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

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

    Greetings everyone! I am fairly new to the forums but I have a decent amount of growing experience. Hopefully I can help others while learning myself. That being said, I am keeping my very first online grow journal since where I live it's 100% legal to grow cannabis. Intros and a full rundown of my grow setup can be found on this post.

    Plant #1 (Left hand side of cabinet): Rug Burn OG seeds frozen from 10/27/2015. Tested THC Content:25.62%
    Plant #2 (Right hand side of cabinet): White Poison (White Widow x Durban Poison) seeds frozen from 10/27/2015. Tested THC Content: 7.08%

    All times listed are in Mountain Time Zone

    Playing catchup for the first couple of days:
    07/03/2017
    11:36PM: After pre-soaking the four selected net pots and Rapid Rooters, I inserted two seeds from each strain, one in each net pot, 4 total into the Rapid Rooters. The system was turned on except for the light, and was left running and the doors were closed.

    07/04/2017
    01:30AM: Decided to check and see how things were running since this was my first grow in this system. Turned the garage light on, opened the cabinet doors and everything was running smoothly. I decided to turn off the system and let the seeds sit in damp Rapid Rooters with zero air flowing (air can still pass in and out in some places). I closed the cabinet doors and flipped off the power switch on my surge strip and the garage lost power altogether! It wasn't a huge deal since I wanted the system off, but it was something I would have to remedy first thing in the morning because the circuit breaker wasn't tripped!

    08:45AM: Upon waking up, I thought of why the power was out in the garage. There is an outlet on the outside of my house that has a test/reset function and sure enough, that is the main feed line for the garage! Pushed reset and power was back on! YAY! Went inside the garage, said good morning to the seeds and turned the system back on except the light.

    03:00PM: Checked on the cabinet since the outside air temps were around 98ºF and inside the garage the temp was almost 90ºF. I bought a portable swamp cooler to keep the garage cool during the daytime heat so I turned that on as well. Inside the cabinet, the temp was about 88ºF and the humidity was near 38% (very dry, I know). I left everything running to check on later.

    04:00PM: Checked on the temps after an hour and they had dropped a good deal. Inside the garage was down to around 83ºF and the humidity had increased to 45%, also observed nearly the same inside the cabinet. I was still concerned that heat would be an issue since we are going to have a week straight of over 100ºF so I decided to go ahead and install a second intake fan in the cabinet. I turned everything off, covered my plants and my wife held a piece of paper under my drill for me and I cut the second intake hole. I then installed the fan, vacuumed everything up, turned the system back on and shut the doors. I also left the swamp cooler running.

    04:35PM: Checked the temperatures with the second fan installed and they had come down a bit more so I feel confident that with the swamp cooler and the 2 fans things should be okay but I also have 2 more slower speed fans I can install should I need to. Leaving the system on without the light for the night and will check on everything tomorrow. Turned off the swamp cooler.
    (caught up)

    07/05/2017:
    09:10AM: Went and checked on everything. The temperature in the cabinet was 77ºF and the humidity had dropped to 28% overnight. I checked the seeds and noticed that 3 of the planted seeds (2 of the White Poison and one of the Rug Burn) had already cracked open and began to establish their taproots! That was fast! Not sure about my other Rug Burn but time will tell. Closing the cabinet and leaving everything on but the light and the swamp cooler. Will check on later.
    Last edited by ellz; 07-05-2017, 05:27 PM.
    Whoever's growing a small patch of cannabis behind the gymnasium, congratulations! You have won a cruise! Report to security to claim your tickets.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------
    Ellz GrowCam Channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Z...pnwuazYQD6URA/
    Ellz GrowCam Time Lapse Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...1nS2a9LvXEdmya

    1st Hydro Grow: 600W MH/HPS Homemade Bubbleponics Homemade Cabinet - White Poison (White Widow x Durban Poison) COMPLETE! Final yield: 10.2 ounces off 2 plants. 124 days total from seed (34 days vegetative + 90 days flower)

    2nd hydro - Peyote Cookies and OG Kush https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...-mh-strain-tbd COMPLETE! Final yield: 11.8 ounces combined, 2.7 ounces of Peyote Cookies (150 days from seed), 9.1 ounces of OG Kush (138 days from seed).

    #2
    Got a front row seat!
    My first grow

    Comment


    • ellz
      ellz commented
      Editing a comment
      Welcome to the show!

    #3
    07/05/2017 (continued)...

    12:27PM: Went out to check on everything again and it looks like only one of each plant has started to sprout for sure. The other two are trying. I relocated the internal clip fans so that they would bring cool air down from the intake to the charcoal filter while passing over the plants themselves. I have attached a couple of photos showing how everything sits now...

    01:45PM: With temps blazing outside at 107ºF and the humidity down to a measly 10%, I decided to go check everything and I was happy to see that the cabinet was still sitting in the mid 80s with only around 30% humidity. I decided to test out my temps with the light on and the swamp cooler blasting and I am still pretty nervous about the high temps but we shall see how that goes. I watched as the light added an extra 10ºF to the air, raising the inside temperature to around 93ºF after only a few minutes. However, I was able to slow the rate of increase by placing the cooler in a position further away and focusing the vent upwards towards my cabinet's intake. Rather than raising half a degree every few minutes, it had slowed by half with the change. I also think moving my fans was a good idea since the air flow is much better inside and there is nothing at all in the way of my grow space! I turned my light off and left everything else running and will check on it later. The 2 sprouting seeds haven't broke the surface just yet so I will hold off on the light until they do. Maybe by then the temps will go down outside but from what they say it's only going to get hotter the rest of the week! Maybe this will be a short lived heat wave and by the time I am ready to turn the lights on it will start cooling back off. Fingers crossed!

    9:30PM: All four seeds that I planted have started to sprout! Two are really coming up and the other two are just a bit slower but the seeds are all open and the tap roots are all out! I turned my light on around 9:00PM and plan on giving them a few hours of light and check on them before bed. If they haven't stretched at all, then I will turn off the light for the night but if they pop up farther I am going to leave the light on from now until flowering, but may swap to a 18/6 hour cycle if the heat gets too bad during the day time. I can easily turn the light off during the hottest 6 hours of the day if need be. With the light on for about 30 minutes, the inside cabinet temperature had risen from 88ºF to 94ºF and seems to have leveled off at that. I also have the swamp cooler going because it's still hot outside (~86ºF). I will likely turn that off before bed so the humidity doesn't get too high in the garage.
    Last edited by ellz; 07-05-2017, 10:40 PM.
    Whoever's growing a small patch of cannabis behind the gymnasium, congratulations! You have won a cruise! Report to security to claim your tickets.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------
    Ellz GrowCam Channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Z...pnwuazYQD6URA/
    Ellz GrowCam Time Lapse Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...1nS2a9LvXEdmya

    1st Hydro Grow: 600W MH/HPS Homemade Bubbleponics Homemade Cabinet - White Poison (White Widow x Durban Poison) COMPLETE! Final yield: 10.2 ounces off 2 plants. 124 days total from seed (34 days vegetative + 90 days flower)

    2nd hydro - Peyote Cookies and OG Kush https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...-mh-strain-tbd COMPLETE! Final yield: 11.8 ounces combined, 2.7 ounces of Peyote Cookies (150 days from seed), 9.1 ounces of OG Kush (138 days from seed).

    Comment


      #4
      07/05/2017 (continued)...
      10:00PM: Did a temperature check on my cabinet and it had dropped down to 93ºF so I am okay with night time temps if I need to leave the light on. All of the seeds have popped and are on their way to growing up big! I have posted pictures of their 2-day progress below, but I am very impressed at how fast they opened and started to root! 2 days in the cabinet with the water and air running, no light and now they look like this! Awesome! Probably going to turn off the light at 11:00PM and check on the sprouts in the morning. If they have come up more I will turn on the light for good, but I want to let them come up some more before I really start pushing them.
      Whoever's growing a small patch of cannabis behind the gymnasium, congratulations! You have won a cruise! Report to security to claim your tickets.
      ---------------------------------------------------------------------
      Ellz GrowCam Channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Z...pnwuazYQD6URA/
      Ellz GrowCam Time Lapse Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...1nS2a9LvXEdmya

      1st Hydro Grow: 600W MH/HPS Homemade Bubbleponics Homemade Cabinet - White Poison (White Widow x Durban Poison) COMPLETE! Final yield: 10.2 ounces off 2 plants. 124 days total from seed (34 days vegetative + 90 days flower)

      2nd hydro - Peyote Cookies and OG Kush https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...-mh-strain-tbd COMPLETE! Final yield: 11.8 ounces combined, 2.7 ounces of Peyote Cookies (150 days from seed), 9.1 ounces of OG Kush (138 days from seed).

      Comment


        #5
        07/06/2017:
        11:00AM: Turned on the light after seeing that all of the seedlings were now above the surface or just at the surface of the Rapid Rooter. The White Poison ones are doing the best right now. The Rug Burn is still trying to figure out which way is up! LOL. Either way, they are ready for the light and they have it now. I also modified my ducting to eliminate the sagging from the extra duct weight. I just used standard duct tape and squeezed the duct together at the end and wrapped the tape around and voila! It definitely helped bring the temps down a bit since the air can flow much more freely. I also ordered an inline duct booster fan because I believe that will help bring the temp down a lot more. That won't be here until Saturday so I am going to see how the system does without it during the next couple of days. Outside temps are supposed to be over 100ºF each day through next week.
        Whoever's growing a small patch of cannabis behind the gymnasium, congratulations! You have won a cruise! Report to security to claim your tickets.
        ---------------------------------------------------------------------
        Ellz GrowCam Channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Z...pnwuazYQD6URA/
        Ellz GrowCam Time Lapse Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...1nS2a9LvXEdmya

        1st Hydro Grow: 600W MH/HPS Homemade Bubbleponics Homemade Cabinet - White Poison (White Widow x Durban Poison) COMPLETE! Final yield: 10.2 ounces off 2 plants. 124 days total from seed (34 days vegetative + 90 days flower)

        2nd hydro - Peyote Cookies and OG Kush https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...-mh-strain-tbd COMPLETE! Final yield: 11.8 ounces combined, 2.7 ounces of Peyote Cookies (150 days from seed), 9.1 ounces of OG Kush (138 days from seed).

        Comment


        • Aloner
          Aloner commented
          Editing a comment
          I just used standard duct tape and squeezed the duct together at the end and wrapped the tape around
          GENIUS! I'm in the early stages of planning for an indoor grow space -- I'm adding that to my notes.

        • ellz
          ellz commented
          Editing a comment
          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.

        #6
        🌱 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! 🌱
        (ノ◕ヮ◕)ノ*:・゚✧*:・゚✧ Poof!

        Comment


        • ellz
          ellz commented
          Editing a comment
          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.

        • ellz
          ellz commented
          Editing a comment
          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.

        #7
        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.
        Last edited by ellz; 07-07-2017, 06:51 PM.
        Whoever's growing a small patch of cannabis behind the gymnasium, congratulations! You have won a cruise! Report to security to claim your tickets.
        ---------------------------------------------------------------------
        Ellz GrowCam Channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Z...pnwuazYQD6URA/
        Ellz GrowCam Time Lapse Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...1nS2a9LvXEdmya

        1st Hydro Grow: 600W MH/HPS Homemade Bubbleponics Homemade Cabinet - White Poison (White Widow x Durban Poison) COMPLETE! Final yield: 10.2 ounces off 2 plants. 124 days total from seed (34 days vegetative + 90 days flower)

        2nd hydro - Peyote Cookies and OG Kush https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...-mh-strain-tbd COMPLETE! Final yield: 11.8 ounces combined, 2.7 ounces of Peyote Cookies (150 days from seed), 9.1 ounces of OG Kush (138 days from seed).

        Comment


        • yosh1419
          yosh1419 commented
          Editing a comment
          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
          ellz commented
          Editing a comment
          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.
          Last edited by ellz; 07-07-2017, 06:03 PM.

        #8
        🌱 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! 🌱
        (ノ◕ヮ◕)ノ*:・゚✧*:・゚✧ Poof!

        Comment


        • ellz
          ellz commented
          Editing a comment
          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).

        • berrypilot
          berrypilot commented
          Editing a comment
          🌱 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
          ellz commented
          Editing a comment
          Thanks berrypilot. It was pretty stressful but you are right...the satisfaction of owning versus renting is so worth it! We are paying less for this 4br house than we did for our 3br apartment!

        #9
        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
        new grow room built summer of 2017 ,argo max tent for veging ,big kahuna reflector, 1000hps with added leds for the full spectrum . 15th indoor grow ,5 years outside gorilla grows(stealth is the key),veg under t5s growing autos under 300w leds
        current grow https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...-new-grow-room

        https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...-auto-vs-photo


        https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...-week-4-update

        Comment


        • ellz
          ellz commented
          Editing a comment
          Thanks and welcome to the show!

        #10
        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.
        Cfls for a week or two
        315lec for everything else
        Dug up Ms.topsoil, with perlite added
        36x36x63 inch tent.
        6inch - exaust - intake fans an scrubber
        Smart pots
        Molasses
        Autoflowers

        Comment


        • ellz
          ellz commented
          Editing a comment
          Thank you and welcome.

        #11
        07/08/2017:

        11:00AM: Went out to check on the light and ensure it had switched off and it did. I left the water pumps off overnight so that the net pots would dry out and they really dried out quick! By the time I checked them about 8 hours later, they weren't even damp any longer. That is what I wanted to happen so that the roots would start searching for some more water. I also left the swamp cooler on medium last night and let it run all night while the light was on. The temperature in the cabinet this morning was down to 77.6ºF and the humidity had increased to a whopping 45%! Inside the garage, the humidity was level at 50% and the temperature was about the same as the cabinet so I feel confident that the air flow is good inside the grow space. I have the water pumps turned back on now but plan on turning them off and on throughout the day and tomorrow. The timer will be here Monday so that will solve that for good. As for the inline fan, that is arriving today. I also ordered two little Honeywell Vortex fans to put down by the plants. They are mostly plastic where as the one in there now is all metal. As you know, metal and humidity don't like each other and tend to result in rust. As for my seedlings, which is what this is all about, they are doing great! 3 of them have sprouted their initial leave sets. The other one had a bit of an issue yesterday. When trying to pull off the remaining seed shell, the whole seedling came out of the Rapid Rooter. Well, the tap root was incredibly long and would not go back in without curling back up on itself. Basically it was in but the top of the plant was so heavy that it fell over. I accidentally broke the tap root off half way down while trying to gently insert it back in with a small piece of 1/4" tubing. I basically stuck the broken tap root back into the Rapid Rooter and hoped for the best. It looks like it has taken hold since that because I nudged the shell and it came off but the root felt as if it was grabbing so that is good news. I imagine it will grow a bit slower to start with but should do just fine. All-in-all, things are looking great. I planted these seeds on Monday and already they are this far along! Plus, I have learned a lot of what not to do as the week has gone on. Hopefully I have documented everything in a manner that will help both me and the readers of this journal avoid those issues next time. Below, I have included a couple of pics of how they are doing today.
        Whoever's growing a small patch of cannabis behind the gymnasium, congratulations! You have won a cruise! Report to security to claim your tickets.
        ---------------------------------------------------------------------
        Ellz GrowCam Channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Z...pnwuazYQD6URA/
        Ellz GrowCam Time Lapse Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...1nS2a9LvXEdmya

        1st Hydro Grow: 600W MH/HPS Homemade Bubbleponics Homemade Cabinet - White Poison (White Widow x Durban Poison) COMPLETE! Final yield: 10.2 ounces off 2 plants. 124 days total from seed (34 days vegetative + 90 days flower)

        2nd hydro - Peyote Cookies and OG Kush https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...-mh-strain-tbd COMPLETE! Final yield: 11.8 ounces combined, 2.7 ounces of Peyote Cookies (150 days from seed), 9.1 ounces of OG Kush (138 days from seed).

        Comment


          #12
          Hey Ellz I can tell you are doing a great job just by reading all the details you wrote. I'm sure the one that broke will do fine at least i hope so. I grow in soil and really try to let my soil dry as much as possible before starting to wilt before watering again, but signs of wilting is not that bad either if you water them soon. I also believe in letting them hunt for the water also I believe it promotes faster growth, and stronger roots but that's just me others might think differently. Keep up the good work.
          Cfls for a week or two
          315lec for everything else
          Dug up Ms.topsoil, with perlite added
          36x36x63 inch tent.
          6inch - exaust - intake fans an scrubber
          Smart pots
          Molasses
          Autoflowers

          Comment


          • ellz
            ellz commented
            Editing a comment
            Thanks!

          #13
          07/08/2017: (continued...)

          05:00PM: Got the inline fan in and installed just before the light came back on. I turned the main exhaust fan down just a bit via the inline fan controller. I put it on medium versus high. That way it's not over powering the little inline guy. I turned my water pumps on for about 10 minutes and let them water the net pots fairly decently then unplugged them. I will most likely plug them in for 10 minutes around 9:00PM and then leave them off for the night after letting them run about 15 minutes. I can't wait until my timer gets here so I can set it and forget it! Other than that, all the sprouts are up. The one I broke the tap root on is a little shorter than the others, and not all the way opened on its leaves but the other 3 are doing great!

          09:00PM: I took a piece of duct left over from when I cut down the ducting and wedged it in my exhaust vent and ran the other end down to where it exits the window in my garage. It's not air tight by any means but it works well at pulling the hot hair from in the cabinet outside of the garage altogether, and it allows me to use the blackout curtains without worrying about restricting exhaust airflow. I put my hand near where the duct meets the window screen and wow! That worked great! I have included 2 pictures of that setup at the bottom of this post as well.


          Now a question for you guys and gals reading this....I was thinking about installing my carbon filter up above the light. The only issue with that is the fact that my intake fans would blow almost right on it unless I build some kind of deflector that pushes the air down. I was just wondering what others thought about having the carbon filter at the bottom like I do versus up top where the heat builds up? Currently, the idea is that the air all gets pulled down from up top and sucks out the bottom, creating a cross breeze in the process across the growing area. The only big problem is that heat rises and the heat is being pulled down across the plants. In the winter time I will likely need to do this as it can get really cold here and my only heat source would be the light itself. During the summer, however, well....that has been documented already with my journal....it gets hot! I know that the tutorials suggest the opposite of what I have set up. Originally I was going to put the fans down low but I was worried about splashes and moisture from foliar feedings, plus they would have been blowing straight into the plastic totes hindering the air flow. So I decided to install them up high so that no water could hit them. Also, any light bleed from the fan hole itself will be up in the ducting area, and less likely to make it down to the plants (not so much of a factor now but it will be during the 12/12 light cycles). Either way, any input would be welcome on this. I have also included some pictures of the inline fan and the net pots as they sit now.
          Last edited by ellz; 07-08-2017, 10:18 PM.
          Whoever's growing a small patch of cannabis behind the gymnasium, congratulations! You have won a cruise! Report to security to claim your tickets.
          ---------------------------------------------------------------------
          Ellz GrowCam Channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Z...pnwuazYQD6URA/
          Ellz GrowCam Time Lapse Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...1nS2a9LvXEdmya

          1st Hydro Grow: 600W MH/HPS Homemade Bubbleponics Homemade Cabinet - White Poison (White Widow x Durban Poison) COMPLETE! Final yield: 10.2 ounces off 2 plants. 124 days total from seed (34 days vegetative + 90 days flower)

          2nd hydro - Peyote Cookies and OG Kush https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...-mh-strain-tbd COMPLETE! Final yield: 11.8 ounces combined, 2.7 ounces of Peyote Cookies (150 days from seed), 9.1 ounces of OG Kush (138 days from seed).

          Comment


          • oldjarhead100
            oldjarhead100 commented
            Editing a comment
            elliz a couple of thoughts I use mechanical timers the ones you have to push the buttons down for it to turn on, I buy them at Lowes for a lot less than a hydro store,$10 for a double plug. then your filter you have the right idea , I have mine up high because there is no room on the floor ,my inline fan is also high but when it inters the bloom room i put in a 90%so that it blows straight down . now I know this cuts down on air flow but keeping the fresh air supply away from exhaust is a good idea . my fans are the little 6 inch clip ons I have tried everything except tower fans and I found that in a small room 5x5 the bigger fans were blowing to hard for the plants and produced wind burn. so I went back to 6 inch. just my thoughts for you you are doing a great job and I get the feeling that anything you do has been researched so keep up the good work

          • ellz
            ellz commented
            Editing a comment
            Thanks for your input oldjarhead100! I have one of the mechanical timers for my lights and one that is arriving Monday that I plan on using for the water pumps. It's the kind like you described, where you push down the pegs to turn on the plug. I thought about getting a digital timer, but they are way more complicated to program than the mechanical ones. The digital ones work good if you need to customize programs each day but if you just need on/off at set times then mechanical is so much easier for that. I also bought some more fans for the grow area that will be here Monday. They are the small Honeywell Vortex desktop fans. I figure they will do good for fanning the air around on the sprouts to help strengthen the trunk of the plant. I have had really good results in the past having a fan blow gently directly on the sprouts. It really fattens up the trunk, almost like a workout program! However, once the plants get a bit bigger, I will likely remove those two fans and just go with the small clip fans already installed. Just have to see how the air flows with them once their is a leaf canopy. If need be, I could always put one of the small vortex fans down on the floor next to the carbon filter and have it blow upwards. As for the charcoal filter, I think I might leave it where it is for now. If I install it up high, I would have to do some more drilling and I am worried about the debris getting down in my plants. The temps are not getting too high now that I have that extra inline fan installed so I think it will be okay like that. Time will tell. Either way, thanks again for your input and your kind words!
            Last edited by ellz; 07-09-2017, 02:32 PM.

          #14
          07/08/2017:

          11:00AM: Went out to plug in the water pumps and ran them for 15 minutes before unplugging. All of the plants are looking good now. The temps are doing much better with the extra inline fan and with running the swamp cooler for long periods of time, I have increased the humidity to nearly 50% in the cabinet! I am very pleased with that considering the average humidity outside is around 10-20% at best! I imagine when there is more foliage, the humidity will go up a lot more in the cabinet without the need of the swamp cooler, but we shall see.

          Side Note: I know I mention the swamp cooler a lot, and there are some out there who may not know what that means (I was one of those people for a long time until I moved to Colorado). A swamp cooler, or an evaporative cooler as it's professionally called, is nothing more than a fan that draws air in across moist pads (often paper or straw) and uses the evaporative properties of the cool water to cool the air. So basically there is a water tank (some have a continuous feed hookup like mine that you can connect a garden hose to and they will refill as the level gets low in the tank), a water pump with drip system, a media for the water to soak into (paper, straw, hay) and a fan. You could literally build one yourself if you are handy like that! The benefits of a swamp cooler are that they use a lot less energy than an A/C unit, they create humidity instead of removing it, and they are relatively inexpensive to buy and maintain than an A/C. However, they only work in places that have low humidity, less than 60% relative humidity is recommended for proper operation. An A/C, on the other hand, removes moisture from the air and introduces coolant to cool the air going back into the room. This process requires a lot more energy (4x what a swamp cooler needs on average) and removes humidity from an area. Also, they are much more pricey than swamp coolers and more costly to repair if they break! So basically, my point is that if you need to cool your grow space, and you live in a place with low humidity, a swamp cooler is definitely the way to go over A/C! If you live in a humid climate, A/C is your only option besides good old fans! A swamp cooler will not help you at all. Hope this helps those who may have been confused.
          Whoever's growing a small patch of cannabis behind the gymnasium, congratulations! You have won a cruise! Report to security to claim your tickets.
          ---------------------------------------------------------------------
          Ellz GrowCam Channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Z...pnwuazYQD6URA/
          Ellz GrowCam Time Lapse Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...1nS2a9LvXEdmya

          1st Hydro Grow: 600W MH/HPS Homemade Bubbleponics Homemade Cabinet - White Poison (White Widow x Durban Poison) COMPLETE! Final yield: 10.2 ounces off 2 plants. 124 days total from seed (34 days vegetative + 90 days flower)

          2nd hydro - Peyote Cookies and OG Kush https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...-mh-strain-tbd COMPLETE! Final yield: 11.8 ounces combined, 2.7 ounces of Peyote Cookies (150 days from seed), 9.1 ounces of OG Kush (138 days from seed).

          Comment


          • ellz
            ellz commented
            Editing a comment
            Very good point Aloner! During the flowering stage you want humidity to be low so that you prevent mold on the buds. Thanks for clarifying that!

          • Aloner
            Aloner commented
            Editing a comment
            Your post was so thorough, I hated for that to be unclear to anyone. : )
            Last edited by Aloner; 07-10-2017, 03:55 AM. Reason: typo

          • ellz
            ellz commented
            Editing a comment
            Good call! I was only thinking through part of the grow and almost forgot about that!

          #15
          07/08/2017: (continued...)

          08:00PM: Wanted to share some pictures of the sprouts as they sit now. Everything is looking good. I was a little nervous earlier when I drained my swamp cooler because while doing it saw that my cabinet had gotten up to 100ºF inside without the swamp cooler running! I got it all drained out and refilled an have it running so the temp is back down in the 90s again. Whew! Also wanted to share some pictures of the swamp cooler so in case anyone wanted to try to make there own they could use this as an example.
          Whoever's growing a small patch of cannabis behind the gymnasium, congratulations! You have won a cruise! Report to security to claim your tickets.
          ---------------------------------------------------------------------
          Ellz GrowCam Channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Z...pnwuazYQD6URA/
          Ellz GrowCam Time Lapse Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...1nS2a9LvXEdmya

          1st Hydro Grow: 600W MH/HPS Homemade Bubbleponics Homemade Cabinet - White Poison (White Widow x Durban Poison) COMPLETE! Final yield: 10.2 ounces off 2 plants. 124 days total from seed (34 days vegetative + 90 days flower)

          2nd hydro - Peyote Cookies and OG Kush https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...-mh-strain-tbd COMPLETE! Final yield: 11.8 ounces combined, 2.7 ounces of Peyote Cookies (150 days from seed), 9.1 ounces of OG Kush (138 days from seed).

          Comment


          • ellz
            ellz commented
            Editing a comment
            Thanks OJH100! I may add some ice if it keeps getting hot. I had forgotten about doing that so glad you mentioned it.

            Just to clarify berrypilot...OJH100 was referring to adding ice to the swamp cooler itself, not the grow reservoir. The swamp cooler I have (along with a number of other models) has an option to add ice to the water tank to allow for colder air to come out of the cooler. You simply add it where you put the water and it cools the air down that much more because of the ice. However, your observation was spot on if one was adding water to the actual grow reservoir. The PH of ice is going to be the same as the PH of the water used to make it so if you are going to add ice to your grow reservoir, you would want to PH the water first, then freeze it, then add the frozen PH'ed water to your tank. That may be something I have to do if the reservoir temps get too hot so I am glad you mentioned that as well!

            Thanks both of your for your input and any other thoughts or ideas are always welcome!
            Last edited by ellz; 07-10-2017, 12:30 PM.

          • berrypilot
            berrypilot commented
            Editing a comment
            🌱 Thanks for the clarification I need to get a swamp cooler! 🌱

          • ellz
            ellz commented
            Editing a comment
            No problem. They really do work well in dry climates and they are fairly inexpensive when compared to A/C. Mine was around $350 but it's a really big one. Home Depot even had a different brand on sale that was about the same size as mine for $100 less last week so shop around if you do get one. You could also look at buying a used one since they are easily fixed if something is wrong with them. Let's put it this way....if you can build a hydro grow cabinet, you could build or fix one of them with no problem since it's basically the same components...water pump, fan, drip system.

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