First Soil-less grow. Need advice. [Pics]

[heatedcr]

Alright, here we go. I'm probably doing many things wrong but thats why I'm here. I got an indoor soilless system going for about 4-5 weeks. They were clones to start off with and not in very good condition. I believe they are granddaddy purp.


Grow Medium: Hydroton in plastic bag pots.

ph: pH for the res is between 6 and 7. I guess about 6.7 (hard to tell with pH paper) goes down when the water is on.

Light - 400 watt MH (18/6 schedule) about 20 inches from plants

Plant Height: Tallest (left back corner) 9.5 inches Shortest (right back corner) 6 inches

Roots: Roots seem healthy, there a bunch coming out at the bottom of the bags.

Water: Tap water after it has sat at least 2 days

Temperature: 80 light on/75 light off

Watering: Every 3 hours for 15 mins when the lights are on. 6 hours no watering when the lights are off. The tray fills and drains. I add water to the main res from a backup res almost daily to keep up water levels.

Ventilation: Using a regular fan for ventilation. Closet has doors usually open and also has an open attic (screened)

Nutrient:
Supernatural Gro Terra 20 20 20 mix
Total (N): 20%
13.95% Ammoniacal Nitrogen
6.05% Nitrate Nitrogen
Available Phosphate: 20%
Soluble Potash: 20%
Boron: 0.02%
Copper (chelated copper) 0.05%
Iron (chelated iron) .1%
Manganese (chelated Mn) .05%
Molybdenum .0005%
Zinc (chelated Zinc) .05%

It looked like I got some Nut burn so I don't use as much.

The res is about 10 Gals. I use a tablespoon of Gro Terra every other day (real tbsp not a measuring one) . Changed the water twice since I've started.

There is a spider-mite problem I have been battling. We have a dog, she doesn't go in the closet but sleeps in the room. It has gotten a little better. I use Spectracide's Triazicide sometimes but I mostly manually remove them.

So now tell me what to improve I don't have very much money to spend but if I really need something I will get it.
I was looking into Liquid light by Dutch Masters, sounds pretty cool but tell me what you guys think. Also I am concerned about the low water level in the tray. I think it might be too late to fix tho And there is some standing water at the bottom of the tray but not much and tends to evaporate.

How much longer should I wait before flowing. I got about 5.5 feet of room above the tray. (not including the light fixture)

heatedcr Reviewed by heatedcr on 02-08-2008. First Soil-less grow. Need advice. [Pics] Alright, here we go. I'm probably doing many things wrong but thats why I'm here. I got an indoor soilless system going for about 4-5 weeks. They were clones to start off with and not in very good condition. I believe they are granddaddy purp. Grow Medium: Hydroton in plastic bag pots. ph: pH for the res is between 6 and 7. I guess about 6.7 (hard to tell with pH paper) goes down when the water is on. Light - 400 watt MH (18/6 schedule) about 20 inches from plants Plant Height: Rating: 5

[rhizome]

Yer using a soil nute in a hydro system- chelates are wrong.

I'd pick up a nute that was appropriate for your media before I started playing w/ additives.

[heatedcr]

Thanks for the info rhizome. Any recommendations on what nutrients would work well with my system? I think it might be time to start flowering in a week or two... so I'm thinking of holding off on switching nutrients until then. Then I can just get some flowering nutes. Or maybe I can get the nutes that are used in both the veggie and flowering period now and then get the flowering specific nutes later.

Every time I start reading those nute guides, I get discouraged. Haha, some of them seem pretty complex and there's so many different options.

P.S. MJ just cured my horrible hangover

[jakenbake]

Hey heated, about the nutes, ya wouldn't use what you are, i dont know if you have a local hydroponic store but you can always buy on line, i noticed a key nute missin and i am suprised it hasnt caused you any harm, it doesn't look like your plants are getting any magnesium, manganese yes but no MAGNESIUM. Honestly your plants look pretty good though... try www.seaofgreen.com/store and get yourself the flora series by General Hydroponics, this is a very common base nute that many growers use, it is a 3 part nute so make sure you get all three, floragrow, florabloom, and flora micro (i picked up a cheapy micro additive for about a third the price as flora micro myself) and youll be set man, each bottle runs about 8 bucks except the micro, which is about 15 bucks. Good Luck! O ya and drop that PH down! 5.8 is where you want it.

[herbie the love bud]

You got some good advice to start there. Now about the nutes I would HIGHLY encourage you to get B.C Grow "Recipe for Success" kit. $20 and has everything you need for your small grow.

Get a PH meter if you can afford it. I'd go with the HM Digital PH 200. Otherwise get the PH liquid test kit from GH for $7. Much better than strips.

Finally, go ahead and flower until they are one third to MAX one half the height you have to play with total After accounting for your min light height.

[enquadrider16]

i would go with canna nutrients, they are designed especially for our purpose and it is a very reputable company

[heatedcr]

Thanks for the advice guys. I went out today and got the B.C Grow newer "Recipe for Success" starter kit. I can't wait to see how my plants react to the new nutes. I also picked up a bottle of pH down and a humidifier. I got my pH from 6.7 or so down to 5.8-6.0 and my humidity went up from about 40% to 57%
I included some pictures from today, hope you guys like them. Tell me what you think. I will put some more up in a couple of days... after they have had chance to try out the nutes.

[heatedcr]

It's been about 6 days since I switched to the new nutes and the plants seem to be doing pretty good. Pics were just taken today. Tallest plant is about 15-16 inches (left back corner) and the shortest is almost 13 inches (middle front) I'm going to switch them to 12/12 tomorrow but I want to use two of them for clones. So, I need to build a veg setup quick. I also need to figure out a good watering schedule. I was thinking every 3 hours for 15 mins when the light is on and every 4 hours when the light is off?


Veggie Room: I plan on building something similar to what I have already. I will probably use around 5 CFLs. What are some good light fixtures and what kind of bulbs should I get? The veg room is going to be in my bedroom and I need to figure out how I should make it. This room might not be ready in time for the mother plants. How much time do i have to bring them back safely after i put them into flowering?

Flowering Room: I also need to make the flowering room light proof for cheap. Any suggestions? It's a walk in closet that let's light in through the cracks in between the wall and the sliding doors. Is mylar light proof?

Problems with the plants: The spider-mite problem has been getting a little better but has required me to spray Pyrethrum almost daily. I've noticed some dark spots on the lower leaves. Also, some have the roots have made it to the standing water and they look a little brownish. I angled the tray but it didn't help much.

[herbie the love bud]

It's been about 6 days since I switched to the new nutes and the plants seem to be doing pretty good. Pics were just taken today. Tallest plant is about 15-16 inches (left back corner) and the shortest is almost 13 inches (middle front) I'm going to switch them to 12/12 tomorrow but I want to use two of them for clones. So, I need to build a veg setup quick. I also need to figure out a good watering schedule. I was thinking every 3 hours for 15 mins when the light is on and every 4 hours when the light is off?


Veggie Room: I plan on building something similar to what I have already. I will probably use around 5 CFLs. What are some good light fixtures and what kind of bulbs should I get? The veg room is going to be in my bedroom and I need to figure out how I should make it. This room might not be ready in time for the mother plants. How much time do i have to bring them back safely after i put them into flowering?

Flowering Room: I also need to make the flowering room light proof for cheap. Any suggestions? It's a walk in closet that let's light in through the cracks in between the wall and the sliding doors. Is mylar light proof?

Problems with the plants: The spider-mite problem has been getting a little better but has required me to spray Pyrethrum almost daily. I've noticed some dark spots on the lower leaves. Also, some have the roots have made it to the standing water and they look a little brownish. I angled the tray but it didn't help much.

Can't help with your watering schedule, I use DWC. I don't see the point in CFLs. In the end it will cost you more than HID.

What do you mean "bring them back from flowering"? If you mean you are going to put them in flower than try and go back to veg, don't do that. That will stress your plant.

I don't know how dark your closet is, but if you would consider it dark and just a crack of light (indirect to your plant), then that is good enough.

[jungle168]

heatedcr:

Hi, I was reading up on your grow and you plants look amazing! I had a question about your setup.

Your setup looks like a an ebb and flow setup where you pump from you res into the tray. I'm planning a similar setup but with a 4'x8' tray. Is there always water/nutrients in the tray? If so, doesn't this make the roots TOO wet and contribute to root rot?

Thanks
Jungle