1st time around...opinions? grape kush and blueberry clones, flood and drain

J

Jhaz

Active Member
1st time doing this so any pointers?

clones are in rockwool, flood and drain system...how often to flood and drain? 8 times a day for 15 minutes?
what nutrients etc would you use? does and length to start? i hear only start half nutrients? if so how long?
1000w mh light kept at ceiling..after first day start lowering it? when do i know when its to close? besides killing the plants j/k 24/0 cycle

gonna let them veg for 4 weeks then go onto flowering
during flowering what nutrients are best? how many times to flood a day and for how long?
1000w hps for flowering 12/12 cycle

any help would be great.. appreciate the knowledge on the forum
 
#1Raiderfan420

#1Raiderfan420

Well-Known Member
Jhaz said:
1st time doing this so any pointers?

clones are in rockwool, flood and drain system...how often to flood and drain? 8 times a day for 15 minutes?
what nutrients etc would you use? does and length to start? i hear only start half nutrients? if so how long?
1000w mh light kept at ceiling..after first day start lowering it? when do i know when its to close? besides killing the plants j/k 24/0 cycle

gonna let them veg for 4 weeks then go onto flowering
during flowering what nutrients are best? how many times to flood a day and for how long?
1000w hps for flowering 12/12 cycle

any help would be great.. appreciate the knowledge on the forum
Click to expand...
Hey bro, depending on how high your ceiling is, you may need to bring that light down or you will get stretchy, lanky plants. If your 1000w is air cooled, then I would have it a little over 2 feet from the tops, then let them grow up to 24" from the light and start raising it as they grow.
As far as nutrients go you will get many different opinions, but my preference is house and garden for the following reasons. It is easy to use and doesn't have 15 different parts, your reserviors will stay clean from slime, and IMHO results are better than Advanced Nutrients. Here is a link http://www.house-garden.com.au/feed_charts_mix_rates.php My best advice would be that when you pick a nutrient line, you follow there feeding chart exactly while you are learning. To many growers try to put on the lab coat and mix and match lines. IMO it is better to leave the lab coats to the nutrient companies.
As far as flooding, my recommendation would be to flood less often rather than more often. You can tell when they are starting to dry out by picking them up. I use hydroton and flood every 3 hours, but RW holds alot of water, so you will just have to see how long it takes for them to lighten up. When I used RW I started flooding once a day during veg, then ended up with three feedings while lights were on and none while lights were out during flower. So an example would be once a day week one of veg, twice a day during the second, three during week three and four. You will see, as they grow they will drink more. You just don't want them to stay soggy wet to avoid stem rot, mold, mildew, etc.
 
J

Jhaz

Active Member
yes its air cooled
thanks for the info i appreciate it.
im in the us is it possible to get that here? seems like only Australia?
 
J

Jhaz

Active Member
found the stuff today thanks! i got the hydro flakes a and b then whats the best thing to get besides that?
Multi Enzymes
Bud-XL
Top Booster
which of them should i use?
 
#1Raiderfan420

#1Raiderfan420

Well-Known Member
I would run the entire line if you can. You will notive a subtle difference if you omit any element of the line. The root excel and algen extact work great together during the growth period. If you follow the charts, you will be amazed how sipmple the h&g line is. The only part that gets a little tricky is the top booster and shooting poweder. Make sure you don't mix the two and give the palnts a break for a few days between the top booster and shooting powder so they can use up the high levels of P and K before adding the shooting powder. You will also want to add some Cal/Mag around mid bloom. Good luck man, it sounds like you are off to a good start.
~RF
 
J

Jhaz

Active Member
ok so let me know if you think this is correct, im going to do a grow log so ur info im using for everything, thanks in advance :)

house and garden i have

Aqua Flakes a,b

I will buy these if I have to but is there anything i can get by without?

Roots Excelurator
Multi Enzyme
Bud-XL
Top Booster
Algen Extract
Shooting Powder

My plan is 24 plants , Im running the flood and drain table..Im going to do the "SOG" style grow...

box fan in the room to circulate air
6 inch exhaust 440cfm running from light hood to outside of room
1 intake fan running into base of room

From clone I will veg them one week after i transplant them from cloner to rockwool cubes

Flooding one time a day during veg

Then directly into flowering

then flooding 2-3 times a day during 12 hour light on time, just enough to soak rockwool for a few minutes then drain

according to the chart on house and garden ill start nutrients at 1.2

so every 7 days when I add more nutrients products into the resavoir , what do i do in the meantime when I need to add more water to the resavoir? Do i just add water and leave it be?

what happens when i have to flush the system and replace all the water? i hear every two weeks i should do that?

how often do i check the ph and ppm?
Is a simple ppm meter like this ok?
http://cgi.ebay.com/HM-Digital-TDS-EZ-Meter-Tester-Water-ppm-Purity-Filter-/170555242936?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b5e279b8#ht_1023wt_932
House and garden has the ppm guidelines per week it wants..what happens if my reading is above or below?


Sorry for all the questions I asked around but everyone has a different opinion and you seem to have your grows down well so id rather stick with ur knowledge.. appreciate ur time in advance! if im forgetting anything please let me know
 
#1Raiderfan420

#1Raiderfan420

Well-Known Member
I would defintaley try and use the entire line, but if you had to cut anywhere it would be the Algen Extract, Multi zyme, and even the top booster.
so every 7 days when I add more nutrients products into the resavoir , what do i do in the meantime when I need to add more water to the resavoir? Do i just add water and leave it be?
Your plants will usually take up more nutes than water, so you can top off your reserviors and adjust the EC back up to the proper range, but you usually will not be adding the full amount of nutrients per gal of fresh water so you will have to play with it until you get it down. I usually just top of my reserviors every few days and add nutrients every other time.
what happens when i have to flush the system and replace all the water? i hear every two weeks i should do that?
I only change my reserviors 3 times during an 8 week flower cycle. I usually change at about 4 weeks, then after the top booster( becasue you aren't supposed to mix the top booster with the shooting powder), then one more time before the final flush. It will depend on how the plants look though. If at any time they start to show a deficiency of any type, flush and change your res. I will flush the plants when there res is down a bit by pouring straight ph'd water onto the pots and letting it run into the reservior. This way you can drain the reserviors when your done rather than filling with water, flushing and then changing reserviors again.
how often do i check the ph and ppm?
Every time you go in your room until you get an idea of what the fluctuations are.
Is a simple ppm meter like this ok?
You pic didn't work, but any meter than reads EC or ppm will work. I use a Hanna combo meter myself
House and garden has the ppm guidelines per week it wants..what happens if my reading is above or below?
Fluctuations in ppms and ph is normal and a good thing. You will ust want to keep them in a close range. ie, my ph fluctuates from 5.5 to 6.0 and ppms can fluctuate 100 either way. You just want to be close to the optimal ranges.
 
J

Jhaz

Active Member
thanks bro for all the info!!! im gonna do a grow journal and see what I can come up with!

is the Roots Excelurator pretty important?
 
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