New to hydroponics



HEY EVERYONE, I am still pretty new at this, but I been improving on every grow. This is prolly my 4th grow with this setup, but i have improved it with every grow. I am using HPS 600 watts lamps. I have funally noticed the importance of using a water heater in Hydroponics. Maintaining proper water temp is very important for achieving ideal grows. Check out my plants, this is day 16 into flowering.

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Be careful with the way you count. Those plants are barely even in pre-flower.
Maybe you mean day 16 from the light flip. :wink:
They look pretty nice and happy.

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Thats good to know. there are some that will argue that flowering begins when you flip the lights to 12/12. which i been doing. So how long is the preflowering period and is it apart of the 64 days of flowering?

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I’ve been using aquarium heaters and elevating off the floor with a dollie. Looking just a bit droopy. How’s PH?
I don’t call it flowering until I see the first pistils. Preflowering and veg growth go hand in hand for a bit. When the leaf sets are no longer pairs but are offsetting along the branch she is getting her bud sites ready.

I count like this… Cracked seed (what it sounds like) sprout (when it breaks soil) seedling (still only has 3 finger leaf) veg (5 finger+ leaves) maturity (1st pistils at the nodes) preflower (pistils at tips of bud sites) then full flower (when “hedgehogs” form)

Do not rely on those numbers. That is breeder’s estimate and is based on perfect growing conditions. Each plant will grow and mature on it’s own schedule. :wink:
This one, an auto, is just getting started flowering for less than one week. If I was counting, I would start the clock here.

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Yes, that what I was thinking, not to rely on those numbers, each plant is different, every grow i had has proven that. To answer some questions ppl had, My PH is set around 6.5-6.8, PPM currently is at 1150 give or take, water temp is 68 degree f when light is off, increases to 74 when light is on.

Room temp is 66 Degree F when light is off, 75 degree when light is on, i am keeping my lamps about 16 inches away from top of canopy.

My last pics the lights just turned off so the leave where droopling, here the plant has been with no light for 6 hrs

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That was the pH numbers driven into my head till I joined here.
Years of growing wrong :metal:
Someone will pop the chart, I can’t seem to get it, just a link to it :thinking:

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This is the range for soil. Hydro is lower by a point. 5.5 to 6.5 based on what I have seen others posting on here. I don’t grow hydro but I lurk and learn.
Here is the chart for Hydro pH

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OK, thanks I wil try it out, i will lower to 6.0 first to not stress it out to quickly and then i lower to 5.5 if necessary.

how true that is! my current grow was the longest I’ve waited for flowering to set in, almost 21 days after light flip I believe. I definitely need to work on getting those basement temps up during the winter :cold_face:

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Yes to make the count right, these pictures are now 16 days after light flipped to 12/12

One of the crowns so far

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Yep, she’s busting out.

The ph is way too high. At least your plants look good so it’s not hurting them much. I use an auto doser to maintain around 6.0 @MAV86


I flipped to 12/12 on 3/15 and I don’t count the first week of the flip so the plant on the right is truly about a week into flower. The one on the left decided to start flowering about 3 weeks ago on its own and it’s not an auto flower. Go figure

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@OldSkunk what kind of lights are you running?

I shoot for 6 - 6.2

ChilLED logic v4 puck lights. I bought a diy kit Rapid LED for a 5x5 area for $975. They are very good lights for the money. About $1 a watt.

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@MAV86 Hydro PH is between 5.5 and 5.8.
5.8 being the sweet spot for hydro




OK, i decrease the PH to 6.0, already seeing a different after 24 hr.

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Im still using old school tech with HPS lamps 600 watts, i know there is way better lights out there but i had these for over 10 yrs now, and it is good enough to learn with. I brought the lamps 10 yrs ago but never really had the chance to grow back then, due to the laws.

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