• If you need help identifying a pepper, disease, or plant issue, please post in Identification.

indoor Planning my first indoor grow, DWC, limited space - opinions please

Hey guys,

I am just gearing up for my first indoor DWC winter grow for 4 plants.

I have:

120 cm long x 60 cm wide x 150 cm high grow tent

130 w LED grow light that states 76.2 cm x 76.2 cm veg coverage and 61 cm x 61 cm flowering coverage.

4 buckets at 32 cm x 25 cm x 28 cm high that are 12 liters volume, 8.6 liters available volume once the mesh pot depth is allowed for.


I am wanting to grow 4 different strains, each plant taking up a 30cm x 30cm square (total plant canopy 60 cm x 60 cm )



What do you guys think?

Is this possible or am I cramming them in too tight?

The tent has 'over spill' space but they would over spill out of the lights sweet spots, major problem?

Is the DWC volume too small? Volume too large? - Trying to keep them from getting too bushy or too tall, but want a good yield.
 
Air stone and pump size recommendations? ..thinking of two twin outlet pumps for the four buckets.

How often do you think the nute solution would need refilling on 8.6 litres?


Thanks.


 
 
i don't know for your other parameter but for the light :
is it a rated 130w or a actual 130w  (picture/detail)
personally i would at least double that and use all your space in the tent (to make use of reflecting light on tent wall)
i am no expert but IMO a 30x30cm canopy is  small if you wish to have good yield ....
 
nice project and good luck
 
Clueless....  I'll take a stab at this one.
 
First off... you'll need a pH meter and a TDS (total dissolved solids) meter.  Can't really control the grow without these tools.
 
Next.... the light may or may not be enough. No way to tell unless you specify the exact light that you are using. The "watts" don't really mean anything. Watts are just a measure of the amount of power it uses. The light spectra is more important. And even if do you tell us what light you are using.... that doesn't mean that anyone has had experience with it.  You may be in the realm of "experimentation" (very cool).
 
The volumes that you specified should be fine. Note however, the less volume that you have in a system will require that you watch for changes more often. Like the pH shift could be drastic over a 24 hour period. Not saying it will....but
 
Air stones.  One per bucket should be enough. You just need to keep the nutes moving around inside of the buckets. It aerates the solution and keeps the surface slime inside the buckets from building up.
 
The number of plants you want to grow will really depend on the lighting and the nutes.  In you case (4) I would just go for it. If the light you have isn't enough, you'll see that fairly early in the grow. You can always add another light.
 
For the nutes.  This is where you'll have to be vigilant and attentive.  It will depend a lot on what water you plan on using. You can use TAP water, RO (reverse osmosis)water, distilled water or any combination of those types of water.  Fill your hydro system with water, add nutes and grow ! Just be careful of the ph.
 
You can read further below if you're interested in more specific direction. Otherwise, add the nutes to your system as recommended by the manufacturer of the nutes your purchase. One thing that you absolutely have to be concerned with is the pH of the nutrient solution. No way to get around this. If your pH is out of range, the nutes in the solution will be unavailable to your plants. Keep the pH in the range of 5.5 to 6.5 and all will be well.
 
So here is more information>>
 
IF... you are using any amount of TAP water, use your (new) pH meter and check the pH after you fill your system with water.  Add either ph UP or ph DOWN (buy these products) to get to a neutral pH of 7.0. Then use your TDS meter to get a base measurement of how many dissolved solids are in your system. This number will be in measured "ppm" (Parts Per Million). Take note of this number as it will be very useful in the future. (NOTE... TAP water can have a lot of dissolved minerals that will affect your TDS readings, so knowing these values will allow you to add just the right amount of nutes to your system).
 
IF you are using RO or distilled water, the TDS meter will read "0" or very close to it (make sure to actually read it to be sure), and the pH measurements may not be accurate because there are not enough ions in the solution......... ah forget that for now.
 
Now that you have your baseline TDS reading ("0" from RO or distilled water)(or if using TAP... whatever you measured previously) you're going to add the nutes to the system. I like to add nutes until I get 600 to 800 ppm of nutes. So for RO or distilled water, this means adding nutes until the TDS meters read anywhere from 600 to 800 ppm.  If (and I usually do) use TAP water, I add the 600 to 800 ppm of nutes to the previously measure ppm of the TAP water (in my case that is 400 ppm). So I end up with a TDS measurement of 1000 to 1200 ppm total.
 
Once you have the correct ppm of the solution, adjust the pH of the system to the range I said above... 5.5. to 6.5 using pH UP or pH DOWN. You'll have to check this pH daily until you get a feel for how the system reacts to it's environment. Initially you may not see any changes to the pH, and you certainly won't see any changes to the ppm readings while you plants are small, but things can get out of whack very quickly if you're not paying attention. If you use clear plastic hoses for example, you can get algae growth inside of the hoses that could cause you system to react very quickly. Prolly not going to happen.... but.
 
pH,pH,pH..... watch this more than anything !
 
So the last bit I have to say is about temperature and humidity. Unless you live in an environment where the humidity is extremely low, I wouldn't worry about the humidity in the tent as long as your tent is closed up enough to keep some of that humidity inside (humidity from the evaporation of the plants after they get going). The temperature inside of the tent can be trouble though.  If you're using your 130 WATT light, you shouldn't have a problem with the temperature inside of the tent unless the temperature immediately outside the tent is very high. If or when you add another light in the future though, the heat may become something to consider. The plants themselves can tolerate fairly high temperature, but when the plants get to the flower stage, high temperatures can be a significant problem.
 
Good Luck to Ya !!
 
Happy Growing,
 
Jeff
 
PepperPowerG said:
i don't know for your other parameter but for the light :
is it a rated 130w or a actual 130w  (picture/detail)
personally i would at least double that and use all your space in the tent (to make use of reflecting light on tent wall)
i am no expert but IMO a 30x30cm canopy is  small if you wish to have good yield ....
 
nice project and good luck
Hey, 

The light is drawing 130w from the wall, claims to replace a 250hps. A Viparspectra vt 300w
I used to grow weed in 30cmx30cm so was hoping to do the same with chillies, but yeah, starting to think its wish full thinking.
 
MNXR250R said:
Clueless....  I'll take a stab at this one.
 
First off... you'll need a pH meter and a TDS (total dissolved solids) meter.  Can't really control the grow without these tools.
 
Next.... the light may or may not be enough. No way to tell unless you specify the exact light that you are using. The "watts" don't really mean anything. Watts are just a measure of the amount of power it uses. The light spectra is more important. And even if do you tell us what light you are using.... that doesn't mean that anyone has had experience with it.  You may be in the realm of "experimentation" (very cool).
 
The volumes that you specified should be fine. Note however, the less volume that you have in a system will require that you watch for changes more often. Like the pH shift could be drastic over a 24 hour period. Not saying it will....but
 
Air stones.  One per bucket should be enough. You just need to keep the nutes moving around inside of the buckets. It aerates the solution and keeps the surface slime inside the buckets from building up.
 
The number of plants you want to grow will really depend on the lighting and the nutes.  In you case (4) I would just go for it. If the light you have isn't enough, you'll see that fairly early in the grow. You can always add another light.
 
For the nutes.  This is where you'll have to be vigilant and attentive.  It will depend a lot on what water you plan on using. You can use TAP water, RO (reverse osmosis)water, distilled water or any combination of those types of water.  Fill your hydro system with water, add nutes and grow ! Just be careful of the ph.
 
You can read further below if you're interested in more specific direction. Otherwise, add the nutes to your system as recommended by the manufacturer of the nutes your purchase. One thing that you absolutely have to be concerned with is the pH of the nutrient solution. No way to get around this. If your pH is out of range, the nutes in the solution will be unavailable to your plants. Keep the pH in the range of 5.5 to 6.5 and all will be well.
 
So here is more information>>
 
IF... you are using any amount of TAP water, use your (new) pH meter and check the pH after you fill your system with water.  Add either ph UP or ph DOWN (buy these products) to get to a neutral pH of 7.0. Then use your TDS meter to get a base measurement of how many dissolved solids are in your system. This number will be in measured "ppm" (Parts Per Million). Take note of this number as it will be very useful in the future. (NOTE... TAP water can have a lot of dissolved minerals that will affect your TDS readings, so knowing these values will allow you to add just the right amount of nutes to your system).
 
IF you are using RO or distilled water, the TDS meter will read "0" or very close to it (make sure to actually read it to be sure), and the pH measurements may not be accurate because there are not enough ions in the solution......... ah forget that for now.
 
Now that you have your baseline TDS reading ("0" from RO or distilled water)(or if using TAP... whatever you measured previously) you're going to add the nutes to the system. I like to add nutes until I get 600 to 800 ppm of nutes. So for RO or distilled water, this means adding nutes until the TDS meters read anywhere from 600 to 800 ppm.  If (and I usually do) use TAP water, I add the 600 to 800 ppm of nutes to the previously measure ppm of the TAP water (in my case that is 400 ppm). So I end up with a TDS measurement of 1000 to 1200 ppm total.
 
Once you have the correct ppm of the solution, adjust the pH of the system to the range I said above... 5.5. to 6.5 using pH UP or pH DOWN. You'll have to check this pH daily until you get a feel for how the system reacts to it's environment. Initially you may not see any changes to the pH, and you certainly won't see any changes to the ppm readings while you plants are small, but things can get out of whack very quickly if you're not paying attention. If you use clear plastic hoses for example, you can get algae growth inside of the hoses that could cause you system to react very quickly. Prolly not going to happen.... but.
 
pH,pH,pH..... watch this more than anything !
 
So the last bit I have to say is about temperature and humidity. Unless you live in an environment where the humidity is extremely low, I wouldn't worry about the humidity in the tent as long as your tent is closed up enough to keep some of that humidity inside (humidity from the evaporation of the plants after they get going). The temperature inside of the tent can be trouble though.  If you're using your 130 WATT light, you shouldn't have a problem with the temperature inside of the tent unless the temperature immediately outside the tent is very high. If or when you add another light in the future though, the heat may become something to consider. The plants themselves can tolerate fairly high temperature, but when the plants get to the flower stage, high temperatures can be a significant problem.
 
Good Luck to Ya !!
 
Happy Growing,
 
Jeff
WOW, thank you for such in depth information. So well written too.

The light that I am waiting for is a:


VIPARSPECTRA Timer Control VT300 300W LED Grow Light - Dimmable VEG/BLOOM Channels
 
[SIZE=larger]Specifications:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=larger]- Replaces a 250 watt HPS/MH[/SIZE]
[SIZE=larger]- Use for all stages of plant growth[/SIZE]
[SIZE=larger]- Max Coverage at 24" Height 2.5x2.5ft[/SIZE]
[SIZE=larger]- Core Coverage at 18" Height 2x2ft[/SIZE]
[SIZE=larger]- Avg. Power Draw: 134watt[/SIZE]
[SIZE=larger]- (60pcs) High Intensity 5Watt Bridgelux/Epileds LED Chips[/SIZE]
[SIZE=larger]- LEDs Angle: 90°[/SIZE]
[SIZE=larger]- Input Voltage: AC100-240V[/SIZE]
[SIZE=larger]- Frequency: 50-60Hz[/SIZE]
[SIZE=larger]- Lifespan: 100,000 hours[/SIZE]
http://www.viparspectra.com/goods.php?id=77 

I have just got a cheap ass Ebay PH and TDS meter

I'm growing in Melbourne

I'm using the three part General Hydroponics Micro/Gro/Flora nutrients and adding a half teaspoon of Epsom salts per liter to the mixture. Is the Cal Mag needed or are the Epsom Salts I have enough?

How high should I have the light/the dimmer set to for the seedlings when they pop outta the Rockwool grow cubes? Then how many internodes before I crank up the dimmer to full power/lower the light?

..Thanks
 
 
clueless,  I use GH CalMag.  I suppose you could use Epsom Salt for magnesium, but you'd still need to supplement calcium somehow.  Just makes more senses to me to use CalMag and have it done in one shot.
 
I've used cheepo pH meters and they have worked out just fine. I've ruined a couple of those pH meters by letting them dry out between uses.  Best that you keep them wet.  Better still if keep them wet in a "reference" solution (used for calibrating the meter).
 
I can't comment on the dimmer. Personally I'd just run full power once the plants emerge. You can move the lights up away from the plants if you're concerned about light intensity. I think the whole grow/bloom control on a light is marketed to weed growers.  I have the VIPARSPECTRA PAR700 and turn everything up to "11". Taking care of the plants is enough to keep me busy so I don't need the extra fuss of trying to figure out dimmers/RED/BLUE cycles.
 
Last thing here is Rockwool cubes. They drain well so don't be concerned about over-watering. You really can't over-water them. I can tell you that if your humidity is very low, those cubes can dry out really fast !!  Keep them watered.
 
Happy Growing !!
 
Jeff
 
 
 
 
 
MNXR250R said:
clueless,  I use GH CalMag.  I suppose you could use Epsom Salt for magnesium, but you'd still need to supplement calcium somehow.  Just makes more senses to me to use CalMag and have it done in one shot.
 
I've used cheepo pH meters and they have worked out just fine. I've ruined a couple of those pH meters by letting them dry out between uses.  Best that you keep them wet.  Better still if keep them wet in a "reference" solution (used for calibrating the meter).
 
I can't comment on the dimmer. Personally I'd just run full power once the plants emerge. You can move the lights up away from the plants if you're concerned about light intensity. I think the whole grow/bloom control on a light is marketed to weed growers.  I have the VIPARSPECTRA PAR700 and turn everything up to "11". Taking care of the plants is enough to keep me busy so I don't need the extra fuss of trying to figure out dimmers/RED/BLUE cycles.
 
Last thing here is Rockwool cubes. They drain well so don't be concerned about over-watering. You really can't over-water them. I can tell you that if your humidity is very low, those cubes can dry out really fast !!  Keep them watered.
 
Happy Growing !!
 
Jeff
 
 
 
 
Hey Jeff,

Thanks again for your help.

About 10 years ago I was growing weed in soil with cool white coloured household CFL bulbs for vegetative growth and then flowering with a HPS light; the Cool White having more blue to mimic the colour of light we get in the late winter early spring and the yellow of the HPS to mimic the summer suns colour.

Using this bluer colour for vegetative growth really helped shorten the internodal lengths during the vegetation cycle compared to that of the yellow HPS. Its a real help when you are growing in a limited space and wanting to maximize the yield.

If you have the option at the beginning of the your next grow you should really try the Grow/bloom feature and take note of the inter-nodal length's. 
 
Back
Top