Trying this again with legit shit

doctor.j

doctor.j

Well-Known Member
So my previous grow (couple years ago) kinda...failed, due to laziness, lack of funds/decent materials, and the fact that I was too busy, I have had "successful" grows before but nothing worth writing home about. This time I'm getting legit materials; timers, HID lights, a tent, and going to do a bubble instead of soil or E and F.

What I'm thinking is a 2.5 x 2.5 x 5 feet, with a 400w mh/hps ballast, 4 inch inline fan (could use advice on how many cfm is needed) and of course a carbon filter. I'm undecided on what nutes to use but I will try to get 4 or 6 plants into a Rubbermaid with holes cut in the top.

Don't have all the stuff yet, just some sprouts in a humidome under some cfls. The seeds sprouted leaves a few days ago so I know I've got a little time before everything has to be up and running. They're just some bag seeds I got from this purple midgrade shit but I'm hoping to grow some fire.

Funds and time are somewhat limited but I'm determined, I have 6 months to pump out as much bud as possible, and can really use some wise advice from some seasoned micro growers, on cost effective lights, fan and everything associated with the growing itself (nutes, air stones, thermometer, type of tub etc) it's been a while since I've done it but my main intimidation is that I've never done it with real stuff, it's always been something thrown together and rigged to high hell.
 
doctor.j

doctor.j

Well-Known Member
I'm hoping to get some off a trial run with the original seeded plants, flowered kind of early with 2 clones taken from each one and use the strongest ones to do a second one hopefully. Push come to shove I don't have a problem nixing the seeders, clones imo always grow better.
 
doctor.j

doctor.j

Well-Known Member
I also have concerns on how much electricity the 400w lights will use and how to maybe off set that usage by changing habits and devices around the house.
 
Kind Sir

Kind Sir

Well-Known Member
I worry about elec bill as well. I use less water, keep lights off, dont use space heaters etc.. Im using my grow to supplement my heat this winter.

Im not sure your level of skill and all that but I wish someone wouldve told me when I first started to research organic growing and get a worm bin. If you look into organic section, people say theyll never go back from organics.

My gf and I now are eating better so we can feed our soontobe worms good food and minerals will be supied as well. They say good earth worm castings and compost make for a killer plant.
 
doctor.j

doctor.j

Well-Known Member
I do strictly hydro and this time it will be a DWC, I'm also hoping to heat my room this winter with the oxygen rich exhaust coming from my tent. But that actually brings up another point now that I think about it, noise idk how I'm gonna deal with it.
 
doctor.j

doctor.j

Well-Known Member
I'll definitely be hanging from bungees, and I've been looking up duct mufflers. I think that will be something to worry about after I have a fan though. I'm still shopping and haven't even started to figure out what I want, money is obviously an issue.
 
doctor.j

doctor.j

Well-Known Member
Ok, so I picked up a fan today, a local hardware store was having a sale on all indoor gardening stuff...only problem is that i just found out yesterday and the sale had already been happening for 6 days. By today they only had 2 fans and one was waaaay too huge, I got a 6 inch 435 cfm for $62. This thing is loud as hell, but I know that the noise will decrease when I put the filter on it (which I still need to buy) and I plan to make a baffle for it. I kind of have a more refined plan now if anyone is interested.

*Some very basic stuff is being left out of this post because it's common sense but feel free to tell me I forgot something after pics are posted*

For now, I have a humidome with my seedlings in it, a rigged up set of cfls on it in my bathroom. I'll post pics after there's something worth taking pics of.
I get my tent in the mail tomorrow, ventilation isnt an issue with my cfls, maybe a nice box fan I have in my "spare parts" drawer if need be.
I plan to get (in order):
A fan speed controller (possibly w/thermostat)
My DWC system, I'm a little undecided if I want to do 4 buckets or rubbermaid (leaning towards rubbermaid)
This or something similar http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00521B894?keywords=apollo 600w dimmable&qid=1443830200&ref_=sr_1_4&sr=8-4
 
chadster152

chadster152

Well-Known Member
For cheap nutes, I'd say go with Dyna-Gro. They are significantly cheaper than most other "name brand" options and work just as good, if not better (look up a dyna-gro vs an thread by homebrewer). Also keep it simple! No additives or anything like that, they're useless and flash in the pan in my opinion. For your fan, find the total cubic feet of your space of your tent...you want your fan to move all the air in the room (cubic feet) out in 5-15 min. Anything more is overkill...plus you have to get a filter that will be efficient with the amount of air you are moving and the more air = more money. With a 400w your power won't go up much, I use a 600w and the difference is barely noticeable. Go with a Rubbermaid if you're going to be using the same(ish) strain, save space and equipment. Dwc is a lot of work tho, a little bit of neglect and root rot and all other kinds of things will take over and end your grow with the quickness. Good luck, I'm subbed up to watch.
 
doctor.j

doctor.j

Well-Known Member
Thanks Chad, I didn't realize just how different this would be from a CFL micro grow. I went over kill with the fan so I wouldnt have to buy another one when I up the size of my tent down the road and since this is being done in the bedroom I'll want to dial it down to reduce noise. I'll definitely look for dyna next trip to the shop. Any opinions on the light I want?
 
Carolina Dream'n

Carolina Dream'n

Well-Known Member
doctor.j said:
Thanks Chad, I didn't realize just how different this would be from a CFL micro grow. I went over kill with the fan so I wouldnt have to buy another one when I up the size of my tent down the road and since this is being done in the bedroom I'll want to dial it down to reduce noise. I'll definitely look for dyna next trip to the shop. Any opinions on the light I want?
Click to expand...
315w CMH
 
chadster152

chadster152

Well-Known Member
akmatanuska

akmatanuska

Well-Known Member
doctor.j said:
I do strictly hydro and this time it will be a DWC, I'm also hoping to heat my room this winter with the oxygen rich exhaust coming from my tent. But that actually brings up another point now that I think about it, noise idk how I'm gonna deal with it.
Click to expand...
I just did a grow with 4 and 6 inch in line fans in my room slept through it. If you have a neighbor next door in an apartment or duplex they will hear the vibration of it unless you insulate the fans or wall good enough I could hear it going upstairs when I was downstairs but I luckily have awesome neighbors
 
doctor.j

doctor.j

Well-Known Member
Ok y'all, I just got my tent today and is a little shorter than I imagined it, only 5'3". My fan is giant but actually pretty quiet, just the woosh noise of the air moving so fast. My newest question is what's your opinion of mounting on top of the tent, blowing air down, through a cool tube and out, while snaking a duct through the top hole on the side, attached to a carbon filter on the inside for the intake? I can draw up a model if need be.
 
doctor.j

doctor.j

Well-Known Member
Only other fans I have are box fans, I still need to get a fan for circulation. I've got my best box fan rigged up at the moment because I only have 4 cfls running right now and I have nothing to even attach to my big one. I'll draw something up tonight or in the morning and post it tomorrow.
 
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