First grow - 4x4 tent with 4x 304 LED boards

[Viceman666]

Hello! Welcome to my first grow!

Lets start with my setup :
-4x4x7' grow tent
-400 cfm 6 inch exhaust fan
-6inch carbon filter
-200 cfm 4 inch intake fan (not sure if I will keep it yet or just use passive intake)
-4 x 304 boards LM561c (from alibaba- 2 per heatsink)
-2x meanwell driver hlg-240h-2100b
-A few fans for air circulation
-A humidifier
-White widow seeds from crop king seeds
-PH pen
-Thermometer/hygrometer (for both temp and RH%)
-Soil is promix organic vegetables and herb mix. From what ive read I will be good to use that soil for about 3 months without added nutrient. During flower I plan on adding nutrients

The grow tent is in a closed room with 2 doors. The size of the room is about 16x9x7.5'. Therefore to increase the temperature in the room I am using the room electric heater.

I did some testing before I started and I had a constant 20% Humidity at 22 degrees. Therefore I bought a humidifier and ran it non stop for 2 days and was able to increase humidity in the tent to 55-60% and 50-55% in the room outside the tent

Goal is between 1-2pounds (500g-1kg)

Started the seeds on February 1 in water for about 24h then used paper tower method.

I planned initialy for 4 plants in the tent so I decided to germinate 5 seeds just in case one dont work.. ended up dropping an additional one by accident in the water so got 6 seeds and they all germinated.. i even have a seeds who looks like a twin seeds so I may either scrap one of the two or split them up and end up with 2 plants (for a total of 7) what ive read on twin seeds is that usually one will be a mix of father and mother and the other one a clone of the mother so im interested on keeping both just to see but not too sure yet how to split them.. one thing at a time.. it will be a bit more watering but should cut some of the veg time with more plant I was planning for 6-8 weeks veg to get a full even canopy and possibly SCROG

Im starting with small pot (cheap pot and I drilled holes on the side- i saw someone do that and thought it was a smart idea) then looking to move into 1 or 2gallons pot and end in a 5 gallons smart pot

I put my seeds in soil on February 5 and mist water on them. Ive put only 2 boards with light for now at the maximum height at one side of the tent and the pot in a corner on the opposite side.. it allows me to get them just a little lights (18/6 cycle) while they reach out of the soil while allowing me to monitor temps and humidity for day and night. Ive put the thermometer on the ground beside the pot and got about 21-22 celcius with light on (about 24 degrees in the middle/upper part of the tent) and I looked this morning and the lowest was 18.5 celsius with lights off. So far it looks good but ill try to increase the temperature a bit especially for day time. I am in eastern canada and its currently winter. Regardless of outside temp I think I can maintain a good inside temp. The room is in the basement.

Feel free to follow my journal, I will certainly need your helps and feedback as I grow my girls. I plan on keeping you updated very often with pictures and comments! If you have any questions please let me know!

Thats the set up exhaust and intake fan are outside the tent. I also have additional fans not showing in the picture and the humidifier.


Thats before I put them into soil - you can see the twin at the bottom of the picture


That was the reading right when I put them into soil but dropped to about 22 degrees and stayed there until light went off. You can also see the drilled hole on the side of the pot

 

[Viceman666]

Quick update: they are all coming out from the soil except one (i know its not very clear on the first picture) I was able to manage temp of 24-25celcius with light on and 20 with lights off so for that it looks good. Humidity between 55-65% sound good too.

Now for my twin seeds they both came out of the soil one much stronger than the other.. any tips on what I should do? Kill one, split them (now or wait a bit so they dont get stressed this early) or just let them live both in the same pot?

 

[see4]

Nice! Can't wait to see how these turn out.

Nice 4x4 setup. What watts you getting to the wall?

I have 4 "Fake" 304 boards running off 2 240-1050a drivers, and i can max out at 600 total watts at the wall. WAY too much light for my plants. I ended up dialing it down to 180 watts per driver and I think I've found a sweet spot.

 

[Viceman666]

Nice! Can't wait to see how these turn out.

Nice 4x4 setup. What watts you getting to the wall?

I have 4 "Fake" 304 boards running off 2 240-1050a drivers, and i can max out at 600 total watts at the wall. WAY too much light for my plants. I ended up dialing it down to 180 watts per driver and I think I've found a sweet spot.

Didnt get a kill a wall yet to calculate at the wall. I got the same driver but the b version. I just didnt add a potentiometer yet so its running at 100% or close to.. quick like that id say its probably running close to 230w/driver (110v x2.1a) or at least around that. Right now I only have one light turned on at max height and will probably leave it at one light until flower (given I cant reduce the power without the potentiometer).. 600w on 2 driver is good power but you will loose a lot on efficiency.. 180w makes your setup very efficient. There is a chart you can follow on hlg website if you look for their 304 boards.

Now that you mention that 600w is way too much it may be for veg but could do just fine in flower.. i actually spent most of the day looking for additional light. I know I will add another tent in the room (the room where is my grow tent is quite big and keep roughly the same temp/humidity vs in the tent.. so might as well use that for a second tent as well.. lol i was planning to purchase another 4 boards for that new tent but thinking about it I may do 6 boards instead.. with 6 board i should get close to 700w but especially be able to cover pretty much my tent from wall to wall at 1000ppfd at 18inch - I will probably open up a new thread eventually in the light section to see what would be the best way to position those 6 boards but for now just enjoying those first moment with my plants

 

[see4]

My vote would be to leave the twins. See what happens. I the smaller starts to weaken the other, then I would pull it.

 

[Viceman666]

Now they are all out of the soil so looking good! One of the 2 twin seed still having a hard time growing as good as the other ones.. but I'll wait a bit and see.

On a side note ive realized that my exhaust fan doesnt pull much air anymore even at max power.. ive tried to see if there was any hole in the way but no i get a very very small negative pressure at max power (it should be 400cfm clearly there is something wrong)not that it really matters much at this stage but I have no idea whats going on with it. Ill have a friend come over tomorrow check on it. Ill probably just try to remove it from the area and see if its the unit itself or something in the setup.. used to have lots of negative pressure at minimum power but not anymore..


After much thinking ive decided to start the intake fan at minimum power.. it does create a positive pressure in the tent but at least i know that fresh air is coming in.. temp was steady at 25 and today went up to 26-26.2 its still manageable but I wont take any chance..

Finally ive gave them some water - had only mist a very little bit this morning so I think they will like it by having a more moist soil

 

[FranklinTokes]

Lookin good @Viceman666! Where did you buy your boards? How much is shipping from China and how long did it take?

 

[Viceman666]

Lookin good @Viceman666! Where did you buy your boards? How much is shipping from China and how long did it take?

Hey there thanks for stopping by.
I was quoted at 130.63$Usd for 2 boards heat sink and driver (got 2 of those) and 135.99$usd shipping however she put 60usd as value so cost me only about 20$Usd customs including all the administraionfees.. so my total was 372.40$usd plus customfees.. so around 400usd total! Great price.. i ordered on alibaba from meiju.. ill be honest I dont know what I got if they are legit s6 lm561c or not.. but worst case they are s5 or lm561b+ and in both cases there is at most a 10% efficiency difference so ill be very happy whatever I got.. the only thing I would do different is getting A type deiver rather than B (built in potentiometer in A version). But thats just personal preference. I ordered on a monday night at midnight and got the board on thursday afternoon to eastern canada.. if you have other question just let me know

 

[Viceman666]

Quick update in regards of my exhaust problem. I found out my carbon filter was clogged.. when i run the fan alone its doing perfectly fine maybe the fact that I had the humidifier in the tent ended up clogging the filter.. its still weird after only 1 week.. anyway I can still exchange it so ill just exchange it for a new one and use none for the time being .. ill only put it up for flower and most likely will not have to use humidifier at that point

 

[Odogg]

good luck man. subbed

 

[Viceman666]

I usually check on the plant 3-4 times a day.. at least once in the morning not long after lights turn on and once at night before lights goes off and a few time in between when I can just to make sure everything is doing good. Last night I was away so couldnt check on it before lights went off..

I woke up this morning and my humidifier was empty so the humidity in tent was removed and the hygrometer was showing only 30-35%.. I refilled it and within 30 min it was back to 45 and a few hours later im back at 55 and should stay between 55-60 for now on.. ill make sure to refill it daily just to avoid this situation.. but I dont think it affected the plant too much as at most it was a few hours at night when they dont really need that humidity anyway.

Here is a shot from few minutes ago they are all looking great and healty (except the little twin which is still much smaller than the rest (see bottom right pot on the pic) .. ive moved the light slowly but surely closer to the plants and is now sitting at about 40 inch over the pot.. I consider them still seedling so eventually ill get them a little closer I just dont want to put too much light on them at this point.

 

[Viceman666]

So they are still growing nicely especially when compared to my post 2 days ago


So last night I got a power outage that lasted about 1h and it happened about 3h before their regular lights off.. I probably should have just left it off for the rest of the night but finally decided to leave it turn on for the 3h remaining when power came back.. it may have stunt them a bit but I dont think it will be a major issue.. temp and humidity are still at good level 26,1celcius (79F) in the day and 20.5 celcius when lights are off (69F) I can maintain humidity between 50-60% - cant seem to be able to push it more but its still not bad

Ive taken a big decision.. i decided to split my twin.. main reason was that one of the two was really smaller and actually being hidden from any light because the other one leaves are already much bigger.. i also didnt want to risk that the bigger run into any issue because of the smaller one so ive transplanted the small one into another pot to give it a shot and see if it can survive by itself (excess water seen on the picture was drain)

We will see how it plays out - worst case ill throw this one away but she will have a chance to survive.. my method? Pretty basic I just pulled it out.. i knew there wasnt much root if any at this stage and I was hoping this way it will be the less stress for the bigger twin. I will keep monitoring the situation and keep you guys posted

 

[AbeFroman]

Quick update in regards of my exhaust problem. I found out my carbon filter was clogged.. when i run the fan alone its doing perfectly fine maybe the fact that I had the humidifier in the tent ended up clogging the filter.. its still weird after only 1 week.. anyway I can still exchange it so ill just exchange it for a new one and use none for the time being .. ill only put it up for flower and most likely will not have to use humidifier at that point

Good luck with the grow. It sounds like you saturated the active carbon in the filter with water from the humidifier.

I don't even worry about humitidy at that age. I usually just let excess runoff out into whatever my seedlings are in and let the light evaporate it. Or put them in a humidity dome.

 

[Viceman666]

Good luck with the grow. It sounds like you saturated the active carbon in the filter with water from the humidifier.

I don't even worry about humitidy at that age. I usually just let excess runoff out into whatever my seedlings are in and let the light evaporate it. Or put them in a humidity dome.

Thanks! Yes thats really the only thing I can think of for my carbon filter..

i'll keep you updated seeds were soaked feb 1.. so within the next few days I should be able to see 4 leaves its the beggining

 

[Viceman666]

February 13 update : plant looks to be growing very well here is a shot from few minutes ago


Lights are about 36 inch from the plant right now. Ive put some more soil last night in them as it had compacted due to watering it will help keep the stem straight up. The little twin I separated is still very small and doesnt seem to be growing much but its still a good green color so we will see if I can save it. Shes a good 4-5days/ 1week behind the others in terms of growth but because ill be doing scrog it may not matter down the road if she can start growing ill keep you posted

 

[BCbud316]

Cool grow, I’m a week behind in my white widow grow but will be great to see how they compare

Looks like an outstanding start!

I’m running crappy 300w eBay blurple in hydro with a 2x2 tent.

 

[Viceman666]

Cool grow, I’m a week behind in my white widow grow but will be great to see how they compare

Looks like an outstanding start!

I’m running crappy 300w eBay blurple in hydro with a 2x2 tent.

Thanks! Yes im curious as well to see the difference in our 2 grows so keep me updated on your progress! I did consider 4-6x300w blurple initially but happy I went with the boards instead for about the same price..

 

[Viceman666]

This morning I lowered the lights from 36 inch to about 31 inch.. plant seems to like it as i have seen a very nice growth today may not be related but as long as they dont get light burn I should be fine - im monitoring the situation closely just in case. i will keep trying to find the optimal height but that will come over time

I thought i would share an updated picture of my tent

Remember that I had to remove my carbon filter for now and my exhaust doesnt show but its in the top left side. The hole in the back at the bottom is my 4 inch intake using it at about 3/4 power so probably around 150cfm and my exhaust is running at minimum which is probably around 250cfm at minimum. I get a very good negative pressure in the tent Based on those number and the size of my tent it means im getting new air in the tent about 2 times every minute - which I think may be a lot but as long as My temp and humidity stay where they need to be I dont see that as being an issue.

The way Ive build the tent for now is the fresh air comes from the bottom back goes on the bottom right the fan push the air above the plant towards the exhaust while being mixed with the air from the humidifier which is shooting in the direction of the fan

You can also see that on the picture ive attached my two clip fan to my other board cooling the board with lights on.. thats a good use for it while I dont need it. I guess I could lower it so hot air from the light is not blown downward but more lateral or towards the top.. but since temp is good im just leaving it as is for the moment. air is changed in the tent every 30 sec or so anyway.

Now that ive spoken enough about what people may not care about lol here is the updated picture from today

Finally here is a picture of the baby twin.. im still hoping shell be able to do something but I really dont see much growth and no strong leaves yet so we will see.

 

[Bunnybrew]

I use that exact soil. You should start feeding with nutrients after 3weeks. Not months

 

[Bunnybrew]

So they are still growing nicely especially when compared to my post 2 days ago
View attachment 4088706

So last night I got a power outage that lasted about 1h and it happened about 3h before their regular lights off.. I probably should have just left it off for the rest of the night but finally decided to leave it turn on for the 3h remaining when power came back.. it may have stunt them a bit but I dont think it will be a major issue.. temp and humidity are still at good level 26,1celcius (79F) in the day and 20.5 celcius when lights are off (69F) I can maintain humidity between 50-60% - cant seem to be able to push it more but its still not bad

Ive taken a big decision.. i decided to split my twin.. main reason was that one of the two was really smaller and actually being hidden from any light because the other one leaves are already much bigger.. i also didnt want to risk that the bigger run into any issue because of the smaller one so ive transplanted the small one into another pot to give it a shot and see if it can survive by itself (excess water seen on the picture was drain)View attachment 4088710

We will see how it plays out - worst case ill throw this one away but she will have a chance to survive.. my method? Pretty basic I just pulled it out.. i knew there wasnt much root if any at this stage and I was hoping this way it will be the less stress for the bigger twin. I will keep monitoring the situation and keep you guys posted

I use a generator for power outages. Was worth the investment. But you can hang a few cheap flashlights for emergencies. They will provide enough light to not disrupt light cycle. It will be just like a very cloudy day to them. Much better than a sudden night