So let me first start out saying THANK YOU to everyone here at GC. It's been a pleasure reading everyone's journal or problems that have been discussed on this site. I cannot tell you all the great advice and stories that have brought me to my first grow and now its my turn to share what you've all shared! Hopefully I've learned enough. So...It's taken me about 3 months to get this box in order. I am actually thinking of modifying the cabinet even more, so that I can get the maximum height for the plants and that I don't run out of room for the light. This project sucked the life out me. For some odd reason I like taking on difficult projects or make things difficult, either way, it came out great. As you can see from the pics I have crafted/modified certain items to get what I feel will provide the best outcome. Also, going back and forth about hydro vs. soil, which in this case I went hydro with a tub dwc/bubble tub. LIGHTS I modified an old shop light to hold 7 "Y" sockets. Take a look at the craftmenship, it took me forever to do construct. There was lots of grinding, blood, sweat and tears, oh...and procrastination. I have 14 CFL's, 7 - 27w and 7 - 23w. Not really sure on how to figure the math on everything, lumens, etc... AIR Using the DIY thread on modifying a Stanley Blower fan, I was able to keep my temps under control. Let me tell you, it works great! Also, I will be re-constructing a DIY scrub for the smell as well, even though I don't have to worry about it. It will fit exactly into the rectangle opening, nice and snug. Also, I constructed a small light tight box for the incoming air. CABINET It measures approximately 3'w x 3'h x 1.5'd, double doors, light tight, 3-4 coats of exterior white semigloss. EQUIPMENT 170 gallon Air pump feeding a 4" air stone disc and a small air stone(being replaced by another 4" air stone disc). Small water pump to help circulate water once a day. NUTES FF 3 pack Superthrive ****Furture nutes FF cha-ching, beastie, open seasame Currently I have 2 plants going now with 24/0. It took me a little bit in the beginning to get everything correct. I ended up dealing with nute burn and stunted the growth, which sucks. They are going on there 3rd week into veg and will go another 3-4 weeks or until I feel its time to make the switch. I've already started to LST as well. Take a look and let me know what you think.
84-93. The weather lately has been putting my temps on the higher side. I have the light roughly 6" away from the plants. Which reminds me that I need to get a fan in there. It should move the air a bit better and I might be able to get the light closer.
Today I changed the res. 1/4 nutes of superthrive and ff big grow. Also, lst'd the piss out of one of the girls to give more light to the new growth. Also, clipped some of the nute burn on the lower fan leave. The roots are pearl white, so far so good on that. Take a look and give any thoughts or comments.
Yesterday I picked up a fan to help keep the lights low enough. Also, I got a little scarred with adding nutes yesterday, because the first time I added them, one of the plants didn't take it too well. SO, I ended up taking out half of the res and added ph'd water to knock the 1/4 amount of nutes down to half. I did some fimming today as well, only on one of the girls. Hopefully they are girls! Check out some pics!
Nice man im still watching your progress keep posting! check out my first grow as well its pretty simple http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/859452-indoor-hawaii-1st-grow.html
Alright gang!! I did a flush yesterday because they are not taking the nutes too well, even at 1/4 strength. The leaves were turning lime green with a hint of yellow, plus the tips were turning brown. I have ph'd water steady at around 6, I only have a color chart to go by. We'll see how they do the next res change. Also, I've read that the res temp could be an issue, but I don't have a temp gauge to check. How many people out there doing hydro actually have a aquarium heater to keep there res in check? I would really like to know. Is there an alternative method to check the temp in the res to see what it's at? Here are some pics. First pick is the bushy one, she is thick of foliage, real thick! Second is the other girl who is taking here time to bush out, I had to keep her lst'd so she can eventually bush out as well. I plan on curving the stalk so much that the plant grows sideways, that way I can have an even canopy. It all takes time to have everything the right way! Any comments are appreciated!
Oh!!! I almost forgot, lol, I have to use heavy washers and bolts due to I have nothing to tie the plant down. It works great, highly recommended...hahahaha
So I was rummaging through some of the techniques that I've read over the years and thought I would share this with everyone. It's on LST'ing. Now, I know everyone who has ever grown generally uses this method or others to get the most out of there girls. I feel that some need clarification or just need to know the general rules. Plus, I can't tell you how many threads I've read where stems or stalks have broken due to over doing it in some cases. This link will show you that it takes time and there is no rush. LST Training explained
nice i like your setup the box is similar in size but i love what you did with the lights genius. you should change all of those bulbs to the 2700k 55w 3850 lumen output cfl's they have them at wal'mart in the light bulbs section of course but they are only ten bucks and pack hell of a punch for the dollar.with that you will pack a 770w with 53900 lumen's that's pretty much having a hide for a fraction of the cost. and come visit my cfl yield forum again and let us know what you get in the end
Thanks man, let me tell you, that light setup was a pain in ass to design. Its an old ceramic coated shop light with a thick metal shell. I went through a lot of dremel bits to get the way I wanted. I thought about going that way with the larger bulbs but as everyone says, you won't get the light spectrum as a 400w hps. We'll see how this setup goes and maybe I'll switch out a few bulbs for the larger ones. Plus 14 bulbs at $10 a pop I might as well buy a refurbished 400w HPS. I will be posting some more pics this weekend of my girls, they really took off today. I ended up going out and picking up some Cal-Mag plus today so when I do my res change on sunday. The are showing some deficiencies.
I'm back with lots of progress. First off...I didn't see this coming, but I unfortunately had a bit of an accident with one of my plants when lst'ing. The main stalk snapped a little and tried to recover it, but failed!!! So, I transplanted the broken half to hopefully get some roots to form. We shall see if it takes. Anyways, the plants blossomed like a mofo!!! I thought it was nute burn, but after a lot of research I came to the conclusion that it was deficient in every way possible. I changed the res with new nutes and Cal-Mag plus and HOLY SHIT BATMAN!!!! They tripled in size. I am still at 1/4 strength nutes and may take it up a notch to see how they react. Amazing I tell you!!! To help draining the res I added a drain spout so I don't have to lift the plants out every week. I hope it is useful as I want it to be. I continued to lst and my one girl has bushed out like crazy. This will be the 5th week in veg and I will continue for another week or 2 before I change it to flower. Let me what you think...don't be shy!