Ghetto DWC SCROG grow box

[greasymike666]

Whats up again RIU.
So heres the deal, this is my second attempt with this setup. I changed a few things around this time and im getting much better results already. On my first go res temps soared into the low 80's at times and sure enough i got root rot about 2 weeks in. This time i threw together a DIY water chiller made from a mini fridge, inline water pump w/ vinyl tube and its working great!(i made a diy thread for this if your interested) I keep my res at a steady 65 degrees and ambient room temps are 75-85. I also added another air pump now totaling 2-7.4L dual outlet pumps with 2 small round eco stones on one and a 2' flexible tube bubbler on the other (lots of bubbles!). All of this is in a 5gal bucket with 6" net pot w/ hydroton. I rooted the clone in rockwool under cfls and moved it to my bubbler with a 150w hps when it rooted. Im growing her in a 16" sq. box with a desktop fan intake and a 4" duct booster exhaust/light cooler. Im going to go crazy this time and throw in a 400w lumatek digi that i have if i can keep temps down. Ill probably start with the 250w super lumens setting and go from there. Im running a 400w super HPS eye hortilux in a cool tube with the lumatek, I will be doing LST and scrog into a 13" sq screen i built. FF nutes/bennies, full line of solubles and liquids + cal mag and carbo load. So heres some pics, pull up a chair and see if i can pull this one off this time, any suggestions are welcome. Ive grown for years in soil harvesting over 6oz dry wt. from one plant with a 400w hps for veg+bloom using scrog. in a small cab. grow. Ill be updating as progress comes along. Thx for stopping by!
GreasyMike

 

[greasymike666]

First roots! I had my ppms a little low @ 175 looks like a little N def. going to up to 400 and see what happens. using FF big bloom grow big and microbe brew. Roots are coming in nice though!

 

[greasymike666]

More roots! ppm @ 500 and new growth is coming in nice and lush. Starting LST. Same nutes ph 5.7-6.0

 

[greasymike666]

More root growth but i burnt her a little. Going to back off the ppm to 400 again. Just trying to find her sweet spot with nutes is a little tedious. Ph still at 5.5-6.0

 

[greasymike666]

First res change, shes liking 450ppm right now as there is no new burning. More LST, roots are now all growing hairs and are at the bottom of the bucket. I put the 400w super hps in my box and its so damn BRIGHT! Its like having the sun in your kitchen at all hours of the night! I love it, but my dog is a little confused. Im able to maintain temps with the chiller and my a/c so im expecting some big results in this little box. Built the screen today. going to put it in maybe next week. Ill go for 50% of the screen full before i flip so i dont get in over my head. Now were all up to date, so what do you guys think so far? Im looking forward to a little monster! BTW the strain is called blackberry widow, a hybrid that can have hints of purple sometimes and super frosty compact colas.

 

[Frito Bandito420]

what did u do with that tray thing that is got the squares

 

[greasymike666]

what did u do with that tray thing that is got the squares

Thats what ill be training my plant into before i flower. Look up scrog (screen of green) for more info. Its a great way to maximize yields in small and large spaces and also give even light distribution.

 

[greasymike666]

I switched from tap water to R/O water yesterday and immediately started seeing Calcium deficiency. I started with 5ppm water and added cal mag+ bringing the ppm to 100. That clearly wasn't enough. Im going to up the cal mag and see what happens. My tap water reads 220ppm so maybe ill add cal mag to that number to start.

 

[greasymike666]

IAfter the calcium def i had a few days ago i upped the cal mag to 200ppm and it helped a lot but i still see a little calcium def. Im gonna add a tad more and see what happens. Other than that things are looking better. Total ppm is at 700 res temp @ 65 F room temp @ 79 F Using cal mag+ Fox Farm Big bloom, grow big, microbe brew and sledgehammer

 

[greasymike666]

Ok, so i finally figured out the calcium situation and shes looking much better and putting on lush new growth again. I start with 5ppm R/O water and bring it up to 250 with cal mag+ then add all my Fox Farm nutes to total 900ppm then adjust ph to 5.8. All of the new growth shows no signs of def or burn so im going to keep it here til my next res change and keep a close eye on her. I also spray her with SNS 203 every 5 days as a preventative measure for bugs and so far so good. You can also use it as a drench for your medium and it works great. Roots are continuing to send out new shoots and there also putting on lots of new fine hairs. Its kind of embarrassing fucking up and posting it all here but this is the reality of many grows, trial and error and experimenting. I try and learn something new daily to keep my lady happy! Ill keep the updates coming and hopefully she thrives.

 

[greasymike666]

I put this small cab together today, it was in my garage empty so i figured i make some good use of it. Its bigger than the box i was growing in before so i cranked up my light to 400 watts.
Intake is a 4x12" hole at the bottom and exhaust is an 8 inch duct fan (420cfm) i also put a clip on fan inside and temps stay at 78 - 81 degrees.
She is still growing well and almost ready for the SCROG! Still very small signs of calcuim def even after 280 ppm of cal mag! So im still adding a little more at a time, its almost all gone though. Ive also been LST her.

 

[greasymike666]

And in goes the SCROG! Ill be starting 12/12 in a few more days. I would let her veg out a lot more and use a bigger screen but i have a time limit this time. Next time im going to veg her out twice as much.

 

[greasymike666]

First day of flower! I ditched the other screen cause it was a pain in the ass to do res changes/inspection with it hanging right above the plant, so i made this one that is attached to the bucket lid out of a tomato trellis. She is looking good tho, i sprayed Dutch Master Liquid Light and Saturator today so well see if it works.

 

[greasymike666]

She is putting on nice new growth and that liquid light stuff kicks ass! A few hours after spraying she stood up like never before and she is still reaching for the light more than ever. I was skeptical about using it, especially with the 90$ price tag but im glad i did, i highly recommend the stuff. I also noticed that all the smaller lower growth looks like its on steroids now too, im getting a lot of growth down low thats catching up to the rest. All the LST is paying off now, she would be at least 3 feet tall if i didnt train her.

 

[greasymike666]

Starting heaving transition nutrients. She is starting to fill out the screen.

 

[greasymike666]

Everything is looking good, lots and lots of new growth. Liquid Light/Saturator kicks ass! I have some microbe tea brewing. Its like crack for my roots, every time i add it i immediately see explosive root growth and any slime or anything gets wiped out right away. Im using a little Fox Farm Grow Big, Tiger Bloom, Open Sesame, Cal Mag Big Bloom and my microbe tea recipe in my res right now. PPM is at 1300 PH 5.5-6.2 res temp 68 degrees room temp @ canopy is 82 degrees. Im growing out of this little grow box i made so ill be moving her to a 3x3 tent soon so i can grow her to her maximum potential....or at least try She is under a 400W eye hortilux super HPS with a lumatek on super lumens setting. Im looking forward to some phatties on this bitch!

 

[greasymike666]

She is looking good, im feeding her open sesame, tiger bloom, grow big, carbo load, big bloom, microbe brew and my own recipe of tea. She is drinking nearly a gallon of water every other day! This is where the boosters really work there magic, every day buds are getting bigger and stinkin good!

 

[greasymike666]

Ok, she has officially out grown this box! I bought a 3x3 grow tent thats getting here tomorrow, there is NO more room in here for her so i hope it shows up on time. I trimmed off most of the small bud sites under the screen so she can focus all of her energy on the colas up top. Its also helping air circulation a lot. She is almost through stretch but not quite. The buds are still filling out nice and she is happy with her new trim job, everybody loves a nice trimmed bush! Well at least i do Stay tuned for the new grow tent and new xtra sun mondo 6" hood. This bitch is putting out and im loving her right now!

 

[Tachuta012]

That's a nice looking girl. I'm sub'd.

 

[greasymike666]

That's a nice looking girl. I'm sub'd.

Welcome Tachuta!