artanis

Now not being a good time to grow MJ for me, I decided I would give tomatoes a shot. I could use the experience because i mainly burn and kill whatever plants i have, these plants will be no exception im sure.

I have not been able to find a whole lot of information about growing vegetables indoors, so anyone with any experience would help me out a lot.

Cultivar:
First Ladies, clones.
Roma from seed.

Growing Method:
I built my own recirculating DWC system, I was inspired by daltron. It consists of eight 5 gallon buckets with a 20 gallon remote res. I use a 900 gph Mag drive pump. I will be only using 4 of the 8 buckets. I figured I would have better odds of a good harvest with a greater flow rate.

Heres a pic of the system when i first put it together, its been through a few changes since then.



Lighting:
I'll be using my 1000 watt HPS for the entire grow. My grow room is roughly 25 sqft which gives me 40 watts/sqft. I've been unable to decide the most effective way to hang my light. I have a cheap batwing reflector. I was thinking that hanging the bulb vertical would be best, but i dont want to burn my eyes out.

As for photoperiod i'm running 18/6. I've heard that tomatoes like long days. I tried keeping the lights on 24/7 but the plants didnt seem to like that, and this way i can save on the juice.

Nutrients:
I'm using Dyna Grow 7-9-5. I can find it locally and it contains everything plants need. My well water is less than desirable. 250-300 ppm with a ph of 6.5-7.5. If you fill up a bucket and let it sit for a day, a bunch of red/brown particles will settle on the bottom. It looks like rust. But i'll give it a shot.
I'm also using hydroguard for the first time. I love this stuff.

Ventillation:
My Stanley blower does a good job, its exhausts outside. Temperatures dont go above 85, and usually stay at 80. I dont know the RH but i run an evaporative humidifier just incase its too low.
--------------

The first lady clones went into the buckets on 9/10. They werent doing so good for a while, I was having issues with the well water and my nutes.

They are doing better now though. Burnt them though.





The bucket on the far left is just a normal DWC bubbler, it is not part of my recirc system. I thought i would have killed the First Ladies by now, so i filled that bubbler up with Romas just incase.

A few flowers have already opened up



Tomatoes are normally wind pollinated, but i will also being using a paint brush just to make sure.

I dont know what to do about training. How do i get the most fruit? Topping? LST? They been growing pretty quickly the past few days, I cannot wait for a fruit to set.

More updates to come.

Attached Thumbnails

     

   

tranc3r

Seriously cool

Ive been trying to devise a way of putting a DWC recirc outside for veggies... but may end up using hempy buckets.

Sorry i cant help with other details your chasing ...

GreenDragon2k

Nice! This looks cool... I too wanted to grow hydro veggies outside but couldnt have that kind of security issue inside however now thats a good idea

__________________
"Herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is the destruction. " ~ Bob Marley

old_greg

__________________
BΞD
Grow long and Prosper..
81-R.I.P. Pop

ROMULIS on Patience
Reputation
Chat room-Secure

islanddreams

That looks great. I like your set up.

__________________

GreenDragon2k

I beleive this is true; but only of wild tomatoes... The ones generally cultivated now have been selected by growers to maximize the self fertility trait;; Wind blown around the growroom should be enough to fertilize many of them, although the painbrush or q-tip method is probably a good idea to ensure bountiful fruits

__________________
"Herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is the destruction. " ~ Bob Marley

artanis

Plants are looking good tonight. I swear each one grew a couple inches since yesterday. More flowers opened up.

Ph 6.0 ppm 750

I also started LST on one of the smaller plants. Not sure what that is going to do, but i'll soon find out.

artanis

The plants drank roughly 2 gallons of water, the ppm stayed at 750 and the ph went up to 6.1. I topped off the res with 2 gallons 6.0 tap water bringing the ppm down to 680.

I still feel like the plants are getting too many nutes, so i will see how they like the lower ppm. Its hard for me to tell, the old deficient/toxic growth still looks like it did when i first hurt the plants. I know that the leaves will not get better, but will the leaves remain the same or will the plant suck all the energy out of the leaves and kill them off?

Heres a site ive been using to troubleshoot, pretty useful photos.
Plant Physiology

The new growth is looking good though. A few leaflets are starting to curl under slightly. I also broke two flowers off while trying to pollinate them, bummer.

The plants are getting really big though and looking pretty good.

bluecheese

More pictures please! (I lobe to see the changes.)

I want to try tomatoes, jalapenos & red bell peppers. But growing MJ is kinda tough to beat.

__________________
cheese

Posting Guidelines -- AUP -- Sick Plant? -- Nursery Troubleshooting Guide
Plant Abuse Guide -- St0ney's pH Chart -- Reputation & Thanks

My Journals

artanis

Id love to take pictures but I'm out of batteries, ill have to pick some up later. They are also in their dark period right now.

I do have 2 Jalapeano clones rooting in rockwool plugs. Not sure how I want to grow them, i'll probably put them in their own bubbler.

I must admit, it is disappointing to open the door to my grow room and not see a bunch of buds. To make matters worse im out of mj. Its fun to grow the tomatoes though, and i could use the experience.

I found a blossom on the ground, which makes me wonder if they are falling off or if im knocking them off.

I read that Blossom Drop is caused by these things:

* Temperature Too High or Too Low
* Lack of Pollination
* Nitrogen - Too Much or Too Little
* Humidity Too High or Low Humidity.
* Lack of water
* Stress from insect damage or disease
* Too Heavy Fruit Set

It could be the temperature, my light has been pretty close to the plants. Could very well be the humidity because i dont even know what my RH is.

Probably the nitrogen, plants look a little too green.

later