SB's GroHaus

[smokebros]

Hello, I'm SB and welcome to my journal. I'll be using this thread to post garden updates and other little projects I have going on from time to time.

A little about my grow style...

I've been an on / off grower since 2008. For years I grew in soil, inside a tent, using HPS and MH lights. A couple years ago I hopped on the LED bandwagon and haven't looked back. I predominantly grow in coco or hydroton now, but I've been known to dabble and make little tweaks now and again. I still use tents and prefer to keep things simple and budget oriented.

These days I run with three tents. Sizes are 4x4, 2x4, and 2x2. The 2x2 is used for drying, the other two are used interchangeably between veg and flower.

Both are rigged with LED's, the 4x4 tent has two HLG QB288's in a 3K spectrum that can max around 570 watts. The 2x4 tent has Samsung LM561C strips in a mixed spectrum that blend to 3100K and can max out around 250 watts.

I grow in what's called an ebb & flow system. The plants are in plastic pots placed on a flood table that's raised off the ground (on a stand) with a water reservoir below. Inside the reservoir is a water-pump that's connected to a timer that 'floods' the table at intervals I preset. Doing so feeds the plants from the bottom as water wicks 'up' into the medium and saturates the roots. The water flows back down into the reservoir after the timer shuts off, thus recirculating both the water and nutrients.

more to follow...

 

[smokebros]

4x4 Tent

Here's a photo of the lights, table, and overall general way the 4x4 tent is configured. This is not a current photo of the garden. Below the 3'x3'OD table is a 27 gallon HDX storage tote used as a reservoir. In this picture you'll see tubing running from a manifold to the plants, that is a drip system I put in place. It's completely not necessary, but it's an effective little tweak I put together that has resulted in massive roots. At the top you'll see a 4'' inline fan, ducting, and carbon filter cleaning and exhausting the air from the tent. Next to that are the Quantum Board LED's. They are the workhorses of the tent and do a phenomenal job with photosynthesis. I've used them for 6 going on 7 harvests over the past two years and they seem just as good as the day I bought em'. I did have a driver go out last year but that's not related to the diodes themselves, thankfully HLG quickly replaced the driver at no charge and it's been business as usual ever since.

I've been sticking with a hydroton medium for about the past year and it's been working really well. Flood intervals are usually every 3 hours in the 4x4. With the drip system augmented in, it runs on a separate pump and timer. It turns on for 60 minutes every three hours (timers are set so the drippers never turn on as the same time that the table is being flooded). The manifold has 12 output lines, all regulated at 1 gph each. For any output lines not being used I simply insert a rubber plug to block that line. I'm not sure if this will be a permanent thing or not, but for now it's in the garden so I figured I'd touch on it.

Between evaporation, environment conditions such as humidity and ambient temperature, plant count, and plant size, the reservoir needs periodic top-offs. I usually top off the reservoir every 48 to 72 hours, but have gone as long as 6 days without. In the past I was religious about changing the reservoir weekly, not so much anymore. Honestly I've been a bit lazy as of late, so it's currently been 60+ days since I've changed the 4x4 reservoir. To any new grower, I'd say stick with every 7-14 days as a good time to do your res changes until you're confident about being dialed in.

 

[smokebros]

2x4 Tent

Below is a look at the 2x4 tent and the way it's configured. Same principal and overall functions of the 4x4, just a bit less space to work with. Due to the height restrictions of this being a 5' tall tent, the carbon filter is outside, sitting on the floor, sucking air out of the tent. The Samsung LM561C strips and HLG-240H-C2100A driver are mounted on an angled aluminum frame. The strips are adhered with thermal tape and the frame is affixed with self tapping screws and some thermal epoxy. Below the flood table is a 12 gallon HDX tote used as a reservoir (not pictured). This will be getting changed out to a larger size soon, as I'd like to be able to flood the table another inch higher (but need more water to do so).
This tent is currently being used to flower out 3 smaller plants that were getting towered over in the 4x4. Typically my preference is to use this tent for starting seedlings, keeping clones, etc, but due to the current demand for space, it must be used as a flower tent.

 

[smokebros]

Nutrition

Back in the day I grew in Fox Farms Ocean Forest and used their trio of nutrients (Grow Big, Big Bloom, & Tiger Bloom) plus some calmag... Hey, it grew some dank mids back in the day if you had the right genetics. Here's some photos from a soil grow I logged on RIU in 2011. This was some Chernobyl.




Nowadays I've shifted away from the soil and stick to hydroponics. I prefer the ebb & flow system because the plants are still growing in a pot. I can pick them up, put them down, move them around as needed. That's one of the big advantages I'd have over say, an RDWC. Once that plant is there, it's there until you chop it down. One isn't necessarily better than the other, the ebb and flow just suits my needs best.

So lets get down on some food and nutrition, we all like to eat.. I know I do, and so do my plants. When it comes to hydroponics it's about providing the plant with the essential elements it needs to grow. Water, light, and oxygen are already covered, but what about the macro and micro elements?

Since I grow 'hydroponically' I use water soluble nutrients to avoid any issues with my PH, PPM's, and water line's or pumps getting build up. I've experimented with quite a few lines over the years. Supernatural Aqua, Dyna Gro, and Canna Coco A&B. All are good products but let's talk about what I use now.

I roll with a combination of products when used in conjunction, is called the Jacks 321 recipe. The 321 doesn't represent the NPK value, it's an acronym of the 3 parts, 2 parts, and 1 part needed to complete the formula. This combination uses Jacks 5-12-26, 15-0-0 Calcium Nitrate, and Epsom Salt as the three inputs. All are water soluble and all are measured in physical weight, not by scooping tsp's, etc.

I use the following recipe from start to finish.

• 3.6g/gal Jacks 5-12-26
• 2.4g/gal Cal-Nit 15-0-0
• 1.2g/gal Epsom Salt

In addition to the products above, I use 4 other inputs.

1. Fulvic Acid. Intermediate chelator that improves the uptake of minerals, stimulates plant growth, and improves the plant’s natural resistance to environmental stresses.
2. Beneficial Microbes.
2.1 - Mammoth P. Phosphorous derived microbe
2.2 - Orca - 4 endo mycorrhizal species with 14 super effective bacteria strains (including bacillus amyloliquefaciens) the active strain in hydroguard.
3. Root enzyme and stimulator. I used to use Cannazyme but have since replaced that with Carefree Enzymes 95562 Pond & Fountain Protector. Much more concentrated version of the same enzymes.

I use those products from start to finish at the following rates.

• .40 g/gal fulvic acid.
• .60ML/gal Mammoth P
• .60ML/gal Orca
• 3ML/20 gal Carefree

Elemental Breakdown of Jacks 321 when mixed at full strength



I like to foliar spray the plants from the time they're seedlings until week 4-5 of flower. Once buds truly start forming and and white pistols are shooting out, I tend to slow down on the foliar spraying. My go to product is Overgrow by Optic Foliar. It's a ready to use product that can be sprayed with the lights on. Being the DIY hack guru that I am, I've put together my own formula for a similar foliar spray that can be sprayed with the light on. I'll circle back and share that when I have my notes in front of me.

 

[smokebros]

Here's some some shots of various stuff I've grown this past year.

Black Forest Cake


GG#4


Banana Glue


Peyote Cookie


Ghost Cake


(Current Grow) Crescendo RBX1

 

[pthobson]

Cool setup

 

[Buck5050]

Jumping in. Always a pleasure to watch you SB.

 

[smokebros]

Electrical

When I began configuring my grow area I had some limitations to overcome, one was getting enough electricity to where I needed it. Doing your own electrical work isn't something I recommend, but if you have common sense and basic mechanical aptitude, it's relatively easy to do yourself. In my situation I needed to add a new circuit and wire that to a new junction box in my grow area. Since I'd be installing a completely new circuit, I opted to do a 20 amp line instead of the standard 15 amps. The 20 amp circuit can safely run 1,920 watts of electricity versus the standard 15 amp circuit that can only run 1,440 watts. If you're ever wiring up a 20 amp circuit, be sure to use 12 gauge romex which is a size up from the 14 gauge used for 15 amp circuits.

Once I picked up all my parts (circuit breaker, romex, junction box, outlets. wing nuts, cable clamp) the installation itself was quick and painless. Since I used non-metallic sheathed cable, in order to comply with the electrical code, I secured the romex with clamps every 4.5 ft from the breaker box and again 12'' from the junction box.

Now that I had power flowing into my grow area it was time to start plugging things in. Quick note - if you are planning on running 20 amp service, then make sure all your extension cords and surge protectors are also rated for 20 amps. I currently use 15 amp extension cords and surge protectors because my total wattage doesn't even exceed 1000 watts, but if I was truly maxing out this circuit I'd be sure to replace all of that with 20 amp rated gear.

Since I'm using one circuit to provide power to multiple tents, I like to have plenty of outlets available to plug things into. An aluminum power strip with 8+ outlets is my go-to for powering components. Here's an image of one I found online for under $30 that's similar to what I use.

 

[smokebros]

Genetics

A facet of growing that I wish I knew more about because I'm fascinated by genetics and breeding. The process of selecting plants with certain expressions, the ability to add or remove a trait, it's a topic I could listen to for hours.

For years I only grew reversed (feminized) seeds that I ordered from Attitude. I'll be honest that ordering seeds online from Europe was a hassle because of the long wait times, costly shipping, and risk of having your package seized by US Customs. Once cannabis became legal in Colorado in 2014, finding good genetics was no longer an issue. Seedbanks started popping up all over North America, and breeders started becoming reachable through media platforms like IG and Youtube. All of a sudden everyone had seeds.

These past couple years I've purchased my fair share of seeds, some for stocking up and some with the intention of cultivating sooner than later. It's fun to buy seeds, I'll admit it's kind of like opening a pack of baseball cards because you never know exactly what you'll find. I can see why some people are just addicted to buying and popping seeds. I like to think I err on the pragmatic side, but I've found myself ordering packs knowing damn well I wont get around to running them for 6-12 months.

Genetics wise, I'm a sucker for OG strains and you'll see lots of them in my grows. There's something about the loud, gassy terps and greasy trichs that gets me going. The aroma just stands out and appeals to my nose and taste buds. As my seed vault gets bigger, I'll continue integrating other strains into my grows to diversify some of the flavors but I don't think I'll ever get away from keeping the OG's around.

On deck for this journal are two strains. The first is called Rainbow Belts bred by Archive Seeds. This strain is a reversed back cross of moonbow, a Zkittles phenotype that Fletcher hunted out of 200+ females. The second strain is Starfighter x Triangle Kush x Stardawg bred by Dankonomics Genetics. I'll be honest that I know nothing of this strain but I have high hopes because the consistency of dank I've found in other strains bred by Matt.

I'm aiming for mid - late May 2019 to begin popping these seeds. Right now there's no vacancy as I'm in the process of flowering out several plants from Ethos Genetics.

More to come...

 

[Jefferson1977]

Nutrition

Back in the day I grew in Fox Farms Ocean Forest and used their trio of nutrients (Grow Big, Big Bloom, & Tiger Bloom) plus some calmag... Hey, it grew some dank mids back in the day if you had the right genetics. Here's some photos from a soil grow I logged on RIU in 2011. This was some Chernobyl.

View attachment 4313887 View attachment 4313888 View attachment 4313889 View attachment 4313890


Nowadays I've shifted away from the soil and stick to hydroponics. I prefer the ebb & flow system because the plants are still growing in a pot. I can pick them up, put them down, move them around as needed. That's one of the big advantages I'd have over say, an RDWC. Once that plant is there, it's there until you chop it down. One isn't necessarily better than the other, the ebb and flow just suits my needs best.

So lets get down on some food and nutrition, we all like to eat.. I know I do, and so do my plants. When it comes to hydroponics it's about providing the plant with the essential elements it needs to grow. Water, light, and oxygen are already covered, but what about the macro and micro elements?

Since I grow 'hydroponically' I use water soluble nutrients to avoid any issues with my PH, PPM's, and water line's or pumps getting build up. I've experimented with quite a few lines over the years. Supernatural Aqua, Dyna Gro, and Canna Coco A&B. All are good products but let's talk about what I use now.

I roll with a combination of products when used in conjunction, is called the Jacks 321 recipe. The 321 doesn't represent the NPK value, it's an acronym of the 3 parts, 2 parts, and 1 part needed to complete the formula. This combination uses Jacks 5-12-26, 15-0-0 Calcium Nitrate, and Epsom Salt as the three inputs. All are water soluble and all are measured in physical weight, not by scooping tsp's, etc.

I use the following recipe from start to finish.

• 3.6g/gal Jacks 5-12-26
• 2.4g/gal Cal-Nit 15-0-0
• 1.2g/gal Epsom Salt

In addition to the products above, I use 4 other inputs.

1. Fulvic Acid. Intermediate chelator that improves the uptake of minerals, stimulates plant growth, and improves the plant’s natural resistance to environmental stresses.
2. Beneficial Microbes.
2.1 - Mammoth P. Phosphorous derived microbe
2.2 - Orca - 4 endo mycorrhizal species with 14 super effective bacteria strains (including bacillus amyloliquefaciens) the active strain in hydroguard.
3. Root enzyme and stimulator. I used to use Cannazyme but have since replaced that with Carefree Enzymes 95562 Pond & Fountain Protector. Much more concentrated version of the same enzymes.

I use those products from start to finish at the following rates.

• .40 g/gal fulvic acid.
• .60ML/gal Mammoth P
• .60ML/gal Orca
• 3ML/20 gal Carefree

Elemental Breakdown of Jacks 321 when mixed at full strength
View attachment 4313914


I like to foliar spray the plants from the time they're seedlings until week 4-5 of flower. Once buds truly start forming and and white pistols are shooting out, I tend to slow down on the foliar spraying. My go to product is Overgrow by Optic Foliar. It's a ready to use product that can be sprayed with the lights on. Being the DIY hack guru that I am, I've put together my own formula for a similar foliar spray that can be sprayed with the light on. I'll circle back and share that when I have my notes in front of me.

View attachment 4313916

Nice setup! I was using Southern AG biological fungicide, but this run I haven't done anything except chlorinate the water I pull from the lake into my holding tank once a couple days before putting it into my reservoir. Honestly so far I have not noticed any difference, but I had not heard of Carefree before this, and with the warmer weather coming up I will probably need to use something. Also it will help with not changing the res like you mention. Thanks for the recommendation I just pulled the trigger on Amazon.

What do you keep your EC and PH at? Your colas look very nice and lush.

 

[smokebros]

Nice setup! I was using Southern AG biological fungicide, but this run I haven't done anything except chlorinate the water I pull from the lake into my holding tank once a couple days before putting it into my reservoir. Honestly so far I have not noticed any difference, but I had not heard of Carefree before this, and with the warmer weather coming up I will probably need to use something. Also it will help with not changing the res like you mention. Thanks for the recommendation I just pulled the trigger on Amazon.

What do you keep your EC and PH at? Your colas look very nice and lush.

Glad to hear you ordered a bottle of the Carefree. I've been using it for the last 6 months as a replacement to cannazyme and it's been great. The sweet spot for my PH is 5.9, but I allow it to drift from 5.8 to 6.1 before resetting. The PH is really stable with Jacks, so I really don't tinker with it much at all. Since I run Jacks 321 full strength from start to finish, my EC is on the higher side, right around 1.6 to 1.7.

 

[Jefferson1977]

Glad to hear you ordered a bottle of the Carefree. I've been using it for the last 6 months as a replacement to cannazyme and it's been great. The sweet spot for my PH is 5.9, but I allow it to drift from 5.8 to 6.1 before resetting. The PH is really stable with Jacks, so I really don't tinker with it much at all. Since I run Jacks 321 full strength from start to finish, my EC is on the higher side, right around 1.6 to 1.7.

1.7 is high? For me that is average, I keep it the same as you, and PH too. Have you had any issues with what look like calmag deficiencies from the HLGs? What is your RH and temps if you don't mind me asking? I always seem to have at least one strain that shows what look like calmag issues around week 5 of flower, they don't get better with more calmag though. Another thread on here mentioned higher RH/VPD numbers as the cause, so I've also been paying attention to my VPD with no noticeable difference, for me at least.

 

[smokebros]

1.7 is high? For me that is average, I keep it the same as you, and PH too. Have you had any issues with what look like calmag deficiencies from the HLGs? What is your RH and temps if you don't mind me asking? I always seem to have at least one strain that shows what look like calmag issues around week 5 of flower, they don't get better with more calmag though. Another thread on here mentioned higher RH/VPD numbers as the cause, so I've also been paying attention to my VPD with no noticeable difference, for me at least.

Right? I personally don't think an EC of 1.7 is that high at all either. But there are always those people out there who preach about less being more.
When I attempted running my EC at 1.0 - 1.2 I was getting deficiencies so I bumped it back to full strength and haven't had any issues since. And that was when the plants were small and still in veg.

RH in my tents vary depending on the season. But typical RH is between 40-60. Temperatures fluctuate as well, usually in the mid 70's during light on and high 60's during lights off. I'd really like to figure out a way to get my ambient temperatures higher though. My understanding is that with white LED's it's better to be in the low-mid 80's during light-on and mid-high 70's during lights off.

I know for a fact that Ca & Mg are easier for the plant to uptake with warmer conditions. In veg, when I run my lights on 24/0, I never see purple stems because the temps are always in the 70's, but during flower when the temps drop during lights off, the purple stems show up. That's the Ca & Mg having a harder time being absorbed by the plant due to the colder climate.

 

[smokebros]

Creme Fraische - Chop Day

It's been a pretty busy week for me, making updates nearly impossible, but here's a Creme Fraische I cut down on Tuesday. This is a cross between Triangle x Dosido, bred by Dankonomics Genetics. I'll admit these aren't my best pics and they don't do the plant justice. She's just a greasy bitch, really oily like GG4. Excellent terp profile on her, rubbery OG gas and skittles are the scents I'm picking up on. She'll spend 10-14 days in the dry tent doing a full plant hang, and then get trimmed up and put in a 2 gallon bucket to cure.



I'll get a garden update on this thread before the end of the week. I haven't really shown the current state of affairs but everything is chugging along nicely. The 4x4 has 9 plants in there, all various phenotypes of the Ethos Crescendo RBX1. The 2x4 has 3 plants in there, two Crescendos and one Mendo Breath x Starfighter.

Once the Ghost Cake cures up a bit more I'll post some close-up macros of the three various phenotypes. Same goes for the Creme Fraische and the Nanadawg.

 

[ThatSpudGuy]

looking good brother

 

[Jefferson1977]

Right? I personally don't think an EC of 1.7 is that high at all either. But there are always those people out there who preach about less being more.
When I attempted running my EC at 1.0 - 1.2 I was getting deficiencies so I bumped it back to full strength and haven't had any issues since. And that was when the plants were small and still in veg.

RH in my tents vary depending on the season. But typical RH is between 40-60. Temperatures fluctuate as well, usually in the mid 70's during light on and high 60's during lights off. I'd really like to figure out a way to get my ambient temperatures higher though. My understanding is that with white LED's it's better to be in the low-mid 80's during light-on and mid-high 70's during lights off.

I know for a fact that Ca & Mg are easier for the plant to uptake with warmer conditions. In veg, when I run my lights on 24/0, I never see purple stems because the temps are always in the 70's, but during flower when the temps drop during lights off, the purple stems show up. That's the Ca & Mg having a harder time being absorbed by the plant due to the colder climate.

I'm with you on the temps, that could be the issue. However a plant next to the table in Promix BX (old mother I decided to flower) is not showing it. It is also no where near the light intensity as the other plants under the two 600H's on the table though, it is only getting a fraction of the par they are getting, so I think it might have something to do with lighting intensity/nutrient uptake somehow.

 

[smokebros]

I'm with you on the temps, that could be the issue. However a plant next to the table in Promix BX (old mother I decided to flower) is not showing it. It is also no where near the light intensity as the other plants under the two 600H's on the table though, it is only getting a fraction of the par they are getting, so I think it might have something to do with lighting intensity/nutrient uptake somehow.

I agree with you here. I can say for certain that since I made the switch to white LED's two years ago, the plants have demanded more Ca and Mg than they did with HPS/MH. I essentially just treat those elements as macro nutrients nowadays.

Perhaps I can eventually convince you to make the switch to Jacks 321 one day

 

[Jefferson1977]

I agree with you here. I can say for certain that since I made the switch to white LED's two years ago, the plants have demanded more Ca and Mg than they did with HPS/MH. I essentially just treat those elements as macro nutrients nowadays.

Perhaps I can eventually convince you to make the switch to Jacks 321 one day

You never know. Right now I am on MegaCrop, it has been very cheap for me and I have been getting decent results. I use a combo of calmag/MC/PK boost.

So for your base water, is it RO? Sorry if I missed it in your earlier posts. I use lakewater and the EC varies seasonally so I try to adjust the calmag for that.

 

[smokebros]

You never know. Right now I am on MegaCrop, it has been very cheap for me and I have been getting decent results. I use a combo of calmag/MC/PK boost.

So for your base water, is it RO? Sorry if I missed it in your earlier posts. I use lakewater and the EC varies seasonally so I try to adjust the calmag for that.

Very cool, that's the first time I've ever heard of anyone using lake water... and by your results, it looks to be working well.

Yes, I do indeed use RO water in the garden. Unfortunately my tap water is hard and comes out at 230 PPM's & PH of 7.5.

 

[smokebros]

Update

All 3 Crescendo RBX1's from seed are in hempy buckets flushing out. They'll be ready to be chopped in the next 3-6 days. Photos to come soon. Once they're chopped I'll clear out the 2x4 and move the three plants out of there into the 4x4. Reason being, I've decided to pop the next round of seeds.

• Archive's Rainbow Belts - 6 fem
• Dankonomics Triangle x Black Forest Cake x Stardawg - 6 regs

As far as everything else goes (the crescendo clones + the one Mendo Miracle), they're on day 38 of flower. Since the originals from seed will need 75 days or so, I'll wait until the end of week 8 to flush the clones.