GrowinDad
Well-Known Member
So what started as whim to grow some for personal use to save some dough and avoid my dollars supporting anything I loathe has become a fascination. I started out with one test plant months ago and no clue on what I was doing. I mean no clue. Amazingly, it survived despite numerous abuses and actually generated about 4 grams when all was said and done. Hideous yield but a great learning experience! I highly recommend that all new growers view their first few grows as a learning experience and little more.
So now I am on test #2 using some clippings/clones I got off the original plant. I've got some good seeds coming and wanted to perform one more test before feeling secure. I'm calling them 10-14 days though they have been around longer, sort of on life support while flowing was finishing from the mother.
My set up:
Overall - 4'x4'x6' area fashioned out of a corner of a room (2 sides), a shelving unit (side 3), and then the side with opening. All areas covered/built using Reflectix insualtion (available at Lowe's and easy to use, a bit expensive). I
Airflow - have a desk fan for intake, one for exhaust, and an oscilating tower fan in the room
Lighting - 1400 Watt CFL set-up with a single hood/reflector. Using the currect bulbs for veg vs flower, etc
Soil - using a mix of min nute "generic" potting soil (20%), Vermiculite (25%), Perlite (25%), and Peat Moss (30%). Okay, I added some worm casing as well but not much
Nutes - Fox Farm trio. Following their feed chart pretty closely but using a little less than recommended. Also adding about 1T of molasses (organic, unsulfured, blackstrap).
Watering - I invested $75 in a Tropf Blumat system that auto waters without a lot of technology. Very happy with it so far as it removes my instinct to overwater. This system uses ceramic cones that naturally detect the moisture level (nothing electric). You set for how moist you want and then when it gets too dry, it waters via a drip. I know it is not ideal because water is only hitting on two drip spots/plant. But I've read some good stuff on it and like the KISS. Water is gravity fed from a 5 gal bucket. I also have an air stone in the water at all times. PH of water/nutes in and run off running 6.0-6.6 so I am not worrying about it at all.
CO2 - the million dollar question for those of us who don't want to go overboard or burn the house down. The other side of one my grow room walls is my son;'t bedroom so no way I am going to burn anything in there un attended!!! I am going two fold, both of which may be a waste of time. I'm using the Yeast-sugar method for ongoing raise of CO2. The CO2 line goes right in front of the intake fan, which sends it toward the tower fan. I know it is being exhausted out but my logic is that all the air going in has more CO2 so all the air in the room should as well. In addition, I have my intake and exhaust fans times to turn off a few hours a day. During this time I try to do some CO2 bombs that vent just above the plants, kepping room sealed all the time. I wrap about 1 T of baking soda in toilet paper and drop into Vinegar. Both systems using the 2l bottle into a smaller bottle with water and air stone.
I have three plants growing (along with some basil - need caprese salad year round!). I am doing some experiments:
1.) Two of them were smaller b4 transplant. I decided to do one in the soil mix above and one in 50-50 perlite-vermiculaite with a bit of casings. After 10 days I am ready to conclude no difference between the two.
2.) Because I concluded test 1 a wash, I am doing another test on those two plants to see actual difference. Will top one traditionally and the other with FIM.
3.) On the larger one, I did a LST tie down to get it even with the others.
Here's a couple pics, will try to post more later. I'm making a huge caprese for NYE party tonight so the basil cut down and the lights are closer to the plants (1-2"). The single plant is the one I did LST on this morning.
I am open to any thoughts/suggestions
.
So now I am on test #2 using some clippings/clones I got off the original plant. I've got some good seeds coming and wanted to perform one more test before feeling secure. I'm calling them 10-14 days though they have been around longer, sort of on life support while flowing was finishing from the mother.
My set up:
Overall - 4'x4'x6' area fashioned out of a corner of a room (2 sides), a shelving unit (side 3), and then the side with opening. All areas covered/built using Reflectix insualtion (available at Lowe's and easy to use, a bit expensive). I
Airflow - have a desk fan for intake, one for exhaust, and an oscilating tower fan in the room
Lighting - 1400 Watt CFL set-up with a single hood/reflector. Using the currect bulbs for veg vs flower, etc
Soil - using a mix of min nute "generic" potting soil (20%), Vermiculite (25%), Perlite (25%), and Peat Moss (30%). Okay, I added some worm casing as well but not much
Nutes - Fox Farm trio. Following their feed chart pretty closely but using a little less than recommended. Also adding about 1T of molasses (organic, unsulfured, blackstrap).
Watering - I invested $75 in a Tropf Blumat system that auto waters without a lot of technology. Very happy with it so far as it removes my instinct to overwater. This system uses ceramic cones that naturally detect the moisture level (nothing electric). You set for how moist you want and then when it gets too dry, it waters via a drip. I know it is not ideal because water is only hitting on two drip spots/plant. But I've read some good stuff on it and like the KISS. Water is gravity fed from a 5 gal bucket. I also have an air stone in the water at all times. PH of water/nutes in and run off running 6.0-6.6 so I am not worrying about it at all.
CO2 - the million dollar question for those of us who don't want to go overboard or burn the house down. The other side of one my grow room walls is my son;'t bedroom so no way I am going to burn anything in there un attended!!! I am going two fold, both of which may be a waste of time. I'm using the Yeast-sugar method for ongoing raise of CO2. The CO2 line goes right in front of the intake fan, which sends it toward the tower fan. I know it is being exhausted out but my logic is that all the air going in has more CO2 so all the air in the room should as well. In addition, I have my intake and exhaust fans times to turn off a few hours a day. During this time I try to do some CO2 bombs that vent just above the plants, kepping room sealed all the time. I wrap about 1 T of baking soda in toilet paper and drop into Vinegar. Both systems using the 2l bottle into a smaller bottle with water and air stone.
I have three plants growing (along with some basil - need caprese salad year round!). I am doing some experiments:
1.) Two of them were smaller b4 transplant. I decided to do one in the soil mix above and one in 50-50 perlite-vermiculaite with a bit of casings. After 10 days I am ready to conclude no difference between the two.
2.) Because I concluded test 1 a wash, I am doing another test on those two plants to see actual difference. Will top one traditionally and the other with FIM.
3.) On the larger one, I did a LST tie down to get it even with the others.
Here's a couple pics, will try to post more later. I'm making a huge caprese for NYE party tonight so the basil cut down and the lights are closer to the plants (1-2"). The single plant is the one I did LST on this morning.
I am open to any thoughts/suggestions
.
