Tom's 400 watt Growing Odyssey

[tom__420]

Welcome everyone!
All comments and questions are welcome in this thread. I will only ask that you refrain from posting pics without asking first.
I have upgraded my old 250 watt light to a 400 watt digital ballast with cool tube. I am currently flowering one female church plant, one female unknown purple and three small unknown purple strains. The purple strains are seeds that came from the plant I grew that is in my avatar. The two female plants are in a 75% Canadian Gold peat moss and 25% perlite mix as well as two of the small purple seedlings. The other purple seedling is in a diy ebb and flow that I made (link above). Here is pretty much everything that I am using to grow with links and pictures:

PPM meter- http://www.tdsmeter.com/products/tdsez.html

pH meter- http://www.hannainst.com/usa/prods2.cfm?id=002003&ProdCode=HI%2098107

Recipe for Success- http://www.technaflora.com/products.php?product=18

Botanicare Sweet Grape- http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/itemMatrix.asp?GroupCode=NEGSWG&MatrixType=1

Humboldt County's Gravity- http://www.horticulturesource.com/product_info.php?products_id=227

Humboldt County's Purple Maxx- http://www.horticulturesource.com/humboldt-county-s-own-purple-maxx-8-oz-p219/?osCsid=d55e686a51d618b7c013371b21743767

Humboldt County's Bushmaster- http://www.horticulturesource.com/humboldt-county-s-own-emerald-triangle-bushmaster-4oz-12-case--p230/?osCsid=d55e686a51d618b7c013371b21743767

The Church- http://www.cannabis-seeds-bank.co.uk/greenhouse-seeds/greenhouse-seeds-feminized/green-house-seeds-the-church-feminized/prod_189.html

400 watt digital cool tube kit- http://cgi.ebay.com/400-WATT-400W-HPS-DIGITAL-GROW-LIGHT-AIR-COOL-TUBE-HOOD_W0QQitemZ370249641040QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5634992c50&_trksid=p4999.c0.m14

6 inch active air inline fan- http://www.hydroponics.net/i/133758

DIY carbon filter- http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=509470
**pic will be below**

DIY ebb and flow- https://www.rollitup.org/hydroponics-aeroponics/234489-worlds-simplest-ebb-flow.html
**pic will be below**

Here are the pics of my plants. The first one is of all the plants in the flowering box.

The next two pics will be of my oldest church plant. She is 11 weeks 6 days old and has been in flower for four days.

The next two pics will be of the two young purple seedlings that are in a 75/25 mix of peat moss and perlite. They are both 10 days old and have been in flower for four days. They are more of an experiment, I am not expecting much from them.

Next two pics are of the ebb and flow system I made with a 3 litre bottle and an air pump. The pump blows air into the air tight bottom chamber and it pushes the nutes up into the top chamber to flood the hydroton. It is working pretty well so far. This purple seedling is the same age as the above seedlings and has been flowering for the same amount of time.

These next three pictures are of my biggest plant, the church from greenhouse seeds. I grew this plant last grow underneath my 250 watt HPS. She gave me around 3 ounces so I am expecting more this time around. Here are the pics:

The next four pictures show the grow box with the lights on. The box dimensions are 4.5 feet tall, 3 feet wide and 2 feet deep. You can see the diy carbon filter in the second pic and the ventilation in the third pic. The last pic shows all the plants in the box.

Please comment and let me know what you guys think. I am going to try and keep this journal very up to date with pics and meter readings. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the pics



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[meefzeppelin]

Is there a way I can subscribe to this thread so I can follow it??

 

[jigfresh]

Wow tom... nice way to start a journal. Pics look great. I love your diy carbon filter. Those two little purple seedlings that you aren't expecting much from will probably turn out great.

I got a couple questions for you. Have you used sweetener before? Do you use Purple maxx as a spray or in the water? Same for both hydro and soil on the PM? How many times do you water with gravity? You liking the new light set up you got?

I Love gravity and bushmaster. Haven't tried purple maxx yet.

I'm stoked for your new journal, and for this grow/ these grows. Got the new camera, the new hydro, new meters... you are getting quite the pro diy setup.



EDIT: DAMN... I thought I was going to be first.

meefzeppelin: you just subscribed by posting here. You can also press the 'thread tools' tab at the top of the first post of each page.

 

[tom__420]

Wow tom... nice way to start a journal. Pics look great. I love your diy carbon filter. Those two little purple seedlings that you aren't expecting much from will probably turn out great.

I got a couple questions for you. Have you used sweetener before? Do you use Purple maxx as a spray or in the water? Same for both hydro and soil on the PM? How many times do you water with gravity? You liking the new light set up you got?

I Love gravity and bushmaster. Haven't tried purple maxx yet.

I'm stoked for your new journal, and for this grow/ these grows. Got the new camera, the new hydro, new meters... you are getting quite the pro diy setup.

Hey jigfresh thanks for the complements and comments. As for the sweetener. I have not used it indoors only on the outdoor plants that I posted in my other journal. They are liking it and I got it for free so I figured why not. I plan on using purple maxx (for the first time) in the water and not as a foliar feed. I am going to be giving them a 1/2 teaspoon per gallon on their next feeding. And yes I would am probably going to use it the same for both. I have not used the gravity yet, this grow will be my first time using it. I will probably look over a few journals of people who used it to figure out how many gravity feeding I will give them. I am really looking into hydro now that I got the new meters. I want to go ebb and flow but finding a tray to fit in my box is proving to be difficult. I found a botanicare 36 inch by 22 inch tray that would work but I don't really wanna buy anything until I have the money to buy it all. I hate having parts waiting to turned into something awesome just sitting around haha. And another thing, these new technaflora nutes are the bomb. With the fox farms that I used before there was major settling but now there is none which makes me very happy. I am looking forward to this grow, new nutes and light usually mean better bud

 

[TechnoMage]

Looking forward to the grow Tom. Two questions. What are the temp differences between the 400w and the 250w? Is the cooltube or fan different than the previous grow?

I'm running a 250w right now and have often thought of making the jump to a 400w. Our ventilation chain (filter -> hood -> fan -> exhaust) seem similar except that I'm only running a 4" fan.

 

[lilmafia513]

fourth to show up isnt bad......

lilmafia:"yes" (To the hostess in the bunny outfit), "lilmafia, table for two"

hostess: "Oh do you have a date meeting you?"

lilmafia: "nope.......just me and my bong"

i'm here Tom!!

 

[tom__420]

Looking forward to the grow Tom. Two questions. What are the temp differences between the 400w and the 250w? Is the cooltube or fan different than the previous grow?

I'm running a 250w right now and have often thought of making the jump to a 400w. Our ventilation chain (filter -> hood -> fan -> exhaust) seem similar except that I'm only running a 4" fan.

Welcome TechnoMage
The inline exhaust fan is the same as the one I used for the 250 watt (linked above). The cooltube is new though. I had a 6 inch Euro Reflector from htgsupply. Here is a link: http://htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=49541

The temps have been pretty much the same except my passive intake duct is attached to the vent of a window a/c. I didn't have to lower the temp of the a/c when the cool tube was open at one end but when I attached the carbon filter I had to lower it a few degrees. Without the carbon filter though the temps were the same in the box and on the a/c as the 250 watt with euro reflector and carbon filter. Hope you could understand that haha

fourth to show up isnt bad......

lilmafia:"yes" (To the hostess in the bunny outfit), "lilmafia, table for two"

hostess: "Oh do you have a date meeting you?"

lilmafia: "nope.......just me and my bong"

i'm here Tom!!

make yourself comfortable buddy

 

[cruzer101]

Cool,

I got my seat... Pass the bong Fire.

You Bogart.

 

[diggitydank420]

Subscribed!

 

[TechnoMage]

Yeah that makes sense. I think a 400 with my current 4" fan is probably going to push it.

Why the switch from the Euro Reflector to a cooltube?

Hope you could understand that haha

 

[tom__420]

I am going to use the Euro reflector and 250 watt HPS in a tent at another location. I also wanted the added cooling benefits of the cool tube

 

[howak47]

nice setup man !!!plants are lookin great! keep up the good work!

 

[TechnoMage]

Do you think that a cool tube is that much cooler than a standard air-cooled hood?

I am going to use the Euro reflector and 250 watt HPS in a tent at another location. I also wanted the added cooling benefits of the cool tube

 

[Mammath]

Hey Tom, chiming in mate.
I been following ya stuff for a while and I like it, so I'm here.
All the best for your thread

I like the experimental EF set up, nice work and adds entertainment.
Your gonna love the Digi' Ballast, they're great.

Just one thing about the additives...
Good genetics don't need much, necessary nutes and a controlled environment really.
I know a lot of other fellaz use a lot of stuff, with great success but...
Results may have been the same just letting 'good stock' just do it's thing
Keep 'em healthy and let 'em go!

What's up with your girls?
I really want to put my finger on what they're lacking.
You would think with all the ferts you got there they wouldn't be lacking anything, but they are.
What are you trying at the moment?

 

[tom__420]

Do you think that a cool tube is that much cooler than a standard air-cooled hood?

Oh yeah I would def say so. Before the glass would get warm with euro reflector but now the cool tube stays cool to the touch. The only heat is the from the light itself.

Hey Tom, chiming in mate.
I been following ya stuff for a while and I like it, so I'm here.
All the best for your thread

I like the experimental EF set up, nice work and adds entertainment.
Your gonna love the Digi' Ballast, they're great.

Just one thing about the additives...
Good genetics don't need much, necessary nutes and a controlled environment really.
I know a lot of other fellaz use a lot of stuff, with great success but...
Results may have been the same just letting 'good stock' just do it's thing
Keep 'em healthy and let 'em go!

What's up with your girls?
I really want to put my finger on what they're lacking.
You would think with all the ferts you got there they wouldn't be lacking anything, but they are.
What are you trying at the moment?

Thanks for stopping by mammath
I too am having a hard time trying to figure out what the plants are lacking. Today I am going to mix up there first batch of flowering nutes. It will contain BC Bloom (1-4-7), BC Boost (3-0-2), Awesome Blossoms (2-11-11), and MagiCal (2-0-0). This is the first time the plants have gotten technaflora nutes, before they were getting FF. Do you think that mix sounds good? I am going a little less than full strength on them

 

[tom__420]

Just gave the female church and female purple plant a nute feeding. It consisted of these nutes:

BC Boost- 3 teaspoons
MagiCal- 1/2 teaspoon
Awesome Blossoms- 1/2 teaspoon
BC Bloom- 3 teaspoons

All that ^^^ to a gallon of water. The feeding chart called for Sugar Daddy and Thrive Alive B-1 Red but I decided that the mix I went with would suffice. Let me know what you all think

I'll post some pics of the plants a little later today if they look any different

 

[snow4aaron]

Hey Tom,
I subscribed to your new grow. Great pictures and layout.

Thanks!

 

[cruzer101]

BC Boost- 3 teaspoons
MagiCal- 1/2 teaspoon
Awesome Blossoms- 1/2 teaspoon
BC Bloom- 3 teaspoons

All that ^^^ to a gallon of water. The feeding chart called for Sugar Daddy and Thrive Alive B-1 Red but I decided that the mix I went with would suffice. Let me know what you all think

I'll post some pics of the plants a little later today if they look any different

Hey Tom, I was just wondering, what was the ppm of that mix?

 

[tom__420]

Hey Tom,
I subscribed to your new grow. Great pictures and layout.

Thanks!

Thanks dude, stick around and you will see plenty of nice pics

Hey Tom, I was just wondering, what was the ppm of that mix?

I filter my 120 ppm tap water through a brita filter to get the ppms down to 90. The ppms of that mix is 795

 

[BlackRoses]

Alright, this is surely going to be an awesome grow!!
Subscribed dude,

Can't wait...