Hey all,
starting my first soil grow, keeping it small so that I can make tiny mistakes if that's what it comes to. The tent was framed by me, so feel free to laugh at the construction, and is 4x4x7, with a 600w HPS in an adjust-a-wing open hood, with a 452 CFM vortex 6" inline fan for exhaust, passive intake. The plants are Girl Scout Cookies clones, in seven gallon pots, and will be LST'd around the edge of the big pot.
April 20th, picked up four GSC clones from the local dispensary. They are approximately eight inches in height with about four to five branches each. They were planted in 7 Gallon pots with Fox Farms Ocean Forest and Perlite mixed, under a 600w HPS and Adjust-a-Wing hood. Ventilation is handled by a 6" inline exhaust fan that exhausts 452 CFM. They were each given 3 big jugs of tap water at a temperature of about 60 degrees. Current temperature inside tent is about 78-79* F. Will Water again on April 23rd.
April 21st, Humidity at about 20-30%. Tried both raising humidity and lowering temps by placing two big red cups of ice water in the tent, along with a semi-frozen tea jug. Saw temps approaching 83* F, turned on central A/C. Opened two vents near monitor to help regulate A/C. It should help act as sort of a timer. First day after transplant, clones appear to be doing ok. Will continue to monitor progress.
April 22nd, morning temperature inside tent is 72* F. I believe yesterday was in the mid sixties, so I am worried that temps later in the day will reflect. We shall see. Considering turning light down during hot part of the day, and adding another fan to tent. Will continue to monitor temps and check progress. Temps reached 86* F and central A/C was turned on.
April 23rd, today was supposed to be the scheduled watering day, but there is still enough moisture in the soil for another day. That will give me a chance to figure out how to better balance the PH of the water, aiming for a quick way to achieve 6.8-7.0. Right now the PH is around 8.3. Temps this morning were around 79*F, a further increase from the previous morning. I am considering turning down the lights to 75% strength during the day to help keep the plants cooler, although I may just use central A/C. Will figure out PH balancing method today, and water tomorrow. Haven't moved the lights to 75%, instead ran the central A/C for a few hours from 12:45 PM to 3:00 PM. Will adjust lights if necessary tomorrow in order to test effectiveness at managing heat.
April 24th, read some info on putting the thermometer in a shaded area so that it gets ambient air temperature and isn't getting baked by the light. The temps dropped from 84* F at roughly 11 AM to 80* F, and still dropping. Will continue to note progress. Also fed today, with PH balanced water of 6.7 PH. Hopefully that will help cool the plants down. Have been reading that the soil acts as a buffer, and you shouldn't treat water for PH if you use soil. I will continue to look into this. Had to lower light to 75% to keep temps in check, near 80* F.
April 25th, woke up to 66* F in the grow tent, a relief. Perhaps the tent temperature is lower when the plants have recently been watered? I also got a spray bottle to mist cool water into the tent, since humidity is only 25-30%. My extraction fan pulls 452 CFM, roughly four times as much air as I have in the tent (4x4x7), so it's hard to build up humidity, but without it my 600w HPS would bake my girls. I also added an oscilating fan to my room right outside of the tent door, so it can help blow cool air in over the girls and reduce hot air pockets. Finally started LST, bending my girls inside the pots and using clothes hanger that I cut up with wire cutters. Soon I will run them in a clockwise motion along the edge of the pots, making a circle.
April 25th, 2 PM. Plants showing remarkable progress during the bending process. All leaves that were previously upside down are now right side up, with the top of the plant already pointing right side up. It's amazing how quickly the plant identifies the location of the light and adjusted accordingly.
any comments appreciated, I'll be updating it as I go along, and especially every time I make a training adjustment for their LST.
-Smallzz
starting my first soil grow, keeping it small so that I can make tiny mistakes if that's what it comes to. The tent was framed by me, so feel free to laugh at the construction, and is 4x4x7, with a 600w HPS in an adjust-a-wing open hood, with a 452 CFM vortex 6" inline fan for exhaust, passive intake. The plants are Girl Scout Cookies clones, in seven gallon pots, and will be LST'd around the edge of the big pot.
April 20th, picked up four GSC clones from the local dispensary. They are approximately eight inches in height with about four to five branches each. They were planted in 7 Gallon pots with Fox Farms Ocean Forest and Perlite mixed, under a 600w HPS and Adjust-a-Wing hood. Ventilation is handled by a 6" inline exhaust fan that exhausts 452 CFM. They were each given 3 big jugs of tap water at a temperature of about 60 degrees. Current temperature inside tent is about 78-79* F. Will Water again on April 23rd.
April 21st, Humidity at about 20-30%. Tried both raising humidity and lowering temps by placing two big red cups of ice water in the tent, along with a semi-frozen tea jug. Saw temps approaching 83* F, turned on central A/C. Opened two vents near monitor to help regulate A/C. It should help act as sort of a timer. First day after transplant, clones appear to be doing ok. Will continue to monitor progress.
April 22nd, morning temperature inside tent is 72* F. I believe yesterday was in the mid sixties, so I am worried that temps later in the day will reflect. We shall see. Considering turning light down during hot part of the day, and adding another fan to tent. Will continue to monitor temps and check progress. Temps reached 86* F and central A/C was turned on.
April 23rd, today was supposed to be the scheduled watering day, but there is still enough moisture in the soil for another day. That will give me a chance to figure out how to better balance the PH of the water, aiming for a quick way to achieve 6.8-7.0. Right now the PH is around 8.3. Temps this morning were around 79*F, a further increase from the previous morning. I am considering turning down the lights to 75% strength during the day to help keep the plants cooler, although I may just use central A/C. Will figure out PH balancing method today, and water tomorrow. Haven't moved the lights to 75%, instead ran the central A/C for a few hours from 12:45 PM to 3:00 PM. Will adjust lights if necessary tomorrow in order to test effectiveness at managing heat.
April 24th, read some info on putting the thermometer in a shaded area so that it gets ambient air temperature and isn't getting baked by the light. The temps dropped from 84* F at roughly 11 AM to 80* F, and still dropping. Will continue to note progress. Also fed today, with PH balanced water of 6.7 PH. Hopefully that will help cool the plants down. Have been reading that the soil acts as a buffer, and you shouldn't treat water for PH if you use soil. I will continue to look into this. Had to lower light to 75% to keep temps in check, near 80* F.
April 25th, woke up to 66* F in the grow tent, a relief. Perhaps the tent temperature is lower when the plants have recently been watered? I also got a spray bottle to mist cool water into the tent, since humidity is only 25-30%. My extraction fan pulls 452 CFM, roughly four times as much air as I have in the tent (4x4x7), so it's hard to build up humidity, but without it my 600w HPS would bake my girls. I also added an oscilating fan to my room right outside of the tent door, so it can help blow cool air in over the girls and reduce hot air pockets. Finally started LST, bending my girls inside the pots and using clothes hanger that I cut up with wire cutters. Soon I will run them in a clockwise motion along the edge of the pots, making a circle.
April 25th, 2 PM. Plants showing remarkable progress during the bending process. All leaves that were previously upside down are now right side up, with the top of the plant already pointing right side up. It's amazing how quickly the plant identifies the location of the light and adjusted accordingly.
any comments appreciated, I'll be updating it as I go along, and especially every time I make a training adjustment for their LST.
-Smallzz
