brewster81
Well-Known Member
I'm new to the forum and relatively new to growing the cheeb with 4-5 small grows under my belt, some more successful than others but I'm definitely hooked and plan on making it a life long hobby. Anyway, I'm moving from a BC Northern Lights Bloombox to a URDWC setup in my closet. I'll be DIY for everything, I paid for the Bloombox and granted it was a great tool to learn on and the people at BCNL are a great help, now I'm ready to make some weight (hopefully 2-3 pounds, but I'm humble, the Bloombox helped with that lol). Anyway the intention of this post is to get some feedback and suggestions from some of the experienced people here and maybe learn a few things along the way. I know to ask what I can expect for yield is a bit cliché as it depends on so many factors, but I'm open to thoughts there too, I'm definitely a perfectionist and probably a bit OCD as I am always thinking of what I can do to optimize my grow. The Bloombox lasted one grow before I started to modify lol. Long winded, I know lol, the Skywalker OG shatter I just dabbed is working great =) I'll get to the stats.
My room - it is 50" x 85" interior space. Door is on one end of the 50" side.
Lighting - 2 x 600 Watt HPS (switchable ballasts run 2 x 400 Watt MH for VEG)
Fixtures - 2 x 6" x 24" Cooltubes
Ventilation - 6" Vortex fan draws air through sealed ducting through door from other room and exhausts out through a dryer vent to outdoors, room will be sealed for CO2 enrichment and grow area will be exhausted to adjoining room in lights off condition or is critical temp is reached via 4" Vortex.
CO2 Enrichment - Titan controls CO2 Controller and regulator.
PH Monitor - Nutridip
Air pump - AP40 running 9 air stone discs.
I will also have at least one oscilating fan in the room moving air.
As for the URDWC, I have looked around on quite a few different forums at different setups before settled on the undercurrent design. I will be connecting all of the 5 Gallon Pails via 1 1/2 ABS at the bottoms, which will gravity feed back to my 300gph pump which then pumps the nutrient solution through a chiller and then back into the Controller/Res. I also plan on running a drip system from the controller to the pails so that I can have my plants in the system as early as possible. I'm not too concerned about the recirculating pump size as flow shouldn't be an issue with airstones in each pail., my thought anyway. The plumbing and construction will be easy. I plan on putting the whole thing on a low profile rolling tray measuring 33" x 66". With the plants placed on that foot print in this size room I think I can give each plant 1 1/2 sq.ft. for area and still have a 15" pathway to walk and access the back of the 'room'. I'm hoping to grow 4' plants at finish and would like to see 3 pounds from the room.
The lighting, I will be suspending via pulleys for nice even movement, not sure if I will build a 'backbone' and attach both lights to it so they raise and lower evenly and together or if I will go with two separate setups for more options? Because of the rolling tray idea for the DWC, I plan on hanging the lights a bit offset to one side leaving a 17" walkway to the back of the room.
With the Bloombox I was using Rockwool. I have been starting my plants in Root Shooters and love them, I would like to continue to use the root shooters, but I've been thinking about ditching the rockwool for hydroton? Thoughts there? I use RO water right now but may make the switch to 250PPM tapuntil I get my own RO system. As for Nutrients, right now I'm using Innovating Plant Products line and love it, night and day difference from the in-house brand BCNL uses with the Bloombox. I plan on continuing to use Innovating Plant Products.
Any feedback, thoughts or criticism is welcome. I'm here to learn and grow in more ways than one.
My room - it is 50" x 85" interior space. Door is on one end of the 50" side.
Lighting - 2 x 600 Watt HPS (switchable ballasts run 2 x 400 Watt MH for VEG)
Fixtures - 2 x 6" x 24" Cooltubes
Ventilation - 6" Vortex fan draws air through sealed ducting through door from other room and exhausts out through a dryer vent to outdoors, room will be sealed for CO2 enrichment and grow area will be exhausted to adjoining room in lights off condition or is critical temp is reached via 4" Vortex.
CO2 Enrichment - Titan controls CO2 Controller and regulator.
PH Monitor - Nutridip
Air pump - AP40 running 9 air stone discs.
I will also have at least one oscilating fan in the room moving air.
As for the URDWC, I have looked around on quite a few different forums at different setups before settled on the undercurrent design. I will be connecting all of the 5 Gallon Pails via 1 1/2 ABS at the bottoms, which will gravity feed back to my 300gph pump which then pumps the nutrient solution through a chiller and then back into the Controller/Res. I also plan on running a drip system from the controller to the pails so that I can have my plants in the system as early as possible. I'm not too concerned about the recirculating pump size as flow shouldn't be an issue with airstones in each pail., my thought anyway. The plumbing and construction will be easy. I plan on putting the whole thing on a low profile rolling tray measuring 33" x 66". With the plants placed on that foot print in this size room I think I can give each plant 1 1/2 sq.ft. for area and still have a 15" pathway to walk and access the back of the 'room'. I'm hoping to grow 4' plants at finish and would like to see 3 pounds from the room.
The lighting, I will be suspending via pulleys for nice even movement, not sure if I will build a 'backbone' and attach both lights to it so they raise and lower evenly and together or if I will go with two separate setups for more options? Because of the rolling tray idea for the DWC, I plan on hanging the lights a bit offset to one side leaving a 17" walkway to the back of the room.
With the Bloombox I was using Rockwool. I have been starting my plants in Root Shooters and love them, I would like to continue to use the root shooters, but I've been thinking about ditching the rockwool for hydroton? Thoughts there? I use RO water right now but may make the switch to 250PPM tapuntil I get my own RO system. As for Nutrients, right now I'm using Innovating Plant Products line and love it, night and day difference from the in-house brand BCNL uses with the Bloombox. I plan on continuing to use Innovating Plant Products.
Any feedback, thoughts or criticism is welcome. I'm here to learn and grow in more ways than one.