zeitate's grows

Hello,

This is my first ever weed grow and my first grow journal. I know that I have a lot to read and learn so please have patience with me. I've grown mushrooms in the past, but that's a different story.

First I want to present what I will be using, from bottom to top. It's a an aeroponic system. I've built it from scratch so it's a DIY kinda thing. It's about 80% finished. I still have to mount the lamps, the filter and finish the exhaust.

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1 x 23 gallons (90 liters) water reservoir (I know, it's not clean)

The reservoir is closed so no light will go through it, to avoid algae growth.

1 x Hailea HX8860 water pump (5800l/hr; 150w power)

1 x Hailea air pump


4 x PVC pipes 12.1 feet (370 cm) long, 7.87 inches (20 cm) diameter


65 x Micro sprinklers (60l/hr each)


2 x LUMii AGRO Sunblaster 600w lamps (155 lumens per watt -> 186000 lumens in total; colour temp 2000K)

1 x Philips AGRO SON-T PIA GreenPower Master 600w lamp (90000 lumens in total; colour temp 2000K)

3 x Electromagnetic PRo-V-T 600w ballasts

3 x Cooltubes (E40 ceramic socket, 3MM glass protect)


3 x Digital timers (for each lamp)


1 x Ventilator (30 cm diameter)


1 x Prima Klima Coco filter (that will be placed somewhere between the lamps)

1 x pH meter and 1 x EC / TDS / TEMP meter


My nutrients (I know, the bottles look old, but they are okay) and pH+/pH-


...

(I also have built a cloning machine and I have a lamp for that also, but we'll get to cloning in about 2 months)

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Growing area: 40 square feet (3.7 square meters); 4.2 feet (130 cm) from the holes in the main PVC pipes to the maximum height where the lamps can be (keep in mind that I'll be using cooltubes so there doesn't need to be distance between the plants and the lamps


61 pot holes for the plants, each 2.75 inches (7 cm) in diameter, with 6.7 inches (17 cm) spacing between them



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Some other remarks:
1. I will be starting my grow from seeds. I have 68 autoflowering feminised seeds (Lemon Kush, OG Kush, AK, Blue Cheese) that I will germinate in rockwool cubes in a simple germinator. Hopefully 61 of them will see light so I can start at maximum capacity.

2. I will change the water in the reservoir every 7 days, adding nutrients and constantly checking the pH.

3. I will constantly add 17.5% hydrogen peroxide to the water to prevent disease, oxygenate the water more and maintain the system as clean as possible.

4. I will live in the same room with the plants, so 24/7 watch over them.

5. The humidity level of the room is a bit low (about 35% day and night) and I estimate it will lower because summer is coming. I know that I should aim at about 50-60%.

6. The room temperature is constant, about 70-74 fahrenheit (21-23 celsius).

7. I will be topping the plants because I'm a bit limited by the height of the room.

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So, for the moment, that's about it.

Now, any feedback and advice that you can give me would be highly appreciated. Especially if it comes from aeroponic growers.

And of course, what every new grower wants to know: keeping in mind of my specifications, how much do you think I can get per plant?

Will post more pics when I'll start germinating.

Peace all!

1. Does anybody have any information that you can share with me about using 17.5% hydrogen peroxide with organic nutrients (Bio-Grow, Bio-Bloom and TopMax from Bio-Bizz)? Does the added H2O2 make the organic nutrients more or less effective for the plants? I've read opinions that said that it can destroy anything that is organic, including organic nutrients, because that O2 molecule will zap anything organic before breaking down to water.So if I were to add this to my nutrient solution the Liquid oxygen would be consumed in no time at all and at the detriment to my nutrient solution. Any feedback is appreciated.

If it's okay to add it, should I add less than 3 mL/l of water every 3-4 days?

2. Is it true that Organic nutrients are quite thick and for that reason aren't recommended for aeroponic systems (because it could easily block sprayers and growth in the lines and pump etc.)? Does anybody have first hand experience using organic nutrients with aeroponic systems?

Thank you!

Anybody, anything?

as far as all your questions go im using soil so im clueless,;/ but your setup looks great so far , im jealous man subbed

Thanks nube!



Unfortunately no sprouts after 4 days. I didn't pre-germinate them, put them directly into the rockwool cubes (that have been soaked in 5.35 pH-ed water for 10 hours).

Humidity is constant, 85-90% and temperature is 22-23 degrees Celsius.

Does it take this to long to germinate seeds directly into rockwool?

i would think it would be any day now . i always prefer to pre start them in paper towels, a little moist in a Tupperware and they crack open in about 24 hours , put them in the dirt and they are popped up next day. sowing them directly to the substrate is actually recommended though just takes a little longer. and im impressed your setup is pretty elaborate and what not for a first grow man, puts my ghetto little cupboard to shame;// what seeds are you using btw??

I'll be using a mix of different strains (Lemon Kush, AK, Blue Cheese, OG kush), all feminised, all autoflowering. If any of them sprout that is. If I'll ever grow from seeds again I'll most definitely pre-germinate them because this waiting time is just wrecking for the nerves. 5th day and still waiting for something above ground.

sounds sweet and good to hear there autos i was thinking 61 photoperiod plants would be a little crowded in that space.all ive tried so far is autos but i have a couple fem freebies that are'nt and im gonna start them outside here soon. but it definately takes a little longer when you put them straight in ... they'll be here soon tho lol i like doing the paper towel method to because not every seed germinates (ive had good luck so far) but at least you know it will grow when you see it crack. and you hit tha lottery or somethin man it was like 100 something dollars for the 8 seeds i have with shipping and what not, go big or go home hu??

Quick update

None of the 68 seeds have germinated. After 2 weeks they have started to go bad, with none of them cracking and showing the root.

I got them from http://cannabliss.nl/ . Sorry for the bad publicity, but that's that... that was my experience with their seeds. And from what I've read, I'm not the only one.

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I've bought 25 new seeds: 20 feminised Critical Mass and 5 feminised Strawberry Haze.

I've soaked them for 12 hours in two glasses of water. After that I've done the paper towel method and today, after 36 hours, all have cracked and showed their roots. I've put them in rockwool (pre-soaked in pH 5-5.3 water) cubes. The cubes are on a tray, covered with a humidity dome.

Waiting for the first leaves!

PS: I've also changed the nutrients that I'll be using, from BioBizz organic nutrients to IONIC Hydro Grow + IONIC Hydro Bloom.

24 of the 25 seeds have sprouted in less than 48 hours. Looking good.

that sucks about the other seeds bro , good to see the new ones are working for ya, and that strawberry sounds good ;/ how far do you have your lights above them?? they look like they are stretched a bit.. probably want to bring the lights down some as close as you can without it being to hot, other than that they look great, good luck!

Thanks nube!. Yes, that's what I was thinking, that they look a little bit stretched. But the thing is, I have nothing to do about it because I haven't used any lights yet. Just natural light that enters the room.

In a couple of days, after roots will be coming out of the bottoms of the rockwool cubes, I'l put the seedlings under a 400w MH light and start the water pump to water them. I know CFL's are better at this stage but I don't have any. Hopefully I'll get the distance between the seedlings and the lamp just right not to burn them and not to stretch them.

Yeah you don't have any florescent tube lights or anything? They work great and the plants can literally touch them because they dont put off heat, and not that it matters since your doing hydro but ive had a few stretch before and when i transplanted them i just put dirt around the stem and it worked fine.

Nope, no florescent lights. The tallest seedlings are about 3.5 inches after 72 hours since they sprouted. That's a bit to high?

Move your light closer, I drop it down a inch or two everyday tell I get the desired node spacing I want, have a fan blowing on the so they move a little it will strengthen the stems for those stretchers, plus this is your first grow experiment try stuff so you can figure out what works for you and your system and strain so once you perfect it you can kinda set it and forget it type deal but yield the max for your setup, cause you said your cloning them right ?

Yes, definitely cloning them.

I haven't used any lights (only daylight) on them. Only 72 hours have passed since they sprouted. Is it okay to start using a 400 watts MH light (I don't have CFL's) on them?

With your large setup you should be fine just keep the light high up like 18' or so than see how they respond like I said earlier move it down every couple of days

Here are my 24 ladies. 7-8 days have passed since all sprouted.

Because I didn't use any lights on them in the first 48 hours, they kinda stretched. But after the initial 48 hours, I put a fan blowing on them 24 hours, started using my 400w MH lamp and made some supports. Now they seem to be better and have thicker stems.

I've also started the water pump that runs 24 hours/day. Little small roots are becoming visible from the sides of the rockwool cubes.

For the time being I'll be allowing them to grow in my homemade cloning machine and after they'll have become big enough, I'll move them into the main system.

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I seem to have a problem. The cotyledons are turning yellow on most of the seedlings (which I understand is normal). And the first set of true leaves are starting to point downward on a few of them. The seedlings are 10 days old.

Average room temperature is 78 degrees and humidity is about 45%. Since yesterday I'm using a humidity dome over them to have a higher humidity. It's about 70% now.

Is this a sign I should start feeding them some nutrients?

Day 15. They have visible roots so that means tomorrow I'll transfer them into the main system.

Tomorrow they'll have the first day of real aeroponic vegging.

Haven't decided yet if I'll start with all 3 600w lamps or go with only 2 until I take clones and also move them into the system once they have developed roots. Hopefully I can synchronize them so I can go with all of them into flowering all at once.