Ok so the past several hydro attempts have failed. We also tried growing in soil several times and have failed.

Each of the times we attempted to grow we put some old seeds into a wet paper towel and into a plastic ziploc and in the light a few times, and other times in the dark. The dark seemed to do better although I've read both ways of doing it so we tried both.

See our attached hydro system which includes a 430Watt San Agro lamp. I thought this was a good lamp but I guess it may not be?

All times we failed using hydro or soil, we've been using the same light which is our 430Watt San Agro. We are definitely beginers, but hoping to make this work sooner than later.

The first time in soil we didn't yet have our light and just used cool white 60 watt light bulbs The plants stretched, I guess is the term, meaning they grew long and stayed very thin days after coming out of the soil. Also we did not use fertilizer, and used some Walmart soil that was $0.60/bag and I found some hair in it.

The next time in soil, we had the light, and I used Scott's soil with added phosporous for root growth it says. The plants seemed to grow very slowly, although one of the 5 I tried to grow grew extremely quick at first. Then they slowly turned yellow each.

I don't know if the 6" pots are too big or what, but once again we didn't use fertilizer and by the time they got to 7 weeks old, they were only about 12 inches tall and only a few inches wide and mostly yellow. Also the lights may have been too close at first. At one time I had the light about 6 inches from the tops of the new plants because I was told to put the light right up to them. Eventually I moved the light a couple of feet away from the tops.

I always waited forever to water, but not too long. I would for the most part not water more than once within a 24 hour period.

The hydro attempt the first time failed I believe because we didn't have a timer to turn the water flow on or off so it was constantly on. I believe the roots got soggy or something. Now I have a timer that pumps water for 15 minutes every 2 hours.

Anyway this last time I transplanted the plants that were almost dead and yellow into the hydro system, and noticed they started to turn green and see a tiny bit of new green growth. It was definitely noticeable, but after about 4 or 5 days it seemed to stop and they seemed to continue to die. Perhaps it was a bad transfer from soil to hydro. Or perhaps water every 2 hours is too often. These are some questions I haven't found the answers to.

When I transplanted, the plants had a lot more roots than I thought they would. each one of the pots when I flipped the pot over to let the plant fall out, I could see roots all over the bottoms of each.

I use city water but it's possible the PH could be a factor. I thought I tested it and the strip pointed to around 5.5 but I could be mistaken. For hydroponics we use what came with the system which is some powder that we are supposed to put 1 scoop of each of them (one says grow, one says bloom) per gallon. So basically 2 different scoops per gallon, or 12 total scoops for the 6 gallons of water.

My girlfriend and I have some new seeds, but we don't want to mess this up for the millionth time.

She wants to try using our hydro system now from start to finish. So I'm asking for some advice and last minute tips. I've pretty much mentioned everything that I know.

This time we have the new switch to control water flow, but I'm unsure whether or not we should decrease waterings, etc.

We are more than willing to purchase a new GROW bulb, but don't want to make the same mistake as with the San Agro. Before I bought the hydro kit with the San Agro, I did a little research on this site and thought I read that it was a great buy. Then after buying it and searching for it here I thought I read it's not so good.

We purchased a book, Marijuana Horticulture Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower's Bible, by Jorge. It's very informative and has helped a lot already. I guess our biggest down fall may have been the lack of fertilizers.

Should I spend the extra money and buy some better nutrients than the grow and bloom that came with the hydro system? The granules don't disolve all too well.

For growth if we can spend the money, we should get a Metal Halide? I've read people say CFI or something like that and I'm not sure exactly what to be using. Please let me know your advice.

I'm sorry for all the questions, but after reading the forums, I feel I just don't have a solid understanding of everything yet.

Thanks for everyone's help.
420kidder Reviewed by 420kidder on . 3rd Hydro Attempt - advice needed Ok so the past several hydro attempts have failed. We also tried growing in soil several times and have failed. :( Each of the times we attempted to grow we put some old seeds into a wet paper towel and into a plastic ziploc and in the light a few times, and other times in the dark. The dark seemed to do better although I've read both ways of doing it so we tried both. See our attached hydro system which includes a 430Watt San Agro lamp. I thought this was a good lamp but I guess it may Rating: 5