Hey guys,
I joined back in June and have been researching and picking up some great info on these forums. Want to thank everyone for all the help I have received so far. This intro is more or less just a general breakdown of my thoughts/expectations, as well as a list of all the gear and things I am starting out with. I've been around cannabis for the better part of 20 years. I've always wanted to grow, but I have always been a procrastinator, and I've always had access to quality flower, etc. so it was easy to be lazy...
So, the electrician finally installed the sub-panel for my grow on Wednesday 7.22.2020 after rescheduling several times. Getting started a little late, but as excited as ever. I have a few tents. 5x5x7 for flower, 2x2x4 for veg, 3x4 split into two sections 3x3 for mother, 1x3 for clones. I am running 3x Spider Farmer 2000 in the 5x5, an SF 1000 in the 2x2, an SF 1000 in the 3x3 area, and I will be picking up additional lighting for the clone section, although those will be set up last (more than likely). I'm starting with a soil mix of 50% Promix Myco, 30% coco, 20% perlite. I will also being using the FOOP nutrient line, which is supposed to be an all-in-one system, I've heard great things about it and it just seemed like a safer bet than mixing up nutes on my own. I'm running a 6" CloudLine T6 for active intake and an 8" CloudLine T8 for exhaust, both with carbon filters. Intake is sucking in cool air by my portable AC and the exhaust runs straight out the window, both filters are aligned as intakes. I've also got 4 6" clip fans that I will be placing throughout the flowering tent to keep the air moving. Water is RO, ph'd to 5.8.
My fiancees old roomates tried to grow here maybe 6-7 years ago, and they left a bunch of stuff behind. I scored a Botanicare 4.5x4.5 flood table, a 40 gallon Botanicare res with cover, a Hanna Combo Grochek, a 550gph ActiveAqua pump, a 1000w HPS bulb. Probably somewhere around $600-$800 worth of free shit! They also left enough PVC to build out an entire room lol.
I am waiting for some blumat gear to arrive for automatic watering, I ordered the 12 carrot kit, 20 ft of 8mm tubing, 40 dripper attachments, 40 stakes. I am planning to build a 5ft stand for the 40 gal res and attaching the system to this. I am going to use the pump that was left to move the water around in there, so it isn't sitting stagnant.
Another project I plan to build with the PVC is a bracing/stand/hanger for the inside of the tent to help prevent the walls from sucking in from too much negative pressure. I figure if I build it 4x5x5 I can use it to attach trellis, as well as hang some additional fans and things from, while also keeping the sides of the tent from coming in too much.
Complete list of initial gear:
VIVOSUN 5x5x7 (FLOWER)
VIVOSUN 4x3x6 (MOTHER/CLONES)
VIVOSUN 2x2x4 (VEG)
SpiderFarmer 2000 x 3
SpiderFarmer 1000 x 2
AC Infinity Cloudline T6 & 6" Carbon Filter
AC Infinity Cloudline T8 & 8" Carbon Filter
4x Hurricane 6" Oscillating Clip Fans
SereneLife 12,000 BTU AC/Heater/Dehumidifer 3-in-1
4.5 x 4.5 Botanicare Flood Table
40 Gal Botanicare Reservoir with Lid
550GPH ActiveAqua Pump
Hanna Combo GroChek
12 Piece Blumat Automatic Watering Kit with Drippers
VIVOSUN Program Timer x 2
Clone King 36 Site Cloning Machine
Clonex Cloning Gel
Clonex Cloning Solution
VIVOSUN 5x15 Trellis x 2
VIVOSUN Tent Supports (Extras)
Rubbermaid Dishpan for Drainage
5x 27Gal Totes for Storing Growing Medium, etc.
AC Infinity Adjustable Rope Hangers x 12
VIVOSUN Digital Indoor Thermometer and Hygrometer x 2
VIVOSUN 3 Gallon Cloth Pots
VIVOSUN 5 Gallon Cloth Pots
VIVOSUN 7 Gallon Cloth Pots
VIVOSUN 10" x 20" Heated Seedling Mat
hOmeLabs 1,500 Sq. Ft Dehu
Fish Shit Organic Soil Conditioner
FOOP Biosciences Starter Kit
General Hydroponics pH Up & Down
Botanicare Cal Mag 1 Gallon
VIVOSUN pH & TDS Meter Pens
3ml Pipettes
Measuring Shot Glass
Pro Mix MP Mycorrhizae Organic
Roots Organic Coco
Xtreme Gardening Mykos
Mother Earth Coarse Perlite
Method 7 Glasses
Sorry to be so comprehensive, just want to keep a in-depth journal and also give other new growers with similar aspirations an idea of what it took to get this going.
Anyway, with all that said... here is where my first entry really starts.
7.26.2020
Received my clones today from my close friend Stitch, who has been a real help thus far in getting things going and picking out the right gear. He brought over 6 clones for me, they're Orangeblow #7, Punchbowl #3 and Blue Pops #4, all by Envy Genetics. He has been growing these out for a while now and they're all very nice. I'm starting with clones this run instead of seedlings, as it seems easier to get started, and if I fuck up I can just get some new clones. Don't want to pop any nice beans until I have this all dialed in. Anyway, he mentioned that he fucked up and ended up cutting these clones from a plant that had just gone into flower, so he had to reveg them. Not sure what that entails other than the obvious, but they look healthy enough.
I received the clones in solo cups and plan to transplant them into 3 gal cloth pots tomorrow. I just have to mix the soil, which I will do in the morning. My plan is to transplant them again into 5 or 7 gal cloth pots a week or two before flower, I haven't decided yet... I am thinking because I only have 6 plants that the 7 gal pots would be good for this run, next time I plan to try 9 and will run 5 gal pots.
I spent the better part of this week getting the rest of my gear setup and trying to dial in temps. It looks like my humidity is a little low, but I will have to experiment to get it up. It ranges everywhere from 65% - 45%, depending on the time of day and whether or not I have the lights running. I decided to put some distilled water into a 5 gal Home Depot bucket to and stick that in there to bring the humidity up a bit this first night. Ambient room temps are good, I had some trouble keeping them down initially, but I installed a second AC in the room next to this one. I was sucking in lots of hot air because of negative pressure. I also work in this room, my home office is doubling as a grow room as I don't have a lot of space. I might gut the shed this winter and move out there, but it just seems like more problems. I am currently renting, hoping to buy a place in the next year or two and am going to make sure there is space for a nice sized grow room.
I currently only have 2 SF2000 in the tent, as I am waiting for extra support rods to arrive this week, at which time I will hang a third light in the 5 x 5. My other tents aren't setup yet.
Here are some pics of Day 1
Gift from Stitch. Put some water in the orange bucket to increase humidity, was told that would help. The 4.5x4.5 flood table was left by roomates. Stoked!
2x SF 2000, only lowered one for the clones. When I install the third I will spread the plants out in 3 gal pots
Exhaust filter
Intake
T8 Exhaust from tent
Exhaust with a custom little window piece I made. I bought an 8" duct cap, cut the cap and attached a screen to the end to prevent bugs from coming in. I then cut a hole in some foam board and put the cap into it, snug fit.
Carbon filter on intake next to my AC
T6 intake
There used to be an old AC unit in the wall up there, I removed it and sealed it shut. Whattaya think of my bugs?
Tent temp/humidity
Score!
Hanna GroChek, stoked that this was left by old roomates
the pump that was left here
Got 4 of these oscillating clip fans for additional airflow
Unboxed SF1000 and SF2000
FOOP!
Timers
The res that was left here by old roomates.
Ambient room temp & humidity
Picture of the mess of PVC I pulled down from the attic because why not.
Sorry for the long post, just wanted to cover everything in my first! Looking forward to keeping track of this first grow. It'll be cool to look back on. I appreciate any feedback and I hope that this will help someone as much as some of these other journals have helped me.
Cyas tomorrow after I transplant.
