# My Homemade setup+quick questions



## BigBoost (Oct 31, 2006)

Well I just got into trying to grow hydroponically, as well as being new to growing anything at all. Most of my information has come from google searching and this is the first forum I've joined to try to educate myself.

So far this is what I already have the actual " system " setup with the bucket, hydroponic solution, rockwool, airpump yadda yadda. For lightining until I buy a nice HPS I have 4 2700lumen 150watt lights installed in a homemade hood wrapped in mylar with 24hr light. 1 subject is about a week old, the other is a few days. I've been misting them with distilled water every few hours and they seem to be growing quickly and healthy.

For starters I just wanted to see if there were any tips or things to watch out for when beginning to grow hydroponically because I'm completely in the dark unless I've read it, any simple things that could help me out or keep my plants alive would be greatly appreciated.

Secondly I do have one question. About how long should I wait until transfering them into the water. Any tips about doing that ? Thats the only thing I worry about is transfering them. What temperature should the water be that I'm using to rinse the roots off ? Any " easy " way to get all the dirt off. Also anything reguarding the transfer of them from soil to water would be appreciated. 

Thanks in advance. Heres a few pictures of the setup, comments are welcome.


----------



## THE BROTHER'S GRUNT (Oct 31, 2006)

*Welcome to MP BigBoost. I know nothing about hydro growing but it looks like your off to a good start. Stoney Bud is the hydro man over here at MP and i'm sure he will get to your thread soon. He loves sharing his hydro knowledge.   Good luck on the grow man. Much GREEN MOJO coming your way.  *


----------



## newgreenthumb (Oct 31, 2006)

Now thats using your noggin. By the way I would put some type of strain relief on the cords coming out of the light sockets for safe measure because the weight of the reflector may stress the wires.   Goodluck!


----------



## Stoney Bud (Oct 31, 2006)

BigBoost said:
			
		

> About how long should I wait until transferring them into the water. What temperature should the water be that I'm using to rinse the roots off ? Any " easy " way to get all the dirt off. Also anything regarding the transfer of them from soil to water would be appreciated.


Hey BigBoost, that's a great DIY setup man. The strain relief suggested would be a good idea. 

If you could post a pic of your plants, that would help with any advice we can give you. Because of the different strains and growth habits, it's not a good idea to give advice "blind" about plants that haven't been seen.

What are the plants growing in now? I know it's dirt, but what type of dirt and what are you doing for nutes while they're in dirt?

Transplanting is easy. Just be VERY gentle and use a slow stream of water to gently rinse the dirt away from the roots.

When placing them in the hydroton, put a layer of hydroton into the net basket and gently lower the plant to that level while gently placing more hydroton around the roots. You don't want to tear the roots. Once you have the plant in the basket, you're done. Top off the basket with hydroton and turn on your system.

The type of system you're using looks as if it's a DWC system. Is it? Or are you going to use drip?

What nutes are you going to use in your reservoir?

The lights you have will be ok until your plants are larger than 2 x 2 foot.

You'll need at least 3000 lumens per/sq ft. of plant canopy. You have about 4K now. That's enough for 3.6 square feet of growth. That will grow one medium sized plant.

You'll need that HPS to flower your plant.

You really should sex your plants *before* putting one into your system. That way, you can make sure you have a female. You don't want to put more than one plant into the bucket. The roots get tangled and can cause lots of problems later. The rule is one plant per container unless you're doing an ebb and flow or NFT.

Good luck to you man! Let me know if you have any more questions.


----------



## HGB (Oct 31, 2006)

lights+mylar+cardboard+power= a big fire hazard IMO

there's alot of better ways to make a cheap and simple SAFE reflector.


just on a fly by here so hit *Mutt* up for some DIY info....

be safe and grow on


----------



## BigBoost (Oct 31, 2006)

Stoney Bud said:
			
		

> Hey BigBoost, that's a great DIY setup man. The strain relief suggested would be a good idea.
> 
> If you could post a pic of your plants, that would help with any advice we can give you. Because of the different strains and growth habits, it's not a good idea to give advice "blind" about plants that haven't been seen.
> 
> ...



Alright, well here are a few pictures of my 2 plants, the taller one is about a week now, and the shorter one is 2-3 days.

Soil, I'm just using potting soil from wal-mart, it has miracle grow in it which after I had already started using it my friend told me that it was bad news, but I had no idea, they seem healthy for now, I don't have any nutes added into the soil at all.

To be completely honest with you, I'm really not sure what kind of " system " I have or am using. It's a 5 gallon bucket, with an air pump with an air stone and thats it. I don't know any of the slang or abbreviations that go along with these things lol

As for nutes in the water I have Botanicare Organic.

Yes I have 4 other buckets for the other plants, only had 1 in the picture tho. I know 2 plants in same would be a no-no lol. As for " sexing " them, how do you do that ? Just wait around until its obvious ?

But anyways, heres some pictures of the plants


----------



## rockydog (Oct 31, 2006)

How far away is the light? She looks like she's stretching a bit.


----------



## BigBoost (Oct 31, 2006)

rockydog said:
			
		

> How far away is the light? She looks like she's stretching a bit.



I think I waited a day or so too long to put a good ammount of light on the first one which is why it strethed out some, the lights are about 4-6 inches away from the taller of the 2 plants now. Which is why the other one " opened up " much shorter.


----------



## Stoney Bud (Oct 31, 2006)

BigBoost said:
			
		

> Alright, well here are a few pictures of my 2 plants, the taller one is about a week now, and the shorter one is 2-3 days.
> 
> Soil, I'm just using potting soil from wal-mart, it has miracle grow in it which after I had already started using it my friend told me that it was bad news, but I had no idea, they seem healthy for now, I don't have any nutes added into the soil at all.
> 
> ...


 
The setup you have for that light is really not safe man. Is this your house that might burn down? If it is, and you're willing to take that risk, that's ok, but if it's not your house to burn down, I would take that light setup and make it safe with no cardboard and a proper reflector. Growing weed takes money. There really is no way around that.

For your plants, you should just grow them in dirt until they are sexed and you know you have females. The plants will react better to transplanting then as well. You have some little baby plants there. They aren't ready to do anything with for weeks. About another 6 weeks.

Until then, you have to make proper homes for them as well. They're ready to get out of the cups and into proper pots. One gallon pots will be just right until transplanting.

I would strongly advise you to buy and read a proper grow manual. They have them in stock at Barnes and Nobles. You need to educate yourself about growing MJ before getting any further into it.

It's kind of like learning to drive by just jumping into a car and going on the LA freeway the first mile. You'd crash.

You'll crash with the weed unless you learn MUCH more about it then you know now.

Read that book or at least some online grow guides:

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5837

Learn all that terminology and all the things you need to know *before* your plants need you to know it. You have about 6 weeks.

Good luck man.


----------



## BigBoost (Nov 1, 2006)

Stoney Bud said:
			
		

> The setup you have for that light is really not safe man. Is this your house that might burn down? If it is, and you're willing to take that risk, that's ok, but if it's not your house to burn down, I would take that light setup and make it safe with no cardboard and a proper reflector. Growing weed takes money. There really is no way around that.
> 
> For your plants, you should just grow them in dirt until they are sexed and you know you have females. The plants will react better to transplanting then as well. You have some little baby plants there. They aren't ready to do anything with for weeks. About another 6 weeks.
> 
> ...



Alrighty, I was unaware that that was such a large fire hazard, I don't need to burn down my appt, don't think the complex would enjoy that to much either haha.

Thanks for all the tips, I guess my friend was mis-informed, he was told 2-3 weeks before transplanting them into the hydroponic system. He already put it in the water and its growing fine, but you guys seem like you know alot more than me and my friends lol. I'll look into that book or a few others, I've been reading Home Gardner the hydroponics version or w/e.

I'll keep you guys updated on how they are, thanks for the advice and helpful input. Hopefully these will turn into some dank, only using kryp seeds


----------



## Ravishing_68 (Nov 1, 2006)

I'm huge on safety! You can purchase a smoke detector anywhere and should definitely have one. Also There is a plug that shuts off when the temp gets over 105 degrees so you plug your lights in it and your fans should be on a different plug so as to stay on and help disperse the heat.

http://www.4eversun.com/hydroponics_safety_devices.htm I am actually banned from this site due to my opinion I posted in their forum, but Safety is more important than whatever stick they got up their ***  (Did I say that?!?!?!?!)


*[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Bimetal thermal regulator switches are included with every "Caddy" and Mini Caddy"[/FONT]*​
*[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]If the air temperature in your grow box gets above 105F, then this switch will turn off ONLY the lights[/FONT]*​
*[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Heat transfer occurs directly through the metallic base via convection, radiation and conduction in gaseous and solid media[/FONT]*​
*[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]You can rest assured your plants will never burn[/FONT]*​
*[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Greatly reduces the risk of fire[/FONT]*​
*[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]115Vac 60Hz[/FONT]*​
*[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Provides peace-of-mind your home is safe[/FONT]*​
Item Name: Thermal Safety switch turns off lighting at 105 F
Item Number: TS-1-4ES
Price: $59


----------



## KADE (Nov 1, 2006)

That looks like the riced honda civic of hydro lighting... but it looks like it'll work damn good. =)  Good thinking!


----------

