New Grower First Grow- Hydro-600w LED Auto Seeds.

[pop22]

Hey all, finally have everything together enough to start my first grow.

I built a 38"x38"x72" room. Made of pvc for the frame, wrapped in cardboard and lined with Mylar. :

I to am lining my frame with cardboard and mylar. For me it was a matter of no more money for materials, in fact the "mylar" is space blankets i got for $2.40 shipped. Not the best but better than nothing. I'll upgrade the walls to foil faced foam insulation in a month or so. The insulation will help keep the hat signature down and gives the walls some rigidity while still being light weight. I used 1"x2" cut to the needed length for the frame. I built 2- 7'2v4' frames for the top and bottom, then screwed the uprights to these frames. I could take it down if need be, in less than 5 minutes by keeping it modular.

 

[SkatterBrayne]

My concern would be of its structural integrity over the course of a long grow. Negative pressure pulling it inwards. Possible spills and or bumps could have a significant effect on cardboard walls.

Not trying to be critical in a negative way. Just trying to help in my own way. I can totally relate to the insufficient funds dilemma, and this could work temporarily. It would be wise to somehow reinforce the walls though and try to make it a bit more solid. Maybe adding another PVC beam in the middle of the structure so you can use smaller pieces of cardboard which will be stronger? I feel like large cardboard pieces will struggle to hold up... or maybe doubling up in the cardboard, and securing it along the edges with duct tape?

Sorry I'm my tone sounds pessimistic. Just trying to help troubleshoot potential problems before they arise since your waiting on the seeds anyway. Im also curious, as I have spare PVC and a ton of boxes. Might rig up a little seed starter starter since buying a shelf and t5s is now out of the question.

 

[wwwillie]

Hey and Welcome!!
Sounds like you have a good start with your hydro setup. I am in soil so cannot really offer much advice. I did see one thing with a similar setup I thought worth passing on. Don't let the dripper/emitter be near the stems. The poor guy in the article had this humongous (read terribly expensive) setup complete with huge in-ground cisterns for res. lost everything to damping off;his stems all rotted from the dripper/emitters being close to the stems.
I agree with SkatterBrayne, although I would not have thought of it in the beginning, now that I have had to crank up the ventilation the negative pressure is pretty intense. Sucks my tent wall in quite a bit.
Starting with two is wise. You'll be amazed how quickly your space will fill with these beauties as the start to fill out. And if it goes south, like SB says you'll have some beans in reserve!
Peace and happy growing! Have some :karma Cloud: to start things off!!

 

[CapnKrash]

Hey guys thanks for the comments so far, feel free to keep em rolling =)

@pop22 LoL my mylar is space blankets from wal-mart

@SkatterBrayne I'm using a really thick cardboard, its double walled around 3/4" thick, and has a plastic like coating on the inside. I can take a 25lb weight and put it on the end of a 2' long piece and not bend or snap it, its pretty rigid stuff. I've even had my dog run into it almost full force and not dent the tent. I got a bunch of it free from Home Depot The pvc frame I built is pretty sturdy, I weigh 175 and can almost hang from it...with a lot of bending though lol. I don't think there will be too many issues with it, and I intend on getting a 'real' tent later. I just want to get through this grow first.

Ambient temps with everything running are 73 degrees and the water is a few degrees below that. I ran the system all day today and it stayed like that throughout. My hygrometer has an alarm set at 78 for air and I have another thermometer with an alarm for the water. While waiting for the seeds to grow (they've already popped and shooting the tap root out about 3cm) I've been testing everything and re-testing to make sure it all runs smooth once its time.

As to the two seed thing, I'm not too worried about making mistakes. I have seen grows from beginning to end, just not a personal hand in it, but watched intently throughout. My father grew, and showed me a lot of it. I also have Ryan Riley's book. I learn super fast, so I'm confident I shouldn't have too many issues. I see it if you follow the procedures others have taken without mistake, you can replicate the results easily enough. Its not like it requires a ton of acrobatics or fine motor control I'd take years to master =P Although I'm not so confident that I think I'll have no mistakes or issues at all. Which is one of the reasons I'm here, listened to your advice, and only popped two. Ya'll are the more experienced, so I wholly appreciate the input :hug: :grat:

 

[pop22]

My concern would be of its structural integrity over the course of a long grow. Negative pressure pulling it inwards. Possible spills and or bumps could have a significant effect on cardboard walls.

Not trying to be critical in a negative way. Just trying to help in my own way. I can totally relate to the insufficient funds dilemma, and this could work temporarily. It would be wise to somehow reinforce the walls though and try to make it a bit more solid. Maybe adding another PVC beam in the middle of the structure so you can use smaller pieces of cardboard which will be stronger? I feel like large cardboard pieces will struggle to hold up... or maybe doubling up in the cardboard, and securing it along the edges with duct tape?

Sorry I'm my tone sounds pessimistic. Just trying to help troubleshoot potential problems before they arise since your waiting on the seeds anyway. Im also curious, as I have spare PVC and a ton of boxes. Might rig up a little seed starter starter since buying a shelf and t5s is now out of the question.

Hey! no problem, I think we both understand your comments are constructive. :Sharing One:

 

[CapnKrash]

Good point wwwillie, once I get the pump setup I'll see if it squirts too close to the center of the pots, if it does I'll cut them down a bit so they keep the hydroton wet, but not running along the stems. Thanks a bunch "pher Wiggle"

 

[pop22]

Hey guys thanks for the comments so far, feel free to keep em rolling =)

@pop22 LoL my mylar is space blankets from wal-mart

I got 4 for $2.40 shipped off ebay...lol

 

[SkatterBrayne]

Mistakes are a great thing, as long as you learn from them. Experience is the best teacher.

And that cardboard sounds rigid. It must have been used to package some big shit at home depot so that will be good.
When I hear cardboard walls on a cannabis forum, I cant help but imagine flimsy, cardboard and cereal boxes fashioned together like a quilt with duct tape. Damn stoner stereotypes!

That should be a good way to effectively cut your budget then. You put thought into it have done your homework. Im sure it will show in your plants. Wishing you and your beans karma and safe transit.

 

[CapnKrash]

I stuck my beans in a couple glasses of warm water until they cracked, then stuffed them in some small peat pot starters. They're around an inch tall now, the diesel berry has put on a half inch just today in height. It started out a little behind the Candy, but is now twice the height. The candy put on about 3cm today. And its only mid day so far.

I forgot to mention for those of you that don't know. The EcoGrower is a recirculating DWC system. It flows water from the reservoir to the plant pots along the roots and down back into the res. Where I have two air pumps/stones attached, positioned to be under each root system. When the roots get large enough, they just reach down into the res, but I'll still run the pump to recirculate the water.

Do you guys think I should let them get a little bigger before shoving them into the hydroton? Maybe wait till they're 2" ?

They're already under the LED and taking it quite well at 20" away. You don't think I'm exposing them too early? They've shown no signs of stress or anything, and they're reaching toward the light.



The fountain pump has been added to the spider assembly, and I'm glad I did. The water circulates much faster and doesn't sputter as much through the spider part. On top of that, I now have a free air pump to add to the reservoir for a total of 2. One for each root system

I need to call my utility place to get a water analysis, my water is usually around 300ish ppm and 8.4ph Could I get away with using that water with adjustments, or should I distil my own? An RO system is out of the question due to $. So I'm forced to either boil and collect distilled water or use what I have. The reservoir is 17 gallons..:no: Thoughts?

as always, questions and comments welcome:Sharing One:

 

[CapnKrash]

Yesterday was a bit of a warm day, and the temps spiked above 85 degrees in my 'tent' and currently running 81 as I type. I have tried adding vent holes, and opening the door, but nothing seems to drop the temp. Opening the door fully seems to just raise the temp inside. The ambient temp in my house is around 75, I can lower the house temp, but only so much.

Would getting a 'real' grow tent help alleviate some of those heat issues? Or am I going to have to find a cooling solution as well? If it solves my problem I'll just buy it and not worry about the money right now, I would rather get everything running smooth ASAP than mess around with it.

Only money I'd be out if I bought it would be a roll of aluminum ducting tape, a roll of duct tape, some zip ties and a bit of velcro. Everything else was free or re-purposed from another project.

I was thinking this tent here: http://amzn.to/1cW8ETl

its only 2" smaller all around than my tent, so no real space loss. Seems well built from the pics and has decent reviews, any thoughts?