Grow Mediums Med Gom 1.0 DWC - newbie needs some info!

[soul_traveler]

(I posted this in the "New Grower's Forum" but i figured it would get more hits here)

Hi AN, first post here, i'd just like to say that i think this is pretty cool that an entire forum is dedicated to autoflowering cannabis. I'm a complete newb to growing, i tried growing a regular strain once and managed to get a couple of grams off a plant that i burnt the crap out of. I never could get the ph and ppm right and the strain was very nutrient sensitive. That was a few years ago, and i have done the research now and i feel i'm up to the task now.

So i'm looking into growing Med Gom 1.0 in a DWC hydro setup in the near future. I want to start using this strain for my physical and mental conditions since it's high in cbd. I have been wanting a cbd autoflowering strain for a long time now. I did some research for a couple of days trying to figure out everything i can about this strain here on AN but there is no information about growing this strain in hydro. Anyone have experience with this? From what i have read it sounds like it's a very sensitive plant and with a relatively low yield, this doesn't bother me at all, i plan on making my own feminized seeds and growing a bunch at one time in a SOG setup. On the description of Med Gom is says the yeild can be 25g to 50g per plant, i'm wonder if it can yeild more in hydro with powerful lights? that would be awesome. Also is there an optimal lighting schedule for this strain?

Here's the equipment that i plan on buying for the grow i'm wanting to do:

600w LED 5w chips (i plan on expanding this to 1200w as i can afford it to optimize the grow tent)
DWC system 8 site, 10 gallon container (will expand this to 2 in the future to fill the grow tent)
Grow tent 2' x 4' x 5'
Carbon filter + fan
Booster Duct fan for intake
Tower fan for air circulation
PPM meter
Reverse Osmosis system
Ph Perfect Grow, Micro, Bloom
Colloidal Silver 50ppm
Med Gom 1.0 seeds

Sound like a good plan? Am i missing anything? I'm very excited about this!

 

[lykaboss]

I can already see 1 possible issue, that is a fairly small tent for running a LED with 5 watt chips, its going to get VERY hot in that tent. If your temps run into the high 80's lower 90's you will be unable to control your res temps without a chiller, if your dwc water temps get into the low 80's you run a high risk of getting root rot/pythium. Going forward just know you will need to keep your tent internal temps in the low to mid 70's if you don't plan on running a chiller system.

You might be better off going with an AIR cooled HPS instead of an LED, since leds can't really be vented directly out of the tent efficiently. With something like a cool tub you could get that hot air right out of the tent.

Just something to think about

 

[soul_traveler]

What about 2 x 300w led with 3w diodes for that size tent? I prefer to use led over hps to keep the electric bill low. 1200w is probably overkill for this strain anyways, 600w will be cheaper of course too, which is a plus. I appreciate the feedback, i had forgotten about keeping the dwc water temps down.

 

[lykaboss]

THis is just my opinion..... LEDs don't save electricity.... (I ran Six LED panels in a 4 x 8)Watts are watts, a 600 watt led is not comparable to a 600 watt HPS, Unless that LED is actually pulling 600 watts. Leds have there place but because LEDs can't be vented properly outside of the grow area you get higher temps then your traditional Air cooled HPS. There is so much bad info put out about leds from manufacturers. These manufacturers state 600 watt led... well its not, its more like 300 watts LOL. I don't understand "led math" Some people will argue that LED output is different from Watt draw.

There are some really good quality LEDs out there, but you are going to pay for sure.

This might sound like i am hating on leds... which iam not. I seen some really nice LED setups but along with them setups... these people are running a dedicated AC in the room or tent also they typically need to vent that air out faster which means bigger more powerful fans to get the job done.

Like i said i ran six led panels for about 3 years, i switched back to two 600 watt HPS air cooled. My temps went down, and yeild went up.

This is all from my own experience with LEDS. Now if you were going to run soil as your medium...... then i would say GO FOR IT. LEds are for you. but if you have your heart set on DWC, then temps are going to be your major concern. I just dont see it being very efficient running LEDS in a small tent with a dwc setup. Maybe someone else can chime in and give an different opinion

In the end, you can do what you like, and what you think will work for you. Just make sure you do enough research to where you don't back yourself into a corner.

 

[krug]

I beg t`differ mate...Simple maths, says you`re mistaken...No offense, just my opinion...such as it is! :Sharing One:

 

[soul_traveler]

I'll take your word, hps is it! I was going to get the mars hydro led's on ebay, they have really good reviews, but i was a little unsure about the quality, probably from china. So how many watts would you recommend for 16 plants, 2x4 space? I would love to be able to harvest an ounce per plant.

 

[lykaboss]

i encourage you to do more research before making a final opinion, what i stated was just from my experience. 16 plants in a 2 x 4? ...... thats a bit much. Here is what i would suggest

2 DWC plants in a 2 x 4 with a 400 watt air cooled HPS in 5 gallon buckets
4 Soil Plants in a 2 x 4 in 3 gallon containers. using an LED light.

I highly doubt you could fit 16 plants in a 2 x 4 area. This would not be advisable.

 

[lykaboss]

I beg t`differ mate...Simple maths, says you`re mistaken...No offense, just my opinion...such as it is! :Sharing One:

Yea i could be wrong... but from my experience and what i seen, i just don't get the math. I follow Mr. Tight and med grower 1 on youtube, really good growers who test leds for comparisons. Even they say, they have never gotten the yield from an LED that they have gotten from an HPS

 

[krug]

Check out Seymore Buds`s grows. The point is that `Good`and I stress `Good` Leds are far more expensive, but you don`t run the heat problems (both from grow temps and `babylon nosiness`. Approx 80-85% of HID light output is lost in heat (and under-used light). If you`re `Commercial, then HID is still the the best option, due to not being bothered(usually!) about leccy costs! If you grow for persy/non profit then, I`d recommend sunlight (always the best!), or a decent LED setup, just cos I don`t see the reason not too. I need t`say that these are my personal opinions and in No Way represent AFN in any way! :smile:...:toke toking:

 

[TaNg]

There are definatly poor led grow lights out there but some will destroy HPS on efficiency....plants don't care about the watts all they want are photons and if the spectrum is tailored for photosyntheses correctly a decent LED will easy out perform HPS.