First grow IN progress, few questions

Hey everyone, this is my first real post about the glory of cultivation =)

But, I have a few questions!

Some info-Going to run 4x 5 gallon bucket, DWC bubblers on a circulator with an 18 gallon reservoir. I will also have a 3 plant setup in another 18 gallon reservoir independantly. I have a 400W light setup with a MH and HPS bulb, neither of which I'm using until I take my babies out of my "stealth pc box" and actually toss'em in the tent. For now they're getting 2700k light from 2 100W CFL's. 12 bag seeds led to 9 germinating, God led to 8 surviving the transfer to the pc box. I have crappy crappy water. 8.4pH, 427ppm out of the tap. I blew way too much on my setup (SOME of those premades REALLY are a good deal), so RO is outa the question for now. I will be bringing in my own water. I'm using a HomeBox L for my tent with a 6" inline fan for ventilation (440CFM) and a carbon filter from ebay ( http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350118962528 ) with 350-450 rated CFM.

1. My buckets are dark orange, just the way I got them. Should I wrap these puppies in aluminum foil to keep light out of the nutes, or just the tops? I'm using netcup tops, ie, netcups that are built into 5 gallon tops, so this would save a bit of time since (I learned) I'm horrible at building things. Also since I'm bringing in water, if algae takes off and I have to exchange, thats another 20+ gallons I'm going to have to carry in. Once a week I can do, but when it looks like I have a bottled water addiction people might stage an intervention.

2. I have a magnetic ballast from HTG. The cord it has to the light is just too short to put the ballast outside of the tent I'm using and still allow it the freedom to be raised and lowerd, much less the heat dilemma. Will it be ok to leave in my tent? Heat is what I'm worried about, but if it's at the top where the heat is sucked out anyways, it shouldn't be a problem right?

3. I made a BIG rockwool mistake when I was starting my grow. I read for more than a few weeks, random posts, journals, setups and such, but I had never come across that "thou shalt not squeeze rockwool" information until it was too late. I cut them down to size some and still had to squeeze'em to cram them in the 1 inch tray thing I got. Still germinated though, and they're just starting their first true leaves. Should I leave them in these squeezed rockwool cubes or try to transfer them? Like, slice open a new cube in half, and lay the seedling in it and close? Like I said, they still germinated, but not sure what the future might bring.

4. Ventilation-My tent JUST fits in my closet so the door can be closed, with about 33" total that I can spread between the front where the door is, and the back. Theres a picture illustrating this if I'm not clear enough. This is a problem with getting the hot air out as it almost literally has no place to go. The closet is a 2 door sliding deal, the doors overlap. I'm going to take one door off so there isn't as much obstruction to the air getting in/out. Will this be enough? I generally keep my place between 65-75 degrees.


I think that may be it. Any suggestions are always appreciated! When I finally move my plants out of their cage, I'll post some new pictures. Thanks for the help!

well it sounds like your all set except no do not use aluminum foil cause its really easy to bur your plants that way especially with the high wattage mh your using and yes i would transplant them out of the crushed rockwool before they get root bound.


GOOD LUCK!

It would not be wise at all to transplant away from the rockwool at this point, the roots will incur serious damage if exposed to prolonged periods of light and the rockwool will remain intact for your grow. You will certainly disturb the root base badly. If you're growing DWC it wont matter anyways, the roots will simply hang from your pots anyways so the rockwool just serves as your structure and base. Good luck mate, you're on the right track

KC

Ah well, too late, already transplanted them all last night. Some were further along than others, but most had root hairs/fibers branching off main root already. Most seem to be doing ok, if in a bit of shock, but 2 wont make it me thinks, because their cubes were bone dry when I changed them. I still put those 2 in the same cube since I'm all out now.

We'll see how they come out of this. In a way I wouldn't mind, I can't wait to use the seeds with Attitude

So this is how it looks after I did that transfer. The 2 that kicked the bucket are in the back left of one of the pictures. I didn't think they'd make it but thought I'd give it a shot. I am worried about the length of the long ones. They took off a lot faster than the other ones. I think it's going to keep them in their longer. I originally had the cubes surrounded by hydroton, but while I was trying to cram 9 cups into space for 8 and many cups spilled. So for now, they're just hanging out on top to allow for drainage. I water 3 times a day with a water bottle and 1/4 strength big grow. It seems weak, I was kind of guestimating the amounts of nutes when I made the batch so it might be low. PPM said 41ppm when I tested it. I think I need to start actually watering maybe twice a day instead of spraying 3 times.

All in all I learned a whole lot doing just this. I think I'll try and germ some more and just add them to the ones already popped. At most I will ever be growing to maturity will be 7, 4 in my 5 gallons, 3 in my 18 gallon bubbler.

If anyone has any tips on how to handle these lanky fellas, or notice anything I don't, I'm all ears!

The back right start in the second picture looks a little rough bud , however the others look good. I would stay away from nutrients this early, the water and light should be enough to get them ready for nutrients at 3-4 weeks (although if you'r feeding at 41 ppm, that's not too bad). Shoot for the rockwool to be "moist" and not wet and those roots will have a great time searching through the cubes for moisture. Keep up the good work and give a little prayer for the gimpy cubes

KC

much appreciation for the replies KC! I'll keep an eye on that one you mentioned. Anyone have any thoughts on the number of lights? 3x 100W (equivalent) 2700k CFL's in the PC case. I thought about just using 2, but I didn't want them stretching anymore than they have already.

Obli

Pack in as much light as you possibly can while still being able to properly vent. You can reduce the stretching by lowering the bulbs a bit, hold your hand over your plants, when your hand gets hot, the bulbs are too close. Play with it a little, time will fill out the plants mate

KC

So I've kept them watered, usually using the sprayer, keeping the cubes moist enough so they don't drip, but still it keeps me watering them about 3-4 times a day to keep the cubes moist enough. I'm pretty sure I'm not over-watering because theres never any water in the cups I have underneath just in case it drips all the way through.

Something is up now though, the leaves are all downturned at the ends, and a little discolored on one plant. When I remade my water solution (it was 41ppm before from distilled water) it was 61ppm. I guess this was too much. I'm only using straight distilled water now.

Also, the leaves are so funky!. Why? Is it bad? I'm only keeping 3 of these since thats all I have room for. These are all basically my rough draft as far as a crop, and if they end out being female and producing, thats just gravy, but I'd still like to improve my odds by having plants who aren't starting behind in the negative.