Pursuing first hydro grow with RDWC, help a noob.

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Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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so osarm are the UV lights? so from the photos than FSM is more red-leaning?
Osram would be the far red. Not sure if they make the UV but I would not add the UV. If you want to supplement UV go with agromax or solocure. Argomax produces more and is cheaper. I am actually purchasing some in the next few days but will take weeks to get here. IMO you don't need the UV yet. Money better spent elsewhere
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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trying to price out building my own LED setup with buying all the parts separately and its looking like they it would be more than buying a pre-assembled light haha wth...
Kits, and fixtures will always be cheaper than individual pieces. The reason is whoever is buying the pieces is buying in bulk
 
jaypru369

jaypru369

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Kits, and fixtures will always be cheaper than individual pieces. The reason is whoever is buying the pieces is buying in bulk
makes sense, the kits come with more features and less building so its better than individual with these prices
 
jaypru369

jaypru369

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Kits, and fixtures will always be cheaper than individual pieces. The reason is whoever is buying the pieces is buying in bulk
so CMH are much cheaper on alibaba actually but im confused as to why i only need 2 315watt cmh's and like 1400 watts of led?
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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so CMH are much cheaper on alibaba actually but im confused as to why i only need 2 315watt cmh's and like 1400 watts of led?
Well tbh I think 1000w led is enough. 3-315 would be good also. The difference is the coverage 2-315s will do 2-3x3 areas so basically 6x3. But you want room in there to move. 30w per sqft is good. Thats pretty much all I run. So for the same 6x3 space 600 watts of led is plenty. If you over crowd the room it's going to be hard to control humidity
 
jaypru369

jaypru369

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Well tbh I think 1000w led is enough. 3-315 would be good also. The difference is the coverage 2-315s will do 2-3x3 areas so basically 6x3. But you want room in there to move. 30w per sqft is good. Thats pretty much all I run. So for the same 6x3 space 600 watts of led is plenty. If you over crowd the room it's going to be hard to control humidity

hmm okay ig i was going off 1 watt for total @ 40 watts per sqft of 35 ft.

given the grow goes well what does 1000watt led/630watt cmh produce?
 
bigslimdawg79

bigslimdawg79

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start of small and built it out after you are comfortable else you are going to have a bigger loss and even bigger mess if something fucks up
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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hmm okay ig i was going off 1 watt for total @ 40 watts per sqft of 35 ft.

given the grow goes well what does 1000watt led/630watt cmh produce?
I was pulling 2 gram per watt but that's a bad measurement. Also I run hydro with co2. No reason with 1000w led if for well that you shouldn't pull a g per watt. I have not grown with CMH so I can't say.

It's all going to depend how long you veg, the strain your growing and how problem free the flowering is. Trust me if you pack that room you may run into some challenges your not ready for. I would personally start with a 5x5 area and go from there. Leaves ya room to move and air volume to work with in terms of humidity. Most ppl underestimate the challenge of humidity
 
jaypru369

jaypru369

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I was pulling 2 gram per watt but that's a bad measurement. Also I run hydro with co2. No reason with 1000w led if for well that you shouldn't pull a g per watt. I have not grown with CMH so I can't say.

It's all going to depend how long you veg, the strain your growing and how problem-free the flowering is. Trust me if you pack that room you may run into some challenges your not ready for. I would personally start with a 5x5 area and go from there. Leaves ya room to move and air volume to work with in terms of humidity. Most ppl underestimate the challenge of humidity

so a dehumidify is almost essential for controlling the humidity?

for these LED's, they offer panels and light bars with more features, like dimmers, on/off switches, app with temp/humd control, rj14 ports. Is any of these features useful to have or just extra cost for nothing really?

I got a quote for a 600-watt Samsung panel with Meanwell driver for 252, doesnt sound like a bad deal. Panels just come with lights on aluminum heat sink so panels are cheaper than the light bars, not by a lot but basically a 640-watt bar with all those features is around 320-380, some light bars can be folded in half which could be convenient and they are much stronger structure, i would have to get two and would def go over my original budget but seems like lights bars may be more worth it if i plan to keep growing; guess it depends if those extra features/structures are worth the extra 20% costs.
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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so a dehumidify is almost essential for controlling the humidity?

for these LED's, they offer panels and light bars with more features, like dimmers, on/off switches, app with temp/humd control, rj14 ports. Is any of these features useful to have or just extra cost for nothing really?

I got a quote for a 600-watt Samsung panel with Meanwell driver for 252, doesnt sound like a bad deal. Panels just come with lights on aluminum heat sink so panels are cheaper than the light bars, not by a lot but basically a 640-watt bar with all those features is around 320-380, some light bars can be folded in half which could be convenient and they are much stronger structure, i would have to get two and would def go over my original budget but seems like lights bars may be more worth it if i plan to keep growing; guess it depends if those extra features/structures are worth the extra 20% costs.
Just the dimmer is good. The light bars will give you better spread and I think are worth the extra.
 
jaypru369

jaypru369

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Just the dimmer is good. The light bars will give you better spread and I think are worth the extra.

so most of the listing were not accurate pricing and it seems like they list cheaper prices and then quote you much higher, so i am going with panels instead of bars since they are about $100 cheaper for same light power and quality.

that being said im looking at this one: https://www.alibaba.com/product-det...05.html?spm=a2700.12243863.0.0.2ffc3e5frK1Ms7
-640 watts @ $280 per unit, 2 of them and I'm set.
-lm301b/cree
-mw drivers
-3000k,6500k, i think it has a little bit of UV & IR
-dimmable
 
threatco

threatco

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so most of the listing were not accurate pricing and it seems like they list cheaper prices and then quote you much higher, so i am going with panels instead of bars since they are about $100 cheaper for same light power and quality.

that being said im looking at this one: https://www.alibaba.com/product-det...05.html?spm=a2700.12243863.0.0.2ffc3e5frK1Ms7
-640 watts @ $280 per unit, 2 of them and I'm set.
-lm301b/cree
-mw drivers
-3000k,6500k, i think it has a little bit of UV & IR
-dimmable

You dont want 6500k on there. Max 5000k if mixed with 3000k.

It seems bizarre that they advertise it as waterproof when it clearly is not.

Never seen anyone else report using this company.
 
jaypru369

jaypru369

108
43
You dont want 6500k on there. Max 5000k if mixed with 3000k.

It seems bizarre that they advertise it as waterproof when it clearly is not.

Never seen anyone else report using this company.
ill keep looking.

what spectrum do i want for full cycle use?
 
threatco

threatco

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93
ill keep looking.

what spectrum do i want for full cycle use?

Aquaman likes 3000k. I use 3000k mixed with 4000k. Higher numbers gives more blue, shorter compact plants. Lower numbers gives red, fatter tighter buds.

I like a balance. He goes all nugs and says fuck this roof.
 
jaypru369

jaypru369

108
43
Aquaman likes 3000k. I use 3000k mixed with 4000k. Higher numbers gives more blue, shorter compact plants. Lower numbers gives red, fatter tighter buds.

I like a balance. He goes all nugs and says fuck this roof.

i have plenty of space.

so im wondering, lot of the boards on alibaba just come with a dimmer and not a sepreate swtich for UV/IR. would it be better to get supplemental UV/IR and just go with 3k mix?
 
threatco

threatco

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Have you talked to Abby at Yuanhui? Now that you have experienced how the advertisements are misleading, maybe see what the popular 3 can do. I know all the lights Abby sells can have switches and dimmers for cheap.

Without a switch I would not get UV or IR on board.

Yes, pure 3000k is good. Unless you plan to do flood and drain down the road. 8 feet seems like a lot till these plants grow massive.
 
jaypru369

jaypru369

108
43
Have you talked to Abby at Yuanhui? Now that you have experienced how the advertisements are misleading, maybe see what the popular 3 can do. I know all the lights Abby sells can have switches and dimmers for cheap.

Without a switch I would not get UV or IR on board.

Yes, pure 3000k is good. Unless you plan to do flood and drain down the road. 8 feet seems like a lot till these plants grow massive.
i have not bc prices were looking higher upon listed prices but yeah now i will ask them especially if they have switch.
 
airedog

airedog

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"First of i have grown in the soil before a few times, I'm a youngin and will admit, i don't know much about growing so bare with me.

Currently building a 6 site 5-gallon RDWC with a 27 gal res in a 5x7x8 room. I will be getting rooted clones from locals with great genetics in a starter cube, once i get them i will transfer them straight into 4 inch Rockwool cubes and into the net pots.

I am going with megacrop nutes but i was wondering if there is anything else i need to add with it when running megacrop? Any protective additives to run? I was hoping to find some cheaper alternatives to AD nutes additives like BIGBUD, so if you have much cheaper alternatives then please share them with me. I like simple and cheap so nothing complex.

i will ventilate through under the door with flat outlet that fits under the door, the rest of the door is fairly loose so hoping it will pull in enough air and won't have any pressure issues with the controller, but if so i will add a vent in the door. I will be wrapping the buckets is mylar, will be good for blocking out light? they're white so I was hoping mylar would block out all light and not heat up water. Hoping with setup and inline pumps that I will not encounter many hot water issues so hoping I won't need a chiller, but may get a small AC unit in room to control summer heat. Will build some kind of water catch or just get a hydro tub for floods. Also thinking of locating res right outside the door to avoid heat, good idea?
"


Is it just me or did a query regarding switching from soil to RDWC, from a noob to RDWC, just turn into a thread that was more about Chinese LEDs sourced from Alibaba? Just sayin.......

As to the nute thing, if you're a noob, i'd suggest sticking to a basic 2 or 3 part base and minimal supplements for the first grow. Add in more feed components as you get comfortable with a new grow style, it will make fixing plant issues much easier. MynameStitch has an excellent sick plant guide that will help you determine if plant issues are disease, bug, or nute related. For me, i found that 66ᵒ - 70ᵒ F, in a heavily aerated nutrient solution gave the best results and kept pathogens down.
 

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