Can you check out my "future setup" and give me feedback?

[Goatse01]

I would like for you to review my "future setup" and give me feedback(constructive criticism welcomed). I want to be confident that my system is full proof prior to construction.

SETUP:
Objective - I would like to start off with seeds or clones but I believe I will be going the seed way to start off. I recently purchased a grow setup which had alot of nutrients, accessories, fans, tons of CFLS and a CFL hood and a 400W HPS in a hood. I would like to start off with some extra seeds so I can kill off the weak ones and the males. I think I want to start off with 12 seeds and end up with the best 4 fems before flowering. I live in the boonies on a few acres of land and I rarely have company so security isn't a huge issue to me(doesn't mean I will be lazy). I live alone in my own house, I am my landlord and I can modify my house with no problems. I believe I will use my office room to grow in. The office is 8'x10' with a 2' closet that I will be using for seeds and future cloning.


EDIT: I deleted the majority of this post because further in the thread, you guys talked me into a completely. different setup using coco.

 

[Goatse01]

20+ views to this thread and no advice, did I come off unclear about my situation?

If you guys don't understand or if my discription is unclear, let me know and ill try to clear things up

 

[Sgt.Stedenko]

Have you considered the fact that the roots will evetually clog your drain line and flood the office.
KISS baby.
For your first grow, try a soilless mix.

 

[Brother Bear]

Yeah your making it much harder than it needs to be friend
You got a link to the grow setup you purchased ?

 

[protocol]

I was just going to say try soil/soilless mix first time out too

 

[Goatse01]

THANKS FOR THE QUICK RESPONSES!!!

Damn it, I thought I was on to something.. There are a bunch of ways to combat the root clog problem I suppose unless they will completely uncontrollably engulf the PVC. But if the design is overcomplicated and unefficent than I will nix it . No matter what system I use a drip pan of some sort will used and if I go hydro it WILL be large enough to contain all of the water in the RES.

Brother - I bought it privately "he was growing strawberries". I took a vid of the nutrients, lights and a quick shot of the box. the box is cheap and small (18"W x 5'L x 6'T) I would like to rebuild one. There is tons of accessories but I took thwe vid of the "main sha bang bang".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sroZi6Ixfmo

PS. the strain I am ordering is

Skunk Berry (indoor/outdoor)

F1 Hybrid
Product code: SB
Parentage: Skunk female x Blueberry male
Type/subspecies*: Sativa/indica
Flowering period**: 8-9 weeks indoor
Potency: Very strong
Growth Pattern: Large, medium height, productive branching.
Breeders comment: Colourful, flavorful, rich in character, customer favorite.

 

[gaiusmarius]

you could run coco in such a setup fed by drip irrigation, recirculating the nutrient solution. just have to consider the details when you build it. ideally build it so you can add a second tank any time to do flushing, so you can run to waste while flushing the system.

but yeah easiest for a start would be to fill some pots with a superb soil mix and boogie like that. just watering by hand when pots get dry. very simple to set up and no chance of any malfunctions.

 

[Goatse01]

I totally understand when you guys say "soil is easy, go soil" and I am STRONGLY considering your warnings. But before I totally shut the "hydro doors" for this grow...

I want this to be more than "growing a treat for myself" I want this to be a hobby, I have lots of time to spend on research and such. I have had other what seem to be similarly difficult hobbies and I am usually pretty successful because how involved with them I get. My ex girlfriend could probably agree with "my involvement in my hobbies", she sure brought it up a lot lolol. Anyways for instance, I know they are 2 completely different hobbies and treatment will differ(use of chemicals ect). But I have done some impressive freshwater/saltwater/reef aquariums with VERY little to work with. I had little money and started a 50G LIGHTreef aquarium without a sump and managed to keep the biofilter strong enough to manage safe Ph, Nitrates, ect. just by TONS of reading, asking experts and TLC on the system.

I totally understand that these are 2 different hobbies but if the main concern is water balance, I think I can get the hang of it. But if you guys still disagree with going hydro first time round, I will Deff go dirt.

1. If you advise soil less - Can you recommend me a good setup tutorial with my light size? How many plants? What size box should I build?
2. If you think I might handle hydro - What would be a better hydro setup that i can handle? How large should I build my tent?


gaiusmarius - you had a simular setup? Do you think I could handle it? If so, some pics would be great and some tips

 

[jm420]

dwc If you really want to go hydro IMO

 

[Brother Bear]

You wanna go hydro, go hydro. Just keep it simple as you can in the beginning friend. Lots of folks start hydro and never even get into soil/soilless.

 

[Pakrat]

I’m just giving coco a run and I like it very much. Scratches my itch for automation and hydro-like feedings, while being very forgiving of my growing style. As many mentioned, soilless may be a way to go too, so is Rockwool. I personally love to tinker, but I run into more problems the more complex I make things upfront. One thing I found helpful is to start simple and once I have that nailed down, then I add the fancy stuff one thing at a time, that way I can isolate problems that are a result of the grower (me) from changes in the grow room setup and design. .

 

[Sgt.Stedenko]

I'm not knocking your skills or ability by any means. I just think for the first time, soil/soilless is a no brainer. If you really wanna go hydro, try a couple of dwc bubbler buckets.
Do you have pH and EC meters?

 

[gaiusmarius]

i have a ton of threads documenting my way of growing in coco, but here's one i can find really easily that explains what i do. coco is specially good for a new grower as it has most of the advantages of hydroponics with none of the weak points. it's very forgiving as a medium.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=46279

hope that helps. most people try coco once and end up sticking with it, so you might as well begin there and skip all the crap on the way roflmao.

 

[Goatse01]

Im sold on coco!! . im reading up on it ATM.. thanks gaiusmarius for the thread info..

SGT - I have tons of PH meters but I will be upgrading to the electric PH meters so I can be dead on.. I will probably haveto snag a EC meter when I am near the hydro shop.


EDIT: what do you guys think about this guys setup? will those bags limit root growth? are they stable? I just like the bag idea because it seems like you could move them around easily. IDK if they are too small though, I have not finished gaiusmarius's thread but it seems like you grow your roots horizontally once they reach the bottom and hit the "slab", being that these are in a small bag, would this be a problem? - I am getting back to some reading haha.

Cannavation's setup - simple drip system over coco with drain to res
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIf2nswJM_k


Cannavation - planting and transplanting
http://www.youtube.com/user/Cannavation#p/u/4/lo-ibaE46yIhttp://www.youtube.com/user/Cannavation#p/u/4/lo-ibaE46yI

Also I have a bunch of jiffy pellets which came with the setup I purchased. Could I put these to use on my germinated seeds or should I can them since I will be going coco?

He said that he drips to waste, what do you think about recycling?

 

[NOTB]

if you are REALLY in with hydro then keep it simple man, get yourself a cheap sump pump from home depot and a vessal(to pump the nutes into) to accomadate your plant's Ecogrow.com has great plans man.. check it out.

 

[Goatse01]

When I purchased the setup it came with a box full of nutes, testers and chems. Here is a list of some of the bottles, what could I use in this setup rather than wasting:
Super Thrive 2
Einstein Oil
Super Vit
Pk 13-14 - I already know to save this
CannaZYM 0-2-1 Is that the "canna" products yall speak of?
Bio Boost 0.02, 0.12, 0.08
Bio Flores 2-2-5
Bio Vega 3-1-5
PH UP & kit

I know you guys mentioned the recommended chemicals but before I take the "extras" to storage or throw them out, can I use any of these rather than wasting them?

somone asked about my pump. I have a 350?GPH(I think, I would have to double check) fish pump from my old tank. I would have to do some cleaning up on it but I can start off with that.

Do you guys think my 400WHPS could handle 4 plants to flower on a 3x3(roughly) tray inside of a 4'w x 3'l x 6'T tent?
What size do you recommend for the grow table and grow tent? light and tent size factors: what is the maximum plants I can grow to flower in this setup?

Skunk Berry (indoor/outdoor)

F1 Hybrid
Product code: SB
Parentage: Skunk female x Blueberry male
Type/subspecies*: Sativa/indica
Flowering period**: 8-9 weeks indoor
Potency: Very strong
Growth Pattern: Large, medium height, productive branching.
Breeders comment: Colourful, flavorful, rich in character, customer favorite.

 

[Stonetech]

If you really want to go hydro why not do it? For me a good hobby should be a challenge. But if your more concerned with supplying yourself with herb then maybe its best to start simple.

I personally started growing hydro veggies and herbs because I enjoyed it as a hobby, didn't really matter what I was growin. If you just accept the fact that things aren't goin to go smoothly in the beginning and learn from your mistakes you'll probably enjoy yourself.

That being said I wouldn't recommend aero for startin out, maybe Ebb n Flow, NFT, or DWC.

 

[Goatse01]

Well a little update:

Sooo much reading & research... I finally got my table set up, as said before, im running coco. ill be blacking out my Res and drilling the holes later today once my bits come in. I will have an in line filter on the lines but home depot was out. I am still waiting for my beans..
and I called it a flood table but its actually a dripper setup

$16 - Black cement mixing tray
$5 - Tupperware res
$5 - Drain
$16 - 250GPH pump - good deal
$3 - 1/4 tubing
$10ish - 1/4 fittings & 6 line hub

[youtube]PMzNTtEvfPI[/youtube]

 

[gaiusmarius]

When I purchased the setup it came with a box full of nutes, testers and chems. Here is a list of some of the bottles, what could I use in this setup rather than wasting:
Super Thrive 2
Einstein Oil
Super Vit
Pk 13-14 - I already know to save this
CannaZYM 0-2-1 Is that the "canna" products yall speak of?
Bio Boost 0.02, 0.12, 0.08
Bio Flores 2-2-5
Bio Vega 3-1-5
PH UP & kit

I know you guys mentioned the recommended chemicals but before I take the "extras" to storage or throw them out, can I use any of these rather than wasting them?

somone asked about my pump. I have a 350?GPH(I think, I would have to double check) fish pump from my old tank. I would have to do some cleaning up on it but I can start off with that.

Do you guys think my 400WHPS could handle 4 plants to flower on a 3x3(roughly) tray inside of a 4'w x 3'l x 6'T tent?
What size do you recommend for the grow table and grow tent? light and tent size factors: what is the maximum plants I can grow to flower in this setup?

hey man,

canna is just a company name, they have many products including cannazym. for growing in coco with drip irrigation canna coco a+b are a good fit.

how many plants per light depends on the veg time. 4 plants on 3x3 table under 400hps sounds good. just top the plants and veg long enough to fill a third of the space, then go to 12/12.

most of your products are for soil growing. maybe begin with a mix of 50/50 coco/soil mix then you can use earth ferts np and water by hand as you would in soil.

 

[edgey]

pictures ?????

we like pictures