1st timer, w/Hydroton, could use a little help...

[TMusic]

I'm a first timer, so I'm obviously going to have some questions. After reading about growing for the last 10 years or so, i decided to give it a shot. I spent the last 3 weeks in this forum reading everything I could (THANK YOU ALL), decided what would be best for me and went to the store. The guy talked me in to a few changes but I came out happy and spent a exactly what I wanted to.

My space is a bathtub (about 2.5 ft x 4.5ft x 7ft) in a full bath.

400w HPS
Digital Ballast (MH or HPS)
24x48 Tray
Bag of Hydroton
30 Gal Reservoir
Pump, Hose, Tubing for Drip system
Smaller pump to circulate water in reservoir
Long Airstone
A box of the CO2 pucks that you put in water

I'm 7 days in. Started from seeds. I planted 7 seeds from the steady flow of purple we've had for the past 6 months. All 7 sprouted, 6 of them made it. I started in Rapid Rooters, stuck the seed right in, pushed it down a little.... They're about 1 1/2 inches tall and are all starting they're second set of true leaves, one of them, which i think is a different strain, is 2 or 2/12 inches tall and has started it's 3rd set.

Here I am 7 days later and I need a few questions answered before I can move on...i think.

I took the plugs and put them in the Hydroton about level with the plug. They've been in the system since day 4 and I've been giving them about a 33% nute solution (technaflora products) all seems fine...

I have the light on 24/7, when do I switch to 18/6?

I don't have a dripper tip in the end of my tubing for each plant, it gently flows out of it right now, no splashing or anything like that, is this ok?

I've been feeding every 4 hours for 5 minutes. How will that change once I start the lights on 18/6?

I've read that I can water every 3 hours for 4 minutes but when it comes to using Hydroton, everyone seems to say something different when it comes to a feeding schedule.

Thank you.

TMusic Reviewed by TMusic on 08-21-2007. 1st timer, w/Hydroton, could use a little help... I'm a first timer, so I'm obviously going to have some questions. After reading about growing for the last 10 years or so, i decided to give it a shot. I spent the last 3 weeks in this forum reading everything I could (THANK YOU ALL), decided what would be best for me and went to the store. The guy talked me in to a few changes but I came out happy and spent a exactly what I wanted to. My space is a bathtub (about 2.5 ft x 4.5ft x 7ft) in a full bath. 400w HPS Digital Ballast (MH or Rating: 5

[TMusic]

Here's an update...day 18

Pic 1 is the slowest growing plant, the leaves are longer skinnier and darker than all of the other ones, the brown spots have been there for about a week. Anyone know what this is/was? Will it get better or just get on with healthy growth?

Pic 2 is very healthy. Anything to worry about with the 4th finger on the leaf on the left???

Pic 3 is also healthy, growing wide, not too tall yet.

Pic 4 is the biggest plant, a couple sets of 7 finger leaves, big and bushy, this may be the mango kush seed.

Pic 5 is another healthy one, leavesa re curling under a little bit, actually getting better from the ice pop incident, and it also has a leaf with 4 fingers...WTF??

Should I be worried about the 4 finger thing?

[HighTillIDie]

hmmm i am getting similar brown spots on a few of my really healthy looking plants, and a couple with some yellowing on the tips... i am gonna res change i guess... sigh, i hate res changes... all that... work

[TMusic]

in the mean time, this is what i got these seeds from, collected them over the last 6 months or so...

Some purple strain, I figured they were worth planting. Anyone know what it could be?

[TMusic]

pics didn't work, i'll get some that will fit in a few hours.

[Divestoned]

[quote=GoldenGoblin]I think why everyone is on the fence is because Hydroton doesn't hold water (or enough anyway)

hydroton holds water really well. I have personally seen that it is possible to overwater hydroton.I have pictures of overwatered hydroton in flood and drain system in my "pro hydro" log.

just like hightillidie said "no water during night cycle."

have you ever used hydroton??? if not ....then please dont comment on it.

Dive:stoned:

[TMusic]

Flushing only needs to be done in 3 events IMO, when you over do it on the nutes or the PH gets out of hand. When you switch from Veg to flower and the final flush before harvest.

Droopy plants normally mean too little or too much water, they aren't getting enough O2 to the roots or they really need a drink. Find out which one it is and slowly adjust your watering schedule to the plants needs + or -.

When you flush your plants use pure clean water and to speed up the process use flora clean or a flushing product, it weakens the bond the nutes have with the plants allowing them to be removed easier.

As long as your PH is ok I don't think the pops hurt the plant...its mostly sugar and water. They don't look all that bad really, they are still really small so take it easy on the nutes until the 5th or so growth node, then kick it up.

Just be patient and your plants will tell you what they need, you will probably do more harm being overattentive to everything. They need consistency, good water, nutes, ventilation, proper lighting and the right temp./humid...most overlooked is ventilation, its vital to get good growth and for the plant to strengthen itself.

Is this some sort of drip/DWC system?

Keep your res temps 68 or so also...key point in DWC. I wouldn't even screw with the drip part just keep the airstones going and they will splash the right amount of water of the bottom of the pots.

You don't need to change out a res that size very often at all....plants that size didn't even make a dent in the nute solution, the reason for changing out the res is that the plants take in nutes and dump out waste, this process will make your solution unbalanced so monitor by PPM, PH, and what your plants look like....I might even keep them in the same nute solution for 3-4 weeks it just depends on how much they are eating.

You don't have to cover the hydroton...it would be better though, less light to the roots and nutes = no algae and better root development.

so i got the nutes down to 350 ppm, the water from the store is about 80 to start with. Ph is good, temp in the box is 67-68 during the dark period, 77-81 during the light, reservoir temp is 69-72. I left the pump off for a few extra hours just to be sure I'm not overwatering and they looked a little droopy. So I fed them for 15 mins, lights went out... 6 hours later they all look a little better and they all look better now. the droopy ones are picking up. a couple of the second set of leaves are still curling under but seem to be getting better...def not worse though. I have the feeding down to 15 minutes every hour and 15 mins, during the light period.

Its not a dwc system, just a drip...and the drip comes out more like a constant stream, maybe 1 gallon per minute.

The one with the brown sopts has more brown spots now and they're lightening up, more golden brown that poo brown, and also on the opposite leaf, this one particular plant seems a little more sensitive than the others. smaller leaves, they're all twisting or coming out long and skinny.

Some of the other ones are getting really purple towards the center of growth...inside of the leaves and the stem. 4 of these plants are from some incredible purps we've been getting solidly for the past 6 months.

The 5th plant is supposedly some mango kush? ?Its growing twice as fast as all of the others. I don't really know, but it was an incredibe smoke...

Considering I only have about 36-40 inches at max, when shoud i start worrying about height training, if I should at all.


Will adding CO2 help me out at all?

As you can see, I'm kinda lost as to what "theory" I'm going to use. There are so many different options, and I've read everything I could about all of them but I still can't decide.

Any suggestions on what direction I should go with this grow?

Right now I have 5 plants as described above and I have them in a 2x4 tray, 400w Eye Hortilux hps (50,000+ lumens, and a drip/flow system, hydroton with rapid rooter plugs,20 gal reservoir. Technaflora products---grow, boost, bloom, magical, sugar daddy, thrive alive red and green, awesome blossom.

[TMusic]

What method should I grow these plants with? I can't just let them grow because of my limited height, I'm really confused as to how I'm going to do this.

considering i only have :
5 plants from seeds,
8 square ft of space,
about 36 inches from bottom of stem to safe light level (18 inches)
400w hps =50,000+ lumens of light
I threw a couple cfl's in there too, the daytime kind(blue box)
relatively small pots

What should I do to get the best QUALITY (#1) and yeild(#2)????


THANK YOU TO EVERYONE for their help so far, the plants are looking better already!!!

[TMusic]

they're all coming back from the droopiness now. makes me feel better...

Still need some suggestions on what to do?

[rhizome]

Hey man- I've had very good luck w/ pot of hydroton just being constantly top fed by 1/4" line w/ return to res.

If you're gonna run constant, aerate the res.