new to hydroponics and growing, guidance please :)

This was posted by
Wikidbchofthewst and I saved it.
Credit goes to Wikidbchofthewst



I'm making this post after reading a "how do I start a new thread?" question for the millionth time. I kinda meant it as a joke, but who knows, maybe it'll help someone.

Ok, so, starting at the RIU homepage....



Pick the forum that your thread should go in. We're picking Newbie Central.



Click the New Thread button at the top left.



Screw it, while I'm at it I'll cover how to post pics, lol. Either click the Manage Attachments button, or if you have the photos on the web like photobucket, just post the link between the " " tags in your post. These pics will show up IN the post, like the example pics I'm using.



When you click the Manage Attachments button, a new window like this should come up. You can either upload the pics from your computer, or you can upload them from a URL. These pics will appear as thumbnails at the buttom of your post that people can click on to enlarge.

Once you're done you can Preview Post to make sure it looks right. Then Submit New Thread and let's smoke!

This was posted by
Wikidbchofthewst and I saved it.
Credit goes to Wikidbchofthewst

Well thats one question answered now i guess i'm just looking to see what people think and of there is anything that should be changed up? One problem i have ran into already is temp control and some algae growing on the rockwool media, i read that a solution to the algae problem could be treat with H2O2? As for the temp problem i am installing two 6 inch fans to suck air out and pull fresh air in, and putting two 2 litre bottles of frozen water into the res. Also i have an extra air conditioner in the garage i m thinking about bringing up and running in the closet periodically to control the temp better... Any other suggestions? Temps run in the mid to upper 80's while the lights are on with oscillating fans on.... Pics to come late on today

smccartney22 said:

Well thats one question answered now i guess i'm just looking to see what people think and of there is anything that should be changed up? One problem i have ran into already is temp control and some algae growing on the rockwool media, i read that a solution to the algae problem could be treat with H2O2? As for the temp problem i am installing two 6 inch fans to suck air out and pull fresh air in, and putting two 2 litre bottles of frozen water into the res. Also i have an extra air conditioner in the garage i m thinking about bringing up and running in the closet periodically to control the temp better... Any other suggestions? Temps run in the mid to upper 80's while the lights are on with oscillating fans on.... Pics to come late on today

Click to expand...

Your temps are a bit high. I wouldn't get 2 6" fans for that room. You'd be better served spending the money on one 8" fan and and just use a hole for a passive intake.

Don't worry about chilling your reservoir until you get the temps down in the room. Quite possible the temp of the res will be just fine. I've found that one my res is too hot, the room is WAY too hot.

As far as algae on the rockwool, you can get rockwool cube covers. This will prevent the light from hitting the rockwool and promoting the growth of algae. Also, don't water from the top and you won't have any problems.

Last question....why the drippers? Just for when they are youngsters? I usually just flood the entire try as it seems to work best.

Well i already have the two 6" inch fans, they are only duct fans For pulling air out and pushing it in, not for circulation, I have a 8" oscillating fan that i have been using for that... As far as the drippers go, like i said i am definitely a newbie lol and alot of what i read and watched on hydroponics used drippers or dripper steaks so thats what i went with for the vegatative stage and i am using the flood trays i made for the flowering stage... Is using the extra air conditioner a good idea to fix my temp problems?

smccartney22 said:

Well i already have the two 6" inch fans, they are only duct fans For pulling air out and pushing it in, not for circulation, I have a 8" oscillating fan that i have been using for that... As far as the drippers go, like i said i am definitely a newbie lol and alot of what i read and watched on hydroponics used drippers or dripper steaks so thats what i went with for the vegatative stage and i am using the flood trays i made for the flowering stage... Is using the extra air conditioner a good idea to fix my temp problems?

Click to expand...

A/C's are a good way to control temp, but I try to avoid it all costs. It's expensive to run A/C's. If you already have the 2 6" fans I would use one to run on an air cooled light hood and the other to exhaust the room. Still use a passive intake (a hole). If you run the 6" fans for intake and exhaust you won't achieve negative pressure and it actually works less efficiently.

Cost really isn't an issue right now so if there isn't any other negatives i think i am just going to get that up here for the time being.... I have the one 6" fan to exhaust the space to the outside of the house through the wall and a dryer vent so no air could get in.... Is setting up the other 6" fan in the opposite direction so that it's pulling air in instead of blowing it out a mistake? Just trying to understand the whole negative pressure thing

And is one hole really enough with no fans pulling air in to get enough fresh air into the room?

smccartney22 said:

And is one hole really enough with no fans pulling air in to get enough fresh air into the room?

Click to expand...

It's really going to depend a on a few factors. how big is the grow space (need heights, I saw the dimensions, but it needs to be in cu. ft.?

What CFM are the fans rated for?

You need to generate some negative pressure to keep odor under control and to keep fresh air really moving in efficiently. Generally a hole is good enough for a 6" fan. For sure if you use a 6" fan for exhaust you don't need more than 4" fan for intake and it might not be necessary. The fan that's job is to "push" is going to get strained and fail prematurely.

I ran this setup with 6" exhaust and a 4" intake and it made my room run about 2 degrees warmer than just the 6" fan without the intake.

An A/C is definitely still the business, but at that point you might as well be running 600w+ lights. 1000w's would be even better. The A/C is going to be able to cool them down so why run the lower wattages? It's a slipper slope my friend...

Well i think i will just keep the one fan as an exhaust and find something to do with the other, i purchased the fan controller so i can control the speeds at which it operates when needed. I plan on buying a 1000 watt HPS light for the flowering room so i guess the AC will come in handy after all either way... As for odor control, the only thing i am worried about is the neighbors, mom is a master gardener and former hippie lol so she is completely cool with it and pops is retired police officer but could care less as long as i'm not into the shit that ruins lives... But i planned on getting the 4" fans with the 6" carbon filter for odor control when it's nedded.... Now i'm going to take pictures so my next post should be a bit more interesting lol... Thanks alot for the help thus far, i really appreciate it considering you can't just walk into a hydro store and start asking specific questions such as these

Unsubscribed from here

smccartney22 said:

Well i think i will just keep the one fan as an exhaust and find something to do with the other, i purchased the fan controller so i can control the speeds at which it operates when needed. I plan on buying a 1000 watt HPS light for the flowering room so i guess the AC will come in handy after all either way... As for odor control, the only thing i am worried about is the neighbors, mom is a master gardener and former hippie lol so she is completely cool with it and pops is retired police officer but could care less as long as i'm not into the shit that ruins lives... But i planned on getting the 4" fans with the 6" carbon filter for odor control when it's nedded.... Now i'm going to take pictures so my next post should be a bit more interesting lol... Thanks alot for the help thus far, i really appreciate it considering you can't just walk into a hydro store and start asking specific questions such as these

Click to expand...

No problem. I'm having such a rough start with my grow that I would rather just spend my time thinking about other peoples problems I guess. Haha.