Trying hydro, closet grow.

:pimp:Ok, i'm now about 3-4 days into my first hydro experiment.

I am using Hydrofarms Emily's Garden, for my veg system, it is a 3 gallon, dwc/wick, 6 plant, 6 inch square pot, hydroton system... i started the plants in moss starter plugs, each one completely random bagseed ranging from 1-5 years old, each plant most likely different strain. i put 3 plugs in the bottom of a water bottle (2x), and that in a sealed(reflective tape on seams) shoebox, lined with mylar, covered with saran wrap. I put them under 6, 26 watt, 6500k cfls***, with a reflector made of cardboard covered in mylar, placed as close as i could efficiantly place them. The closet is 2ftx5ftx5.5ft, it has 2 layers of black pvc plastic, and 1 layer of mylar. It stays aproximately 74-85 degrees at plant level, with a RH of 30-40%. There is plenty of air flow, and turbulance. The ph of my nutes is 6.5 when applied... currently only using a very dilute solution of liquid karma and gh crappy floro nova grow (works fantastic as a general foliar spray on all plants).

I have the system in the closet, with a mylar curtain to one side. right now the plants, due to different start dates, range in size .25in.-1in. all looking very healthy and different...

I have a 400 watt mh/hps remote ballast, but i have yet to get a cordset and bulb. I am waiting to get a dayton 4" fan, and make my own "bake-a-round" DIY cooltube. I just bought a big bag of "fresh steps- crystals" kitty litter to make my own homemade carbon scrubber. I found a nice little RH/temp digital gauge at HD for about 12 bucks. I replaced the two, 2", airstones, for one, 18"

***I bought 1 lamp wiring kit, some 12 gauge wire, 2 extra light sockets, and 3 "Y" light adapters. after wiring the 3 light sockets together (three-to-one), i put the Y adapters in, i tied each of the three sockets evenly to the bottom of a coat hanger, (coat hanger is my 6 bulb lamp) plugged it up, made my homemade reflector and BOOM... homemade 156 watt, 9600 lumen cfl, fixture


I am wondering, i will probably flower in a 2x3 ft space with a 400 watt hps, i will swap plants into a bigger system for flowering. how many plants can i shove into this area efficiantly, and what method of Hydro is best for my conditions... i only have about 5 ft effective grow heigth, and would like to build a system myself. I have plans to SCROG. I just need ideas on a system, i don't know if 3.5 gal buckets with an airstone is good enough to get "A" level plants.

I know dealing with random genetics makes things hard to really maintain, but hopefully out of these six plants i can find at least ONE nice mother

I will try to keep updates, and there might even be picture in the future. Thanks for the view:thumbsup

Day 5- update
temps, 78-88*F
plants, 5
lights, 6x26watt cfl.
ph, 6.0
growth level- 2-3nodes, compact
Well, i have had a few difficulties, and random events pertaining to my grow these past couple days. All of the plants are having really good growth. one plant was way behind and didn't want to root, so i pulled that plant. one plant is very lime color, with an odd yellowing, not sure quite what the issue is, still researching. I found a way to get a clone, something called "Lemon Skunk #1". that will be about a week. My local hydro shop is slacking hardcore. they havn't been open any of the 6 times i have been there, during open hours. so i am having a hard time getting nutes and some random equip. BUT i helpped a friend adjust his growroom, and get rid of mites. And we exchanged alot of good information, and i learned quite a bit. not to mention, we smoked a little good smoke. I ran into a pseudo-rasta friend, and his "queen"... enjoyed a nice little chat about plants and good vibes.... ya mon... lol

i am going to a grow shop depot about an hour away this weekend, hopefully score some good nutes, bulbs, and a fan... i have a tri-meter comming my way, that will be really nice.

*i have no idea if it is real lemon skunk #1

aww..no pics? oh well
im pullin for yah, and your girls!

there will be, but i am not ready for them... plus i am just tuning things right now...

when i get the lemon skunk clones, my good nutes, tri-meter, and 400watt up this weekend, there will be some pics

THANKS alot for the encouragement, hydro is fun/difficult


UPDATE: btw the ph ran high last night, so i changed out the res, and put mylar on top of the hydro system (underneath plants)... plants are responding, but i won't know more till this evening

lemon skunk.... sounds yummy... What kind of nutrients are you getting? I recommend GH FloraNova and Bonticare's pure blend pro...
And if you have the extra cash buy an eye hortilux bulb... those are badass... and get a good hood too

i am using GH floranova and botanicare's liquid karma, for right now... i am going to be getting some dutch master products from a friend, and yea, the lemon skunk mom is an awsome plant. i just got my hortilux yesterday, AAMOF


Just to keep updated, SORRY NO PICS YET... just been doing this in my spare time, in secret, but i promise to have a good pic and break down of the grow. ANYWAYS, stirred the res, and switched plant position yesterday, putting the smaller, younger plants in the most light. all the plants are growing VERY nicely right now... all of them showing very similar growth right now, my first fan leaves are popping up, so in a week i should be able to tell more difference in the plants... but basically, everything is running the same/normal, since the res swap.

I DID find some "NO-PEST-STRIPS" at walmart today, and went ahead and got one, so i can have it on handy should i see any spider mites in this grow.

OH And i made a homemade co2 generator, with; yeast, sugar and water, in a bottle.

life is good, gonna go smoke with my babies now, they need a little bath, of clean water, my foliar spray leaves a residue

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HighTillIDie

i am using GH floranova and botanicare's liquid karma, for right now... i am going to be getting some dutch master products from a friend, and yea, the lemon skunk mom is an awsome plant. i just got my hortilux yesterday, AAMOF


Just to keep updated, SORRY NO PICS YET... just been doing this in my spare time, in secret, but i promise to have a good pic and break down of the grow. ANYWAYS, stirred the res, and switched plant position yesterday, putting the smaller, younger plants in the most light. all the plants are growing VERY nicely right now... all of them showing very similar growth right now, my first fan leaves are popping up, so in a week i should be able to tell more difference in the plants... but basically, everything is running the same/normal, since the res swap.

I DID find some "NO-PEST-STRIPS" at walmart today, and went ahead and got one, so i can have it on handy should i see any spider mites in this grow.

OH And i made a homemade co2 generator, with; yeast, sugar and water, in a bottle.

life is good, gonna go smoke with my babies now, they need a little bath, of clean water, my foliar spray leaves a residue

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Hell yeah.. you got the same nutes i got... you'll love them i guarantee it. The floranova has a good sorce of molassess which gives the buds and extremely sweet taste and the liquid karma is a great foliar feed. I would spray them down 5 minutes before the light turned on and they LOVED it. And the yeast and sugar-water idea is good too. Use alot of sugar... the more sugar the longer the yeast will produce. and shake it up once a day(becasreful not to shake it up too much..) after about 2 weeks u should switch it out or make some more solution. Use about a third of the old sugar-water so the next batch wont take as long to get started. The plants only really need the co2 boost in the later staged of flowering. Itll help them grow bigger and finish slightly faster. Also you can make alcohol from the fermented sugar water.. sugarwater+yeast=alcohol:cool:.. but yeah which hydro store u goto... u live up in TN right?

Do you have email?

i don't go to a store now, this one hasnt been open in a week.

update, plants healthy. got 2 clones infected with mites, using my no pest strip

one of the clones is in fox farm soil, one hydro.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HighTillIDie

i don't go to a store now, this one hasnt been open in a week.

update, plants healthy. got 2 clones infected with mites, using my no pest strip

one of the clones is in fox farm soil, one hydro.

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Go to WAR!!! I fuckin hate spider mites.... they attacked 8 flowering plants of mine and i couldnt spray them with neem cause i didnt wanna smoke neem right... well the spider mites took over! they made webs everywhere and totaled my crop in a mater of weeks. i had to harvest about a week and a half early... We still havent gotten them out and its been 3 months. They just wont leave!!! i quit growing there after the first attack but my friends are still plagued... Kill every single mite fucker you can.... do it for me;).... I fuckin hate spider mites... i have dreams about being mite-size with a 50 calibar turret gun on a mite infested plant and just gettin that ass... but... yeah get some good strong mitecide and kill everylast one

First, I should say, this grow is based on alot of the DIY stuff i have read on the internet, and mainly here. I have grown so many times, in soil, and outdoors. So i wanted to step my game up and experiment. I know i can get spray for the plants that will kill mites, but the pest strip is just like an air freshner of bug ass kicking, suposedly. SO theoretically it will clean the room, dirt, plants, ect. I am just playing with this crop, so if mites set in, i can always nuke their ass. BUT lets hope this little cannacom tip works:thumbsup:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HighTillIDie

First, I should say, this grow is based on alot of the DIY stuff i have read on the internet, and mainly here. I have grown so many times, in soil, and outdoors. So i wanted to step my game up and experiment. I know i can get spray for the plants that will kill mites, but the pest strip is just like an air freshner of bug ass kicking, suposedly. SO theoretically it will clean the room, dirt, plants, ect. I am just playing with this crop, so if mites set in, i can always nuke their ass. BUT lets hope this little cannacom tip works:thumbsup:

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thats what i thought .... it isnt so easy... and mites spread...

well i have had them for 2 days now, and i have had the pest strip running inbetween all the plants. No new damage, no webs, no visible spiders. The clones that i got were damaged from the mite problem, and now they are now showing signs of new growth, and recovery. They are hard to get rid of, but my area is easily contained, and i have had plenty of practice killin them... i had a whole year to fight them about 5-6 years ago, when i did a big soil grow. i also decided to introduce the clones early in the project, so it gives me longer to monitor and combat the prob. I may jack the heat and humidity up for a few days before flowering to try and induce any mites left. I am thinkin about FIMn a plant or two, but i'm not sure. this is gonna be a scrog grow, so i think the FIM method would be beneficial if my plant responded right.

the thing with spidermites is they lay eggs.... so like a dozen or so will lay their eggs and then u may kill them and think they are gone... until a few days later and they explode again... Make sure you are checkin really good under the leaves... thats where they lay their eggs and stay most of the time. The webs wont come until it really starts getting bad. I would get some neem and soon as possible..

hehehehe, thanks for the advice earthy, i love helpful people. But ya, i know all too well about the ferocity of mites... i have done danced with them before, and won... albeit i greatly suffered casualties... including one of the tallest trees i have ever grown... it's my "almost grew a monster" story... but yea, if there is one egg in the grain of wood, with right climate it can have over 400 babies an hour. and they can sit for a looooong time waiting.

UPDATE: i am keeping the info almost daily... it helps me to look back and read this to track everything. SO, there are now signs of ph swings, so i am going to go get some RO water, tonight, and do a nice res change. I have a few very healthy looking plants with a couple little brown spots dotting some leaves. and i have two plants that have a couple yellowing tipped leaves, even though there is no serious yellowing, i can tell there is an issue... i am really helpless without my tri meter... sigh. ANYWAYS, i am pressing on.... no signs of webs, eggs, or arachnids... the damaged clones, have done a great turn around, and perked up considerably... i knew the one would, because of how badly root locked it was when i transplanted it.

BUT even with my unknown ppm and untamed ph, i am still shocked by the growth of these plants, and their general vigor. my hat is off to cfl's for first month vegging ability.

You can use neem all the way up until the harvest day. What i did to rid them when i was using soiol was to not water for a few days letting the top soil dry out. Then i would take them outside oer put them in the sink and run water in them until it began to overflow. This got the eggs out and from that time on ididnt have a problem. If your not too careful with neem u can really hurt a plant. just my ywo scents!!:hippy: