First Timer looking for Any Tips/Advice

Well as the title says, first time I've taken on the task of growing Marijuana and I'm sure there are plenty of things I have done wrong a long the way but hey that's half the fun it! I've grown plenty of other things in soil before and with all the "new" talk about aeroponics my curiosity was peaked so I decided that would be the way I would go.

Just for a general idea of what I am running, it's a basic do-it-yourself aeroponic setup using a rubbermaid tub, pvc piping/pump/sprinkler heads for the watering system. Plants are in Rockwool surrounded by the expanded clay pebbles.

For lighting I am using six 4ft 40watt 2325lumen 6500 Kelvin Floro tubes. I have been keeping them about an inch to an inch and a half away from the plants. I have only had the six tube lighting for a week and a half now, before that due to budget restraints I only had 2 of the same tubes on them and the plants were not in the aeroponic tub yet. I had them planted ready to go sitting in two plastic bins in a straight line under the two bulbs.

Didn't plan well but like I said, screwing up is half the fun!

So you have a general idea of what I've done so far, I can give a quick recap of what has gone on so far in the grow. Around 4/20 (yes I know) I started to germinate about 15 mystery seeds. Out of that 15, 12 of them cracked and put on a tap root! I didn't have the rockwool at the time so I bought a cheap-o mini greenhouse seedling starter at Home Depot and placed my seeds in the little rounds of soil provided with the greenhouse. Typical stoner, didn't fully read the instructions and left the plastic top on a bit to long heh and the first 3 that sprouted became long and stringy stems. Figured all that out on 4/26, removed the top and everything proceeded fine.

Rockwool and Expanded Clay pebbles arrived the next week and I transplanted all of the sprouts into rockwool cubes. I was worried that the long stringy ones were a lost cause (hadn't found this website yet) so I figured I would try to save them by making a long round piece of rock wool, cutting a cylinder out of the center, then wrapping the stem around it and then closing the other rockwool piece around it. One of the stems pinched during this process but the others looked fine... crossed my fingers and hoped for the best!

As I said I only had 2 floro tubes at this time and had all the plants in a straight line directly under them. I was unsure how well rockwool retained water... found out it does REALLY well when two plants died to over watering. Cut back water and basically waited to see when the first signs of dehydration appeared. Plants started to wilt after about a day and half without water. Been watering them every other day since then. This entire time I was also misting the leaves oh.. about 3-4 times a day and an oscillating fan was on them as well. I moved the fan around every 2-3 days just for kicks more than anything else.

Finally got all the parts for the grow box around 5/16... backwards I know but live and learn. Built it and popped the plants in their new home on 5/17. I had been off and on giving them a deluded mix of fresh water and a 8-0-0 fertilizer. Didn't want to over do anything but I knew they needed something. Since getting the box set up I have been giving them a deluded mix of 24-8-16 fertilizer once every 2 days. In addition I have also been turning the pump on for 10 seconds every few hours just to wet the clay pebbles on the outsides of the cups along with the roots that are starting to push out of the sides and bottom of the cups.

While I was being curious about leaks and running the pump more than just the regular watering one of the plants got Nutrient burn but as of today it hasn't gotten any worse and the plant looks fine in those regards.

And then here we are today. Nine of the original 12 plants still remain and are basking under 18/6 in about 55-60% humidity all day long. I have been taking photos of them each night since 5/17 just for my own personal curiosity wanting to see how much they are growing from day to day. I will put in a few from the 5/17 and ones from 5/23 of the same plants. They are all top down because floro gives you some lovely black bars otherwise. As of today I am just a few days over 4 weeks from starting to germinate seeds.

My only concerns at this point is a few of them seem droopy even with their regular water. Since they are probably 9 different strains it's hard to say if it's just normal or something wrong but I figured maybe someone might know on these boards. Plant on the right is the one in question.


Same plant from the top.


Also, if anyone else is doing an aeroponic grow and could give me some advice on what type of watering schedule works best it would be much appreciated. I haven't found much information on it anywhere and I'd like to know what works well before purchasing a timer for the pump.

The pictures below are all from 5/17 right after being put in the completed grow box. Not sure why I only took pictures of 6 but whatever.




Realized later it was god damn hard to tell one from the other so labeled them! These pictures are from today.





Last picture here is the droopy one today. Also the one that got slight nutrient burn.

Hey Hal,

Nice first post. This is my second post, but I am not new to growing.

Ok, there are lots of things going on with your setup.

Maybe answer these questions before we can further diagnose:

How large is your reservoir?
Names of all fertilizers and their n-p-k ratios?
Do you measure the pH of your nutrient solution?
Source water? Tap/Well/RO?


If I understand correctly, underneath the plants (in your reservoir) is a pump submerged in nutrient solution.. It goes an and sprinkles the bottoms of your plants every so often? Is this right?


OK, please reply. stick to the facts. You can still fix this if you act now.

Tommy

I'm pretty new here myself, have been lurking and doing alot of research. I am doing all organic in soil so my grow is different then yours. Comparing my plants at 4-5 weeks to yours and them stalks on yours are kind of spindly? I am interested in all ways of growing so plz dont take insult to your plants. take a look at my Qrazy train planst on the post i made in organics and you will see what im talking about. Also with hydro i think your going to have to get a ph pen and one with tds or ec to determine your real strentgh of solution. Also i know alot of people have to chill thier resevior to keep the water temps ideal.

How large is your reservoir?

45gallon tub with I'd say 10 gallons of water within. Enough to be about 3inches above the top of the pump.

Names of all fertilizers and their n-p-k ratios?

Simple Miracle Grow all purpose plant food 24-8-16. The Box said 1tablespoon for every 1 gallon. I used 2 tablespoons for the 10 gallons.

Do you measure the pH of your nutrient solution?

I have not been measuring it no, however it's on the list this weekend to get a tester.

Source water? Tap/Well/RO?

Tap. In the tub right now is tap water that I let sit for 5 days if I recall correctly.

If I understand correctly, underneath the plants (in your reservoir) is a pump submerged in nutrient solution.. It goes an and sprinkles the bottoms of your plants every so often? Is this right?

Click to expand...

Correct.

NorcalAbdiver said:

Comparing my plants at 4-5 weeks to yours and them stalks on yours are kind of spindly?

Click to expand...

This was also a bit of a concern! I had forgotten about that heh.

Dude you need to invest in some hydro nutrients.
You need the micros, and I'm not sure that miracle grow has them.
Buy a bottle of flora gro, or foxfarm grow.
They are one part nutrients, good for starters.
I know FoxFarm is pretty pH stable, and as long as you got a decent sized res, you could get away without measuring pH on your first grow.

And do you have an air pump in your reservoir? or a water pump?
When you say you're growing aero, it makes it sound like you have a water pump running to some sprayers

When you say you're growing aero, it makes it sound like you have a water pump running to some sprayers

Click to expand...

It is indeed a water pump running to sprayers.


Also just so it's out there, I am not against scraping the aeroponic and putting them in soil just to get the first grow through and then screw with areoponic at a later date.

As if hearing my concerns the stalks have definitely bulked up in the past 12 hours. I've been spraying the leaves a bit more since I first posted and a lot of the plants have perked back up. The one I was concerned about is still a bit droopy though.

hello to all am new here and a novice grower i have 3 k2 plants on a simple indoor closet set up but the problem i have is identifying one of the plants i no 2 are female as they have those little white hairs but this orther one is just growing fast but just leaves its about 2ft tall now but i cannot tell which it is am on a 18/6 cycle at the mo can anyone help pleae thanks

So a quick update.

I woke up yesterday to find a few of the new leaves had scorched tips. After searching the forums all signs pointed to it being basically a deficiency. I lifted up the lid to get a peak inside and sure enough all the of had finally moved their roots out of the larger piece of rock wool.

Since I had seen that I figured what the hell, lets see if they are ready for 24hrs of the pump being on. Kept an eye on them off and on during the day just to make sure they weren't getting over watered.

It's now been about 36hrs with the pump on and they are all looking great. There are no signs of Nutrient burn at all and all the droopiness is gone. Stalks are continuing to thicken as well.

So all in all everything seems to be resolved and plants are progressing nicely.