Hydro Concerns, My First Grow.

[S0bi3t]

So I am currently in my second week of my first grow since soil-break. I had been growing in soil that I have high success with in my outdoor garden (I know not all plants need the same soil mix but I had germinated some seeds and plans didn't follow through well so in the desperate times I needed something quick before my Germi seeds rotted away.) and one week in all seemed fairly well. My plant started drooping a bit and I'm still not entirely sure why but I figured if my plant wasn't doing to well then I might as well give Hydro a try. If it's going to die in the soil it's in now before I can get to buy some better soil, then I've not much more to lose by switching. So now I have my 1 week old seedling transplanted to Hydro (Wasn't too difficult, managed not to break any roots that I know of since she didn't have many anyhow). I am temporarily unemployed (Temporary business closure, business re-opens in 6 days.) so until I go back to work I can't afford Nutes for her. Will she be okay providing her roots fill out some more in a Hydro bucket with just water? She's in Hydroton in a 6" net pot with 3 Gallons of water in a 5-gallon bubble bucket. I have a few more seeds waiting to break soil so if she dies it'll only be a slight emotional loss and I'll just wait to get a cutting before a second attempt at Hydro.
I've also heard that I could add a media like perlite or vermiculite to Hydroton instead of adding Nutes as a way of Growing Hydroponically "Organic." Is this true? It would be financially easier for me to buy a big ass bag of decent soil for Veg and share it amongst all my babies then it would to buy soil AND Nutes. Although, I'm willing to buy both if My Hydro seedling can last at least 1 week without any.

S0bi3t Reviewed by S0bi3t on 02-23-2013. Hydro Concerns, My First Grow. So I am currently in my second week of my first grow since soil-break. I had been growing in soil that I have high success with in my outdoor garden (I know not all plants need the same soil mix but I had germinated some seeds and plans didn't follow through well so in the desperate times I needed something quick before my Germi seeds rotted away.) and one week in all seemed fairly well. My plant started drooping a bit and I'm still not entirely sure why but I figured if my plant wasn't doing Rating: 5

[polishpollack]

Don't buy vermiculite for anything. It's a waste of money. You can use either perlite or hydroton in hydro. All these materials do is provide stability for a plant, not nutrients. Happy Frog soil is good if you want to stick with soil. Hydry grows require a fert that is made for hydro. You grow shop has many to choose from. Dynagro is a good brand in my opinion. If I were you, I stick with soil.

[S0bi3t]

Don't buy vermiculite for anything. It's a waste of money. You can use either perlite or hydroton in hydro. All these materials do is provide stability for a plant, not nutrients. Happy Frog soil is good if you want to stick with soil. Hydry grows require a fert that is made for hydro. You grow shop has many to choose from. Dynagro is a good brand in my opinion. If I were you, I stick with soil.

Thanks polishpollack for your response. I'll go down to my local hydro shop when I get my paycheck to pick up some nutes since my seedling is already in her new Hydroton Habitat. I'll stick to soil for my rest and see how this Hydro works, seeing as I already have my set up for it. You think my seedling could live another week without the Nutes? I read a few posts where people had let their seedlings and cuttings grow in hydro for up to 2 weeks before even starting nutes.

[polishpollack]

Frankly, I don't see how a plant can go that long without nutes of some kind. Are you sure it was hydro? Just water and rockwool or rapid rooter? Must be some tough weed.
Soil really is the easier medium to use, however, hydro when it's done right, can really produce fast full growth. DWC is pretty easy. Don't plan on plants lasting two weeks without at least low fert dose, like 500-600 ppm and raise that as time goes on. I've seen a variety of different max numbers being used at the peak of the grow, like anywhere from 1000ppm to 17-1800ppm. I'm not familiar with measuring as EC, so can't comment. It's basically the same but the numbers are vastly different. ppm measures parts per million, if you're not familiar, and EC measures electrical conductivity of fert salts in solution. Both methods work, but I suspect that ppm, or tds as it can be called, might be better as it creates a broad range of numbers that can be easier to work with and understand. At least for me it is. But do what you want to. Remember that plants needs micro nutes, nutes in small amounts, like zinc and sulphur, etc., so that's why I advocate Dynagro as it's a one part fert with pretty much all the nutes plants need, and in your case this fert is good because you can use it both hydro and soil. Hydro just requires more of it in water. Follow the directions on the back. If you read the ingredients and compare with other ferts, you see that you only need one bottle for veg and one for bloom if you want to buy that. It might be a good idea to do so. don't mix them, just one fert for each grow cycle. The problem with this fert is that it doens't have a long shelf life because it has calcium and phosphorus in the same bottle. These two have a chemical attraction for each other and will bind together, rending each one useless. Other companies seperate these two, but the order to have all the nutes you have to buy at least one more bottle. The advantage is longer shelf life. You might be able to get the veg version of Dynagro in a small 8 or 9 ounce bottle. I know these exist but most hydro shops don't carry the small bottles and you have to buy the 32 ounce bottle. It you have a fairly large grow, then it might be best to just get the big one. Of course you can buy whatever fert you'd like. This is just my suggestion. No indoor grower should ever use vermiculite because we shouldn't breathe the dust from it. It's like asbestos, gets in your lungs and won't come out. It isn't necessary either. A 2000 Environmental Protection Agency study found that some vermiculite gardening products contained asbestos. The EPA did the study after vermiculite produced by the Libby mine was found to contain asbestos.

[S0bi3t]

Frankly, I don't see how a plant can go that long without nutes of some kind. Are you sure it was hydro? Just water and rockwool or rapid rooter? Must be some tough weed.
Soil really is the easier medium to use, however, hydro when it's done right, can really produce fast full growth. DWC is pretty easy. Don't plan on plants lasting two weeks without at least low fert dose, like 500-600 ppm and raise that as time goes on. I've seen a variety of different max numbers being used at the peak of the grow, like anywhere from 1000ppm to 17-1800ppm. I'm not familiar with measuring as EC, so can't comment. It's basically the same but the numbers are vastly different. ppm measures parts per million, if you're not familiar, and EC measures electrical conductivity of fert salts in solution. Both methods work, but I suspect that ppm, or tds as it can be called, might be better as it creates a broad range of numbers that can be easier to work with and understand. At least for me it is. But do what you want to. Remember that plants needs micro nutes, nutes in small amounts, like zinc and sulphur, etc., so that's why I advocate Dynagro as it's a one part fert with pretty much all the nutes plants need, and in your case this fert is good because you can use it both hydro and soil. Hydro just requires more of it in water. Follow the directions on the back. If you read the ingredients and compare with other ferts, you see that you only need one bottle for veg and one for bloom if you want to buy that. It might be a good idea to do so. don't mix them, just one fert for each grow cycle. The problem with this fert is that it doens't have a long shelf life because it has calcium and phosphorus in the same bottle. These two have a chemical attraction for each other and will bind together, rending each one useless. Other companies seperate these two, but the order to have all the nutes you have to buy at least one more bottle. The advantage is longer shelf life. You might be able to get the veg version of Dynagro in a small 8 or 9 ounce bottle. I know these exist but most hydro shops don't carry the small bottles and you have to buy the 32 ounce bottle. It you have a fairly large grow, then it might be best to just get the big one. Of course you can buy whatever fert you'd like. This is just my suggestion. No indoor grower should ever use vermiculite because we shouldn't breathe the dust from it. It's like asbestos, gets in your lungs and won't come out. It isn't necessary either. A 2000 Environmental Protection Agency study found that some vermiculite gardening products contained asbestos. The EPA did the study after vermiculite produced by the Libby mine was found to contain asbestos.

Thank you very much for your guidance PolishPollack it was extremely helpful! I'll manage to get some $ to pick up some Dynagro. My soil Seedling that broke soil last night (Just barely noticeable above surface) grew a little more than in inch and a half overnight and I'm extremely happy with that result. Thanks for the heads up on the vermiculite as well.

[ghost83]

Seedlings are good without nutes for awhile. I never give my plants nutes until they grow about 4 nodes. I never count by weeks or days. I read the plant. If your worried about cost then good luck finishing your grow. This is a very expensive hobby to start. I went as cheap as I could on everything I needed for my first grow and I still spent about 800 dollars in the 4 month period.

Soil is more forgiving and it is recommended that first time growers start with that. Everyone is different and every grow is different. Good luck with your grow and the best of luck to you. It is the best most rewarding hobby once you really get into it.

[low_rdr]

And ghost stared off cheaply (I'm sure he'll agree) - Doing things the right way (that fits you the best) is key. But doing it cheaply, isn't really possible. I think a cheap grow would be about $200 and you MIGHT get 5 or 6 grams when done.

My total investment so far has been right around 1800 (not including the equipment I just ordered) and I've only gotten 5 or 6 ounces to date. This is more a hobby than you might imagine. It does yeild something, and of course when its good it's worth it (yes, some of it is just horrible, I grew an ounce of shit that tasted like asparagus) It did the job (somewhat) but tasted like a NASTY mess.

With all that being said - I'm SURE I can do a single plant on a $200 budget actually produce decent buds, HOWEVER.... Planning it out would be more tedious than I personally feel its worth. Lighting alone on a budget is a pain in the ass - There ARE fortunately cheap nutrients out there, and I've actually had better luck with some of the cheaper ones and molasses than I have with the FF suite of nutes.

Anyway, it's bee over a week, so hopefully your back at work and doing things the right way!

[S0bi3t]

Thanks everyone, it died I have two growing (About 3 weeks old) in soil and so far they are doing fairly well. They are under a 1000w HPS bulb that a friend of mine let me borrow while he is in the process of moving to a new home. My electric is not going to be so awesome but its still cheaper than buying the yields worth of weed. I'm thinking of cutting a clone of one in the future and growing it hydroponically if this grow goes well, good idea?