My First Grow - Have I got it right?

Hey Everyone,

I am about to start my first grow, in the bundles of information out there I am just a little lost on a few things, firstly I will outline my setup.

Using a 4x4 Grow tent with an Ebb and Flow Table at 3x3, I am using a 1200L/Hour pump (not sure if this is enough?)
Viparspectra 2000W (true wattage unsure of)
In regards to environmental controls I have gotten a humidifier and de-humidifier and oscillating fans to keep airflow.
In regards to the fans for air intake and exhausts I am not quite sure on the sizes I would require for this setup, or if I need an intake at all?

The main questions I wanted to confirm is, using an Ebb and Flow table, I was considering one of two options, Sprouting in rockwool cubes and putting into net pots with Hydroton and Hydroton to fill the table as well and nestle the net pots in…
OR
Sprouting in rock wool, placing into a 4 inch cube then placing them on rockwool slabs sitting in the ebb and flow system.
WHICH IS BETTER?! Also anyone know how often I would need to flood the tray for each proposed idea?

Fan setup in tent, do i need an intake as well as the exhaust (which will be connected to a carbon filter)?

Viparspectra lights capable of getting good lighting for a 3x3 table?

I plan to grow white widow and gorilla glue for my first test, how many could i fit on a 3x3 table appx?

Finally whats a good EC/PPM to start with in my veg phase? I am under the impression to start slow and low and gradually build up?

I know its all a lot to answer, just kind of want to know if I am on the right track here for a successful grow?

Plan to upload my grow journal once it all starts (just waiting on my ILGM Seeds :slight_smile: )

Thanks in advance to all you friendly people out there!

Welcome to ILGM. @Bogleg has more experience with ebb and flow.

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Should be fine. I use a 1500L/hour pump and it takes around 10 minutes to flood my tray and around 20 minutes for it to drain entirely.

I use 6" Infinity fans for both exhaust and intake, but they rarely run over a setting of “3” - could easily use 4" fans for a 4x4 and get more than enough fresh air. The main thing is the ability to finely control how hard they are blowing/sucking or put them on cycle timers so you aren’t running them constantly (if you can’t mitigate flow some other way).

I have never used Rockwool. There are two methods I use to put plants in my ebb and flow tray for flower:

  1. The primary method is to use clones. Root clones separately and put them into the ebb and flow tray when ready. This is the best way to go if you want to have the best control over the grow.

  2. Start seedlings in Rapid Rooters, then put into 2" net pots to put on a bubble cloner until they grow mature enough for the ebb and flow tray. The fewer roots you have, the more you want them around water. You want to make sure there is enough root mass on the plants to survive the “ebb” stages in your ebb and flow system.

As for how to configure your tray, these are the ways I have tried:

  1. I tried river rock with cloth pots sitting on top. Got algae. Grow otherwise went fine.
  2. I tried building a lid for the tray and hanging 4" net pots off of it - worked okay. Not a very flexible solution.
  3. I am now using square spots sitting directly in the tray. I tape a sheet of panda film over my tray as a cheap lid, then cut “X” holes in it to drop the pots in:

You can see I have 24 spots in the 3x3 tray. I have not filled all these pots up on a single grow yet. So far I’ve gotten up to 15 plants. The tricky part is putting them in there at the right moment so they won’t get too big when going with this many plants.

This last method is by far the easiest to maintain and makes it super easy to reset between grows.

I prefer both intake and exhaust, but if you can keep temps and RH in check, then just an exhaust fan would probably be ok.

I don’t know anything about the light in question. I guess I could spend some time to go look up the specs on it… but there are a lot of people around growing lots of great weed with Viparspectra lights. I’m just not sure if it’s beefy enough for a 4x4 space.

I think the max you could truly grow is 24-25 plants depending on how you line up the pots. I have gotten 25+ ounce yields on two grows from seed in my ebb and flow tray - the first was only 8 plants and the second was 13 plants.

Seedlings: 0-250ppm depending on medium. For hydro I like to go with a mild solution around 250ppm
Early Veg (weeks 2-4): 250-500ppm (depends on the plants)
Mid to Late Veg (Weeks 4+: 500ppm-1000ppm (depends on the plants)
Flower: 800+ ppm (again, depends on the plants)

Generally I have had my best results starting seeds for hydro when soak my Rapid Rooters in a mild nutrient solution, and then just spray them two or three times a day with plain water until they get roots long enough for me to drop them onto my bubble cloner.

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Thanks bogleg.

1 Like

@Bogleg Thank you so much! You have basically culled any doubt I had going into this grow, it was a lot to answer and this is perfect.

I was thinking on using pots straight onto the table with panda film as another alternative, I am thinking this might be the most versatile way to go as well, think this will be it.

Wow I will say that’s way more plants than I thought I would be able to fit that’s great, will start small (4 - 6 plants) so I don’t over do it for myself till I’m more confident and gives me a bit more control.

In regards to the fan I will be using a Phresh 6’ Hyper Fan, I am noticing the intake is mainly to bring in fresh C02 and environmental controlling, which the current season in my location is actually a very stable temp and humidity in my grow area and I will be using a C02 bag, might just get the extra fan in case and save an extra trip to the store.

This was a great answer you have covered all the bases of my overly large post! Definitely mitigated any anxiety going into this.

Really appreciate the help, will make sure to log my grow diary on this forum :slight_smile:!!!

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@Bogleg OH and lol, you mention PPM/EC depends on the plants, I have read and been told that White Widow is a notoriously hungry plant so I assume it can take a little bit more nutes then, would you know if Gorilla Glue is a hungry one as well? (I want to try 2 of each plant for my first attempt together).

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I know Viparspectra lights. Calling up specs now.

Hey @MrPeat,

Have you used them with your own grows? If so what wattage and how much space did that cover in your experience?

I used the PAR600 x 2 and they consumed about 275 watts each at the wall. The PAR has 3 switches. I still managed to get 3.32 oz dried, cured and no stems with just 1 of the PAR600. When I added the second one I got 8 oz dried, cured and no stems.
The 2000 watt…

I used them in a 4x4x80” Tent. The 2000 watt is around 395 watts ±3%

I have switch to HLG 260xl rspec x 2 and get over 2 lbs dried, cured and no stems.

2 Likes

So I was reading. I’m about to start my ebb and flow table. I was thinking of sitting rock wool directly on the tray. Is this not a good thing?