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

[ellz]

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.

 

[Aloner]

Got a front row seat!

 

[ellz]

No Title

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.

 

[ellz]

Welcome to the show!

 

[ellz]

No Title

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.

 

[ellz]

No Title

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. :sweating:

 

[Aloner]

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.

 

[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! 🌱

 

[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.

 

[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]

No Title

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?!

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.

 

[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]

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.

 

[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]

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]

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

 

[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!

 

[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]

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]

🌱 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 🌱