Noob Grower

[TheGrimReefer]

Hi everyone,

 

So I'm prepping to start my first grow and would like to share my setup so that I can get more solid advice from the vets here

 

My setup consists of:

 

2x 120x70cm GT hydro tents

1x Mars Pro II 160 LED (https://www.mars-hydro.com/mars-pro-ii-epistar-160-usa.html)

1x Mars Reflector 48 (https://www.mars-hydro.com/mars-reflector-48-usa.html)

3x 3 Gallon Smartpots

30cm Desk Fan

Hygrometer

1x Extractor Fan/Scrubber for humidity control and for when the smell kicks in during flowering

Nutrients: I have BioBizz Grow and Bloom

Medium: Coco Peat/Perlite mix

Seeds: Sweet Tooth Autos

 

I have installed everything so far except for the Reflector 48 (need some hangers), and I still need to set up a yeast/sugar water co2 mix. Im also aware that I'll need a Ph tester fairly urgently, but i ordered online and now have to wait patiently for delivery. I have mixed the peat and perlite and flushed it with water, then added some cal mag and wet it again, and then let it dry and potted he mix in the 3gal pots.

 

I need some advice on the following,

 

1.What would you guys recommend as a germination process? Should i soak and paper towel them, or soak and plant directly? Or just plant directly? or Rockwool?

2. Seeing as i dont have the Ph tester yet, what water would you guys suggest for germination/seedling stage?

3. Regarding co2, Will a 5L mix of yeast/sugar/water last long enough to only change it out monthly? or how should I calculate and monitor it?

4. Also a co2 question, I have read it should only be fed co2 during "day" time and must be removed at "night", will it cause problems if the co2 was left in 24/7?

 

Im sure im gonna have many more questions as time goes by, thanks for reading this far, I'll appreciate any advice.

 

[Budwizer]

Looks like a neat setup you got there

I wouldn't bother with yeast/sugar co2 at this stage, but you probably won't heed my advice. It can't hurt so knock yourself out. When you've had a few grows under your belt, you'll understand.

Tell us how you plan to manage temperature and humidity if you are. If you aren't, give up now. What parts do your extractor/ scrubber consist of. Count on running them permanently. How will you treat incoming air.

Two tents, one fan means you're in the market for another fan. Are you gonna do veg tent and flower tent? Water for germ/ seedling: pHed water. Medium: shot cup 24 hours then into coco/perlite. Keep lightly moist. Keep us posted

[TheGrimReefer]

Looks like a neat setup you got there

I wouldn't bother with yeast/sugar co2 at this stage, but you probably won't heed my advice. It can't hurt so knock yourself out. When you've had a few grows under your belt, you'll understand.

Tell us how you plan to manage temperature and humidity if you are. If you aren't, give up now. What parts do your extractor/ scrubber consist of. Count on running them permanently. How will you treat incoming air.

Two tents, one fan means you're in the market for another fan. Are you gonna do veg tent and flower tent? Water for germ/ seedling: pHed water. Medium: shot cup 24 hours then into coco/perlite. Keep lightly moist. Keep us posted

Howzit man, thanks for looking and the good questions.

 

Yeah, i'll still sleep on the co2 mix for now and see how it goes.

 

I did a brief test last night with the lights and desk fan running in the tent, and the filter off. I was getting around 30 degrees with 70% humidity, so it's slightly on the high side and the lights werent on full spectrum yet so it might get a little hotter when flowering starts.  Im thinking of maybe adding another fan in the top of the tent and maybe keeping the air vent flaps of the tent open on the side?

 

Extractor is a 4" fan, connected via ducting to a 4" Carbon Scrubber. Incoming air is running through a air filter (regular type like cars/bikes use) connected via ducting and housed outside of the tent.

 

For the second tent im also still in the market for some lights, right now not much is happening in the second tent, but the plan is to have a veg and grow tent set up eventually.

 

I put the seeds in to soak in Ph 6 water yesterday at 16:00, so i'll plant them today at 16:00 straight into the medium. Will feed it only pure water for 7-10 days and then introduce some biobizz grow as feeding probably once a week while vegging.

[Swazigh]

 

I need some advice on the following,

 

1.What would you guys recommend as a germination process? Should i soak and paper towel them, or soak and plant directly? Or just plant directly? or Rockwool?

2. Seeing as i dont have the Ph tester yet, what water would you guys suggest for germination/seedling stage?

3. Regarding co2, Will a 5L mix of yeast/sugar/water last long enough to only change it out monthly? or how should I calculate and monitor it?

4. Also a co2 question, I have read it should only be fed co2 during "day" time and must be removed at "night", will it cause problems if the co2 was left in 24/7?

 

Im sure im gonna have many more questions as time goes by, thanks for reading this far, I'll appreciate any advice.

 

 

Greetings Grim,

 

Stcik with me here, I know I am new to the forums, however not new to growing.

 

1. Use rockwool cubes to germinate in, squeeze the excess water out and leave them on a warm sunny windowsill or dstv decoder until they sprout. You can plant straight into coco/perlite, be very careful not to over water. The seeds stay to wet and rot. Same applies to papertowel, don't keep it too wet, and don't let it dry!  Rockwool has a brilliant air/water ratio for sprouting seeds and I typically achieve 100% success with expensive seeds.  I find rockwool to be the superior medium for germination and cloning.

 

2. I cannot emphasize enough he importance of pH and EC. Invest in good quality meters or suffer the endless headaches of thumb sucking it. Bottled water cannot be trusted for pH as it can differ vastly from what the label states.

 

3. In such a small grow do not bother about about CO2. Especially since the tents are not likely in an air sealed room.

 

4. Again ignore CO2 unless you are growing in an air sealed room.

 

Hope that helps!

[TheGrimReefer]

 

I need some advice on the following,

 

1.What would you guys recommend as a germination process? Should i soak and paper towel them, or soak and plant directly? Or just plant directly? or Rockwool?

2. Seeing as i dont have the Ph tester yet, what water would you guys suggest for germination/seedling stage?

3. Regarding co2, Will a 5L mix of yeast/sugar/water last long enough to only change it out monthly? or how should I calculate and monitor it?

4. Also a co2 question, I have read it should only be fed co2 during "day" time and must be removed at "night", will it cause problems if the co2 was left in 24/7?

 

Im sure im gonna have many more questions as time goes by, thanks for reading this far, I'll appreciate any advice.

 

 

Greetings Grim,

 

Stcik with me here, I know I am new to the forums, however not new to growing.

 

1. Use rockwool cubes to germinate in, squeeze the excess water out and leave them on a warm sunny windowsill or dstv decoder until they sprout. You can plant straight into coco/perlite, be very careful not to over water. The seeds stay to wet and rot. Same applies to papertowel, don't keep it too wet, and don't let it dry!  Rockwool has a brilliant air/water ratio for sprouting seeds and I typically achieve 100% success with expensive seeds.  I find rockwool to be the superior medium for germination and cloning.

 

2. I cannot emphasize enough he importance of pH and EC. Invest in good quality meters or suffer the endless headaches of thumb sucking it. Bottled water cannot be trusted for pH as it can differ vastly from what the label states.

 

3. In such a small grow do not bother about about CO2. Especially since the tents are not likely in an air sealed room.

 

4. Again ignore CO2 unless you are growing in an air sealed room.

 

Hope that helps!

Hey Swazigh!

 

Thanks for your feedback, all solid advice. I'll definitely get some rockwool cubes and Hopefully my PH tester arrives soon as well.

 

The tents are kind of in a air sealed room, my garage doesnt have any windows or nothing so it does tend to get a bit stuffy in there which is the main reason why i was considering it.. Maybe i'll just add a smaller 2L mix and see what happens? or what would you suggest?

 

Thanks again! Appreciate all advice! 

 

[Budwizer]

If you could control temp, humidity & co2 to a high degree of accuracy, you'd be running on the the cutting edge of growing at 30 c;70rh;1100ppm co2. If you cannot control these factors simultaneously, your temps are too high by A LOT, humidity is at max for veg, and co2 is what it is: assume 450 ppm. With LED's you want to be running slightly higher temps, but without controlling humidity and co2, dont go any higher than 27 deg. The holy trinity is: temperature;RH;co2. Control these three things, give adequate nutes @ correct pH, you'll be pulling a gram+ per watt light output.

Note: I'm not saying you won't grow anything if you don't get the trinity right, I am saying there is a way to grow optimally and get the maximum output from your effort and expenditure.

[TheGrimReefer]

If you could control temp, humidity & co2 to a high degree of accuracy, you'd be running on the the cutting edge of growing at 30 c;70rh;1100ppm co2. If you cannot control these factors simultaneously, your temps are too high by A LOT, humidity is at max for veg, and co2 is what it is: assume 450 ppm. With LED's you want to be running slightly higher temps, but without controlling humidity and co2, dont go any higher than 27 deg. The holy trinity is: temperature;RH;co2. Control these three things, give adequate nutes @ correct pH, you'll be pulling a gram+ per watt light output.

Note: I'm not saying you won't grow anything if you don't get the trinity right, I am saying there is a way to grow optimally and get the maximum output from your effort and expenditure.

Awesome, thanks for the explanation. Makes sense. Gonna try my best to manage it as accurately as possible.

 

After this long weekend i was able to check in on it more regularly, temperature fluctuates between 27 and 32 depending on time of day and whether lights are on or off. Humidity is between 50% (with extractor) and 80% (without extractor). Havent added co2 yet and not really sure how i'll measure it just yet if i do.. All 3 seeds popped out by day 3, today is end of day 4 and start of day 5, still just giving them plain water till they have a few more leaves then i'll start feeding them in small amounts.

[Budwizer]

Easy on the water, yeah?

[TheGrimReefer]

Easy on the water, yeah?

 

Yeah fo sho, keeping it on the slightly moist side but not drowning anything.

 

2 are looking healthy but one seems to be a bit slow and struggling compared to the others. Not sure if it was just a dodgy seed or if I stuffed something up, but i'll give it some time and see if it catches up, I'll try add some pics tonight to show what I mean.

[Budwizer]

Some of my biggest yielders were the runts at seedling. The key is not to overreact. Keep everything conservative. Less is more- until it isn't. BUT don't stress, your allowed to make mistakes.

[Swazigh]

Go easy on the watering, let the soil dry out as the plant grows.

 

The idea is to encourage the roots to spread out in search of water & nutrients. I am always surprised at how many cm's down that dicotyledon's tap root will run. Water just around the seedling instead of directly to avoid over-watering if uncertain. 

 

The plant will sag and the leaves will wilt when thirsty, also learning to feel the different pot weights between dry and wet will soon teach you when the plants want a drink.

[Durbanblue]

How's the grow coming along?

[TheGrimReefer]

How's the grow coming along?

 

Yo man! Sorry for the delayed response..

 

Grow is going a bit scary, beginning of Week 4 now, but at the beginning of week 3 quite a few leaves started dying. It couldve been many factors, they seem to be recovering now and new leaves are still coming out. At first i thought I couldve been overwatering, so i let the medium dry out a bit and gave it a good water again with 1/4 grow nutes. and now I wait longer periods before watering. Was doing light watering every 2nd day with a spray bottle, now i do about every 3rd but without the spray bottle and I give it enough so it runs through a little bit now. 

 

It couldve also been the lights hanging too close, but they were a good 60cm in veg light cycle. I raised them by another 10cm about. I have also switched to the full flower spectrum now on a 12/12 cycle, still havent added the co2 mix as Im scared it might explode with my luck. 

 

The last thing it couldve been was accidentally getting some drops on the leaves while watering them with the spray.

 

I dunno, maybe someone can identify the problem better here, I'll try adding some pics of them tonight but Im almost too embarrassed to show them  :'(

 

With them being Autos im scared I mightve stunted their growth a bit now, but lets see. Either way im learning and its still fun  

[Sacred Seeds]

How's the grow coming along?

 

Yo man! Sorry for the delayed response..

 

Grow is going a bit scary, beginning of Week 4 now, but at the beginning of week 3 quite a few leaves started dying. It couldve been many factors, they seem to be recovering now and new leaves are still coming out. At first i thought I couldve been overwatering, so i let the medium dry out a bit and gave it a good water again with 1/4 grow nutes. and now I wait longer periods before watering. Was doing light watering every 2nd day with a spray bottle, now i do about every 3rd but without the spray bottle and I give it enough so it runs through a little bit now.

 

It couldve also been the lights hanging too close, but they were a good 60cm in veg light cycle. I raised them by another 10cm about. I have also switched to the full flower spectrum now on a 12/12 cycle, still havent added the co2 mix as Im scared it might explode with my luck.

 

The last thing it couldve been was accidentally getting some drops on the leaves while watering them with the spray.

 

I dunno, maybe someone can identify the problem better here, I'll try adding some pics of them tonight but Im almost too embarrassed to show them  :'(

 

With them being Autos im scared I mightve stunted their growth a bit now, but lets see. Either way im learning and its still fun  

Don't be afraid to post your pics, I made my fair share of errors with my Easy Ryder Autoflower but I learned a lot, that's most important!

[Surv0]

My first indoor grow was hectic. Im sure i stunted 3 of the 4 plants by over watering in the beginning. My one plant ended up with a mutation.

 

heat issues, humidity issues, even some spider mites (fk knows how)

 

Its a learning curve for sure, one you have to go through I guess.

[Guest Oracle]

Yeah man,  post some pics. It'll take the guessing out of it. If you treat the conditions wrong, over nute etc, you may just end up stunting them to the point where you end up with hermies or worse.

[TheGrimReefer]

Sorry for only posting pics now, they come out weird under the lighting, hopefully guys will still be able to see something.  The dry leaves are a lot lighter in colour than in the pictures, some slight yellowing happening on the tips of the bigger new leaves also.

 

[Totemic]

Try taking pics without the LED.

 

But from what I can see, they look over watered and have suffered heat stress.

 

[TheGrimReefer]

Try taking pics without the LED.

 

But from what I can see, they look over watered and have suffered heat stress.

 

Ok cool will do..

 

Thanks for the advice, What you are saying makes sense.. I do water less regularly now, but temperature Im still struggling with managing. At peak it sometimes hits 36-38C.

 

I have the extractor on more regularly now with the help of a timer, I would leave it on 24/7 but then humidity sometimes drops to 20-30% and Im scared thats a bit low?

 

Im contemplating adding a fan that blows air in from outside, as right now I only have the desk fan inside and the extractor with a air filter for letting new air in, but maybe thats not enough?

[Totemic]

Your lights shouldnt be on during the hot mid day hours. What is your current schedule?

 

Fresh air exchange is also a lot more important than trying to use stale air to push humidity up. You are asking for spider mites! Your plants should be fine with the lower humidity. Humidity is only really an issue when flowering when you want it low anyway.

[TheGrimReefer]

Your lights shouldnt be on during the hot mid day hours. What is your current schedule?

 

Fresh air exchange is also a lot more important than trying to use stale air to push humidity up. You are asking for spider mites! Your plants should be fine with the lower humidity. Humidity is only really an issue when flowering when you want it low anyway.

 

Im running 18/6 in full spectrum currently. Switches on at 17:30 till 11:30 the next morning, so yeah mostly runs over night.

 

Ok I see, thanks for the advice again, so would you recommend i leave the extractor on 24/7 rather? and should I look into adding an inline fan as well?

[TheGrimReefer]

OK so I made some other changes in the setup also. I moved the carbon filter to the top of the tent and also opened one of the flaps for outside air to come in.

 

I've put the extractor on a timer so that it switches on every 15 minutes and then off for 15 minutes for the light on cycle. And on all the time for the light off cycle.I figured that way the plants get some time to take in some co2 when the lights are on?

 

You guys reckon they will recover?

[Surv0]

OK so I made some other changes in the setup also. I moved the carbon filter to the top of the tent and also opened one of the flaps for outside air to come in.

 

I've put the extractor on a timer so that it switches on every 15 minutes and then off for 15 minutes for the light on cycle. And on all the time for the light off cycle.I figured that way the plants get some time to take in some co2 when the lights are on?

 

You guys reckon they will recover?

 

I would probably do it the other way around. Extractor on permanently during lights on, and off during lights off. You could however get a different fan, deskfan, and have this go on intermittently during the lights off period, to keep the place cool. You need more air movement when the light is on to counter the heat and it also helps the plants rid themselves of some moisture which is really important to drive the uptake of more water and nutes. This only happens during lights on as far as I understand it. In order for the plants to absorb carbon dioxide, they need light to photosynthesize, so my understanding is that this doesnt occur at night, thus requiring only intermittent air movement to keep them cool.

 

Have I got this correct?

[TheGrimReefer]

Im thinking my next investment should be in another fan asap that can suck through an air filter and blow new air in? And then I can run the extractor on its same settings mentioned above.

 

Maybe for now its best to just leave the extractor on 24/7? The temp is still running a bit hot around 34C at peak. Humidity around 30% now before I water them again later today.

[CG420za]

@TheGrimReefer, how are you hitting such high temps at night? Do your LED's run that hot? What's your ambient temp like?

 

In regards to extraction, I forgot to switch my extractor on one day during the dark period, got home to a pool of water at the bottom of my cab with the humidity at 99%. There was so much water that it seeped through the joints and actually caused the chipboard to swell a little. I think you should keep the extractor going 24/7.

 

I've also noticed that if I have my desk fan on setting 2, it pushes my humidity and temp up slightly.