Need help setting up room

[jianle]

Hello everyone! first time grower here and I really want to do it right... BUT i know I am going to make some mistakes, maybe I have already.

I really need help setting up my room:

I have a 7.5' x 9' x 6.5' high space in my basement that I am splitting into 2 rooms.

I am going to have a 7.5'x5' flowering room and a 7.5'x4.5' vegging/mother room.

The rooms are made, they are sealed, i have ventilation and heating taken care of for the up coming winter.

The equipment i have 3'x3' flood table that is already setup for ebb and flow. I have a pump, air pump, 1000w lumitek ballast and a high pressure sodium light. I also have 2- 4' shop lights that take 2 t-12 lights each (i bought the 6500k tubes from home depot because someone said they would do for germination and seedling.. maybe vegging?)
i have the bigger 3.5 rockwool cubes as well that i will move them to when big enough. I have regular planter trays, heat pad, thermometers, timers etc.

I germinated 5 feminized Northern light seeds and 10 regular hindu kush seeds from a seed bank... I pretreated the rockwool cubes for 20 minutes with pH adjusted distilled water and 10ml of miracle grow seedling/germinating/cutting solution (4-12-4). After the seeds had a root of a quarter inch or so i put them in the cubes and placed them under one of the shop lights w 2 flourescents in a humidity tent over tray.

THIS IS WHERE I AM AT NOW! waiting for them to sprout.

How should i setup the veg room and flower room with the space and equipment i have? The ebb and flow table sits 2.5' off the ground meaning i only have about 3 feet until they would hit the light/ceiling above.

I want to raise the seedlings and clone them for sex and get AT LEAST one nice mother from the northern lights and one nice mother from the kush then start cloning and flowering.

i am really confused on how to go about this now... and what else i need to make it happen... I don't have anyone to run this buy and feel like a heatscore running back and forth to the hydro store!
i have been reading like crazy and searching threads TRUST ME! but i need some specific guidance from here please.

when i know which mothers i want ? how will i store them? how best to use the 3x3 ebb table ? veg room or flower room ? .... suggestions, i keep reading and reading and keep getting new info and changing what i want to do everyday.. i just dont know anymore!!!

basically how should i keep mothers, veg and flowering plants, with the equipment and space I have... and i know I need a couple more things.. but what ? and I have prob only $200-500 more to spend..

 

[solarguy]

i was pissed when someone told me this....but honestly read first every answer is in here...

i have a easy cabinet that a mother could fit in if or a similar cabinet....check out my thread you can incorporate your flow system however...i would grow soil first...your grow is going to be very expensive with all the nutes and easy to fuck up.go buy some soil and buckets for 40 bucks and save the stress and 3 months....learn how to grow and read your plants first.

https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/386537-how-build-easy-cabinet-instructions.html

you

 

[solarguy]

and look, i have less room than you. and i fit a good amount of plants...i have a 4x4 tent and 2 little rubbermaids, one for veg and one for a mother. If your listed dimensions are true you have plenty room but I would be worried about heat though with a light that big.

https://www.rollitup.org/general-marijuana-growing/385595-led-grow-siiiiick-haight-solid.html

 

[TrichomeAsaurus]

if your setting up an ebb and flow i would have used the hydroton clay pelllets before the rockwool...rockwool is junk in my opinion...i agree with solarguy, you are gonna have a huge heat issue with a 1k light in that space...will need good draw on your cabinet or get a cool tube they are like 60 bucks...have your veg room with the 2 shop lights 18" apart and a few inches off the top of rooted clones with chains so you can lift light up...i would get a cool tube for your flower room, hang with chains for adjustment, then you can keep the 1k light 8 inches off the top off plants. get a beer cooler and a 13 watt CFL daylight 6500k bulb and this is your clone dome that needs no space to keep.

 

[jianle]

hey man thank you very much for the quick reply and I did check out your thread! very informative.
I will definitely keep reading and try not to post questions that have been answered in here already.

I am thinking now I will put 10 cuts in the 3x3 tub with hydrotron. Since i have a height limit i want them to grow short and bushy... someone suggested not using the HP sodium bulb right away and use a MH light and let them grow a bit more in the tub then when they are starting to look bushy change it to the HP Sodium.
Would i keep the light cycle 18 hours with the MH light until i am satisfied and then put in the HP sodium light and change the cycle to 12 hours?

I will stay on top of the heat issue and make sure the proper ventilation and temperature is in place.

I do want to go hydo because I have the drain table already....

I will put the mothers in SOIL or is COCO more preferred? in a 5 gallon bucket let me know what you think.

I'll keep the seedlings/sprouts under the shop lights until they are about 8-10 inches then move to flower room under the better lights.

What kind of light will the mothers need? i am planning to have 2-3, in 5 gallon buckets with soil OR coco...?

since the table only takes up 3x3 ... would you suggest doing some other cuttings in some soil and also putting them in the flowering room so i have more options? the 1000 w HP sodium should be able to handle the whole 37.5 sq/ft right ?

OH and when the seeds sprout through the rockwool, should i take the tent off and lower the lights right above the spouts or keep the tent on ?

Sorry for all the questions but if i get good, i'll keep posting pics and help contribute to the site and help out of fellow noobs, share my new knowledge and share mistakes i will make

 

[solarguy]

Soil or COCO both work i have only ever used SOIL. its simple and natural...but i just found this article and i might try cocoa http://www.stonerforums.com/lounge/growfaq/1675.html

....i would start in soil first but what do i know

the mothers can use any lighting and again soil or cocoa , even cfl's if you have a lot of them, you should use the biggest pot available...and keep the light on 18/6

the light is big enough for sure, you cant really just put cuttings under a light and start flowering, veg them for a little bit, at least 10 days minimum. with the extra space i would throw some soil plants in there too under that light, give you a good comparison and if you fuck up the hydro you at least have something

IF YOU DIDN'T ALREADY SPLIT YOUR ROOMS THAN MAKE THE FLOWER ROOM BIGGER! veg room doesn't need to be nearly as big.

tent can come off once plants have a little bit of root and are standing up tall and looking good. take off the tent and if they drop down fast spray the tent with water and put it back on, it will depend on how humid your room is when the tent is off....with 1000watts you dont want that light to be to close by any means...it will burn them up and dry the soil out very fast.

my friend has a 600 watt and he puts is clones like 8 feet away from them, they are totally off to the right of the room but still catch enough light to sprout, if they were under i think they would be fried.

my 2 cents

 

[jianle]

3x3 flood table that I have. I think it is way too high off the ground, there is only 4 feet until the ceiling from the top of the table... I don't think that is enough space. I am going to try to find a shallow yet big reservoir (15 gallons?? someone suggested that) then I can cut the feet down.

Propagation setup, dome on heat pad

Do my levels look ok? temp is steady at 77-82F and humidity is 55% (humidity does bounce all over the place? maybe meter is crap?)

Feminized Nothern Lights have all sprouted at same rate

Regular Hindu Kush seeds (not feminized) about 4 of the 8 have sprouted. Interesting that the feminized seeds are having a faster started, I germinated them all at the same time. It has been exactly 1 week since planting seeds.

My plan is to have one good Northern lights mother and one good Kush mother. Everyone so far has suggested to put mothers in soil, what about deep water culture??

The other 4 feminized northern lights maybe i will just flower and bud when they are ready ?

i might be getting 2-3 clones this week. So i could try to veg the 4 notherns and the clones and put the 6-7 or so on the flood table for the first cycle ? I dont know need some ideas. Thanks

 

[solarguy]

NICE! you will need to lower that table bc you will need 12-18 inches of clearance with that light...from what im reading right now you can grow a 2 foot plant....maybe based on your dimensions.

SOIL for the mother, i love soil.

get as much going as you want man, there are a hundred different answers to this, i would fill your flood table and than fill the perimeter with SOIL pots with red peppers and tomatoes...

 

[jianle]

Ya solar guy! Thanks for input. I am looking for a shallow resevior right now so I can cut a foot a or so off the table legs, the more height the better.
Anyone have thoughts on when to take off dome and getting a fan on babies? Also, its been about a week since germinating, too soon to introduce nutes or wait a week?

 

[jianle]

OK so lil update, 2 of the fem. northern lights and 1 kush that sprouted up the fastest and were the tallest are looking REALLY droopy today. I have been spraying the rockwool cubes daily to keep them moist.
I read somewhere you can pot them and bury them almost up to their baby leaves to help support the stem. I had bought 2 tiny hyrdo pots and filled the 1inch cube with minihydroton? pebbles and propped up the stems...
Its only day 7 since sprouting and they have been on 24 hrs of light... I read somewhere they could use a break from the light ? so i am gonna cut it down to 18/6....
i rigged up a computer fan to blow down through one of the humidity dome vents, and i opened the other side vent half way as well....

I think i am poking around too much and stressing out the plants too... its so fun though, hopefully i don't lose too many ....

hope all goes well... I am totally astonished by the amount of info on the web about this topic...

 

[str8ballin]

Can a 95 cfm blower fan exhaust a room 10 x 6 x 7???

 

[TrichomeAsaurus]

you can use a rubbermaid storage container for a reservoir. if the seeds have cracked and have roots then you can start feeding them nutes but at half strength for about a week and no longer need them in the dome. i would say that your humidity meter is crapped out if it says your humidity dome is only 55% when closed up ( i would say high 80's% judging by pics). with clones all you need to worry is temps over 70' and keep them moist with mistings, watch for mold and make sure hands are clean. and i wouldnt go over 2' for a plant...even tho its a 1kw light they still wont penatrate the lower canopy enough to matter. you can plan on about 15" below the top of the plant to do the best. all the smaller branches can be removed to help plant focus on the main stems. i have always gotten more yield in hydro systems than in soil, tho they seem to taste better when grown in soil. it depends on what your going for...quality or quantity?

 

[TrichomeAsaurus]

that area is 420 cubic feet and your fan will move 95 CFM. so every 5 mins you will have replaced the air in that room one time ( also depends on duct work, this will affect flow rate)...what are you venting the room for? heat or just fresh air?

 

[str8ballin]

that area is 420 cubic feet and your fan will move 95 CFM. so every 5 mins you will have replaced the air in that room one time ( also depends on duct work, this will affect flow rate)...what are you venting the room for? heat or just fresh air?

both, i also have co2 going, so is 5min pretty good, got the fan combo w/filter from growco....dude told me that the 95 cfm would be fine, but most people on here are telling i need a exhaust fan for 420 cfm????

 

[TrichomeAsaurus]

well if your trying to saturate the cabinet air with co2, enough to make a difference, you might wanna put the cabinet fan on a timer. otherwise you will be using alot of Co2 or just wasting it...if it were me i would have the blower exchange the air in the cabinet 3 times an hour...every 15 mins have it come on for 5 and it will replace the cabinet once. 420cfm is alot of flow for your Co2 room...if the cabinet is getting to hot...try cooling the light down more...i have a 3.5" computer CPU fan centered inside of 6" aluminum ducting and its flow rate is enough to keep my cool tube with 1kw light warm to the touch...controlling the heat produced by the light is most of the heat problem. worst case you by the big blower to cool your light or try reducing air intake temps to the light.

 

[str8ballin]

Thanks, man....using led's by the way........right now the room is at 4 1/2 min every time air is exhausted, hooked up a 95 cfm and split it to work both rooms....according to growco 5 min is the time you want, i just multiplied my dim's 10 x 6 x 7 and divided by 95 cfm and came up about 4 1/2 min...

 

[jianle]

I just made about a $100 error, in my excitement and rush to get this whole project going i overlooked a bunch of stuff that you guys have pointed out for me.

The seedlings are all fucked now, they stopped growing, they stretched, stems got super weak, fell over, stems rotted lol... horrible horrible chain of events.

I still have 7 kush seeds left. I am not giving up and going to try to learn from my mistake. I went out and bought some seed starting soil (0-0.01-0) which is supposed to be pH balanced perfectly for seedlings.
I will be using this soil mixed with about 40-50% perlite to help with draining in a hempy cup (plastic party cup with drain holes in the bottom). The seeds are in papertowel and the tap roots are coming out, i will be putting them in the soil tommorrow and will leave them in the dark until they sprout.

3 mistakes i made were using rockwool and not properly preparing them, using nutes right away thinking i was going to have an advantage and over watering.

This time NO rockwool, using soil and no nutes until week 3 or so.

I wont be using the dome .... and the lights are the next issue. all i have is those florescents and a 1000w lumatek ballast with a HPS light right now.
Should i use the HPS or go get a MH ? should i use the 1000w or get a whole new one ?
Man, what a waste of 2 weeks but definitely some valuable lessons learned .... gonna keep it simple this time.. Thanks for all the input peoples, i wont be giving up! but right now back to square one...I really appreciate all the input everyone, thanks.

My plan is to eventually transplant them to 5 gallon buckets with quality soil mix and put the buckets on the ground to maximize my 6.5 height that i have. Hopefully this is a more noob friendly approach, let me know what all you guys think.. i am going for idiot proof this time haha I just to get one real good mother and then dabble with cloning as well

 

[jianle]

alright guys, i started over and its been 1 week since i put the seeds into the soil. Wow do they look better than last time! didnt use the dome and had a fan on them all the time now... using 18/6 light cycle.
I'll post some pics soon and hopefully this time things go further than last time lol!
I think i should be getting a 250w MH light or something for the veg room ... whatdya guys think ? or are my 4, t12 6500k bulbs good enough ?
I have watered the plants 2x since the first time and i only do it when the top of the soil is dry and starting to suck in from the side of the cups... i hope this is ok. I did give them 1ml / l of Veg. plant fert. i think it is mild enough the plants seemed to thrive after... but i am keeping it pretty light because i think that is one of the main ways i messed up last time

 

[jianle]

Finally ready for an update...

It's been 2 weeks under the fluorescent lights and i decided to go out and buy a MH bulb for my 1000w lumatek ballast. The light is on now but it is flickering super fast, i think this is not normal ?? The ballast was bought from a hydro store but it was returned once before i bought it, wonder if it's defective still? is it the bulb ? maybe I will put in my HPS bulb and see if it flickers...

The temp stayed around 70 before but now that the new light is in it has jumped up to 80 within 3 hours. I had a heat vent in the room from my furnace but i pulled it out and maybe will just put it in there when the light is off (cold here and in basement) 18/6 light cycle
I have the 1000w light about 30" away from the seedlings.

The ballast is quite hot to the touch and the flickering is concerning me.
Here are some pics of the setup... there is a computer fan that is suspended and vibrating the plants... its not oscillating, hope that is not a issue. I also removed the heat pad from underneath the flat tonight (good or bad?)

1 week under florescent

2 Weeks

2 weeks

NEW SETUP

This is my entrance... this grow room is pretty much a secret room in my basement. The basement is very cold so i put a heat vent into the grow room. Now that the new light is in there, it might get real hot and i may leave the entrance hole open....

I have a 200cfm ventilation fan that i am not doing anything with yet AND there is a basement window in the grow room that is sealed up right now but i will incorporate some venting to the outside later when flowering. OR should i have this venting to the outside setup now ?

I am learning lots and trying to add little by little and not overwhelm myself this time, hopefully you guys can lemme know what I'm doing wrong or right. I am figuring a cooling hood reflector will be a nice purchase... don't have the dough right now... Christmas !!

 

[researchkitty]

Screw the mothers.

Destroy the veg room.

Make em both flower rooms and use a small area with the flood tray to veg in. Mothers for this small of an operation is really silly. You'll just waste nutrients and time keeping them alive and clipped to size because one mother will produce enough for 10x your room space every month.

Stick with feminized seeds, and go nuts!

If your curious how an ebb & flow commercial grow op works, check my signature out............ It's just in the beginning phases, but about 3 steps ahead of you with plants in week 3 of flowering and about 300 seeds and clones planted for 24,000 watts of power............... Look how SMALL my veg room is for a 24,000 watt operation!