~ Black SS
 

M Blaze

Well-Known Member
T5 over HPS? Nope I dont think so. HPS all the way in my opinion but MH can also be good for vegging.
 

Black SS

Active Member
Thanks Nickbbad for the links on inline fans and the zero smell units. They might be my next purchase because i still haven't decided onwhich lightsetup to buy yet ~ Black SS :lol:
 

Black SS

Active Member
T5 over HPS? Nope I dont think so. HPS all the way in my opinion but MH can also be good for vegging.

I don't know about lighting, i'm not even close to being expert just looking at both sides of the

Thanks for your side M Blaze ~ Black SS:mrgreen:
 

nickbbad

New Member
I have never seen T5's produce more than HPS. I have also never seen a long time grower using T5's over a HPS. As far as mylar over The white stuff mylar is more reflective but it also degrades quicker. I use to use it on my walls and it works fine in the beginning but the shiny stuff rubs off with use.. any crinkles in it will cause the shiny stuff to start falling off and if you try to clean it on a wall the wall will actually start to scrape off the mylar. so after about 2-3 grows you have light going through the mylar instead of reflecting off of it kind of like if you scratched the back of a mirror. Ok now to the ozone generator if you are going to use it make sure you have it in a completely seperate area because although it works great (much better than a carbon filter in my opinion) it can be harmful to you and your plants so read up on it. My friend uses a scubber box with one in it which is basically a sealed box that all exhaust air goes through before it heads outside, again read it up on it and ask someone(like panhead) on the proper setup for it in your situation, it may or may not be the best solution for odor control for you.
 

Black SS

Active Member
Thanks for the input, I will be using the black and white panda paper in place of the mylar. I was thinking about it and even if it doesn't work as well as the the Mylar i wouldn't want to have to continually replace it every few months. I want my grow to be a well oiled machine with as little maintenance as possible. Thanks ~ Black SS
 

toostonedto

Active Member
Old thread I know, but why would one hydro system be better for veg vs flower? Are different systems better for different phases? eg. veg and flower? I would assume whatever is good for veg would be good for flower
 
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