First Time Grow: Aero Garden, 12/12 from Seed (Very Primitive)

Starting a thread to document my first grow. I have very limited space to grow so I thought an aero garden would be perfect for me. Also I have a vert limited bugdet. First grow so I am not going to deny that odds for good results are slim. Hoping to get some tips from the experienced growers.

I bought the aero garden used. The pump was broken but I was able to take it apart and fix it. I bought rockwool plugs for it. I also bought hydro nutes n6/p15/k17. I've heard its probably not the best nutes but its what I have and I'm going to work with it.

I bought a 10 seed mix. So what grows is going to be a surprise (if anything!!). I planted 7 seven total seeds, one in each pod of the AG. I didn't germ in a paper towel or anything. I put seeds in the rockwool plug and turned the AG on. 5 of the seven sprouted. The last two seem to be duds.

I am doing 12/12 light from seed. I found a thread on 12/12 from seed at another forum that was very good. 12/12 from seed will of course hurt yield but will keep plants shorter and allow me to harvest faster (if I get that far!!)

Roots on a couple of the babies are starting to touch the water. I bought a bubble stone and am going to install here soon so that I can turn off the pump. The rockwool seems to be molding on the surface (or salt deposit) and I've had to clean the last couple of days. I am hoping that problem will go away when I turn off the pumps and only use the bubble stone.

I used a gallon of bottle water to mix my nutes in the beginng (started 8/16). I changed the water today. This time I used distilled water to mix my nutes. My ph kit is in the mail and I'm hoping my plants don't die or get hurt due to ph issues before my kit arrives.

Other than that I'm going to try and learn as I go and hopefully I get a small nugget!!

Other than that took some pictures today to keep track.

Just got an inside/outside thermometer to monitor the temp in my grow box. Just put the outside reader in the box. Its been a little over 4 hours since my lights shut off and the temperature reads 80.2 degrees (75 degrees outside closet). I think this is good. I am concerned about what the temp is when the lights turn on. I have a feeling its going to be above optimum temp. I do have a 6" fan sitting on top of the aero garden hood which circulates the air. I'm not sure how much its helping the temp. I will check the temp tomorrow after the lights turn on.

In other news I have named the plants. I know they are not showing sex yet but even so, I gave them all women names. The two plants in the front left to right are Ellie and Karla. Karla is my favorite. Short but the stem is fat and strong. The three in the back left to right are Naomi, Monica, and Leslie. We'll see if they turn into long haired ladies!!

Well my bad feeling about the temperature was confirmed. The temperature was 90 degrees with the light on. What I did was open my grow box and set the fan outside blowing air in. This has dropped the temperature to 84 degrees. I thought the fan circulating the air inside the grow box would be enough because the box is far from air tight but I guess I was wrong.

In other news I tried installing my 10" bubble rock in the reservoir. I don't like it. Two things are wrong. 1)the 10" bubble stone is too big for my aero garden resevoir. It barely sits under the water and 2) This bubble rock wants to float. It needs to be anchored down with weights or suction. So I am taking the bubble rock back to the store today and going to try and find a smaller and heavier/denser one. 4 of the 5 plants have roots touching the water. After the 5th plant's roots hit I'll be able to turn of the pumps.

If my plants actually make it, I am interested in trying to find out what strains Karla and Ellie are. Karla is looking to be a perfect strain for the AG. Its short, sturdy and root are looking nice. On the other hand Ellie is tall (having trouble standing up) and the root system is by far the biggest. I can see that the roots might be a problem for this girl. Her roots are 5 times bigger than the rest. There is potential for her root system to cause problems.

Last pics were taken on 8/23/10. I plan on taking the next set of pics on 8/28 and then every 7 days after that (unless there are problems or there's something interesting I want to share).

Well bought my new bubble stone today. I installed it and it seems good. I think I finally have my grow in cruise control. I took some more pictures of the girls and of their roots. As they get going I probably won't be able to take pics of their roots like these. I have seen Aero Garden with plants roots that are crazy!! Anyway here are the pics.

I have done my research on PH water levels. Right now I am using distilled water mixed with hydro nutes (seedling mixture). Haven't manipulated the PH. My PH kit should be here any day and I'm very interested in how much my plants improve once I start using water with the optimal PH level.

After doing research I see that the general concensus for optimal PH level for hydro growing setups (like the aero garden) is 5.7.

The girls are looking good. (I hope their girls!!).

The problem I'm experiencing now is that my rockwool plugs have mold on the top. What I have read is that a diluted solution of hydrogen peroxide will kill the mold. The link http://www.using-hydrogen-peroxide.com/gardening-with-hydrogen-peroxide.html is to a site that in my opinion has some really good info tables that show you how to mix hydrogen peroxide for different applications.

I chose the lowest strength mix for my first attempt at killing the mold. The mix is 1 cup water with 1.5 teaspoons of 3% hydrogen peroxide (find it where the bandaids are). I applied to one of my plants to see if it works. If it works and doesn't kill my plant I will try on the other plants. The mold seems to be limited to the rockwool so I'm not totally freaking out.

I have a bad feeling about this grow so I might start another grow in soil as a backup plan. anyway attached are the latest pics. I also tried to get pics of the mold. Pics aren't that good, I need a new camera.

Well my plants were looking very sickly. Purple stems and yellow leaves (probably nitrogen deficincy). The roots were looking slimey like root rot. The rockwool mold really took off even the under part not getting light (and no it wasn't salts).

It was bad and seemed inevitable that I was going to lose my ladys. So what I did is transplant them to potting soil in disposible plastic cups in an attempt to save them. I was able to pick off all of the rock wool from the roots. Then I snipped the roots that were slimey leaving the healthier looking roots. I then gently planted each girl a cup with potting soil.

Its been about 24 hours but ther are no noticeable differences (one maybe a little worse). I am still going to use my aero garden set up but I will just be using soil. I will post an update here in a couple of days to let you know if they survived the transplant. If so I'll have pictures.

Well all five plants survived...one barely. One showed sex, male, about five days ago (about 3 weeks into 12/12 from seed, even with the crap load of stress). I have one that has showed sex, female, little under 4 weeks from 12/12 from seed. For newbies don't take these times as accurate to show sex. These little ones went through a lot of crap. By the way the male was pulled out and trashed...kind of felt bad since I raised him from a seedling.

The other three haven't shown sex yet. One of the plants was really messed up, actually thought it died, but now I see the new growth. I also germ'd 2 new seeds. One sprouted on the 11th and the other today. So total plants growing are six.

My confirmed female was the favorite of the group. Short and fat and really healthy from very beginning (made it through the root cutting and transplant just fine). Yeah she's about 5 inches tall and has hairs!!! Not to mention she showed sex relatively early. I will definitely be trying to clone this baby. Perfect super micro grow strain. Remember this was a 10 seed mix and the strains were not marked. No telling what I got.

Since I'm growing in soil (only using the aero garden light hood now) I might have to start a new thread elsewhere and link it here. But I will definitely post pictures here for you. Haven't been able to take pics...my camera died and I can't find the damn charger!!!

cool man, im tuned in to see what happens, good luck!

Thanks goodolboy, I'll need it!!

Well things are going better since the transplant to soil.

Today I had another plant show male. I took him out of the soil and am doing a little experiment. I washed all the soil off the roots with distilled water. Then I put him in a cup with distilled water and put him in a dark place. I'm interested to see how long this plant stays green/alive (testing a flushing theory).

Also have another plant showing female. I'm pretty stoked about that. So now I have five plants total: 2 females, 1 unconfirmed, and two seedlings. I transplanted my favorite plant into a bigger (but still small) planter. She is coming along nice. Pics attached. Can't wait until the buds come in thick. Exciting times.

Hope to get pics of all the plants soon. but for now enjoy the pics of my tiny girl.

Just a quick note. I put the male back in the grow box. I want it to get light and see if it lasts longer. Just testing a flushing theory.

I was able to see that it was a male early. I can see a one of the little nodules forming. How long can I wait before it knocks up my ladies???

lookin good bro, ill be following... did you ever find out why the AG didnt work out or got the problem? little girls lookin nice and furry there though good luck with the soil, and dont feel the need to move to nother forum, keep it rollin here id say... and as far as pollenization, the male flower or seeds if you wil actually open up if left to mature long enough and throws pollen everywhere, and i do believe that then the pollen needs to hit the roots of the fem.. again someone please correct me if im mistaken, however ive dealt with several males over my past 3 attempts here lol.

P

IMO the "root" reason why my aero garden grow didn't work was because of lack of time and money.

I was using generic hydro nutes. I should have used canna, or foxfarm (from what I read). I think the plants were getting sick due to the nutes. Also mold was bad on my rockwool. If I do try the aero garden again I will not be using rockwool as the grow medium. Third I was getting root rot. I had an air stone but the roots were still getting slimey and turning a darker color. I bet I could have grown them longer but it was a lot of trouble trying to grow hydro. Its constant work!! I had a feeling that they would eventually die a slow death so in an attempt not to have to start all over I transplated to soil.

Things are going good. My female that is budding early is starting to show pods (seedless of course) and is looking really great. Not sure if my camera can show that detail, might have to wait a few more days to get a good pic

These are pics of my other confirmed female. Seems to be a taller strain. Still small though. But thats what I'm going for. I don't have a lot of space.

My grow box is 30in high, 23in wide, and 12in deep.

a2302050127 said:

Just a quick note. I put the male back in the grow box. I want it to get light and see if it lasts longer. Just testing a flushing theory.

I was able to see that it was a male early. I can see a one of the little nodules forming. How long can I wait before it knocks up my ladies???

Click to expand...

The male plant has to be mature to knock up your also mature ladies...so once the male is filling up with its flowers start to get worried.

a2302050127 said:

IMO the "root" reason why my aero garden grow didn't work was because of lack of time and money.

I was using generic hydro nutes. I should have used canna, or foxfarm (from what I read). I think the plants were getting sick due to the nutes. Also mold was bad on my rockwool. If I do try the aero garden again I will not be using rockwool as the grow medium. Third I was getting root rot. I had an air stone but the roots were still getting slimey and turning a darker color. I bet I could have grown them longer but it was a lot of trouble trying to grow hydro. Its constant work!! I had a feeling that they would eventually die a slow death so in an attempt not to have to start all over I transplated to soil.

Things are going good. My female that is budding early is starting to show pods (seedless of course) and is looking really great. Not sure if my camera can show that detail, might have to wait a few more days to get a good pic

Click to expand...

Next time try Rapid Rooter. You can cut it to the same size as the original sponges the AG seedpacks come in. I may have missed it, whats your light situation?

rapid rooter... I will definitely look that up. When growing in the AG i wasn't supplementing with any other light. It was just the hood. Now that I transplanted to soil I have the hood attached to the top of my grow box and have two desk lamps with CFLs on the bottom.

ive noticed that you said that you dont have much space to grow in, and thats the reason why you keep em at 12/12. well im just putting in my 2 cents here. have you heard the method of LST (light stress method)? its very simple to do that a newbie shouldnt have any problems with it as long as you are using common sense. all you do is get the main cola and bend it to the side so the side branches get some light and are able to grow even with the main cola. so in other words the whole plant would be even and you can manage to keep it as compact as you would like,so the plant would not be tall just short and fat (bushy). Check it out for urself my friend. im pretty sure yooull like th emethod alot especially if your space is limited. oh and by the way i would add more lights and make it 18/6 for the first 3-4 weeks and then ill bring them back down to 12/12 and start the flowering phase. what you have going on is enough for probably one hit in a bowl and thats pushing it. and to be quite frankly with you its a wastw of time and money. you might want to aim for atleast more than just a nug. anyway i hope that helps with the space problem.

I have an idea why my one plant is so small....I think it might be an autoflower... using 12/12 from seed has extremely stunted the growth...Thoughts anyone??

Latest pics of my tiny midget girl...I think she is an autoflower strain and the 12/12 from seed has extremely stunted her growth.

Also the hairs are turning brown. Either she got knocked up or its harvest time and my bud is crap!!