ordering equipment: what am I forgetting?

[whats the score]

Or am I buying stuff I don't necessarily need?

This is a 250 watt hydroponic, vertical grow from seed in coco.


250 ballast-80
250 hps bulb-15
250 mh bulb – 15
3x3 grow tent:160
6' 435cm fan: 80 (overkill?)
6' charcoal filter: 90 (also overkill?)
Milwaukee 802 tester: 140 (damn! Do I really need this?)
coca: how much do I need? By the "brick?" A mat?
6 smart pots: what size? Something else?

questions:

- I know I need nutes. What size increment do I need for a 6 plant 250 watt grow? Quart? Gallon? Any recommendations would be much appreciated in terms of brands, etc.

- Do I need to drop $100 on fluoro's for seedlings, or can I put them under indirect 40 watt bulbs OR straight to 250 watters?

- what am I forgetting?

Huge thanks! If you don't know all the answers please by all means, drop by pieces of wisdom!

 

[Sgt.Stedenko]

Quarts will be plenty. GH is hard to beat. Real cheap here.

CFL's will get you through seedlings and into veg.

You might want to consider a speed controller for the fan, as 6" is a bit overkill.

#3 - #5 smart pots seem to be a good size for a lot of vert grows.

A Botanicare brick is roughly equivalent to a bale of Promix. You can fill a lot of #3 pots with a brick. Maybe consider some perlite to cut the coco and a Cal Mag supplement.

 

[SpaceKiller]

Co2 but it can be easily made for $10.

id get gallons of nutes with 6 plants quarts will go pretty fast.

if you can keep the HPS close enough you shouldnt have that much of a problem but i would just get some cfls, they even sell these new set ups with flouros with reflector and all at my hydro shop, you can change between 100w, 250w and 400w if you can find it id get that.. its much better than multiple cfls every where. i dont know the name sorry havent been by the shop in a while so you might have to do some searching, its only 100 bucks for the reflector/ballast the bubls no telling but i know at homedepot they are hella cheap so its a good investment. ill be picking it up when i can get the cash.

id get #3 smart pots for that space or even #2 cause its going to be extremely tight, i can barely fit 4, 5 gallon pots in my tent and the dimensions are a little bigger 4 x 3.5ft, it gets pretty packed in there.. i guess if you didnt have drainage pans it could work, very tightly but im not a fan of having to clean my tarp, really hard to clean when it gets good and dirty. so i use the pans under every pot takes up a little more space.

 

[Sgt.Stedenko]

I wouldn't worry about CO2 until you have a few grows under your belt and have basically maximized the potential of your grow room/cab by having the environment, strain, nutes and all other variables dialed in 100%.

 

[SpaceKiller]

its so easy to make why not have it in every grow regardless of how dialed in you are. just saying.

it helps plants develop better as well as helps them fight against future problems, its not a miracle worker but it definitively helps. i know when i started out.. making sure i could prevent as many mistakes id run into later on was well worth the worry.

 

[qupee]

id get gallons of nutes with 6 plants quarts will go pretty fast.

Maybe it depends on what nutes you use. But I use Botanicare Pure Blend Pro and a gallon lasts me a year. And I've got quite a few more than 6 plants (15 to 60 in flower depending on what exact day you count)

its so easy to make why not have it in every grow regardless of how dialed in you are. just saying.

Because if you are ventilating your tent it's making absolutely no difference whatsoever. You're just sucking it all right out.

 

[SpaceKiller]

Maybe it depends on what nutes you use. But I use Botanicare Pure Blend Pro and a gallon lasts me a year. And I've got quite a few more than 6 plants (15 to 60 in flower depending on what exact day you count)




Because if you are ventilating your tent it's making absolutely no difference whatsoever. You're just sucking it all right out.

use a fan, i dont make co2 reactors that just release co2 randomly, attach it to a tube and attach that tube to a fan pointed at your plants, there is no way regardless of ventilation they will not get any. yes quarts will work but you might as well buy 1 gallon versus a quart for the long run.

i mean if you want to get really technical about something as simple as co2 circulation, you could even put the end of the tube the co2 is attached to in the bottom of your soil, so it has no other option than to stimulate roots and eventaully be converted by the plant istelf as it rises out of the medium.. its not rocket science.

if your pinching money thats completey fine get whatever your budget fits, im just thinking in the long run.

i use quarts but they only last me about one grow with 2 plants, of course it depends on how much of that specefic nutrient you use, so buy accordingly.

 

[NiteTiger]

Or am I buying stuff I don't necessarily need?

This is a 250 watt hydroponic, vertical grow from seed in coco.


250 ballast-80
250 hps bulb-15
250 mh bulb – 15
3x3 grow tent:160
6' 435cm fan: 80 (overkill?)
6' charcoal filter: 90 (also overkill?)
Milwaukee 802 tester: 140 (damn! Do I really need this?)
coca: how much do I need? By the "brick?" A mat?
6 smart pots: what size? Something else?

questions:

- I know I need nutes. What size increment do I need for a 6 plant 250 watt grow? Quart? Gallon? Any recommendations would be much appreciated in terms of brands, etc.

- Do I need to drop $100 on fluoro's for seedlings, or can I put them under indirect 40 watt bulbs OR straight to 250 watters?

- what am I forgetting?

Huge thanks! If you don't know all the answers please by all means, drop by pieces of wisdom!

No, you don't need that Milwaukee. A basic ph pen is fine.

Quarts will be more than enough for nutes. For handwatering coco, a $15 bottle of FNB lasts me through at least two flowerings, using 1tsp/gal in veg, 1.5-2tsp/gal in flower.

You can sprout and veg under the big lights, no need for fluoros at all.

I use $0.89 black nursery pots. No need for special pots.

Ignore everything SpaceKiller is saying. I don't have time right now to deconstruct his posts, but lets just say his name says it all.

 

[Hammerhead]

I agree co2 is worthless without the proper environment/equipment

 

[Marick23]

WTS, first of all some of these guys may not remember what it was like starting out. I'd say forget Co2 all of that. When your doing hydro your first priority is the environment. When you run hydro you control EVERYTHING. How much oxygen how much nitrogen everything. Until you have a basic understanding of how these elements are effected by your environment, it's absolutely important for you to limit the amount of variables you have. You should only be running RO with basic nutes few additives (root excelerator, snow storm, and bud xl excepted) good temps with nice air flow.


Next piece of advice. Run your 6" fan make sure your growing area has a slightly negative preassure. add passive filtered fresh air intakes if - is too much...

When I first started I was real tight on budget bought a generic ph and tds meter. think the pair of them cost $36... Later I recieved a milwaukee as a gift... Milwaukee was great "coolest" meter I've ever had. However after some very hard use and a few clumsy padawans. The milwaukee went out, I picked up the old generic meter threw it into some test solution. Was still dead on after damn near 2 years of sitting on the shelf. The milwaukee was cool man but honestly if your on a budget you can just get yourself a generic.

I would save the money on the MH, this is just my opinion but I've run a few time with switchable balasts and changing lights. I find that the only thing you gain with the MH is time. No need for the more expensive switchable balast or the extra bulb. For the most part your going to vegging for maybe 3 weeks, 4 on the outside? Veg for 4 if your strapped and stay with the HPS.

You are also going to need a thermometer and hydrometer.

Sorry women at the door more later.

 

[Sgt.Stedenko]

A thermometer and hygrometer are essential.

The pet stores usually have decent ones in the terrarium/reptile area.

 

[someotherguy]

I'd listen to Sarge and Nite Tiger as both are experienced growers.

...and advising you to use co2 is just bad advice, better you should learn how to do things as simply as possible while you learn to read your plants.

With that in mind I offer 2 threads that will set you on a path of simplicity without sacrificing quality OR quantity.

*The K.I.S.S. Method by Ioni Botani

The Official Hempy-bucket Thread

While both threads are a bit long, if you read them you will find many answers.

...btw, coco hempy-buckets are the shit! ...almost any sized container will work and they are so easy to use even I can do it!

Frankly, since I switched to MaxiBloom and coco hempy's my biggest problem has been dealing with VERY vigorous growth.

Peace, and stay safe, SOG

 

[grassott]

^Nice post again SOG. I too do hempy buckets and my biggest problem is that they grow too big if vegged for 3 weeks or more!
If you're gonna do perpetual you will also need another grow space fer clones. (a 2x2 tent with cheap cfl lights and a small fan would be perfect if you got about $100 to spare.
Milwaukee tester? Wats that? Yeah, you don't need it whatever it is.
My flower tent as follows...
4x4 tent
400w hps
12" Oscillating fan
Bog standard cheap as you like extractor fan with ducting.
And that's it.
Oh, and I'm thinking of getting this compressor-less dehuey to combat budrot...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-MIDI-..._Cooling_Air&hash=item231384a221#ht_897wt_932

Oh, and my veggy tent with hempy buckets look like this...

 

[grassott]

...Ignore everything SpaceKiller is saying. I don't have time right now to deconstruct his posts, but lets just say his name says it all.

lol, that's sooo fcukin funny.

I've never used co2 and look at my plants. Oh, and I just noticed you're doing a vert set up? With that 3x3 tent you will struggle doing a vert because you can only bud small plants. When the buds grow into the bulb they will burn. I'd go horizontal in a tent that size. Just my opinion though. Peace.

 

[HempAlchemist]

the testers are nice, but not needed. i started out using them, but over time i started to "listen" to my plants and they tell me when to feed. take very detailed notes, cause being your 1st grow, your going to make a few mistakes. the notes will prevent you from making them a 2nd time.
dont worry about CO2 this time, focus on dialing in your environment. people seem to think by adding more into the grow, you'll get more out, and this is just not always true. CO2 is one of those things that if not used right, will do nothing for you but waste money. having air, water, soil/medium, and temps in balanced is > adding CO2 if the others arent in balanced.
as far as nutes go, i would say GH, but only cause thats what i know. imho, nute brands are basicly the same, its just about how much you want to spend. if you wanna go really cheap then maxibloom/K.I.S.S is the best way to go, otherwise whatever brand you use, i suggest getting Gals or big bags of salt. if you plan on growing for a full year then there is no reason to spend more on smaller amounts of nutes.
If i was you, i would grow using scrog, lst, or a very well kept sog. 250w is great for personal grows, but the downside to that light is it has very little penetration and anything that is farther than about hands length from the bulb just wont get dense. take a look at the 250watt club and you'll see the majority of ppl are using scrog, lst, sog, or other techs that create an even canopy
as far as getting more lights for your seedlings, i wouldnt worry about that now. start them under the 250 and just raise the light a bit until they get bigger. then just lower the lights a lil bit at a time till you get them were you want. get a couple of grows under your belt and dial your area in, then expand.
hope that helps
HA

 

[budman678]

this is all really great advice. i just learned a lot

 

[supermanlives]

fan speed controller if nobody else mentioned it

 

[Hydro-Soil]

i use quarts but they only last me about one grow with 2 plants, of course it depends on how much of that specefic nutrient you use, so buy accordingly.

$15 for a bag of GH Maxibloom. Last you 6 months, at least, with a 1000w HPS grow.

Stay Safe!