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One for the newbs: cheap and simple hydro, but very effective

al3k5

New member
Lighting for DR .D

Lighting for DR .D

Been hopping around from forum to forum to find this thread. DR .D wow may I say you have an amazing crop! Great idea, and great results! Only one question, what lighting did you use? Thats the one issue I still have to resolve before I start my grow.
 

al3k5

New member
How do you vent your lights? Im considering getting HPS but not sure about ventilation...I'm going to do the whole lighter fluid and string thing with a vase or glass of some sort for sure, but would it matter what I use as long as its clear? Will some type of glass block light? And where do you vent to? Do you have a hole somewhere you cut out to vent outside?
 
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tallymanscotlan

New member
yo dr D and all who follow .great thread m8
iv been in soil for a couple of years but you and the guys on here have converted me
i v got the pots and should have the pump and everything else by the end of the week so i might have a few questions for you guys hope you can help
once again great thread and the pics (eye candy)are spot on

puff puff pass
 

CalcioErba2004

CalErba
Veteran
How do you vent your lights? Im considering getting HPS but not sure about ventilation...I'm going to do the whole lighter fluid and string thing with a vase or glass of some sort for sure, but would it matter what I use as long as its clear? Will some type of glass block light? And where do you vent to? Do you have a hole somewhere you cut out to vent outside?

lighter fluid and string? You gotta tell me about this one! :tongue:

You can either vent the room or the lights. To vent the lights you are going to have to get sealed reflectors. Either way can work, depends on your situation. You can vent to anywhere. I prefer an attic or whatever is above the grow, remember hot air rises. As far as extractor fans go, any fan or blower that will move a lot of air will work. :joint:
 

alphaferret

New member
Great thread!

1.when you all talk about cfl are they special grow lites or just plain cfl? Can I get away w/ just cfl in my veg area?
2.Do you start off on 24 hour light cycle? or is it off sometimes?18/6- What ratio if so?
3. what is scrog?
4. I'm looking at t5-will this work over hps?
5.define veg for me-from the time it sprouts til I throw it into bud?or flower-is there a difference between bud and flower!

THX
 

frankobud

Member
dr d thanks for the info i have been putting off going hydro because it looked to complicated this looks easier then soil thanks again i cant wait to try it
 

gdbud

Member
tallymanscotlan;3455491 when topping up the bucket do i top up with ph correct water or with ph correct water with nutriants in it thanks[/quote said:
You can do it either way, But the easiest way is to add pH water until you have added the same amount of pH water as your reservoir holds then do a reservoir change.
So you have a 12L reservoir that you fill with 9L of pH water and nutrients. As the water level drops just add pH water until you have added a total of 9L of pH water then dump the water and fill with new pH water and nutrients. Its simple and a no brainier. :wave:
 

Goa

New member
Definately going to try this and when i do it will be documented. Great and informative thread, Easy to follow

I likey. Thanks a lot Dr D
 

CalcioErba2004

CalErba
Veteran
Great thread!

1.when you all talk about cfl are they special grow lites or just plain cfl? Can I get away w/ just cfl in my veg area?
2.Do you start off on 24 hour light cycle? or is it off sometimes?18/6- What ratio if so?
3. what is scrog?
4. I'm looking at t5-will this work over hps?
5.define veg for me-from the time it sprouts til I throw it into bud?or flower-is there a difference between bud and flower!

THX

1: CFL stands for Compact Fluorescent Light. These are basically small tube fluorescent bulbs that burn at a higher intensity than regular fluorescent bulbs. The tube is smaller and twisted to fit in the same space as a regular bulb. CFLs are used a lot for aquarium lighting. You can get away with just CFLs for veg and I know people that use them for flower as well.
2. You can start off with a 24h cycle. I used to do this myself. By starting at a 24h cycle for the first 2 weeks when you switch to an 18/6 your plants will start to throw preflowers. Great way to tell male and females apart as soon as possible. Some strains will do this and some strains won't. Cannabis is not fully mature until about 2 months. Like I said not all strains are like this and some will be mature sooner and some later. I have switched to an 18/6 cycle myself as I do not have many seeds started and I have moms all selected. To me its for someone starting out looking for that special mom.
3. SCROG - Screen of Green, basically making a trellis net so that the plant can be trained using the screen. Great way to spread plants out and make a canopy even so that each part of the grow gets even light.
4.depends on the T5s. There are Normal Output(NO) T5, High Output(HO) T5 and Very High Output(VHO) T5. You can get good results with T5 lights but they will never replace and HID light like an HPS.
5.Bud is flower. The buds are the flower of the cannabis plant. There are 3 distinct stages of growth, seedling(first 2 weeks of life), vegging(2 weeks to 2 months or however long you keep it in 18/6), and flower(time cycle is changed to 12/12 to induce flowering).

I hope this helps! :wave:
 

CalcioErba2004

CalErba
Veteran
a friend of mine said this system(bucket bubbler) was ok but he never got it to comeout w/ out bugs.

Growroom cleanliness is a must when running hydro. You really have to have your room dialed in or you are gonna get pests and you can cook the roots. This system is simple but I do not recommend any beginners who do not have indoor growing experience to do this method. It is still hydro and you still need to monitor everything closely.
 

alphaferret

New member
thanks for the info-

1.so no special grow cfls.
2. 24 is ok-except if you got mother plant then 18/6 is alright
3. I have since seen the scrog method-looks cool-pipedreams 150 grow
4.ideally hps would eb est for bud-but cfl and t5 have been used-w/ less productivity most likely eh?

i have dealt w/ t5 and vho before-the vho i had were like the size of reg. flours-I'll have tocheck my current set up and see if its ho/or vho or just reg t5-but they are a much smaller diameter-how come it seems no one really uses metal halide?-diff spectrum or something?

thanks for the info again
 

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