carriesurf's stealth DWC bc big bud CFL

[carrisurf]

Hi everyone!
long time smoker, first time grower. This forum has been such a huge help that i thought I'd post my grow. It's a really great community on here and I'm glad to be a part of it now! Big thanks to roseman and the bubbleheads, a lot of what i have going wouldn't be possible without them.

I've tried to keep the budget down on this set-up, for a couple reasons- firstly being... I'm poor. But really the challenge of seeing how little i can spend to get it done is the true DIY spirit!

All in seeds planted it's cost me about $300 (can). So if i can yeild 2 oz. outta this unit, I'm in the green!

The specs

grow cab-16" x 28" x 39"
Fans- (2) 105 cfm computer fans
light- (3) 42w 6500k CFL w/ reflectors
DWC- rubbermaid tote, 3 1/2" net pots, 60 gal air pump (dual outlet), (2) 12" airstones.

I'll be growing BC Big Bud from BC seed king. That seed bank is great! they ship fast, send more than you pay for and are cheap! $55 (can) for 17 big bud seeds. Any complaints you hear about them are from international buyers, and that's the mail! not the seed bank!

really i kinda regret just getting the one strain, but i'll grow a different one next round. Suggestions appreciated on a new strain (BC seed king only, I'm loyal).

So thanks a lot for checking out my thread! here's the rig!



I bought this beat up old dresser off craigslist for $15. it's perfect! I spent the first day ripping it apart then screwing the drawer fronts back on. I built a floor from some scrap plywood i had, pulled off the cardboard back and reattached it with hinges and voila! a perfect grow box.



I got some Poly off a friend and stapled it to my box, then sealed it with white duct tape.



next up were the fans, I cut 2 holes in the door. Intake at the bottom right, exhaust at the top left.



So here's the back side all finished!



As for lighting, I'm gonna try 3 42w CFL's my first time around for veg, but when I get to flower expect to see a small HPS, 250 or 400. Any suggestions? Home depot only had 2 reflectors, so there's only 2 in the picture, but there'll be one more in there once they restock. I do feel like this'll be inderlit, but you'll see soon enough!

Here's the system!!



well after pluggin it all in it works like a charm, but the fans were pretty loud, so i bought a plug in light dimmer and just turned them down, there's only like 20 cubic feet in the cab, so 105 cfm is more than i need, now it's just a quiet hum, perfect! also pictured is my min/max temp& humidity sensor.



Yesterday i started germinating some of my seeds. I figured I'd start with 7 just in case one didn't pop, and we've all read horror stories about people who didn't have any crack. I did 4 in the wet paper towel, and 3 I just put in a cup of water. 24 hours later, 7 sprouts brother!! bc seed king! woohoo! I soaked my rockwool to lower the ph, and just planted them this morning. so now it's the waiting game.

I know it's all subjet to change, but the plan is I'm gonna veg until i can take a cutting off each plant, then flower the cuttings right away in a different place to determin sex. I'll take another cutting off the biggest healthiest lady to be my mother for future cycles. Any of the first 6 that are ladies will become my first crop! anything that grows a dick gets the axe right away. I think I'll be scroging because of my obvious height issue. Maybe not this grow if i can't tell the sex in time, but certainly on the next once I'm using cuttings.

One thing i want to address is the bubbleponics set up, initially i was gonna use the pump/feeder tubes, but i couldn't find a pump that was suitable, seriously. went to all the pet stores, building stores, garden stores in town and nothing was right (or under $100). So I'll be hand watering until the roots hit the deep stuff. But I'm not sure i fully see the advantage even though I've read countless posts saying it really does work. I mean really, all your doing is dripping reservoir water onto the cube right? it's not like that air is under enough pressure to push into the cube, or that you'd even want that (pressurised air-seedling). but results speak for themselves right? I still plan on getting on the bubbleponics bandwagon next grow (I'll have to order my pump online). And other question, why a gap under the net pot to the reservoir? don't you get a growth boom once they hit the bubbly water? why make the roots travell an inch in nothing to hit the good stuff? I set my water level to about 1/8 of an inch INTO the net pot, then filled that 1/8" with hydroton, then put mu cube on that. so as soon as my roots leave the cube, BAM! the good stuff.

I guess that's it for now, thanks again to all the bubbleheads and forum members for their great posts and helpful advice.

3 ounces by christmas!

 

[carrisurf]

Day 11

Hi everyone!

So it's been a bit of a slow start here, after 8 days in the rockwool nothing had popped to the surface, but on day 11 I had 3 showing promis! one has its cotyledons out and soaking up some CFL lumens. I got a little nervous at day 7 because nothing was happening and ripped apart one of the rockwool cubes to see what was happening. But things are off and running now and it looks like something's gonna grow in my cab here! Here's the 3 front runners on day 11!

 

[tom__420]

That rockwool looks way too wet dude, try and lower the water level
You want the roots to have search for water, if you don't allow the rockwool to dry out it will delay the roots making there way outta the cube and into the bubbled solution below

 

[carrisurf]

That rockwool looks way too wet dude, try and lower the water level
You want the roots to have search for water, if you don't allow the rockwool to dry out it will delay the roots making there way outta the cube and into the bubbled solution below

Thanks a lot tom!
i was wondering why it seemed to be taking so long. But initially you soak the rockwool so they're right saturated with water right? after that do you just not water them again and let them dry?
and what about the bubbleponics guys that keep a continuous drip onto the cubes? they're constantly soaked in that system right? thanks again tom! it's great for me to have someone as experienced as you checking out my grow!

 

[tom__420]

NOOOOO do NOT saturate your rockwool
You want it be damp but not majorly soaking

 

[carrisurf]

Day 13

hi everyone!
so just an update here, things are going well, I stopped watering the cubes everyday and things are going better! i must have been drowning them. I have movement on all 6 seeds now, with 2 allready growing leaves! here's the front running 3 again!

 

[carrisurf]

Day 27

Hey all!
so here we are on day 27. Things are going great now! I only had 3 that really took, and there's a 4th that still looks like it's trying but... it's not looking good. That's cool with me though, i think a straight DWC is a bit of a tough system for seedlings.
The 3 are doing really well now, they've only had 2 42w CFL's on, and they have strong stems, tight spacing between nodes, and great colour. People have said of this strain that the weight of the buds can break the limbs, but they look really strong compared to what I've seen. I want to take a couple cuttings off each one to determine sex. Anyone know how soon I can take 1 or 2?

here they are!

 

[swampbud]

those look healty n happy. I like the dresser box. Being a newbie cant give advice but watching to see how it goes for u.

 

[carrisurf]

Day 40

Hey everyone! So it's day 40 and I've got a sweet little bush in my dresser! there isn't really room for more than 3 of these plants in here, I should have moved their positions but now their roots have all tangled up so i can't really move them now.
I'm learning lots as we go, and I have to say I have a pretty minimal setup, I use a 3 part micro/grow/bloom nutrient solution, and I add about 2 tablespoons of each in the bucket, then change the water once a week. They only have the 3 42w CFL's and they're doing great! I have good growth. I'll say 1 42W CFL per plant is all you need. I mean a big MH is probably the best, but this setup makes no heat, needs almost no maintenace and cost practically nothing. for the cost of an ounce you can set this up in your closet and grow you own personals of whatever kind of weed you want. No more wierd weed dealers to have to rely on, no calling all your friends asking if they have any weed cause your guy's out. No more paying full price for crappy ganja. no more not going to the movies cause you don't have a doober and if your not baked a movie isn't $30 worth of fun... maybe that last one is just me! anyways thanks for checking out my thread! happy growing!

 

[carrisurf]

Day 44

Hi again! It's all goin well here, but I took a few clones for the first time and since cloning seems to be such a touchy part of gardening, I wanted to post my first go! So about 3 days ago I took a cutting of each of the plants, and 2 off the big one.
I razored them off at a 45 angle and shaved the smallest layer of skin off the bottom 1/2 inch. I dipped them in rooting gel, put them into the rockwool cubes and and cut the leaves in half. I made a couple DIY humidity domes and spray them a few times a day with water. Now at first they all limped over within an hour, and I thought they might be goners because of the bad luck i read a lot of people have had on RIU, but when i was misting them today I noticed their not limp anymore, they're still bent over for the most part, but like they were trained like that, they feel firm as a branch on the doners. So maybe they'll live! Good luck with your cloning!