500W in my first grow tent (Spider Farmer, Homebox, AC Infinity)

[Entusia]

I decided to call my new tent (placed in the basement) the "Garden of Destiny", because I was able to set it up thanks to multiple strokes of luck: I received the light for free, and tent and extraction chain not technically for free, since i worked a few hours for a friend that is selling Homebox and AC Infinity gear online in my country, but i didn't have to spend a single euro so there's that.

My First Grow Tent - Garden of Destiny





The tent is a german-designed Homebox Ambient Q120 PAR+, 120x120x200cm (4' x 4' x 6.5')
Pretty solid tent; the PAR+ reflective material is supposedly better than Mylar.

The light is a Spider Farmer SE5000.
Pretty good 480W light; it's also my first one equipped with *UV* diodes (380-410nm).

The fan is a AC Infinity Cloudline T4. Also got the AC Infinity Carbon Filter.
Seems nice, but imho probably undersized extraction setup for my space (friend that sells these says it's not though).

The basement is underground, pretty big (70m² / 750ft²) and it's been renovated recently so it has properly insulated and waterproofed walls, tiled floor, a space dehumidifier, a sump pump (just in case), a radiator, two rooms, two windows and a door that goes to the stairs that go to the garage.

Temps:
Winter - 15 to 19 °C
Summer - 18 to 22 °C

Humidity:
Winter - 30 to 60% (effectively 20 to 60%)
Summer - 50 to 80% (effectively 20 to 80%)

This is the only plant alive i have right now (OG Kush Feminized), but another 2 identical seeds have just germinated and will grow alongside her.
I started growing her in my 100W stealth cabinet and was fine until i transferred her to the tent... unfortunately i hadn't yet properly adjusted fan and temps. Thanks, stupid me.

She has then been dramatically stressed by mainlining + cold (16 °C) + heat (30 °C) + up potting + various errors all done in less than a week. Thanks again, stupid me.

She was basically stuck for around 20 days and i thought she was going to die so i germinated some other seeds, but she started growing back and now seems pretty healthy, even if it has some damaged leaves.

These are some photos:

Day 13


Day 20


Day 22


Day 28


Day 30-34


Day 40


Day 45


She's now due for the second step of mainlining: topping of the branches to the 3rd node + removal of both branches' 2nd node.
Hopefully i have enough time to do it today or tomorrow.

Of course feel free to give me advice/shit anytime.
Just, brace for the ride... it's gonna be a bumpy one!

 

[Leeski]

Cool tent have used them in the past and your friend is right that fan and filter will just about do the job I prefer 6” extraction in a 4x4 not sure about infinity carbon filters any how you got yourself a decent setup you could also do with some air circulation with either an oscillating fan or a couple of small standard fans
good luck & happy growing

 

[Entusia]

Cool tent have used them in the past and your friend is right that fan and filter will just about do the job I prefer 6” extraction in a 4x4 not sure about infinity carbon filters any how you got yourself a decent setup you could also do with some air circulation with either an oscillating fan or a couple of small standard fans
good luck & happy growing

You're damn right about circulation, i forgot to mention it:
1x fixed USB fan
1x oscillating USB fan
1x fixed AC fan
1x oscillating AC fan

 

[Entusia]

Mainlining and growth continues!
Not the fastest growing plant of the block, but she has pulled through quite a beating... she's a champ in my book!

Day 47



Day 50



Cheers everyone!

 

[Stuck27]

Clean setup! I use spiderfarmer too, love them. I put my meter for the fan outside of the tent so I can see the temp and humidity without opening the tent. Helps a lot during the night so I can monitor, also, it puts out a nice amount of light so I'd be careful about that.

 

[Rurumo]

What is the distance from the light to the plant and what % is the light on? Also, what are you feeding her?

 

[Psyphish]

Can you change the duct tape for aluminium tape? I've found aluminium tape to hold up a lot better than duct tape.

 

[Entusia]

What is the distance from the light to the plant and what % is the light on? Also, what are you feeding her?

Distance: 2ft, dimmed 50% (240W)
Soil: Biobizz Allmix
Feeding: 1ml/L Biogrow, 2ml/L Bioheaven, pH 6.5, EC 1.0-1.1 cause water here is somewhat hard (but RO system is being setup)

Can you change the duct tape for aluminium tape? I've found aluminium tape to hold up a lot better than duct tape.

Aluminium tape will tear just by looking at it

 

[ComputerSaysNo]

The basement sounds amazing to grow in. So much space, and it's discreet and temperatures are not an issue. Tiled floors, even!

Question about the tent: how would you rate the quality of the zippers on the tent? Because these always break first thing. Also, does the tent floor seem watertight?

These tents are quite expensive, but if the right boxes are ticked I might consider getting one over a cheaper brand.

 

[Lenin1917]

I run the same size light and tent, different brands but that setup should do you nicely. Expect to grow some dank nugs

 

[Entusia]

The basement sounds amazing to grow in. So much space, and it's discreet and temperatures are not an issue. Tiled floors, even!

Question about the tent: how would you rate the quality of the zippers on the tent? Because these always break first thing. Also, does the tent floor seem watertight?

These tents are quite expensive, but if the right boxes are ticked I might consider getting one over a cheaper brand.

The floor is definitely watertight and pretty tough.

I really like the 2 filtered passive holes, all the ducting holes and windows on all sides. The zippers seem both tough and fluid for now, we'll see how they handle the test of time.

Angulars made in solid metal would've been a really, really nice touch for this tent, but they seem tough enough so i don't really mind it.

I run the same size light and tent, different brands but that setup should do you nicely. Expect to grow some dank nugs

That's great and uplifting news, comrade!

 

[ComputerSaysNo]

Angulars made in solid metal would've been a really, really nice touch for this tent, but they seem tough enough so i don't really mind it.

I would say that the typical PVC corner pieces are extremely tough, making them out of metal would only increase cost and weight and not have much impact.

Your setup is big enough to grow 600g crops easily. That's a really high end setup. Fewer than 4 plants in the tent will probably not use the potential.

BTW I think 250W worth of light on such a small plant is still way more than it can use right now. You can probably turn it down to 100W and then move a bit closer (like 30cm).

 

[thefullspectrum]

Distance: 2ft, dimmed 50% (240W)
Soil: Biobizz Allmix
Feeding: 1ml/L Biogrow, 2ml/L Bioheaven, pH 6.5, EC 1.0-1.1 cause water here is somewhat hard (but RO system is being setup)



Aluminium tape will tear just by looking at it

Decent reflective foil tape is fibre reinforced. Sticks forever.

 

[ComputerSaysNo]

Decent reflective foil tape is fibre reinforced. Sticks forever.

TBH I'd rather use the clamps that are available for attaching the tubing to fittings. Normally included with a filter/fan kit, but they cost almost nothing.

Makes it possible to detach and reattach the tubing without spending half an hour removing the sticky tape.

They also come in noise-blocking variants.

 

[Entusia]

I would say that the typical PVC corner pieces are extremely tough, making them out of metal would only increase cost and weight and not have much impact.

Your setup is big enough to grow 600g crops easily. That's a really high end setup. Fewer than 4 plants in the tent will probably not use the potential.

BTW I think 250W worth of light on such a small plant is still way more than it can use right now. You can probably turn it down to 100W and then move a bit closer (like 30cm).

I keep the light at 250W because of temps. That's the only way i can get the whole tent to 23-24 °C and also have sufficient air exchange with the Cloudline T4 in auto mode. Down to 20-25% barely any heat is generated and will run like 2-3 degrees cooler. Tmax of 20-21 °C is a bit too low, and the pot would take ages to dry.

TBH I'd rather use the clamps that are available for attaching the tubing to fittings. Normally included with a filter/fan kit, but they cost almost nothing.

Makes it possible to detach and reattach the tubing without spending half an hour removing the sticky tape.

They also come in noise-blocking variants.

I'm actually using clamps! Duct tape is just laid over the coupling, makes it stay in place and helps to seal properly.
If i pull it, it comes off pretty easily.

Decent reflective foil tape is fibre reinforced. Sticks forever.

Never came across the type of aluminium tape you mentioned, but if i do i'll definitely check it out!

 

[Entusia]

After almost two months, she finally seems to have turned on the engines!
Keep on giving now, baby plant!

Here she is at Day 56:

 

[CaliRootz88]

Looks great! Nice set up! I have a feeling you're going to crush it!

 

[Entusia]

Intuitively I would say she has 3-4 weeks of veg left; flowering should take around 8 weeks.

Day 63



There's one more OG Kush (you can notice her on the sides), she's younger and will only get LST or Topping (at best) and my idea is to finish them both together.

Soon i'll also be introducing into the tent 2-3 autos (the last seeds i have left) to make the most out of this cycle and optimize the light and time i put into them, hopefully they will finish together with these IF i get the timings right or have major issues (and that's a huge IF ).

Cheers everyone, see ya around!

 

[Entusia]

Brief summary of the last few days.

Day 66
Mainlining and LST continue, and N toxicity starts to be visible both on #1 (100% Allmix + perlite, fertigated weekly with 1/2 dose of Biogrow and Bioheaven compared to the Allmix Biobizz table) and on #2 (100 % Lightmix, fertigated weekly with 1/2 dose of Biogrow and Bioheaven compared to the Lightmix Biobizz table).

- OG Kush #1


- OG Kush #2 (24 days)


Day 71
Mainlining and LST continue, and the N toxicity is more and more evident on both OG Kushes, more so on the #1 which seems to already be slightly locking out, so I decided to completely cut the ferts for the time being and gave only water to let them discharge for the next week or so.

- Group photo before and after watering (growlight vs flash)


- OG Kush #1 before and after watering (growlight vs flash)


- OG Kush #2 (27 days)


In the meantime I decided to germinate the last 3 auto seeds i have left in coco jiffies. All 3 seeds germinated very quickly thanks to the heat emanating from my dated stereo amplifier (practically a DIY seedling mat) and have already been planted into final size fabric pot (100% Lightmix), two in 11L containers and one in a 16L one.

- 2x Sweet Tooth Auto, 1x Auto Mandarina (3 days)


See you soon, take care!

 

[Entusia]

Here's the report of the last few weeks. I have some problems that I still find hard to identify / exclude completely, but i am more and more confident with the setup and feel like i'm finally getting there.

As always if you have ideas or advice they are welcome (and much needed as i'm still very much a newbie)!

Day 78

Water-only regimen continues for the OG Kushes. The doubt still remains: why do they show clear signs of overwater?
All the pots properly dry up before being watered again. Leaves feel rough and thicker than normal, are almost always pointed downwards and overall growth could be better.



Day 84

OG Kush sagging continues, despite trying both drying the pots really well (without results) and giving less water/less often. I also begin to notice an Mg on OG Kush # 1, correcting it with 1ml/L Calmag. The Autos are doing well. I feel even LightMix was a bit richer than optimal for them, but no burns yet so let's just roll with it.

Here they are after watering, when they perk up.



A few hours later (8-12h), when they start sagging.



Day 90

I realized that the light is too far (50cm) from the manufacturer's recommendations hanging distance (20cm) and I corrected it. Now they're doing better, they perk for longer and pots are drying up faster, so i hope all the problems were caused by that. We'll see!

See you soon, take care!