Variety Grow - Perpetual, "Mini" ScrOG's, DWC in a Cabinet (First Timer)

[Danielsgb]

Remember under a 250W don't use a HPS. but a Pulse Start Metal Halide ballast. Every mag. ballast uses about 10% extra to run. Really I think your looking at only a tiny bit on a bill.(couple bucks) I think it's the way to go regardless. I'd try the 400W first to see how it compares to the HPS, then you could drop to the 250W if needed. Re-doing your set up seems like a bitch to me. My change up is simple compared to yours. You have some duct work that kinda amazes me.
Daniels

 

[gumball]

just to clarify on your first sentence daniels, any CMH under 250watt do NOT use HPS ballast, they use MH pulse start ballast. i know there has been confusion by all surrounding that, wish the lower wattages worked off of HPS ballasts too, but some things are too good to be true.

 

[BoomerBloomer57]

jsgambler.

Ever read the definition of insanity?,,,,,,,,,,

I'm almost in tears after going through this post.

Get Jorge Cervantes bible. step one.
Or George Van Pattens.

Read up.

Hydro ain't easy. Drop the nutes, no need for the babies and use tap water, ph down and an ice bottle to get the temps around 64.

Quit feeding all that crap to em at a young age, they don't need it. My clones and veg lab only get 250 ppm on the food.
My flower lab gets 650 ppm. It makes a difference.

not bagging on ya but I'd sure like to see some flowering and harvesting going on for ya.

 

[jsgamber]

Remember under a 250W don't use a HPS. but a Pulse Start Metal Halide ballast. Every mag. ballast uses about 10% extra to run. Really I think your looking at only a tiny bit on a bill.(couple bucks) I think it's the way to go regardless. I'd try the 400W first to see how it compares to the HPS, then you could drop to the 250W if needed. Re-doing your set up seems like a bitch to me. My change up is simple compared to yours. You have some duct work that kinda amazes me.
Daniels

This is a 400W CMH going into a 400W mag. ballast. I'm not looking to save money more than I'm trying to reduce the amount of energy I put into the cabinet. This is like Apollo 13 trying to reboot the CM and not overload the circuits. I'm just looking for 3 -5 degrees drop in temps to get to 85* constant and I'm golden. I've got the bulb and it's running. I'll let you know the outcome.

jsgambler.

Ever read the definition of insanity?,,,,,,,,,,

I'm almost in tears after going through this post.

Get Jorge Cervantes bible. step one.
Or George Van Pattens.

Read up.

Hydro ain't easy. Drop the nutes, no need for the babies and use tap water, ph down and an ice bottle to get the temps around 64.

Quit feeding all that crap to em at a young age, they don't need it. My clones and veg lab only get 250 ppm on the food.
My flower lab gets 650 ppm. It makes a difference.

not bagging on ya but I'd sure like to see some flowering and harvesting going on for ya.

Hey BB57. Thanks for stopping in. I think Insanity is my new middle name.

I can only imagine the pain and suffering I've caused the long-timers here who have read through this drama.

You were my inspiration for my home made coolers and the use of water bottles to keep them cool. I've just decided that I've done enough DIY on this front to switch over to what Coleman does best and at the perfect size for me, and only $8.99! I also switched to using 2" rigid foam for the tops. So what I'm saying is you are a god and I would never consider what you say as bagging on me! kiss-ass

I'm the sort who will try things on my own just for the pure science of it. Just call me the Emmet Brown of growing pot...I'm a student of many sciences and everything fascinates me.

I'm sure as time goes on I'll change out the cooling systems for more "commercial" approaches as well as in the fans I use, etc.

I just went and purchased 4 more coolers. I'll set one or two up with your formula and a couple others with a little bit lighter on the nutes. I haven't taken ppm readings yet (just basically following the formula). Hopefully all my girls will be in hydro by the end of the evening.

So since I'm starting fresh, what do you guys think about me starting a new thread? I'm going to also close out my "New Cabinet" thread. That one has pretty much run it's course.

 

[BoomerBloomer57]

I'm no god, but She does smile upon my insane drive to make a happy home for her Plant, The Tree of Life.

and if cleanliness is being next to,,,,

Yeah, She stops in now and then for a rip or two, then She goes and plays with the butterflies.

Women.

sheesh

 

[jsgamber]

Good and Evil. Hot and Cold. Men and Women. Life is just a bunch of dichotomies and we're just here to make sense of what brings each into balance.

She seems to be smiling on me now. Solid 84* and I'll take it.

I was also talking to someone today who said I could probably call around to some refrigerator repair places who might be willing to do some custom work and replace with cooling tray with an old AC cooling coil and then recharge the system with new refrigerant. The compressor on the mini-fridge should be enough with more efficient heat/cooling transfer to keep the chamber at a reasonable temp.

All of the reservoirs are built except for the screens. I'll start those tomorrow. Time to set the rest of the girls up!

Pics in a bit!

 

[Danielsgb]

Oh, I love it. You'll end up modding it and getting it recharged. Even better plan before summer gets here.
Daniels

 

[gumball]

that is a great idea, and combined with the cooler rez's you'll have summer just about beat!!

 

[jsgamber]

I got four reservoirs done and ran out of air hose tubing so one of the ladies will have to stay in her drinking cup one more day. I lost one of the Blue Dream clones but all the Skywalker OGs are looking good (not bad for $5 clones). One rez has my nute solution and the 3 others are pH adjusted water to 5.5 with 4 ml of 29% H2O2. All starting water temps are 62*.

Just as planned the two inch foam lids are cut so they make one continuous flat space once all the reservoirs are in the cabinet. This helps keep the airflow from above separate from below which means less cabinet to cool.

All the girls are tied down LST so tomorrow I should be able to put the screens on and clean up any light leaks remaining.

So now I'm wondering just how soon I can go 12/12. One of my concerns is bud height space in the cabinet since I have 25" from the top of the rez to the top of the chamber and I don't want to have to do any crazy shit to keep them from hitting the top of the cab if I can help it.

First pic is above and second below. BTW this CMH bulb is VERY bright white! It seems much more intense than the 430W Son Agro which was in before. There are warnings all over the label of the bulb making sure to have UV protection if you will be working around the bulb for long periods of time. I sure hope these girls like it!

 

[gumball]

yes, it is a very bright white light!!! everything sounds good. why dont you go 12/12 once the clones roots, maybe wait till you see an inch of upward growth then go 12/12.

 

[Danielsgb]

Lovin' the CMH already? Way closer to sunlight, huh.
Daniels

 

[jsgamber]

OMFG I just woke up, bleary eyed, and stumbled out to check on the cabinet. I forgot just how bright it was and I'm nearly blind! Truthfully, I'll need to keep a pair of sunglasses on hand because, it's not the light but all the white reflective material that puts it over the top. If they ever make a 1000W version of this bulb, you will need to wear a welders helmet before you enter the room!

I kept the remote thermometer by my bed just to keep an eye on the cab temp. All night long nothing but 84, 85 or 86. RH is 28%. Today I'm going to shift this cab from 24/0 to 18/6. I may not actually start flowering tomorrow only because I'm not sure the plants are ready. BUT the cab will be ready to go by tomorrow.

 

[gumball]

yeah, keep glasses with you, and try to use reflective material so that it doesnt shine outside the cab when the doors open. it will make you feel sick/nauseas, so be careful

what times do you plan to run your 12/12? are you gonna run the lights at night to keep temps down?

 

[jsgamber]

Oh I wanted to talk about Panda Film. This stuff is the SHIT! It's hard to describe just how white the white side is and it works really well when reflected back into the Mylar covered walls.

Now I've spent hours wrapping shit with reflective tape. For example just doing the lids of my reservoirs with tape took about 30 minutes. With the Panda film and that 3M adhesive, it was a matter of measure, cut, spray and apply. The material is basically 5 mil thick poly wrap (5 times thicker than normal trash bag material) and is completely light proof and very easy to work with. I was planning on using reflective tape to wrap up all of the PVC vent tubing on the back since this PVC isn't light proof. Instead I'm just going to wrap it with Panda film and be done with it quickly!

 

[Danielsgb]

OMFG I just woke up, bleary eyed, and stumbled out to check on the cabinet. I forgot just how bright it was and I'm nearly blind! Truthfully, I'll need to keep a pair of sunglasses on hand because, it's not the light but all the white reflective material that puts it over the top. If they ever make a 1000W version of this bulb, you will need to wear a welders helmet before you enter the room!

I know what you mean, cause I end up doing that a few times a week. Kinda to a lesser degree since I've learned to check quickly before a cup of coffee.
Daniels

 

[jsgamber]

yeah, keep glasses with you, and try to use reflective material so that it doesnt shine outside the cab when the doors open. it will make you feel sick/nauseas, so be careful

what times do you plan to run your 12/12? are you gonna run the lights at night to keep temps down?

I'm not sure if I mentioned that I'll be using Velcro tape and the Panda Film to create a curtain that will go up before I close the cabinet doors. Not only will it provide great reflectivity, it will stop the final light leaks around the doors, it will help make the cabinet even more air tight and the final benefit is eye/body protection. Since it's Velcro, I just need to be able to pull the curtain up high enough to do work without being blasted.

Lights will run during the night. I'm thinking with my schedule I'll choose 7pm to 7am. I'm usually awake by 5am which gives me some morning time to make adjustments as well as from 7pm until I go to sleep.

Just for laughs I placed a bowl of water with paper towel sticking up in the cabinet right in front of the fan. Temps down to 83* and RH is up to 29%.

 

[oOBe RyeOo]

Not bashing your poly idea but velcro doesn't like to hold onto the poly... I had some in my cab and the negative pressure pulled the poly and velcro apart.... then again I do have a 530cfm fan in my tiny cab
I ended up putting a piece of insulation on as a door that had mylar taped to it, worked like a charm.

 

[jsgamber]

Not bashing your poly idea but velcro doesn't like to hold onto the poly... I had some in my cab and the negative pressure pulled the poly and velcro apart.... then again I do have a 530cfm fan in my tiny cab
I ended up putting a piece of insulation on as a door that had mylar taped to it, worked like a charm.

Bashing?!? Hell no. I love it when all my buddies here have my back and keep me from doing stupid shit! Now it would be uncharacteristic for me to not have considered this.

Fortunately for me, my wife is a seamstress. I've watched her many times have to join different types of fabric together. Even lace and burlap can be sewn together as long as you use the right stitching and the proper gauge thread and needle as well as a sturdy intermediary fabric I think which is called bias tape. What I plan on doing is "edging" the panda film with a layer of duck tape followed with a second layer of aluminum tape. The duck tape has fabric in it which resists tearing but isn't very sticky (or at least get's less sticky over time). The aluminum tape is sticky but it tears easily. But together work very well. Once I've edged the Panda Film then I plan on gluing and stapling on the velcro tape. This should give me a sturdy edge that won't stretch or tear over time.

As an update my chamber continues to remain stable. It actually got down to 79* overnight and is currently sitting at 84*. I am so fucking stoked!

 

[gumball]

glad to hear all is going well with the cab, thats great stuff. how are the temps in the rez's?

 

[jsgamber]

Uh, umm, erh, well. I'll be right back. But first I need to finish my 4:20 moment! God I love my vaporizer!