Aerogarden... Macguyver Style

i stumbled upon this forum after already building my own setup, but since you guys are using similar hardware... i figured i'd share

well, so i've always talked about and am now finally homegrowing... set up a 2x2x3 box lined with mylar and hanging inside box on top is a 200w CFL.. got a 6inch exhaust fan pulling heat/smell up and out to window, got another fan on floor of box (level with base of aero, not grow tray) and it blows toward the far wall to make a spiral of air upwards.... outputs 12k lumens in that small area - temp stays constant with light on at 81-83 (max at 85) and with light off it gets down to 70 (room temp) - humidity in the 30s

now.. i planted 7 little babies on sunday (6 days ago) 5 sprouted, one died, and i replanted with one of the strains that had already sprouted so hopefully that will sprout as well if it's good genetics... only have one "known" strain - trainwreck, the others are just some bomb ass shit i've collected over the years .. attached is a pic of the 4 that have sprouted... there's 2 that never popped yet.. those are of the same genetics and i'm wondering if they're either just bad DNA or what... i've so far used equal parts of GH maxigro and maxibloom (1.5g each for the whole reservior) and i've topped it off during the week with .5g in 3L water at i THINK pH6 i need to get an electronic tester... currently using one of those bullshit aquarium ones with the color card..

the one that died i believe was either cuz the paper on the grow pod came unglued (when i replanted i lightly duct taped it back down) or because since that came apart i tried to fuck with the plant and get the head of it above the paper so it could get more light.... i might have inadvertently pinched the taproot in the process cuz when i noticed it had died the white part was all dry and shrivelled..... but in my defense that fucker was always pretty weak looking compared to the others that sprouted


so -- judging from these pics, is there any advice or input you knowledgable people can give me?

currently light timer is set at 19/5 was 18/6 but since 4 sprouted i added an hour and will start adding a few more till it's 24 constant - i just dont wanna traumatize the 3 unsprouted ones if they decide to come outta their shell....

anyways..... comments?

the limit on file dimentions appears to be 800x800 so i had to chop up this pic...

Have you grown the Trainwreck before? If not, you are in for some great smoke and a beautiful plant. They are truely crystal factories.

Vi

no i havent grown the trainwreck yet... only smoked it and boy it is some crazy stuff... cant wait to see it in full glory..... i got 3 (maybe 4) good plants right now... i say maybe 4 because that one in question (yellowman) sprouted first, but as you can see from those pics taken a few days ago hasnt developed those nice signature zigzag leaves that we all know and love... the other 3 (trainwreck included thankfully) are progressing ok (i think) i shall take a few more closeups in 2 days.... hoping to start full on veg cycle before the new year so i can harvest early march

here's hoping they're girls.....

200 Wat CFL? Could you explain the lighting your using better and perhaps take pics of your box....

I'm assuming your not using the lights it came with but your using the resivoir...

Looks great and sounds like good ass bud....good luck brother

Peace
-Tek

hola,

update..

so the 3 that had not sprouted still have not sprouted.. i think after 9 days i can just about count them as "duds" -- all bagseeds from various bomb ass shit..... i have closeups of the 4 that are doing ok and also some shots of the setup -- my temp gets around 85 or so with the lights on for awhile... hope it's not "too hot" hasnt broken past 90 since the leaves have sprouted in the very very beginning before i added the exhaust fan...

i estimate that my 200watt CFL outputs 60 lumens/watt so that would bring me to 12k lumens total output from the bulb (kinda small yes, but this isnt a major operation) and the interior of this grow chamber is completely lined in mylar.... so i figure that extra reflectivity will more than make up for the "lack" of lumens.... even tho at these dimentions i'm getting 3000 lumens per square foot (2x2x3) without the added reflection of the mylar factored in... i'll post a few pics of the setup in a little while... gotta go try and get my ph/tds meter fixed....

ok tek, as you asked for here is a quick markup of some photos of my setup it's very... how would you say... "compact" hehe -- cant really grow monster yield with this, but i'm hoping to maximize efficiency and get a few ounces at least for my smoking enjoyment..

i made an access panel on the side to easilly refill reservior when anything evaporates, or to test ph/TDS -- of which i'm set btwn 5.0-5.5 and 1.4EC and my solution is all MaxiGro which is 10-5-14 and a tiny bit of MS-6 this mychorrizal fungi and other beneficial members of some bacterium families which is hopefully to prevent bad bacteria and help digest nutrients as to better allow saturation into the roots.. i just changed the timer to be 20:4 light schedule, and the aerogarden is set on tomato/pepper which also happens to be 20:4 (i guess the 4 hours of non water might give the roots a chance to stretch out down thru the foam) next batch i'm using rockwool cubes squished into the seed pods... i used to have it on strawberry setting, which is 24hours constant water, back when it was germinating, but i'm hoping the 4 hours off helps... i could go to the italian herbs setting which is 17:7 water pump schedule any thoughts on that??

anyone have comments as to how i can improve and/or not fuck it up would be welcome

yeah... let it rip on 24 hours schedule.... check your res. regularly.

Very nice setup.... very nice pics.....sorry to seem demanding but I actually would like to see a pic of the actual Bulb that your using....

I am curious for my next attempt at this machine which will be soon....

Cool man thx


Oh yea I wanted to mention how you say the tomato/pepper setting is 20/4? Are you sure? I've been using that setting the whole time and for me it is 17/7....I dunno maybe my machine is different for some reason, but just thought I'd point that out...


Good Luck
Good Grow
Peace
-Tek

hey tek,

i came across this link before setting up
Aerogarden Experience

i didnt bother to actually check it, but that's what i'm going by (stupid? possibly lol) -- are you counting the light schedule? because since i'm using a seperate light i have it hooked up to an external timer, therefore putting my water timer controls entirely on the aerogarden base -- and the lighting timer controls solely on the timer on the outlet

oh and the pic of the bulb... since it'd be a bitch to actually take a pic of it due to its location, here's a link to the product:
http://www.hydrofarm.com/content/PDF/compfluor.pdf

it loads slow for me - but it's the 200w bulb.... in hindsight, i'd probly have been better off with two 125w lights... not because of the 50 extra watts, but because of the better light:heat ratio... i assumed when i bought this light that it wouldnt be "that hot" because it's a CFL -- well, it's not nearly as hot as what an HID would be, but it's still quite warm... and can seriously heat up that space... if the duct fan is off and the lights are on and it's all closed up, the temp can easilly go to 95 - in fact, i never let it go higher than that (on like day one before i put in the extra fan lol) so it may get even hotter.... probly does because it's pretty hot if you put your hand right next to it -- again not like burning superhot; but if i were a plant leaf i wouldnt wanna be there lol

definitely do not assume these bulbs are as cool as the T5 lights that people use for clones/seedlings that go like 4cm from the stems - you'll need a way to drop the temp

Very interesting thanks for the info

Peace
-Tek

hey man how much did those cost? cause i was thinking of picking some up? can you get them at a hydro store? or can you pick them up at like a home depot/lowes? thanks a lot

vandewalle said:

hey man how much did those cost? cause i was thinking of picking some up? can you get them at a hydro store? or can you pick them up at like a home depot/lowes? thanks a lot

Click to expand...

how much did what cost??

sorry man the lights

I've seen them in Home Depot and lowes for around $15 a bulb.

haha nope, you're thinking of standard 32watt or 17watt bullshit CFL lights that you use to replace an equivalent 160watt or so incandescent light for your home.

the actual bulb costs 150 i think for us... cash at local stores only -- no paper trails savvy... no need to give babylon hints.

the fixture is another 80 or so bucks on top ...


after this crop (first ever) finishes, i'll asses whether or not i should switch lighting for next time to HID at lower wattage... already i'm thinking of improving this setup by adding a seperate veg/clone/seedling tray + dome with T5 flours to start rockwool cubes that i'll then stuff in place of the "seed pods" on the aerogarden.... should allow for quicker harvests in theory........ (famous last words "in theory")



anyone know good directions for EC/pH during this time? i'm figurin i'll keep pH the same (5.5-6) the whole time cuz that's what it says on the nutes boxes, but as for EC what should i aim towards? currently i'm at 1.5-1.6 EC and i'm 10 days from the date i put the seeds in the pods -- i have no idea what to do with it really, i'm hoping that is an acceptable range for this stage of life (still early seedling i'd guess)

also on my EC meter it's like this dip wand that you place in whatever solution you wanna test right... and it's got 4 different conversions for the reading which is in blinking LED lights down the side of the wand right..... now i understand EC and CF that's just power of ten sillyness, but why do i have 2 conversions for ppm? one is EC x 700 and the other is EC x 500..... is this why people say dont go by ppm and go by EC instead? someone please explain thanks

Sorry for putting out the wrong info dude. I'm a noob still learning.

it's cool dude, this is my first grow too - and for a day or two when i was running around looking for all these parts i swore i could get a cheaper CFL because of bulbs like those at home depot -- but alas, those wont suffice.

anyway, i have a few questions i've noticed about my AG

for one, since i've gotten proper pH/TDS readings for the past 2 days i've noticed that my EC stays nicely constant at 1.4/1.6 depending on how long i let the dip wand get acclimated to the res. temp (auto temp calibrated wand)

but as for my pH i've noticed that it steadilly goes UP about a full number or so each day... well in my case a full "color" cuz i'm using the 3 drops in a vial matched up to a color chart (not a problem since i'm an artist and colors come naturally - saves $$ from electronic test bullshits)

so what i'm asking is.... why does my pH go up a full integer per day? when i first put the fresh solution in the res. 2 days ago, it was pH 5-5.5 in that area (orange) then the next day it was like damn near 6.5-7 (greenish) so i down'd it to like 6 even and then again today when i checked just now (about a full 24 hours later) it's back close to the greens, so i again dropped it to 6 or just under 6 maybe 5.8 or so

and also, shouldnt my EC be dropping as plants munch up nutes?? the water level DOES slowly decrease past the *fill to here* markerr and i have noticed that the plants do continue to keep producing new leaves (all homogenous green color) so..... should i be worried or just attribute it to the plants being young and/or not eating enough in a day to notice and/or me being completely OCD about this lol

finally, is there a reason my yellowman (pics below) looks the way it does? the other 3 plants look "normal" and it looks like.... i dunno mutated or somethin lol - side trivia, it was the first one to sprout but looks the weirdest

oh and still all those other questions in my last post.... sorry for being so inquisitive and demanding but i would love to sponge up this knowledge so my babies smoke smooth...

I would say it is because the plants are young still...

I had a problem like this once but it was the opposite....My ph would drop a point a day.....I use the color coded PH test kit as well....I dont have a ppm tester or an EC meter, havent used one the whole time growing, I'm almost done...

The water won't decrease much with only a couple little sprouts, but as soon as they get big they will be very thirsty...

Evryone on here including my self seems to have one weird plant in the aerogarden....Don't worry about it, it will be fine.....


Peace
-Tek

cool thanks tek,

hey while you're still here (hopefully....) how did your root systems develop? i'm noticing on 2 of my plants, yellowman and supaweed, that the stem seems to morph into this single white root with little spiney hairs coming out .... which i figure is normal, cept it's occuring ABOVE the sponge and then the white root goes into the sponge... on yellowman i picked it up a day ago and noticed i could JUST begin to see white hairy tips coming thru the bottom and sides of the sponge, so i know it made it all the way down there, but should i do something about i dunno trying to fill up that space or what do i do? leave it? it's still under the paper rim but it is exposed to the dry air - like 20-30% humidity on the light facing side of the grow tray...

here's a few pics

if you look at supaweed from day 9 to day 11 it appears that it strengthened up, so i'm guessing i just gotta wait for yellowman to do the same... but i dunno, what does anyone else think?

well basically the roots are gonna be fine, but your problem with ph is odd, mine hasnt had that problem at all, you really dont need to worry about ph unless it goes below 5.5 or above 7. give your plants 2 weeks and then start to see what the roots are doing. they all should turn out fine