pistolpanda
Active Member
Hello, and welcome to my first true grow! My other grows have always been cut off a few weeks in, mainly because I'm a dumb-ass! But I'm hoping that this one will turn out better. In comparison, my first few attempts at growing come off as shoddy, sub-par, ghettoesque attempts that you would expect out of a middle school science fair. Regardless, I was originally set on having a PC grow, but I didn't want to have to deal with such a small grow space, so I one-upped myself and decided to do something a bit stealthier that NOBODY would look in. A laundry hamper. Who wants to sort through dirty clothes if they don't have to? Anyways! Here's all the important information.
I'm sure you all are sick of all the text, so I'll put up some pictures after this little tidbit. I haven't received my seeds from Nirvana yet, they were shipped out on the 22nd of January, 2012; so I'm sure I'll receive them sometime next week. Until I receive my seeds however, I will be working on further improving my hamper. Temperatures are stable at 82°F with all lights on, and both the circulation and exhaust fans on. With two bulbs (for seedling, I don't wanna burn it!) on and only the circulation fans on, the temperature is stable at 81°F. The lights are on an 8-slot surge protector/power-strip via plug to socket adaptors. The thing over it that the fans are mounted onto is a piece of poster-board outfitted with tape, shish-kabob stick and tape. On the underside (the side the lights are on) there is aluminum foil. I'm aware this has the potential for hotspots, but some reflection is better than no reflection in my opinion.
I wish I had the budget to get some reflective material for the inside of the hamper, but I don't. The only thing I have budget for right now is nutrients, as they are a necessity. Feel free to chime in on what you feel I should get, the General Hydroponics Flora Nova series, or the Fox Farm Trio. I've heard great things about Fox Farm, and haven't heard much about GH, but we'll see. Perhaps I'll be able to find some flat white spray-paint in my garage and do the inside over with that.
I made the hamper grow box by taking a larger laundry hamper and lining it with black t-shirts, which I taped up as I went along. After I had that all done, I put the smaller green hamper inside of it and cut a piece of poster-board to fit the top. I took some thin cardboard and made a 90° duct for my 120mm exhaust fan, as I didn't happen to have any PVC laying around. Once that was all taped up, I took some leftover poster-board and made the reflector for the lights. The lights are held in by the holes in the side of the green laundry hamper. The pressure caused by the edges of the power-strip causes it to stay upright, saving me the trouble of having to rig it. The circulation fans are held onto the reflector via tape loops underneath them, and all of the fans are wired to a 120v input to 15v output DC adaptor I had for some old computer speakers. However, the fans are quite loud, so I'll either have to invest in quieter fans or lower the voltage going into them by using a different adaptor.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
Anyways, here are the pictures. I will keep this thread updated as I get my seeds, germinate them, grow, etc. Feel free to chime in on what nutrients I should get, what light cycle I should pick for veg, and any other useful suggestions that you may have!
and as a treat (mainly because I really didn't feel like dealing with LOTS of pictures) here is a video of the setup! Now you can all know how loud my fans -REALLY- are. Keep in mind, in this video I had the 120mm exhaust fan off, and it's twice as loud as the circulation fans...
[video=youtube;9x0Kt7d9T6s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x0Kt7d9T6s[/video]
- Grow Dimensions: 42"H / 12"W / 20"D.
- Lighting: For vegetative growth I will be using four 26w 6500k CFLs, and for flowering I will be using four 26w 2700k CFLs.
- Schedule: Vegetative is up for debate, either 16/8 -or- 18/6. Flowering will be the generic 12/12.
- Medium: Miracle Gro Organic soil with a slow release 3 month supply of Nitrogen. It was all I had available, I know it's not fantastic.
- Nutrients: Also up for debate, GH Flora Nova or the infamous Fox Farm Trio. Hydro store has both, just haven't decided yet.
- Ventilation: One 120mm exhaust fan, two 80mm circulation fans (pulling heat off bulbs/ballasts), and passive intake (might go 80mm intake).
- Strain: The strain I will be growing is Nirvana's Papaya. Reported to grow short, fast, and have a high yield. Let's hope the reports were right!
- Techniques: Four-cola topping ---> Minimal LST ---> ScroG
I'm sure you all are sick of all the text, so I'll put up some pictures after this little tidbit. I haven't received my seeds from Nirvana yet, they were shipped out on the 22nd of January, 2012; so I'm sure I'll receive them sometime next week. Until I receive my seeds however, I will be working on further improving my hamper. Temperatures are stable at 82°F with all lights on, and both the circulation and exhaust fans on. With two bulbs (for seedling, I don't wanna burn it!) on and only the circulation fans on, the temperature is stable at 81°F. The lights are on an 8-slot surge protector/power-strip via plug to socket adaptors. The thing over it that the fans are mounted onto is a piece of poster-board outfitted with tape, shish-kabob stick and tape. On the underside (the side the lights are on) there is aluminum foil. I'm aware this has the potential for hotspots, but some reflection is better than no reflection in my opinion.
I wish I had the budget to get some reflective material for the inside of the hamper, but I don't. The only thing I have budget for right now is nutrients, as they are a necessity. Feel free to chime in on what you feel I should get, the General Hydroponics Flora Nova series, or the Fox Farm Trio. I've heard great things about Fox Farm, and haven't heard much about GH, but we'll see. Perhaps I'll be able to find some flat white spray-paint in my garage and do the inside over with that.
I made the hamper grow box by taking a larger laundry hamper and lining it with black t-shirts, which I taped up as I went along. After I had that all done, I put the smaller green hamper inside of it and cut a piece of poster-board to fit the top. I took some thin cardboard and made a 90° duct for my 120mm exhaust fan, as I didn't happen to have any PVC laying around. Once that was all taped up, I took some leftover poster-board and made the reflector for the lights. The lights are held in by the holes in the side of the green laundry hamper. The pressure caused by the edges of the power-strip causes it to stay upright, saving me the trouble of having to rig it. The circulation fans are held onto the reflector via tape loops underneath them, and all of the fans are wired to a 120v input to 15v output DC adaptor I had for some old computer speakers. However, the fans are quite loud, so I'll either have to invest in quieter fans or lower the voltage going into them by using a different adaptor.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
Anyways, here are the pictures. I will keep this thread updated as I get my seeds, germinate them, grow, etc. Feel free to chime in on what nutrients I should get, what light cycle I should pick for veg, and any other useful suggestions that you may have!
and as a treat (mainly because I really didn't feel like dealing with LOTS of pictures) here is a video of the setup! Now you can all know how loud my fans -REALLY- are. Keep in mind, in this video I had the 120mm exhaust fan off, and it's twice as loud as the circulation fans...
[video=youtube;9x0Kt7d9T6s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x0Kt7d9T6s[/video]
