Hydro light setup

Indoor Growing
1

I am a new grower and have lighting questions.

Background: I bought 6 seeds from ILGM, Gorilla Glue auto flower. I have one planted in dirt that is doing well. I plan to use clones off this plant to grow hydroponically. I plan on using a deep water system with sprayers (until roots get long enough) home made from a tub. I have a 2’ X 4’ X 70” grow tent.

Question: what lights should I use? I was told in the ILGM growing bible that HPS light was the best. If this is true, what wattage should I get for my tent size. Are there other options that are as good? My concerns are heat and amperage draw as I will be running light off a 20 amp circuit. I am running a 395 cfm in line duct fan with a 6” carbon filter (7’ of ductwork, one 90 degree angle 2’ from fan).

Do I need two or more different lights for stages of growth? Same parameters and questions as above. What other concerns should I be having with the lighting?

Thanks in advance for any help/insights anyone can provide

2

Your budget will determine your lighting. I have everything run off of one 20A circuit.
Hlg 260 xl will cover a 2x4 nicely if you want to go with led.
Otherwise you’ll need two smaller fixtures to put in that space for proper coverage during flowering. Veg you’ll need just one.
If you go with CMH you won’t need to change the bulbs. If you choose metal halide you’ll need to change to HPS in flower.

Lighting should be the largest part of your budget.
Happy growing and welcome to the forum.

3 Likes
3

Sorry you cant clone an Auto, the clone will be in the same growth stage and will be flowering at the same time as the mother.

1 Like
4

Yeah; you have to work with different material. I recommend doing a few grows from seeds to a: find a strain you want to duplicate and b: get a feel for your setup and get it tuned up.

Like Covert said: lighting should be top of your budget and the king of lighting is latest tech LED’s. They blow everything else out of the water. If you are in a cold climate, CMH would not be bad, but the amazing lights available from HLG and a couple of others can’t be beat.

2 Likes
5

LED lighting has come leaps and bounds over the past several years. HID lighting is still great for growing weed, Many growers swear by it. You’ll use more electricity in ventilation, climate control and the lights themselves. Not to mention replacing bulbs that burn out.

I heard mentioned on a podcast the other day; there are two types of growers. Those who grow with LED and those who are going to grow with LED.

I’ve got the hook up on HLG should you decide to go with them. Hit me up on my grow journal if you’re interested.

1 Like
6

And welcome to the forum! You’re going to learn a lot!

7

Thanks, my budget can handle the LEDs, so if I change over to just soil growing, the HLG 260XL is the only lights I’ll need? From seedlings to veg to flower?

8

Yes, the R Spec. It’s full spectrum with some red lights for the flowering period. The B Spec is full spectrum with Blue lights added for the vegetative period. It’ll get you through your whole grow. The light is great for whatever medium you’re growing in.

Have you cloned autos before?

9

Thanks NeoGrow, my only experience is outdoors in soil, and not much even there, hydroponics was a suggestion from a friend who is no longer available for advice. I think I will revert back to soil in my tent. Do you have any strains you can suggest as I will have to buy seeds.

1 Like
10

Soil is a good choice. It gives room for error. Whereas in hydro an error can be devastating.

Hydro looks fun. I’ll try it someday but not anytime soon.

There’s lots of options in soil. I’m using Fox Farm soils. Ocean Forest and Happy Frog. The difference is in ocean forest you’ll have enough nutrients in it to get you to Week 4 or 5. Happy frog, week 2 or 3.

I’ve heard great things about the Michigan M3 soil mix. It’s not available near me.

As for what seeds you should buy? All of them.

But in reality, you’ll have to break it down to what you want and where you live.

In the US? My recommendation is start with ILGM seeds. Good genetics and fast shipping. Paying with Zellee is easy and fast.

Do you want an easy to grow indica dominant hybrid? Go with ILGM white widow. They’re always on sale and they grow great! They can handle the mistakes of a novice grower.

There’s also mix packs. I just went with the Sativa mix pack. Two of my favorite strains and one I haven’t tried. I’ll clone one of them just to try cloning.

ILGM has lots of classic strains that I love.

Listen the the Growcast podcast. He features breeders often. It’ll perk your interest in other breeders’ strains.

I just learned yesterday that Humboldt Seeds developed a marijuana plant that looks like fern. It’s call freakshow, google it. It’ll blow your mind.

11

If you want a good deal on HLG lights, there’s a grow shop in Parma Ohio, The Indoor Gardener. His website sucks. You’ll have to call him. You’ll save money.

Also, directly from HLG try the coupon code DUDE to save 10%

And if you’re one of many people who got hoodwinked on Amazon or you want a good laugh, read this…
Blurple Buyer’s Support Group

2 Likes
12

You can always use the Auto seed’s outside, they’ll be perfect. If you don’t mine spending over a hundred the Heavy Hitters pack is good (I got that) with Blue Dream, GG#4 and Master Kush Ultra then clone off them and you wont need to buy seed and still have a variety for years. And try a DWC to get your feet wet in hydroponics. There’s all the help you need here. Find some plants someone is growing that you’d be proud of and just copy the setup and ask them for help. Be kind to Grower’s with small plant’s just don’t follow them there.

1 Like
13

I was told earlier you couldn’t clone an autoflower

14

“Be kind to Grower’s with small plant’s just don’t follow them there.”
Why can’t you clone autoflowering strains?

Autoflowers have many benefits. Many growers specifically look for autoflowers when they purchase seeds because they are fast, produce great yields, and have a high content of THC as well. But, among the many advantages, the only disadvantage is that it’s not very receptive to cloning.

Since they don’t have a specific timeline to trigger flowering, it’s not possible to manipulate them. Now, with cloning, you need to cut a specific branch and dip it in a rooting solution. The cutting will develop roots on its own and grow into another big, beautiful plant.

All this process takes time, though. Photoperiod strains will start flowering only when they get 12 hours of darkness, just like in the wild. When cannabis plants realize that the periods of darkness are increasing, they start flowering. Obviously, you can manipulate the plant to grow as long as you want by providing 18 hours of light.

But, with autoflowers, you don’t have time. You don’t have the luxury of manipulating the growing or vegetative period because the plant will start flowering even if you provide 24 hours of light. For instance, let’s say you sow an autoflower seed. You wait a bit until the plant produces a few nodes. You see that the plant has several nodes to grow into other plants.

Imagine that you take a cutting. Or, maybe you can actually try this because it becomes even easier to understand why you can’t clone autos effectively. So, now you dip the cutting in a rooting solution and wait for it to develop roots.

Meanwhile, the mother plant continues to grow and starts flowering. Remember that the clone will perform exactly like the mother. So, the cutting is also in the flowering stage. And before it can even grow, it will start flowering.

In this process, you’ll be left with a small plant that has no time to develop proper roots either. With autoflowers, timing is everything, and since cloning requires time, it’s not possible to clone autoflowers.

What if I take the clone when the plant is just 2 weeks old, you ask? Well, the plant is too small to take a cutting. Firstly, you’d end up with a small cutting that probably won’t grow, but what’s worse is that you’d be hindering the mother plant’s growth too.

Even if you clone an autoflowering plant that’s already flowering, you’ll have stunted plants. If you love growing autoflowers, however, hope is not lost. You can’t clone them but that’s the only disadvantage. Instead of trying to clone them, you can plant several seeds and still get a high yield.

2 Likes
15

Sorry I was so mater of fact. You really lose nothing from giving it a go. I just remember in the 80’s Hawaii having people show me their 4" tall plant with a 1/2’ bud on it asking “WHY!”. “OK Bra even-thode itd’s the kine warm outdside you cant just plantum anytime”.