Noobie Doing A Little Research..

[Henrytd5]

hi everyone.. just looking into a dwc or rdwc system... i have almost completed my second grow in coir and im struggling with my yields.
So is it true that hydro growing can increase yields? And what kind of problems could I open myself up to by growing this way? I am still in my first 12 months of growing so I obviously have a lot of learning ahead of me still.. Are nute problems more common? Water tempreture hard to control?

My situation goes like this...
Im a uk grower and my grow tent is in a concrete garage at the bottom of my garden, there is no water supply inside and no drainage inside. I have a outside tap at the house and a drain there too.
Its coming into spring time now, so the tempreture outside will be cooling, do i then need to be looking at a water heater for the res?

ive alot of question and need alot of help and input i think...

 

[Eyebedam]

hi everyone.. just looking into a dwc or rdwc system... i have almost completed my second grow in coir and im struggling with my yields.
So is it true that hydro growing can increase yields? And what kind of problems could I open myself up to by growing this way? I am still in my first 12 months of growing so I obviously have a lot of learning ahead of me still.. Are nute problems more common? Water tempreture hard to control?

My situation goes like this...
Im a uk grower and my grow tent is in a concrete garage at the bottom of my garden, there is no water supply inside and no drainage inside. I have a outside tap at the house and a drain there too.
Its coming into spring time now, so the tempreture outside will be cooling, do i then need to be looking at a water heater for the res?

ive alot of question and need alot of help and input i think...

What kind of yields have you been getting in soil?
What's your lighting?
What strains have you grown?

 

[Henrytd5]

So first grow 'blues' and this grow was 'jacks' excuse the briefness of it but that is all the info i could get off the 2 guys that i got the cuttings from..
Im a Uk grower if that helps any with the strains.

Im using omega 600w dual spectrum with adj ballast. Had light about 500-600mm away from top of plants.
First grow I yielded 11oz from x4 plants that were very bushy.. they touched the sides of my 1.2x1.2 tent... this grow the plants are so small.. they never stretched at all after i flipped them, i bet they have even shrunk a little!!! i should be very lucky to get 10 oz this time. im going to crop them this week

 

[OldManRiver]

In my opinion, getting known good seeds would be the first place to start. Hydro will put out great yields, but only if your plants are good,you run it right, and they have lots of light. Start with some good feminized seeds, and proceed from there.

If your space is otherwise warm enough, the water will warm. You would want to stage your replacement water for reservior changes so that it has a chance to warm, to avoid shocking the roots when you change.

 

[Henrytd5]

I was wondering about growing straight from seed. Seems logical as then I know the complete history of the plants... can you recommend the best place to buy from for a UK grower?

 

[OldManRiver]

I was wondering about growing straight from seed. Seems logical as then I know the complete history of the plants... can you recommend the best place to buy from for a UK grower?

I have gotten great results with seeds from Nirvana Seeds. I like their feminized seeds, currently growing white widow and ak48.

 

[Henrytd5]

I will be sure to check them out tonight then. Thanks for your help

 

[Hydro head]

I found my yields went up using nft compared to soil, it cuts your veg time as they grow a little quicker in hydro( compared to my soil grow) but your flower time will be the same, I use ionic hydro nutes as they are quite simple to use, ph ballances well, room conditions, light etc all factors as well, hope this helps

 

[Henrytd5]

it all helps mate, thankyou. I have never checked my ph or ec in my 2 grow career but i will be getting one of those sticks for regular testing next grow. i have come to realise its all very important stuff.
The guy who got me into growing in the first place said he didnt bother with ph as we are a hard water area and it should be fine.. hmm, i think i was ill informed.

 

[Hydro head]

it all helps mate, thankyou. I have never checked my ph or ec in my 2 grow career but i will be getting one of those sticks for regular testing next grow. i have come to realise its all very important stuff.
The guy who got me into growing in the first place said he didnt bother with ph as we are a hard water area and it should be fine.. hmm, i think i was ill informed.

I live where the water is soft and I still check ph regularly, u definitely want to be checking ur ph mate

 

[snippetysnip]

it all helps mate, thankyou. I have never checked my ph or ec in my 2 grow career but i will be getting one of those sticks for regular testing next grow. i have come to realise its all very important stuff.
The guy who got me into growing in the first place said he didnt bother with ph as we are a hard water area and it should be fine.. hmm, i think i was ill informed.

You definitely need to set your ph in hydro mate... much less of a buffer round the roots than with coir.. your ph is probably about 7 from the tap which will be too high in hydro.
Buy a decent ph pen, the cheap ones are cheap for a reason..
Setup a drain to waste tray with a drip feeder and a water butt for your reservoir in the shed..
you'll need a water heater in a few months seen as its autumn soon (not spring ;))
Make sure you know what you're growing so you can research it a bit..
If you struggle for height don't get a sativa dominant strain as it will grow tall very quickly and double in height when you flip..
Good luck!

 

[Henrytd5]

You definitely need to set your ph in hydro mate... much less of a buffer round the roots than with coir.. your ph is probably about 7 from the tap which will be too high in hydro.
Buy a decent ph pen, the cheap ones are cheap for a reason..
Setup a drain to waste tray with a drip feeder and a water butt for your reservoir in the shed..
you'll need a water heater in a few months seen as its autumn soon (not spring ;))
Make sure you know what you're growing so you can research it a bit..
If you struggle for height don't get a sativa dominant strain as it will grow tall very quickly and double in height when you flip..
Good luck!

Thanks mate this is all the tips and tricks I need to be getting at the min. Just had our notice given to us on our rented house on tus day. So I'm going to suffer a month or 2 without growing until I get to a new house..

 

[Henrytd5]

* * whoops! Yes I ment autumn.

 

[snippetysnip]

Thanks mate this is all the tips and tricks I need to be getting at the min. Just had our notice given to us on our rented house on tus day. So I'm going to suffer a month or 2 without growing until I get to a new house..

You could still pop a couple of seeds and get them going.. look
after them well and mother the best one. Then when you're ready to start again you can hit the ground running..
Also if you've got a mum on the go you can prep your next four under a smaller light in a smaller setup in the veg phase so when you finish the ones in the main tent you stick the vegged ones in and flip them straight away

 

[snippetysnip]

I forgot to mention that you can get them going and when you have to move just put them in a box last minute and move them to the new place..