Big Bang First grow

Why don't you get some door hinges are make it proper?
And light leaks are your enemy. Never ignore them.
You setup seems pretty good, but get some weather striping, it helps a lot.


PC fans are great, if you don't have a carbon filter. get a passive intake (a hole in the bottom) the size of your exhaust hole, and place your exhaust vent on the top of the box.
Get another fan to circulate air inside the cab.

Don't forget to make some kind of a light trap, there are tons of tutorials on that, and don't skip it.

Is temperature high or low where you live?

temps low at the mo - bloody freezing in fact - hence the heater in my grow room which comes on for 15mins every 1hr 15mins, temps are high in the middle of the year tho.
there is a hinge at the bottom of the cabinet, in the middle, i will add two more hinges once i have located them at work! one either side - i think i may be able to get some piano hinge which i can then use to run the full width of the door and eliminate the light leaks there.
i bought some duct tape - silver which should be ok to tape over the leaks? there was some aluminium tape in the shop also but it was like 3 times the price of the stuff i bought and i thought i can allway paint over it flat white.
i also bought 1 pc fan - 120mm, thought i would get one going before buying another one - especially if i am not happy with the results.

joe.
i have a humidity reader on the bottom of my thermometer - its in one of my pics - the temps in my room are maintained between 21-27 degrees c. humidity bit low tho at 40% - its alot better when the hps is shining tho - i had a jug of rain water on my shelf in there with the sodium doing its thing and my ex fan going on constant and the temps were a steady 28 degrees c and humidity 45%.

when it gets hot CFLs are a mess to cool as they are spread around.
if its freezing cold you could put your exhaust on the bottom and your intake on the top, as their holes should be the same size you should be able to use either one.
you could push the air from the top, which is hotter than the air on the bottom, through the lights to use their heat as well and which that heat your cab.

when it gets hot pull air from the bottom up to cool the chamber.

if it becomes too hot you might consider somehow air-cool the lights.

nah mate, i meant the climate i live in is freezing at the moment - my room temps are sweet cos of my heater on a timer i keep it between 22 & 31 at the moment - thats why its no issue, i have my 1 x big bang seedling on a shelf in the room with my starter light box which contains 1 cool white 20w and 1 warm white 14w hanging over it, once i have completed the cabinet the seedling will be put into that since it will have 1 x 23w warm white cfl spot light (central) and 2 x 20w cool white cfl spiral bulbs (one either side) over it -obviously better than its current surroundings.
the cab will be put in the corner of my grow room - doesn't matter if i finish the extraction at this stage because it can just sit in there with the cab door open since there is nothing else going on it the room as yet - mores the pity, I WANT A JUNGLE IN THERE!!!
i want to succeed with this seed so i know to start the remaining 3 seeds in tne same soil, environment, watering schedule etc.
what do you think about the maxicrop tomato ferts?

eager apprentice said:

joe.
i have a humidity reader on the bottom of my thermometer - its in one of my pics - the temps in my room are maintained between 21-27 degrees c. humidity bit low tho at 40% - its alot better when the hps is shining tho - i had a jug of rain water on my shelf in there with the sodium doing its thing and my ex fan going on constant and the temps were a steady 28 degrees c and humidity 45%.

Click to expand...

Your humidity is ok man, 30%-40% is good when they flowering but i tink 50%-60% when dey vegging, but 40% shouldnt do any harm...try a humidity dome over the seedling if it drops any lower though or try misting now and then. I prefer a metal cake tin instead of a jug cause it gets warmer and holds the heat in and with it being wider than it is deeper the water evaporates quicker.. and if that dont work try getting a humidifier, argooose do a cheap one for about £25....
Your temps are good man, mine get a lot lower den that (15 degrees c at night) and dem doing fine.



.G4J.

at the first week you want around 80% humidity. 30% will probably seriously stunt its growth.
from the second node you want around 60%.

I don't have access to 99% of the ferts sold worldwide as they are not sold in Israel.
I mainly use BioBizz and HESI which got a representitive in here, and local stuff. no clue about Maxicrop.

OH NOOOO!!!!

get home tonight to find the big bang seedling with a load of white stuff on one of its leaves, there is still just the 2 cotyledons (spelt wrong i know) that are only just on the surface and a closer inspection with a little misting removed most of the white stuff but i noticed the root is still above the soil.
i gently made a little hole in the soil and pulled the seedling out a little bit and re-positioned the root in the hole, hope it survives but i am not holding out much hope.

what i really need to try and do is determine where it went wrong - is my soil wrong and preventing the seedling from taking root? am i not giving it enough light? did my germination process ruin them before they even started etc. (by switching methods halfway through)?

clapto:
been thinking about what you said clapto about soil & seeds (and not scrimping on the cost of) and with that in mind i am looking into ordering Biobizz all mix soil and a couple of bottles of nutes - just grow 500ml & bloom 500ml. what do you think mate?

grow4joe:
didnt you say you used biobizz allmix mate? what nutes do also use? probably find out in your thread sorry geez.

you probably put the seed in the soil in the wrong direction. or your watering moved the soil so it got flipped inside.
thats usualy the case and its really nothing to worry about.
the main advantage of germinating directly in soil is that it fix the direction by itself. (the disadvantage is germ. rate)

I've heard that the biobizz all mix is a great thing. plus, it has a really simple and easy to follow chart.
BioGrow is a high N fert. it is very concentrated and clogs drippers like crazy. Its a good fert, i've been using it for a year now. However, if your plants encounter stress, and as a newbie growing them they probably will, Alg-A-Mic is of great help. I LOVE Alg-A-Mic. if you can get even a 50cc bottle of it or something, get it.
BioBloom is less concentrated and doesn't clog drippers that much. It easely desolves in the water while with Biogrow you should stir more to make it desolve properly. BioBloom for itself is pretty basic, and alg-a-mic can be used in conjuction to that as well.
TopMax is something I don't know if worth the price. I just bought one today. I haven't seen much difference growing with and without it.
BioHeaven is something I won't buy again. Its pretty much a PH buffer. Haven't found any difference while I used and didn't use it.
Root juice is a good thing too, but you can skip it and be just fine as long as you have enough veg. time. If you don't you might consider using it as it will help the plant grow roots faster.

Thats my view on BioBizz.

I run mainly 4 plants in a 25l containers and 1 in 9l container, giving them weekly around 3 liters of water each. I plan on throwing around 700ml of biobloom on this run.
I vegged for 2 months and finished a full 500ml biogrow bottle.

Night Claptoman said:

at the first week you want around 80% humidity. 30% will probably seriously stunt its growth.
from the second node you want around 60%.

I don't have access to 99% of the ferts sold worldwide as they are not sold in Israel.
I mainly use BioBizz and HESI which got a representitive in here, and local stuff. no clue about Maxicrop.

Click to expand...

I dunno man, my humidity was getting as bad as 20% at one point in the first week and dey seem good as gold....

eager apprentice said:

grow4joe:
didnt you say you used biobizz allmix mate? what nutes do also use? probably find out in your thread sorry geez.

Click to expand...

Nah man, Light Mix.
All mix has enough nutes in it to feed your plants for the first three weeks i think..
Light Mix is where you can fertilise more, i would say get the light mix if you gunna get the BioBizz nutes but im going to try the All Mix the next grow to see the difference..

Claptoman, yea man the bio-grow is real thick aint it, kinda like the liquid coffee you can buy....
and the alg-a-mic is a real bright green colour...lovely.. You can use it as a spray for the leaves as well...

I got a harvest growing at 45°C, doesn't mean its a good thing to do.
Low humidity in the first few weeks of growth slows down growth considerably.
do a side by side comparision and see for yourself.

It usualy doesn't kill them, just stunt growth.



About the soil mix, what are your plans? how long are you going to veg? what is the size of plants you want when you'r going to flip to flowering?
You might consider using the allmix, which if I recall correctly is pretty hot soil, if you are going for small plants and skimp on the BioGrow as the soil will have enough fertilizer in it as it is.

I had some powder guano (best shit i've ever used) with high N that is unavailable around here anymore, that I mixed by the recommanded dose in my soil and I could get without fertilizing for over a month.
I usually add humus as well to my mix (not this time around however. I was very lazy and just got some mix I like and used it from the bag) that gives them some more time.

If you have access to proper soil amendments you might consider using thoes over biobizz for the veg. state.
I would do so if I was to run another soil run.
Using high N bat guano, bone meal, kelp, humus and I'm sure there are many more I forgot, you could give the plant just what it needs.
If you do have access to all these things check out subcools organic school forum around here. You might consider using his mix with a bit smaller emounts of fertilizers.
Using his mix you can go all the way to harvest with watering with just PHed water.

haven't been in touch for a while - the second seedling didn't make it so i have put problems down to my soil, not enough light power and poor germination technique - either that or crap seeds? will find out when i try my next methods.
for my last three big bang seeds i have ordered some biobizz allmix (just 20l to try out) which i will mix in 30% perlite to dilute it. i have finished my cab and will post picks later on today.
in terms of size of plants i want to achieve as big as possible in the space available - i have 3 seeds and will have 26 litres of medium, therefore will finish them off in 7-8 litre pots. will start them in 3.5" pots then transfer once the roots are coming out of the pots.
germination will be paper towel method.
the cabinet has 2 x 20w cfl cool white bulbs and 1 x 23w cfl warm white bulb - 63w total should be ok? am going on a bit of a hunt today to try and find some e27 two way splitters so i can add another bulb, dont think you can get bayonet type spltters but if you can i will get some.
In the grow room i have about 1.75m of height space (floor to bulb) what sort of veg time do you think i should give to utilise this space.

Could take from one day till seven but don't over water just mist the top soil first thing in the morning and last thing at night.You are better of useing cfl's of good old fashioned flouresent tubes.Be patient and you will be rewarded this is a lovely plant though you realy have to flower it small a foot or so.This plant grows has wide has it does high stick to the greenhouse threads on you tube and you will not go wrong p h of 5.5/6.0.It also has a massive root structure if grown right so have it in a nice big tub.Keep the lights close to the top all though it has close internodes any how but you don't want it to get leggy.The only one that realy smells like what it says on the packet like green apples with a hint of skunkyness about her.It says it is a 8 week strain but it will serve you more if you give her a extra 2 week the plant seems to take of in these 2 week more and more thc glads appear and the buds become more firm rather than fluffy.

You could just veg a plant and take clones.

My preffered germinating method is the paper towel method.
wet the paper towels and squeeze it so it doesn't drip when shaken.
put the wet towels in a jam jar lid, or something similar in size.
Put seeds on top. if you have different strains do this setup for each strain.
Put the complex in zipbag so save humidity.
Place the zipbag somewhere that has around 25°C.

Once a tail pops put the seed in soil, tail downward.
cover with just a sprinkel of soil. it should be deeper than 3mm below soil level.

the soil should be pre-watered and allowed to drain for a few minutes tilted sideway.


3x20W CFLs is good for slow vegging for small emount of plants.
I use 1x45W for my veg chamber for now, using a cooltube and touching the plants to keep stress down.
couldn't actualy grow em over 1 foot tall with that light alone.

If you want to use 175 cm of heigh you would like to flower when the plants are around 90cm high. which should take a month and a half or so in soil.
With CFLs plants over 15" just need to be shaved below the 15" from light mark as no light will get there with enough intensity to make proper flowers.
With 400W HID its around 40", but you need around 8" of space from the light due to heat issues, so thats around 32" of height for the plants.
With 100W its around 60".

That is considering you use only horizontical lightning. Using side lightning will allow you to grow taller plants while light from below will help the lower parts.
Cooling such a setup is a pain in the butt if you have heat issues.

thanks guys.

update:

i have received my soil and a couple of bottles of nutes (biobizz grow and bloom).
will be germinating tonight so will keep you posted.

pissed off!!!!

spent ages giving you guys a big update and previewed the post - looked fine, went back a step and all my text gone???? ahhhhhhh!!!.

anyway all my pic still there so could be worse i guess.

cant be arsed to write out everything again so the brief version is:

heres my finished cab, 2 x 120mm pc fans (1 in 1 out) using some tights like material to filter and a box on each as a light trap, the bulbs removed to see the fans, the adaptor plug is adjustable from 1.5v to 3v to 4v, 7v, 9v & 12v which means i can adjust the fan speed - ace, i only have 13" of space from floor to bulb - do u think i can grow a mother in here? or will i have to cut a hole in base and use the bucket for the roots?

i also show my tub and towels along with the seeds - going to germ in a mo sop what dya think?

looked on the GHS website and they recommend putting seeds into glass with water for 12-24 hrs then transfering to paper towel / plate until done.

they say to document the method and log it with notes / pics and if no good email for replacement.

good of them so i have followed their method and my 3 big bang seeds are in glass in my airing cupboard.

more tomo - night peeps and any info is greatly appreciated.

i plan to mix my biobizz allmix with just 25% perlite - 3 parts allmix and 1 part perlite and see if that works - fingers crossed.

got my seeds started and 1 has popped already - nothing showing as yet on the other 2 tho.
so first baby has gone into her 3.5" pot with allmix / perlite mix 75/25%.
after potting up the allmix i can see why the first 2 seeds didn't work - my jab top soil & perlite mix looked nothing like this new mixture.
what do you think of my cabinet? personally im quite pleased since its my first attempt and apart from the hardware (pc fans, bulbs & 12v adaptor) i have scrounged the rest - wood came from various sources, paint had already, found the aluminium tape at the old dears (must have been my old mans).
The only real questions i have are do you think my seedling will be ok where it is - 31 degrees celsius and only 40% humidity although this does go up to 70% as the central heating warms the flat, pics taken just after coming home when the heating hass been off.
Will keep the central heating on a constant 20 degrees from now on - whether the missus moans or not - these babies WILl HAVE THE BEST START IN LIFE!!!
thats about it for now other than to say i have a total of 14" height space (floor of cabinet to bulbs) do you think i can keep a mother growing in there clapto without having to cut into the base and house the mother pot underneath the cabinet?

thanks again guys

Is noone interested in my grow?????

eager apprentice, im keepin an eye on your grow ! i have some ghs big bang 5 weeks into flower n my flower room is 180cm at its highest n im doin fine growin in 12l pots with 10l in them !
ive only just joined riu so you dont have to listen to me if you dont wanna but ive done a bit of growing ! i do still get a bit baffled at times though !(normally simple shit too) out of the last 30 seeds ive done 10 big bang all germed,10 northern lightz all germed,10 white all but one germed!, i do it as nature intended ie i put them in a jiffy plug nice n wet about a cm down if that,whack in propagator !! i have done a few methods,paper towel,cotton wool,glass of water blah blah blah but i like it simple......