hiya,What do i need???

[ajincorped]

hi every1 im new 2 this and i want to grow me some nice plants just starting of small with 1 but the prop is i dont have a clue what i need. i have readup and made the 5gallon bucket hydro n thats as far as ive got. it says put hydroton pebbles in the net basket n k thats cool but i dont know how much water 2 put in bucket,what solutions n how 2 use them,do i just put my germinated seed sitting on a pebble? and besides the bucket what else minus a light will i need? im pretty lost but u guys sound like u know all that is 2 know about this so please some1 help me.

 

[ms4ms]

greetings, I wanted to tell you to read up as much as possible before you start. i am not familiar with hydro and I know you will get the responses. I also know the majority of the board likes it when peeps figure out there own grows and gardens by using the available info on the board. Don't get me wrong. I know the water growers will be here soon and tell you what to do but you can read all the stickys on the board and find out what you need. for your grow

 

[Shockeclipse]

hi every1 im new 2 this and i want to grow me some nice plants just starting of small with 1 but the prop is i dont have a clue what i need. i have readup and made the 5gallon bucket hydro n thats as far as ive got. it says put hydroton pebbles in the net basket n k thats cool but i dont know how much water 2 put in bucket,what solutions n how 2 use them,do i just put my germinated seed sitting on a pebble? and besides the bucket what else minus a light will i need? im pretty lost but u guys sound like u know all that is 2 know about this so please some1 help me.

So assuming you are doing DWC by your "5 gal bucket hydro". And that you have hydroton already, here we go. You needs nutrients, I use GH three part in my DWC. You are goibg to want a test pen, or some sort of meter that measures ph at least. I would recomend going for a combo meter, one that reads ppm/ph/temp/TDS. Your grow should have a system of intake and exhaust. Some sort of relective material on the wall will help, if you are going to do one plant, you shouldn't need too big of a light. Remember you are going to want to shoot for a light that will give you 5000 lumens pr square ft. I started my seeds in rockwool then transplanted them into my system. Germ seeds in 1-2" rockwool, wait for good root growth, transfer into net cups, water lvl just barely touching bottom of cup, cover up to the first set of leaves with hydroton. Hopethis makes sense, I typed it rather fast.

 

[Tater]

If this is your first time in DWC I will give you some tips.
Don't get complicated with your nutes buy a three part or a two part nutrient solution and forget about all the addons. They don't make that huge of a difference anyway.

Watch your water temp keep it between 18 and 22 C.

Make sure your bucket is light tight, if its not buy some aluminum tape from walmart and wrap it or paint it whatever just seal the light out.

Get some hydrogen peroxide, try to find one without stabalizers in it. If you notice slime developing on your roots, change out the water and nutrient solution refill and add a couple tablespoons of H2O2.

Watch how long you veg for if you don't have an auto top up system as big plants will consume water faster than you can add it especially if you work away from home.

Learn what EC is as it is more accurate than PPM's and is what is used to derive all PPM readings, this will serve you well if you ever switch meters mid grow as they can all use a different formula to convert to PPM.

Remember if EC goes up and pH goes down then you know your nutrient solution is to strong back off.

If EC goes down and pH goes up your plants are hungry and could use a higher dosage.

If your water level goes down but the EC stays about the same you are dialed in congrats.

Keep your pH between 5.8 and 6.8 this is the money zone. A good rule of thumb is to set your pH at 5.8 when you refill your bucket and let it drift just keep an eye on it. As long as it doesn't go below 5.8 or above 6.8 then leave it alone, plants require a pH drift to uptake nutrients. Most times you shouldn't need to adjust your pH between fills.

If you are growing just one plant I would suggest getting a second bucket to mix new nutrients solution in to make rez changes easier on yourself, that way you just fill the empty bucket up with what you need pull the lid and plant off the other one and put it in the new one. Clean the old one out and put it aside. Repeat as needed.

If I think of anything else I'll let you know.