Come grow with me! (You'll have to read to find out what!)

Greetings and respect to everyone!

It's been a long 5 year hiatus and Duquesa and I have decided that it's time to go back to doing what we're best at. I don't know y'all yet, but I am happy to have found a forum again. I grew in SWC from '96-'01 and then switched to DWC. It was a shock to me when I tried to return to my old forum, where I moderated for 3 years in the Indoor, Hydro and SCROG forums, only to find that all the 1000's of posts of collective knowledge are gone!

I'm feeling pretty rusty, but I am very excited about this thread. We're going to build a growroom from the ground up, complete with pics all the way. I am abandoning the DWC bubblers and going to ebb/flow this time, so this is entirely new to me. My equipment is old, but it works well and has been well-maintained. Over 8 years of growing, I acquired some pretty nice toys to play with, so don't be surprised when I list my equipment.

I have estimated about a $700 reinvestment to begin again, and we'll track every penny.

What I would love to see here is an open thread, where any member can feel free to call me out if I do something odd, members will try to answer my questions when I have them, and anyone can feel free to post their own experiences or questions.

Here's what we're growing:

I am growing from seed because I don't want anyone to know I am growing. Also, the last time I received clones from another garden, I had both fungus gnats and spider mites, which totally devastated crop after crop.

These are some 5-10 year old seeds. I am germing them using the paper towel method; however, I use the blue auto shop towels. They hold more moisture and I've had excellent success with them. I'm not at all sure what type of germ rate to expect, so I am germing a bunch to be safe. There will, unfortunately, be considerable variety in the garden as I am looking to grow at least 12-15 females. Here are the strains - remember, I told you they were old seeds

10 Zagorsk (Killer Queen x Sugar Klingon) from Canadianseeds
10 Dagga (an African landrace strain) from Cannabis Professionals
10 Bizzare 47 (from a CBAY auction - breeder unknown. Also, I forget what makes them "Bizarre")
15 Bronze Berry (from Rodwhal - it's got an interesting lineage and there are pics here).

I'm not so computer savvy, so I'm going to end this post and check the link. Be back in a jif!

 

OK, so the link works. Cool. My next hurdle will be uploading pics, of which as I promised, there will be many.

Here is a list of the equipment I've kept over the years. Some of it is pretty nice, but I still expect to have to spend about $700.
1 80 gpd 5-stage RO unit (I intend to replace the sediment filters, but the membrane is good for 2 more grows yet)
1 430w HPS w/new EYE Hortilux bulb and vented hood with glass
2 600w HPS with unused bulbs. These came from Europe, so I had to buy a 240v-120v converter for these. I bought each aircooled hoods with 6" holes for ducting. I also bought new Hortilux bulbs for these, but the threads aren't compatible (they won't screw in). - Can anyone help with this?
1 6" 440 cfm Can Fan
1 4" Big Blue Ozone machine. It has a 4" to 6" adapter so it can run with the lights and ozonate the exhaust.
1 Greenair CD-6 CO2 generator (propane powered)
1 Lightrail 3.5 10rpm w/Intellidrive (light mover). I never moved the metal rail, so I might sell this or purchase a new rail - haven't decided yet.
3 15 amp Timers with on/off intervals that can be set as low as 15 minutes
I should also have a very expensive timer with dials for the CO2 generator (I remember paying about $100 for it) but I haven't been able to find it yet.

I ordered the following today on Ebay - I'll list the prices including shipping in case anyone is interested:
HANNA HI 98103 Digital pH Meter (I went cheap on the meters, but have used this in the past. They always seem to break anyway) - $28
HANNA Primo TDS Tester (ppm) - $15
10 Replacement batteries - $4
1 230ml btl pH 4.01 Calibration Solution - $10
1 230ml btl pH 7.01 Cal Sol - $10
1 230ml btl 1382 ppm TDS Cal Sol - $11
1 230ml btl pH Electrode Cleaning Sol - $15
1 230ml btl pH Electrode Storage Sol - $14
1 16 oz btl of Superthrive - $32
200 1" Grodan rockwool starter cubes (for the germed seeds and clones) - $19
1 gal each of GH Micro, Grow and Bloom - $86 - now that's a deal!
1 50k lux light meter (10.7 lux = 1 ftcandle) - $33
AND...
1 of those nifty new grow tents. This one is 56"x56"x78", or 4' 8" square - $120. I calculate this to be about 21.78 ft2 of canopy to cover with 1630w, which comes out to about 75wpsf. Considering the fact I intend to supplement with CO2, the plants should really dig the extra light.

I figured that was enough to spend for today, since I've still got some high dollar purchases ahead.

Total so far: $397 down, $303 to go.

I want to thank everyone who reads this thread in advance - together, we will grow some great medicine!

 

Well, it's been a few days, and I can report that germination of the old seeds as been a problem. I believe Duquesa told me that we had 3 each of the Bronze Berry, Bizarre 47 and Zagorsk germ - these have been transplanted in a 50/50 perlite, vermiculite mix since the 1" rockwool starter cubes haven't come yet. None of the Dagga have germed, and they have sold mold growing, as well.

I attribute the poor germination to the following:
1) The seeds are anywhere from 6-10 years old
2) My mistake! As I told you earlier, I like to use the blue shop towels for germination because they hold more water and I've used them with great success in the past.
The roll I used had been sitting in the nasty trunk of my car for about 2 years. The towel around some of the seeds started to show tiny, web-like mold.

That was a foolish mistake. However, seeds are not something I lack - I have many that I think will grow well together.

Last night, while using a brand-new roll of shop towels, I mixed up a gallon of water with 1/4tsp bleach and about 6 drops Superthrive. I will use this both to soak the shop towels in and to water the sprouts for now.

Several of the varieties I germed are lots of 5 or fewer very old seeds. With my approx. 22 sq ft I anticipate I'll need at least 22 robust female plants, so I'll need many sprouts.

I have a much better feeling about the germ rate of these seeds I started last night:
15 more Bronze Berry
7 Kong x C99
5 Northern Berry
8 Swazi Skunk
5 Apollo 13 / Bubba Kush x Lemon Thai / Beauty and the Beast (the LTBnB strain by itself if by far the best strain we've ever grown. Unfortunately, all that remains of those genes are in some crosses with Dutch Flowers' genetics.

In any event, it should be fair to say that with the possible exception of the Swazi Skunk (and the Dagga, which I have about given up on), all of the varieties being grown should be of fairly short stature, relatively fast-flowering and Scrog well, with the bonus of many different highs.

Here are a few pictures of the germination set-up (never uploaded pics before - let's see how this works):

 

The area chosen for the grow measures 5'2" deep and wide. It is peaked in the middle, so the ceiling is between 8'-8'10" above the ground.

It should fit the 4'8" square lxw and the 7' tall grow tent perfectly, while the 4'x4' ebb/flow table, stand and res along with 1630w hps and CO2 generator, etc. quite well. I have given thought to boarding up the window from the inside with some plywood; with the tent this becomes not so big a problem.

Notice the abundance of outlets in this little corner of a huge room: 3. This is rather odd and it makes me wonder if I'm not the only person ever to have thought about drawing a lot of power there. I haven't yet checked the load on the circuit breakers yet, but the smallest breakers are 20amps and I'd like to spread the load over 2 of these to be safe. On the left side of the space as you are facing toward it, is the bathroom, and there is an exhaust fan in the ceiling there. I'll drill a 4" hole in the top of the wall and run the exhaust duct though this aperture. Of course, the exhaust will have been treated with O3 prior to escaping, thanks to the Big Blue UV in O3 generator.

I am rather upset because I know I will need a CO2 meter / controller for the room. These can cost thousands, if you let them. I tried to win an auction for a Greenair Digital CO2 monitor / controller ($950 value), but was outbid and someone elso got my prize.

Barring someone else auctioning off another one similar to it for an excellent discount, I feel I will probably have to suck it up and at least purchase one of these:
.

However, it only monitors CO2 levels - it doesn't activate or deactive the ventilation / CO2 generator. It also runs about $290.

This model supposedly runs with any model of CO2 generator and is about $390:

 

Here you can see what the area to be used looks like prior to any modifications. Included is a pic of my 8 year-old Purepro RO-105 5-stage Reverse Osmosis system. I love this product - it is easy to maintain, the filters aren't too expensive, and it can take 760ppm well water and drop it to 3ppm - no joke!. It can do about 50 gallons a day, which required some planning when changing out DWC reservoirs. You can buy one here for about $370, but there is another one that seems really no different to me on the same site for $300 here .

Before ordering too much more stuff, the wife and I are going to take a trip to a hydro strore about an hour away, so we can see some designs in action, as well as purchase some of the impossible-to-ship items, such as the 4'x4' table, lid, 50lbs Grorox, etc.

Will post again in a day or two!

- Sorry, I'll post the pics later!