4x8 Grow tent w/ Two 600w....... First Grow :-) [With pictures]

Hello Everyone,

What a great forum you have here, it has been a wonderful resource for my first grow. I thought I would share my operation. Any comments, suggestions, or advice would be immensely appreciated.




Here are the specs for my first grow:

-4' x 8' x 7' Grow tent

-Two 600 watt UltraSun bulbs

-2 air cooled hoods

-Carbon Filter

-6" inline fan

-closed ducting system

-A/C is on temperature control (if it gets warmer than 82, the A/C kicks on

-2 Humidifiers (1 Visible mist (1.5L tank), 1 invisible mist (3Gallon tank)

-2 600w magnetic ballasts

-2 oscillating fans in separate corners of the tent (1 outside the tent, but in the room)

-Nutes... Flora Nova 7-4-10. I use 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of water. Feed them once a week.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=flora+nova&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=ivs&resnum=3&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=2554397137005638768&ei=yv3eTJmTGoSosQP-heWGCw&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CEgQ8wIwAA#

-Using ReadyGro Moisture Formula

[ http://www.atlantishydroponics.com/Soil-and-Soilless-Mixes/Botanicare-Readygro-Mix-Moisture-Formula-15-cu-ft.asp ]


-Have 4 clones of ChemDawg in there now (got a deal I couldn't resist), but I'm looking to grow 12 in total once I have the environment stable.

-Inserting SCROG netting (poultry netting) today
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Problems early on:

-Low humidity levels... I live in a dry area and I cannot keep the humidity above 30% in the tent... I think the 6" inline fan sucks the humidity right out of the tent. I turned it off the other day for a bit and the humidity jumped to 40%+ pretty quickly.

Potential solution: Perhaps I should hook the inline fan to a timer (2 hours on, 2 hours off? 1 hour on, 3 hours off?)... Any other suggestions?


-How much should I be watering? Because of the low humidity levels perhaps I should be watering more than suggested amounts. I'm using soil and feeding them nutes once a week.

-Do you think CO2 is necessary? I have spent a lot already, but if it will drastically improve my yields then I will fork over the extra cash and pick up a tank and regulator. Anyone opinions on whether this would be a good purchase?

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Hi there, welcome to RIU, I'm a noob myself but I will try and help.

Have you turned your humidifiers on, you do have 2 of them or is it that dry with them on? i know when i turn the ol 600 on the humidity goes right down to 40% could it be your llights, there are 2 600 watters after all, but you have air cooled hoods. Yes the timer might be a good idea, but watering more often would give more humidity, but that will depend on what you are gorwing in, apparently leaving water in a bucket somewhere in the rooom is also a good idea from what i have read. Co2 is great if you have the money and want increased yeilds, I think we all want increased yeilds so that your call.

all the best with your grow.

C6

dude your setup looks legit, specially for a first grow! great job on supplies. First thing tho is slam that light as close as you can to the plants. they look super stretched. for a 600watt i believe 12-18 inches is good. i use a 400w HPS and have my glass on my hood touching my plants. every 6" light doubles intensity, or loses it. id honestly wait till second round' to introduce co2 unless you have all the riggings for it. It can be expensive to setup but i hear 20-40 bucks a month for the gas after initial setups. but the idea is more co2 there is the more the plant can absorb of everything else, and the difference in yields can be quite large. depending on size of grow you could get a pound more because of it. this is the best place ever to learn off

Thanks Carboniferous C6...

With the 6"inline fan ON, and the two humidifiers ON, the humidity is between 20-30%. When the 6" inline fan is OFF and the 2 humidifiers ON, the humidity jumps to 40-55%.

I have also tried placing a pot of boiling water in the room and let it evaporate, that helps, but only temporarily. If the inline fan is on, the pot of water doesn't do much.

I'm growing in Coco Readygro Moisture formula.

Thanks for commenting i8urbabi...

You're absolutely right that the plants are stretched (I had my lights way too far away until 2 days ago).

I've heard a good method is to just stick your hand underneath the light and if it feels hot to you, it will feel hot to the plant. I'm with you though... Even when my hand is touching the glass on my hoods it doesn't feel hot. I should put the light right on these babies.

Something I noticed, this may be intended, but is the filter attached to the inline fan on the inside of the tent? Should be on the outside of the tent filtering the exhaust air from the tent.

I could be wrong, it's hard to tell from the pics, but it looks like the fan is pulling from the lights. If this is so then the air isn't being scrubbed from the outside. It looks as though the air is pulled from already inside of the room (not scrubbing air before it gets in the tent) and recycled back into the tent. Looks like it's grabbing hot air from the lights and putting it right back into the tent. If it's on the outside of the tent it would blow the hot air outside while scrubbing the smell from the flowing plants. Only way to filter the air coming into the room is to filter the air coming in, not filter it after it's been in the room.

Anyways, this is just an assumption after looking at the pictures, I've never seen the setup myself.

The way you're doing it carbon would work fine, the scrubbed air is then going outside of the room. The way he has it setup, he's just recycling the air inside the tent (from the pictures).

I'm not starting an argument, just a concern when I looked at the pictures. Awesome setup other than that small point.

Ok, that's what I get for assuming.

What I would do is ditch the ducting going into the first light. The first light would be where the tent is sucking air. It doesn't look like you're filtering the air before it gets into the tent (I personally don't think it's that important). All of the ducting you have going into the first light is just stressing your inline fan. If you have passive intakes on the bottom of the tent then that's all you should need to get air into the tent. The fan creates an environment that keeps the lights separate from the room therefore keeping the heat down. If you just pump that same air back into the room it will just stay hot. Only reason I can see of using the filter is to keep the smell down. If it recycles air into the room then the smell factor is still there.

yes a good point t0rn, is the ducting all set up right, if what t0rn is saying you could just be recycling hot air from the lights into the room, warm air from the lights! which will def make it dry!

Nice grow, looks like you got everything in order.

It looks like you exhaust outside.
Have you tried recirculating your exhaust air for awhile. The moisture should build up in the air after awhile. Plants are good humidifiers. Two caveats, doing this causes a build up of heat and O2. With an AC unit, the heat shouldn't be an issue. But a lack of fresh air will. So this may help as more of a band-aid solution until you can find a more permanent one, mist regularly. If you do find it works for you, you could rig something up in your exhaust line using a y-duct and a flue to control the air flow.

Another thought is that if you have heat issues, you might run be running your AC too hard and it could, in turn, dry the air out.

I'm in pretty much the same position as you when it comes to CO2. Second grow, relatively same size. Lot of dough spent. My feeling is that I should wait until I'm dialled in before investing in CO2. That said, right now my setup isn't suitable for CO2, and would require extra work. Your setup looks like it would work fine

sk made me realize that you may be pushing air rather than pulling. If you're pushing air through the lights then outside then there would be no point in that filter even being there. Those inline fans work a lot better pulling air rather than pushing it.

The filter is inside the tent drawing air through it and through the lights, then out, by the looks of it. The filter is designed to be in the grow space, the white 'cotton' is a pre-filter that catches dust and particulates.

You make a good point though, that the fan is more efficient at pulling air than pushing it. However, if everything is running smoothly, the tubes aren't too hot, and temp/humidity isn't too high, then it shouldn't be an issue.

If that's the case, I would filter the air coming in through passive intakes (maybe using the white filter stuff on the carbon filter). Then relocate the carbon filter on the exit of the tent to reduce odors.

All in all, the easiest way of doing what's going on here is to use the fan to suck air starting at the first intake at the first light and exhaust the air through the carbon filter. Having the fan outside of the room drawing air keeps the heat of the fan outside of the tent and the exhaust through the filter would reduce smell. If filtering is an issue for you, I would filter the intakes on the room.

The filter reduces odour by virtue of drawing air through it. It works just fine reducing odour as it is. The intake vents on those tents have a screen. There isn't really any practical purpose to carbon filtering your intake air.

Having the fan in the room isn't an issue. They don't generate any significant amounts of heat.

Thanks for the posts Gents...

The only intake of fresh air coming into the room is through the A/C unit and the standard apartment ventilation/heat.

The exhaust system-

Carbon Filter ---> FAN ----> ducting through both hoods---> ducting out of the tent ------> exhaust out the window

(Fan is pulling air from inside the tent and blowing it in the direction of these arrows, out the window)

"Have you tried recirculating your exhaust air for awhile? The moisture should build up in the air after awhile. Plants are good humidifiers. Two caveats, doing this causes a build up of heat and O2. With an AC unit, the heat shouldn't be an issue. But a lack of fresh air will. So this may help as more of a band-aid solution until you can find a more permanent one, mist regularly. If you do find it works for you, you could rig something up in your exhaust line using a y-duct and a flue to control the air flow."

I tried recirculating the exhaust prior to having the A/C installed and it heated up the room from 75 F to 90 F. It may be worth trying now that I have A/C. Although my method of turning the 6" exhaust fan on periodically rather than all the time seems to be keeping the tent around 50% humidity and 77F-83F... Pretty solid. This will work as a band aid solution for now. The idea of Y ducting out the window is very interesting.

Great suggestion Sk'Mo, thanks.

Just so you know: Air conditioners don't bring in fresh air, they just recirculate it and shoot the heat out the back. Can I assume you are in a southern latitude? Dry, hot weather?

How is the humidity in your home? Is it dry? If so, then it isn't the AC, per se.
Does your AC put out enough BTUs for the space it is in? If not it may be running too much and drying the air out.
What size of fan do you have? You may be able to plug it into a rheostat to slow it down if it is drawing too much. Just keep an eye on your hoods. It will also make it quieter.
How does it affect your plants? If they aren't being affected, is there really a problem? As the plants grow, they transpire more and raise the humidity on their own.

I live in CO... Dry and cold outside right now... (Although up until this week its been hot and dry)

Its very dry in my home ... Less than 20% humidity.

I would like to get an intake of fresh air into the room, but how can I do this if its 35 degrees outside? I can do an intake right next to the exhaust through the window, but should I use a smaller fan to pull fresh air in? What kind of filter should I put on this?

The plants seem to be responding great to the higher levels of humidity as a result of turning off the exhaust fan for a few hours. They are also responding well to the lights being closer. I am definitely making progress... The environment seems to be the most stable arrangement yet!

You're right about the rising levels of humidity as the plants grow larger. I've been told that I may need to get a dehumidifier at that point. Who knows... Maybe I can just turn off the humidifiers at that point and be alright.

Thanks again for taking the time to help and pass on the knowledge... It is very much appreciated!

A few more pictures of the window... AC Unit + exhaust ducting out the window (and a pic of some Agent Orange that I'm enjoying)





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Also a side note... I regret buying the tent... I should have just made the entire room a grow room in retrospect. Maybe the 2nd time around I will go for the whole room....