infinitalus
Active Member
Well boys and girls, its been a long 16 month journey since the first day I came home with 12 cuttings and stuffed them in a 6'x4' closet under a 400w MH for veg and 400w HPS for flower, with only a crack in the door for ventilation. Going through different setups and locations throughout the house and figuring out that soil growing requires a LOT of patience. Most likely, hydro would have been easier to learn with but the cost to do hydro correctly with the proper tools is much more expensive and was out of my league. Nevertheless, I have never given up hope and this setup is the product of faith, perseverance, and dedication to producing quality medical marijuana for myself and for my patients. In Memory of A. Waterhouse June 14, 1987 - November 14, 2011. Rest in peace, asshole and friend. Cheers!
Today we have 2x Hortilux Super HPS 1000w for flower, each lamp covering 4'x4' of space in a 4'x8'x6.5 tent. The tent is nothing magical, just an ebay deal that had free shipping. One thing worthy of mentioning is if you DO happen to get a tent, do NOT use the 'support bars' that come with a plastic clip. These clips will break over time with less than half of the rated capacity on them. Your lights, fans, and/or carbon filter could come crashing down ontop of your plants leaving you with a complete disaster. If you MUST use these bars, reinforce the clip ends with multiple large zip ties. I keep a surplus of zipties on hand. Canopy temp stays pretty steady at 80F, RH around 50%.
For nutrients, I will be using the Lucas Formula which is 8ml/gallon of General Hydro Flora Micro, and 16ml/gallon of General Hydro Flora Bloom. I also will be supplmenting 3ml/gallon Dyna-gro Protekt for pH balancing and Silicon, 10ml/gallon Botanicare Sweet-Raw for carbs, 2ml/gallon Botanicare Cal-Mag. I tried using Great White for myco and while it does work, its too expensive for the amount of applications you get. I will be switching back to Fox Farm Microbe Brew for myco. I have a gallon of every nute except Flora Bloom and Cal Mag. I have two gallons of Bloom and a quart of Cal Mag.
For medium, I will be trying out Fox Farm Ocean Forest. Previously I used nothing but sunshine #4 but I think that the majority of the peat gets too clumpy after the first two months or so of watering. So far, I am liking Ocean Forest. This medium is going in 14" or 7 gallon smart pots.
The ScROG screen has a 3/4" PVC frame with 3/8" drilled holes for 1/4" PVC coated vinyl clothesline wire for the screen itself. I found that drilling into both sides of the hole will reduce the risk of nicking yourself on sharp plastic and allow for easier passing of the clothesline wire. The screen works really well and was completely worth the time and effort put into it. I made two 4' x 4' screens and fastened them to the frame of the tent with zipties.
The reflectors are a 6" AC Xtrasun and a 6" AC Yieldmaster II. These are being air cooled with two 6" booster fans which has proven adequate for my cooling needs. Since I am using 1000w lamps, keeping the light so close to the canopy will actually bleach the leaves, even if the canopy temperature is reasonable. The larger reflectors like the XXL, XXXL, and Raptor are better suited for 400w and 600w lamps which can be kept close to the canopy with a larger light distribution. Also, the larger reflectors weigh in excess of 35 lbs.
I got a steal on an 8" can fan and hooked it up to my 6" carbon filter with a couple of ducting reducers and clamps. By sucking out more air faster than the tent can take in, it does cause some negative pressure which is great. There is no smell until I unzip the tent and stick my head in. These light cooling fans and the carbon filter fan are both being vented to an intake register for the Central Air unit with a Y flange.
For air movement at the canopy level, I have two tower fans that I suspended using some rope ratchets. Rope ratchets are GREAT for suspending just about anything and I keep a few extra on hand. This gives a light breeze over the top of my canopy. Since there is negative air pressure, the flaps which allows new CO2 enriched air into the tent are at the bottom of the tent, which allows for a slight breeze at the base of my plants, under the screen which will prevent mold and stagnant air.
For veg, I am using 432w of PAR lighting, using T5 HO lamps in a 4' x 4' ebay tent. This tent is being vented with a 6" booster and keeps it at about 82F at the canopy.
The fixture is a Kushmaster GroSite, or essentually a Quantum BadBoy knockoff. In this order, my lamps are: UVL Super Actinic, Korallen-Zucht Fiji Purple, UVL 454nm, Fiji Purple, UVL Red Sun, Fiji Purple, Super Actinic, Fiji Purple.
The strain I will be using is a Michigan based strain. It is Lemon Cake fem crossed with Alaskan Thunderfuck male. I call it Alaskan Lemon. Smells strongly of citrus and cheese. Tastes more like an orange creme bar. I received three seeds from a friend. Of these seeds, one was a female, the other two were males. It is a sativa dom, long initial stretch period in flower, 9-10 weeks maturation. After consuming, I notice an energy increase, appetite stimulation, and surprisingly enough: pain relief for my knee. Responds well to LST and ScROG. Slow healing when topping and FIMMing, but that might be just because of my soil application. It might be different with hydro, especially Undercurrent.
I think that covers everything.
This is the result of 16 months of effort and dedication, with more to come.
Cheers everyone
Pics:
Today we have 2x Hortilux Super HPS 1000w for flower, each lamp covering 4'x4' of space in a 4'x8'x6.5 tent. The tent is nothing magical, just an ebay deal that had free shipping. One thing worthy of mentioning is if you DO happen to get a tent, do NOT use the 'support bars' that come with a plastic clip. These clips will break over time with less than half of the rated capacity on them. Your lights, fans, and/or carbon filter could come crashing down ontop of your plants leaving you with a complete disaster. If you MUST use these bars, reinforce the clip ends with multiple large zip ties. I keep a surplus of zipties on hand. Canopy temp stays pretty steady at 80F, RH around 50%.
For nutrients, I will be using the Lucas Formula which is 8ml/gallon of General Hydro Flora Micro, and 16ml/gallon of General Hydro Flora Bloom. I also will be supplmenting 3ml/gallon Dyna-gro Protekt for pH balancing and Silicon, 10ml/gallon Botanicare Sweet-Raw for carbs, 2ml/gallon Botanicare Cal-Mag. I tried using Great White for myco and while it does work, its too expensive for the amount of applications you get. I will be switching back to Fox Farm Microbe Brew for myco. I have a gallon of every nute except Flora Bloom and Cal Mag. I have two gallons of Bloom and a quart of Cal Mag.
For medium, I will be trying out Fox Farm Ocean Forest. Previously I used nothing but sunshine #4 but I think that the majority of the peat gets too clumpy after the first two months or so of watering. So far, I am liking Ocean Forest. This medium is going in 14" or 7 gallon smart pots.
The ScROG screen has a 3/4" PVC frame with 3/8" drilled holes for 1/4" PVC coated vinyl clothesline wire for the screen itself. I found that drilling into both sides of the hole will reduce the risk of nicking yourself on sharp plastic and allow for easier passing of the clothesline wire. The screen works really well and was completely worth the time and effort put into it. I made two 4' x 4' screens and fastened them to the frame of the tent with zipties.
The reflectors are a 6" AC Xtrasun and a 6" AC Yieldmaster II. These are being air cooled with two 6" booster fans which has proven adequate for my cooling needs. Since I am using 1000w lamps, keeping the light so close to the canopy will actually bleach the leaves, even if the canopy temperature is reasonable. The larger reflectors like the XXL, XXXL, and Raptor are better suited for 400w and 600w lamps which can be kept close to the canopy with a larger light distribution. Also, the larger reflectors weigh in excess of 35 lbs.
I got a steal on an 8" can fan and hooked it up to my 6" carbon filter with a couple of ducting reducers and clamps. By sucking out more air faster than the tent can take in, it does cause some negative pressure which is great. There is no smell until I unzip the tent and stick my head in. These light cooling fans and the carbon filter fan are both being vented to an intake register for the Central Air unit with a Y flange.
For air movement at the canopy level, I have two tower fans that I suspended using some rope ratchets. Rope ratchets are GREAT for suspending just about anything and I keep a few extra on hand. This gives a light breeze over the top of my canopy. Since there is negative air pressure, the flaps which allows new CO2 enriched air into the tent are at the bottom of the tent, which allows for a slight breeze at the base of my plants, under the screen which will prevent mold and stagnant air.
For veg, I am using 432w of PAR lighting, using T5 HO lamps in a 4' x 4' ebay tent. This tent is being vented with a 6" booster and keeps it at about 82F at the canopy.
The fixture is a Kushmaster GroSite, or essentually a Quantum BadBoy knockoff. In this order, my lamps are: UVL Super Actinic, Korallen-Zucht Fiji Purple, UVL 454nm, Fiji Purple, UVL Red Sun, Fiji Purple, Super Actinic, Fiji Purple.
The strain I will be using is a Michigan based strain. It is Lemon Cake fem crossed with Alaskan Thunderfuck male. I call it Alaskan Lemon. Smells strongly of citrus and cheese. Tastes more like an orange creme bar. I received three seeds from a friend. Of these seeds, one was a female, the other two were males. It is a sativa dom, long initial stretch period in flower, 9-10 weeks maturation. After consuming, I notice an energy increase, appetite stimulation, and surprisingly enough: pain relief for my knee. Responds well to LST and ScROG. Slow healing when topping and FIMMing, but that might be just because of my soil application. It might be different with hydro, especially Undercurrent.
I think that covers everything.
This is the result of 16 months of effort and dedication, with more to come.
Cheers everyone
Pics:
