Supercloset - SuperBox - Autoflowering - First Time Grower, Grow Journal

Hi Guys. I am going to start using my hydro system today. I am very inexperienced but I have done a lot of reading. Obviously reading about growing hydro is not enough so I would appreciate some help from the community. I am going to post pictures later.

I have setup the box and plan on starting my growth cycle today after I'm done from work. I live in Dubai where the weather is extremely hot and humid with about 12 hours of sun in all seasons therefore the best option for me is to go hydro. I have some minimal experience growing outdoor when I use to live in Australia but thats about all the experience I have.

At the moment I only have two types of auto-flowering seeds (Northern Lights and Tatanka Haze) that I bought from Amsterdam a few months ago therefore I wont have to change the light cycle. Its going to be on 18/6 all along. I know auto-flowering gives low yields but its better than nothing and good for my first growing experience.

I am going to start growth from the seedling using rockwool. The following are the details of my setup:

· Warm Spectrum 200 Watt High Output Compact Fluorescent Grow Light
· Bright Wing Light Reflector
· Top Feed, Deep Water Culture, Bubble, & Aeroponics
· Tech naflora Recipe for Success Nutrient Package
· Drainage Valve
· Net Cups & Hydroton Clay Rocks
· Activated Carbon Air Filtration
· Adjustable Internal Circulation Fan
· PH Control Kit
· TDS Meter
· Digital Thermometer/Hydrometer
· Rockwool Cubes
· Analog Timers for the light and water pump
· Water Pump (Top feed)
· Air Pump & Air Stones

· GFCI ShockBuster
· Anti-Mold Reflective Panels

I will try my best to post pics, meter readings and other updates every 3 to 5 days. I look forward to your input and feedback

Also, I forgot to mention that I am using the SuperBox from SuperCloset. Here the link

You should at least throw a few small blue spectrum cfls in there. it'll make a world of difference and won't cost much to do. Looking forward to updates.

NnthStTrls said:

You should at least throw a few small blue spectrum cfls in there. it'll make a world of difference and won't cost much to do. Looking forward to updates.

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Thanks for the advice buddy. The problem is that these products are impossible to buy from where I come from. I have to order everything. I will definitely consider it for my next grow. For the time being, something has come up so I'll have to postpone the growth till tomorrow. Will post updates tomorrow.

Sorry there has been a slight delay. I will most probably start growing on Sunday so please hang on

jalal said:

Sorry there has been a slight delay. I will most probably start growing on Sunday so please hang on

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Make sure you keep us up-to-date with pics chief.

My apologies for the delay. We have the box setup at my friends house and he had to change the locks to his room. Anyways good news is that we started on the 9th of March I didnt take any pictures on the first day we started but I'll explain what we did. We dropped two different strains of feminized autoflowering seeds in pre-soaked rockwool and lightly covered the hole with more rockwool.
- Water pump: Off
- Air pump: on
- Fan: On
- Odor filter: On
- Water barely touching the cups
- Nutrients: only a 3rd of the recommended dose of root66. Its an autoflowering plant therefore it cant take the same amount of nutrients recommended for normal plants. Based on my research always use a half to a third of the recommended dosage
- Temp: 27 C (average)
- Humidity: 40% - 60 % (average)
- Light cycle: 18/6

Day 7

- As recommended, we changed the water. We first used the water pump to drain some of the water, then poured the remaining water in a bin, cleaned the hydro container and refilled it with the same mixture we used last time (Clean drinking water with a 3rd of the recommended dosage of Root66)
- Ph: 6
- TDS: 125
- Temp: 27 C (average)
- Humidity: 40 to 60 % (average)
- Airpump: On
- water pump: off
- Fan: On
- Odor filter: On
- Water barely touching the cups
- Light cycle: 18/6
- I also had to move one of the cups to the middle so that when the plant grows, its leaves and branches dont touch the door

In terms of growth, the plants are looking quite good for the 7th day. One of them is a bit taller than the other and I think that is because of the strain (keep in mind that I've planted two different strains of autoflowering but can't remember their names). The bigger plant has 0.5 of roots sticking out of the rockwool! I think that is a lot of progress for the first week. Enjoy the pictures:

DontSmokeThat said:

Make sure you keep us up-to-date with pics chief.

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Done! Check out the updates below

Day 14 - Many changes

Heaps of new developments this week. The plants have also grown significantly:

- Light cycle: 18/6
- Air pump: On
- Fan: On
- Odor Filter: On
- Water Pump: On (decided to switch it on this week after adding the hydro rocks/pellets. It automatically switches on for 15 minutes every four hours)
- Added hydro pellets
- Changed nutrient solution to a growth solution but only added a third of the recommended dose because it is an autoflowering plant therefore it cannot handle the recommended dosage)
- Cleaned the hydro container from all remaining root66 nutrient (from last week)

Hi, how have your results been coming since March? I want to buy a Superbox but not sure about the stealth. How was the light leak and smell? Thanks.

jalal said:

Top Feed, Deep Water Culture, Bubble, & Aeroponics

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Wahhh?????

some comments on the superbox

definitely doesn't leak light, not one bit.....there is a compromise you need to make of noise v odor as far as stealth....there is a massively loud fan on the filter that I ended up replacing with a slower, quieter one, the one was so loud that it basically nullified any stealth abilities

However, because the fan is not as strong the odor does leak out a bit, but I just buy strong air fresheners....seems to mask it well

oh, one more point, that CFL....well just sucked, the heat was too much for a plant to get to a reasonable height and just gave me stringy/stretchy plants (from what I understand it is common for CFLs).....I've ditched it for a LED light, 21X PRO from HydroGrow....works awesome, MUCH cooler and the plants since then look just as good as if they were under a HPS light

Honestly, now that I better understand how it works I probably wouldn't buy it....I would look for the file cabinet online (they are out there for cheap) and a good holesaw kit.....watering elements (air & pump) can be bought for dirt cheap at a pet store near the aquariums....the elbows on the back are just black pvc elbows you can get for a dollar or two at a home improvement store wrapped on one end with a soft adhesive backed foam that you can also find there (it is for creating a seal on the pvc elbows)

find a small tupperware box, paint the outside (because most of the ones you find are translucent or clear), cut some holes in the lid and you are pretty much done, I think I could make the thing for less than $200

I wouldn't say the product is bad, I would just that it is over priced. However at the time I really didn't understand how it all worked as well as I do now....i look at it as a relatively cheap learning experience (considering college classes are $2-3000)