Hey everyone. I'm going to be keeping an online grow journal for this grow. I'll do the best to cover all the bases right now.

First of all, this IS indeed my first grow, but I have done a LOT of reading before attempting this grow.

The machine I am using for hydroponics/aeroponics is the 6-podded aerogarden 6 elite+ (with the extended growing light top for tomatoes)

I am growing from germinated seeds using the wet paper towel + plastic ziplock baggy method (100% germination rate for 8 seeds... don't underestimate this method).

I will be waiting at least one week before giving the plants nutrients. The nutrients I have purchased are the general hydroponics three part set (micro gro bloom)

I have given the plants plain brita filtered tap water (didn't have time to allow it to sit for days to evaporate the chlorine, but I will in the future).

I have been lowering the pH of the water periodically down to about 5.7 whenever I can using lemon juice concentrate. I plan to get general hydroponics brand pH up&down by the time I start adding nutes in hopes that there are no conflicts with general hydroponic nutes and lemon juice.

The pH keeps slowly creeping up throughout the day, which is annoying, but once I start adding nutes, the pH will start off lower due to the nutes.

For additional lighting, I am using 3 CFLs. One 23w and two 13w's (or something near those lines) in hopes of keeping the plants from stretching in the beginning (I'm not about to snap the top off this $180 beast).

For those of you that are interested in following this grow (as I can't find anyone else who's used the aerogarden 6 elite + yet for this purpose), I am going to be posting exactly how much of what amount I used on what day etc.

I remind you THIS IS A FIRST GROW and I am entirely open to suggestions or advice, and I don't claim to be perfect or know what I'm doing 100% of the time.

For instance, my first question, do I have to bother keeping the pH around 5.7 even without any nutrients being added yet?

This is day TWO of the grow and I will upload pictures of the set up shortly. I hope to help everyone out with questions and by showing them (hopefully) a good run through!

Lowryder seeds are autoflowering and do not require a 12/12 light cycle. We're going to attempt to grow them through at 24hours of light from start to finish (hopefully 7-8 weeks). I have heard both that 24 hour light works as well as 20, 18, or 16 hours of light a day. I hope to grow these as fast as possible and am attempting the 24hour light grow.

I decided to ditch the grow pod seed labels as they attach horribly... and instead coated the entire surface with tin foil and then made make-shift seed pod labels out of tin foil.

I hope to update every couple days if not every day.


~Zac

Here are all the prices added up:

Aerogarden: $180
Nutes: $25
pH tester: $15
Extra pack of gardening shit: $35
CFL lamps + bulbs : $35
Joint Doctor Lowryder mix seeds: $70
Whatever I'm forgetting: ~$50

total cost: $420

sounds like a lot.... realistically:


one lowryder plant yields 20-50g. Hydroponics (especially aerogardens) tend to fall in the higher end of that range.

One ounce of mid grade bud sells for at least $200+ an ounce. It will be easy to make this money back

Here are the pictures of the set up:

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Zac - I will be following your grow. I just got the AG Max and am getting my stuff prepared for the grow. This will be my first grow too using the AG.

lookin good man, sounds like you got it all down, i got some clamp light fixtures at a do it center, there waiser to hang, and you dont need actual lamps like your using but it will still work, jus a sugestion, keep us posted

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PARTY CUP GROW

If its setup like a deluxe/pro model there is a release lever on the back of the hood that lets you pop it right off.

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LMLMLMLMLMLMLMLM[]MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLM
LMLMLMLMLM [Aero CFL 12/12 from seed] LMLMLMLMLMLM
LMLMLMLMLM [DIY Aeroponics made Easy!] LMLMLMLMLMLM

looks good but the lemon juice might cause a bad bacteria problem

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I am satan
...The Last Resort...

Will it really? I thought I read somewhere that the low acidity (a pH of about 2.3... which is over 10,000 more acidic than water) seems like it'd kill of nearly any bacteria that would grow in normal conditions that the reservoir is in. This is totally hearsay, though. I just thought that lemon juice can possible block out nutrients and such when they start to be added, which is why I hope to switch off it before then.

Cool, Throw in an oscillating fan and maybe some mylar or white paint to cover up any dark colored walls and max your lights output.
Good luck with your grow!

Did you get a air stone too add oxygen to the water? Fish tank section at Pet smart, air pump and air stone about $15

lol check out my pictures up top earlier... i've used tin foil on pretty much EVERYTHING :P.

No I didn't get a air pump / stone, but I didn't need to. The aerogrow 6 elite + comes with one built in o.O


BTW to lurkmaster: you were right, I can pop the lights right off! I can't figure out any practical way to hang the lights above it though... so for the time being I'm hoping that the additional CFLs and foil will help the plants get light from all sides and not come spindly -_-