First hydro grow any/all advice welcome

Hi all,
I've been following post on this site for about three years when I started growing. Judging by my progressively better grows, you folks know your horticulture. Many thanks.
So here is the jist of my setup. I'm a closet/cabinet grow (Closet is 30in wide, 7ft high, and 24in deep with matte white walls) and grow a single plant at a time. I had some issues with heat using MH and HPS, so for light I use a 200 watt CFL 5600k for veg and 2700k for flower (I actually own 2 of each type of bulb). I have always done soil grows in the past using distilled water (I own a water distiller) and miracle grow fertilizers. I can see the horror in your eyes, but I have gotten really good results with miracle grow, I swear. Also I grow from seed (bag seeds), no clones (right now at least). I have a magnifier to monitor trichomes, small fan, timers and surge protectors.
I would like to switch to a hydro setup. I'm looking a WaterFarm DWC It seems simple to operate plus it's expandable. Probably going to double up the bulbs to help get more light to the lower branches.
Does any of this sound like a bad idea? Any recommendations about nutes? Ph tester recommendations? Have I missed or forgotten anything. Any and all information will be much appreciated.

Well, you can make your own "waterfarm" bucket using stuff you probably got at home or is no farther away than your local hardware store.. I used the round 5 gallon buckets from Home Depot and made my waterfarm hardware using half inch CPVC pipe. see attached pics.

Anyway, it consists of a 12" cpvc pipe with a hole drilled near the bottom of the pipe that will facilitate a 1/4" tube that goes directly up out of the water.
So the pipe with the tubing end goes straight down near the bottom of the bucket. Then, hook the air pump up to the other end of the tube. You are basically pushing the air along inside the tube and it exits INSIDE the tube very near the bottom of the bucket. The air is pushed Down, and thereby bringing the water up out of the foot long pipe. From there on, its just a matter of putting an elbow on the top and leading the water coming up towards the middle of the bucket where you want the water to go. I use another CPVC pipe maybe 3" long add a tee, and then put a couple of 45s on each end, and have 3 places that the water pumps out to. You can also drill a couple of small holes in the pipe to release some of the nutes on the way out of the 45s.

keylime

Easiest and most affordable way to learn Hydro ............
3 or 5 gal bucket (Lowes or home dePOT, Lowes gray store bucket is already light proof)
Air pump (Walmart pet dept)
air stone (Walmart pet dept)
Bucket basket (Hydro shop of your choosing)
and a couple handfulls of Tron
should be less than $40 :jointsmile:
Btw 50 views and only 2 replys?? Got allot of shy peeps looks like.

I'm basically usine the set up tiny just explained

5 gal buckets with air pump And drip system from local organic store

Im on my 2nd grow right now and haven't had problems with it yet, easy to clean, maintain, and perfect if yu only got a few pants going

Check out a few of the threads I've started... i've got pics of the set up from when we could actually put pics up

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tinytoon

Easiest and most affordable way to learn Hydro ............
3 or 5 gal bucket (Lowes or home dePOT, Lowes gray store bucket is already light proof)
Air pump (Walmart pet dept)
air stone (Walmart pet dept)
Bucket basket (Hydro shop of your choosing)
and a couple handfulls of Tron
should be less than $40 :jointsmile:
Btw 50 views and only 2 replys?? Got allot of shy peeps looks like.

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the easiest, most affordable way would be to do hempy buckets. you need some one gal buckets, perlite and vermiculite. no moving parts, so if something fails your plants don't. and it's cheaper!


-shake

Ty for the correction Shake.
Is that a real friggin pumpkin or?????

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tinytoon

Ty for the correction Shake.
Is that a real friggin pumpkin or?????

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not trying to correct per se, just share my experience. you are the hydro man, i just tinker.

and it was a real pumpkin. i carved it, pretty much freehand. my wife drew it on, but i just cut where i felt and used it as a guide.


-shake

So you down graded your lighting due to heating issues? How your air circulation? Do you have an exhaust fan? How about odor control?

I did not actually downgrade the lighting. If you read my post you would see that for the size of my growing are the 200 watt cfl provides more than enough light and the Kelvin temps are right about where they ought to be. The 250 watt HPS I tried using before got the stand up closet I use too hot, about 82 degrees F. Plus I would have to keep the light further away meaning I would have to grow smaller plants. Since I grew'em bigger than average, about 5' to 5'-6" high (measured from soil top to cola), I get around 4 oz. a plant plus or minus a few grams. Since it is only one plant odor is not much of an issue and can easily be masked. No problem with ventallation as it stands right now. I was looking for more info about nutrients and ec/ppm meter.

you are getting four ounces off of one plant with a 200W CFL?

-shake

Yep, 4oz. off one plant give or take a gram or two. I have another question: "How do you germinate seeds in a DWC?". I can't seem to find too much good info on Hydro-germination. The info I have found is always contradictated by info somewhere else. Since all the best info I have gotten so far has come lfrom these forums, I figured I would go to the source.

About my lights SHAKE:
Brand: Maxlite
Model No: SKO200EA500
Wattage: 200 Watts
Voltage: 120V
Kelvin Temp: 5000k

Brand: Maxlite
Model No: SKO200EAWW
Wattage: 200 Watts
Voltage: 120V
Kelvin Temp: 5000k

And again if you look at the dimensions of my grow closet I do not need to light up a large area. Just enough light for one massive plant.

no special way to germ seeds for hydro. Get it to crack and put in medium then away it goes.
that 4 oz's off one plant, that wet or dry weight?? Pics of it would be great would love to see it.

About my lights SHAKE:
Brand: Maxlite
Model No: SKO200EA500
Wattage: 200 Watts
Voltage: 120V
Kelvin Temp: 5000k

Brand: Maxlite
Model No: SKO200EAWW
Wattage: 200 Watts
Voltage: 120V
Kelvin Temp: 2700k (corrected from previous post above.)

@Tiny: Thats dry weight of finished product (After reviewing my records total weight was 106.2 grams). Being an engineer, I treat this like a science experiment, and keep highly accurate and detailed records of my progress as a grower. The plant almost completely the filled closet and began pushing the doors open, it was also nearly seven feet tall!! The growth did NOT stop or slow at all during flowering, hence why it ended up being seven feet tall. My buddy who helps with the operation has photos. I'm waiting for him to email them to me. Trust me this in no bullshit. I hope I get those pics soon to show you guys. My goal as a grower is too grow the highest quality buds, maximize yeilds from a single plant, and most importantly, draw as little attention as possible. I would like to thank all of you with your helps so far.

Looking forward to seeing your buddy photos of your one plant and 4 oz of dry results :)

so you are flowering with 2x, 200W CFLs, or just one?

-shake

Just one bulb for flowering shake. I'm gonna go for 2 with my next grow. It should help the lower branches get more light, therefore producing denser buds below. With my last grow the cola was nearly half an ounce, but buds two and half feet and below from the bulb lacked in density. The high was a soaring, and energetic with little to no crash or burnt feeling later. High lasted about 2 hours. As of right now I got six grows under my belt, and each has been much better than the previous. I figured going hydro would also help increase density and as a result a more bountiful harvest. The following is a break down of my grows.

Grow 1: 8.6 grams- (no help, no info, no nutes, just soil a 3 gallon pot and 2 28 watt bulbs)

Grow 2: 17.4 grams- (same as before but now with nutes and flower booster)

Grow 3: 32.2 grams- (changed out the 2 28 watt CFLs for 2 68 watt CFLs)

Grow 4: 68.8 grams- (5 gallon pot with 3 68 watt bulbs)

Grow 5: 87.6 grams- (half way through veg switched to the 200 watt I'm using with reflective hoods)

Grow 6: 106.2 grams- (Used 200 watt CFLs for entire grow, 12 gallon bucket, got my nute cycle down to a system)

As you can see I just about doubled my harvest each time except grow 5 and 6 when I added about 25%.

The yield per watt works out like this:

Grow 1: 8.6 / 56 = .15 gm per watt

Grow 2: 17.4 / 56 = .31 gm/w

Grow 3: 32.2 / 136 = .24 gm/w

Grow 4: 68.8 / 204 = .34 gm/w

Grow 5: 87.6 / 200 = .44 gm/w (unreliable)

Grow 6: 106.2 / 200 = .53 gm/w

Interesting that the efficiency went up from 3x68w to 1x200w, even though they are nearly the same total watts. Also, interesting that the efficiency goes up as the watts go up. Maybe there is a certain minimum light level that's needed to get "nominal" yields, and below that the yield efficiency drops off sharply, in spite of the electrical efficiency of the bulbs.

I'm eagerly awaiting your results from a 2x200 grow! :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NugulousPrime

Since it is only one plant odor is not much of an issue and can easily be masked.

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A 5-7 foot tall plant that odor is not much of an issue? Grow a haze and see if thats still true lol.

5-7' plant with a 200w CFL... Only time ive seen good results with 6+ footers indoors was with 1000w vertical lighting. But those plants were much heavier than 4ozs. More like a pound.


Curious to see your pics.

I've got the cheapest method. I use 1/2gal,1gal and large coffee containers. I fill them with crushed lime rock(rinsed of course). I use dual air pumps and a 5way air splitter on each line from the pump, they cost $12.00 at walmart, $2.00 for 8ft air tubing and $4.00 for each air splitter. I use 400watt light on a light mover rail. I get 1-3 oz per/baby. My lights cost $20.00ea/month. Thats a harvest of 10 babies a month.

Speaking from personal experience doing DWC, I think you would do well with a well-crafted micro krusty bucket. Get 2 one or two gallon buckets of the same size that are stackable with an inch or more of room between when stacked. Drill a bunch of BB-sized holes in one to use for the top bucket holding hydroton and hygromite (a phosphorous and silica bearing volcanic rock mix,) and leave the bottom bucket as a micro reservoir (it will hold at most 3/4 gallon of nute solution.)

Make sure you have an air line that can slip between the buckets, and down to the air stone set in the bottom of the 'bottom' bucket. that aerates the nutes, and pushes bubbles up and over the roots in the top bucket. Make sure you have a GOOD pump, you want this stuff to get as much air as possible. From there, keep your pH controlled and nute strength set, and you're golden.

"well-crafted micro krusty bucket"

Funny, that's what I was thinking. But for simplicity a 5 gallon DWC would suffice. I'd probably invest in the EC meter if you plan on more than just one grow or doing this as an experiment. It doesn't look like you've mentioned moving air at all. You've got to exchance room air alot in order to avoid mildew, bring in CO2 and get the oxygen out, plus knock the plant around a little to make the stem strong.
Here's what I've done for germination of seed in hydro. I've used the brown root plugs sometimes called Rapid Rooter. They usually come in a pack of ten or so. They're made of a mix of rubber and peat and expand outward as the plant grows, just like rock wool. You can get seed started in a paper towel that wet or jar of water. Then place the seed in the hole of the rooter, but be careful not to break off the taproot. Or you can just try placing the seed in the rooter and keep the rooter wet. You put water and nutes into you bucket with the rooter in the net pot at the top. Then just dip a cup down into the water nute mix, replace the top and dump the water over the rapid rooter, keeping it wet. Do this several times a day if you can. You'll have the temptation to pull out the seed to see if it's started but don't cuz then any roots developing will break. Just give it time and if a couple weeks go by and you don't see roots, then you know. You could probably get several different tops or set the rooters in different small jars and keep them wet, and see how roots develop. Get a small glass jar and place toothpicks through the rooter so it remains suspended halfway down the jar and this will let you see when roots have grown enough to transfer to the hydro set up. My mother used to do this with avacado seeds but I think puncturing the seed itself caused them to die. Sorry, mom. Anyway, good genetics and airflow are two very important things people want to overlook. If you're using a small space, you've got to move the air.