Amateur hour..135w LED, top drip hydro system using rockwool/clay

kardkounter420

New Member
So this is officially my first grow journal..very excited at the moment as the seeds have been germinating for a few hours now.

Anyways, here's the setup. I have a 30 gallon rubbermaid tote with lid. I have cut two 9x9 holes in said lid, and two net pots sit in those holes. I have a water pump from my local fish store meant for a decorative fountain that sits in the tote. There is a hose connected to said water pump going straight up, through a third hole in the lid, then comes to a T. There is a 10 inch hose connected to each outlet of the T going straight over the net pots through the middle. There are about 8 slits cut in each hose so that there is a slow drip. About 3-5 drips every ten seconds or so. All hoses are black, initially got clear but then found out about algae haha. I have a thermometer in and out of the reservoir. I have 10 gallons of distilled water in there now, with the pump running, net pots 3/4 full of hydroton that had been rinsed off with ph6 water. I also have an air pump with two outlets, running through a small hole in the lid to two 5 inch air stones. I will be moving the seeds to rockwool, 2x2x2 cubes, when they start to show taproot. The rockwool will then sit in a mini greenhouse type thing I got from walmart for $10. Will leave them in there, under the light, for 7-10 days, then transplant into hydroton. I have two little clip fans in there to blow air around and on the plants. As for lighting, I got a sweet deal on a 135w lighthouse hydro: blackstar LED, guy told me he never used it, only $50. Found the same one on amazon for 180. Thats the whole reason I set this up haha :)

A picture of the set up will be attached soon.

As for the seeds, I received them after 6 business days from marijuana-seeds.nl, very satisfied. Used their "stealth" shipping, spendy but worth it.

Anyways I got northern lights, and placed four of them into a shot glass half full of ph6 water. I then realized I didnt wash my hands..and had just smoked a cig 5 mins earlier. Just in case I washed my hands and set 4 more germinating. My hope is at least 4/8 will germinate, and then 2 of those 4 will be female. Just playing the waiting game now.
Also have 8 blocks of rockwool soaking in ph6 water, just in case they all germinate.

Any comments are greatly appreciated! I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing except for what I've read. Noob alert heh :)
 
Okay so I decided to move the seeds to the rockwool. Two of them had sunk, the rest didnt, but I figure they'll probably germinate just as fast or better in aerated water. The rockwool pieces are sitting in the grow box, as shown in the pic. Will update as soon as I see sprouting..

Opinions? Comments? Still just throwin darts blindfolded..kind of wingin it haha.
 

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Yes, thx for sharing, your grow makes me very optimistic for my grow..will probably add some CFLs for the flowering stage..
you can def do that it wont hurt, not really necessary but like i said it wouldnt do anything but help if you choose to. I get nice dense buds off all of my grows under just the LED so staying optimistic is the way to be im sure your grow will do great. Keep those pics coming as you go along
 
Looks good man. You are going to want to light proof your res though. Light getting through the net pots and around the feed system will cause all kinds of nastiness in your res. What kind of nutrients are you planning on using once you have your seedlings? Also are you going to top feed through the life of the plant? I have seen some guys who only drip until roots are out of the net pot. They say rot at the base of the stem can be a bit of an issue. I will definitely be watching how this unfolds. I might be making a new addition to my setup when it is said and done.
 
Light proofing the res is in the plans :) or as well as I can anyways lol. Will be using jacks classic brand, 20-6-22 for veg and 10-30-20 for flowering. I did plan on dripping throughout the whole life of it, but thats subject to change ha. Thanks for your comments and encouragement..still just kinda wingin it. Hoping for the best, trying to keep it simple.
 
Used chrome tape to light proof it..then went crazy with the tape and taped over the whole lid lol..

Hoping for sprouts in the morning or sometime tomorrow evening at least. Hoping.
 
Well we've got our lone badass..one little lady poked her seed up through the rockwool..seed is obviously cracked and sprout is starting. Check picture..wondering if I should use a tweezers and get rid of the shell or just let it fall off? Opinions please!

This is just the beginning..I cant wait..haha..
 
Ha i need to get better at remembering to upload the pix..

So just let it grow and let the shell pop off or pluck it off myself? Im leaning towards the former but have heard of people doing the latter...
 

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If it's mostly off (wide angle, think bigger than pacman's mouth), you can tweeze it off gently.. Don't use really sharp tweezers, you can kill it easily.

If it's still closed, I'd put it under a humidity dome and mist the dome (not the seed) and leave it a day.
 
yeah usually i just let mine pop off unless it looks like it can be easily removed then ill gently help it off otherwise it will come off naturally
 
yeah usually i just let mine pop off unless it looks like it can be easily removed then ill gently help it off otherwise it will come off naturally

Well i let it grow a bit more until it looked like the shell was just hanging there..washed my hands n used a sterilized tweezers to gently push off the shell..didnt even put barely any pressure on it and she fell right off. Got a decent picture of sprout #1, we'll name her Betty :)

Checked on the rest, all but two of them are about 1/8 of an inch below the surface, the other two I couldnt see. Should have quite a few sprouts by tonight...hopefully lol.


Temp in dome: between 80-85F, humidity 75%, sprayed a bit of water on the sides of the dome to bring humidity up a tad..would like it between 80-90%..
 

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Well we've got 5 little ladies total that are through the surface of the rockwool...4 look strong and healthy..the other is kinda wimpy and yellow. Maybe too much water or not enough? Oh well I only plan on planting 4 anyways. Maybe the 5th in a dirt pot on the side of my system, though it wouldnt get much light haha. Anyways theres a picture of the girls under led and regular lighting..comments welcome!
 

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Oh and in case anyone cares about names, here they are in order of first out to last out..

1. Betty
2. Gemma
3. Roxanne
4. Marilyn
5. Little orphan Annie
 
Do you guys think this system is capable of supporting 4 plants? Im only doing four because im assuming 2 will be male and i want 2 females..im just not sure this system will be okay for 4 plants thru veg phase..maybe with some lst? Idk..really could use a bit of advice! Thanks
 
Run 4 until you sex, then choose best 2 females.. UFO definitely won't cover more than 2 in bloom.. it might even struggle with 2 :P
 
Well I moved them into the hydroton..pix are:
Roxanne
Gemma
Betty and Marilyn together(left back is Betty)
Gemma and Roxanne together(left back is Roxanne)
Betty
Marilyn

As you can see Betty has a bit of yellowing on one leaf..and Marilyn is having to stretch far being as I only have one light..
 

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