☮ First time grow, need guidance! ☮ (attempted journal)

[hot cheetos]

Whats up everyone,

I'm going to be starting my first grow and I'm going to be taking a big bite. 10x10 tent with 4 1000w HPS. 16 DWC stand-alone buckets, scrogged. I'm going to need guidance. I will also attempt to document the process.

Here is my shopping cart from growershouse thus far:

4x Solis Tek 1000w
4x Radiant 6 inch
4x Hortilux super 1000w HPS

Weak, I know. Reason I started this thread so early is because im stuck on ducting. For a 10x10 would I need to go bigger than 6 inch? 8 or 10 inch maybe? Thats my first question. Hoods will be air cooled with ducts running outside of the tent on either side, 2 at a time.

Still need to purchase:

Tent
Filter(s)
Exhaust(s)
Intake(s)
Ductings
Timers
De/humidifier(s)
PowerGrow DWC kit
Nutrients
Fans
In-line fans
Scrog net (diy)
Fan speed adjuster
Ph up/down
TDS meter
PH meter
Hydroton

Am I leaving anything out?

 

[Mikell]

Wrong subforum, you're looking for Growroom Designs and Equipment. Many answers there.

 

[Lester Beans]

I would personally go with two 8x4 flood tables with rockwool or hydroton in net pots. Way way less work than 16 solo DWC. What a nightmare. Ph'ing all those every day, ugg. Makes more sense to monitor two res rather that 16 your first time out. Save you a bunch of time and money too. Better quality in the end as well.

Also you could divide the tent in half and run 2k on the flip, using only half the ventilation equipment, also saving bookoo money.

Good call with those hortilux bulbs, best you can buy. I would recommend Botanicare nutrients, as you do not need more than a few bottles and the result is excellent. Again saving money. Also do yourself a favor and buy some Hygrozyme. This is good insurance against root rot, especially since you will be dialing in the room the first go and possibly having higher res temps.

Any questions just holler. Best of luck to ya!

 

[hot cheetos]

I would personally go with two 8x4 flood tables with rockwool or hydroton in net pots. Way way less work than 16 solo DWC. What a nightmare. Ph'ing all those every day, ugg. Makes more sense to monitor two res rather that 16 your first time out. Save you a bunch of time and money too. Better quality in the end as well.

Also you could divide the tent in half and run 2k on the flip, using only half the ventilation equipment, also saving bookoo money.

Good call with those hortilux bulbs, best you can buy. I would recommend Botanicare nutrients, as you do not need more than a few bottles and the result is excellent. Again saving money. Also do yourself a favor and buy some Hygrozyme. This is good insurance against root rot, especially since you will be dialing in the room the first go and possibly having higher res temps.

Any questions just holler. Best of luck to ya!

Thanks for the reply man. Damn, you're right. I didn't realize the DWC buckets were going to be such a hassle. Plus i didnt think through the scrog net and how i'd change the res out and clean the buckets. Is it mandatory to change out the res every couple weeks and clean the buckets?

 

[CoCoSativas]

Whats up everyone,

I'm going to be starting my first grow and I'm going to be taking a big bite. 10x10 tent with 4 1000w HPS. 16 DWC stand-alone buckets, scrogged. I'm going to need guidance. I will also attempt to document the process.

Here is my shopping cart from growershouse thus far:

4x Solis Tek 1000w
4x Radiant 6 inch
4x Hortilux super 1000w HPS

Weak, I know. Reason I started this thread so early is because im stuck on ducting. For a 10x10 would I need to go bigger than 6 inch? 8 or 10 inch maybe? Thats my first question. Hoods will be air cooled with ducts running outside of the tent on either side, 2 at a time.

Still need to purchase:

Tent
Filter(s)
Exhaust(s)
Intake(s)
Ductings
Timers
De/humidifier(s)
PowerGrow DWC kit
Nutrients
Fans
In-line fans
Scrog net (diy)
Fan speed adjuster
Ph up/down
TDS meter
PH meter
Hydroton

Am I leaving anything out?

I'm not being rude when I say this, go smaller bro. I used to live off that size op and right now I'm growing personal in a 4x4 with a 600 and got more shit than I need. If it's your first grow you should try like 4 dwc pots. That's tough hydro don't let any joker tell you otherwise the more buckets the tougher it gets. PH swings and shit it's alot of work to maintain dwc, at least to what I would consider a working standard.

I grow coco. It's the easiest hydro. Passive hydro is a great way to learn, and I mean hell I've grown for years and I love it it grows killer dope and is as easy as dirt and cleaner you can sweep coco off carpet. Lol spill a 5 gal of solution and that's fun...

Lots of people can guide you but it's up to you to make it work and as a new grower that's tough. Hydro apply sciences dirt dosent. Root temp in that shit is going to be your Bain I can garentee you now. With coco I have that buffer of a substrate. I do coco for many reasons but stealth is a big on in my appartment I can't have noisy pumps. It's easy to use and handle and yields great even on low yield shit I pull good yields twice what I did organic soil with 60% the power.

Anyway it's up to you but you would be better Scroggins 4 massive plate a 5x5 each. Way easier to manage. I know a guy who hauls 26 Oz off a singe green crack grown like that. He's done in 50 days flat, it keeps his plant count down so legally and work wise it's way easier.

Lester mentions floods. You can do dtw floods with coco it's FUCKING SICK you can also drip it amd get a dope result but it's always dtw forget that recirculating shit dtw produces a way cleaner product my buddy tried recirculating and his stuff chokes me out but mine is clean as can be

Sounds like you picked nice gear though. Make sure to keep your cords as short as possible to reduce rfi

 

[CoCoSativas]

Thanks for the reply man. Damn, you're right. I didn't realize the DWC buckets were going to be such a hassle. Plus i didnt think through the scrog net and how i'd change the res out and clean the buckets. Is it mandatory to change out the res every couple weeks and clean the buckets?

Change it once a week don't be lazy. Growing is hard work go peek through my thread even my little tent dude its alot of work to do what we do.

With the screen just add drain hoses and valves to the buckets.

Take a look at coco growing it's sweet amd easy. Feel free to ask away lots of us love to help.

If you forget the Scrog you can just use a spare bucket and do changes like that. Take the clean one, switch the first plant and stone into it, then clean than one, make next switch and keep going, clean the buckets every time so you don't get algae.

Read all the stickies in the hydro sub forum it will help you massive. I read that and I do t do it, just coco but I plan to try more later. Don't try and bite off too much you won't produce the whitest highest yield your first time but it doesn't take long. I grew killer on my first grow and continued but organics was easy. Yield sucked though so I tried coco AND NEVER STOPPED probably won't.

Much luck bro

 

[hot cheetos]

Change it once a week don't be lazy. Growing is hard work go peek through my thread even my little tent dude its alot of work to do what we do.

With the screen just add drain hoses and valves to the buckets.

Take a look at coco growing it's sweet amd easy. Feel free to ask away lots of us love to help.

If you forget the Scrog you can just use a spare bucket and do changes like that. Take the clean one, switch the first plant and stone into it, then clean than one, make next switch and keep going, clean the buckets every time so you don't get algae.

Read all the stickies in the hydro sub forum it will help you massive. I read that and I do t do it, just coco but I plan to try more later. Don't try and bite off too much you won't produce the whitest highest yield your first time but it doesn't take long. I grew killer on my first grow and continued but organics was easy. Yield sucked though so I tried coco AND NEVER STOPPED probably won't.

Much luck bro

Thanks for the detailed replies. Yeah, I'm strongly starting to lean towards a couple of 4x8 trays like Lester mentioned. 2 4x8's = 8x8. Will fit perfectly in my 10x10. And only 2 reservoirs to manage. I've completely been ignoring coco and i dont know squat about it. Reason to why i never looked into it is that the process seems like its the same as soil. By process i mean bringing in large quantity bags of coco, then disposing away with large quantity of coco. The extra work and risk factor. Don't get me wrong though, idc about work.

 

[CoCoSativas]

Thanks for the detailed replies. Yeah, I'm strongly starting to lean towards a couple of 4x8 trays like Lester mentioned. 2 4x8's = 8x8. Will fit perfectly in my 10x10. And only 2 reservoirs to manage. I've completely been ignoring coco and i dont know squat about it. Reason to why i never looked into it is that the process seems like its the same as soil. By process i mean bringing in large quantity bags of coco, then disposing away with large quantity of coco. The extra work and risk factor. Don't get me wrong though, idc about work.

Coco comes in compressed brick. I walk it in in boxes into my appartment.

It's like hydro in a bag but super easy, nothing like soil unless you treat it like soil.

It lasts up to three years. I toss mine after each go but it's my choice it's just easier and I have enough stress, work and pain.

Coco is very cheap. Half the price of dirt for the most expensive. I use canna they sell complete nutrient systems for everything, and the two coco lines have their own special coco. I just got some canna coco, been using the food for a couple grows not, killer stuff.

Honestly I believe you will turn out a better product with less stress running a coco run, plus it will prep you for full blooded hydro...

I'm a super detail oriented person. You will get nothing but detail from me. Sometimes I'm long winded but I like to leave nothing g to uncertainty.

Honestly I could compile a page long list of reasons I choose coco. I'll just throw it out there on the last high times strongest 15 in the world half the samples were grown in coco. Plants love it. Seriously I am pulling a great yield for the types of plants I grow, and it gives me massive control.

Oh and you use way less coco per plant. I use 1 gal containers dude and it actually helps me control my sativas height gain, but anyway you can grow HUGE plants in 1 gal of coco.


Here's some pics from my last grow. Growing in substrate allows me to control the size of plants I otherwise would have to prune or tie. I'm 6 feet tall and I fit those things in a tent...

Thus grow I'm doing it a little different. Instead of 9 plants that are all big I'm doing like 25 small ones hoping for a Oz each so I will do better than the pound I got last time

 

[CoCoSativas]

Here's my super lemon haze grown in coco too. Everyone loves this bitch, even just looking at her...



I'm not telling you grow coco and it will be like that first time but that's what I do... you can too, with coco it's super easy. Keep it wet, right ec and pH and you are laughing. I maximize the most of my genetics through attention to detail, and by dialing in my cuts learning what they like. It won't be easy but on no time you can be bumping out fire by the bag and laughing.

That thread actually made icmag, if you go to the home page it's right now the second article and was featured at the top for about a week I think. Not to toot my own horn but it's interestin

 

[hot cheetos]

Nice man, that stuff looks amazing. I looked into coco and it does seem really convenient actually. Will research it more and might go that route.

 

[CoCoSativas]

Nice man, that stuff looks amazing. I looked into coco and it does seem really convenient actually. Will research it more and might go that route.

Trust me, learn on coco and when you transition to other hydro it's really easy. If you bother doing anything else.

I use cannas food and now bought their coco brick which so far is the best designed I've seen. I love the food way better quality product than when I used gh with the same cuts.

I just figured I'd throw that stuff out there it's pretty hard to refute cocos amazing properties and the proof is in the pics you can produce mind crushing shit and yield well amd get good flavour and clean dope what more can you ask for? Lol its hydro grown so of course the bag appeal is always great even with rougher strains.

You can do organic coco but it's not that good. It's clean but what I'm doing now is 9/10 on my standard scale the bud I grew organically while was nice wasn't as good. Honestly organic soil and organic coco vs hydroponic fed coco now I choose the hydro fed the organic product was never better than a 7 or a 8. I feel what I'm doing now is far superior to anything I've done on the past.

 

[bigganjabud]

Not being funny or nothing but mate that's still a shit load of work!!

I've got 16 in nft under an led and hps I'm pushing just over a 1000w and believe me I've got my hands full daily almost

Fair play tho mate you must have a set of King Kong balls!!

In for a penny in for a pound tho mate Im subbed no matter what you decide!!

 

[lovehaze]

hello hotcheetos - you need to know height and the volume of your tent space. and also the area that your tent is within. you need to consider how you will cool your spaces. what is the btu output of your lights. this will tell you your requirements for cooling. also don't forget about the btu output of your ballast.

consider that new growers when growing indoors with a new strain will generally get about 0.2 0.3 grams per watt. so expect to get about 1200g from a system like this. (first run) vastly below the potential. also consider that a 1000w light puts out usually 150,000 lumens brand new and if you put 600,000 lumens into a closed space you will start to see why grow rooms have fires. maybe consider how you are going to fill the room with plants in veg before you start building a solid state flowering system. my advice is educate yourself more. and then decide what you are really trying to accomplish in terms of output. your questions and stated experiance show that you are not yet ready to make that determination. btw dialed in a 4000 watt system should have the potential output of about 4000-8000 grams. that is 250 to 500 lbs. per cycle sounds like you are entering uncharted territory have fun.

 

[CoCoSativas]

hello hotcheetos - you need to know height and the volume of your tent space. and also the area that your tent is within. you need to consider how you will cool your spaces. what is the btu output of your lights. this will tell you your requirements for cooling. also don't forget about the btu output of your ballast.

consider that new growers when growing indoors with a new strain will generally get about 0.2 0.3 grams per watt. so expect to get about 1200g from a system like this. (first run) vastly below the potential. also consider that a 1000w light puts out usually 150,000 lumens brand new and if you put 600,000 lumens into a closed space you will start to see why grow rooms have fires. maybe consider how you are going to fill the room with plants in veg before you start building a solid state flowering system. my advice is educate yourself more. and then decide what you are really trying to accomplish in terms of output. your questions and stated experiance show that you are not yet ready to make that determination. btw dialed in a 4000 watt system should have the potential output of about 4000-8000 grams. that is 250 to 500 lbs. per cycle sounds like you are entering uncharted territory have fun.

You are right about everything except 4000 to 8000 g's adding up to 250 to 500 pounds. That's like 142 to 284 Oz, close to 9 to 18 lbs save a bit.

You are certainly right though the o.p. won't realize anywhere near his potential with that gear for a couple runs no matter the system.

 

[hot cheetos]

Not being funny or nothing but mate that's still a shit load of work!!

I've got 16 in nft under an led and hps I'm pushing just over a 1000w and believe me I've got my hands full daily almost

Fair play tho mate you must have a set of King Kong balls!!

In for a penny in for a pound tho mate Im subbed no matter what you decide!!

16 buckets (16 res) vs 2 tables (2 res), that is a huge difference of work man. I'm guessing a couple hours of work per day. Just to check in on the girls, check figures make sure everything is in-tune, and train a little. Of course this is assuming everything is running smoothly. I do realize that there will be times where things will be running anything but smooth.

hello hotcheetos - you need to know height and the volume of your tent space. and also the area that your tent is within. you need to consider how you will cool your spaces. what is the btu output of your lights. this will tell you your requirements for cooling. also don't forget about the btu output of your ballast.

consider that new growers when growing indoors with a new strain will generally get about 0.2 0.3 grams per watt. so expect to get about 1200g from a system like this. (first run) vastly below the potential. also consider that a 1000w light puts out usually 150,000 lumens brand new and if you put 600,000 lumens into a closed space you will start to see why grow rooms have fires. maybe consider how you are going to fill the room with plants in veg before you start building a solid state flowering system. my advice is educate yourself more. and then decide what you are really trying to accomplish in terms of output. your questions and stated experiance show that you are not yet ready to make that determination. btw dialed in a 4000 watt system should have the potential output of about 4000-8000 grams. that is 250 to 500 lbs. per cycle sounds like you are entering uncharted territory have fun.

Thanks for the reply man. Just have to correct you really quick, 4k-8k grams is roughly 9-18 pounds. Not 250-500 pounds. Damn that would be amazing lol. I will be vegging the room simply by swapping from a MH bulb to a HPS bulb. That brings up a question, what watt MH bulb should i use for this set up? 400, 1000? My hood doesn't accept 600.

 

[CoCoSativas]

16 buckets (16 res) vs 2 tables (2 res), that is a huge difference of work man. I'm guessing a couple hours of work per day. Just to check in on the girls, check figures make sure everything is in-tune, and train a little. Of course this is assuming everything is running smoothly. I do realize that there will be times where things will be running anything but smooth.



Thanks for the reply man. Just have to correct you really quick, 4k-8k grams is roughly 9-18 pounds. Not 250-500 pounds. Damn that would be amazing lol. I will be vegging the room simply by swapping from a MH bulb to a HPS bulb. That brings up a question, what watt MH bulb should i use for this set up? 400, 1000? My hood doesn't accept 600.

If your ballast will fire it it's really up to bulb to fit a hood. They all use a e39 mogul so the 400 and 600 and 1000 fit the same shit.

600 mh dosent exist in the general mh industry, they make a couple for growing. Hortilux blue and sunmaster full nova which are both full spectrum. Fire off a e ballast (both) so you could use them in your setup and they come in a variety of wattage.

I'd take the sunmaster...

Anyway they make mh conversions for 600 outside those mentioned but do t bother those two bulbs come in lots of wattage and your ballasts will fire them no problem

 

[hot cheetos]

If your ballast will fire it it's really up to bulb to fit a hood. They all use a e39 mogul so the 400 and 600 and 1000 fit the same shit.

600 mh dosent exist in the general mh industry, they make a couple for growing. Hortilux blue and sunmaster full nova which are both full spectrum. Fire off a e ballast (both) so you could use them in your setup and they come in a variety of wattage.

I'd take the sunmaster...

Anyway they make mh conversions for 600 outside those mentioned but do t bother those two bulbs come in lots of wattage and your ballasts will fire them no problem

Oh ok, that makes a lot more sense. But which wattage do you think would be best for a 10x10 room with 4 lights, 16 plants? Reason i ask is because I'm under the impression that 1000w MH is far stronger in power than a 1000W HPS. Could I run 4000 watts of MH for the veg phase or is that way too high?

 

[hot cheetos]

Really need to figure this one out guys. Can't find the info anywhere. Should I run 4 1000w metal halide bulbs or is that too much? Should I do the 400 instead?

 

[CoCoSativas]

Oh ok, that makes a lot more sense. But which wattage do you think would be best for a 10x10 room with 4 lights, 16 plants? Reason i ask is because I'm under the impression that 1000w MH is far stronger in power than a 1000W HPS. Could I run 4000 watts of MH for the veg phase or is that way too high?

This is a complicated question.

If you are using for veg you need less light, not because the mh is stonger, the plants need less energy in veg.

Dude put it this way I use a 200 watt CFL to veg a square meter which is 4x4. So a 400 or 600 my would more than do it per 5x5 space...

So anyway you could use 4000 watts but the question is why? Plants can only take in so many photons.

Dude you need to learn the basics before you strap into this rocket... that number of lights is too much for you, grow a crop with one light and figure it out more. Veg with a small light and flower with a 1000 or a 600. I use 600 for a 4x4 to great effect.

I admire your gusts but this type of grow will ruin it for you it's way too much. Dude I sit at home day and night and sometimes I want a day off from my 4x4 tent. Do you think I get one? Never I have to mix food and feed everyday. Worth it to me but it's a pain. Imagine battling problems with 16 touchy hydro plants

 

[CoCoSativas]

Really need to figure this one out guys. Can't find the info anywhere. Should I run 4 1000w metal halide bulbs or is that too much? Should I do the 400 instead?

Keep postin, also in other threads. When you have hit 50 posts you will have the ability to pm. You will get a pm from me and maybe I can help you out and answer some questions in a much faster timeframe