grow setup

[trick]

Ok so im trying to get a rough idea about what im doing here. it wont be for months, but ive got nothing better to do than learn and plan.

SOOO im looking for a cheap ass system that will be for personal use, this is what i was planning on:

Just a 5 gallon bucket with styrofoam, dranage system (pipe with on off valve), air pump for fish tank? and 3 plants.
and this for lighting:
h++p://uk.ebid.net/for-sale/led-grow-li ... googlebase

my questions:

1: What should i do as far as nutrients for 3 plants in 5 gallons of water?
2: Whats the deal with changing the water out? (let it get half full, then refill with ph adjusted water yada yadaa, then when half full again replace with fresh solution?)
3: When i trigger the plants to flower, will they still increace in size at all?
4: When in flower mode, what am i putting in the water? i dont wana smoke hyrdoponic flowering solution.
5: What are the light cycles?

i know 12 on 12 off for growing, but flowering ive heard things about like 16 on and 8 off, and also 24 on and never off. wtf?
what do these diffrent light times do for my plants in the flowering stage?
(eg why 24 on rather than 16 on? less time till harvest?)


Sorry if i asked some noob questions.
I cant waitttt.

 

[atypical]

hey as to your light situation my approach is 24 on during veggie phase and 12/12 or 10 on 14 off in flowering and its worked for me, dont know much about hydroponics but I assume the flushing process is the same, 2-4 weeks before harvest stop all fertilizers. my ladies last year increased about 8-10 inches in height over a 6 week flowering phase that I had to cut short due to unrelated to growing concerns.
the reason behind 24hr on during veggie stage imo is that there is no limit to the amount they can photosynthesize other than lumen-surface area of leaf restrictions so you will get up to a satisfactory height to begin flowering faster, though this may make your plants not as bushy.. thats my 2 cents, take into account im only 78% sure all this information is correct.

 

[trick]

haha thanks man.

So i was abit off with the lighting cycles huh? lol

So if im going for super small bushy plants, should the vegitation light cycle be 12 on 12 off?
Im trying to keep the whole thing as small as possible.

ill be growing indica, but what else can i do to keep them small (2-3 feet?) yet still get good yeilds?
ive seen these amazing plants that are mostly all bud and look like damn christmas trees, how do i achieve this?!

 

[trick]

btw, decided on big bud and white widow. :axe:

fuck, im SO impatent.

 

[Sticki]

Hello mate,

25ltr Buckets with lids and netpots, 3 buckets for 3 plants I would suggest. Having an air stone in the bottom of the buckets means the system you are using is Deep Water Culture. The reason I say to use 3 different buckets is becuase 1 resevoir for 3 plants on DWC is bad news for all plants if your resevoir contracts any pathogens or bacteria. Your Air Pump should deliver enough air to support 75 - 125 litres of water per bucket to ensure good Dissolved Oxygen being deliverd to the roots and creating super healthy hydro growth.

Your LED lights are not good enough too, The Watt is too low. LED lights come in larger Watts but I suggest for the time being you invest your cash wisely and buy a good old 600W HPS. Things like a Digital Ballast and Cooltube will increase your lumen output which ultimately means more buds.

To your questions mate,

1. Your going to need to recalculate your volumes of water but when you buy nutes they tell you what you need to add to the water in ratio, You merelly need to adjust you PH and CF / PPM (Strength) of your nute solution for your plants requirements.

2. I would suggest buying 4 buckets, Then you can use the empty one for the plant to sit in when you change its resevoir

3. yes, When the plants are switched from veg cycles (24/0, 20/4, 18/6, 16/8, 14/10, Light on/Light off) to flower cycle (12/12, Usually with some growers decreasing the amount of hours of light gradually near the end of flower to simulate the autumn) the plant instinctively grows taller in its increased darkness, Searching for the light. Sativa plants will stretch more then indica but there are many ways to prune / control the growth of a tall plant

4. When you buy nutes they come for hydro named Aqua Vega and Aqua Flores, One for veg and One for flower. You stop feeding the plant nutrients in the last 2 weeks of flower, This is called flushing becuase it forces the plant to use the nutes being retained by itself removing any yucky nutes you dont wanna taste.

5. I've answerd this already in reply 3. Growers use different cycles for vegging 24/0, 20/4, 18/6, 16/8, 14/10, Light on/Light off. This is down to either grower preference, The preference of the plant Or The grower is using his veg cycle to simulate real life vegging times found at different locations of the world to create an ultimate controlled enviroment.
When we flower we switch our lights to 12/12 becuase the plant needs 12 hours of darkness to trigger its flowering phase.

It depends on how good the grower is and his understanding of plant needs. The proof is in the pudding they say

I hope this info is of some use to you

 

[atypical]

if you want short and bushy theres a way to top plants so they have two or more crown buds, thats outta my league though at least w/o talking outta my ass. or screen of green method which involves topping them many times i think though for that full method youll need constant supplies of clones. Im good for ideas but detailwise im sketchy.

 

[trick]

ah i think my mate sticki's got it handeld!

i shoulda went straight to him b4 posting a thread, but hey everone has their absentminded times.

 

[dennis1978]

Yo.

Like someone said; led is not really all that.
Cheap tube lights are better; but high pressure is still the shit to get.
It doesn't cost a lot either. Just get 200 or 400 watt with an electronic ballast.
But sure, i've seen people grow with led before.

The water effluent; depending on your setup
change it often enough. I suggest once a week. It's cheap, so what the hell.
The oxygen in there decreases FAST.

Check the ph (power of the hydrogen), AND the ec (electrical conductivity) OR ppm. That's it.
Just make sure the water is never cold or old. Keep it out of sunlight aswell.
Sunlight breaks down chelates.

You can even wing both after measuring a 100% dose once, and the water you use once.

Just write doen the ph and ec or ppm of the liquid after you mixed it and it settled for half an hour and clear water.

You can even leave out the ec / ppm. One can assume that shit is spot on for cannabis,
although it is really not recommended when using partial doses.

Also make sure your freshly prepared nutrients are reacted completely.
Don't use it straight away.
There is no buffer like on soil (clay for example) and the plants get the full blast of it.
There is some molecule inter-changing going on in the solution.
Some nutrients are made into phosphites, they are lighter then phosphates so
the plant can uptake and transport it more easy.
There is also something going on with the electrons. The electrical conductivity get's elevated

Yeah it's all chemistry man.

Just so you know:
Soil is for easy going / growing;
hydro not so.

About the cheapness; try to get your hands on some seeds; or make them yourself.
Then don't put a 16 / 8 cycle in the routine.

Only 12/12.
Saves 8 hours of power per day;
and with seeds you can make it run very nice like that.

Maybe you didn't know, but let me tell you:
cannabis plants only going to flower when they are mature;
they are mature only when they have enough chlorofyl for example.
Which makes growth- / devision of cells- possible with use of sunlight.

Then, when they mature, they can actually make the hormones that initialize blossoming in flowers and plants.
This then still takes some time to actually be at full blast.
From seed to flowering plant on 12/12 will still take 4 to 6 weeks.
That's more then enough to grow nice plants. And even when flowering, there is still growth hormone
which makes then grow still. Untill they are fully flowering, then there is little growth in the plants,
only the flowers should develop further untill the plant is exhausted, and all leaves are yellow.

So therefore; when putting in onto 12/12 straight away it will just grow
untill it is ready; and make for nice small compact plants; which get lighted properly.

Easiest to harvest; fastest to grow; repeat in a never ending cycle; and off you go...

Oke, you get small plants; but if the amount of plants is no problem you can save a lot of money
and aggrivation like that; and grow faster and better bud then pretty much anyone does;
you don't get the fluffy crap weed either with the insane amounts of "cleaning time".

The plants are nice and small; light reaches untill the lower branches easily;
they get only 40 cm which makes for compact bud

Sea Of Green, SCReen Of Green;
they cost a shit load of time regarding lightbulb hours.
Yes, one plant can make for 2square meters; but when this plant is ready
it will have soaked up more energy then you will in a whole year.
Way too costly.

Ten seeds would've been halfway already.
Nothing can beat that

Get it onto 12/12 as fast as possible is the key to make it worth something for personal use.

Remeber, with seeds there are males, so make sure there are enough plants even when 50/50 males.
Want ten plants? Put in 20 living seeds. There's always room for an extra female but we can't be short on those

On hydro, you have to get it spot on though, growing like this with seeds.
No margin for error.

If you're good, you can pull it off with clones aswell.
The thing is that you can't keep on doing it with the same plant when running setups with clones.
Clones from clones from clones age; therefore:

a clone usually is a mature plant;
just with it's limbs cut off.

If you put those into 12/12 straight away, it won't be all too nice.
They are old plants already, weakened, and will flower instantly.
And fuck up your whole operation really good while doing so

but also they can be grown F A S T.
Just give them about ten days 16/8 or 24/0.

Often plants appear to grow taller in the darker moments of the day; and it's true.
They try to find light; and gravity tells them it's up there somewhere.


[off_topic]

Which brings me to another subject all together;
it is the plants which can save earth :O
it can make oils; bread; clothes; paper; alcohol; bio fuel; medicine; money; and so on!
Faster then pretty much any other plant while not exhausting the soil it stands on.
Isn't that amazing

[/off_topic]