Need help with hydro set up

[Corn-Dog]

So I have about $700usd to put into my grow and i need your help building my set-up. I currently have a 3ft X 3ft grow tent, a 400w hps(magnetic ballast), a vortex fan and a carbon scrubber. So here's what I need/want: EC meter, ph meter, nutes, Hydro system, cool tube, dehumidifier, and i like to add an ac or a res chiller for the hot summer months.

So i'll explian my grow history, i've done 3 sucsessful grows and 1 unsucsessful, all soil grows. My last grow was my failure i switched to ProMix soil and not sure what exactly happened just my seeds got stunted at the start and never got more than 2 leaves. My other 3 were always plagued by heat issues but i was stuck growing in a closet in the attic. So now im in the basement, the average humidy in basement is about 30-40% witch is higher than ideal so I really need to use part of my money for a dehumidifier, and my tent is in a room within the basement so a small dehumidifier should do the trick, i found one at wally world for 130$. I really think I need a cool tube witch I can pruchase for about 90$. And as fas as ec meter is concerned i'd like a trucheon about 130$. The Ph meter im not to sure about wich one to go with so some input would be great(i cant read the strips so i need a meter) I heard the oakton basic one is good for 60$. The hydro set-up I wanted to go with was DWC 4-5 buckets but im open to opinions but I really don't want to have to build anything to complicated.

So use what I given you build me a hydro setup, the room my tent is in is 7x8ft so if you add an air conditioner it doesn't have to be huge. Please give the location of where i could purchase the items online or at local stores. Also include the nutes you recomend with the system your giving me. Oh and ideal i'd like to produce 250gms+ wich i'd never got close to so if you want to help mentor my grow that be awesome aswell.

[Lungus]

So now im in the basement, the average humidy in basement is about 30-40% witch is higher than ideal

There is nothing wrong with humidity in the 30-40% range. In fact, humidity should be between 50-60% in the grow tent when vegging and just a little lower for flowering, although unless you have a plant with super dense and thick buds 60% should be no probs for flowering plants either.

[Corn-Dog]

I just thought with a 30-40% humidity that adding a hydroponic system would raise it even higher than it alllready is.

[2broke2smoke]

I'm just curious about ur failed soil grow, where u switched to soilless medium, did u also switch to hydro nutes? Nitrogen from urea will not break down in promix.

2b2s

[Lungus]

I just thought with a 30-40% humidity that adding a hydroponic system would raise it even higher than it alllready is.
It will. Likely right into the 40-60% butter zone. If it gets too high add more airflow.

[Kali]

A/C will also dehumidify your tent, no need for both
Growing in the basement and adding a/c (if needed) and some good intake/exhaust should solve heat issues.

As lungus said 30-40% is fine, i set my dehumidifier to 50 and its good for all stages of growth. I should note dehumidifiers give off hot dry air, not good if you're battlign heat.

If you read Lucas's thread (He's one of the guru's of growing on this site) he recomends a constant air flow in the huts. You need to replenish your C02 levels. He also reccomends a table (3x3 in your case) for ease of use and not as much worries about root rot (was my arch nemesis in DWC).

I started hydro with a $10 dropper ph tester. It worked fine and you should always have a back up to confirm your digi ph pen is working/calibrated properly. I ruined a tray of about 70-80 clones using a ph meter that wasn't wroking properly. I Have since gone back to the dropper ph tester. its very similar to the stuff they use for swimming pools, but i would get the one from the grow shop not the one from the pool section at your local big box store.

Are you colour blind? is that the problem with the test strips? after rereading your post it dawned on me that the dropper/test strips may not work as you have to match the colours. In that case get a back up pen.

As far as e/c goes its another one of those things i didnt buy at first as i knew if i fed 1/2 strenght of the label directions I could gradually increase the amount of nutes until i saw signs of overfertilization. Truncheon meter is good and may be my next meter when the time comes to buy another.

Did you want to grow organic? if so organic hydro nutes do not really need a e/c meter as its harder to overfeed/burn plants AND the meters do not read well with organic solutions. I have used Pure blend regular and pro formulas; in conjuction with Liquid karma this combo is all you need for super sweet buds. I find that botanicare's stuff really makes your buds smell amazing.

Chem nutes i have used are a+b formulas by AN and DNF. I am not a huge fan of Advanced Nutes but their High yeild kit is outstanding for the price. it comes with Voodoo and bigbud as well as 1l A+B bloom. Voodoo is what really got me hooked on this package, its a root innoculant and a damn fine product imho.

east coast shops
bustan.ca
megawatthydro.com
Northernlightshydro.com

west coast
progressive-growth.com
global-grow.com
insert favorite shop here......

[purplehaze2]

thats good to know. I just bought 2 -5x5 grow tents and there the new wons that GH sales.