My First Grow Journal...EVER! 600W MH/HPS Bubbleponics Cabinet Grow

[D.A.A.S.69]

Morning Ellz I'm kinda like OJH I don't know much about hydro ,but I still enjoy reading bout it. You are doing a good job ,really like the locking cabinet to keep kids out. Keep up the good work.

[oldjarhead100]

wow eliz sounds like you did yoour homework I grow in coco but love to read about hydro so Im in. I may not have alot to say good luck to you

[berrypilot]

🌱 Just wanted to say congrats on the new home! I purchased my first home recently and it was sooooo stressful but also satisfying!!! I couldn't be happier now 🌱

[ellz]

Oh, and the shells all broke off...a couple of them needed some help but I got them free and now they can spread their leaves. Will post pics tomorrow (or today depending on time zone).

[ellz]

I only chose a cabinet over a grow tent because of the locking ability of the cabinet. I have kids so I don't want them getting in there. This way, I can lock the whole thing and lock the garage. Plus, if someone were to catch on and try to rip me off, it's a lot harder to do when using a locked steel cabinet versus a zippered fabric grow tent. I live so close to other houses it makes me nervous. LOL.

[ellz]

Thanks. I did a lot of research before starting the grow, especially since I had been wanting to do this for several years but finally got the opportunity when I bought my own home so it's been a long time coming! All I could do where I used to live was dream about growing my own legally. Now, I can and under doctor's orders at that!

[berrypilot]

🌱 It sounds like you're really on top of everything so far! 🌱

[ellz]

Correct...just turning off the water pumps but not the air pump. That runs 24/7. I think I am going to set my water pump timer to run for 15 minutes every 3 hours to start with then adjust it as the roots start spreading. I may even do it every 4 hours. I have a separate timer coming for the water pumps so I won't have to unplug and replug them in all the time. Just have to do that until the timer arrives, which is only Monday. I have the water pumps off right now and will likely only turn them on for one hour tomorrow and one hour Sunday. I want the roots to start searching for water early. As for the shells, I will check on them tomorrow but it looks like they are breaking off okay. If they aren't off by tomorrow I will help them along. Thanks for your input. Any comments are more than welcome as I certainly am doing this more on the fly than anything.

[berrypilot]

🌱 Just to make sure, when you're turning off the pumps you mean you're turning off the water pump/top feed, right? You should never turn off the air pump/bubbler as this adds oxygen to the water which is really important to prevent drooping and root rot. Air pumps should be on 24 hours a day, every day.

I've found that if the Rapid Rooters actually look wet or shiny, they are too wet for seedlings. Seedlings seem to do the best when the Rapid Rooter is moist to the touch but not soaking. I do the same thing as you - turn off the water pump for a few hours if it seems like things are getting too wet. In fact, in the past I've put the water pump on its own separate timer, and get it to turn on for 10 minutes every hour or something like that. That way the top feed turns on every hour and keeps the Rapid Rooter moist, but isn't constantly making things super wet. Once the roots hit the water I turn it on 24/7 again.

If it's still there tomorrow, make sure to remove the shell that's stuck on that one seedling. Sometimes they have trouble shaking it off, but if you gently grab it between your fingers or with tweezers you should be able to easily knock it off (if it hasn't fallen off on its own already). The seedling will start growing faster as soon as its leaves get exposed to the light!

So far you're kicking butts and taking names! Great start! 🌱

[ellz]

Thanks for your comments and your question and welcome to the show!

I have the pumps running about 16 hours. I unplug them both before bed and then plug them back in when I get up. They flow into the clay pebbles around the Rapid Rooters so not directly on the seedling itself. I may start turning the pumps off more often because I don't want to flood them. Plus, it helps build roots when they have to search for water. As for the reservoir, the air stones are running constantly to inhibit the water from getting stagnant.

I think I am going to run the feed drips for 8 hours starting when the light goes off and then stopping 2 hours after the light comes back on (so 11:00AM to 7:00PM). I will likely end up buying another timer and cord y-connector and have it come on and off at different times during the day. Maybe have it run an hour every 4 hours or something. Still kinda learning as I go.

[yosh1419]

How often are your top feed pumps running? Also great setup and good luck battling that heat! I'm subbed and ready to see how these turn out

[ellz]

07/07/2017:
Notes: During the night (around 1:30AM) I decided to turn off the water pumps and let the seedlings sit in moist Rapid Rooters overnight. I also had set my light timer to turn off between 11:00AM and 5:00PM (during the heat of the day).

11:00AM: Went to check on the cabinet to make sure the light timer did in fact turn the light off and was happy to see it did. I also plugged my water pumps back in. I have one sprout on the White Poison side, the other was droopy which is why I turned off the water pump. It appears to be a bit better after doing that and hopefully will grow okay. As for the Rug Burn OG, both were doing fairly decent, not fully sprouted but getting there. Probably see those come up by tomorrow if I had to guess. With the light off, the cabinet is staying in the mid 80ºF range so I am happy with that but I still want to get the inline duct fan installed for when the light is on. I will also most likely try to shorten the duct hose because the tape is not holding as well as I had hoped. Plus, when the hose is collapsed down like that, the inner diameter shrinks, thus reducing airflow. I will update the post with some pictures tomorrow when everything is done. I have added a pic of the White Poison sprout as well...ain't it cute?! :P

05:00PM: Checked to make sure the light came back on and it did. I also unplugged both of the water pumps to let the net pots dry out a bit. I ordered a timer for the water pumps that will be here Monday so until then, I am unplugging and plugging in every few hours until I figure out the best watering cycle. I also cut the duct hose down a bit so that there was no sag in the lines. The extra fan will be here tomorrow so that will get installed as well. I may have to cut the duct down a bit more when I add that. I found that using a razor and a pair of wire cutters, along with taping off the line you want to cut makes cutting the duct simple. I did want to leave some slack just for the light to be able to go up and down without stretching to hose too much so I think I have found a good balance. I have attached photos of that, along with the cabinet overall (I added another fan down below). I also have added photos of all the seedlings as they sit now. Will update tomorrow when all the other modifications have been installed.

[ellz]

I was nervous that the heat would cause it to melt but it seems to be holding just fine. I had to add a couple of more pieces after it settled but it's still holding.

[ellz]

I had considered cutting the ducting down if need be but I don't want to mess it up. I have never had a lot of luck cutting ducting without it leaking air, but I appreciate you posting that link. I had searched before but didn't find too much on that issue so any help is more than welcome! As for my light schedule, I had planned on swapping them to an 18/6 schedule in a day or so. I wanted to give them 24 hours of light before I change things up. As for outside temps here, it topped out at 109ºF today and is expected to be just as hot tomorrow so I may set my light timer to go off at 11AM tomorrow and then come back on at 5PM. I watched the temps in the cabinet today with the light running all day and the most it got up to was 97ºF which isn't horrible but it's still kinda hot. That extra inline fan will help a bit as well, but that won't be here until Saturday. Either way, I am grateful for your input! Hopefully the heat wave will go away soon and I can stop worrying so much.

[berrypilot]

🌱 I am so excited to see this! You have almost the exact same hydro setup as me! Well yours is cooler because it's in a cabinet but I had it in a grow tent. I'm not growing hydro now, but I did it with a 600W and two 10 gallon tubs, though only one plant per tub for me

It seems like you're doing a really great job with the temperature so far consider how hot it is outside. However, if you are having trouble keeping the temperature down in the grow space, it can help to reduce the amount of ducting the air has to go through. The less ducting, and the straighter the ducting, the more effective the exhaust system. Long ducting with a lot of turns and curves reduces the efficiency. This page has some ideas on how to keep the ducting relatively short while also having a carbon filter if you decide to change it up later. I set mine up just like the diagram and it works really well and kept smells inside! I also struggle with high temperatures, and I honestly felt my plants grew far better when I gave them 18/6 and put the break in the hottest part of the day. I feel like plants are also more resistant to stress if they get at least a short dark period.

I am so super subscribed to your grow! 🌱