Dozer's First Hydro - Purple Urke - Medical Marijuana

d0z3r · #1 05-07-2008, 01:07 PM

Greetings Everyone,

I recently decided to dive into the very complex world of Hydroponics. I hope this journal will allow others to learn from my mistakes, and maybe even take something I did that works into their own garden.

Without further ado:

I present to you, my garden

Comments and suggestions are welcome!

d0z3r · #2 05-07-2008, 01:37 PM

When I started thinking about this project, my biggest concerns with growing in this area were space and heat. The closet I was going to use was cramped (16"Wx76"Lx84"H). I drew up a plan of the space and ran down to my local hydro shop. I wanted to create the highest yield system I could cram into the space, so I decided on a galaxy digital ballast with a 600W MH bulb for veg and a 600W SuperHPS for flowering. For the system, I bought a General Hydroponics water farm with four pods and a controller, a 70lb activated charcoal “Can filter” with 6” baffle, a vortex 6” inline fan. For grow medium, I’d heard good things about Hydroton clay pellets, so I went that way. I asked the guys at the shop for recommendations on a high yield nutrient package. They all used Advanced Nutrients of one kind or another, and suggested I do the same. It was a bit more complicated to mix, they said, but the yield increase was sick. So, I ate the cost and settled on Sensi grow A&B for the nutrient base during veg, and connoisseur for flowering.
Plan complete. Next stage, implementation

d0z3r · #3 05-07-2008, 01:47 PM

One of the four people in my “circle of trust” is a contractor, so I enlisted his help to remodel the closet as necessary. We decided we were going to need to add electricity, and cut a 6” vent hole in the closet to vent the air into the adjacent closet. . This was going to heat up the room, but it was my only real option. We wired some power in there, leveled out the floor with some plywood(the watergarden needs to be level to fill evenly), and screwed anchors into the stud to hang the lamp from. After the wiring was in place, we hung some black-back, white-front polyethylene film.According to Jorge Cervantes, the black side of the film is anti-fungal. Fungus is bad m’kay. Once that was in place, we moved in the water garden, connected the hoses, ran 6” ducting through the hole into the adjacent closet, and added a vent cover in there(it’s up high in another closet. You can’t see it unless you know it’s there). Once the ducting was in place, we hung the light, and connected the ducting. At first I tried using duct tape which fell off. Do yourself a favor and get metal ducting collars(the kind that screw down) for $2.00each, it is much more secure that way. Once the light was hung, we brought in the carbon filter/fan assembly, and connected the ducting to the fan. Eventually, I ended up replacing the original foil ducting with fiberglass insulated ducting. It’s a LOT quieter when you have a powerful exhaust fan. Noise with a fan this big is substantial. Be prepared for that if you’re going to try this. After all this was done, We hung a door, cut a bunch of holes in the bottom of the door to allow for air to get in, stapled egg crate to the inside of the door, and built a book shelf on casters to place in front of the door.

d0z3r · #4 05-07-2008, 02:01 PM

I procured some Purple Urkle clones from my local dispensary. They’ve had nothing but stellar medicine since I’ve been going there, and the chance to grow one of the most coveted strains in North America was too good to pass up. I brought them home, plopped them in, and immediately added nutes, burning my girls pretty badly. I realized my mistake the next morning, after frantically searching this forum and others. It was flush time. I flushed the system with pure RO water several times, and managed to get the PPM down to under 500. This would work until my girls actually needed nutes, if they survived. I noticed it was very hot in the growroom, and the clones were now showing signs of nute toxicity, AND heat stress. Great. At this point, the temperature in the room adjacent to my grow space rocketed up to 85-90. Inside the growroom was averaging 95F. Waaaay too hot. I thought my first round of clones were not long for this earth. I ran down to Home Depot, and bought a 9000BTU floor standing AC unit for $300. This brought the temp in my room down to 75, 80 in the space itself. This was acceptable. The damage, however, had been done.

d0z3r · #5 05-07-2008, 02:10 PM

I realized a little late, that my hydroton was too low. I needed to raise the level of the medium to avoid nutrients splashing on the leaves. I ran down to the hydro shop and bought another bag. After rinsing it out with tap water for 30-45 minutes, I raised the level of the clay significantly. About this time, the nutrient damage I had done seemed to begin to mend, and the pro-biotics, beneficial bacteria, and rooting hormones seemed to do the trick, as big fluffy white roots started sprouting out of the rockwool(I peeked). I added some nutrient s to the water. NOTE: If you are using Advanced Nutrients for the 1st time, DO NOT USE THEIR CHART TO DETERMINE PPM. I’ve had to QUARTER their suggested mix to achieve the correct EC/PPM.

d0z3r · #6 05-07-2008, 02:17 PM

Here I am in week three, and my girls have started taking off. Last weekend, I decided not to use the reservoir until my girls get thirstier. I flushed the system completely, wiped it out as best I could given the space constraints, and mixed a brand new batch of nutes up. I decided to move the outermost plants inwards to allow them to get some more light, and moved the inner, better performing plants outwards. This seems to have amused them greatly.
PH seems to want to stay at 6.1 for some reason, and no amount of PH down will make it stay at 5.5-5.8 for more than a couple of hours. At this point I've been six drops of PH down in the morning, and six in the evening to bring the controller PH down to 5.4. I figure this will give the rest of the system up to four hours a day of fluctuation for maximum nutrient uptake. They seem to be happier plants now.

PurfectStorm · #7 05-07-2008, 02:36 PM

Hey I really like the hidden grow room! great idea with the movable book case. Im sure you plants will really start to grow in the coming weeks.

d0z3r · #8 05-07-2008, 02:46 PM

Thanks Purfect!
I'll keep updating this weekly with progress reports and pics. Checking out your grow now.

d0z3r · #9 05-08-2008, 09:32 AM

I'm considering topping the girls. The girls on the end are starting to really take off, and I want to ensure even vegetative growth. What do you all think, is it too soon?

Thanks in advance,

D0z3r

d0z3r · #10 05-09-2008, 03:06 PM

I decided to top three of my four plants. two days later, and I'm glad that I did! My space is kind of tight, so I'm thinking about screen training as soon as the girls bush out a bit more. What do you guys think? Scrog?

On a side note,
My PH has stabilized in the system to 6.0. EC 1.0 PPM 700