600w hydro hut experiments,

[stiky dodo dumb]

well i went an bought me a hydro hut mini 3.4' by 3.4' 6' tall tent. i also have a 600w balast ordered for pickup tomorrow at the local hydro shop, picked up this to go with it; http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/7599/cabi3xu6.jpg
the tub is 37gal i beleave and im thinking i should fill it about 1/2 way full? also was going to buy another tds meter but i wanted to know what some of you hydro growers use, maby the hannah primo meter i got isn't all that bad. i got some pics of the most of it, http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/3250/cabiax9.jpg http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/9923/cabi2ak2.jpg http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/7769/cabi1zr8.jpg

[jackel]

this is my meter
http://cgi.ebay.com/HANNA-HI9813-6-pH-E ... dZViewItem
in my experience, it pays to have a badass tool.
as far as ur setup. once u get it set up, i will look at it and see wut i think u should do to help modify it. i also think u prob spent more than it would have cost to build it.. but hey.. least u got it

[stiky dodo dumb]

thanks for the link, i was gunna go buy the hannah ccombo tester but i like the one you have for a few reasons. i got this hut because i can take it down and box it back up when we move in the next few years. ill have it fully set up in a few days, just need some 4"-6" duct reducers, a light hanger thing and a rotating fan. im gunna have a hard time with heat this summer but im hoping the vented hood will help out some.

[kmfdm4life]

When you first start your plants, you want the water about an 1" below netpots. Once the roots reach the water then it can get down. but keep it up until roots hit water.
As for a meter, I have a $20 tds meter and ph paper strips for ph. I have been growing for over 2 years w/ the same water(from a well) and the ph has never changed Also if i had that thing jackel has I would not even know how to use it

lATER ALL

[Biogirl]

I've found the strips to suck...cause I haven't really found a broad enough range, I guess. I have a cheap tds pen that has worked wonderfully for a while now and had bought a cheap hanna pH meter from ebay. The pH meter died at around a month of useage. I think that J is prob. right about just getting the primo tool..it's much more stressful without one...lol.

Good Luck with your grow

[stiky dodo dumb]

thanks biogirl, im going to buy a combo tester i just dunno how much i wanta spend on it. right now im actually set back a few days, the balast i had ordered through my local hydro shop was shipped later then what the guy said. my moms healping me out with buying some of the equipment, and she gets some of the harvest. besides she wants to learn how to grow... so ima teach her, its all a learning experience.

[stiky dodo dumb]

allright well this first run with this tub was a failure, i still havent got the ph at a stable level and the temps have got into the lower 90's during the day. i allmost killed all three of them today i moved back the hydroton and the roots had a brownish red slim on em. thought it was root rot, maby i had way too much nutrients. the pump was allmsot cloget with gunk.
so i had one maui and two blue marage in the tub, one blue marrage didnt make it as all the leafs fell off and their wasnt any new growth. i know it sound bad but the rest are now getting cozy in some ocein forest dirt after rinsing the roots. i hade put 2 maui and 1 blue marage in dirt when got them, also in the garden are 3 northern lights mothers also in dirt.
right now im looking into maby ebb n flow or a better designed drip system

[jackel]

heres a simple small ebb n flow design.. large rubbermaid with lid. second rubbermaid on top of lower cut in half.
bottom has water and fittings n pump. top holds plants. fittings go through bottom of the top tub, and the lid of lower.

[kmfdm4life]

Sorry to hear sticky
Hope the dirt works for you!!!

[Biogirl]

Yeah...that sucks Sticky. I've had problems with root rot as well. Try adding hydrogen peroxide as it will increase the oxygen level in the water. The H2O2 will help to prevent the growth of the bacteria that causes root rot all together and if you have more oxygen in the water you can get away with slightyly higher temps. When I was having prob's with root rot in an aerocloner that I had rigged J suggested adding the tiniest splash of bleach to the water...this helped.

Also, you may want to fill a 2 liter soda bottle with water and freeze it. You can then put this in your water to reduce temps.

Good Luck Buttercup

[stiky dodo dumb]

the temps wher up in the lower 90's for a day or two, now its stays in the lower 80's. were looking into a portable ac for the hot months, gunna duct it out the window along side the ductwork from the AC lamp. in hopes to keep in around 70-75 all summer long

i blamed the high temps for the leafs cripsing up on one plant but the ph never stabilized so i know i had more problems. their actually looking real good though. aside from all the leafs missing on one, but the nodes are comeign back so it just might come around an produce some cuts later.

[chief master bong]

well u know wut they say.. if at first u dont succeed, try again lol

[stiky dodo dumb]

im uploading some pics to show but i took like 18 clones from the lower growth of two northern lights, 16 are rooting in oasis horticubes and two in ocien forest soil. also i have two maui clones in the oasis, this was all done yesterday but all clones show no sighns of wilting wich is great.
i should of got a tutural of how i went about it but i was just try to get it done befor going to work. got all 20 under a custom built 4 toob 2' t5 fixture, the blue marage, northernlights moms and the rest of the maui ar eunder the 600w on 24hrs light. were thinking about switching to 12/12 and flowering the 3 northern lights bushes and maby a blue marage cuz both are doing real well. then we would clean the cab an put a 3'x3' ebb an flow table in their, fill it with however many clones that would make a healthy canopy. i figure 12-16 maby, ill get the pics up later tonight of the clones.

[ptb2]

Finally got the closet set up for dro now? LOL about time, good luck with it.

[Biogirl]

Glad t hear that your cloning went so well, Sticky. I took clones, using oasis for the first time as well, about 3 weeks ago. Most of them rooted, but only about 4 of them are showing roots outside of the Oasis cubes. It seems to me as though it took a while for them to root but I'm new to the cloning process...it'll be interesting to see how long it takes yours. Last Mond...or Tues...can't remember which, I custom built my own little aero-cloner; I saw root bumps on Thurs. and my first root on Frid.. So, aero-like sped up the process considerably and it only took about 20-30 min's to make.

Sticky, question for you....how did you make the custom flo. fixture for your clones?

L8rs.....