First Grow. LED, Stealth Cab.

So I first started 5 plants in a friends Aerogarden from few different bagseeds i had collected over last few months. The 2 x 24w CFLs in the hood were pretty good to get the seedlings started whilst i made my own aeroponic setup.

I made my own setup using a storage container from local store, spray painted black with 4 holes drilled in the lid, contained 4 mesh pots. I bought a 2 outlet airpump that pumps 500L/min that is constantly running. There is 8 airstones in the reservoir, 2 per plant. One, the biggest plant, remained in soil.

I bought a 90w LED Triband UFO (R,B,O;7,1,1) online and a cabinet from a local second hand store. I had problems with overwatering (lack of oxygen in aeroponic) and burning/overheating inside cab from no exhaust whilst using destructive reflective material. After taking the reflective panel out, i added 2 x 25mm intakes, i mounted a 9mm CPU fan to the outside of the cab. I pruned the burning, yellowy leaves off and the new growth seems to be exploding. On the inside is my roomies own design of an acrylic light trap, that allows air to still flow through the fan also.

I germinated 8 more bagseeds a few days ago and after planting them in seedling pots with some organic potting soil. They broke the surface today. Thats now a total of 13 plants under 90w.

I ordered another 120w Triband panel from the same manufacturer which was due to arrive yesterday, however it didnt and as its the long weekend this weekend im going to have to wait 2 more days. Getting really antsy to put it in as its adding 130% of what is already being output inside the cab. So my 120w panel should be arriving within the next few days.

My new PH pen and pest strips should arrive within the next week. I already have some organic pesticide but will not use this unless absolutely necessary with annoying little critters (after pest strips used).


The Plan

Install 120w, pest strips and water with appropriate PH when needed. Allow new seedlings to vegetate until 2 sets of leaves and flip to 12/12.

When the plants show sex i will transplant females into bigger pots with organic soil + perlite.

May use Nutes - Molasses and organic flowering nutrients if any.


In a few weeks i may add 2 x 20w White LED Grow lights, one 2700-3000K one 6500K. An alternative to this is some T8 LED sticks, am yet to make a decision on which (cost/W wise). I am very influenced from bf74's LED grows and he recommends 20% white supplemental lighting during flowering, and he has produced excellent results.

Thinking about adding a UVB light also, although this is a pretty farfetched idea as i believe the White LED lights will suffice in extra bud production.

I think i will end up with around 5, potentially 6 - 8 females that will flower for around 8 - 9 weeks.

As i have no fan directly blowing on the plants i may add an oscillating fan of some sort. Would another 9mm CPU fan be good for this? Can easily run this off my adapted 12V charger.

Will post pictures when i get cord for camera, most likely in few days when i have installed 120w panel.

Im looking forward to seeing the results from LED as there is lots of people with different opinions.

 

So i got the new 120w panel installed yesterday. Currently it is horizontal overhead whilst the UFO is now vertical to help with extra growth. The plants seem to be loving this so far, however i have seen signs of overwatering and my soil does not seem to be draining well. Most likely will have to transplant earlier than expected into new soil with perlite for drainage.

Got new PH tester and pest strips in the mail today, PH is now stabilised around 6.0 in my home-made DWC setup. As i hadnt had a meter, when i checked PH today it was around 7.2!

Will post pics when roomy gets home with cord for camera.

-O

 

I am using a really small cab - 60cm long, 46cm wide and 56cm tall.

For the 120w and 90w UFO, they cost me a total of about $400.

As i made my own DWC bubbler using a 5L storage container and now having other plants in soil i am having problems with room for all 13 plants. For now it seems fine as the seedlings are growing their second sets of leaves but i might transplant the plants from the DWC into soil.

As the cabinet i bought (pic below - before everything put in) has a removable and adjustable (height) of the shelf in it; i am thinking of creating holes large enough for several sized pots (2 x lge, 3 x med, 4 x smaller). The pots can then sit in these holes, allowing a drip tray underneath. This would be used with LST + SOG style of growing.

 

That sounds correct.

The measurements i gave you were off my head, i have them written down somewhere. I know it is definitely 60 x 56 x 48 or somewhere along those lines. (all cm)

Over time i may add another 120w horinzontally, side by side the other 120w. This would cover the whole roof of the cab nicely.

 

Thanks Eazy.

Must admit LED is a relatively new technology and may not produce as good yields as HIDs, but as my aim is to only supply myself with a steady amount of herb LEDs should work well considering the small space i am using.

It first started off with me n roomy talking one night about how we were so sick of paying $xx on herb each week and as i always just kinda kept the seeds if i found any in buds, we germinated a few. We then got this cab and the 4 plants we kept from the first round of germination were our 'tests'. As it is/was our first grow we had problems with overwatering, heat inside the box (now not a problem at all) and pests.

From reading tonnes of information and chatting with LED growers such as underdok and bf74, i now have enough supplies to control my growbox adequately in terms of heat, pests (pest strips hanging in box + organic pesticide used when 3 or 4 leaf sets), correct PH of water and being able to tell when the 'babies' need water.

The 4 plants that first popped are still in my home-made DWC setup, they are stunted, yellowy/whiteish and bottom sets of leaves dieing. They will probably remain stunted throughout their whole life. I really want to chuck these plants making space for more soil seedlings however they are the biggest ones i have and it is hard.

Will probably end up planting them outside and let Mother Nature take her course.

Next post will include pics.

 

Alrightyyyy... PHOTOS.

The pictures of the plants with yellowy/whiteish leaves are the plants i will be throwing out/planting outside for shits 'n' giggles. They have had a terrible start to their plant life as experiments for the new cab. They have endured blistering heat, pests, overwatering and are now showing symptoms of nitrogen defficiency (purple stem etc). These factors are now all fixed and the new plants should be fine!





Cab with new 120w panel in

http://img192.imageshack.us/i/dscf0...geshack.us/img192/530/dscf0389o.th.jpg][/IMG]


New seedlings in cab

http://img188.imageshack.us/i/dscf0...ageshack.us/img188/889/dscf0395.th.jpg][/IMG]

This is day 3 since popping soil, second sets of leaves are starting to come through.
There are signs of overwatering on most of the plants [droopy leaves], checking the soil with my finger the soil is really dry for about the first 1/2 inch - inch, moist below that. I have only watered them once since they broke soil.

I am using Rocky Point Mulching's Premium ORGANIC Potting Mix. Should i change soil when i transplant? or should i add perlite, or other materials to help drainage and air flow?

Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

Yeah it is the same as all lights, keeping light closer to the plants will make them not as 'stretched'. At the moment the DWC/aero bubbler i have made is in there and this makes it hard to have the other seedlings close to the lights. Thats why i have decided to get rid of those 4 plants and will put the shelf back in with the seedlings on the shelf. I can lower the shelf as they get bigger. I will be modifying the shelf when i have all the desired sized pots.

I paid for 2 x 15w LED spotlights today (1 x 2700-3000K + 1 x 6500K). They should be manufactured and here within a week, by the end of next week at the latest. This will mean the plants will be about 12 days old when they get here. I will flip over onto flowering when they arrive.

Before this happens though, i have about 25 bagseed's left and will germinate 2 or 3 every 3 or so days so i will be harvesting a plant every few days down the track.

My end 'Goal' is everchanging but i want to yield at least 3 oz. with a total of about 7 - 9 plants.
3 oz would last me about 3 mths (smoking moderately) and i should be ready to harvest again near then. First grow is to experiment with LEDs and the cab i am using, figuring the best way to get max yield for future grows. Second grow will be a longer veg/LST grow or perhaps even a small SCRoG with 2 or 3 plants.

30x Jeweller Loupe + Hygrometer/Thermometer should be arriving within next few days.

Everything is unfolding nicely.

-O

 

Just picked up a small deal of mids. Have already got 12 seeds out of it and there are more on its way. Should have over about 100 seeds by the end so will have a few more plants for continuous.

I am only using bagseeds because i have not a huge experience in growing and this will provide for alot of experimentation. I have a friend that is overseas and he will be getting some quality seeds whilst in amsterdam, mailing them through to his brother who is getting them to me.

Im ansty pants for some of my own smoke. Guess ill tap another bowl and get my wait on.

 

Update:

With installing the 120w panel there has been some additional heat put into the cab. The hopeful 'girls' had started to droop and i could feel the the soil was warm. 2 of the plants are showing a little burning, 1 is drooping terribly and has lots of yellowing on it. Its second sets of leaves look fine. So for the last 2 days i have just been running the 120w, not the ufo.

I added 2 x 25mm intakes in the back and drilled some 10mm holes in the bottom of the cab for extra airflow. Air can be felt sucking in through all these holes and the temp has seem to have lowered a whole lot. I also added a 120mm computer fan inside the cab, i was going to swap this with the 90mm exhaust but after wiring up the fans the quality and airflow from the 90mm was much better. DARN CHEAP COMPUTER FANS. The 120mm is blowing air over the plants inside the cab, it doesnt move them much but its providing nice airflow to disperse the heat over the plants.

My hygrometer/thermometer should be here within a day or 2, considering i thought it would be here last week. This will help in judging the temp inside the cab, i have more room for exhausts/intakes if necessary.

Yesterday I transplanted the best 6 looking plants into bigger pots, 5 x 17.5cm pots + 1 x 22.5cm pot. When i replanted them i put newspaper in the bottom of the pots, with a layer of about an inch of perlite. I then mixed 1 parts perlite to 2 parts organic potting mix. The soil is much more 'airier' and feels lighter.

I have only watered the plants today as most of them have stopped drooping from the heat/transplant stress (apart from the slightly burnt ones - they seem to be doing better).

I have also taken the shelf that was in the cab and marked spots for 2 x 22.5cm pots and 6 x 17.5cm pots. These wholes will be drilled out of the shelf and the pots will easily slide into these holes. The shelf will leave the pots approximately an inch off the bottom of the cab allowing a drip tray.

Pictures will be in next post once i get cord for camera off roommate.

Does anyone know much about the PH of water runoff? I watered at PH 6.2 and had a runoff of 7.2 It seems a little high to me, is this anything to worry about?

-O

 

Thanks Nmarino17.

There has been a delay in production of the White LED lights and fixtures, they will be here monday next week. (7 days from now)

I have marked the shelf and given it to a friend with a jigsaw, i am expecting it back within 2 days. Hopefully he DOESNT FUCK IT UP.

Here is a quick paint sketch of how the shelf will look



-O

 

I ditched three plants that had any burning on the leafs and i will probably ditch another.

4 seeds from different bagseed germinated this morning so i put them into pots.

This is 8 plants total and this is how many plants my cab will hold. Kinda deamped in the thought that i am expecting 4 males (50% on 8 plants).

When flowering will flower a few plants straight from seed also and transplant into pots that end up being males.

Will have photos tomorrow hopefully, gotta get battery for cameras.