Aerogarden 6 elite + joint doctor lowryder grow

Zacarino

Active Member
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
 

Zacarino

Active Member
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 :)
 

DaYooper

Active Member
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. :)
 

"SICC"

Well-Known Member
Here are the pictures of the set up:


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 :leaf:
 

lurkmaster

Well-Known Member
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.
 

Zacarino

Active Member
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.
 

SlickRickMcgee

Well-Known Member
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! bongsmilie

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
 

Zacarino

Active Member
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 -_-
 

SlickRickMcgee

Well-Known Member
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 -_-
Cool, I didn't know the Elite had a built in air stone. I've been told that foil causes hot spots. Either mylar or flat white walls is recommended.
 

Potology

Active Member
I would still recommend an extra pump and airstone. I unplugged the original air hose and small stone on the AG and hooked it up to a 4" airstone with an additional air pump and 4" air stone. It's nice an bubbly. Your roots will love it.
 

dopeboy495

Well-Known Member
yes i jus added a few more airstons an my plants r loveing it.......so a few extra airstorns cant hurt also i like wat u did wit the tin foil props...
 

bmn77

New Member
youre gonna want to get rid of the tin foil real quick, youll damage ur plants bad from hot spots. just buy mylar at ur dollar store or the ballons sells for 1$ a piece. aluminum foil is only 55% reflectie and it loses reflectivity with each creace. mylar is 92-97% reflective. im talking about light of course
 

Zacarino

Active Member
Are these CFL lights really hot enough to burn the plants? There's no places underneath the entire machine that feels too hot (using my hand to judge). I know that tinfoil isnt the most effective, but is it really going to be damaging? These aren't 400W HPS lights or anything =p
 

bmn77

New Member
some people will tell u foil is okay, i say its not. ur grow sspace isnt that large that it'd cost a fortune to cover it in mylar. itll cost a couple bucks if u buy a couple of balloons. itll also give ur plants alot more light
 

weed staller

Active Member
hey man nice set up... i just brought the aero garden to... will u just be using the 3 light you got for the entire growing process? including flowerin... im just wonderin what else i need to buy to
 

no6969el

Active Member
Im currently in the process of researching everything im going to buy in 2 weeks for my grow. I plan to use the aerogarden 6 and grow the lowryder 2. I plan on keeping the top light the same and do not plan to seperate the light because i only want to grow lowryder for now. I was looking for side grow lights and i found the following http://www.expresslightbulbs.com/led-grow-light-14-watt-p-203.html My question was, would this be strong enough for the sides?? Now i know I can prolly get a cheaper normal light.. but i live in a small place so I dont want the heat to raise so unless it doesnt work.. I would really prefer to use leds... I plan on keeping a new ongoing log once i get this all up and running. thank you all for all the info ive learned so far though!!
 

Zacarino

Active Member
To no6969el: I have nothing personally against LED lights, in fact I've heard pretty good things about them. HOWEVER, for their price, they are not worth it. I have seen and read up on incredibly effective LED grows, but every person (including all those who have successfully grown big crops) say that LED lights just still aren't worth the price. CFL lights are INCREDIBLY cheaper to buy and do not reach very hot temperatures. If you have your heart set on LED grows then go ahead and spend the money. For side lighting though... it just seems a bit like a waste. In addition, the only really good effective grows I've read about using LED lights is that $350 or $400 board of 400 individual LED lights (or some absurd amount). This board (or so I've read) can effectively mimick the light output of a 400W HPS, MH, or just about whatever light you want. As far as side lighting goes... I'd stick with CFLs. If price isn't a problem, do whatever you want :) this is YOUR UNIQUE GROW! We would all only learn from it. I haven't heard of an aerogrow + LED grow yet :)

To weed staller:

I'm going to be using the 3 CFL's in the hood of the aerogrow + the additional 3 CFL's that are on the lamps throughout the entire grow. I'm not sure about the energy output on the lights that come with the aerogrow, but they are too hot to touch (so I'm guessing about 20W each or more -- that is 20W equiv to a 60W incandescent or w/e they claim.... it's all BS anyways =P). That would mean that overall I'm using about 60W + the other 3 lamps (13W + 13W + 23W) = ~110W or so.

To everybody in general: Thanks for all the comments! I will try to find some mylar ASAP to replace the hot-spotting tin foil.
 
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