Second Grow - Both mixed media and hydro schizophrenic grow

 
Two lights? Are you running mixed spectrum? That seems to be gaining popularity.
 
I agree that was an okay price for that fixture. You can find them in pairs for 3 bills and maybe some change, and skewed to either veg or grow as well if you prefer that..
 
I watched a vid the other day, with a flood table hydro system being setup. They're pretty $high$ everywhere, and freight is a ball breaker. While searching, I discovered a Viagrow Complete 2 ft. x 2 ft. Ebb and Flow Hydroponics System, with free shipping to the store or your home for the amazing price of $260.00 at Home DePot. This is absolutely unbeatable (New) for all that plastic. When I move to a bigger tent, I might keep one of those in mind for the current tent. Going full hydro like that would actually allow you to go to the beach for a few days without having to sweat your plants. I'm going to want to take a short trip in June for a week, and I gotta make a mini drip system to feed things while I'm away.
 
I'm not especially cheap, and do believe if you buy quality, you only cry once. I made that mistake with the Dealzer box. I do enjoy the hunt for a bargain. Decided to buy the Titan Controls Atlas 7 CO2,Temp & Humidity Controller & Monitor. That will probably come in around $180.00 or so. I need to check a few places locally where I might be able to get one down another 15-20 bucks. Finding a deal on a 20lb. cylinder is another matter. These things are very difficult to score at a decent price. Just FYI, one of those holds 187 1/2 cubic feet of CO2 in liquid form. Once your environment is charged, I have no idea what kind of flow you'd need to maintain. The lowest the regulator will do is 1/2 cu.ft./hour (SCFH). That seems to be a lot for that small a tent. But if you did run that rate 12/12, you'd get about a month or so out of one. If I can resist the urge to poke my head in every few hours, I'll probably get a lot more. I believe that tent has an inspection window on the side. I know the bigger ones do, or at least should. Going to be an interesting experiment.
 
The missing F35's sprung up sometime yesterday right in the smartpots. That's 4 fem F35's and maybe a fem WW and BB. If everything stays fem, including the bag weed, that would be seven plants in smartpots. I can get 9 in there in smartpots with the saucers, but that would be crowded. I believe 6 would be perfect, and maybe I could get a nice scrog out of it. Really hoping the F35's will be dramatically better than last time. Regardless, I'll probably never order that strain again.
 
I have another LED set to drop today, but no idea where the tent is. They still haven't sent a tracking number, but supposedly have shipped. I like to be here if I know something is going to drop, so that annoys me. I'll send them a WTF email today.
 
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1/31/2014
 
Some progress on the CO2 front.
 
Tenaciously hunted around, and located a guy in Balch Springs that had 6-8 old 20lb tanks. Found one there that still had a bit of gas, so I know the valve was good. Took it to the cheapest place I could find that does hydro and fills. The hydrostatic test (Good for 4 years) was $17.00, and the fill $16.75. So with the tank ($60.00) and servicing, it came out to $96.53 +  gas and time.
 
Good enough. The only way I think I'd do better is if someone just gave me a new, full one.
 
The one thing left to do is order the sensor/controller. About the best I'm going to do on that is around a buck-seventy. No rush.
 
 
 
Note: Harbor Freight has 20lb. CO2 cylinders for $89.00 new (Normally $99.00). Their illustration shows them without the handle/collar. That's not a terrible price, since it would be in hydro for some time to come.

 

1/31/14
 
Well, UPS let me down on delivery today. Seems the train from the Left Coast was late. Funny, it was scanned in a little after 3am. Different depot, different mode. Should be here Monday.
 
I just left those two formerly missing F35's in the coco, but I did center one of them up. I stuck the other two in along with the blocks. I like the extra support. The Blackberry is there, too. The other WW is just beginning to pop, I think, and the bag weed seed appears to be a dud. No room for it anyway.
 
The two hydro Blackberries are stretched to an alarming degree already, and have a root in the soup. I've never grown sativa in hydro, so I'm not sure what to do about it. The three hydro Widows are doing okay. Well, two of them are. One I thought for sure was a goner is coming back, and should be okay.
 

 

2/3/2014
 
After a weekend on hold, I'm back to the waiting game. My other light panel will drop today. I have tracking numbers on three other things, but the carriers haven't got them into their systems as of yet. I think some of those Chinese sellers confuse California with China. I can't bitch about the tent until after tomorrow, when it's promised delivery window expires. Fucking eBay. I'll drop by and snag the finished CO2 tank probably tomorrow.
 
One of the hydro Blackberry plants was lying right over from a huge stretch, and letting too much of its lower root out of the block. I surrounded the plant with expanded clay balls, and that should help until the stem catches up with everything else. Did the other while I was at it. May do the same with the three Widows, just as a preventative measure. They're not growing nearly as fast in the Crap Crop box @42w. Written the bag seed off as a dud.
 
I forgot if I mentioned that I ordered some seeds. I was a bit concerned, since this place wants cash. Who the fuck doesn't take PayPal in this day and age? So I get an email late last night saying they still haven't received payment for my order. I wrote back and said anything gets "Lost" in the mail, I'm holding them responsible, because of their stupid payment system. Anyhow, I reckon they got off their asses and got it together enough to go to the Post Office and check their box, cause I got an email saying it's being prepped and packed. I'll give them a miss next go round. Doing payments by snail mail adds an additional 10 days to the turn-around.
 
In the pipeline:
 
Aurora Indica feminized (5 seeds)
Indoor Mix feminized (5 seeds)
10 mixed seeds for free
 
The Blackberry plants after modding:
 
 

 

2/4/2014
 
Finally seem to have valid shipping status on everything ordered, except the seeds, so that's cool. Most stuff's gonna drop by Thursday. Ordered a 6" clip on fan for circulation. Waiting to see just how much more I might need. So nothing much doing here until after Friday, probably, when I should be completely set up and running.
 
Nothing left to purchase, except for a hacksaw to get a piece of coco off the block. I don't need the entire block at the moment. I suppose I can just dunk a couple of inches of one and do it that way. I need to set up a pot for that Widow I'm doing in media, and pick up a good surge strip and a timer for the lights and fan(s). I did try for a used Sentinel CHHC-4 Controller but was outbid, so I ended up with the Titan Atlas 7.
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2-5-2014
 
Still waiting on stuff. Looks as if the tent drop date has shifted to Friday. Hell, with FedEx really knows? I see it finally departed California, so Friday looks good. Be pissed if I need to wait until Monday. Stuff accumulating. That 20lb CO2 tank has a huge footprint relative to my tent, so it might very well sit outside, and just pump in CO2 from there. It would take up enough space for another plant.  <span style="font-family:'times new roman', times, serif;"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);"> </span></span>
 

 
 
Seeing yet another days delay, I fed everyone their first decent meal. Basic GH FloraSeries, plus Diamond Nectar. Threw in a bit of Carboload for no reason other than I was daydreaming when mixing. Added appropriate cal-mag for the coco plants.
 
All the seedlings look excellent. I believe one of the Freedom 35's is going to be non-typical, judging by leaf shape. This happened last time as well, so I'm convinced it's not yet a stable hybrid. Those seeds are all feminized, so they'll basically auto when they're good and ready. The real problem is that you have to do any FIMing very early on, and lightly, to avoid too much stress.
 
 

 
 
 

 

I got to wondering about what sort of footprint one of those lights has. First issue is that there are only 2 different beam angles. No 60 degree lamps on this unit.
 
The actual LED layout footprint on the fixture is 12"x5.25". So from a 36" height, a 120 degree beam should shoot off about 62" to either side. So doing all the math, we get around approximately 136"x130" or about 122 sq.ft. That's only for the 30 120 degree LED's. Of the 70 remaining, they're all 90 degree, and 60 of 'em are red. So that's a different footprint, around 84"x78", or a more realistic 45 sq. ft. Should be interesting to see set up.
 
 

 

2/7/2014
 
Just to recap a bit:
 
I was screwing around on eBay yesterday, and coveting a 4x2 Gorilla tent, mainly for it's height potential. I saw a Brand-X tent with a 7' height at some place in the size I was considering, and put in a ridiculously low offer as a goof. Fuck me if they didn't take it. Oops. So I have that tent on the way as well, and will likely drop mid-week. I'll look at it when it arrives, and if I don't like it, I'll sell it. But checking the cheap tent I just assembled, if it's equal quality, I don't have a problem with keeping it and putting it to work. Regardless, I now want a 4x2 tent in that space. Thinking "Perpetual grow."
 
The ever evolving concept now is that I'll use the shorter tent for vegging and the tall one for flowering. I have a modded armoire with a 96w T5 and CFL's, along with a Dealzer Crap Crop for cloning/sprouting. I'd like to get to the point where I'm harvesting a couple good plants every month.That should hold me.
 
The 32x32x63 tent finally arrived. I assembled it, and learned a few things about putting together grow tents. Seems sturdy enough for a no-name product, with no light leaks. I hung one fixture, and put in a thermometer, with one reading at the base, and one about 3-4" below the light. All sealed up, and giving it an hour or two to see how warm it gets in there. No fan yet. This might sound crazy, but the one fixture looks like it'd be enough light to grow weed.
 
Functional checked the Atlas 7 and flow gauge. Works as advertised. CO2 not yet installed, and still uncertain where in the growth cycle I'd like to use it. I actually had to go out and buy a damn 1-1/16" wrench, since I didn't own one, and have a thing about using pliers on nuts.
 
Meanwhile...
 
So the remote thermometer sensor was only about an inch from the bottom of the light, and showed 98 degrees. The bottom of the tent was 75. Base height was @38". That sensor reacts quickly, and up top, the tent is like 79. I'll reset to 4" under the light to check that temp.
 
More later.

 

2/8/2014
 
Results of heat testing those 300w LED units:
 
First off, you can't run two of those in a tent that small without ventilation or cooling. Two units at once cranked the overall tent temp way up there, and eventually would have stabilized around 98+ degrees. Unacceptable.
 
I ran one light for 8 hours steady with it all closed up, and found that with a 6" fan for circulation, the temp was 82 everywhere, except for immediately under the light itself. Bingo! We have a winner. Makes me think you could maybe get a 400w in that small a space without too much more heat, depending on the brand.
 
I've been reading the horror stories around (Always "Some guy") who was going great guns using conventional metal bulbs, who shifted to LED's and lost their crop. WTF? I expect 3-4 years ago the LED products were all over the place in spectrum and quality, along with corresponding results. But I believe that those manufacturers have things pretty much dialed in now. They're out to make money, and they know that trash isn't going to last long in the marketplace. I have no agenda except getting a steady personal supply of good ganja, so if nothing else, expect to get the truth here.
 
So before I disassemble this and put in in the closet, I'm going to put a couple three plants in there for a day or two, just to see how they do in the short term. No CO2 or anything. Just 18/6 light with the fan.
 
Stay tuned...

 

2-8-2014 - Continued
 
I tidied up the wires some and took out the second LED. Put the light on a timer, and put in F35, WW, and BB plants on SIP trays. Fixture base is at 24", and about 16" above plant height. No gas yet. Gave everyone a light feeding, including the ones in the armoire - just to make the comparison more equal. That 32"x32" will comfortably hold 9 of the 1 gal smartpots with their trays, as I thought it would. May not be so comfortable with that many plants vegged out like crazy.
 
Now it's just a matter of keeping an eye on things. I expect the humidity in that tent should stabilize around 50% once the liquid supply and temps get established.
 
This image shows the stock hanger length. I think something like 44" or so.
 

 
Assembled tent
 

 
Pots in tent
 

 
The Blackberries, still under 96w T5
 

 
The Widows in the Crap Crop box
 

 
 
I'm having an issue with nute ph. If I first bring the water down to 5.8, no problems. However, after I dump in all the various this and that, it looks like weak iced tea. So it's fucking impossible to tell the ph with ph test solution. Even tried filtering some of the mix first. Still hard to tell. I suppose I need to look for a ph meter and maybe a ppm meter.
 
More later...
 
 
 

 

Ordered PPM and ph test meters, both soil and liquid, as well as calibration stuff. Problem hopefully addressed.
 
Also ordered a small tube of black silicone RTV to plug the leaks, more so in the next tent than this one. Pretty sure it'll work.

 

I'm using the General Hydroponics Flora Series, with a couple of other things. The problem is that the Dallas water ph varies, depending on the time of year. Right about now it's coming out of the filter at nearly 8.0, which is why I prefer to get it down before I start mixing, then test afterwards as well. I just want to avoid being way off and getting a lockout.

Anyway, various meters and testers on order.

The tent is stabilized around 82 inside. Probably could use another fan in there. I ended up raising the light about a foot, since with only one fan, it was staying at like 85 on the floor. Right now it's 81 at plant level. I'll probably move it early next week to make room for the other tent.

Turns out the Widows were only running on 28 watts, since one of the bulbs was out and I didn't notice. Anyway, I threw in a daylight bulb to get it up to a massive 42 watts.


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy SII using Grasscity Forum mobile app

 

 
 
 
You're right about the micro first with the GH FloraSeries.
 
But I never read anything specific about ph before, after or during as far as mixing goes.
 
If it was just micro and bloom, it'd be easy to test. It's all the other shit that darkens the mix too much. Last time around, I did it the same way with no major problems nute wise. But I'll look around anyhow.
 
In the meantime, the inside of that tent was actually damp from humidity this morning. Those smartpots make almost all the moisture available for evaporation. Only going to get worse with 6-9 plants.Guess I'm going to need an exhaust system or dehumidifier in there.

 

 
I suspected something like this would happen with that SIP setup. I put a dehumidifier in there for a couple of hours to get the moisture off the tent walls. Couldn't run one for extended periods because it adds its own share of the heat.
 
Don't let anyone tell you LED's don't put out any heat.
 
So the next watering tomorrow, I'll go to top watering/feeding like you're doing. That should cut it down, but I may have to ditch the smart pots. They hold moisture, and with their evaporating too, it'll double my watering. I'll think about that tonight, while they're still small enough to move without too much trauma. Fook.