RippdVanWinkl
New Member
Hey guys, first time grower here, long time enthusiast and after some research I decided I wanted to give a hydroponic grow a shot. I liked the idea of quicker growing time and I found the simple concept quite interesting. After watching a few videos and reading a few forums here and there I decided to design something that fit my space.
My DWC setup is based around an 18 gallon Rubbermaid container. Initially I had it setup with 4, 3.5" net pots but then later decided to reduce it to 3, 5" net pots because they were deeper and seemed more appropriate for larger plants. I am using a dual outlet air pump for an 80 gal fish tank with 2, 4" round air stones and it puts out a pretty good bubble. For medium I am just using expanded clay pellets that were cleaned and then soaked again in RO water.
I live in a studio without much room so i'm working in a 32" x 32" x 63" grow tent (which had to be assembled a second time in the closet because it literally fits within 1-2 inches on the sides), using a 300w full spectrum LED light. I went LED because I liked the idea of the low heat, lower energy draw and full spectrum so I didn't need to decide between HPS and MH.
For nutrients i'm just using General Hydroponics FloraMicro, Gro and Bloom. Because it's my first grow, I wanted to keep it simple and in the future I will get more in depth nutrients. The pH adjust is General Hydro as well.
I started with 12.5 gallons of RO water among other filtering processes in the cleaned container. I then added light nutrients for only 10 gallons of water to keep it extra light because they were transferring from rockwool in soil to hydraton. I then pH'd the system to 6 after a few tries I learned how much up and down to use. I then let the air stones do their thing for about an hour to aerate the water and mix everything together.
I live in southern California along the coast so my temperature is pretty constant and does not get very hot in summertime (usually stays below 80 most of the time). So with all factors considered I should have relatively ideal conditions to grow. Also, being in Ca has granted me the options of starting with clones for my first experience. I went to a not so local club and picked out the best looking clones that they had. They happened to be Cinex, Tahoe OG and White Widow. They are from a MrBeezGenetics who I know noting about, so i'm not 100% sure its accurate genetics. Also since their selection wasn't stellar and I picked the best looking clones i'm pretty sure I ended up with harder strains to grow. (I'm hoping it doesn't come back to bite me in the ass later on)
Any advice/ guidance to prevent catastrophe is appreciated! I will try and update every few days and make a decent grow log.
*I plan on wrapping the DWC and lid in Mylar soon*
This is my journey, so sit back hit the bowl and enjoy!
On to the photos!
Supplies slowly arriving
Clones acquired (Start Week 1, Day 1)
Fan and clones in the tent for the time being until the rest of the system arrived (Week 1, Day 3)
I got everything in the DWC and just kept checking the pH daily and am now keeping it at 5.8
I went away for a weekend and was terrified that there would be an issue, but everything seemed to be fine.
(Clone Week 2, day 1) Cinex taking root nicely:
(Clone Week 2, day 1) White Widow was a little root bound in the solo cups so I did the best I could when transferring them over which is why the roots are all coming out the one side.
(Clone Week 2, day 1) Tahoe OG taking root as well:
Its amazing how quickly these roots grow (in one day some roots grew 2-3"). hopefully the plants will follow once the roots get established.
The following are all Week 2 Day 2:
Cinex:
White Widow:
Tahoe OG:
The Cinex and Tahoe OG are catching up to the WW which seems to be slow going
Temps within a 11 degree range between day and night
The whole shebang!
My DWC setup is based around an 18 gallon Rubbermaid container. Initially I had it setup with 4, 3.5" net pots but then later decided to reduce it to 3, 5" net pots because they were deeper and seemed more appropriate for larger plants. I am using a dual outlet air pump for an 80 gal fish tank with 2, 4" round air stones and it puts out a pretty good bubble. For medium I am just using expanded clay pellets that were cleaned and then soaked again in RO water.
I live in a studio without much room so i'm working in a 32" x 32" x 63" grow tent (which had to be assembled a second time in the closet because it literally fits within 1-2 inches on the sides), using a 300w full spectrum LED light. I went LED because I liked the idea of the low heat, lower energy draw and full spectrum so I didn't need to decide between HPS and MH.
For nutrients i'm just using General Hydroponics FloraMicro, Gro and Bloom. Because it's my first grow, I wanted to keep it simple and in the future I will get more in depth nutrients. The pH adjust is General Hydro as well.
I started with 12.5 gallons of RO water among other filtering processes in the cleaned container. I then added light nutrients for only 10 gallons of water to keep it extra light because they were transferring from rockwool in soil to hydraton. I then pH'd the system to 6 after a few tries I learned how much up and down to use. I then let the air stones do their thing for about an hour to aerate the water and mix everything together.
I live in southern California along the coast so my temperature is pretty constant and does not get very hot in summertime (usually stays below 80 most of the time). So with all factors considered I should have relatively ideal conditions to grow. Also, being in Ca has granted me the options of starting with clones for my first experience. I went to a not so local club and picked out the best looking clones that they had. They happened to be Cinex, Tahoe OG and White Widow. They are from a MrBeezGenetics who I know noting about, so i'm not 100% sure its accurate genetics. Also since their selection wasn't stellar and I picked the best looking clones i'm pretty sure I ended up with harder strains to grow. (I'm hoping it doesn't come back to bite me in the ass later on)
Any advice/ guidance to prevent catastrophe is appreciated! I will try and update every few days and make a decent grow log.
*I plan on wrapping the DWC and lid in Mylar soon*
This is my journey, so sit back hit the bowl and enjoy!
On to the photos!
Supplies slowly arriving
Clones acquired (Start Week 1, Day 1)
Fan and clones in the tent for the time being until the rest of the system arrived (Week 1, Day 3)
I got everything in the DWC and just kept checking the pH daily and am now keeping it at 5.8
I went away for a weekend and was terrified that there would be an issue, but everything seemed to be fine.
(Clone Week 2, day 1) Cinex taking root nicely:
(Clone Week 2, day 1) White Widow was a little root bound in the solo cups so I did the best I could when transferring them over which is why the roots are all coming out the one side.
(Clone Week 2, day 1) Tahoe OG taking root as well:
Its amazing how quickly these roots grow (in one day some roots grew 2-3"). hopefully the plants will follow once the roots get established.
The following are all Week 2 Day 2:
Cinex:
White Widow:
Tahoe OG:
The Cinex and Tahoe OG are catching up to the WW which seems to be slow going
Temps within a 11 degree range between day and night
The whole shebang!
