newbie help needed.

I'm planning on building ebb & flow system, will this water pump be okay with it? http://www.ebay.com/itm/170692950922?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

first question do you have hydro exp ? second how big a system you thinking ?

No, I don't have any experience. Thinking about ~40l reservoir, 80cm length tray for ~6 plants.

Hummm. Well judging that the pump is very cheap, and looks cheap I would not use it. I have built an ebb and flow from two bus tubs and a lid. I would use a small pond pump. you will also need a air pump and stone, a overflow fitting and a fill fitting. I would go to a garden center and purchase the pump. If that pump fails, so does your crop. Good luck!

I'm planning on buying everything from internet, as there locally isn't much choice for me. Which cheap, but durable air pump & water pump would you guys suggest to use? My budget isn't big, I would like to stay as low as possible, thank you guys.

hydro can get expensive. if its your first go I'd do soil on a small scale then step up just saying. Hope it goes good for ya keep us posted on the grow

All right, this is the air pump 251222825398, this is the water pump 121063749727 pick your size. Here is the fittings 260810618606. The numbers refer to the item #'s on ebay. Good luck

Too bad I'm from Europe, no shipping for me. Any good options for Europeans? Would this fittings fit? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Botanicare-...632?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2321a4ef38

I hope you have ALOT of seeds if your jumping into hydro, Have you practiced in soil, Your pump is important but getting a REALLY good AIR stone Is super important because this is what creates the bubbles in your reservoir, I know when I "jumped in to hydro" I wasted some killer seeds that's why I say I hope you have a lot of seeds, hydro is a learning experience, in soil your plant can bounce back from problems, in hydro you can wake up and your plants be gone, there are MANY more factors in hydroponics then soil, Water PH, temp, root rot, feeding is harder, that's just a few, basically im all for it man just make sure you do ALOT of research and hope your familiar with what cannabis likes and doesn't like Anyway hope some of this helped if you have any more ?s just ask I know someone here at RIU will help. Us potheads like to help each other out

So you suggest to make first grow via soil?

ebb and flow is the easiest hydro by a long shot. I started growing hydro and had great success but then again, I had cash to invest in good gear from the start.. like a quality PH meter, ppm meter, etc. The pump isn't super critical I would advise its much better to use TWO piece of shit pumps than a single high quality pump. A couple months ago I woke up in the middle of the night... not sure why but I said..oh what the hell, I'll see what the girls are doing. This is not a little kittie grow, its 18 LARGE plants under 9,000 watts. I'm running a 200 gallon rez with a ebb/grow control bucket to mix and maintain water level in the DWC buckets.

I came down the stairs and saw the rez was full. HUh? That shouldn't be full right now? I opened the door and ALL THE PLANTS WERE WILTING...ALMOST TO THE POINT OF NO RETURN!! That was with a pondmaster water pump, probably one of the best submersible pumps you can get. I replaced that one with two pond masters. If I hadn't woke up I would have killed about 14k worth of bud.

Save your money and make your own table and what not. get a good PH meter, read your ass off, and you will be just fine.

The key to growing success is intelligence, diligence, and patience.

I would say that you will spend 50% of the time learning what is complete bulshit (in regards to boosters, nutes, blah blah blah..all the industry shit) and 50% learning what the plants really need.

I think I have a picture or two of my old ebb/flow table and panda film light blocker set up. I also threw in a pic or two of the current flower room..in one location anways. careful growing is habit forming.

Great setup you have there. My space is limited. I'm only planing on growing 6-8 plants. Yeah, I've been reading a lot lately. Too bad I live in a shit hole, where is almost impossible to buy anything related to hydroponics. So you say it's okay to buy 2 of those cheap water pumps for 6$? My reservoir is going to be about 10gallons, that will be alright for ~80cm tray? Which air pump would you suggest? Thanks

acekard said:

No, I don't have any experience.

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acekard said:

So you suggest to make first grow via soil?

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My advice, master gardening basics then explore other methods with your new skills. I bet you can buy 6 plastic containers, fertilizer, and a bag of organic soil for very little cash. Soil is the most forgiving environment and the best choice for beginners. Once you mastered the basic and can read your plants, then explore all the cool ways to grow indoors like ebb & flow. Baby steps brother.

Then I think I'll settle down with soil and simultaneuosly will built ebb & flow system. Will I need any fan with 300-400w cfl bulbs?

acekard said:

Then I think I'll settle down with soil and simultaneuosly will built ebb & flow system. Will I need any fan with 300-400w cfl bulbs?

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Depends on how many bulbs you have and how big your grow area is. Regardless, you'll probably want at least one fan to move air around the space and occasionally blow on your plants.

Grow area is quite small - only 1.5x3 feet. 300w would be enough for that kind of space?

I was told to start seed grow three weeks..then veg three weeks then bloom three weeks...whats with all this 56 day flowering? Ugh im confused

acekard said:

Then I think I'll settle down with soil and simultaneuosly will built ebb & flow system. Will I need any fan with 300-400w cfl bulbs?

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Yeah, it's all about experimentation, but keep your first couple grows simple and easy so you can catch errors and adjust quickly without killing your plants. Hydro can be unforgiving to the novice grower. Soil gives you extra time to correct and adjust.

I don't know the details of your grow area, but in most cases a fan or two is necessary to keep heat away from the plants, remove odor, and to supply fresh air into the grow area. Throw your hardware list up on a thread with pics of your grow area.

Plenty of experience members on here can advise on how best to use what you have. Don't listen to the guys that tell you to go spend a $1000 on a setup, baby steps. Work with what you have and upgrade when you can.

liratessa said:

I was told to start seed grow three weeks..then veg three weeks then bloom three weeks...whats with all this 56 day flowering? Ugh im confused

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There is no magic recipe, just guidelines for growing cannabis. Get a good book on botany and learn how to grow a plant from start to finish. MJ is just a plant, more like a tomato plant, than anything else. You can veg your plants as long as you want with regular seeds (not automatics), when they are big enough for you flip them to 12/12 light schedule.

Expect another growth spurt from 20-40% after flipping to flowering (again just guidelines). 56 day flowering would be the day count from when the plant shows flowers until harvest day. The photo period is hugely dependent on strain and grower environment. My last photo period on Ak47 and Pineapple Express was 63 days. Stay off the forums, read a book or two, watch some videos on growing MJ from Cervantes, and you will be alright. Good luck.

Yeah, get your hands on a book or two and learn the basics. THe basics are probably 90% of the equation. More advanced things can help for sure.. things like precise humidty and temp control, using things like mycorhizal fungi and kelp extracts but time and time again I see guys dumping shit loads of additives into their plants... burning them and suffering as a result.

Soil is good idea, but I would steer you towards a more soiless media if your going to go hydro eventually. Something like a coco and perlite mix. You will have to water more, but you will learn what nutrients you need to add when whereas soil is a little more auto-pilot and guessing (guessing only because you don't know what is IN the soil and what you should add.

I have run soil, NFT, DWC, and ebb and flow with hydroton..all on a large scale. At the end of the day, the easiest for me on a large scale is ebb and flow with substrate consisting of 70% perlite, 25% coco, and 5% of other stuff like hydroton, earth worm castings, etc.

Jsut a thought

Thanks for your responds, guys. What do you actually think about getting this ballast with cooltube? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cool-Tube...038?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item1c333b371e It can't be that bad, right? Also, is it better to buy 3 x105w cfl bulbs, or 7x45w for example?