First attempt at DWC. Advice please!

ihavealotofquestions

ihavealotofquestions

Active Member
Hydrofarm 2ft 4 lamp - $81.39 - http://www.hydroponics.net/i/134672
Sun Blaze 2ft 4 lamp - $84.47 - http://www.hydroponics.net/i/132660

Both are T5 fixtures, rated at about 90 watts. They also come complete with 6500k bulbs.

The only downfall about flourescent lights is standard bulbs - such as 2700k & 6500k - they work, but not the greatest. The money you would end up spending on decent bulbs that ONLY put out the spectrum your plants need, plus a fixture - would be equal or greater to an HPS fixture with a good bulb in it. The good thing about flourescents is there is little to no heat.. I've done my research on T5 systems and they just aren't cuttin' it yet. When they make a light, just for growing, with the right spectrum bulbs, I'll bite. Until then, I'm going to stick with a Sun Systems 150w HPS - it costs $67.08 - http://www.hydroponics.net/i/136953 can't beat that price IMO.
 
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purklize

Active Member
Pfft.. I bought my Blue Labs over 2 years ago.. never store it in solution just use it. I bought calibration solution, but every check it is dead on.. you need to stop buying cheap ass meters if you want to be productive. I mean I used Hannah, Milwaukee etc.. until I said enough. $300 for BlueLabs is alot but PH/EC measuring now is super easy, fast and accurate. When it was slow, annoying and never sure if it was accurate with the others, plus they always needed calibration.
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I had the EXACT same experience. Milwaukee's stuff sucked. There is nothing more frustrating than stirring for 10 minutes trying to get a reading, and then seeing it drift around so much you don't even know if it's accurate. The Bluelab never needs to be calibrated, and gives me a stable reading usually in less than 30 seconds, never more than a minute. It's worth its weight in gold. Plus if you have an accurate pH meter, you can do stuff like figure out that you need, say... 35mL grow formula, 7mL Calmag, and 5mL pH up to get your bucket of RO water (reverse osmosis, it's almost like distilled) to a pH of 5.8 (my plants always like 5.8 best). Then you don't have to use it ever again for mixing up that formula! And you know for sure it's the right pH.

For storing the pH pen, it's best to make your own storage solution, the ones you buy are a huge ripoff (as are most grow chemical that are sold in solution). All you need to do is buy "No Salt" from the grocery store (potassium chloride), and dissolve it in distilled water until no more can be dissolved. This is what scientists use to store theirs in, a "saturated solution" of potassium chloride.


I've done my research on T5 systems and they just aren't cuttin' it yet.
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I own two large T5 lights, they are awesome, I would never trade them for a MH light. A MH loses its power efficiency very fast and has to be replaced all the time, this doesn't happen with T5 fluoros (HPS also have much better life than MH). Anything except a brand new MH will produce fewer lumens per watt than a T5, and the spectrum isn't as good (smaller % of lumens useful to the plant). The plants love the T5 lights, they grow very bushy with short internode spacing, and they get huge quick. The light coming from so many directions is great for them, it seems to encourage bushy growth more than the MH I used did. And unless you buy one of the 6500k MH bulbs which are pretty damn expensive (again you gotta replace them constantly) the spectrum is wrong, the cheap MH bulbs are 4200k. The 6500k MH bulbs also spit out a lot of UV light which isn't good for your eyes.
 
BigBuddahCheese

BigBuddahCheese

New Member
purklize said:
I had the EXACT same experience. Milwaukee's stuff sucked. There is nothing more frustrating than stirring for 10 minutes trying to get a reading, and then seeing it drift around so much you don't even know if it's accurate. The Bluelab never needs to be calibrated, and gives me a stable reading usually in less than 30 seconds, never more than a minute. It's worth its weight in gold. Plus if you have an accurate pH meter, you can do stuff like figure out that you need, say... 35mL grow formula, 7mL Calmag, and 5mL pH up to get your bucket of RO water (reverse osmosis, it's almost like distilled) to a pH of 5.8 (my plants always like 5.8 best). Then you don't have to use it ever again for mixing up that formula! And you know for sure it's the right pH.

For storing the pH pen, it's best to make your own storage solution, the ones you buy are a huge ripoff (as are most grow chemical that are sold in solution). All you need to do is buy "No Salt" from the grocery store (potassium chloride), and dissolve it in distilled water until no more can be dissolved. This is what scientists use to store theirs in, a "saturated solution" of potassium chloride.




I own two large T5 lights, they are awesome, I would never trade them for a MH light. A MH loses its power efficiency very fast and has to be replaced all the time, this doesn't happen with T5 fluoros (HPS also have much better life than MH). Anything except a brand new MH will produce fewer lumens per watt than a T5, and the spectrum isn't as good (smaller % of lumens useful to the plant). The plants love the T5 lights, they grow very bushy with short internode spacing, and they get huge quick. The light coming from so many directions is great for them, it seems to encourage bushy growth more than the MH I used did. And unless you buy one of the 6500k MH bulbs which are pretty damn expensive (again you gotta replace them constantly) the spectrum is wrong, the cheap MH bulbs are 4200k. The 6500k MH bulbs also spit out a lot of UV light which isn't good for your eyes.
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Hmm I will have to try that solution, I know its not good to store it out of it, but I never had an issue yet as I use it daily. Thanks.
 
WcoastTokin

WcoastTokin

Active Member
It's going good right thus far. I have one left in my 3.5 bucket the others died and I have another in a pot of soil outside which I plan on moving inside... Also I purchased a new light today which I'm putting in tomorrow. I'll post pics tomorrow as well !
 
stoneslacker

stoneslacker

Well-Known Member
WcoastTokin said:
It's going good right thus far. I have one left in my 3.5 bucket the others died and I have another in a pot of soil outside which I plan on moving inside... Also I purchased a new light today which I'm putting in tomorrow. I'll post pics tomorrow as well !
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Cool man good to hear. Lookin forward to it.
 
Shivaskunk

Shivaskunk

Well-Known Member
From the look of the cotyledon...those are not cannabis. Chance im wrong but ive sprouted a lot of herb n they never looked like that. Pic update?
 
WcoastTokin

WcoastTokin

Active Member
I seem to have a heating problem now... I checked the ph levels again which rise to 6.6 from 5.8... I touched the water acs it's fairly warm. I'm freezing a bottle of water to put in the bucket so I dont add water. Any suggestions? I the light I purchased is a 150w HPS with 16,500 lumens. :-) suggestions PLEASE!
 
mufastaa

mufastaa

Active Member
you have a huge space between the cotyledons and the first set of true leaves... make sure you get the light as close as you can.

and the freezing bottle should help.

if you dont have an exhaust fan you should get one for 30 $
 
W

wapow1001

Active Member
it would be better if you place your bucket into a little tote then add cold water and your frozen bottle. bottled ice directly on roots is not good but i am fairly new someone will chime in.
 
W

wapow1001

Active Member
i notice when i change my res and adjust ph to 5.8 i will check in about 3 hours and it rises quite a bit but then i adjust and she stays low.when your plant is bigger and has lots of roots it is normal for your ph to rise as the plant eats
 
stoneslacker

stoneslacker

Well-Known Member
I would get a cheap floating aquarium thermometer for your rez. And proper venting will do more for heat issues than anything else imo.

My temps in my grow box when the lights are on avg 80-86. I have one of those little 4 inch fans like you have blowing across the top of my canopy, between the bulb and plants and this allows me to keep my light about 6 inches away. This will help keep your plants from stretching too much.
 
WcoastTokin

WcoastTokin

Active Member
Exhaust fan. I'll ask for once when I go to my hydroponic store. Thanks mufastaa

I was actually looking for some sort of container to put the bucket in last night, but couldn't find one... I seem to have the same issue with the ph levels lol not too worried about it tho, wapow1001.

stretching is something I'm actually worried about and was going to place light closer, but with the water hematite temperature rising... I'll lower it when I get this issue resolved. Thanks, stonelacker!
 
mufastaa

mufastaa

Active Member
if not at the hydro store go to home depot, they have a 30$ one, but it doesnt come with a wall hookup so you gotta get a cord and junction box for like 5 more.

also once the bottles touch the warm water they dont feel cold anymore, so it should be fine for roots.
 
WcoastTokin

WcoastTokin

Active Member
I'm going to have to wait on the exhaust and water chiller. I went over my budget this last time around lol and I rather eat hahaha but I'll do it next weekIn the mean time this is what I've done
I think I'm back on track :joint:
 
WcoastTokin

WcoastTokin

Active Member
So, as you can see some of the leafs are yellowing... Over feeding right?I've seem to solved the water healing problem.
 
Bigz2277

Bigz2277

Well-Known Member
ya over feeding, because they shouldnt be fed at this stage. just plain water till 2nd set of true leaves. any faster and you risk stunting growth. hope it helps man
 
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