Wanting to start hydroponics!

[Tomton]

Basically my friend started and his first hydro grow was a huge success, thus inspiring me to start.
I want to buy a system thats easy to maintain. I was looking at this SH Hydroponics, Inc. > Dual Spectrum Bubbleponics® Complete Kit

I have a couple questions.

-its this a good setup for beginners? Im not trying to get to fancy, just something nice and small that wont give to much trouble.

-Are sativa strains fine for hydroponics, if not what strains would be a good choice?

-whats the best way to get rid of smell?

any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[-hydrofarmer-]

You can use Sativas or indicas it doesnt matter.. the only thing different is sativas grow sky high and indicas dont.
best way to eliminate smell is a can fan

 

[smokestack23]

The best thing you can possibly do to get started and to help ensure success is to READ, RESEARCH, and STUDY. Read threads here and at other sites. Use the google search.

You'll find ALL the info you need. You might also find that it's better, more fun, cheaper and a better learning experience to choose a system that seems best for you and make it yourself. To a LOT of people though that isn't more fun...and...when you factor-in the time it takes (time is money) it might not be all that much cheaper...ahhh..who am I kidding...it WILL be cheaper.

When I started there were no hydro "systems" that you could really buy. The only "system" you could buy was a ...shit...I 'm blanking-out again lol...you know..those stupid mail order things with flouros ...wtf were/are they called again?? ..ANYWAY...not only did we have to build systems, we had to invent them as we went. I only mention this because I was thinking to myself...maybe it would be better for someone inexperienced to buy a system but I had no experience when we used to build our own when we were rookies.

Either way...read read read. You'll get vastly more info that way rather than asking questions one by one and only getting a limited number of replies/ideas.

Believe me...just about EVERY question you have has already been asked and answered a million times.

Good luck and welcome aboard.

Oh..I remember now...it was a Phototron. God..what a fuckin pos rip-off those were.

 

[MMJInsiders]

Bubbleponics? You belong on RIU... J/K, but I would stay away from that crap.

What did your friend run? Are you handy? I would look at some of the DIY aero systems, maybe a stand alone waterfarm or maybe a megagarden. Or go super simple hempy style. Honestly, if you are jut starting, some would argue that you start in a soil/soilless medium until you get a few grows under your belt...

Sativa's... Do you have room? If not, a good cross will fit the bill.

Smell... Carbon Scrubber.

Listen to smokestack and welcome.

 

[MMJInsiders]

...Oh..I remember now...it was a Phototron. God..what a fuckin pos rip-off those were.

LMAO, you know I still have ones of those around from like the early 90's... I thought about retrofitting it into a REAL grow cab but can't bring myself to waste the time.

 

[Tomton]

What did your friend run?.

My friend used basically the same thing. I know a different company made it, but its the same thing. I just thought it was a nice little way of doing it. I really dont know much about growing.
Has anybody heard of growing in an old refrigerator? Obviously without it turned on. I like the idea of it being very bright. Ive seen grow tents and the reflective walls I figured a refigerator would do basically the same thing.
I did consider building my own tub like the one In my first post. Just basically want something thats nice and small that and friend and I can use to grow in our apt.

Thanks!

 

[smokestack23]

Not trying to hijack the thread but yeah the phototron...my roomate had ordered one. I think he had to pay like 1/2 up front and was supposed to pay the rest when it arrived COD?? not sure about that but he had all the literature. Some of the things I remember are:

It kept saying things like..this is the best way to grow. It's a complete efficient unit..then it would say stuff like...but if you want X % more light, order the optional reflective panels.
It has the optimum light...or for X more dollars, order the EXTRA side lighting.
Plant 6 (?) seeds in each cup and as they start to grow..pluck the tallest ones until each cup has only one plant. Pluck the tall ones because they are the males.
After like 60 days or something you were supposed to send a sample of the medium to them where they would do lab analysis to see exactly what your plants consumed out of the known amounts originally in the medium. That way they could tailor make a batch JUST for your plants. Of course that cost another arm and a leg.
Comes with CO2 enrichment. Well..ok..it has slots in the bottom and a hole in the top. Since CO2 is heavy, air near the floor is CO2 rich. Convection sucks in CO2. (THAT was actually a cool design)
Keeps internodal length to less than 1" providing millions of tight buds. Ever see the picture of tumbleweed they advertised as buds??

OK...back to the regularly scheduled program.

Like MMJI said...it IS better to start on something other than full blown hydroponics. But..you don't have to feel like a second class citizen. Hydroponics means water feeding. If you have an inert (contains no salts-nutrients...) medium like coco for example...all the "food" the plant gets is from the nutrients you give it. If you use water as the vehicle to deliver those nutrients...you are doing Hydroponics...and..also as MMJI stated...you can get WICKED results hempy style or with different soiless methods. Still hydroponics...just can afford you a bit of elbow room. They can be more forgiving.

Starting out with hydro (ummmm...like as in not soiless) is like performing brain surgery without even having gone to pre med.

It just really helps to be able to recognize and diagnose problems by learning about them in a system that doesn't bring on serious problems that can wipe you out completely within hours.

Not saying you can't be successful jumping right into the deep end. At the VERY least...READ READ READ READ and READ some more.

Anyway..he never did receive it and I know he was out some money because I remember him making countless calls to them.

 

[OnlyKush]

My advice, make sure your about your business when growing dro style. Anything can happen at anytime with your system.

 

[MMJInsiders]

Plant 6 (?) seeds in each cup and as they start to grow..pluck the tallest ones until each cup has only one plant. Pluck the tall ones because they are the males.

LOL, yep, I remember that line well. I remember thinking WTF? Then I was thinking, I can't believe someone recommended this POS.

Starting out with hydro (ummmm...like as in not soiless) is like performing brain surgery without even having gone to pre med.

I remember my first run, dwc. Within the first 3 weeks I had thought that I had forgot everything I learned the prior 7 years in regards to growing. I killed 3 runs before getting my first measly harvest. This was back in 99. Here I am years later designing my own systems, running computer controlled hydro grows, and teaching others how to do it as well.

By all means OP give hydro a shot. If your serious about this "hobby" start in a slow and forgiving way like soil/less, learn to read the plants (they tell you EVERYTHING you need to know!), and experiment until you get it right. When you do, let the pumps flow, jets spray, water bubble, you get where I'm going with this...

 

[smokestack23]

Wow mmji...did the term dwc even exist back then??

I had dabbled a bit with buckets full of pearlite with wicks that hung down into the bottom bucket (2 fish plant herring row square 3gsl? buckets one in the other). My partner was running a lavarock drip setup. The wick buckets blew away the store-bought drip system. Roots came out the hole where the wick cane out of the top buckets and filled the bottom ones. I was top feeding by hand.

So then a bunch of years later (probably around '91?) I thought...hey..what if the plants roots hung right into a res full of nutes?? So I built a res about 4X8 and 6 inches deep. I covered it with a sheet of that mdf pegboard stuff (the stuff with holes in it that you hang your tools on in your shop) and hole sawed like a hundred 2-1/2" holes in it to take styrofoam cups. The cups had wicks in them. I guess it was a SWC version of Direct Water culture.
WELLL..needless to say..light got through all those holes, I didnt have bubblers in there but had a little giant sitting in it recirculation (but not breaking the water surface). I got slimed and everything died real fast and stinky. I didn't try that again until last year.

If it would have worked (I would have just been lucky not really knowing why) I would have been the dwc pioneer. Naturally...if I had kept the light out I would have encountered other problems.

I had been doing e&f tables with rockwool...that worked VERY well but..I was doing grows at other peoples' houses so I'd usually just make a 4X8 bed on the floor...poly lined..maybe 4"deep and hand irrigated. I couldn't trust or teach everyone with hydro. Always got good results. I'd just tell 'em...ONLY water when they're THIS dry. I'd come back and see strange stuff most of the time. I'd ask..WHAT did you do that I didnt say to?? Oh nothing..they'd reply..I did only what you said. Come ON...you did SOMETHING different.

That's when I'd hear these horticulturists say stuff like....oh...I DID add sugar...my Mom always did that with her houseplants...or such stories.

GOD!!

EVERYONE's an expert.

Anyway...that was ALL part of the learning curve.

These days with all the info available it would much easier and safer to jump straight in to hydro....but...I still think it's valuable to pay your soil or soiless dues.

 

[MMJInsiders]

Wow mmji...did the term dwc even exist back then??

Good question. My inspiration came from a high times mag and this guy mike who told stories of growing in a water bed mattress. I used a 55 gal fish tank, painted the outside black with some cheap spray paint from Kmart. I made a lid out of plywood and used standard square pots with a bunch of holes drilled in them. My first few downfalls were mold, pots falling through and a shit ton of algae. It wasn't until I swapped the ply for teak and fixed the light leaks, along with adding a drip system, that saved the day. I didn't have a forum to turn to back then so it was all trial and error.

I may have misspoke a bit when I said DWC was the first hydro though. I had done hempy's before that, which is a passive hydro. I didn't know that's what it was at the time but it makes sense now. A buddy showed me an old HT from the late 80's I believe that showed them off. Super simple. It's funny, I still use hempy's today but haven't touched dwc for years. RDWC is a completely different story, absolutely love it and I doubt a better method will come around for some time.

I had dabbled a bit with buckets full of pearlite with wicks that hung down into the bottom bucket (2 fish plant herring row square 3gsl? buckets one in the other). My partner was running a lavarock drip setup. The wick buckets blew away the store-bought drip system. Roots came out the hole where the wick cane out of the top buckets and filled the bottom ones. I was top feeding by hand.

Glad to see I am not the only one that played around with wick systems. I think they still have merit in certain applications.

I had been doing e&f tables with rockwool...that worked VERY well but..I was doing grows at other peoples' houses...

Been there...

EVERYONE's an expert.

My favorite are friends and acquaintances who ask for help and a few days later know everything. Sure, add sugar cause you grandma did. Go ahead, piss on it cause your best friend steve said it was the bomb, WTF do I know.

These days with all the info available it would much easier and safer to jump straight in to hydro....but...I still think it's valuable to pay your soil or soiless dues.

I couldn't have said it better myself. The forgiving nature of soil/less grows is the best way for a newbie to cut their teeth if they give a damn about their new found hobby. So many now are trying to cash in on the MMJ craze, it is no wonder I see so much of this shit weed floating around that I wouldn't piss on.

You're a cool cat smokestack, I like the cut of your jib... Peace.

 

[Chris1]

Hey man. I dont think starting in hydro is a problem it all! It is definitely way less forgiving than soil, but I think if you really plan everything out and read tons of grow logs, you should be ok in something simple like a DWC.



Good luck!

 

[smokestack23]

Chris you're pretty much correct..the trick is to read a LOT.
I'm sure mmji will agree that most people fail because they didn't read...even just the basic instructions. I was telling my wife not long ago that it's pretty easy and almost foolproof if you JUST do what the instructions say. I told her about a friend from back in the day. He smoked but wasnt a grower or real chronic or anything. One day he calls me and asks me to come over. He takes me into his basement and he has a table full of sunshine mix in a sealed room under a 1K halide and a 400hps loaded with beautifully matured SK1 buds. He wanted me to trim and dry it all for him.
He said that he had called a grow shop in Vancouver. They asked if he was growing Mexican tomatoes. He said yes and they sent him the equipment he'd need with some brief instructions on what and when to feed and how to set light timers. I dont know or remember where he got the clones. I'm like...WOW...I've been growing for years and I have a hard time getting results...how did you DO this?? He said...I just did what the chick on the phone said to do.

Nowadays there's SO much information available it makes things easier....but...there is a lot of bad info out there too. If you don't know, it would be easy to listen to the wrong stuff.

Of course, a lot can be said for learning the hardest way to do things first. It makes the less difficult methods seam REAL easy then.

If you do a few crops successfully with DWC you're bound to experience just about any and every thing that can possibly go wrong in a hydropinic system. It may be the simplest true hydro system to make and run...and cheapest to set-up...but..if you want to learn about DO levels, water temps, Pythium, Rot, algae, circulation...DWC is the place to get that expertise.
If you want to learn about fungus gnats and root aphids and stuff like that...coco is a great place to learn lol.

Oh..and about trying to sift through info wondering which is correct...I'd imagine that forum stickies are probably GOOD info for the most part and every site with forums has stickies for just about every subject.
Here's some perscribed reading for ya.
Read threads and posts by the following people..here and at other sites.
DoubleDs
Heath Robinson
Krusty
And maybe read stickies in Hydroponics, DWC, RDWC, and UC forums. AND...DON'T try to re-invent the wheel!