Questions for the Educated and Experienced

Hi,

Before I get to the questions. Youll first need to know a little bit about me. I am a recreational smoker only interested in a closet grow of 2 or 3 plants for personal use. I am really only growing because it sounds fun, educational, and im interested in smoking some exotic strands.

I am a first time grower. I am about to invest in my first hydroponic grow system. I do understand systems can be built for cheep but I have some money to spend and would really prefer to purchase a prefab system for various reasons.

Heres what I am working with...

I have a 250w HPS light (shown below). I will be using this light from seed to smoke.

I have a decent sized fan.

I have a decent sized closet.

Looking for a 2-3 plant prefab hydro system.


Question 1:
I am looking for feminised seeds only I dont have time or effort to waist on growing males, which exotic and potent strands are best for a small indoor area. I would like to grow an indica and a sativa strand to produce different effects.

I was considering ganga dwarf/lowrider hybrid because it is auto flowing and sounds quick and easy for my first grow in order to learn the equipment.

Next I wanted to try growing 1 strawberry ice and 1 white widow or white queen.

What do you think? Keep in mind I dont want to stink my entire house up!


Question 2:
Here are the systems I am considering, just looking for some feedback.

DWC:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=200307187034

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=360129975089

Light:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=400028017983


I have been watching vids and reading up on growing for a few weeks and I think im ready for a trial run.

Any feedback and or guidance is appreciated.

Thank you

heres what u do , save rur time and money and credit card and posibility of getting caught , go out buy 3 5 gallon buckets and a medium sized tuppaware, tupperware first , have the seedling in rockrool , in hydroton balls in a 6 inch net pot, in hoels cut in the lid of the medium sized tupperware, have a few large air stones from air pumps and add nuts get a tds meter , maybe a ph meter , lights ok , i would get 400 for flower,..... when u wanna flower cut holes in the lid of u 5 gal bucket , put ur plants in put a big air stone add nutes , check tds , ur on ur way for a tall closet , small bottom floor id get sativa , big closet lots of room , not too high , i would get indica , like white russian and maybe lst if needed , get dnf nutes from ur hydro store

and feminized seeds can hermie or male also eh...ur better off with clones. or start twice as many as u want to flower because usually half will be males

i saw.... "maybe a pH meter"???? maybe???? This should be one of the first things you get... If the pH is not withing what it should be your plants can't take up any nutrients. Yes hydro is very interesting and can give bigger yields but like you said, "first time grower". Just saying that maybe soil would be a better way to start, especially if you don't have your meters. pH and ppm meters can be $30 to $1,000's so even if you had to get something a little cheaper it's a great start.

The 250 w HPS is alright, but maybe only for one plant since you will still want to keep everything as close as possible. I don't know what anyone has pulled off of a 250 but I would almost bet that you could get more of off one big plant than 3 tiny ones... but then the one will need more veg time. Try looking up "canopy management" it's an article on here by Subcool that has really influenced me.

If you still want to go hydro... try looking at some of the DWC rubbermaid tubs. Buy your net pots and cut holes in your lid for these to fit. Basically, you have your plants (once rooted) sitting in the water constantly being pumped with air. Even if you're roots aren't in the mix little bubble "spritz" fly up and keep the roots wet (if the water is high enough). Conditions change quickly with hydro and temps and shit are really important. Don't want to end up with root rot or anything like that. So.... go get your pH and ppm meters and a rubbermaid or two, some net pots and hydroton pebbles, hydroponic nutrients, and aquarium air pumps and air stones and you should be almost ready to go... just need some seeds or clones to start.

I just looked at your suggestions that you had links to.... The second DWC that you posted.... The rubbermaid is probably $5 and the net pots are like $0.25 cents each... so really you're paying for him/her to put it together for you. Honestly, take the time to set something up yourself, unless you have way too much money on hand, in which case you can fly me to where you are and i'll go pick up everything for you, get the system up and running and then fly me back.... sound good? hahah

Oh yea.... smell hahaha lets just say don't expect them not to smell up your house... I can notice the smell walking up to my house in the summer and that's just when they are vegging.

I will give it a go.I have three dwc that hold two plants each,When the plants get big they grow into each other and are a pain to work with.The roots get tangled around the air hose and each other.I have started to grow only one per container.Mine are based on the second system you have above.The first one does not look very big,the roots from one plant can fill the container like i have when fully grown.
The light you have will be great for budding,you will get better vegitative growth with a 105w cfl.I tried growing with my hps from seed and they took forever to get any size,as soon as i switched to cfl they took off.
You will need a ph meter and a ppm-ec meter also.They will be your best tools to keeping your plants growing.
Choosing seeds is like picking a car,everyone has different tastes.It dependes on what type of high you enjoy.Fem seeds will hermi as said above.Autoflower are easy to grow with the same light cycle their whole life.They mature fast but have a small yeild,about a oz a plant.
No matter what strain you grow you will stink up the whole house.I can smell mine outside with all of the doors and windows closed.OPH

I would def like to stick to a hydro system and after reading I am going to build my own system as apposed to buying prefab.

Ill change up and buy non feminized seeds to save the money but I cant clone sence I have no one to get clippings from.

I will see what I can do about using one container per plant.

Can I buy an aquarium co2 system and run the line into the water
supply? I would think this would be the easiest way to supply the roots
with supplemental Co2 but again im a rookie.

Do you really think it will smell strong if Im only growing 1 or 2 at a time? What are some cost effective methods to manage oder?

Thanks again for all of your help.

Also, would using this light specificly for vedging speed things up?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220356969712&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:Watchlink:middle:us

Watch the videos called How to Grow Green by Greenman here and then decide what you want to do and what you need and don't need. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=how+to+grow+green+greenman&aq=f


As for strains and feminized seeds I would just buy quality strains from top breeders/seedbanks and not go the feminized route and just separate the males from the females and keep a couple good mother plants to clone from.

But WATCH THE VIDEO for sure. It will teach you a lot and walk you through every step from building a grow room to drying. You may want or need to alter some things you see/learn and you may want to take some of the advice you get here too but it is worth watching the video since you are new and you want to go hydro.

shananagins on ph meter, i baught strips used em once , never looked at them again maybe im lucky , maybe the jsut been fluke but i havent had a problem in dwc its a waste of money as far as im conserned , and if u have a carbon scrubberand a completly enclosed area , you have a good chance it wont smell, as far as i can smell haha white russian , the only way to go ftw

BigHoseExpert said:

I would def like to stick to a hydro system and after reading I am going to build my own system as apposed to buying prefab.

Ill change up and buy non feminized seeds to save the money but I cant clone sence I have no one to get clippings from.

I will see what I can do about using one container per plant.

Can I buy an aquarium co2 system and run the line into the water
supply? I would think this would be the easiest way to supply the roots
with supplemental Co2 but again im a rookie.

Do you really think it will smell strong if Im only growing 1 or 2 at a time? What are some cost effective methods to manage oder?

Thanks again for all of your help.

Also, would using this light specificly for vedging speed things up?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220356969712&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:Watchlink:middle:us

Click to expand...

Aquarium air pumps work fine for me,i have two stones in each tub.The lights you show do not put out enough lumens to make it worth while,it would take a but load of them to be any good.Here is a link to what i use and grow two plants under till i flower.OPH
http://www.1000bulbs.com/105-Watt-Compact-Fluorescent/

So 1 of those 105's should do the trick for a few seed/clones?

Do you think its worth the bill for a sup co2 system? Like I said should be no more then 1 flowering plant and 2 clone/mothers.

BigHoseExpert said:

So 1 of those 105's should do the trick for a few seed/clones?

Yes,they will work great for your seeds and clones.I grow my plants to around two ft before i put them to flower.If i do my part with the nutrients,the plants will grow 1-2 inches a day with that light in veg.

Do you think its worth the bill for a sup co2 system? Like I said should be no more then 1 flowering plant and 2 clone/mothers.

Click to expand...

I have never used C02 for a grow,as long as you can get a good air exchange you do not need it.I would only use C02 in a sealed grow room with no air exchange.OPH

Feminized seeds seem to be getting a bad rap here, so I wanted to say that I've had very good success. No hermies and certainly not any males like one poster suggested.