White Widow Coco Mainline - A51 SGS-160, 400W CMH, 4x4 tent

Highocaine

Well-Known Member
Hi again, RIU!

Finishing up my first (successful) grow, I found a sweet deal on a used 400W HPS ballast + star reflector + new bulb: $40! I know this is the LED forum and I'm definitely still an LED guy at heart, but hey, at least this lets me light my entire tent... allowing for a new grow:

New, with improved:
Photoperiod plants! - Yay, versatility!
Well-known Genetics! - Dutch Passion White Widow Feminized (x4)
Lighting! - Vegging under the SGS-160 (white) to start, finishing veg and flowering with both it and the 400W ceramic metal halide bulb.
Technique! - Mainlining instruction via nugbuckets.
Containers! - 2/5/10 gallon smart pots!
Equipment! - Under-sink RO system! (Because no one likes hauling multiple 5gal jugs around multiple times per week, let alone paying for it.)
Nutrients! - Canna Coco A&B, Botanicare Cal/Mag+, Superthrive, Canna Rhizotonic

Exciting, huh?
I'm away for the long weekend, but as soon as I'm back, I'll get some seeds started and we'll have this show on the road!
 

BubbaGum

Well-Known Member
Very cool I'll be following along! Question, how'd you decide on Dutch Passion's over Mr. Nice?
 

Scotch089

Well-Known Member
I am kindve giddy about this one... cmh+A51 hahahahha.... thats just awesome.

Not that its too huge of difference but are you going to have the glass on or off your reflector? Or
 

Highocaine

Well-Known Member
Subbed.

I'm a fan of Canna, Coco, CMH, and mainlining.
Awesome! Glad to have you along!

I am kindve giddy about this one... cmh+A51 hahahahha.... thats just awesome.

Not that its too huge of difference but are you going to have the glass on or off your reflector? Or
Off - it didn't come with one. I'll need another fan for it too - CMH burns cooler than HPS, but still really hot (next to LED).
 

Highocaine

Well-Known Member
Got the HPS hung. Tested it and the A51 (veg, but not a huge difference) for about an hour and a half.. 30C steady at 3.5 ft under the light, with the filter/exhaust/muffler going, and a cheap clip fan pointed at the star.

Could be worse. I'll supplement by watering more frequently, and having an (ideally) colder water reservoir outside of the tent. That means I'm buying more perlite, which is good 'cause it's cheap but bad 'cause it's a pain in the ass to rinse.

Ram bongsmilie ble
 

Highocaine

Well-Known Member
"It's Tomorrow but it's Really the Same Day" update.

Rapid rooters & coco nutes came. I picked up a shitton of perlite (16 cubic feet... 452 liters?) and 100L of coco. Set for a few grows.

Cut up my rapid rooters and trimmed them a bit to get them to fit into the germ dome I have.
Also dug the seeds out of the coco and transferred them to the rapid rooters - one taproot poking partway out of one seed!
Not happy after spending the better part of an hour rinsing coco and perlite. The only good container I had for a sieve was an ice cream pail (4L) in which I drilled a bunch of holes. Pain in the ass.
Now have 7 solo cup hempies at around 60%P 40%C, and 5 2gal smart pots at a slightly higher 80%P 20%C. I'll be hand watering for seedling stage so I opted for more coco and more hempy.
All of it pre-charged by tap water with 2.64 ml/L (10 ml/gal) A&B, 2 ml/L (7.57 ml/gal) Rhizotonic @ pH 6.4.. Dunno what ppm 'cause my meter takes 4 watch batteries.
Both subpump and timer are due in tomorrow.. sprayers and fittings haven't left the 'States yet. If need be, I can get some tubing and a hole punch from home depot and run tube-drip for a while.
I still need to find a good method of collecting runoff from the smart pots.. Thinking some sort of corrugated roofing/gutter assembly, under a pallet, some cinder blocks.
Stay tuned k?
 

tags420

Well-Known Member
You sir have a cool setup/plan. I'm trying out mainlining too, I think it will work really well with led's. Good luck, I'm subbed.
 

Highocaine

Well-Known Member
STILL DAY 0. Welcome to the shittiest grow journal yet.

The seeds had a lot of wet/dry cycles so I don't think they'll be germing soon, if at all.

Good thing I still have 54 left.. Put 8 seeds in water today, will check at 24/36 hours, moving ones that sink to properly-moistened rapid rooters. Got the first ones back in the dome tray with .5" of water on the bottom, still on the heat pad, but no insert. I'll keep an eye on them, too.

If I end up with too many, there's always the great outdoors..

Oh, also, CMH obtained. Much whiter light, I love it. Less radiant heat too, seems like - I can put my hand closer vertically and it only feels hot at about 6". Tent still gets to 30°C steady though.
 

djwimbo

Well-Known Member
I germ'd by the new moon, paper towel soaked for 24hrs, and stuck in a pot. Not that it's a definite rule, but the likelihood of beans failing is higher right now.

http://www.moonconnection.com/moon_phases_calendar.phtml

June 8th would be the new moon.

My family has been in farming that way for decades, and there's enough research to back it up, seemed like a good idea to me.
 

Highocaine

Well-Known Member
Aight, the new seeds sunk and have been put in rapid rooters - on the heat mat, but no dome.
I have a line on some Purple Kush clones. Rooted and growing. 6, actually - might just switch to them and start on Sunday.

Thanks for stopping in, stone! I hope I can come close to what you did with 250W.
 

tags420

Well-Known Member
Get the clones. Save your self some time. Plus the uniformity of clones will make your garden that much better for light and canopy control.
 

tags420

Well-Known Member

stoneslacker

Well-Known Member
I never soak my beans High. I take a paper towel, fold it in fourths and wet it good. Not dripping but still pretty wet. Then I put my bean in between the folds and put the paper towel in a ziploc bag. Don't close the bag and put it in a dark place, I put mine in an old computer game or dvd case and stick it in a drawer. Open the case every 12hrs or so and check to make sure the towel is still wet. After 24hrs the beans will crack, and after 48hrs they are ready to go into your rooters. I was always told to put the bean in with the root facing up and let it curl down but both ways seem to work well. Give it a try, I have near 100% germ rates with this method.
 

hyroot

Well-Known Member
putting seeds in a paper towel or cloth is no good because you end up tearing the root when it gets attached. I put my seeds in a cup of water for a day. then swirl the water around . what ever seeds sink are good. then let it sit for another day., by then they have sprouted then I put seed in a cup of soil. then 5 days later I transplant into a larger pot.
 

Scotch089

Well-Known Member
Do you let your paper towel dry out?? I've only germed with that method, successfully. The last batch (space queen) took ~3 days. I do leave my towel saturated, careful not to drown the seeds, and luke warm water, inside a container, you want to see humidity collect
 
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