New to growing hydro

Hello everyone! I hope to educate myself on hydro growing. I have about an 7’x10’ space to grow in. I guess I’ll probably start with 3 or 4 plants. I’ve bought nothing yet till I know what I’m doing. Wish me well. Looking forward to learning with yall.

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Welcome to the Forum. There is a section for Hudroponics if you haven’t seen it yet.

Ya, I been all over the place reading. I’m intrigued about building my own lights, so I was in that area. This forum is a plethora of info!

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Welcome to the forum!

I can definitely help you build led lights. Once you have a pretty good idea of what you’re looking at doing let me know. If you are DIY type, there’s lots of members here that build their own hydro systems too.

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After reading alot, and taking my budget into account I’ll just start with 2 plants. I do plan to build as much of my setup as I can. I cant decide on my location. I have a spare bedroom and some garage space. It’s cold in the garage in winter and hot in the upstairs bedroom in the summer.

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Both can get potentially expensive to deal with. I would look more towards setting up a space to grow in than at plant count. You can always alter your plant size by adjusting veg time with an indoor grow. Two plants can be huge, or really small.

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agreed, i started in a seemingly awesome space but i realised after id set up i wouldn’t be able to control the environment… :face_with_raised_eyebrow:, post any questions you have someone will always be keen to help…:grin:

Well I guess I can control the climate better in a bedroom. My garage has no climate control at all. So its winter time I guess my air needs to come from inside the house and then vent to the attic or a window. Or should some air come from outside to help cool the lights? What do you all do for winter grow?

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Hello @SmokieJim and welcome to the community. I do hydro in a bedroom. It all depends on what you want. I’ve built my own lights, thanks to @dbrn32 's help, and have grown in 5gal buckets, which I do NOT reccomend, although they will work, in 20gal trash cans, 2plants 3lb 10oz, and now in 27gal totes. @peachfuzz is a hydro guru, but be careful, he’s bi-rezual. If you have any questions, just tag us and we would be happy to help.

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@peachfuzz @Grandaddy013 so sounds like the 23 gallon totes are the way to go. I just want 1 or 2 plants to start. I need to start accumulating materials. A friend of mine gave me seeds and will let me have a few clones if I want. But I’m guessing a tent for flowering is the first major purchase,and then venting and such. Seems like lighting will be the most expensive. Dont want to overspend . I would eventually like to have 3 plants in flower and 3 in veg at all times. Building a Quantum board seems like the most cost effective. …also, is there a place on this forum for buying and selling used equipment? I’m sure alot of veteran growers prolly have equipment sittin around.

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Welcome to the forum and you have some great hydro growers already. @Bogleg @TDubWilly are both highly experienced too.

You might want to decide on what system you want to build. There is DWC, RDWC, thin film, ebb and flow etc and they all have their pluses and minuses. If doing RDWC (what I would recommend indoors) you get the advantages of a large standing reservoir to minimize PH swings and be able to run for days with no intervention. Those yellow topped totes from Home Depot (in a variety of sizes) are ideal if doing RDWC using Uniseals: they work much better on a flat surface. Buckets also suffer from being not quite large enough to carry you through a grow without problems.

Plan to invest in a chiller. Seriously.

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No sir, not on this side. I’ve just started with the 27gal totes. I’ve changed up pretty much everything on this grow, just to see how I like it. I’ve changed containers, DIY LEDs for flower, and now, i can’t do my scrog the same. I changed everything up to do perpetual garden. I may or may not like it. So far, so good.

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Ok I’ll take your advice and do the rdwc. I’ve decided to build my own tent because I have free 4x8 sheets of plywood and I can customize the size and vents the way I want. I plan on putting veg on one wall and flower on the other. The room is 11’x12’ ish. I’ll vent to the attic and out the soffet. Does anyone think the smell would be a problem 30’ up? (Two story house) also I am growing legally.

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Get some 1" Styrofoam panels: they are $10 at HD and do an exceptional job of making a grow space. This is what I did until last month when I tore it all down in anticipation of moving next year. You gain advantages with insulated walls that you won’t have otherwise.

Buy a chiller. I limped along last year without one and wish I had sooner.

I’m in Kalifornia so I don’t give a rat’s a$$ about smell.

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If you really want to do hydro first and do it right then you need to be prepared to spend some money.

You can build totes or trash cans cheaply to hold water with no problem but some of the “bolt on parts” that can take your simple hydro system and turn it into an uber hydro system can be expensive.

Before you purchase any expensive bolt on parts, the first thing that you need to realize is that DWC is so much easier when your working with larger volumes of water. Never buy a 3 gallon bucket to put a plant in, it will become nothing but a nightmare for you.

If you don’t think that your budget can handle some of those “bolt on parts” or your worried about building systems that hold larger volumes of water then start out with a soil grow, there’s no shame in that… plus it’s easy

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I use the 27 gal totes too… I like the ones I made above,

ive juts started setting a room up big costs in no order…:

lights.
aircon,
chiller,
insulation…
plumbing fittings
nutrients
fans
instruments
general crap like turkey basters, droppers measuring cylinders, tubs, totes air pumps, stones, etc…

it adds up… $ :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

seeds aren’t on the list, they are one of your cheaper things… :grin:

always be someone here to help. :smile:

but go for it bud, lots of fun. :grin:

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This should be like no 1 on the hydro 10 Commandments lol.

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Jus out of ignorance I gotta ask. So with all the cost of buying the hardware and paying the electrical Bill’s is it cheaper to jus buy weed? Or do you sell to recoup cost, or is it just for personal satisfaction whatever the cost? I personally dont use it. All of this is for the wife. (And the challenge)

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Well the hardware is a one time cost for the most part.

Electric bills can get stiff, especially in places that can get really cold or really hot but it’s still cheaper for me to grow

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WAY cheaper for me too plus I know precisely what goes in it.

Saw a Today Show vignette on contaminants in THC products found in California dispensaries. Found counterfeit products and every one tested positive (one sample was 1,500 times the legal limit) of pesticides. THAT’s why I grow.

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