First time drip-system grower. Help much appreciated!

Ive only grown once before outdoors in soil so this is my first time to use a hydro kit... so im still kind of uncertain if im doing everything correct.

How many times a day should I be watering up until flowering? I am using "Bontanicare Power Plant" in the tap water.

Anything I should know or should be doing differently? Thanks a bunch!

Off we go!

well watering depends on the plants' particular need so before watering, pick up the bucket and get a feel for the dry weight, after that start off watering once a day, when its time to water again feel the weight of the bucket, it feels empty move to twice a day, and so on. youll most likely have to water them 2-3 times a day by the time you get to flowering..... as far as anything else u should know. try not to use tap water but if you must, let it age so the chlorine will evaporate. good luck

This drip system has Hi and Low speeds... and im using Hydroton rocks as my medium with "Power Plant" as my nutes... ill be using "Power Flower" later on.

How long before I can keep the drip system continuously running? Or would this be bad? I heard with hydroton rocks they do not hold any water, so running it continuously would be an option.

Also... when im ready to flower, what does "flushing it" mean? Just continuously let pH'ed water with no nutes run for 2 weeks before harvest?

Thanks a bunch, this website has helped a TON!

well im not too familiar with drip systems but i dont think running continuously would be good. only thing that concerns me is that yes clay pebbles dont absorb water at all so you medium should be like a good 4inch rockwool cube submerged in the pebbles. the rockwool holds water real well so thats what i mean about continuously drip might be too much. but try low drip as the plants mature. if they dont get water logged or even more get light the speed it up.

u can flower as soon as 2-4 weeks but for good results shoot for 6 weeks.

flushing is running nute free water or even an actual flush product as the plants feed to get rid of the chemical residue and such. do it two weeks before harvest but also flush your plants every 2 weeks just to keep em clean. itll provide a better nutrient uptake and a better taste at the end.

Hey everyone,

Im using a 5 gallon drip system and im on day 12 or so. They are looking awesome! I had a few questions however.

The roots are now stretching down past the hydroton rocks and are submerged into the water 24/7. I, however, do not let the water pump 24/7. I turn it on about 2-3 times a day and feed them that way. Do you think i should keep the water dripping around the plant 24/7 for now on? The roots are already growing down into the bucket and into the water so im not sure if letting it run all day would hurt anything.

The leaves also contain a white residue on the edges and other parts of the plant. It this from the nuted water? Its all over the bucket I have the plant growing in as well where the water splashes. Is this just the nutes drying up from the light and leaving that residue? Im not sure if this is something i should be concerned about or not...

Thanks for any replies ill get some pics up at around week 2 for everyone to see!

bump. Anyone know if this thing should be running continuously? The roots have grown down into the bucket im not sure if the roots are fine being submerged in the water 24/7 without the pump running.

WEELLLLL noone wants to comment lol so here are some pictures!

2 weeks in... what does everyone think!??!?

Must be workin' they are growing like weeds. Q what are they? VV

This guy is getting HUGE and FAST! 3 days into week 3 of veg...

What do yall think so far?

Definitely run that thing 24/7. If the tap roots get submerged in stagnant water, they will drown. Those are looking very nice by the way. Are you only growing one? If so, you should consider adding a couple in case it turns out to be male. What strain?

Are you testing Ph? Are you testing your ppms? What are you using besides the power plant? Are you using any fungus/rot preventative like Hydroguard? What is the temp in your grow room lights on / lights off? Humidity? The more info you provide, the more we can help!

Its supposedly some "jamacian dro" strand... but i didn't actually get to see the bud from it. Im testing the ph every day but i dont have anything to test the PPM with. Im just changing out the water every week and using the suggested "Botanicare Power Plant" amount in my water with Hydrogaurd for the roots.

Im closet growing and just keeping it open when im home with fan on but im not sure of temp. Im gonna hopefully get fan in there soon.

You need to check out potroast thread on hydro. Clay pellets, hydroton is not good for a drip system. Your roots have overcome this problem by growing in to the water? You might want to mount the drip line under the lid and put a mister on it, BANG aero. You really should have a ppm meter. If you can't get one right now, make sure your are topping off your tank every day, adding ph'd water back to the original water level, not ideal but adequete for starting. If you can keep your plant looking like that, nice and green you will probably be alright.
If you are in it for the long haul I recommend the BlueLab Truncheon. $135.00 best investment I made early. VV

shes lookin good so far! all the younger leaves are dying and the smaller ones as well... but the top leaves all look good. i still dont have a ppm reader but im testing ph every day and using the amount of nutes suggested by Power Plant.

What do yall think? Remember this is my first hydro grow ever

First day of week three. I really hope its a female!! Are there any early signs of what sex its going to be? Or am i going to have to just wait?

lol... noone?

look for pre-flowers above the 4th node. i use a handheld micro scope from radioshack, heres a LINK to it. list for $10.99. you can use to detect pre-flowers much earlier then with your eye. may take 4 weeks it may take 5 or longer before you will see anything.

Its a female! Four or so pistils have popped up... 1 more week of veg then I start flowering

Give me some feedback!

hopefully someone can give me some imput this time

im moving to flowering in 3-5 days. what do you guys think of her? shes sooo green!!

already smells delicious...

your girl looks really good. nice internode spacing too, are you going to top her before you go into flower?

Well im still new at growing indoor/hydro. How do i "top" her before i go into flowering? Im running out of room and if she keeps growing vert i have no idea what im going to do . Any suggestions?

Also i want to flush her before i go into flowering. Should i just feed her plain water for a day before adding my blooming nutes? Any suggestions of things to do as I move into flowering?

Thanks for all the help cant wait till she really starts to bud! (pre-flowers are popping up everywhere )