(1st Grow) 5G Hempy Buckets MARS 144 LED IKEA Closet [BBHz x Pie?]

Hey everybody, 1st Grow ever!

Setup is:
Ikea Closet

• RTek Insulation
• ~72'' H x 36'' W x 24'' D
• (6) 1/4'' eyebolts

Venting

• 6'' intake 240CFM fan
• 6'' passive exhaust

Light

• 300W LED GalaxyHydro

Nutrients

• General Hydroponics
  • FloraMicro
  • FloraGro
  • FloraBloom

I'd appreciate all constructive criticism! Keep the negative shit to yourself.
Probably not the best thing ya'll have seen, but I'm hoping to get a small sized harvest. Nothing insane, and I wouldn't feel bad just turning it into bubble if the bud wasn't was good as expected.

 

D2 of germination in rockwool.

 

D5 Germ. I turned on the lights after I flipped 2 seeds to point up on D4.
Lights on 18/6
Missed a day in the log, but that's because I was messing with the light and timer. pH was really nice at around 5.9/6.0.
Humidity has been consistently high in the dome, spraying it every 12 hours at air exchanges.

Reduced water level now to about a 1/4'' above the bottom. Gonna watch the humidity closely now, kinda afraid I over watered these guys .

Disappointed I'm not seeing anything sprout yet, but I guess it hasn't even been a week of stable pH, and water level yet.

See ya in a few days.

 

Kinda what I expected. The wool I was given was probably old or at the least not sterile causing my pH to skyrocket. Last checked after 12 hours went from 5.9 to 7.9. I got some new wool, and threw some of my Sweet Tooth x Pie seeds into them with some 5.5 pHd tap water I've been airing. Everything is back under the light, and some fresh air and mist.

I did transfer some of the BBHz seeds into the new wool with some tweezers, but I doubt they would retake. Most of them had tails on them, some definitely longer than others.

All in now I've used 15 seeds that I was given, and had 3 break ground and die while I was with my GF in the ICU a week back.
10 still in the dome.

Great learning experience so far, glad I'm making the rookie mistakes early.

 

2 of my little girls broke ground the other day! I was so excited! They are looking strong at this point. I had gotten some GH rapid rooter becuase I was growing impatient and within 24 hours, was greeted with these beauties.



I wanted to have at least 3 seedlings in the 6 pot DWC, but it didn't look like luck was on my side after another 24 hours, until I found these guys that had gone way too deep somehow, or were upside down.

 

Threw those 2 into the bubble buckets with max air 45L for the (2)
5gal buckets now.

Keeping the water level just below the nets for now, the really stalky one had some roots poking out the bottom I hope the squirt makes it too.

 

These poor babies weren't getting the light they needed...Both of them told me from day 1 when they started pointing towards eachother...

Sigh...
Got a Mars144 5W that barely fits in there. I hope it helps my girls out.

 

Heard some rumors about having to use CalMag with LED lights for some reason, makes sense why I didn't get sprouts until I added RR.

 

After about 5 hours I can visibly tell that the "strong one" is straightening out, and will be just fine at this point. I would consider removing the dome, but the little one might need it still. Haven't seen any growth/stretching at all since the transplant. Maybe I killed her?

 

Ended up ditching the DWC all together. Hempy buckets are probably going to be the way from here on out.

Made 2 5 Gal Hempys drilled 2.5" from the bottom, and filled with hydroton. Topped with straight Coco, because I'm trying to only feed once every 2 days.

I also like the 14" tall drainage catch, my shop vac fits right in there, and I can easily do 10% runoffs into the bucket and not have to worry about spilling.

Started full strength after the transplant, and they both showed a set of second leaves within 12 hours.

My stumpy girl had a big root ball in the rockwool, but the left one had the 6" tap root. It looked CRAZY!

Getting 2 clones of some Maui next week, and ill pop them into some 3.5 Gal Hempys so they can catch up quicker. (I hope)

Anybody want to comment on the coloring of my leaves?
After my research I think it was Cal-Mag Def. So I started adding Epsom salt to my feeding today.

 

Oh, and doing Lucas formula. 6-9 + Epsom salt.

Can't fuck up something so simple, RIGHT? I hope...

Shout out to FullMelt for the advice so far.

 

It needs a reflector of some sort to divert the light down. (Maybe a foil disposable dish or something)

It's actual wattage was only about 110w/~1 Ampere. Way too small for my space, causing my plants to reach for the middle of the closet significantly, if you look at some pics I posted.

I upgraded to the Mars 144 and instantly saw amazing improvement in growth.

In my opinion, oversize your LED for the space. The Mars 144 recommends 3x4 grow closet. Mine is about 2.5x3.5.

I might use the 300w galaxy for a veg room for my clones in a closet half that size, but again I don't know if It will be strong enough

 

I think most people supplement their 300w LED with CFLs or another source.

 

I don't think its a matter of height to be honest. I tried quite a few height options and didn't get the best results from my propagation tray. 18"-24" wasn't close enough to raise humidity enough to pull the moisture out of the soaked cubes.

Personally thinking anything under 300w might be a waste of money. I see a lot of people doing really well with the larger ones, specifically the Mars 900, and the Mars II series. Best bang for your buck is going to be the reflector series as long as you can manage the heat.

I'm still having some issues with that ATM, my little 240 cfm can barely keep up.