1st Grow - Bubbleponic Cabinet Grow 250w + CFL

Whats up yall, just wanted to share my 1st grow...

Setup:
8 Gal tote from Stealthhydro.com
160 gpm submersible pump
6 - feed controller (6 feed tubes)
6 - 4" net pots (6 net pot covers)
2 - 3 watt air pumps
2 - 12 in air stones
6 - gallons of water
250 watt MH/HPS (lumatek ballast)
2 - 42 watt 2700k CFL
2 - 4" computer fans with variable speed controller
humidifier
tower fan
nutes
ph/tds/temp meters
ph up/down
hydroton
aquarium chiller (adding soon)
power strip
foil tape
chain

That’s pretty much everything needed to get started.

Location: garage, so I have to be careful with the res temps, they have already been above 75 degrees F.

Now for some grow info, I got my seeds from attitude seed bank. The seeds arrived quickly from over there to over here (west coast) in about a week got some crappy candy too.

I started the seeds in the system with the lights on 24/0. They were started on the 26th of Jan. My tap water is 100ppm and a ph of 7.6, so I decided this was good enough to use. My first seedling popped on the 31st of Jan.

Just some info on the strain: 3 sleestack skunk, 1 white widow, 1 LAwoman, and 1 bag seed. The sleestack and la woman were free b's from attitude and so was the bag seed (free that is).

So on the 2nd of Feb I had 4 seedlings (NL and SS) bag seed and LA were laggin. On the 8th the bag seed popped and LA is dead. So 5 of 6 for my first go at it...not bad.

On the 9th I gave them their first snack, I am trying the Lucas formula grow/micro/bloom - 0ml/8ml/16ml. So I gave them a 1/4 dose using the formula. They look great! even the little one that got a late start. So ppm at about 400 and PH down to 5.4 which rose to 6.4 in about 10 hrs so I added a little more ph down to 5.9.

Oh yah...pulled the feeder tubes today, they all had good roots touching the water so out with the plumbing, I left the pump in cause I’m gonna need it for the chiller.

All comments welcome, any advise, much appreciated....ENJOY

Oh yah forgot to mention, the cabinet is approx 2' deep x 4' wide x 5.5' high

I like this setup!

Thanks alexonfire!! I'll be posting pics weekly so you can keep an eye on it, hopefully there won't be any mojor bumps on the road

LEDZEP said:

Thanks alexonfire!! I'll be posting pics weekly so you can keep an eye on it, hopefully there won't be any mojor bumps on the road

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NICE! Can't wait to watch this one - good stuff man.

Ok so my Aquarium chiller arrived today. I had to run to the Home DePot and get some tubing and I got some PVC to make a lid holder while I refill or maintain the res.

The chiller: Eruo USA Cl-85 Thermoelectric Chiller 12 Gal Max

To hook it up you need some tubing and a submersible pump 160 GPH max. I have my pump on the lowest setting I think the slower the flow the more efficient the unit is?

The chiller is outside the grow area...

I also built a holder for the tote lid so I can suspend the roots in air while I service the res.

QUESTION: I have noticed some brownish spots on one of the plants (White Widow last picture) Try to notice them in the picture...any ideas on what could cause this??

Update: Just some info on the chiller, I love it....all you do is set the temp you want it at like 68 degrees and it will cool or heat your nutes to maintain the temp, now i don't have to worry about that!!!

Nice man hope you keep updating looks like it will be a nice grow! Check my journal. About your question on the brown, it happens. I had some on my white dwarf grow when I went hydroponic. Its normally from the nutes buildup.

Nice looking setup man. I'll be checking out your grow.

Is the brown one the one with the darker colored roots? If so then you might want to take it out and run the roots under some shower water or sink if you have one deep enough and just rub out the darker coloring. Also if you want to clean the inside of the plant out place it in some fresh water for about 15 mins and let it drink that up.

No, I think that was just the light effevt with my camera phone, roots look good...

Any ideas on what could cause this sick looking plant, the two are in the same system started at the same time???

ph 5.5-6.2 depending on when I check it
ppm - 385 (.5 conversion)
res temp - 68 always
air temp - 70-80 depending on the outside temp.
lights - 24/0

nice setup. i run something almost identical for my moms, cept there in soil

edit/ps-
the little one- are enough roots touching the nute solution?
that looks like something i went through transplanting clones froma cloner into hydro, the roots were getting dried out because to much of them were still exposed above the waterline... maybe u can move one of the bubblers/airstones closer to it?
ive also seen that happen when a plant hits the rez for the first time, sometimes they stop growing leaves and go nuts with root production for a week and sacrifice a lower leaf or two in the process. cause your numbers look good
i say that because it looks like your prob started after you yanked the feeders... i dont use em personally so i have no experience with tubes... but it was the first thing that came to mind. any wilting on it?

IAm5toned said:

nice setup. i run something almost identical for my moms, cept there in soil

edit/ps-
the little one- are enough roots touching the nute solution?
that looks like something i went through transplanting clones froma cloner into hydro, the roots were getting dried out because to much of them were still exposed above the waterline... maybe u can move one of the bubblers/airstones closer to it?
ive also seen that happen when a plant hits the rez for the first time, sometimes they stop growing leaves and go nuts with root production for a week and sacrifice a lower leaf or two in the process. cause your numbers look good
i say that because it looks like your prob started after you yanked the feeders... i dont use em personally so i have no experience with tubes... but it was the first thing that came to mind. any wilting on it?

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Yah the roots look good and they are in the water, not so much wilting but some brown and yellowish spots and some funky looking leaves,all the other plants look good with very slight yellowing. Here is a pic of the roots for those two plants Closer roots, left (healthy Plant) closer roost right (sick plant) could it be any thing from the rockwool (should I flush the rock wool?)

Thanks

Alright, here is an update from 1 week ago. A few changes:
1. added a chiller (best investment ever)
2. drain/clean/change nutes

Ok, correct me if I'm wrong...I started off with 1/4 stength Lucas Formula (0/8/16)after my seedlings had 2 sets of leaves. I noticed some yellowing towards the end of the 1st week and a sick looking plant. So I decided to change out my nutes to the ones that came with the SH setup. I am using 1/2 of the micro and 1/2 grow nutes I purchased with the system. I also read somewhere that the Lucas Formula was for Bloom only? I originally thought it was good for the entire grow??? I don't think it was nute burn (its only on two of the plants).

Anyways...details

ppm - 690
ph - 5.8
res temp - 68 F always!
Air - 80 F

Dropastone said:

Nice looking setup man. I'll be checking out your grow.

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Welcome aboard thanks for stopping by!! Glad to have you!

Whats up!
Just thought I'd throw an update down.
Its been 8 days since my last pics.
They are looking pretty good i must say. The only one that is laggin is the white widow??? Don't know whats up with it but all the other plants are looking good. I'll do a res change later this week and I am gonna flower soon. I don't want to run out of cool weather or room in my cabinet, I've been vegging for about 3 weeks now probably will switch next week.
ENJOY

I did a res change out today and switched my light cycle to 12/12. I changed from the SH nutes to GH nutes and I am using the Lucas formula from here on out (change out method). I add enough for 4 gal. worth to a 6 gal. res to see how my babies react. Then I'll up the dose later this week.

ppm - 760
ph - 5.4
res - 67 degrees
air - 72 degrees
lights - 12/12

I'll add some more pics nest week these babies are taking off, every day they seem to get bigger and bigger. Thanks for stopping by any advise is welcome....

Hey, your grow seems to be going pretty well for a first attempt. I think that your pH may be a little low. The range is between 5.5 and 6.5 and did you know that different strains sometimes have different pH preferences. For example I have a white rhino plant and it is liking a lower pH around 5.7 and then other plants i have seem very happy a little higher around 6.5 - so this could be what is causing a little lag in the widow. Otherwise you have some healthy looking plants.

Snowchild said:

Hey, your grow seems to be going pretty well for a first attempt. I think that your pH may be a little low. The range is between 5.5 and 6.5 and did you know that different strains sometimes have different pH preferences. For example I have a white rhino plant and it is liking a lower pH around 5.7 and then other plants i have seem very happy a little higher around 6.5 - so this could be what is causing a little lag in the widow. Otherwise you have some healthy looking plants.

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Thanks man that makes some sense, as I've been watching this grow the white widow is looking better. Its just as tall as the others but not nearly as full, those slee stack skunk are beasts. I'll add some pics soon, this is the second day of bloom, I forgot to switch my bulb so this morning I had to wait right when the light switched to change out the bulb to HPS.

Just a pic update. No sex signs yet... Growing faster than I expected, no big issues yet and the white widow looks better than ever but still not as big as the slee stack skink but doing good. Drinking about a 1/2 gal per day.