heya guys, been browsing around here a bit, and finally started my first grow. I will be growing lowryder 2 x ak47. 5 seeds cost me £38.95. My other equipment: 600w HPS light/ballast little grow tent (!) hydrogarden rockwool cubes rhizotonic B&Q 5 star tomato planter soil, with peat. Perlite, mixed in at 1 part perlite per 6 parts soil in 20cm diameter pots Canna Flores (for later) Cannabis Grow Bible by Greg Green haha The tent is a handly little thing from Argos - a black, canvas type wardrobe. I taped the inside with the foily type gift wrap - heard from a grower it works just as well as mylar - thoughts on this? Maybe invest in some mylar instead? Anyway, tonight is germination night. I read somewhere that the mayans had a much better understanding of agriculture than we do today, as they understood the effects of the position of the planets on cultivation. So with tonight being a full moon, i thought it was the ideal time to start the germination process. I diluted 4ml of rhizontonic into a litre of water, and poured maybe 10 ml of the mixture over the rockwool cubes, and covered them in the propogation tray. Will add a few ml's of the diluted rhizo to keep the cubes damp. Wish me luck. My arsehole is twitching with nerves and excitement. Pics coming soon.
...and i've already got my first question - once the seeds have germinated, i am going to put the rockwool cube directly into the pot. Do they start getting the HPS light once they have germinated and are in the big pot?
Yes they need light. They wont need and HPS to start off, but you could just distance it from them. How many seeds do you have germing?
Wow nice I'm excited to watch this grow, i was thinking about getting the Lowryder x Ak47 but i ended up with the diesel ryder. I am using pretty much the same setup u have. I am using a 600watt HPS all the time i just move the light further for a few weeks. Can't wait to see your progress Good Luck.
I've put all 5 seeds in the cubes. All together, they've had about 20ml of the diluted rhizo over them to keep the moist, but no sign of germination yet I've been reading your diesel ryder thread! I was thinking about getting them next. I hope the lr x ak47 doesn't smell as much as the diesel ryder- might have to get an oxygeniser otherwise. At the moment the light is about 60cm away from the base of the tent. The dimensions of the tent are 90cm wide by 50cm deep by 160cm tall. From argos - £15! Not bad at all. Only lets a little light through the zip. The material is sort of like tent material i suppose, so it should be able to breathe whilst keeping in a lot of light.
hi Bobobo, Blobbio here Are you my doppelganger Seeing as how you're in the UK and have virtually the same username as me I'd better subscribe..... (use the link in my sig to join the UK growers GC social group) in a bit matey!
well, 3 of the little fella got aroused during the night and have sprouted a dinkle that's quite impressive considering their body size. The other two are yet to germinate. I was quite concerned that they didn't sprout overnight, so i was considering getting some rockwool conditioner - not sure how effective it would have been, as the cubes i got are supposed to be pretreated specifically for germinating seeds and cuttings. Just hope the other two come along now. A couple of questions - -The tent is already over 100 degrees! Apart from having a fan on it for the next 3 months, is there anything i can do to keep it cool? -The light is about 50cm away from the pot - considering the temperature, is this ok, or should it be further/ closer?
um...none really. See the fan next to the tent in the pic? Well i've got the zip down and the fan up to the front of it, on the lowest speed, which has made the temperature a steady 88-89 degrees. If i simply open the zips, without the fan, it stays over 100, so it looks like the fan is on for the next 3 months. But when the plants grow, surely it can't be good for them to be in a direct chilly breeze like that? Considering the above picture of the tent, what's the best way to ventilate it? Maybe cut a few holes through the top? The heat doesn't escape from the top that well, hence why i need all the zips wide open, as the reflector fits so snugly in the tent that it kind of traps the heat below it. Any advice is great. How about the distance of the light from the seedlings? Should they be closer or further away? Because of the irregular heat i've sprayed about 300ml of diluted rhizo on the pots just to keep them moist.
Does your tent not have intake/exhaust vent holes? If it does not i would recommend putting some in. My tent is kept cool with the 4" intake fan, and 6" fan for the exhaust. Also a fan like the one you have. Plus i started using a/c in the same room and have the intake hose wired to the a/c to draw direct air in. Don't know if this will help but hope it does.
seriously considering that tent from argos to grow with! online canonly find in white ! edit; found it in black! gonna order ASAP!
Not by design, although i'm quite eager to add some. I don't know much about fans and stuff, but from what i've been reading, i think i need two - an intake fan that brings air into the tent, placed at a hole near the bottom of the tent, and an exhaust fan to blow air out of the tent through a carbon filter, at the top of the tent. So that is two types of fan: intake and exhaust - what type of each (ie spec, price) would be suitable for the above set up? And would these regulate the temperature too? A few other random questions: I am lighting the plants for 18/6, but was wondering if the 6 hours off needs to be in one go - in other words, can i have the light on for 9 hours, then off for 3, then on for 9, and off for 3 (one day) - i've been thinking about avoiding peak-time energy rates (7-10am, 5-8pm), but not sure if the plant needs a "block" of no-light. Or does it make a difference if i leave the lights on all day and turn them off at night, or vice versa - in other words, does the plant need the cool night to grow properly? What temp should i be aiming at during the night, if i don't have the light on? Thanks!
No you def cant have the lights on and off every 9 or 3 hours, you will need to stick with the 18/6 and dont change it as it will stress your plants. With regard to temps, dont go over 30c and dont go below 16c at lights off, try and aim at around 24c, alot of growers have the lights on at night so they can control the temps a bit better, but make sure you dont have any light leaks if you switching your lights off in the day time. You also will def need to sort out extraction or your going to fry your plants. Good luck.
for ventalation, get aintake (for example dont take these sizes in for your tent bc im gonna make up some sizes) an instake thats 40Cubic feet per hour and an exhaust which is 50 cubic feet per hour, having a larger out-take than your intake is better for dropping temps in the tent
ok, thanks for the heads-up about the lighting. I've managed to get the temperature at a steady 84-85, but like i said the flaps are wide open which defeats the purpose of the tent to begin with. Is that how to create a negative intake, by having the exhaust stronger than the intake? What power, size and price do i need to consider for these two fans? Are they specifically different in how they operate, or is it simply one fan "pointing inwards" and another fan "pointing outwards"?
Hi mate you need inline fans and ducting really. the MINIMUM you will get away with in that tent will be a 4" exhaust fan with a passive intake. get something like a 4" Ruck or RVK fan, they are designed to operate continuously. if you scrimp and get one designed to vent a bathroom or shower enclosure (like I did to begin with) it will fail after only a few months or even weeks. ventilation is SO important! ideally you will want to get temps down to a steady 75F with the lights on. how sturdy is the frame of your tent? if it is just plastic tubes you will be better off mounting the fan outside and route the ducting into it. also, try to get a carbon scrubber to kill the smell. you can use a black plastic 90 degree plumbing fixture(s) for your passive intake, it should keep the light out (and in, lol) good luck man (and WHY have you not yet joined the UK Growers Group? )
Thanks for the advice. The frame is just plastic, tubular, pretty flimsy. Going in through the top is definintely the best way i reckon to add fans to it. Still got the big fan on the outside with the zips down - stabilisied to about 29/ 79. So what exactly is an inline fan with passive intake - in laymans terms - is it just a 4 inch fan that blows air in (or out?) of the tent? Do i have the fan on the outside of the tent, blowing air through the ducting into the tent, or have the fan on the inside of the tent, blowing air through the ducting out of the tent? When should i start watering them? I mean, i'm not even sure they should be under the HPS light yet - they've germinated, got a little white dinkle coming out, been potted in 20cm diameter pots, one of them has even started growing the two leaves - and they're under the light for 16 hours a day (for the past 2 days at least) - so when shall i water, and how much? And at this stage, how far away should the light be from the pots? I got a pm from someone (cheers mate!) who gave me a link to the same tent on another forum. This is what i'm aiming for! ps Joined the group!
The fans that you are gonna need would be from like a grow/hydro shop.You need to get a intake fan of lower CFM (cubic Feet per Min) and higher CFM (cubic Feet per Min)fan for the exhaust. They are inline fans that hook up to different size outlets and they come in different levels of power. Like i have a 4inch intake fan blowing air into my room from my a/c to keep it cool, for my exhaust i have a 6inch inline fan sucking air from my carbon coal filter to exhaust the hot air/smell. Best thing to do would be to go to a shop and talk to someone about it thats what i did and they showed me what i would need. Dunno if you have one by you, if not they have them online like at www.HTGSUPPLY.com. They also have the fan and filter combos which you may want for your exhaust if your worried about the smell getting out.
So i definitely need two fans - i can't just have the exhaust fan, to get rid of heat and smell? I found these two on ebay: 6 inch extractor fan duct hosing Is the fan ok? Can i buy two of the same - one for the exhaust, one for the intake? Or are intake and exhaust fans different? So many questions in my head what about the amount of water i should give the seedlings at this stage, and how far away should the light be from them?