Thinking of starting my own indoor grow.

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greenthumbgreenie

Member
Hi all,

First off ill start by saying i have next to no experience with growing, i had been involved a little with a friends grow 7-8 years ago but cant remember much, other than that i have a nice little plant in the back yard growing fully organic.

The reason i have decided to start growing is because i realized i have the perfect place for it and i already have some of the equipment. What i have is:

4 x 1000 MH lights (planning on using only 2)
90mm PVC pipe (more than i need)
120L container
Almost air tight room 5.7m long, 2.4m wide, 3m high.

Ive been doing a lot of reading on this site and others and ive decided i would like to try my hand at SOG method. I have attached a little diagram of how i am planning on designing it.

Basically im planning on raising the first part of my PVC pipe near the reservoir by 3cm then gradually lowering it until it gets to the drain pipe to allow gravity to help the water flowing. Im looking at putting in around 30plants, SOG style, with my lights on pullies so i can keep them at the right distance. Im in a remote area so im not too worried about smell although if it becomes a problem i will build a carbon filter (ive done that part before) and put it under a wirly bird (wind powered exhaust) that i will attach to the roof. Do you guys think 30 plants is too much (with SOG method) for this size space?

What i think i need to buy or build:

Chinaman hat for 2 lights
Air pump + stones
Water pump (what flow rate?)
whirlybird
timer
Ph kit
nuts
pots
medium? - not sure what im going to use

I plan on putting a tube in my draining pipe so i can keep the water level high until the roots start dropping down.

I guess ill have to get a cloning/germ station set up, shouldnt be too hard, i got some fluros laying around.

So any help for be greatly appreciated, i am new so sorry for any stupid questions! thanks for your help

edit: i forgot to put distance between pipes is 35-40cm, too close together?
 
Shivaskunk

Shivaskunk

Well-Known Member
hydroton works best for an nft system like that. Just buy netpots and cut your holes in the pvc to fit the netpots tight enough that they dont sit on the bottom of the pvc. That will leave room for some root to be hanging into the streamof water. I used to run a system similar but instead of snaking pvc i used U shapes and just ran the ends into the reservoir and used black tubing to pump the water to the very end of the U that way water would run down both sides and back into the reservoir. So pretty much just like your diagram but with smaller pump.

A good ph/temp/ec meter is essntial in hydro.
 
MyPetSkunk

MyPetSkunk

Active Member
Props to you for going big on your first grow, but I would suggest you go a little smaller scale to get the bugs out, especially jumping right in to hydro like that. Would hate to see 30 plants kill over on a rookie mistake. Maybe section your pipes off and add another reservoir and run two different strategies as kind of a safeguard. But it sounds like you have informed yourself and done a good bit of research. Either way, good luck. :eyesmoke:
 
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greenthumbgreenie

Member
MyPetSkunk said:
Props to you for going big on your first grow, but I would suggest you go a little smaller scale to get the bugs out, especially jumping right in to hydro like that. Would hate to see 30 plants kill over on a rookie mistake. Maybe section your pipes off and add another reservoir and run two different strategies as kind of a safeguard. But it sounds like you have informed yourself and done a good bit of research. Either way, good luck. :eyesmoke:
Click to expand...
Hey Skunk, thanks for your concern!

As i said i do have a small amount of experience with hydro, even though it was a long time ago the one thing i took away from it was it was extremely important to do your research and be vigilant with caring for your crop, that is why i feel comfortable going this big for my first crop, and even if i fail its only a matter of cutting some more clones right? ;)

Basically what im after with this thread is some feedback on my design, if anyone can see any faults and maybe some suggestions, tips/tricks using the SOG method (which i have no exp with). In particular will a 40cm gap between each plant be enough for SOG method? taking into account ill be pumping 2000w into them? In terms of pH i know its important and cause some major sickness/loss so ill be reading up on that a lot more and keeping right on top of it.

Other than that i would like to know im ive overlooking something in terms of equipment that i will need? I will be going to the hydro store in a couple of days and would very much like to get everything i need in one go.

Another thing, on my friends grow he used some special product that blocked heat escaping (because we have a problem in the city's here with police helicopters with heat cameras), im not worried about that happening where i am as i stated before i am in a remote area, i would still how ever like to find out what that product was as i remember he gained a lot more yield on his frist crop after using it vs pvc sheeting. Alternatively what is your views on simply painting the walls white? If paint is a no go what is the absolute cheapest yet best value for money product i could use to line the walls?

Thanks for your help
 
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