ataxia
Well-Known Member
thanks again baja ... i'm keeping my eye on your grow for tips.
2x4x5 tent. 600 watt cooltube??
- Thread starter ataxia
- Start date
Little Tommy
Well-Known Member
Yes, the duct fan needs no help from a duct booster. The duct booster could be used to bring fresh air into the grow space but the intake for the light should pull enough air through the light that you will have passive intake of fresh air for the space. The duct booster is not even needed.
ataxia
Well-Known Member
thank you too again tommy ... i'm starting to get the idea of it all. I took a risk buying the 600, hence all the questions. I've been growing with fluros thus far. Figured it's time to step the fck up
bajafox
Well-Known Member
What ballast are you using? If you haven't purchased one yet I highly recommend a digital dimmable ballast. I use a Lumatek and a few days ago we went through a heat wave so I lowered my ballast from 600w SL to 360w for a few days, it dropped my temperature to 90 from 95+ during that time. I'm back at 600w SL with 82 - 86 since the heat wave ended
ataxia
Well-Known Member
saddly i bought a cheap fixture off ebay. I was under the assumption that all digital ballasts are dimmable but i'm doubting this one is. I haven't gotten it yet. should be here by tomorrow. But i planned this so i'd only be running the light once the temps cool down in this region. I have a feeling that my next purchase after fans and other odds and ends will be a better ballast... Temps are my main concern (obviously) for this grow. I'm trying to achieve growing while keeping the tent closed.
at the moment, due to lack of air flow, my grow has been with the tent open and house fans blowing through out. My temps are fucking great.... but ..i'm losing a whole wall of reflection.
ALSO ... having the HID will be alot harder on the eyes if i'm keeping the tent open still .... sorry if i went on a tangen there
at the moment, due to lack of air flow, my grow has been with the tent open and house fans blowing through out. My temps are fucking great.... but ..i'm losing a whole wall of reflection.
ALSO ... having the HID will be alot harder on the eyes if i'm keeping the tent open still .... sorry if i went on a tangen there
Little Tommy
Well-Known Member
Yeah, there is a learning curve. You will find what works best for you.
ataxia
Well-Known Member
i hear ya man. I got where i am now through trial and error. now time to start a new chapter.
Here's a bitch of a situation. I've been growing for only a year. But i have about 3 grows under my belt so far... i CAN'T keep seedlings alive these days. They all look like they either need a feeding. or something is just plain WRONG. I always attribute seedling problems to the growers. But fuck ....i'm rusty as hell. 8-9 seedlings and not a one looks healthy. looks like i'm gonna have to practice constantly to get this shit going smooth from start to end.
skiweeds
Active Member
http://htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=52557 $76 plus shipping i have it hooked to my cool tube reflector which has a 400 watt mh or hps depending if im flowering or vegging. my tent is 56x56x78 i also use both a small and large fan for circulation. you dont need any duct boosters or or an inline fan pushing air in, although it wont hurt.
how do you germinate your seeds? you shouldnt need to feed them. my method works 99.9% of the time as long as the seeds are good to begin with. moisten a paper towel, not dripping wet, just saturated. put it in a zip lock baggie. put in however many seeds you want but space them. some people put the seeds in between the paper towels but i advise against it since you cannot see if they root as easy. place the zip locked baggie in the dark in room temp. like a cereal box or old board game. in 2-3 days it should germinate. some people let it germinate longer so the root gets bigger. personally, as soon as i see a root come out, i put in a cup of soil about 1/2 inch deep. some ppl say 1/4 inch but i find it comes up mroe stable when doing 1/2 inch. you can always add more soil tho. i use fox farm ocean forest but any good potting soil will do like schultz or miracle grow. within 2-3 more days, the plant should sprout above soil. make sure to keep moist the entire time. but also make sure you have holes on the bottom of the cup because you want any excess water to drain. if it floods the plant will begin to die because roots actually need oxygen. when the plant develops a couple new leaf sets, transplant into a pot. the roots will probably be looking for more room. you may already know a lot of this but thought i would mention just in case. best wishes! any questions of anything let me know. i also keep them on straight up 24 hours of light. they are also not quite as close to the light as the plants, not sure how much this matters. its a 400w mh. i dont give the seedlings any nutrients, there should be enough in the soil. at first sometimes mine look pretty weak, like leaning over at first, especially after spraying them(some ppl say not to spray with water but i like to keep them moist). i just leave them and within the next day they are sticking straight up. make sure you have a good light though. lot of ppl use t5s for starting but i have no problem sticking them in the tent with the veging plants under a 400w mh.
how do you germinate your seeds? you shouldnt need to feed them. my method works 99.9% of the time as long as the seeds are good to begin with. moisten a paper towel, not dripping wet, just saturated. put it in a zip lock baggie. put in however many seeds you want but space them. some people put the seeds in between the paper towels but i advise against it since you cannot see if they root as easy. place the zip locked baggie in the dark in room temp. like a cereal box or old board game. in 2-3 days it should germinate. some people let it germinate longer so the root gets bigger. personally, as soon as i see a root come out, i put in a cup of soil about 1/2 inch deep. some ppl say 1/4 inch but i find it comes up mroe stable when doing 1/2 inch. you can always add more soil tho. i use fox farm ocean forest but any good potting soil will do like schultz or miracle grow. within 2-3 more days, the plant should sprout above soil. make sure to keep moist the entire time. but also make sure you have holes on the bottom of the cup because you want any excess water to drain. if it floods the plant will begin to die because roots actually need oxygen. when the plant develops a couple new leaf sets, transplant into a pot. the roots will probably be looking for more room. you may already know a lot of this but thought i would mention just in case. best wishes! any questions of anything let me know. i also keep them on straight up 24 hours of light. they are also not quite as close to the light as the plants, not sure how much this matters. its a 400w mh. i dont give the seedlings any nutrients, there should be enough in the soil. at first sometimes mine look pretty weak, like leaning over at first, especially after spraying them(some ppl say not to spray with water but i like to keep them moist). i just leave them and within the next day they are sticking straight up. make sure you have a good light though. lot of ppl use t5s for starting but i have no problem sticking them in the tent with the veging plants under a 400w mh.
ataxia
Well-Known Member
thanks for the tip my man.....
i'm not having a problem germing them.... it seems like i germ em.. get em to sprout and break .... they stay healthy for a few days .. sprout the first sets of leaves, THEN they just go downhill .... i figured maybe i overwatered. but it seems like they're bone dry.. and the prob starts after watering .... the leaves yellow and start dying off .... They look like they need a feeding ( they are about two weeks old. BUT. part of my problem is that ....instead of putting them in quality potting soil. I'm potting transplanting the sprout in 8 oz. cups of jiffy mix. in the past i've done this with no problems .... but had i used FF Happy frog ...or roots organic. I doubt i would've had this problem. DUDE I don't know what the fuck i'm doing wrong but...i reckon i have about 50 dollars in beans dying out in this shit. I may have to go to the hydro shop tommorrow and transplant these seedlings into some real soil
bajafox
Well-Known Member
I'm using Foxfarm Ocean Forest, I drop my seeds directly into the soil about nails length in. I make sure the soil is nice and damp then I put a clear plastic cup over it for about 10 days or so. I've had zero problems with seeds from my collective and Attitude doing this so far. (knock on wood)
ataxia
Well-Known Member
i hear alot about people starting in OF but some say it's too hot ... i've never done it. However ...I did start some out in Roots Organic (which is supposed to be not as hot as OF) and it burned some of my seedlings up..
but you say you keep the dome on for ten days??? I usually take plastic wrap off my lids once the seed breaks ground
low humidity maybe?
I think it's overwatering on my part ..... but i don't think it's the beans at all. Like i said in the post above ... when people complain about seedlings dying. IMO. it's personal error and not the seed.
Little Tommy
Well-Known Member
It is easy to second guess and over think this. I have always started seeds by paper towel germ and then into small peat pot with Sunshine Mix #1 and have never lost one yet. I never use the dome for seedlings - just let them do their thing. I give them an 18/6 light cycle using T-5 floros and it is all good. I grow exclusively from clone now but used seedlings to start my mother plants.
bajafox
Well-Known Member
I had nothing but failure and frustration with the paper towel method and the drop in water till it sinks method. I decided to use mother natures method and I'm 7 for 7 since
If you scroll down to post #33 I posted a step by step of how I germ my seeds with pics
I always keep them in those cups for at least 7 to 10 days until then I removed the clear cups until they are ready to transplant into a bigger pot. I am yet to have any problems using this method, everyone is different and everyone finds a preference that works for them. Unfortunately the only way to find out is trial and error, I'm just lucky that all of my first batch of errors were bagseed
https://www.rollitup.org/cfl-growing/352240-serious-germination-seedling-issues-4.html#post4475191
If you scroll down to post #33 I posted a step by step of how I germ my seeds with pics
I always keep them in those cups for at least 7 to 10 days until then I removed the clear cups until they are ready to transplant into a bigger pot. I am yet to have any problems using this method, everyone is different and everyone finds a preference that works for them. Unfortunately the only way to find out is trial and error, I'm just lucky that all of my first batch of errors were bagseed
ataxia
Well-Known Member
i have to practice my starting method a bit more. I like the idea of mother nature taking it's course but the paper towel method is very quick and i've had great success germing them. It's once they start to sprout they go to shit. Like i said before. i think alot has to do with overwatering and poor soil.I had nothing but failure and frustration with the paper towel method and the drop in water till it sinks method. I decided to use mother natures method and I'm 7 for 7 since
https://www.rollitup.org/cfl-growing/352240-serious-germination-seedling-issues-4.html#post4475191
If you scroll down to post #33 I posted a step by step of how I germ my seeds with pics
I was reading a thread by Subcool about starting seeds... He recommends starting them in 1 gallon pots instead of cups. I think i may try that. but i've never had this much trouble with seedlings before. Im fucking up something. But they'll bounce back as soon as i get some good soil and a little more love. I HOPE. thanks brothers
