Live Stoner Chat Hey y'all! Somebody throw me a few beads here!

[NRKgrw]

I'm NRKGrw, DWCocha has encouraged me to make a post, so I can get others take on my grow. DW’s been a huge help to me starting out. I’ve never grown before and the whole process I find is rather scary and utterly confusing. Been scared to post, I feel like I’m at Mardi Gras liftin’ up my shirt!! Here goes….
Seeds from Nirvana:

• Blue Mystic, Bubblecious, Short Ryder, and Jock Horror. I failed to order Northern Lights this time...wah, wah, wah
• All have survived so far, except for Bubblecious, 2 have failed to open
• Thought I’d try a seed from one of the other strains so I ‘ll have all 4 of my buckets going
• I used Rapid Rooter plugs and a germination station w/dome and heating mat

DWC reservoirs:

• 5 gallon black buckets with 6” net pot lids and clear tubing reservoir gauges
• 8” stone bubble discs
• Hydroponic rock (I don’t like it, lots of tiny pieces that fall through the net pots)
• Aquarium thermometers (it’s been reading high, so I’ve got frozen water bottles to use)
• Elemental air pump with 1744 gph/110 lpm (an upgrade suggestion from DW, my original ones were too puny)
• Digital Ph and PPM meters from BlueLab(tap is 7.1 ph'd to 6.0)

Grow Room:

• My master bathroom!
• In the giant garden tub!

Lighting

• 4’ T5 fixture with 8 Hortilux Power Veg bulbs(I have 2 of the fixtures, but using both was way too hot)
  
• Used SunGrip ratchet hangers until I just changed them out for 1½” pulleys, much easier for me!
  

Exhaust:

• Just been using a fan, the bathroom exhaust and window(I live way out in the country, no close neighbors and no visitors)
• Ordered a window fan/exhaust unit to use for now. Looking at an inline fan for later

Nutrients:

• Rapid Start(only thing I’ve used so far)
• Flora Trio
• Floralicious Plus
• Koolbloom
• CaliMagic

I think that’s about it, but I might have forgotten sonething. I’ve had to shift gears several times, scratch my head, reconfigure my equipment, and lose some sleep… It’s been 12 days as of right now. Blue, Jock and Short seem to be doing ok. RIP Lil’ Bubs though. Think I might try another Jock Horror instead.
I’m working on putting my pictures in albums if you want to take a look. I’d like anyone’s thoughts and suggestions. I have tons of questions that pop up too, if someone will listen! :slaps:Just so y’all know, I’m not looking for world records here. I just want to make it simple this go round, it'll give me time to get my feet good and wet! I know I can do better and improve, but right now, just the basics.
I’m at the house all the time, so any time I gotta go, I get check on them. So… that probably adds up to once an hour! Here’s today’s update, what y'all think?

 

[gmgeoff]

Hi NRK, Welcome.

I have been on AFN about 3 months now. Lots of good information here ...and FUN too. Nobody bashes you here, and no question is too dumb to ask. In fact posting your (1st) grow here can be a little like auto racing....Everyone likes to see a good wreck ounce in awhile as long as the outcome is good, so don't be afraid to F up LOL.

DW has also helped me a lot!. In fact, he has been advising me some, on my 1st. grow, which is about 2 weeks from harvest.
I have seen some good looking plants on here, grown with only florescent lighting. Without seeing your set up, I think you might benefit with more light, even if it's only adding cfl bulbs, that can be strategically moved around to get at more areas, if you want to keep with the cheaper lights.

I am using GH products, same as you. Be careful with your fertilizer, especially at the start!. I think it's harder to dial it in correctly with hydro..I'm still figuring it out.

Looks like you are using grow stones.? I am, and really like them. If you just shake the net pots after filling them, the little pieces should fall through. No big deal.

You will learn so much from your first grow! I only ended up with ONE plant, but she's a beaut. (hope she;s as good as she looks LOL)
check out my 1st grow. https://www.autoflower.org/f44/1st-grow-hw-mm-recir-dwc-led-progess-41880.html
I think your plants look good so far Best of luck to you.

 

[DWCocha]

Hey hey ,well done getting the intro done girl Honestly this place is cool & Im sure you will get on with everyone at AFN :Sharing One:

 

[DWCocha]

Hey Geoff ,cheers man .Iv'e never used GH trio so tag along here & offer some advise maybe ..I was going to suggest 9ml/3ml/3ml for week one as I saw a YT vid where the dude says its strong stuff & easy to burn the seedlings ?"AFN smoke out"

 

[woody]

Welcome aboard mate, looks like your safe hands already, happy growing

 

[gmgeoff]

Hey Geoff ,cheers man .Iv'e never used GH trio so tag along here & offer some advise maybe ..I was going to suggest 9ml/3ml/3ml for week one as I saw a YT vid where the dude says its strong stuff & easy to burn the seedlings ?"AFN smoke out"

HI,
Well, first I was using half of their flood and drain schedule. I'm lucky I made that mistake and didn't use the recirculating feed schedule which is much stronger.
But even the lighter F&D schedule they were getting too much. Constant nitrogen overdose.
And this with ppm always being 500 or below. Can't tell you how many times I pumped 2nd day nutes down the drain and add water to dilute the solution. THIS with almost every water change.

So with my next grow, I'm going to start out again using the same flood and drain formula. But only a quarter. If the next day the plant shows no signs of feed related stress, I will add the remaining quarter which will still only be 1/2 of the flood and drain schedule.
Then after that, only add if I see deficiencies.

There probably is no General Hydroponics feed schedule for Autos. If this is the case, we will all need to play a little mad scientist if we use this product. It would be nice to see a nutrient product line for auto flowers. Maybe someone has one ??? IDK

I have been playing a little mad scientist adding supplements, such as flora bloom, Kool bloom, liquid karma, which I think are fine if they are 0 or very low nitrogen.
And Hydro Guard or similar product for the roots. I'm using it even though I'm using a water cooler, but definitely a must if your reservoir is warm. Reasonably cheap insurance, and one less problem you'll probably never have to deal with.

Hope this helps more than confuses (toke)

 

[NRKgrw]

Hey gmgeoff,
Thanks so much for a reply! I was so scared to post. Yea, I like DW he's so helpful. I would have lost my mind without him!
There are so many products out there and they have such catchy names. I just focused on GH. I'd love one day to be able to mix and match and make my own witches brew, but for now, I just want to get through this without complete disaster.
I just finished posting my pictures in albums, now I going over to look at your grow!
See Ya!

 

[NRKgrw]

Hey sanguine!
Wanted to say thanks for the reply. It's now 13 days in and I'm starting to feel less anxious. So my meter isn't on 11 right now, more like a 7!
See ya!

 

[epenguin]

Good grief, straight in at the deep end. Good for you. You can do research. You can ask tons of questions. You can do a plan, heck even a spreadsheet. But there is no substitute for getting on with it and doing a grow. You will learn tons, you will make mistakes and almost certainly end up with a decent harvest. We got your back.

Don't forget to enjoy it. This is a fun and rewarding hobby. Enjoy and welcome, eP.

 

[NRKgrw]

Hey Ddub,
It's all good here, no problems. Well I finally posted! I was scared...whew. Got 4 extra buckets ready for my first res. Gonna follow that Ben Ripped guy from the youtube link you sent me.
Looking at those inline fans, will I have to remove the window screen in order for it to work properly? Waiting for that window fan to get here, but thought I might as well go ahead and get one. Still looking.
Get better exhaust, I'll put the other T5 fixture back up. It's just too hot for it right now. I'll just be kickin' rocks this grow anyway, but that's ok.
PS I'm the one that ate that cookie lol
See ya!