First Time Grower

Hi everyone, Long time smoker - First time grower......So i just got set up with some help off a friend, problem is i'm not sure he knows exactly what he is doing lol.

I have a tent set up which is around 1.2 x 1.2 x 2, I have 4 dwc buckets in it and currently with new cuttings about 4" high (no res just single buckets) with a 600w HPS probably about 24" from the plants. Light is on 24/7 while vegging.

The tent is setup in a dry cool room, approx 14c (57f) during the day so temps inside get to around 24-27c (75f-80f) with the light on without any intake/exhaust fans although i do have the bottom intake and top exhaust vents where the ducting goes left open so theres some movement of air due to convection. I also have 2 fans inside the tent to move air over the plants and the one fan sits next to the intake hole so it sort of helps with the convection as it draws cool air in. dont really want to put an extractor in yet as the air will get too cool.

PH levels are between 5.1 and 5.8 and i just aluminium foiled the buckets due to the water reaching around 28c (83f) and i dont have a cooler for the buckets so may still have to resort to ice packs in the water, but i'm hoping the second fan that i put in today will help with water temps.

Now while the cuttings are getting used to the new home he said not to feed them and just run water, yet all other guides i have read said to feed. Should i or not????, Can't get the names of the feed i have just yet but can later (security and all that )

Do i move the light a bit closer? according the this chart i have for HPS lights 24" is getting close to the "too far away" distance.

Any other tips appreciated

If you have a digital ballast I'd buy an MH bulb for veg. Yes I would move the light closer. What puzzles me is how you could possibly have a water temp higher than the air temp under the lights. I sort of doubt it is accurate, you may not have a water temp problem at all. One thing to try is get the buckets off the floor on like a pallet. Then put a box fan in front that blows through the bucket array but not so much up top on the plants.

you should give them some 4 hours of darkness ...

Illegal Smile said:

If you have a digital ballast I'd buy an MH bulb for veg. Yes I would move the light closer. What puzzles me is how you could possibly have a water temp higher than the air temp under the lights. I sort of doubt it is accurate, you may not have a water temp problem at all. One thing to try is get the buckets off the floor on like a pallet. Then put a box fan in front that blows through the bucket array but not so much up top on the plants.

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the temp could grow that high becouse the color of the buckets , they are black

83f is too warm. You'll get root slime. I guarantee it.

lordjin said:

83f is too warm. You'll get root slime. I guarantee it.

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He's 100% right

Water temps are too way high for DWC .. You need to constantly have them 65-70 degrees ( use frozen water bottles to cool things down) trust me DWC is easy if you keep that water cool if not you will get slime and eventually root rot.

also agree with this guy give them 20/4 or 18/6 hours of light/darkness.

cheers for the replies guys,

not sure what type of ballast i have, equipment isn't mine and i have never seen one before. Water is so warm as Triple S says, the buckets are black and with the light on 24hrs they absorbed loads of heat which is why i foiled them over but chances are that will be removed and replaced with mylar.

Tonight i will be swapping to 18/6, a bit worried about the temp dropping too much though as it's only probably around 8c at night.

Illegal Smile, i will try that as it will also help with vibrations traveling from the air pump to the buckets if i sit the pallet on a bit of carpet or something, put your ear on the side of the bucket and the vibrations from the air pump are quite loud. the hum is clearly audible outside of the room.

i will be checking temps again shortly now i have had the bigger fan blowing about all evening and foiled buckets but will use frozen water bottles if it needs it, roots are not out of the cage and into the water yet but will get that sorted in the morning. Temps are checked using a dual temp reader, the unit reads indoor temp and a wire with a sensor for outside and i just drop the outside sensor in the water.

ok i checked water temps and it's only dropped to 78f but it's only had a few hours with foil so it's a start, lights are set to go off at 2am-8am so it's getting some cool down time and hopefully the buckets will help keep the tent warm till lights come back on again. leaves are starting to go pale green but read thats normal while roots establish themselves, is that right? also lowered the lights a bit as one plant is starting to stretch.

water temps are now around 72-73f, air temp is around 75f and i have put a wet towel in there to keep humidity up. Roots are starting to come through pretty well now and i lowerd the light a bit more so it's around 15" away from the plants but they are still looking pretty yellow.

Is the water still too warm or shall i use ice bottles? Are they ok looking a bit yellowish? i can't really take pics as the light makes the image have dark bands all over it.

Also when should i start adding nutes to the water? I have ferro growth a/b and cana grow a/b. Should i get some sort of meter to test the amount of nutes in the water aswell?

no one has any ideas?

the dark bands indicate to me that you have a magnetic ballast not a digital, the black lines are actually the lamp firing on/off rapidly... too fast forr your eye to notice, but not the camera, and not the plants =) digital is more effieient IMO AND I DONT RUN HYDRY, I GROW SOIL, yea you should get a ppm meter (parts per million) maybe a fishtank/pet store good luck willow, maybe youll switch to the dirt side, its less complicated in my opinon

cheers, will look into a digital light setup when i get my own equipment. this grow is more of a learning experience for me and i'll get my own stuff for the next one as i have already run into small problems with this oxy-bucket setup although i will be sticking with DWC as it's pretty simple and you get lots of "hands on" time with it which i enjoy

I've seen a ppm meter for £30 so will get that soon i reckon.

i got another 2 bucket system today along with an dimmable 600w digital balast for a seperate grow, also got an EC meter.

The EC meter is a "hm ec-3" using the µS scale. am i correct that i should be halving that reading to get PPM? Eg; 1800µS = 900ppm ? or is it the other way i saw where you divide x 1000 then x 640 for 1152ppm?