Kettle's 1st proper indoor grow, DWC

[kettle]

G’day guys,

1st proper indoor grow here. I have grown outside, so have some experience (Biggest 1 plant yield fluffy bud but good none the less 1.3kg (2.8lb))

Have significant challenges where I am (on the plains where the agricultural land is trying to not turn to desert on your way to middle of oz) with climate change changing the ground to lava in summer, up to 50 degrees C, last summer for December and January the av high was 39.9’C but it was the average lows that sucked around 30’C . Now this room as perfect as it is, wasn’t built by me and has no insulation and corrugated walls. however that’s for summer (really considering evaporative cooling) I do have a large chiller but aircon of some type is going to be a must, if I even try in summer inside… we’ll see.

at the moment (mid winter) it is mid teens day to -5"C at night, so I have a heater set at 17"C (sorry everyone I know a lot of you use the imperial measurement system but I don’t… its really annoying to me that so many nutrients use gallons and then use mils, not really annoying but funny.

Current specs at the moment are,

Tent 3 metres by 1.5 metres

Home built dwc, current culture copy pretty much apart from a few things I’ve adjusted to me, i.e. I can build this system entirely from a certain hardware shop we have everywhere here and all hate, it can be disconnected into individual buckets (via couplings) to take out side to leave outside in the sun, if I want. its also strong, built with storm water pits and good fittings, because I am retarded and likely to fall and grab a bucket and put my hand right through it. I have 2 more buckets just not plumbed in yet,

they work out to hold about 200 litres full or 50 gallons.

at the moment they are autos just because I have 6 seeds, I’m sure of 4 germinated and ill have to wait. delicious sugar black rose, and candy 3 of each and wanted to try out the system after of ages of tweaking adding bits and pieces and fixing leaks and pumps etc, not everything was new.

The water I start with is zero, pretty much, rainwater clean air, giant clean concrete underground tank, annoying, but good to know .

I currently don’t have Cal mag and I’m thinking of switching to current culture nutes after I run out of the canna stuff I have mainly because I feel they are not trying to force me to use larger quantities then I need, what do you think

um 1/4 strength canna aqua vega and 125mm of rizotonic, (didn’t know how much they recommend so I need some more) so I mixed it up half strength then thought this is madness for seedlings so I halved it again. I have half strength in the res witch I can top up with or save it till next fill, ideas?.

Lots of air, pond one 1200 6600 litres per hour, also to the res all into 100mm disc stones. (6600/60= 110lpm/50 gallons= 2.2lpm/pG according to current culture I should stick with 1/4 nutes, thoughts?)

If they don’t all germ, and even if they do the space will be used for a mother, start etc.

Lights, 4x 550 clw solar system, at the moment they are about 36 inches away and set at wat they recommend (Red39/99White49/99Blue99/99,) is this too much at the moment? feels gnarly, 18 hours set to be overnight to help keep it warm…

oh I have a valve setup where I use a toilet float which is height adjustable that I love that I can post some how to shots.

Thanks in advance.

Kettle

[kettle]

the first image is up side down but you get the idea, its a universal bottom inlet toilet cistern float valve I think… you can plumb it from above the water line and elbow down, elbow across, elbow up, elbow out, but I forgot I could do it that way and then didn’t have the bits and practicing my penetrations is ok too. the adjustment on the valve is about 120-150mm , this allows me to have it just below the rockwool platform in the cch2o net pots (thought about how to replace these and have some other options but in the end I went with them they just seem too good.) and down to about 50 mm below or lower, I’m not sure, just check you get the one with the most travel in the adjustment thread. its handy as I can just connect the H2o hos or the res without worrying about it overflowing, and I had to drain and refill this thing a few times, mainly from bits of plastic and shit stuck in the O rings and stuff and old plumbing fittings agggh, just buy new. The reason I build stuff rather then just buy it is, I am in that industry, but I really think you can get stuff better suited to you then what you can buy, its a bit cheaper but only about 30-40% for me, but if you take into account your time or the potential weed time, for instance this float valve cost me about $40 (so not really cheaper at all) I couldn’t really find one in a hydro shop, but its better, and I really understand it.

any how have a good one.

[Kenken]

Welcome to forum nice set up

[HornHead]

Shouldn’t need all light on at beginning

[Mrcrabs]

Awsome set up my friend, good luck

[kettle]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement.

Everything is going well, except I did the amateur thing and I thought I would have more losses then I thought, I was a bit all over the place when I started and the first 6 were free autos, 3 delicious black sugar rose, 3 delicious candy , but it seems like they are all sprouted and the 5 dr kippling incredible bulk all germinated I dropped in the glass in over thinking. All good though, in the next four days I will have a smaller DWC unit down the end with another light for veg in the same tent as the autos, to go into its own tent eventually, and they they’re going to fit in well as I need a mother, however it will be chaos in a couple of months, I suspect. yew! good caos.

everything is stable, have a electric heater in there(its a bit small but it was down to -1 last night and its 18-22’C) and the h2o filter, 60-65 humidity, ec 0.2, h20 temp 18’c. ph is 7, im guessing not enough nutes to buff the ho2 propperly, but im not worried (canna aqua 1/4 strength)

lights have been dropped to 30%,

Have to leave for 4 days wish me luck!

I have the ducted fan and filter, but at the moment it just stays warm enough.

[PharmerBob]

@ThatoneAKguy @Jbum @Grandaddy013
@PurpNGold74 @kw_Bat @blackthumbbetty

[PharmerBob]

Welcome kettle glad you found us. Set to watching…you just let everyone know if you need advice and we’ll pick your brain on that lovely build!

[PurpNGold74]

Thanks for the tag Bob. Welcome to the forum @kettle! Sweet looking setup up you got going. If you don’t mind i wanna poke a few hydro gurus… @peachfuzz @Grandaddy013 @DoobieNoobie i swear i always forget here… like 4 more people… @Myfriendis410 and @Missiles is helpful too

[kw_Bat]

I like it.

sew
eat set up! blessings to all the ladies!

[Missiles]

Welcome @kettle I’m following along!

[kettle]

Thanks everyone for stopping by, thanks bob It feels good being here. ill try to remember the burple lights, man they look bad in photos, not too comfortable looking at them either. But im really happy with the lights, ive head butted them about 20 times and they don’t feel like they’re breaking any time soon. if anyone has any question or wants better photos of anything let me know,

Cheers all Kettle.

[Grandaddy013]

Looking good. Set to watching

[kettle]

I forgot I do have a hydro setup, can leave it for weeks at a time, add nutes incredibly randomly and it always goes well.

And don’t listen to me they sell side inlet universal toilet floats.

Picked up the bits for the second system all up with bits and pieces its about $250-350 (if you needed to buy a pump, I have one) with a remote reservoir next to the other one (I am using 25mm return pipe though, with a larger reverse spitter pipe… sorry don’t know what to call it, will show it when its done). tub capacity 135 litres, so 80-90l solution I guess, 30 in the res but we’ll see, must admit it is nice having a 230l mixing vessel to measure the systems. it will have 6 of the same cch2o 8" pots.

Have a good one! Kettle

[PharmerBob]

Sure looks pretty in your garden! Love the succulents!

[kettle]

Thanks man, yeah im in the process of changing it from ferns to succulents but just doing it a bit at a time, this is it 2 years ago, but the ferns die and look shitty. So my best mate who’s actually my sparky (you can see he’s handiwork everywhere in the photos, even though I know what I’m doing electrically, I just like knowing nothing is going to trip or burn down, so the building my grow in has been rewired) has a green wall and does bromeliads and succulents. Man the succulents grow so fast, should be all succulents in a couple of years.

[PharmerBob]

My wife loves succulents so we have all kinds everywhere

[kettle]

I’m converted, you can put them on top of each other like in your pot, sometimes id come in and the ferns and orchids (my first goal was to have all orchids) had grown and touched each other and one dies so quickly and i really think if i didn’t add any nutes the succulent would just grow on H2O and sunlight.

The first ones i put in as a tester, stopped planting aloe as im pretty sure it will be my demise and rip the whole thing of the wall.
there is one orchid in there that has flowered the last years,

. one lonely orchid left.

[PharmerBob]

Same but they usually die off in the summer from neglect and I bring them back in the winter. We’ve had the same orchids for a decade or so now , tho friends and family give us some once in awhile for us to torture

[PharmerBob]

Air plants