First Grow: 150w HPS + CFL DWC box!

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Hello RIU community! I am a long time reader/researcher of the site and now finally first time poster. I also hope this is the right place to start a grow journal, so here it goes. I've done some indoor soil growing before with limited success (males, plant death), and ever since I was younger I wanted to set up a hydro setup so I figured what the hell, I'll just invest some money and do it right.

I still have some beans that I got from a lesser known website that I unfortunately cannot remember the name of, they're fem super silver haze. I ordered fem low girl from sensiseeds and am waiting for the arrival. I think I'm just going to grow 1 plant for now for maximum control of everything, and its going to be the low girl when it comes, also my box is a little too small for how big the haze can get so that'll be the next journal. Def wanna attempt a scrog at some point, since that sounds like the greatest thing ever.

Ok, the box is a thick cardboard box that is 18'x18'x31.5' inches. I have carved a door into it for access and better light management. I also cut a hole in the door for the fan, but the vent is on the ground to the right of the fan so I'm considering carving a hole higher up and bringing the fan up there to get a better flow of air going. Ive lined the inside with foil completely and plan to get some of that mirrored tape to put on my reservoir.
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thats haze in some coco coir that i was trying out while im waiting for stuff to come.

This is what im working with so far:
5315075194_755f610f31_b.jpg Zoomed timer strip $20 which I have to say works great, much better than a $40 digital aqualight coral life shit that barely worked, not to mention had its nighttime and daytime sockets mixed up.

5314476863_3674b491bc_b.jpgThese are the temp and humidity gauges (~$10) I'm using, they're pretty accurate so I opted against digital. thats also an aquarium thermometer $4

5315071690_8ddeee4d6a_b.jpg5314475203_62688e1f7f_b.jpg Currently my lighting consists of CFLs, as I'm awaiting for my 150w hps CAP mini sun $60 to come (that has a 16,000 lumen output). I have two y-splitters in a third y-splitter and thus 4 bulbs in one socket. The third y-splitter is screwed into an adapter. All those things were cheap from home depot. Right now I just have one of these babies, the two pictures are for an alternate view. Although, I'm seriously considering going out and getting the components to make a second one so I can have 8 of those bulbs running. the bulbs are 6500k 27w 1610 lumen bulbs I got in a four pack from lowes for like $10, sweet deal.

5315073386_69ff9e9483_b.jpg As you can see I also have two 24" Zoomed Ultrasun (~$20 bulbs that are 6500k 17w that are really just for supplemental lighting. the lumen output is around 1100-1500.
5315076674_20e0467ab5_b.jpgHere it is with it all running together. I have an extension cord running through a paperclip I've pushed through the top of the box. It used to be in the middle, but I moved it to the corner to make room for the hps, and then I can set up another y-splitter "tree" in the opposite corner with another cord.

5314472669_7a9d9bdf83_b.jpgSo far for nutes I have the dry maxi series by general hydroponics. I got them pretty cheap from amazon, around $30 after S+H. unfortunately I hadnt done my research on the lucas formula at that point and now realize all I really need is the bloom. I'm waiting for some nitrex to come to compensate for the lack of nitrogen from the all-bloom diet. I'm also considering getting AN's Big Bud but I'm not sure if maxibloom is standalone or if I can add the Big Bud during flowering? I'm def willing to spend the money on it if that's advisable.

5315069066_f149d1760d_b.jpgI've also made one of those CO2 "factories" for a lil boost for the plant and to compensate for any extra heat produced. Yeast and sugar go in the 2 liter bottle, where the CO2 produced travels through the tubing into half a regular sized bottle, which will be filled with an inch of water. I've sealed the bottle top with silicone sealant and sealed the other end to the bottom of the halved bottle.

I'm currently not only waiting for my hps, but a TDS/ppm meter, a pH meter, a handheld 100x lit microscoped from eBay for pretty cheap. I already have a liquid pH tester kit and up/down solution for calibraiton. Also I have 6" net pots, hydroton and rockwool cubes coming so I'll def keep everyone updated on the progress of things, it should all be here this week in waves, starting tomorrow.

So anyway, finally onto the DWC itself. I've envisioned large reservoirs for multiple plants, but I opted to get a 5 gallon bucket. After making all the necessary holes in it, I found this old cat liter tub I had and decided that would be even better for now considering the size of my box. I still plan on using the bucket, probably for my second grow too and probably have like three plants in it. So, the cat litter tub holds 2 gallons up to where it would only submerge an inch of the 6 inch pots, perfect fit. Ive got distilled water that I'm going to use when the time comes, I currently just have tap water running through the system to clean everything up. It's dimensions are 9.5x9.5x11.5 inches
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I carved holes in the tub for the airline tubing and a water pump power cord. That air pump is a Whisper 100 $23, for max bubbles for the roots.
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One of the airlines is feeding into a 5" airstone disc in the middle, and the other tube goes to a T-splitter into two different 6" airstone bars. Unfortunately the bubbles only really issue from the first half of the bars, so I guess even the whisper 100 isn't powerful enough :( oh well either way there is a really decent amount of bubblage going on.
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The water pump is suctioned to the bottom, it is a powerhead pump from petco $13. The port where the water issues out of has a diameter of around half an inch, so I had to use the silicon sealant around airline tubing which actually worked, I was worried that the pressure of the water would push the silicon plug out but it works good as you can see in the picture. there are holes in the tub so the plug and airline intake can get out.

So that's what I got so far, once I get the pots I can accurately cut a hole in the lid and get started on the process! So please keep up with the grow, ask any questions you may have and feel free to share any knowledge.

Peace! :peace:
 
Btw there are links in here to buy certain products online, dont know why they all turned out black? anywho you can search through it by mousing over them
 
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