Hydro starter questions

[30hz]

sup guys,

Im starting my first grow which is going to be hydro. Now, I've read a LOT of info about growing, but havent come quite clear with following things:

1. Is digital PPM meter must with hydro? Cant afford one atm, so should I go soil instead (this would cause to me rethink my growing project all over again)?
2. If not, how can approximately measure my PPM number? Im going to use distilled water.
3. How often I should change the water? Its one plant, 6 sq ft scrog and 35l res.
4. Is digital PH meter a must? Cant afford one either, but I got drop kit.
5. I need to choose between 160m3 and 240m3 AC-filter, which one should I go for? My fan is 180m3/h.
6. Will active carbon filter remove ALL the odors going through it? My cabine needs to as smell free as possible. Im constructing it airtight, allowing air escape only through filter.

I'd also like some comments on my forthcoming cabinet (newest version on my latest reply). It takes some effort to build and thus I'd like to hear all the possible flaws before starting.

Thanks!

 

[30hz]

Hardly anyone seems to read my threads, I wonder why.
Mebbe this thread should be on faq section, dunno.

 

[30hz]

1. I struggled with this one myself. Yes you should get one however if you mix your nutes right and change water every 7-10 days you should be good but I want to know my numbers myself and bought one
2. see above
3. see number 1
4. no but it makes it way easier
5. I really dont know
6. If you have the right filter and matching fan then yes

results may vary and I dont know what your setup is so take it with a grain of salt

Thanks for helping
I've heard that I should go with 240m3, because if filter cant take as much air as fan sucks, all odors wont be filtered?
Im planning to invest on digital meter at future but atm I've burned so much cash already on this that I just cant be arsed to buy them.

You can see my setup at my sig. Its bit controversial if it'll work or not, so comments would be greatly appreaciated.

 

[Weedhound]

Well frankly here's my issue with it and why I glanced at this post but did not write anything.

Your priorities are in the wrong place. Your ph and your ppms and your lighting are the heart of your grow area. The rest of it is extra. You are treating the important stuff like a pain in the ass (it's expensive etc .....) but are very concerned about the odor from your plants. To be very honest, that's putting your cart WAY before your horse.

Basically, good equipment and good monitoring will grow good plants imo. Slide by and you may well grow a viable plant but what good growers REALLY want to do is get the best result for their work. That includes good equipmemnt (yes, ACCURATE meters etc) and a willingness to spend the energy, time, money etc. I love to help people grow.....but not if they just want to do the minimum of everything yet expect a great plant by the end. I'm not saying this is you......but it WAS the impression i got from your posts.
I answered after your second post because of your question "why doesn't anyone read my posts." I read it......but as you can see from my extremely long winded answer don't you wish I hadn't now?

Good luck.

Ps....Change your rez out at LEAST once a week and consider a good root product for root health (I like Cannazym myself.)

 

[30hz]

Your priorities are in the wrong place. Your ph and your ppms and your lighting are the heart of your grow area. The rest of it is extra. You are treating the important stuff like a pain in the ass (it's expensive etc .....) but are very concerned about the odor from your plants. To be very honest, that's putting your cart WAY before your horse.

I know that monitoring is very important, basically Im asking if I even should grow hydro without digital meters, or go with soil for better results. Digital meters next on my investment list but this is my first grow and I really dont have money for them at the moment. I got Bio Bizz Alg-a-mic and Root juice for my roots. Im not willing to cut anything that would compromise my plants and Im not the kind of guy who goes where its easiest; my cabinet will take great deal of work to fix, and Im also planning to make it silent by placing all the noise makers on soundproof chamber. I realize how important the meters are and I'll be sure to get them asap too, since they'd not only improve the results, but also reduce my workload. I just hope I can manage my first grow without.

The odor is very important because things here are bit heated atm, so better safe than sorry

oh, and I wish that everyone would write posts that long, the more length, the more information.

 

[Weedhound]

Oh good, because NOBODY loves talk more than me.

I completely understand what you are saying about the odor and I must have misunderstood the entire question anyway for which I apologize. My thought is that you have time to get money for your odor problems which you don't have now but WANT to have because you want to grow nice, healthy, good yielding plants! Would I grow hydro without digital meters vs soil? This is actually a very good question and I missed it completely.

I am a hydro grower all the way and am scared of soil although I do use it. Hydro I understand........soil I don't and so rely upon my hydro man to tell what to use soil wise and that works for me. I use my meters for both kinds of growing, the soil when I add ferts and of course the hydro. So I would say that QUALITY soil (I use fox farms oceans forest except for brand new seedlings) with regular transplants into steadily larger containers would be the way to go with MINIMAL additions of ferts by you. Your main issue would the be the ph of your water. If you are using tap and you know it is within range you most likely are good to go without a lot of monitoring and could get away without digis unless you develop a problem. At some point in bloom you will need to fertilize to help yield.....there you will want your digis cause there's nothing worse than waching your plant crash as you run around trying to figure out what the problem is and you've only got two or three weeks until finish and ......you get the idea..

If that's not doable.....then I'll go back to hydro and use perhaps half strength as recommended on bottle but I still feel strongly that in any hydro endeavor an accurate ph tester is basic. And so are true ph up and down.

Mostly what you will lose in the process of less exact monitoring is time and $$. Every time you have an "issues" of some sort it will set back your growing time, or if in bloom, can compromise yield. Both of these will cost you as a a grower in the end.

Good luck.

 

[30hz]

After that I seriously started to wonder where I could scratch money for atleast one meter.. I just realized that it'll take month for my plants to be ready for flowering, isnt that the phase when I need those meters the most?

My next salary will come in three weeks and although Im studying, after that I could afford atleast one meter. Which one should I buy first if I cant take both? I'll be using distilled water and if I cant get my hands on that for some reason, Im using my tap water which has ppm of 60. Is there some way to calculate or even estimate how much ppm it has after certain time?

Oh, and wild card here: I saw some extra cheap UVB-bulbs, should I pick few for my growth?

 

[Weedhound]

You're much better off with daylight cfls. The most important meter imho is a ph meter. If you go with drops or strips for soil growing you should be ok there. Those are pretty inexpensive.

 

[NoLogo]

i have grown hydro with no ph or ppm measuring, i just followed the recommended feeding pattern on the bottle of nutes. i used a dwc, it turned out just fine. could it have turned out better? i am sure it could have and that the yeild would have been better. but i dont grow commercial, i just grow for myself and i was happy enough with the results.

 

[tintala]

i have grown hydro with no ph or ppm measuring, i just followed the recommended feeding pattern on the bottle of nutes. i used a dwc, it turned out just fine. could it have turned out better? i am sure it could have and that the yeild would have been better. but i dont grow commercial, i just grow for myself and i was happy enough with the results.

nOLOGO:I COMPLETELY AGREE... and do virtually the same thing. with more than acceptable results. I would go with hydro 30hz. . I have not grown soil , have seen 2nd hand how to and the results, i like my hydro. I don't use meters and high tech stuf . I do have a digital temp and humidity, no ppm guage, and dont even check ph anymore. I follow GH feedign schedule for DWC expert, and havent had any real problems that would compromise a good , descent harvest. check out my pics gallery. i use a waterfarm. i havve huuuuuuge nugs right now. I use a can filter and fan for odor though , and yes when its on , it works.If i dont use it for half hr the house reeks. So yeah it works. I see advantages in both soil and hydro. but like hydro , its streamline, can fix any part, can flush rather easy, can switch buckets, can be cleaner , for me.

 

[NoLogo]

yeah i used to check ph, with one of those drip things, and then adjust. but i found this caused more problems than just using the water without worrying about the ph. so i havnt measure ph for several grows now.

 

[Hightide805]

soil is just too slow haha

hydro is about 20% faster if all is done right

 

[Racefan]

soil is just too slow haha

hydro is about 20% faster if all is done right

And problems show and cause trouble about 50% faster with hydro too. I have grown all ways you can think of except for aeroponics and vertical. Although I understand them as well. Soil is beautiful for beginners. more forgiving, easier, and IMO I can affect the taste of my bud easier with soil. Yes a person can "get by" by growing without meters but a person can get by with a oil guzzling beater of a car too. Most prefer the lexus though so I suggest you do things right. I run with a enviromental controller, light rail, 8" elicent fan, air conditioner for the summer, etc...All for the enviroment. control the enviroment and you control the grow. That is the secret to growing bug buds and harvesting big yields.
But if "getting by" is your goal then by all means...keep doing what your doing. As long as "you" are happy is what truly matters.

 

[Weedhound]

And problems show and cause trouble about 50% faster with hydro too. I have grown all ways you can think of except for aeroponics and vertical. Although I understand them as well. Soil is beautiful for beginners. more forgiving, easier, and IMO I can affect the taste of my bud easier with soil. Yes a person can "get by" by growing without meters but a person can get by with a oil guzzling beater of a car too. Most prefer the lexus though so I suggest you do things right. I run with a enviromental controller, light rail, 8" elicent fan, air conditioner for the summer, etc...All for the enviroment. control the enviroment and you control the grow. That is the secret to growing bug buds and harvesting big yields.
But if "getting by" is your goal then by all means...keep doing what your doing. As long as "you" are happy is what truly matters.

What a great statement! Seriously.....he pinned it perfectly. You will get out what you put in and that's no lie. LOVE the line about the beater car vs the lexus.....couldln't have said it better. So we can't all afford the lexus right? So you go with the beater car. But most people (new and lazy cannabis growers aside) know that you can't take your beater car and make a lexus out of it. But for some reason, they believe they can when growing and when the plant does poorly they don't even slightly understand why or what to do do about it. Just like your "less than efficient" beater it ends up costing you more in the end. Why? Because they haven't put any "energy" in. 'ph shmee-h" seems to be such a proud battle cry and I don't understand that at ALL.

Thanks racefan!

 

[NoLogo]

i feel like us low budget growers are getting a bad rap here.

nobody is saying that using ph meters and tds meters isnt a good idea, of course it is, but like you said, not everyone can afford a lexus. i was just trying to point out that your plants arnt going to wither and die if the ph or tds isnt exactly on. you just gotta watch for the signs and make small adjustments accordingly.

 

[Weedhound]

Well all in all it's like Racefan said.......its about how "you" like to do it. I'm not saying it as a bad rap. I just happen to agree with his philosophy of controlling your enviroment controls your grow. A lot of people don't like to play that way. That's fine. The frustration occurs when/if you have a problem......then information is suddenly a terrific thing to have and may make the difference between a plant that thrives and a plant that "makes it" or doesn't make it at all. My personal feeling is that I'm going to spend three to four months with these plants. It simply makes sense to try and get the absolute best I can since I am having to invest in this time/energy anyway.

Btw....my very best friend is an outdoor grower who never touches "all that crap" either.
She's quite happy with 1/2 oz per plant grows and she has seen my stuff and has no illusions about what is required for a good finished product. But that's NOT how she wants to do it. Different strokes for different folks.

But imho you take the beater car and the beginning driver and you are pretty well asking for a mess with the "less is more" philosophy. Just my 2 cents.

 

[30hz]

i feel like us low budget growers are getting a bad rap here.

nobody is saying that using ph meters and tds meters isnt a good idea, of course it is, but like you said, not everyone can afford a lexus. i was just trying to point out that your plants arnt going to wither and die if the ph or tds isnt exactly on. you just gotta watch for the signs and make small adjustments accordingly.

Thanks everyone for advices.

I feel too that the thread has gone the wrong way. I dont think anyone replying original post took a look at my sig thread, which shows how much effort Im willing to put on my growbox only, and it doesnt even include soundproofing plans. Also, I have air filter, AC-fan, 8" fan for scrog, 4x 26W UVB-lamps (were dirt cheap, pet store going down nearby), 250W HPS, air moisturizer, full Bio Bizz set and all the hydro stuff. On top of that I've put countless hours to reading info about growing and planning my grow.

All Im missing are digital ppm and ph meters, and suddenly Im stigmatised as cheap as grower who just wants to get best plants and see no effort. I dont mean this in rude manner, but I think some people here could be more empathic - not all of us can afford top-notch equipment, even if we'd want to.

Now, as for my grow, Im thinking of trying hydro with just drip kit ph tester. I'll use distilled water, flush weekly and rely on the nute schedule I found on this forum. If it seems that my grow wont finish like this, I'll scratch the money from somewhere and purchase those meters.

Peace 'n green

 

[Weedhound]

So now we've gone to "no one talks to me" to "I don't like the answers I'm hearing." That's plenty for me......my 2 cents having been put in more than once in the first place.

Good luck.

 

[30hz]

So now we've gone to "no one talks to me" to "I don't like the answers I'm hearing." That's plenty for me......my 2 cents having been put in more than once in the first place.

Good luck.

sorry, I agree that my reply sounded rude, didnt mean it that way. nothing wrong with the answers, I was just stoned as hell when writing the last reply

Im going to pick my ph up and ph down from aquarium store nearby, hydro stores around here have real ripoff prices. two weeks until I can access my growing space and start fixing it, Im thrilled

 

[flyfishinrock]

the salt in the pet store ph adjusters sucks, I know it costs more for the real deal but it is worth it.