Amat Victoria Curam Victory Loves Preparation Table of contents Shopping list Section 1 Introduction Section 2 Lighting Section 3 Lighting accessories Section 4 Ventilation and climate control Section 5 Misc supply's Section 6 Misc supply's optional I am posting this thread so i can refer people to it because i am sick of answering the same questions over and over again, growing weed and getting decent results is not something you will be able to do with out a reasonable investment of time and money. I recommend having a 1k to 1.5k budget and a 1 to 3 month period of time for studying before you even think about attempting a serious grow. If you do not have the budget to finance an HID grow, you can check out this thread which will provide you with a shopping list for a CFL grow and some very good information on growing weed. http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/632534-budzills-cfl-grow-guide-complete-beginner.html If you choose to proceed with out the appropriate financial ability or knowledge you are more than likely to run into one of many problems that will jeopardize your crop. Here is a shopping list of many of the things you will need & some great optional's, i am using Google shopping and not directing you to specific items so that the shopping list will stay up to date over time. And just as with every thing else you purchase on he internet be sure to shop around when you are purchasing growing equipment your wallet will appreciate it, also don't neglect to review the products you intend to purchase online either it can save you a lot of heartache in the end. --------------------------------------------------------------------- S2 Lighting: When purchasing a grow light that does not come as a set you may need an adapter for your ballast and reflector to be compatible. Cool tube reflector or air cooled hood Google Google 400 Watt ballast Google 600 Watt ballast Google 1000 Watt ballast Google --------------------------------------------------------------------- S3 Lighting accessories Light mover (Optional) More info in the lighting section. Google 15 Amp digital timer Google Yo yo light hangers Google Mylar, panda film, or white paint Mylar mylar - Google zoeken Panda film panda film - Google zoeken Flat white paint flat white paint - Google Search --------------------------------------------------------------------- S4 Ventilation and climate control Hygro-thermometer Hygro-thermometer - Google Search Oscillating fan Oscillating fan - Google Search 4x 4 or 6 Inch ducting clamps 4 6 inch ducting clamps - Google Search 4 or 6 Inch flexible ducting 4 6 inch flexible ducting - Google Search Centrifugal fan speed controller fan speed controller centrifugal - Google Search 4 or 6 Inch centrifugal fan 4 centrifugal fan - Google Search 6 centrifugal fan - Google Search 4 or 6 Inch carbon filter 4 carbon filter - Google Search 6 carbon filter - Google Search DIY carbon filter: Here are 2 threads and a video on constructing a high flow DIY carbon filter this can save u a decent bit of money. http://forum.grasscity.com/do-yourself/699503-diy-pro-grade-400cfm-air-filter.html#post8791154 DIY High flow Carbon filter - 420 Magazine video http://youtu.be/JzkZgQkrT40 Ozone generator (Optional) See ventilation section for important info. ozone generator hydroponics - Google Search --------------------------------------------------------------------- S5 Misc supply's PH test kit or a Digital PH meter ph test kit - Google Search hannah PH meter - Google zoeken PH up ph up - Google Search PH down ph down - Google Search TDS meter tds meter - Google Search --------------------------------------------------------------------- S6 Misc supply's optional C02 regulator C02 regulator hydroponics - Google Search C02 tank C02 tank hydroponics - Google Search you could probably find a better priced tank locally. Fire extinguisher Fire extinguisher - Google Search Smoke alarm smoke alarm - Google Search Reverse osmosis water filtration system Reverse osmosis system - Google Search Hot shot pest strips Hot shot pest strips - Google Search 3-Lens Magnifier: For sexing, 3-lense magnifier - Google Search more info here... http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/454814-sexing.html Illuminated Microscope: For determining harvest time, Illuminated Microscope - Google Search more info here... http://forum.grasscity.com/harvesting-processing-marijuana/424138-simple-harvest-cure-step-step.html Popsicle sticks or tongue depressors: For labeling. pop sicle sticks or tounge depressers - Google zoeken Green led head lamp: For seeing in your plants dark cycle. Green led headlamp hydroponics - Google Search Grow tents are great for the grower who does not want to modify his or her dwelling, for $100-$200 you can have an easy to set up portable growing chamber that will help you control ventilation, light contamination, and odor with out any modification what so ever. But be careful when purchasing grow tents, try to avoid tents lined with white PVC there are a number of them on the market that will poison and kill your plants, for this reason you should only purchase from a reputable dealer or only purchase tents lined with Mylar. mylar grow tent - Google Search My last suggestion is a grow book or two, i recently purchased the Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower's Bible by Jorge Cervantes and if i had it when i started my first grow it would have saved me about a month or 2 of time on my grow by the time i got to the 3rd page. This book has 512 pages full of information on growing and 1120 color photographs it is so so much better than scouring a huge forum like this one for the answers to your questions. Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower's bible - Google Search
Growing information Section 1 Water Section 2 Growing medium Section 3 Plant Details Section 4 Advanced growing techniques Section 5 Harvesting and curing Section 6 Fertilizing Section 7 Microbiological organisms Section 8 Electricity usage and suspicious power consumption Section 9 Lighting and yield Section 10 FLIR or Forward looking infrared radar Section 11 Ventilation Section 12 Final words ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S1 Water Water is a very important part of growing a healthy plant obviously so it is best to go with reverse osmosis filtered water, the reason for this is that it is almost completely pure. Using spring, tap, or well water untested is not a good idea because many sources of this water have a high number of Total dissolved solids. TDS Total dissolved solids are particles that are in the water and can be anything from fertilizers in well water, to high concentrations of minerals or salts, that may seriously effect your plants health. Total dissolved solids - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia PH is a measurement of acidity to alkalinity and is a very important part of growing healthy plants, I'm not gonna go into in to details here, but i will provide a link that better explains it and a chart that shows nutrient absorption points for hydro and soil growers. http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/567829-ph-what-means-your-plants.html video http://youtu.be/wh3mnwnFwIQ Watering schedule Over watering is one of the number one killers of beginner growers plants, due to their wanting to mother and nurture their young plants. This is very bad for a plant, plant roots need oxygen just as much as they need water... It is advisable to keep a watering schedule, you should water every 3-4 days from start to finish. The general rule of thumb is to water when the top inch or so of the soil is dry this will keep your soil from becoming water logged and killing your plants. Plants can recover much better from under watering than they can from over watering for this reason you should always under water as opposed to over watering. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S2 Growing Medium I would recommend any grower just starting out check out Vic's super soil just to get the hang of things, it can be a bit costly to put it together but its a water only mix which means you don't have to worry about killing your precious first crop by over fertilizing or under fertilizing. Vic's super soil recipe 1 Bale sunshine mix #2 or promix (3.8 cu ft) 8 cups Bone Meal - phosphorus source 4 cups Blood Meal - nitrogen source 1 1/3 cups Epsom salts - magnesium source 3-4 cups powdered dolomite lime -calcium source & pH buffering 1 tsp fritted trace elements 4 cups kelp meal. 9kg (25 lbs) bag pure worm castings - Mix thoroughly, moisten, and let sit 1-2 weeks before use. DWC/Hydro After you have a grow or 2 under your belt you should check out DWC it is second only to aeroponics in growth rate and yield, and wont kill your plants in hours if equipment fails, DWC is truly a simple and awesome form of hydroponics. Here is a DIY thread on making a single plant DWC system and a recirculating DWC system for multiple plants. DIY single plant system http://forum.grasscity.com/do-yourself/121335-lets-build-bubble-bucket-step-step.html DIY R-DWC multiple plant system http://forum.grasscity.com/do-yourself/600352-budslingers-recirculating-bubble-buckets.html Dwc explanation http://youtu.be/CEXW8wb7jeY Cloning made easy, here is a DIY thread to help you construct a bubble cloner it can be constructed for under $50, and offers almost a 100% success rate something any soil or hydro grower should have. http://forum.grasscity.com/do-yourself/504667-budslingers-bubble-cloner.html http://forum.grasscity.com/do-yourself/444974-lets-build-clone-machine-*step-step*.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S3 Plant Details Number of plants The number of plants is more less insignificant its really all about finding an even keel, whether you grow 20 small plants or 4 huge plants its all about having the best lighting coverage over your canopy, the more light hits the bud sites the more bud you get. Potting Plant growth is directly proportionate to root growth, so you can see how this is connected to the amount of plants you are growing, if you want 4 huge plants you would have 4 huge pots if you want 20 small plants you want 20 small pots. The general rule of thumb is 1 gallon of potting space per 1 foot of height, this rule applies to hydro as well. Plant height Obviously in indoor grows height is a concern and specially when you take into consideration the space your reflector, your growing medium, and the foot or so between your HID and your plants take up. As you can see your 6 foot growing height was quickly reduced by about 30 inch's leaving you 42 inch's of grow space. Once you switch from veg to flower your plants will usually double or triple in size and some Sativa strains can even quadruple in size during flowering. For this reason its always best to flower at approximately 1/3 the height you want the plant to be by harvest time, a lot of people tend to flower at about 1 foot unless they are using advanced techniques. Transplanting Most people transplant in stages to promote healthy strong root growth the trick is to transplant just before the plant becomes root bound so you fill the pot with roots but transplant just before growth is stunted. I personally transplant when i can see roots coming out of the drainage holes and when the diameter of the plant is the same as the pot its in, i also start my seedlings in 16 oz beer cups then go from 1 gallon to 3 gallon to 5 gallon pots. Here is a guide on how to transplant. http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/574364-stress-free-transplanting.html video http://youtu.be/zdkta4XFcmI Drainage As i previously stated in the water section plant roots need oxygen just as much as they need water, so if you are growing in soil you need to do all you can to make sure drainage is up to par. First make sure the planter you are using has adequate holes for drainage, the second thing you can do is cut your soil with 25% perlite to improve water retention as well as drainage. Sexing is simply identifying male or female plants once they come of age. http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/454814-sexing.html Video http://youtu.be/0QLx_obi3-E ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S4 Advanced growing techniques There are many advanced growing techniques but the main principle of all of them seems to be getting better lighting coverage on your plants. LST In lst you tie down your plants to control height & to allow the best possible horizontal lighting coverage. http://forum.grasscity.com/plant-training/122936-how-lst-low-stress-training.html video http://youtu.be/ADFp8CG-lD0 SCROG or screen of green The purpose of scrog is very much the same as LST, except the hieght of the plants is controlled by a screen mounted above them. http://forum.grasscity.com/plant-training/48363-scrog-method.html video http://youtu.be/Inr4k2kotkA SOG or sea of green Sea of green is the theory of harvesting lots of small plants, matured early to get the fastest production of buds available. SEA OF GREEN Weed (Cannabis) Growing Guide: video http://youtu.be/wO1hWAYWFSw Supercropping is a term given to a group of techniques that, when used in conjunction, will produce greatly improved yields over untreated plants. Supercropping - a tutorial - 420 Magazine video http://youtu.be/2FmXHhKFA5U Topping and fimming The purpose of topping a plant is to take the main stem which will become 1 large cola at the end of flowering and turn it into two colas for a better yield and a bushier plant, fimming is simply topping multiple times for multiple tops. http://forum.grasscity.com/plant-training/122559-how-fimming-topping-made-easy.html video http://youtu.be/chMcJE8n8QU Cloning At its simplest cloning is cutting off a branch from your weed plant and growing it in to a genetic copy of the plant you cut it off of. http://forum.grasscity.com/advanced...ing-techniques-hard-root-valuable-plants.html Video http://youtu.be/HWUiFZG37Do ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S5 Harvesting and curing When to harvest http://youtu.be/A_r0_2ohTjk Standard drying and curing There are as many techniques to drying and curing weed out there as there are growers, but I'm gonna keep this simple and tell you about the standard technique and an advanced one. Drying is pretty basic you want your weed to dry out slowly over time in a cool dry area with good air circulation so that your buds don't dry out to much crumble, and burn like shit or mold. The purpose of curing is to draw out the inner moister and chlorophyll from your bud to make a smooth quality smokable product. http://forum.grasscity.com/harvesting-processing-marijuana/424138-simple-harvest-cure-step-step.html Videos Drying http://youtu.be/YrBQvEnVhzc Curing http://youtu.be/eNKtryPnXvo Making bubble hash http://youtu.be/QLgEvfNCv_M Water curing The advanced technique I'm going to explain is called water curing and although it may sound a bit strange it has multiple advantages over the standard drying and curing technique and some disadvantages as well. The first advantage is drying and curing time, it takes about 3-5 days to do a water cure the general rule of thumb is that when the water stops turning green it should be ready to be dried which will only take a few hours. So while all these air drying suckers are waiting 2-4 weeks for there drying and curing to be done you will be tokin up in under one week with the smoothest smoke ever. The second difference in this from of curing could be considered a pro or a con it depends on what your objective in growing weed is. Water curing actually increases the % of THC in your buds by quite a bit the unfortunate thing is the way it does this is by leeching out water soluble chemicals from the buds so it actually decreases the weight of the buds. The 3rd difference could also be considered a pro or a con, water curing effects the smell and taste of the marijuana because the aromas in the cannabis are water soluble much of the smell of the marijuana is swept away with the water. However with those smells the harsh chemicals that make you cough are also swept away so when you take a hit you would be much less likely to cough it all out before your lungs absorb all of the THC. The final advantage of water curing for me is created out of my lack of a carbon filtered drying room, water curing is perfect for me because i can simply fill up a cooler or 2 with reverse osmosis water put my whole crop in and not have to worry about mold or the smell escaping while drying. I cant have my house wreaking like weed when I'm drying a harvest, and i don't want to stop production to dry out my weed in my filtered tent so water curing works great for me. http://forum.grasscity.com/harvesting-processing-marijuana/267599-water-curing.html video http://youtu.be/nnOYT4yuctE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S6 Fertilizing Over fertilizing is one of the worst things you can do to a plant for this reason it is best to under fertilize as opposed to over fertilizing. For the first 2-4 weeks of growing your plant you should not fertilize, if you do decide to fertilize work your way up from 1/8 the recommended dose to see what your plants threshold is, if you notice brown spots on your leaves tips back off immediately and then flush if it progressively gets worse. General info http://forum.grasscity.com/advanced-growing-techniques/330991-fertilizing-wisely.html Hydro info Lucas formula Grow Marijuana FAQ, Cannabis cultivation - marijuana growing tips & photos video http://youtu.be/d09RUCkO3LU Soil and soil less mix guide http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/564150-growing-soil-soilless-mixes-guide.html Organic info http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/650139-organic-higher-learning-lumperdawgz.html video http://youtu.be/nlqTUzIUWJ8 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S7 Microbiological organisms In soil microbiological organisms play a crucial role in plant health and in nutrient availability. Microbiological organisms under a microscope http://youtu.be/msCO6xs0S2Q Mycorrhiza Mycorrhiza - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://youtu.be/2hYAYfc3mrQ Black strap molasses http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-marijuana-growing/202743-molasses-our-plants.html video http://youtu.be/crfr_VAf0Ec Organic tea brewing http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/333940-post-your-organic-tea-recipe.html Video http://youtu.be/V_E_S8Lfzgg Dr Elaine Ingham talks Soil Microbiology http://youtu.be/GEtl09VZiSU http://youtu.be/rVLF5XGxOnU ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S8 Electricity usage and suspicious power consumption Never steal power it is the quickest way to get caught! Power company's bill by the (KWH) kilowatt hour a kilowatt is 1k watts a KWH is of course 1 hour of using 1k watts. So to calculate your bill all you have to do is take the amount of power being used and multiply it by the amount of hours you will be using them once you know how much your power company charges for a KWH, the price for a KWH can usually be located on your power bill. A lot of people will tell you to watch your power bill because the power company will turn you in if it seems excessive, Whether or not this is true i do not know, what i do know is that it is more less irrelevant to the average closet grower. A good rule of thumb is 1 KWH of usage for every bed room in the house so if you have a 3 bed room house 3 KWH would be about the avg power consumption for the avg family. Also there are a few things that can be done to bring your power bill down significantly some power company's have cheaper rates at night if this is the case for you, you should probably run your lights at night. You can also use CFL lighting threw out your house in place of incandescents to bring down your bill. CFLs are much more efficient than incandescents 90% of the power used by incandescent lights is converted to heat rather than light so not only do they save u money by consuming 1/4 the power of the incandescents but they allow your air conditiong to stop working so hard to keep your house cool. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S9 Lighting and yield To start off i would like to let it be known that lighting is the most important factor in growing high quality marijuana in quantity if you can't invest money here don't expect great yields... The avg grower can expect .5 grams of weed per month of flower per watt of electrical lighting they use if they are running an efficient grow under HID, you can expect more or less depending on your experience, your growing techniques, your growing medium, and your plants genetics. Here is a very informative thread on lighting, http://forum.grasscity.com/lighting/263178-all-about-lighting.html and a very informative thread on how to best maximize your light. http://forum.grasscity.com/grow-room-design-setup/165331-getting-most-your-lights.html Here is a chart that shows the peak light spectrum absorption points for photosynthesis, http://forum.grasscity.com/attachme...art-thread-hortgraph-chlorophyll-activity.gif and here are two charts that show how much light diminishes over distance with MH & HPS lamps. MH http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x140/earlon3rd/Foot-CandlesMHDoneNow.jpg HPS http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x140/earlon3rd/Foot-CandlesHPSDoneNow.jpg Magnetic ballast vs digital ballast info. http://youtu.be/OAQjB57owJk Lighting coverage Jackerspackle's Lighting Coverage Primer - 420 Magazine A 250 watt HID will illuminate a 2' x 2' garden. A 400 watt HID will illuminate a 3' x 3' garden. A 600 watt HID will illuminate a 3.5' x 3.5' garden. A 1000 watt HID will illuminate a 4' x 4' garden. Lighting schedule and veg/flower chambers There are 2 lighting schedules for growing marijuana there is vegetative which is anywhere between 24/7 and 16/8 and flowering which is 12/12, it is essential that you make sure no out side sources of light interrupt your plants dark cycle this can cause stress and cause your plants to Hermie. When constructing your set up its a good idea to have a veg chamber and a flowering chamber because it can greatly improve your production via turn around time, having a separate veg and flower room allows you to keep a mother plant which will eliminate the need to sex and grow from seed, and it allows you to veg new plants while you are flowering. Veg rooms are also very very cheap to make if you use CFLs, they put out no where near the amount of heat so they require no where near the amount of ventilation and they are cheap to purchase and operate. CFLs http://forum.grasscity.com/lighting/321592-thinking-about-using-150w-hps-dont-bother-heres-why.html To save some money on your power bill and equipment cost you can use 5500k to 6500k CFLs to veg your plants they do a pretty good job for there cheap price, and you can easily DIY a quick mounting system for them out of a corded light socket, some y splitters, and a few bulbs as seen here. http://forum.grasscity.com/attachme...t-beginners-other-useful-information-2184.jpg Light movers are mechanical devices that, as the name implies, move an HID in a fixed pattern over a garden, the advantage is much more light is available to the plants when the light is in motion. With a stationary light, all that is shaded will remain in the shade, but with a mover the light will hit from different angles giving better coverage and therefore increasing the efficiency of your light. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S10 FLIR or Forward looking infrared radar FLIR is another one of those things that your avg closet grower really doesn't need to concern them selves with, FLIR does not give the police x-ray vision or allow them to detect your growing marijuana plants.... All FLIR does is detect heat leaking or being exhausted from a house the avg closet growers set up does not put out enough heat to require it to be exhausted from the house you can simply route the exhaust air into the rest of the house and every thing should appear normal. Should you produce enough heat that you must exhaust it you can exhaust the hot air under your house where it will be dispersed and appear normal or you can route it out of your house via a dryer out let. There are some growers that do need to be cautious about FLIR those are the spare bed room growers, the attic growers, and of course the large scale grow ops. As previously stated FLIR detects heat leaking or being discharged from houses, as we all know windows and uninsulated areas of your house are great conductors of thermal energy. Hid lights put out lots of radiant energy for this reason it is best to insulate and board up any windows in your grow room making sure they look normal from the out side. I would also avoid attics entirely they are easily detectable by FLIR, they are usually poorly insulated and they are most often the hottest area of a house because heat rises. I believe the avg attic temperature in the summer can get up to 140 i wouldn't want to contend with that while trying to grow my plants. Over all your best defense against FLIR is common sense, your best weapon against FLIR detection is right out side your house every day, if you are really that worried about FLIR run your lights in the day time... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S11 Ventilation The most important factor in controlling odor and heat in your grow room is negative air pressure, it is a very simple concept and worth having a good understanding of for any indoor grower. The way you create negative air pressure is by always having more air being pushed out of the room than being pushed in, for this reason there is virtually no reason to ever use fans to push air into your grow space, unless you are growing in a huge grow room. Here is a link that will help you calculate the ventilation needs of your grow room, http://forum.grasscity.com/grow-roo...alculating-ventilation-needs-room-volume.html and an FAQ that will help answer some of your other questions on ventilation. http://forum.grasscity.com/grow-room-design-setup/594150-ventilation-faq.html Ozone generators can be a great alternative to a carbon filter they have very little drag so they reduce your need for huge ventilation fans, and they eliminate all odor produced by marijuana plants if used properly. However there are some down sides there is a bulb that would need to be replaced every so often and high concentrations of ozone can be toxic to living creatures, so it is not a good idea to use ozone unless you are venting directly to the out doors, and have a good handle on ventilation. There are 2 different types of ozone generators there are ozone generators that are built into ducting to eliminate the odors being exhausted from your house and there are room purification systems. I would only recommend ducted systems to avoid contact with concentrated ozone, also DIY at your own risk the bulb used to produce ozone will blind you if you see it while its turned on. Here is some more info on ozone and safety. Ozone Generators that are Sold as Air Cleaners | Indoor Air | US EPA Hydroponic Ozone Generator - Is it Safe For an Indoor Grow Room? Ozone Generators that are Sold as Air Cleaners | Indoor Air | US EPA C02 is the absolute last upgrade you should be adding to your system, adding c02 can improve your systems efficiency drastically but you have to make sure you can hold it in and that you have taken care of all your plants other needs first... I made a couple of diagrams showing the best ways to set up a grow room ventilation system. The first is for your standard closet grower on a limited budget a very simple system air is exhausted threw your air cooled reflector and your carbon filter reducing heat controlling odor and bringing in fresh air from your intakes. http://forum.grasscity.com/attachme...ers-other-useful-information-ventilation1.jpg The second is for a grower who wants a bit more of an advanced room with c02 but has not sealed up there room yet, this room has a separate ventilation system for the lights and one for climate and odor control which is controlled by a thermostat and humidity controller. http://forum.grasscity.com/attachme...ers-other-useful-information-ventilation2.jpg The third is for a grower who has completely sealed up there grow room to allow for maximum co2 and climate control, the light again has a separate ventilation system and the temperature and humidity are controlled by an air conditioning unit and a dehumidifier. http://forum.grasscity.com/attachme...ers-other-useful-information-ventilation3.jpg ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S12 Final words Here is a link to a very informative thread on electricity and safety, http://forum.grasscity.com/do-yourself/349438-electricity-usage-wiring-saftey-you.html here is a link that will help you identify and take care of nutrient deficient, toxic, or sick plants, The Complete guide to Sick Plants,pH, and Pest troubles! - International Cannagraphic Magazine Forums and last but not least a gigantic compilation of questions and answers sourced 420mag. How to Grow Marijuana - Everything You Need to Know! - 420 Magazine If this thread was helpful to you and it took some digging to find please bump the thread so that others can learn from it as well...
This is probably one of the most comprehensive and awesome posts I have seen. Very well done. Awesome educational material for complete beginners, and novice and entry level indoor growers alike
Thanks Mr. House I just started my very first grow. Have 17 seedlings on third day after germ. Their under a T-5 for now and I've been reading and studying all summer and I will be back to reread your post a few times I'm sure, thanks again.
Thanks for all the comments, its good to see that all my time and effort is appreciated, any ways if any one can think of any important info that escaped me when i was compiling all of this please let me know.
Freakin awesome posts.... You really know what you're talking about and you should write a book or something. Thnks!!!
I only wish my knowledge was that extensive, unfortunately most of it is just theory and not actual experience, i really need to get myself out to a medical state so i can put some of this knowledge to work for me.
Thanks for the diagrams. Im trying to set up co2 for the first time and am a little confused. i have a question about the last diagram with the sealed room. I notice you're not using a fan/ filter at all. That makes me nervous for smell reasons. please tell me if this setup would work. I have a 4x4 tent with a 1000w hps, a fan, and a filter and an ozone generator. I have then built a 7 x 7 sealed room out of 6 mil plastic sheeting around the tent. This way I can clean the air but still have a sealed room. With the last diagram, I see that you exhaust the hot air from the light, but you never bring in fresh air? and never exhaust used air other than the from the light? You just recycle the same air over and over? Also, with a sealed room, I probably shouldn't use an ozone generator?
In the second and third diagrams the light is on its own ventilation track, in the second diagram the ventilation is controlled by a thermometer and a relative humidity controller in the third room the room is taken care of by an air conditioner and a dehumidifier if necessary. You should never use an ozone generator and let it fill up the inside of your house, ozone is toxic when it is concentrated so you should only use it in a well exhausted room or in a exhaust duct that is being exhausted out of the house that way there is no chance of exposure to you. You are correct the air in the 3rd diagram is reused over and over and there is no problem with this as long as you are using co2 enrichment it sounds to me like the second ventilation diagram would be better for you. Also that 7x7 tent you have set up out side your tent sounds like a bad idea a 1k watt light is gonna heat that up very fast and with out cooler air coming in to cool down your plants they are gonna fry. You don't need an extra tent to control odor you also don't need a carbon filter and an ozone gen all you need is negative air pressure and a good carbon filter as long as you have that you will be fine.
The last time I grew, i was very successful with the yield, but had a smell problem. i used a 248 Can Fan and a short fat Can Filter that I think was a 50, but its been a while since i bought it and there is no writing on it so im not for sure. Anyways, with negative pressure and a carbon filter, it still smelled. My house is 130 year old brick house. The brick is very pourous and air moves right through it. During flowering, you could even smell it outside. At that time I was growing in a 2-1/2 x 4 x 7 space. Could it be that the fan was too powerful and was getting pulled too fast to be properly scrubbed by the filter. Is the Filter/ Fan made by a quality brand? I promised the wife that this time I set it up, it would not smell. Thats why I built the plastic room around the new 4 x 4 tent. I was wondering if it was going to cause me more trouble than it solved, so I'm glad I posted and really appreciate the answers. I've even thought about double scrubbing, adding another fan/filter combo in the room that the tent will empty into. I just really want to prevent that smell again so my girl dont make me take it down. Don't you add the CO2 while the light is on? and quit the CO2 when the light is off? Wouldn't I have to turn off the ventalation while the CO2 is running? How do I keep the smell at bay during that time period? I don't know what the rep points are all about cause im new to grasscity but if they help you, I'll send them. Thanks for the help
If you smelt the stink still and had good negative air pressure i would imagine the problem was that you were pushing to much air threw the carbon filter and you needed a bigger one. The awesome thing about negative air pressure is that you don't have to worry about the air leaks in the room as long as you have negative air pressure and capable equipment you should be smell free... Ill have to answer the later my gf is bugging me.