2nd Grow - 250W MH/HPS Cabinet - Venus Fly Trap - Blue Widow - Bobs Your Uncle x 2

Hey there GrassCity crew!
I'm brand new to GrassCity as a member, however i have posted on a couple other forums, focusing mostly on rollitup.org, but have decided to make the transition. This is my second grow in a brand new cabinet, this time all hydro!

The Space:
- made from a store bought cabinet with some modifications (16" x 30" x 60")
- 24"W x 15"L x 30"T (flood tray size 20"L x 15"W x 5"D)
- resides in cool basement (~15^C)

The Medium:
- 1.5" rockwool cubes for sprouting
- 4" rockwool cubes for growth
- 10L hydroton

The Light:
- 250W HID HPS/MH electronic Ballast
- 250W MH Bulb
- 250W HPS Bulb
- 13" Wing Reflector with Ceramic Socket

The Nutes:
- General Hydroponics FloraNova Grow and Bloom
- Advanced Nutrients Voodoo Juice, Bud Candy, Big Bud

The Ventilation/Circulation:
- 2 x 8cm PC case fans in line (in)
- 4" 120cfm inline duct booster with homemade carbon filter (out)
- 4" desk fan (circulation)

The Equipment:
- Analog Timer (lights)
- Digital Timer (pump)
- Power Bar
- 30gal Air Pump
- 2 x Air Stones
- 80gph Submersible Water Pump
- 5gal Bucket (res)
- 3 x 1/2" Bulkhead Fittings with Screens
- 4ft 1/2" Clear Tubing
- 20" x 15" x 5" Rubbermaid Tray/Tote (flood table)

The Strains:
- Nivana Venus Fly Trap
- Dynafem Blue Widow
- 2 x Bobs Your Uncle (supposedly fem seeds of unknown strain got 'em from a guy named Bob hence the name)

The Plan:
All 4 have germinated and have been placed in the hydro setup. The idea is to veg them out on 18hrs of light for about 2 months to get them to a good size before heavily cloning for the outdoor season ahead (minus 2 of my favorite strain which will eventually go back into the cabinet) leaving only the main cola to be to flower under 12hrs of light. The clones will then be matured for transplant under the 100W T5 HO fixture I will have in another cabinet/plywood box that is yet to be made. I am using an ebb&flow setup with a 5gal res and a 4.5gal flood tray. I am considering using a screen and scrog'in but have not commited at this point.

The Construction:
The cabinet was purchased from a retail store as a pantry style cupboard. A piece of 3/8" plywood was purchased to replace the flimsy card backing that came with the cabinet. I put a rough coat of paint on most parts before assembly which was conducted as per the manual leaving out the steps to fasten the shelves into the cabinet. After determining an appropriate hight for the shelf, which the resivoir will sit under, it was fastened in place. I found a rubbermaid tote which fit my space perfectly. I added 3 bulkhead aquarium fittings to it, one on the bottom connected to the pump and two out the low side of the container for water level drains. I placed this in a custom frame I made which holds it just over the secured shelf and to the right side of the cabinet. I then added all the necessary holes through the shelf for the tubing to the resivoir. On the left side i created a box which acts partially as a light block for the intake as well as an area for the ballast. In the back of this box is a 4" hole with a vent cap and an 8cm PC fan secured inside. Also, out the side into the grow area, I secured another vent cap and PC case fan which act as intake for the grow space. In the top left of the cabinet I put another 4" hole in which i inserted the duct booster fan into. The duct booster is then connected to an elbow with a length of 4" hose with a vent cap on the end which contains a 1" layer of activated carbon. The entire grow space was then fully painted matte white and touched up with aluminum tape in all the corners and joints. I then secured a 4" desk fan to the left wall of the grow space for circulation. I also added hooks to top of the cabinet to hang my new 250W HID. I still have some light proofing to do on the doors but it should not take long, a little cardboard and some more aluminum tape should do the trick nicely.


The Wrap Up:
Anyways, Overall this grow will be smaller in spacial size than my last but i hope to produce superior quality bud and possibly more of it as well. I hope to keep weekly logs and will check in frequently for any questions, comments, or suggestions which are always welcome! Hope you enjoy my journal!

As Always, Peace and Love,
PyspherE

Edited by PyspherE, 06 March 2012 - 09:50 PM.

Hey!
I am really considering an upgrade but i really don't have the $800-1000 i need to do the setup properly at the time being! From a quick look around i would probably go with a setup like this:
2' x 4' x 5' Grow Tent
600W Dimmable Digital Ballast with 6" Cool Tube
6" 400CFM Inline Fan with 19" Carbon Filter
This leaves $200-400 for a custom modular ebb&flow system i'm kind of working on a design for. I hope to use a 10gal res in the tent with 6-8 modular sites. I will probably modify my current cabinet to fit 3-4 of these same "sites" and make it the veg cabinet. To complete this setup i will need another submersible pump, air pump, air stones, ~1gal container(sites), bulkheads, hose, +10gal container(res), rockwool, hydroton. Anything else i can get from my place of work(wood, screws, tools). This will allow me to do a full prepetual grow with a 100W HO T5 Clone Cabinet(2-3 clones), 250W MH Veg Cabinet (3-4 sites), 600W HPS Flower Tent (6-8 sites). This would give me either 1 plant every 7-10 days or 2 plants every 15-20 days, either way I'd be happy!!!.

Peace and Love,
PyspherE

Edited by PyspherE, 07 March 2012 - 01:57 AM.

I will follow along , but I can't see your pics.

You tried to use image URLs of pictures that you uploaded onto rollitup.com

You can only see photos on that site if you are logged in.

So you can probably see the pictures in your post since your logged in over there, but no one on GC is going to be so you should just upload them here so we can see.

Good luck on your grow ill tag along!

Thanks for pointing that out... i thought i could be lazy but i will get the pics up for you all to see!

Peace and Love
PyspherE

Hey!

The First Update:
The plants are 1 week into veg, or 2 weeks from seed, and are working on their 3rd set of serrated leaves. They are all about 2-1/2" tall and seem to be doing well. For the first week they recieved 400ppm of GH FloraNova Grow plus 1 tbsp/gal of AN Voodoo Juice. Today i replaced the res and upped the dose to ~550ppm GH FloraNova Grow plus the same 1 tbsp/gal of AN Voodoo Juice. They are still getting 18hrs of light and are being flooded for 10min 4 times / light cycle.

Anyways I'm working on preliminary designs for a clone cab to fit my 100W T5 fixture in as well and will hopefully begin construction mid week. If you have any questions or advice please leave a comment!

Peace and Love,
PyspherE

What up GC!

Announcement: NEW SEEDS!!!

The Seeds:
10 x Dinafem California Hash Plant
10 x Dinafem Deep Grapefruit
2 x Dinafem OG Kush
1 x Dinafem White Widow
1 x Dinafem Blue Widow
1 x Dinafem Diesel
1 x Dinafem Critical + Automatic

Probably going to throw 4 under my 100W T5 in early april and let them veg for a month before i plant them outside for the summer and hopefully pull some monsters in the fall. Other than that I don't really have any plans for them at the moment. I have been itching to upgrade to a 2' x 4' tent and I think i will commit come late may when i get rid of my clones for the outdoor season! Speaking of which, I'm really excited about as it will be my first year doing my OWN grow... i have been involved in the planting and harvesting of a freinds plants, but this will be the first time using my own plants(probably going to give him some clones this season cause he doesn't do indoor). Anyways that's what i've been up to this week. Full update with pictures is coming on sunday!

Peace and Love,
PyspherE

What up GC!

Announcement: NEW SEEDS!!!

The Seeds:
10 x Dinafem California Hash Plant
10 x Dinafem Deep Grapefruit
2 x Dinafem OG Kush
1 x Dinafem White Widow
1 x Dinafem Blue Widow
1 x Dinafem Diesel
1 x Dinafem Critical + Automatic

Probably going to throw 4 under my 100W T5 in early april and let them veg for a month before i plant them outside for the summer and hopefully pull some monsters in the fall. Other than that I don't really have any plans for them at the moment. I have been itching to upgrade to a 2' x 4' tent and I think i will commit come late may when i get rid of my clones for the outdoor season! Speaking of which, I'm really excited about as it will be my first year doing my OWN grow... i have been involved in the planting and harvesting of a freinds plants, but this will be the first time using my own plants(probably going to give him some clones this season cause he doesn't do indoor). Anyways that's what i've been up to this week. Full update with pictures is coming on sunday!

Peace and Love,
PyspherE

Wow that's a lot of seeds! I am jealous. how much did those set you back if you don't mind me asking?

And gotta love the feeling of doing for yourself. I am in the same boat as you. But now I only rely on MYSELF!!

I will come back for the pics!!

Hey highjack

dropped about $150 + shipping. Ordered 2 - 10packs, all the rest were freebies... (6 free seeds, i'm not complaining). I'm really looking forward to those Cali Hash Plants, heard/read good things about the "hash plant" strain by various breeders so i really want to see how they turn out indoors and out!

Peace and Love,
PysphereE

Edited by PyspherE, 08 March 2012 - 05:31 PM.

Hey highjack

dropped about $150 + shipping. Ordered 2 - 10packs, all the rest were freebies... (6 free seeds, i'm not complaining). I'm really looking forward to those Cali Hash Plants, heard/read good things about the "hash plant" starin by various breeders so i really want to see how they turn out indoors and out!

Peace and Love,
PysphereE

Nice!!

Thanks, I'm so stoked for this summer with the outdoor plans and the indoor op!!! by the way...YOUR ROOM IS SICK HIGHJACK!!! I hope one day i have a personal setup like that! One of the best threads I've seen by far!

On another note, any one have input on this light? I'm looking more for first hand expierences with any blackstar/lighthouse LED lights, but any input is appreciated... i'm thinking about 2 possibly 3 (6 plants - 2 lights, 8 plants - 3 lights) of them in a 2' x 4' tent, but i have 2 months to decide if LEDs are what i want to go with or not, if they were'nt so expensive I'd be all over them!

As always, Peace and Love,
PyspherE

Edited by PyspherE, 09 March 2012 - 01:35 AM.

Hey there! Update time!

Sorry i'm a day late with this update, I had one hell of a rough weekend!

So i did a res chnge and increased the GH FloraNova Grow to ~620ppm with 1 tbsp/gal of AN Voodoo Juice. So far Venus Fly Trap is the winner with Bob's #1 is not to far behind. Bob's #2 and Blue widow are both trailing a litte behind but are still doing all right. They both seemed to take the slight deficeincy rather hard while #1 and VFT were not effected. They have both recovered now and seem to be doing all right.
I have plans to get to the hydro store this coming weekend to get more rockwool and hydroton. I also need to get a humidity dome for clones when that time roles around. I will probably pick up some soil-less mix as well to save a trip in another two months.

Anyways, comments and suggestions are always welcome!

Peace and Love,
PyspherE

Hey!

Small update. Last night i decided to raise my light by 4" to hopefully induce a bit of a stretch. So far they are quite bushy so i hope by moving the light a little i can increase the internode space a tad to make cloning easier! other than that everything looks good... #1 and VFT are tied for first by a good bit with #2 ever so slightly ahead of the trailing BW. Anyways, I'll be back with a full update and more pictures in a couple days, as always comments and suggestions are welcome! I'm always looking for advice, and love knowing people are watching!

Peace and Love,
Pysphere

Hey GC!!!

Update time! So the plants are growing at a pretty solid rate! It seems Bob's #1 has taken the lead with VFT not far behind. BW is coming in third slightly ahead of Bob's #2. I changed the res today increasing the GH FloraNova Grow to 850ppm with AN Voodoo Juice. I also had the start of an algea issue on my rockwool cubes so i used some reflective film to cover them as i was unable to make it the hydro shop this weekend to get more hydroton! As always, questions and comments are appreciated!

Peace and Love,
PyspherE

Your setup makes me very curious about ebb and flow systems. Looking great !!!!

Yea thanks i like it! I find it quite easy! at the end of each week i flush with 3-4 gallons of water and let it drain out of the flood table before swapping out for freshly mixed nutrient solution. Other than that all i do is make sure the res isn't to low, the digital timer takes care of the rest. It is especially easy with the nutireints i use. i use voodoo juice and budcandy as additives but could easily get away with just GH FloraNova Grow and GH FloraNova Bloom. Since it is only a 2 part system most of the time you are only adding concentrate from a single bottle, and not 2 or 3 or more. The only time both bottles are used is during transition from veg to flower (3-4 weeks of both) where some blending is needed. Both additives i use have no N-P-K value so they don't really effect my nutrient concentrations/ratios which also makes things easy!

Anyways thanks for the input and hopefully you like the ebb and flow method!

Also my seeds arrived today! thinking about throwing a couple into some 1" rockwool cubes this evening and putting them under some cfls to germinate before throwing them under my T5 to veg before planting outside in month and a half (maybe less with this crazy awesome weather we have here).

As always, Peace and Love,
PyspherE

These Plants are growing amazingly fast now! i think i may need to update more often lol!

Yea thanks i like it! I find it quite easy! at the end of each week i flush with 3-4 gallons of water and let it drain out of the flood table before swapping out for freshly mixed nutrient solution. Other than that all i do is make sure the res isn't to low, the digital timer takes care of the rest. It is especially easy with the nutireints i use. i use voodoo juice and budcandy as additives but could easily get away with just GH FloraNova Grow and GH FloraNova Bloom. Since it is only a 2 part system most of the time you are only adding concentrate from a single bottle, and not 2 or 3 or more. The only time both bottles are used is during transition from veg to flower (3-4 weeks of both) where some blending is needed. Both additives i use have no N-P-K value so they don't really effect my nutrient concentrations/ratios which also makes things easy!

Anyways thanks for the input and hopefully you like the ebb and flow method!

Also my seeds arrived today! thinking about throwing a couple into some 1" rockwool cubes this evening and putting them under some cfls to germinate before throwing them under my T5 to veg before planting outside in month and a half (maybe less with this crazy awesome weather we have here).

As always, Peace and Love,
PyspherE

How do you germinate ? Can you elaborate? I used a rapid rooter in my clone dome. Seemed to work ok. Rockwool seems creepy to me. LOL

These babies are exploding! heres some more pics! I figured they have grown enough to deserve an update!

To germinate i simply soak my 1" rockwool cubes in distilled water and squeeze gently to remove a bit of the excess water. I then use a chopstick (or other pointy object) to poke a hole 3/4 of an inch into the cube, drop the seed in and pinch the hole closed at the top. I then place these in a small humidity dome under a 23W CFL on for 24 hours (which i keep in a box). It usually takes about 3 days to see the cotyledon leaves emerge. Hope that explains it all, i don't think i forgot anything! I know some people swear by the paper towel method but i have had no issues doing it this way yet and it seems to me it saves a good bit of work cause the sprout would be going into these cubes anyways!

Peace and Love,
PyspherE

These babies are exploding! heres some more pics! I figured they have grown enough to deserve an update!

To germinate i simply soak my 1" rockwool cubes in distilled water and squeeze gently to remove a bit of the excess water. I then use a chopstick (or other pointy object) to poke a hole 3/4 of an inch into the cube, drop the seed in and pinch the hole closed at the top. I then place these in a small humidity dome under a 23W CFL on for 24 hours (which i keep in a box). It usually takes about 3 days to see the cotyledon leaves emerge. Hope that explains it all, i don't think i forgot anything! I know some people swear by the paper towel method but i have had no issues doing it this way yet and it seems to me it saves a good bit of work cause the sprout would be going into these cubes anyways!

Peace and Love,
PyspherE

Thanks !!!