long time listener, first time caller (my 1st grow)

first and foremost Hello RIU!

We are coming to the end of my 2nd year keeping a vegetable garden and I love it so much I am keeping the good times rolling by cloning some of my outdoor plants and growing hydroponically indoors through the Fall and Winter.

As of right now I am planning/preparing my Veg/Flowering grow areas but in the mean time I have started some Tomato clones in a DIY DWC Cloner.

I read several different How-To's and combined a lot, but for the general idea you can head here: Diy Dwc

I picked up everything needed to make two 10 top cloners for about $55. Shoe Totes, Air Stones, Tubing, Air Pump, 1 1/2" Hole Drill bit, Clonex, and Reflective Tape. I used some packing foam and CFLs that were already lying around the house.

Here is a shot of the air stones rocking.


and an overhead shot.


I will be moving them to their permanent cabinet tomorrow once I get a chance to give it a real nice scrub down. Once there I will set up the other 2 CFLs, spray them down and put their dome over to lock in humidity while the roots develop.

I also am starting some Cherry Tomato and Chili Pepper seedlings in an old Aero Garden. What is the good word on using the nutrient tablets that come with it (curious about seedling tablets in particular)? I plan on using Fox Farm Nutes once they are in Veg/Flower stages under a 400 watt MH/HPS conversion and I have this odd feeling the tablets will fry the seedlings.

My Veg/Flowering area measures 8 ft wide, 7 ft deep, and 7 ft high. I will be splitting it down the middle with a partition wall to make a flowering and veg room, both 4ft x 7ft x 7ft. More posts and pics to come as I cross some more off on my list of things to do...

simsays said:

I also am starting some Cherry Tomato and Chili Pepper seedlings in an old Aero Garden. What is the good word on using the nutrient tablets that come with it (curious about seedling tablets in particular)? I plan on using Fox Farm Nutes once they are in Veg/Flower stages under a 400 watt MH/HPS conversion and I have this odd feeling the tablets will fry the seedlings.

Click to expand...

they work pretty well i use them all the way through a grow with my mary
the sprouting and starting tabs are just the regular nutes at 1/2 strength you put 2 in every 2 weeks

So it has been about a week since my last update, and I am glad to say my plants and I have made some progress.

Over the weekend I was able to split my grow room into two smaller rooms.

The Flower Room: 5' x 4' x 6' tall.
I built a wall and covered it with landscapers black plastic first, then covered that with Mylar. Right now it is 3 walls finished with the front open, I plan on building a temporary wall that hangs from the ceiling so I can move it around as needed.

Flower Room TO-Do: Finish Temporary wall and add an Outtake venting/fan.

Veg Room: 5' x 3' x 6' tall
Didn't do too much to the Veg area yet. I need to hang my T5 Flourescents and cover the walls/floor.

DWC Cloner
My Cherry Tomato clippings have started producing roots (pic is at 7 days). Hoping their roots will be developed enough to move to the Veg Area in another 7 to 10 days. Started my pepper clippings today.

Random Stuff on List of things to do:
Buy weather station so I can place a sensor in my flowering room and veg area and read them off of one digital read out in my common area.

Order a Digital PH/PPM Meter. Leaning towards getting one off Ebay as they seem a lot cheaper than most online hydro stores.

Pick up extra osculating fan for Flowering Room

Finishing building the larger DWC Rubbermaid Totes for the Flowering and Veg area, 3 in total.

Here are some relevant pics