Well, I have to listen to you. I am going to set up in soil. I will read up on the hydro. It seems to me that is the smart way to go. I’m just going to use regular potting soil or should I get something fancy?
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This is your grow, if you’ve never done hydro don’t do it in your Phototron yet…read up on it, do some research here on Overgrow and read other threads on DWC…you said you grew in soil before and it turned out good, do it again in soil, do everything you did before except you will be growing in the Phototron…btw, you are gonna need a timer veg time is 18/6 & flower time is 12/12.
As far as soil I have no preference, hell I’ll use what’s on sale at Menards usually Shultz. A lot of growers use Fox Farm etc…there you go, start a thread on soil what do others members use and why…Do a lot of research on growing in soil & hydro because in the long run it will pay off. There’s a lot of growers who are expert/experienced soil growers.
When I first started with my Phototrons I used DiMarco’s directions and failed…I did everything on his directions except for sending him a sample of my soil or sphagnum moss that came with the Phototron. I had to think outside of the box so to speak. I hung out at Overgrow basically just finding out about nutes and DWC. After a couple of weeks I finally dove into DWC with that BC nute package… A lot of people in the old Overgrow put me down and looked down on me because I was using Phototrons…They were saying its junk , you got ripped off and shit…After all those negative comments I was more determined to make my Phototrons work. Throughout my life I’ve always had this Once you give up you admit defeat attitude…I wasn’t gonna let the Phototron defeat my ass.
I did everything I read about DWC and tried not to overthink things…As I said before try growing your plant normally. Thats what I did…I also said nowadays people are growing in big black tents with lights, thats almost like a huge Phototron. One thing though try and keep your Phototron in the dark when the lights are off…
If you have any questions about soils or other nutes don’t be afraid to ask other Overgrow members. A lot of growers will be more than happy to help you. I’m here to help you also because I want you to succeed with your Phototron bromigo.
I am waiting for a buddy of mine from Chicago to come visit me because he’s bringing me some Chicago tap water…My water in this small town town I’m in is crap…way too much salt. I have 2 rain barrels this year so I can collect rainwater and I’m gonna see if I can use rainwater for my SWC/TRON grows. I’m actually using rainwater now in my cheapo aero cloner and it works.
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Very neat @PhilCuisine! I always thought the Phototrons were a cool concept, just impractical. God only knows how many house fires were started with those back in the day. 
Looks like you figured them out though!
Those Venus flytraps are cool! I’m assuming you always grow them indoors, else they wouldn’t be flowering this time of year. All of mine look dead, as they are dormant and the pots they are in are frozen solid at the moment. In Autumn they are showstoppers for sure. I have been growing and breeding them for nearly 25 years, hope you don’t mind me sharing a few pictures of some of mine…
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Very nice VFT bromigo…yes, these are in my enclosed unheated front porch and I gets the southern sunlight all day…it is flowering right now and I had to pollinate it by hand since there are no bees around to pollinate it. Just took these pictures now…
I had to put my rooted cuttings that were in my cloner in soil this morning…
These are my Matanuska Thunder Head clones.
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Very nice! We have these iridescent pollen wasps around here that do the flytrap pollinating for us. Make sure the seeds pods are fully ripe when you harvest, there will be all these tiny, black, shiny seeds that will fall off when you touch them.
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@JustSumTomatoes do you have any other carnivorous plants? I got these VFT at Walmart last summer and they are easy as hell to grow and take care of…
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@Zubenal, this is what the bottom of the newer Phototrons look like, it’s flat…Does yours have a bump on the bottom of the Phototron?
I’m using one of the smaller Phototrons as a veg only chamber 18/6…I’m gonna break out one of the bigger Phototrons to flower my MTH as soon as I get my Chicago tap water.
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@PhilCuisine Sure do, sundews and pitcher plants too. I have a nice little collection of bug eaters. There are so many different varieties of flytraps alone, just like cannabis.
!
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Mine does not have a bump on the bottom. It looks like yours, except white.
Im going to put a pot in it and put my starts in soil. I have to get some soil building stuff. I will use the nutes you directed me to to grow in soil. I called the company and spoke to Andrew. He is a trip. He was excited to talk to someone about the Phototron.
He agreed with your suggestion to go with a soil grow. He is a hydro guy.
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Do you have these lights then, the T5’s in your Phototron?
These are the lights for the small Phototrons…
These are the lights for the big Phototrons.
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Was just reading the beginning of this thread and was wondering about how you made your cloner not wanting to spend the loot on a mass produced one I can make
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Click on my profile and it should take you to a link bromigo…Hope this helps.
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Way too much work to change those out because you would have to change the ballast too I think…The only thing I can suggest is get that garage light and just add some under the cabinet leds lights to it…you can link them together bromigo…
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Very cool. I am talking to another guy on another forum about upgrading the lighting but he wants me to fabricate a light fixture. I am going to see if I can just use his led light strips like those you pointed me to. But, the ones you pointed me to are so cheep. Menards is great. I had never heard of it but you love it. I get it!
There is a plug hanging from the top of the middle that a double sided florescent light was plugged into, one of those swirly type bulbs. I lost that fixture, I used it around the house as a trouble light and lost track of it. I went to Lowes and bought a two sided light buld socket that I can plug into it and I bought two led grow bulbs. Lighting is a work in progress. For now, I am making my soil and putting some seeds on to germinate. I should have the system up and running over the weekend.
I should start a journal, right?
And, I think I do want to figure out the hydroponic system fir a future run!
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I know they are cheap but they will work, check out my cloning area on my kitchen counter these LED strips are 22" long…they do have led strips with more lumens …try and get the led strip that at least 22" in length and a lot of lumens for your Phototron its gonna cost more but that’s what I would do…these LED strips under my cabinets were $10 each, put 3 or 4 of these linked together in your Phototron and a garage light for the middle plug in…Btw, I didn’t put these under cabinet lights for growing.
Garage light
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Im afraid I dont have 22", I am looking for 12" strips. Your screenshots had a 12"er but I couldnt find it on the web.
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These 22" LEDs I got at Menards I think they were $9.97 or something …just leave your Phototrons as is and just supplement it with more lighting
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I think your right. I did spray paint the inside bright white, from dingy yellow.
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Dude, I am going to buy some seeds. Can you suggest what I should go with?
Somebody suggested Black Jack Auto Feminised Seeds. That looks crazy awesome to me.
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