OA. Third grow, first in hydro. 600w Growlab Tent/Ebb&Flow/Hydroton

[Lanternslight]

Link in my signature for my journal entries that may or may not have to do with this thread.

To start this is the setup so far:

Ventilation:

6" x 16" Phresh Carbon Filter 400CFM
6" Vorrtext Inline Duct Fan 449CFM
2 "Lil' baby clippie type deskfans
6" Flexible Light Ducting

Lighting:

6" Air-cooled Sunsystems Magnum XXXL Reflector Hood
600w Lamp Socket
600w Ushio HPS Bulb
600w Lumatek Switchable Ballast

Irrigation:

4'x4' Flood Tray
4'x4' Snapture Tray Stand
40Gal Reservior w/ Lid
400GPH Water Pump
Sunleaves Air-Pump w/ 1 outlet
4" Cylindrical Air Stone
1/2" Flood & Drain Pipe fittings
1/2" Water Tubing

Grow Medium:
CocoTek Mat
Hydroton
Rockwool Starter Plugs

I will be picking out nutrients, ordering seeds, and getting clones. Clones I plan to grow while waiting for seeds to develop. Many updates on all this to follow in future posts.

Here is a slew of pics from the setup.



I didn't bother to put them in any kind of order obviously; they were taken earlier today. If anyone has any questions feel free to take a look at my journals and ask them in my journal. I would like to keep this free flow of information. Most of your questions will be answered by watching that flow of information and from reading other great journals in this forum.

I would like to point out Roseman as someone who inspires me. I began reading his threads on bubbleponics and they have always been some of the best insight thus far. I have read potroast's Hydroponic thread and gotten great resources out of it. I would like to give him my condolence on being raided and hope you are out of it the pit they threw you down.

I would also like to thank all those that will be follow this in advance. My friend Steezz is on his first soil grow, wish you all the luck in the world man. Hope you get the record breaker you want, always keep with it. Everyone check out his thread and give him some love. There is already a ton of good info to be found there already.

To answer questions about the cocomat setup right now. It was suggested by a friend, I'm testing it out for myself. We will all see how it works out. The basic idea is the mat with allow for light blockage from roots. Also giving me stabilization to the net pots, which will be filled with hydroton. Clones or seedlings will be snuggled betwixt the hydroton pebbles. The tray will flood and the hydroton will suck up water and nutrients. Water will drain back to reservoir just like in a normal ebb and flow system. The cocomat will allow for roots to expand in the area between it and the tray.

I have seen plenty of outlandish setups that work. This one makes sense to me, if it doesn't work I will have learned a great deal along the way. I hope to keep this updated pretty regularly. I almost think I will spend more time updating here, than actually taking care of the little girls.

I will be posting updates on seeds and that in my regular journal. So, any questions on those should be asked there. Again, props and all that are good here. Keep the questions specific. None of those "how do I grow weeds...MaN?" kinds of questions. (Most of you know what I am talking about. If you don't please read sticky threads before asking lowly growers such as I.)

I like the community here, thank you all for so much that I have learned over the last couple of years. Let's have fun and grow together.

 

[dsmoke1]

Yup, you've done this before. I love a well thought out grow. Subb'd!

 

[Lanternslight]

Yup, you've done this before. I love a well thought out grow. Subb'd!

Thanks dsmoke. I have a lot of work to go. Stick around to see how the show turns out, thanks for the sub.

 

[steeZz]

You shit looks cleaner than mine, I need to come vandalize your house.

 

[alotaball]

Steez gimme the address we will split the goods lol... Looking nice bro im sub'd

 

[Lanternslight]

Thanks guys. I will keep posting while looking at your journals everyday haha.

 

[Dubbz0r]

Looks real good Lantern.

Are you going to use c02? and did you have any ideas about what strain/s you plan to grow?

 

[Lanternslight]

Looks real good Lantern.

Are you going to use c02? and did you have any ideas about what strain/s you plan to grow?

I don't have any CO² in there. I would like to get some CO² rings, I have seen CO² bags as well. I was told the fan I have would pull enough CO² into the tent and I wouldn't really need extra. Do you know where I could find info on this?

Another query, the way I have the carbon filter and the inline duct fan. I know they are better for pulling air than pushing, I feel like pulling air out through the carbon filter from the grow area, into and out of the hood is sufficient. My previous arrangement was sucking air out of the tent, through the hood on one side, and into the carbon filter on the outside of the tent. I have done some reading indicating the previous method can cause air to be recycle, thus obtaining less CO² for the plant. The question would be which is optimal, and regardless of that is this arrangement sufficient? Anyone with links or information, please. :}

As for strains, I have looked around. I am really interested in getting Hindu Kush in there. My girlfriend likes it, I like it, I saw alotaball's lil' gems of glory. I am kind of stuck on the strain now. I will be looking into it's proper grow conditions and what others have been doing with her. To sum it up, most likely Hindu Kush.

Thanks for stopping by dubbz, I have seen your comment and posts elsewhere and they always seem informative.

 

[Dubbz0r]

Just you going in the tent or being around the tent will provide the plants with a decent amount of C02. For instance, my C02 is completely off right now and the controller is reading 823ppm. When I was in the room it was over 1000ppm. I have 3 fans and my air scrubber going and the reading always stays high.

You can't go wrong with that Hindu Kush... that stuff looks amazing. If my Master Kush come out anything similar to alotaballs I may just wet myself lol I almost did when I saw his plants ahaha I joke I joke...

Cool man, thanks! I'm definitely subb'd. You will be the first hydro grow I follow. There's no such thing as learning too much about growing Best of luck!

 

[Mr.Natural]

All right Lantern. Interesting concept. The coco mat is a nice twist, hope it works for ya....Subbed too..

 

[alotaball]

Your new venting setup sounds alot better.. another plus .. when running just one light .. the carbon filter will keep most the dust out of your hood and off your bulb!... when I went to a 2 fan system.. I had no filter on the Intake for the hoods.. and you would be amazed how fast they get dusty when you have 700 cfm's running through the hoods. I want to go purchase a filter for the intake.. just been procrastinating lol. Btw .. have some finished bud pics of the Hindu Kush on my grow journal.. just put em up

 

[Lanternslight]

I saw the Hindu and Hood, both very nice. I finished my ducting today. I needed a down-converter; from 6" to 4". Now I have the exhaust venting out of a laundry dryer exhaust vent. I moved into my apartment and didn't have a dryer, lucky me :}. I have a trellis for ScrOG, little name arrow dealies, and I decided on my nutes. BioCanna, I'm Vegan and have heard many good things about them. Regardless, you will all know my findings on the lineup. :}

 

[alotaball]

why dont you run 2 400 watters..? I read in some book that 2 400 watters closer will be better closer to your plant.. then 600s

 

[Lanternslight]

I actually thought about it. I hadn't known that before, I was also told can put an MH bulb in 1 and HPS in the other and it gives a more even spectrum of light. I was also reading that the plants can only use a certain percentage of each color, such as if 10% of green light is the max. Then no matter how many watts of green light you get in there, they won't be able to really grow to their full potential.

I'm sticking with what I got for now. New equipment is expensive, I ain't rich enough to experiment yet. Haha.

 

[alotaball]

lol Sorry I was just being a smart ass cus of your post on my thread.. BUt I just read ur reply and realized you were just sharing info you read.. I thought you were about to start a debate and I overreacted .. Sorry bro.

 

[Lanternslight]

No worries. I know how those debates go. 600w vs 1000w vs LED vs the next thing. I didn't want you to think I waas about to troll your thread. Ps if you need a new home for that old hood I got no probs taking it off your hands ;}

 

[alotaball]

I already commited the hood to a friend at the collective.. but I will be replacing my other yield master which is newer one .. in the near future.. ur welcome to it for cheap.. prob work perfect in your size grow box. I should have a hindu for ya if they root soon.. its only been like 3 days.. but im impatient! lol

 

[dsmoke1]

Veganics? Nice. You're going to really like BioCanna with your set up. A little bit of fulvic/humic acid, molasses, and you'll have the sweetest buds around town.

 

[ru4r34l]

Thanks guys. I will keep posting while looking at your journals everyday haha.

subbed, I like what I see so far.

regards,

 

[Lanternslight]

EDIT: Sorry the pics are small, working out a kink in my photo account.

I have learned a valuable lesson tonight. That lesson is, write everything in word and save it before copying it to forum, insert pictures after post is copied. Below is all that is left of an hour long post about ducting and the whole 9 yards I have been through already after bringing my clones home this afternoon.


All that was left. ------>I have got the girls all setup in their new home. The light is set to 360w on the ballast for now to give them a little juice. I will bump it up over the next couple days. <------All that was left.

To make that long story short. I struggled with a ducting seam on my fan that kept busting off. Taped it, although one of the babies suffered some stress when this happened. I was @ the store I was gone maybe 30 minutes. Looking for a temp gauge actually. Anyways, here are the questions I came up for ya'll.

When should I implement nutrients to the reservoir? I planned on getting all my pH water in there after I finish with this post. Should I add them now, @ 1/4str of course, or should I wait until next week?

Oh yeah, it deleted the part where I told you I got 11 girls all together. 1 God's Gift, 3 Skywalker OG, 3 Platinum OG, and 4 Blue Dream (1 of which I would like to mother). I have all but 1 Skywalker and 1 Platinum OG in OA. The last two are going to 2 lucky medical patients. One will be under a 400W System and 1 will maybe be outdoors...I'm really excited about the gifts. I will still be able to update with pics of how the girls are doing and all that, which is one of the best parts. 10 girls indoors and 1 out in the deserts of Tatooine da-da-da! Haha fun times.

The blue dream is supposedly clone only, so having a mother would be...well, a dream. A fellow patient, and my dearest friend, was my partner in the venture to grow our own medicine. Due to living situations (and my divorce) he ended up living on The Big Island, brother. I know he misses growing and this plant will be my tribute to him. Maybe someday we could come together and marry this Blue Dream to some Green Crack and call it Lantern's Dream or Blue Mistic. Anywho, that is just about all for now. Gonna figure out how to pH my water...

Which reminds me, I tested for ppm here @ my new residents and the ppm was 330. Is that too hard to use for now? I am sure I could pull off getting an RO system, but it would squeeze my already tight budget. So, that's question two and I will update my first post with the nutrients I will be using and the strains in the tent.

Til then,
Let's have fun and grow together!

Oh and those pics...

From right to left, top to bottom:
God's Gift, 2-5 is Blue Dream, then Platinum OG, Skywalker, Platinum OG, Skywalker. I wanted to put one of the POG's in the middle to see the difference in stretch. I had a wonderful idea to try 1 with LST using the CoCo mat like a corkboard, what do you think?

Right Side:

A shot of the God's Gift being very ungodly. Resting is for the Sabbath!