Very first grow! LOOOOTS of questions. (Flying Dutchman Blueberry Skunk) (Bubbleponic

For well over a year i've been getting my study on lurking every grow site on the net. (This site being my first and favorite)

I've accumulated most of the equipment needed, and I feel i'm ready to start my very first grow.

I'm growing 4 plants bubbleponically

here is the set-up

1x 400 watt HPS
1x 100-155 gph submersible fountain pump
1x cheap walmart airpump
2x 10in airstones (also walmart)
4x 4in LARGE Grodon Grow blocks
1x 22 gallon reservoir (filling it to 15 gallons)
1x Sensi Grow part A&B 1 liter
1X Sensi Bloom part A&B 1 liter
A ridiculous amount of mylar
3x timers
1x Aquarium thermometer
1x wall+humidity meter
3x Fans (1 big 2 small, not sure of cfm)
Big bag of Hydroton rocks
a few other things.

WHAT I DONT HAVE:
Dont have a ppm meter
Dont have a PH meter
No PH up or down
No cool tube
No extra CO2
No odor control

I'm growing out of my closet
dimensions= 5ft wide
3ft deep
12ft tall


I've all ready got the ball moving tonight when I cleaned my closet and sent home defense pesticides in every corner.

Questions

1.One of My biggest concerns at this point was me just feeling blind. I don't have a Ph meter, so right off the bat I feel i'm messing myself up. when I ordered my materials a few months ago, I didn't think i would need one since the Sensi two part system would balance my PH for me. But tonight, when I realized I had to soak my stones and Grodon rockwool in PH balanced water, I hesitated. I am eager to get the grow started, so I went ahead and started soaking the stones and Blocks in water with my nutes that should balance the PH. Was this a Mistake on my part? Can I go a whole grow without a Ph or PPm meter?
Also, when the seeds are deposited into the blocks, is it a good idea to have my water ph balanced with the nutes before they even sprout? Should I have my tubes connected to the blocks while my little seeds are trying to sprout?

2. Odor control is my second issue. As of right now, there is a large hole in the ceiling of the grow closet leading straight into my attic. It's pretty hott up there, but I plan to have my big fan pulling the air out of the closet below into the attic above. I'm not worried now, but when My plants start to get large and stinky, i'm gonna want to look into some kind of DIY odor control that would safely elimate smells going into the attic.

3. I threw my Airstones in the res to give it a little test drive. Now I've never done a bubbleponic grow before, nor any grow at all, but my two 10in stones and walmart pump seems to lack an adequate amount of bubbles. If all my plants need is a tickle, then i think i'm ok, but is it possible to kill the plants by adding too much air? I wanted to buy a few more stones and a few more pump (talking 3 more here) to kind of make myself feel better.

4. I think I might need some supplemental C02. I heard something about yeast on a Banana, but I wanted to hear from you guys on any DIY alternates.

5 My NUMBER ONE biggest concern is a feeding schedule for my plants. I'm just confused.
On the back of the Sensi Grow part A&B Container it says i need to add 1.8 mL for every liter (15gal = 56.781 176 76 liters) (Or 1.38 tsp per gallon) the first week for a total of 600 ppms-2.5 ML the second for a total of 800 PPM-3.1 mL and so on. It doesn't actually say "week 1, week 2". It just has a small chart with increasing amounts over and unknown time period i'm guessing is a week. Does anyone have any experience with this type of nutes?
Is the 4, 1 liter bottles gonna cut it for my whole grow with the 15 gallon Res?
How many days a week, or times do I actually need to feed my plants?
I know I must add back what the plants drink, and drain and replenish 1-2 times weekly, but should I add back the nutes every day when the plants are going to be selective in what part of the nutes they drink?

(Hypothetical) So it's week 1 and my seeds have sprouted. the recommended does on the back is as I said above ---1.8 ml per liter, 1.38 tsp per gallon for a total of 600 ppm. Should I use less nutes than directed or should i go ahead and add 102.206118168 mL(0.432 cups) of nutes and get the 600 PPM's?

What the hell am I gonna use to get these exact measurements? I don't want to over feed, and i definitely dont want to underfeed.

My seeds were expensive (90 bucks for 5 seeds) and I really don't wanna mess them up.

I'm sorry for the million questions, but I hope you guys can relate to my first grow and feel sorry enough to help a weed bro out.

I've been up all night worrying about my set-up, so i'm gonna pass out and think of more questions to ask.

Besides all the trouble, I think I have a good set-up destined for some decent sized plants. I plan to Start a journal Asap, that is, after my seeds have sprouted and show hope lol.

Thanks alot guys for any support.

Hello and welcome to the site. You're going to learn everything you need to learn from this forum, so listen up!

I'm no expert myself, but there are others for that. I will do my best I can helping you.

1) You definitely cannot go a whole grow without pH or PPM meters. Both are CRUCIAL for growing, I repeat, CRUCIAL. Buy a pH meter before you start growing. You can wait on the PPM meter a couple weeks as the seedlings need to sprout, and they don't need nutrients in this phase yet.

2) odor should be fine. the ozone should help you out being you only have 4 plants. but if it's a safety concern, definitely invest in some odor control. this won't be needed until they start flowering though at the latest.

3) The can't overdue the oxygen in the water. There probably is a point where so much is useless, but those roots are really going to like the nice treat of those air bubbles for oxygenizing.

4) I've read mixed things on C02. I've heard it's the last thing to enhance when you've already enhanced everything else. Just remember the plants only need C02 when there is light. Some yeast, sugar, and water will do the trick, but warning, the smell is bad.

5) I've never used a hydroponic system, so I wouldn't know on this. Best thing is to follow the directions as the bottle says. Once you get experienced, you'll be able to tell when the plants need feedings and when they don't.

Hope this helps a little. Good luck and happy growing.

kudaross said:

Hello and welcome to the site. You're going to learn everything you need to learn from this forum, so listen up!

I'm no expert myself, but there are others for that. I will do my best I can helping you.

1) You definitely cannot go a whole grow without pH or PPM meters. Both are CRUCIAL for growing, I repeat, CRUCIAL. Buy a pH meter before you start growing. You can wait on the PPM meter a couple weeks as the seedlings need to sprout, and they don't need nutrients in this phase yet.

2) odor should be fine. the ozone should help you out being you only have 4 plants. but if it's a safety concern, definitely invest in some odor control. this won't be needed until they start flowering though at the latest.

3) The can't overdue the oxygen in the water. There probably is a point where so much is useless, but those roots are really going to like the nice treat of those air bubbles for oxygenizing.

4) I've read mixed things on C02. I've heard it's the last thing to enhance when you've already enhanced everything else. Just remember the plants only need C02 when there is light. Some yeast, sugar, and water will do the trick, but warning, the smell is bad.

5) I've never used a hydroponic system, so I wouldn't know on this. Best thing is to follow the directions as the bottle says. Once you get experienced, you'll be able to tell when the plants need feedings and when they don't.

Hope this helps a little. Good luck and happy growing.

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Hi, thanks for getting back to me.

I had a budget of $700 dollars, and those ppm/tds and PH meters were ridiculously high. There was no way I could have afforded one, so I shelled some extra change on the PH balancing nutes.

Let me let you know, I had to order nearly EVERYTHING online. I live far far away from any hydro shops. Nobody around here knows how to grow anything hydroponically.

My local department stores don't carry any Ph/PPM/TDS meters. They do have test strips, which I will be going to pick up today, but there is NO ph up or Down where I live, so It seems kind of pointless at this point, but idk, maybe the water coming out of my facet is the perfect PH and I have nothing to worry about, so i'm gonna text it with the strips if i can.

So far, what i've figured out is that there is no cheap way to grow weed. If I buy the right meters, i'll have invested over 900 dollars.

I just got off the phone with every pool and aquarium store in my city. Nobody here sells ph meters, nobody knows what a ppm/tds meter is.

So I'm gonna continue my grow (Partly because i MUST, already started the seeds) without this equipment for now. Any body have any advice to keep from killing my plants?

go back to walmart and goto the fish section and pick yourself up a ph testing kit, alternativly you can goto your local water store (you'd be amazed how many there are around these days lol) and get a pH kit there maby even a ppm meter.
EDIT: if all else fails goto your local pet store to the fish section they sell pH equipment there also, and you can get measuring spoons while your at it and remember less is always more, you can just feed by sight so if you just go slow (always use less then they tell you too) and pay attention to the plant you should be fine for not having a ppm meter. And as for schedual for feeding, well I'd say every week to ten days for a full res change and if you top it up just put back the proper amount ie..if you have 15 gallons and you top up 5 gallons you put 5/15th of the regular nutes into that water or atleast that a rough estimate.

Juicy Fruit said:

go back to walmart and goto the fish section and pick yourself up a ph testing kit, alternativly you can goto your local water store (you'd be amazed how many there are around these days lol) and get a pH kit there maby even a ppm meter.
EDIT: if all else fails goto your local pet store to the fish section they sell pH equipment there also, and you can get measuring spoons while your at it and remember less is always more, you can just feed by sight so if you just go slow (always use less then they tell you too) and pay attention to the plant you should be fine for not having a ppm meter. And as for schedual for feeding, well I'd say every week to ten days for a full res change and if you top it up just put back the proper amount ie..if you have 15 gallons and you top up 5 gallons you put 5/15th of the regular nutes into that water or atleast that a rough estimate.

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Walmart doesn't seems to have any test equipment, but I did as you said and called my water store,and they happen to have 1 kit left. I'm leaving as we speak. Thanks alot dude!

Stariweed said:

Walmart doesn't seems to have any test equipment, but I did as you said and called my water store,and they happen to have 1 kit left. I'm leaving as we speak. Thanks alot dude!

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So I just got back from the water shop with a simple Ph testing kit.

The contents included a test tube, test solution, a small bottle of ph up and down, and a color sheet.

Better than nothing right.

Testing my water right out of the tap gave me a ph well over 8.0 lol. Pretty bad.

It takes 38 drops of PH down solution to get it around 5.5-6.0. It's bouncing around, but its better than 8.0.

I'm gonna begin resoaking my air stones and grodon blocks in my balanced water and get to work.

I know this for sure, i need a new digital PH meter at the very least with a large jug of PH down.

Hopefully my little test kit will last me till I can order the stuff i need this weekend.

Thanks for the help guys.

good to hear, hope things go well

yo when u add nutes to your water it will change the ph also. so add nutes first thenn test ph and adjust from there and i would only use half strength of recommeneded nute dosage at first and slowly raise them each res. change

feva said:

yo when u add nutes to your water it will change the ph also. so add nutes first thenn test ph and adjust from there and i would only use half strength of recommeneded nute dosage at first and slowly raise them each res. change

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I've heard this from a few peeps, but I'm a little confused because of the type of nutes i'm using.

I'm on sensi Grow a&b right now, and it says that it should balance my PH all on it's on. Later on today after class i plan to test the ph of some sensi nute water to give it a whirl. I was going to do it yesterday, but I have a feeling the nutes are gonna mess with the test kit results (using droppers and testing solution till i get a ph meter), but what the hell, i'll give it a whirl.

I know plenty of people use the Sensi two part line, what gives on this auto PH balancing they advertise about?

So I went ahead and ordered some PH up and Down. It should arrive in a week or so.

But right now, the current dilemma is my lack of PH down. I bought a PH testing kit yesterday that came with two small bottles of Ph up and down. I'm all ready out of the PH down, and my seeds are starting to sprout

I heard that I could use distilled white vinegar to lower the PH levels, but I dont want to risk using wild smelly acids in my grow unless it's 100% ok and without adverse affects. Anyone know if it would get the job done till i receive my PH down?

Stariweed said:

So I went ahead and ordered some PH up and Down. It should arrive in a week or so.

But right now, the current dilemma is my lack of PH down. I bought a PH testing kit yesterday that came with two small bottles of Ph up and down. I'm all ready out of the PH down, and my seeds are starting to sprout

I heard that I could use distilled white vinegar to lower the PH levels, but I dont want to risk using wild smelly acids in my grow unless it's 100% ok and without adverse affects. Anyone know if it would get the job done till i receive my PH down?

Click to expand...

If not vinegar, anyone know of any other product or acid i could use to lower my base ph? Anything I could bue from a department store

Juicy Fruit said:

go back to walmart and goto the fish section and pick yourself up a ph testing kit, alternativly you can goto your local water store (you'd be amazed how many there are around these days lol) and get a pH kit there maby even a ppm meter.
EDIT: if all else fails goto your local pet store to the fish section they sell pH equipment there also, and you can get measuring spoons while your at it and remember less is always more, you can just feed by sight so if you just go slow (always use less then they tell you too) and pay attention to the plant you should be fine for not having a ppm meter. And as for schedual for feeding, well I'd say every week to ten days for a full res change and if you top it up just put back the proper amount ie..if you have 15 gallons and you top up 5 gallons you put 5/15th of the regular nutes into that water or atleast that a rough estimate.

Click to expand...

The problem with fish ph kits is most only go to 6.0 and the ph up & down in those kits add a tremendous amount of sodium to your water. Hydro ph kit is $12 online.