First grow room - let the wild rumpus begin!

[MagicSeth]

I don't get it, but it seems funny and I don't mind looking at your avatar... ;-}

I clipped the dead leaves. All the youngsters seem peppy.

I am sorry I had been smoking some cannabis that a local grew from some seeds he got on here called Alien...WOOO that's what I am gonna grow my next grow... I am also going to try Nirvana seeds. I bought one tof the Alien clones and she is sitting under cfl right now...ummm

 

[Swany]

Lol - that would explain it ;-}

 

[Swany]

Sweet Day! Got to spend about 6 hours on my grow room. didn't even realize it until I came out and saw that day was passing to night.

got most of the electrical done. 240v timer controls (2) 20 amp circuits, two 1000w lights on each one.

Some modified tie downs to adjust light height.

2x4's to mount the lights to. 2x4's suspended on rope that run through pulleys and then to the straps. To lower the lights I just push the lever on the tie down and let the strap out a little. As the plants grow I pull the strap a little and it holds.

Instead of figuring out how to mount 4 more pulleys, I stuck some conduit in a 2x4 to route the ropes .

Air it sucked in from the back of my carport through a furnace filter, and then directed to the floor to spread out via two vents. I was excited when I found these vents at Lowes. Having all the cold air come in one corner I was afraid the plant in that corner would get too much cold air. Hopefully these vents will help the cold incoming air travel along the floor a bit before the fans stir it up and mix it so one or two plants don't get chilled.

I think I'm just about ready to put up Panda liner - very excited! I saved a bunch of milk cartons to cut up into little squares to back the staples. If anyone knows a better way I would love to hear it. I also got white duct tape and may use that also.

And of course, the soon to be occupants of this crazy room i'm spending too much money one -

A couple of them seem to be growing, but there are no roots yet. The water in the cloner keeps going up in ph. I get it down to 6 to 6.2 and the next day it's over 7 again. My hot tub doesn't come close to needing so much ph balancing ;-}

 

[TheTommyK]

wow ..... so lucky to get to build from scratch!!!! I am re-setting up my room and I feel lucky. You won the lottery!!!!
I love the detail described as well as the pics. Thanks!!!!

 

[organicozarks]

Nice setup.

 

[Swany]

Thanks guys ;-} I'm pretty excited about getting to do this, and with nothing grow related to do 'cept wait for the clones to root, watch Jorge Cervantes get very animated on youtube, and build, I've been doing a lot of building. I just hope it all works like I plan it too...

TK, your avatar reminds me of my cat's unique behavior last night. I had friends with kids over Sat night so I had to move the clones into an unused room we store stuff in. The room developed a good smell. When the cat got in there he got pretty excited and kept sniffing around, it was cute. Next he got into our Burning Man costume storage and came out looking like this;

 

[TheTommyK]

FANTASTIC. I showed Rupert (the cat in my pic) ..... he said that happened to him once too!!!!
I am waiting for clones to root as well.....

 

[shawnskush]

that cat looks thrilled LOL

 

[fishwhistle]

Lol,i knew that avatar looked like a burning man pic.

 

[Swany]

Rupert looks like he's smiling, you better go check those clones!

Ramses is a good sport, he was even carried in a basket during the procession in our wedding - wearing a small bowler hat!

My avatar is my wife during the '10 (?) Burn. We've been the last 5 Burns together, I've been 9 times. If you go and you like to dance check out www.rhythmwave.org - then come visit ;-}

Busy day - no building. Got my hose, fan controler, some fittings, air stones and basked though. I won't have time tomorrow night to work on it either. Wednesday night I will do nothing else ;-} A local Grow Room Consultant is going to come by to see what I've done and offer any suggestions, which will be fun. Grow Room Consultant - talk about cool job! He dosen't know it yet, but I'm his new electrician...

The girls are starting to form roots. I know the Noob thing to do would be to increase nutes or fondle them too much or something. I just very patiently and kindly asked them to hurry up.

If you're wondering, the jar is not some kind of aroma therapy to help the plants stay calm after being separated from their Mother. The home made cloner was leaking right there so I added some weight to make the top seal better.

 

[Swany]

Just Bought Lights! Very exciting ;-} A wings w/spreaders, Ultra Sun MH's, Horilux HPS's and Quantum ballasts. That about doubles the cost of my room so far. I didn't spend a lot on the MH bulbs, hoping they will work fine for veg. The Hotilux bulbs are pretty nice though, hopefully I spent the extra money in the right place.

 

[HighBurn8]

nice....

 

[Swany]

talk about nice round, firm, fully formed.... buds ;-}

All I got done last night was wiring up some sockets for green lights in the grow room for emergency light. Met with the Grow Room Consultant and the only thing he pointed out that worries me has to do with my net pots being supported in the totes I'm going to use - here's the set up (no pics, i'm at work...)

I'm using rumbermaid roughneck 18 gallon totes and American Hydroponics 8" Heavy Duty Net Pots.

The pot does not have a very big lip on it. The concern is a full grown plant may push this basket right down into the hole cut into the lid of the tote. Anyone have any experience with this? He had the suggestion that I use a different pot, which I can do. Since I all ready have these if there was some elegant solution or if someone is using this set up without trouble I would love to know -

thx

 

[Swany]

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.

First the Good,
The clones are coming along pretty well.

The real show is down below

One is not keeping up with the others, but it is showing roots.


The Bad -

OK, not that bad, but I love that movie ;-} Building a room takes awhile. Assuming I use the clones from above (more on that in a moment) I'm going to need to have a room ready pretty soon. I got a lot done today but don't know if I'll finish in time to be ready for the little guys.

Got most of the plumbing done -

Just one error, witch you will notice in the a few pics. Hard pipe from the main res to valves in the room. Then hose to drip feed each plant.

Each tub will have a hose running back to a 'leveler' or 'balancing reservoir'. Hoses will come out of each tub down low, then enter the leveler about 2/3rds up the side. This will keep about 10 gallons in each tub. As far as I can tell this is a little different then most standard DWC systems. The leveler will have a pump in it that pumps water back to the main reservoir witch is outside the room. A little extra complication, but the system will have a large reservoir and most of it will be away from the heat of the lamps. My hydro mentor dreamed this one up, unless he learned if from someone else.

Here is the plumping outside the room mostly done -

Feed to the plants is the lower right barb, incoming water is in the middle and the return from the leveler is on the left. The 55gl barrel you see will be the reservoir. The pipe jutting to the right about mid picture will be fresh water. The pipe going to the top will fill another 55gl barrel that will be supported above the main reservoir. This will be temp adjusted water top off the res. Of course, while typing this I just realized I'll need to check ph in the upper barrel somehow... I guess i could just adjust after I fill the main res.

And I finished the day by hanging the panda film -

and putting the light bars back in -

After getting all the film sealed with white duct tape I plugged the fan back in and the film started to bulge in. More staples did the trick, but that means I could get more air through the room if I cut in another inlet vent or two. I got room behind the intake filter so I'll do that soon.

I hope to sneak back into the room early in the morning and finish putting the fittings in the tubs, then arrange the tubs on the floor and start the feed and drain tubing before my wife gets up. Gotta help her subdue the Yard Monster tomorrow and finish taking down a dead tree.

And now for the Ugly...

I'm guessing this is Powdery Mildew. Am I right? The African Elephant had some on it's leaves. These Blues City Diesels show something similar on the stems. From what I've read and heard Powdery Mildew is systemic, not just topical. I sprayed one with vinigar, one of the items listed in a book I got, nothing happened. I heard an interview with a renowned grower who mentioned Eagle 20, a hard core chem that will kill it. I don't really want to use something like that on what will be smoked, though it's got over 2 months to wash out. The Grower also said you have to be in the garden biz to get it. Any suggestions? I don't really want to start my room with diseased plants...

 

[Swany]

Did a fair amount of investigation with help from Alpinehi, Paulycali, Shawnskush, Soupead, Reeldrag, Green Punk and Seamaiden over on the Rx thread on the spots. Pretty darn sweet to have a place like this to turn to for help. Seems like the spots are not doing any harm but i'm treating as if they are fungal to be sure.

Forgot to take pic's of the girls.... but the roots are looking way bushier than the photo above! Will try to update that tonight if I stop work on the room before midnight...

So -

Realized the inlet was not as big as the outlet - two more vents added

My wife swore she heard sleigh bells while she was working, but it was just the UPS truck

Mostly got the plumbing done. Nutes in via 3/4" pvc, then to hose and split out to 1/4" to connect to the drip rings. Returns are 3/4" hose also, though I might try a large pipe UC style return for next time.

And the fun part - looks like War of the Worlds or some other old sci-fi flick

Tonight I want to get the reservoirs in then filler up to check for leaks. Let's cross those fingers please ;-}

 

[shawnskush]

looking really good swany! putting in some hard work with great results. For your first go round that room looks pro

 

[Swany]

Awwww shucks ;-} I can build stuff, it remains to be seen if I can grow stuff as well...

 

[Swany]

The last few days have been a blur. I need to move the clones which means I need to finish the room! I think I'm just about there. First, let's see how the girls are doing -

You can see the growth I talked of earlier on the stem of the lower right, second in clone. Still there but hasn't changed much. The girls definetly have legs!

I need to get them a larger apartment. I think the room is ready for them. All the plumbing on the tubs went pretty smooth until I put water in them. Had about 6 or 7 leaks even though I used those zip tie style hose clamps. Took those off and used regular zip ties and things dried up. Res and spare water arn't quite done, but the res is working.

A close up of the filter on the water bib. I didn't want to get an RO system 'cause I plan on using rain water mostly. Though that may be a challenge going into summer. This filter take my well water down to about 110 ppm and it measures 6.4 ph.

Let there be Light!

More to come... I am going to my first trim party tonight and gotta head out. Might be a bit early to learn to trim but gotta take the opportunity when I get it.

 

[usstoner]

right on..nice clean room...and the elecric looks good...nice work..

 

[bangbang]

burn baby burn.... its gonna be a good one this year... :)