Micro hydro (dwc) dorm room grow

I'm going through some financial troubles right now and I desperately need another source of income. I've thought about it for a while now and I've decided to try my first grow. Unfortunately, it will have to take place in my dorm room. I've lurked long enough but I could use your guidance as I'm beginning to doubt I can do this on my own.




Item list:

Lighting
-(4) 6500K 42 watt 2800 lumens CFL (vegging)
-(4) 2700K 42 watt 2600 lumens CFL (flowering)
-Y-socket adapters
-Flexible Light stands

Bucket
-(2) 2 gallon buckets (I thought it would be easier to change to res if I just get a second bucket, fill it with water/nutes and take the lid off the first bucket and place it on the new bucket.
-(1) 3 inch net pot (will be getting a larger size since rockwool cubes with hydroton rocks barely fit it)
-Whisper Air pump for 10 gallons (seems to make too much sound)
-3 inch disk air stone (will be replacing with another airstone that makes microbubbles since I've heard they are more quiet)
-black air tubing for airpump

Grow
-rockwool cubes
-hydroton rocks
-general hydroponic (will be trying the lucas formula)

Devices/other
-Hanna pH/ppm pen
-thermometer w/humidity checker
-measuring syringe
-graduated Cylinders
-pH up/down

Seeds
-fem Lowryder #2 or shortryder (hopefully, smell wont be a problem since I will only be growing one plant)

To do list
-calibrate ph/ppm pen
-drill a hole for the netpot on the lid
-buy a bigger netpot and better airstone

Problems
Everything will be under my bed in a grow box made out of USPS boxes. One problem will be heat. I will try to get a fan (could use some recommendations on an oscillating fan off amazon) but I'm pretty sure there will be no exhaust unless I decide to leave an opening in my grow box. Another big problem is the tap water. I'm assuming it will be very hard since it leaves a nasty after taste after drinking. No idea if my plants will survive.

Any suggestions, tips or things I should add to my buy list before I begin? (which will be in a week or two)

I really appreciate this!

i'd say everything looks good except for the location of the whole op. y in the dorm, how u gonna stop light leaks with usps boxes, how you gonna cover the smell of the flower cycle. what if you get caught. are the consequences really worth the risk. after all, how much do you expect to pull, given this is your first attempt. plus you know you'll wanna smoke some. if you haven't already, take time and give it some serious thought before you do anything stupid. hope everything works out.

I would say I go to a humbolt esque college where Its known for its high marijuana usage so I'm not too worried about people stirring up any trouble for me. Plus, I would say I'm a discrete person and I don't think anyone would suspect me as a grower, or even a user. I appreciate the concern though.

As for the light leaks, the usps boxes are pretty sturdy and I plan on using duct tape to cover any gaps. And for the smell, its one plant. Could it produce that big of a scent, especially when its lowryder?

plants can stink up small neighbor hoods dude.

edit: i think you may want to reconsider your boxes. look for a stealth grow in here, there are dressers and armoires that work really well. you can get these things for cheap at a yard/garage sale or craigslist or flea markets. you dont want to fuck up the dark cycles or light cycles during flower, your plant wont like you and may show it.

pick up some ONA gel, it eliminates odors but is about $19 a quart. only lasts about a month for one or 2 plants.

You could make a tube for the exhaust and have it curve or something so the light doesnt sneak out?

Also you should put your tap water into an open container and let it sit for a day, gets rid of the chlorine and such.

Also remember TELL NO ONE!
Every time you even mention your grow it is a roll of the dice and you could lose a lot.

gumball said:

plants can stink up small neighbor hoods dude.

edit: i think you may want to reconsider your boxes. look for a stealth grow in here, there are dressers and armoires that work really well. you can get these things for cheap at a yard/garage sale or craigslist or flea markets. you dont want to fuck up the dark cycles or light cycles during flower, your plant wont like you and may show it.

pick up some ONA gel, it eliminates odors but is about $19 a quart. only lasts about a month for one or 2 plants.

Click to expand...

I chose lowryder to hopefully solve that problem. I plan on leaving the lights on for 24 hours even though its suggested 18/6, I'm just too cheap to purchase a timer. I'll look more into ONA gel since I've seen it everywhere on this forum.. my plan was just to spray freebreeze everyday to mask the smell.

Hekinsieden said:

You could make a tube for the exhaust and have it curve or something so the light doesnt sneak out?

Also you should put your tap water into an open container and let it sit for a day, gets rid of the chlorine and such.

Also remember TELL NO ONE!
Every time you even mention your grow it is a roll of the dice and you could lose a lot.

Click to expand...

I read this all around but I think roseman mentioned how leaving open water does not do much in benefits. Anyone threads dedicated to this?

If you gotta go low key, go to Home Depot or Lowes for something like this in terms of a HID light.
Comes in a 70 watt too, and both screw into a standard E26 MEDIUM socket (everyday light bulb socket in every home). Don't get MOGUL socket bulbs unless you find a socket and cord set for it at a hydro store or something.
The 70w is 6,700 lumens though, but still more than them 4 cfl's.
Don't get me wrong. People get dank ass grows from cfl's.

Plug that bad boy into a Brooder Clamp Work Light and you're good to go.
Plus the cover is like a reflector !!

And PLEASE don't fugg with that Crapwool, I mean rockwool !
Get some rooter plugs. Don't have to pre-soak/ph and won't screw with the overall ph during growth.
They're made from coco by-products and VERY dwc/seed friendly.

Otherwise, grow that dank and keep us posted Mr College Grad (soon-to-be) !!















Philips offers a wide variety of products to meet your lighting needs. Philips HPS bulbs offer very long life and great light output. Its yellow color is less attractive to bugs.

• Light Output: 15,700Lumens
• Energy used: 150 Watts
• Life Hours: 24,000 Hours
• BD17 Shape, Medium Base
• MFG Brand Name : Philips
• MFG Model # : 140871
• MFG Part # : 140871
• Outdoor Lighting Application : Lamp

This aluminum clamplight can be used for temporary lighting anywhere inside your house. This product is easy to use and assemble. This light can accommodate up to a 300 watt incandescent bulb or many fluorescent bulbs. This brooder clamp light can also be used for temporary heating.

• Brooder Clamp Light with porcelain socket
• Adjustable ball joint for easy positioning.
• Rated for up to 300W incandescent bulb
• Spring steel clamp with scratch resistant vinyl sleeve
• MFG Brand Name : Bayco
• MFG Model # : CE-303PDQ
• MFG Part # : CE-303PDQ

Also, make sure those flexible light stands are rated to hold the wattage you're using with those y-connectors and bulbs !!
Hate to hear about another kind of blaze in your dorm.............

ditch the aquarium pump and get one of the nicer commercial hydro pumps from sunleaves. They are only slightly more expensive and will significantly outperform and outlast the whisper pump. Keeping the water highly oxygenated in DWC is critical and those aquarium pumps just don't cut it.

He's in a dorm room and doesn't need that hydro pump humming.
Those pumps are sufficient enough.
It's just two 5gal dwc buckets.

I have 2 of these pumps. One for each 12gal Igloo cooler.
From PetCo for $25. Comes with 4 - 78" tubings, 4 - check valves and 4 mini air stones.
Just 5 watts with adjustable air flow (dial on top) and moves 9L/min; 140GPH
Good for 26 - 212 gallon tanks.
If it'll keep fish alive, it'll keep some weed alive.

Flo Grow said:

He's in a dorm room.
Those pumps are sufficient enough for a 5gal dwc bucket grow.

I have 2 of these pumps. One for each 12gal Igloo cooler.
From PetCo for $25. Comes with 4 - 78" tubings, 4 - check valves and 4 mini air stones.

Click to expand...

For 45 bucks you can get one that puts out at least 2x as much oxygen and won't take a shit in die two months later midway through your grow.
I've done dwc plenty of times and those aquarium pumps are shit and more trouble then they are worth. You're better off just buying a quality pump up front and saving yourself the headache of having to run out for a new one in the middle of your grow. The sunleaves ones I am running now I have been running for at least a year. I've never had an aquarium pump make it through an entire grow.

I happen to be near a Worm's Way store (major hydro franchise).
OWNED by Sunleaves.
They sell THIS same pump (as a Sunleaves) for $35 !
The hydro guys seem to like it for THEY'RE hydros in the store, as well as your pump.
Even rated EXACTLY the same as the less expensive PetCo model.

Anyway....

Endo, do your thing !

As you grow, you'll learn there's more than one way to skin a cannabis plant !!

lmao.......think I'll put that in my sig !! lmao

Flo Grow said:

I happen to be near a Worm's Way store (major hydro franchise).
OWNED by Sunleaves.
They sell THIS same pump (as a Sunleaves) for $35 !
The hydro guys seem to like it for THEY'RE hydros in the store, as well as your pump.
Even rated EXACTLY the same as the less expensive PetCo model.

Anyway....

Endo, do your thing !

As you grow, you'll learn there's more than one way to skin a cannabis plant !!

lmao.......think I'll put that in my sig !! lmao

Click to expand...

Yeah sunleaves makes garbage aquarium style pumps also. But I did say commercial pump in my first post.

This is what I am referring to, 40 bucks and it is putting out prolly 3x the amount of air that petco one is. + the diaphrams are replaceable.

http://www.wormsway.com/detail.aspx?t=prod&sku=SDA530&AC=1

DAMN ! Thanks Banditt ! You reminded me..............

Say Endo, you look at my latest pics and update in my 12/12 from seed thread, you'll see two BIG ASS cfl's hanging in my tent.
These are Sunleaves 125w CFL's.
I have 2 each of the 2700K and 6500K.
Lumens are 9000 and 10,500, respectively I believe. Or the other way around.
Either way, I've had them for over a year and use just for veg, except for this 12/12 from seed grow.
They are E28, mogul sockets though. Same as high wattage HID's (250,400,600,1k). I just bought a socket/cord set for each for like $20 from the hydro store.
You can see they are still plugged into the socket/cord set too.
ONE of those bulbs, each, would be enough for your grow too.
Running 2 buckets, you're gonna need more light than what you have.

Banditt said:

Yeah sunleaves makes garbage aquarium style pumps also. But I did say commercial pump in my first post.

This is what I am referring to, 40 bucks and it is putting out prolly 3x the amount of air that petco one is. + the diaphrams are replaceable.

http://www.wormsway.com/detail.aspx?t=prod&sku=SDA530&AC=1

Click to expand...

Yeah, I know.
KEEP Worm's website on computer "Favorites".
And being just 15 min away, it's the ONLY store I go to, outta 14 hydro stores within 25 min.

Now on with Endo's buckets.................................

As long as you follow the rule of approximately 1watt per gallon of water on your air pump, you will be fine.

straitkilla911 said:

As long as you follow the rule of approximately 1watt per gallon of water on your air pump, you will be fine.

Click to expand...

Really ?
Why ?
I'm running half a watt per gallon just fine.

Flo Grow said:

If you gotta go low key, go to Home Depot or Lowes for something like this in terms of a HID light.
Comes in a 70 watt too, and both screw into a standard E26 MEDIUM socket (everyday light bulb socket in every home). Don't get MOGUL socket bulbs unless you find a socket and cord set for it at a hydro store or something.
The 70w is 6,700 lumens though, but still more than them 4 cfl's.
Don't get me wrong. People get dank ass grows from cfl's.

Plug that bad boy into a Brooder Clamp Work Light and you're good to go.
Plus the cover is like a reflector !!

And PLEASE don't fugg with that Crapwool, I mean rockwool !
Get some rooter plugs. Don't have to pre-soak/ph and won't screw with the overall ph during growth.
They're made from coco by-products and VERY dwc/seed friendly.

Click to expand...

dude i never cease to learn something from you...

Growing in a dorm room sounds like a really bad idea. Who owns the dorms? the college? can they randomly search you place - what if there are electrical/pipe problems in the building and they need to send someone in? do they have to give you notice? is the notice going to be sufficient time to take everything down? If you get caught with marijuana on a campus you will be expelled out of college and loose all your federal funding so is it worth the risk? are there any other schools nearby? laws in some countries double or triple fines within proximity to certian schools. Do you have a roomate who will know about this? how long have you kown this person and how much can you really trust him? I've ranted enough just blazed and am a little paranoid lol! Anyway whatever you choose good luck just try to think things out

Flo Grow said:

Really ?
Why ?
I'm running half a watt per gallon just fine.

Click to expand...

lol yes. Although smaller air pumps will work just fine it wont be anything to talk about. To fully support a fully mature plant the water should appear to be boiling, or better yet rolling. Apologize that my answer isn't more factual, if you look through my posts you will find i have posted about this "rule" in another thread where more information is presented.(<--was to lazy to search myself.)