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Summary: Genetics - ????? Veg. Lighting - 4 35W fluorescents, 24 hr. Flower Lighting - 400W HPS, 12/12 Medium - Hydro, Deep Water Culture Nutrients - Humbolt Grow Space - 4.5x2 feet, 6.5 feet high
We are two people going to college in the Midwest who are starting their first grow. We decided on a DWC hydro setup after seeing the success and ease of maintenance it provides.
We purchased a 400W HPS bulb, socket, and ballast (transformer, capacitor, and igniter) for about $150. With help from the internet, we wired the ballast correctly and got the bulb to light up. Later this week, we will go to the nearest hydroponics store to buy nutes, net pots, rockwool cubes, and growing medium. At our local Wal-Mart we will buy air pump systems and reservoirs.
Once the supplies are purchased, we need to prepare the closet by creating a place to mount the bulb/ballast and enclosing the grow area. Closet dimensions are 4.5 feet wide, 27" deep, and 6.5 feet high. Our plan is to have 8 plants in our 8-9 square foot space (2 plants per reservoir).
Cuttings will be obtained from the friend who is also doing DWC. He has quality genetics; his ladies are in the early stages of flowering and look great.
The biggest problem we face is extended absences due to breaks in the school year. We live out of state, and leave for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring Break, etc. Deep water culture was chosen because it can hopefully be left alone without maintenance for a long time.
Unless you use a very intricate dwc system with a large reservoir and auto 'top-up' mechanism, you Will have problems leaving your plants alone. If you absolutely have to leave for longer than 3-4 days, I would go soil with an automated dripper system. I run a small scale dwc system and at times, maintenance can be quite hefty; Ph will start to fluctuate, water will need to be added to maintain levels, and fert might need to be added if they are using it too quickly. But don't let me discourage you! If you are willing to design a system based on your needs, you will be well rewarded, dwc is the only way to go in my opinion.
Also, are you going to be using an exhaust system of any sort? Ventilation will be necessary in order to grow healthy plants. If you have a good ventilation system, I would recommend using your hps through veg as well as flower, more light is always a benefit.
So, do you live in an apartment or house? Do you rent? Will you be living there next year?
What if they need to spray pesticides while you're home on break? What if they decide to show your apartment to someone for next year while you're home on break? What if there's a fire, or a smoke detector goes off while you're home on break?
Just some scenarios to consider. This doesn't sound like the brightest of ideas to me. You should have started back in August, then you'd be pretty close to harvest, as I am. I would LOVE to start up another grow after this one, but going home for winter break ruins that. So Jan 1 = new grow for me.
t0ad: Why do you say they won't be large? Can you elaborate? As far as I can tell, there isn't anything in the information given that severely limits the size of the plants. They have lots of light, nutes, and space.
Penguin: It's great to hear from another DWC user! Now I'm getting worried about leaving the ladies alone. Would using an extra-dilute nutrient solution while we're away reduce fluctuations in pH? It would slow down growth during that period, but maybe allow them to survive while we're away. Our friend who does DWC says maintenance is very minimal. As for exhaust, we have several fans and a variety of options, so I'm not worried about that.
Hefe: I am hesitant to reveal much information about our living situation, but take my word for it, security is very good. We don't rent or live in dorms. I do wish we started in August, though. That would have given us enough time to harvest before Thanksgiving.
Does anyone have ideas for what to do while we're away from the ladies for 2 weeks?
A dilute nutrient solution will actually increase Ph fluctuation I believe. Most good hydro nutes have a Ph buffer in them that anchors the Ph to an acceptable level.
Is there any way you could visit them once or twice over break? Also, you will have to adjust your lights during that two week period.
A third-party may be able to visit the plants while we're gone. This person is involved in our other friend's DWC grow, so he is knowledgeable and trusted.
We might wait until after winter break to begin our grow, because it is the longest break in the school year. That way, we won't be gone for more than 1 week.
I have also been reading about hempy buckets, described here. Are they less effort than DWC? Would our yield change much if we used them instead? Maybe we'll throw a couple of hempy buckets in with the DWC tubs and compare results.
We didn't get a chance to do it this year, but this fall is a good time to get started, once we go back to school. One problem: we will be there for about 12 continuous weeks before we leave for break. Is 12 weeks enough time from seed to harvest? Can we pull it off?
So I was looking at the calendar, and if we want a 9-week flower period, that means 3 weeks at most for the vegetative stage. Is this OK? It will probably reduce yield, but that's fine (still better than no plants). I just don't know if doing 12/12 before they show preflowers will be bad for the plants.
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