[Wheels1974]

Hi everyone,

I'm completely new to cultivating cannabis, although I've been a cannabis user for over 30 years. I'm 52 years old and have recently purchased my first seeds—Gorilla Glue #4 Feminised. I'm now researching the best indoor growing setup to suit my circumstances before I purchase any equipment.

At present, I'm considering either the AC Infinity 4×4 Grow Tent Kit with the EVO6 LED or, if the extra space is worthwhile, the AC Infinity 5×5 Grow Tent Kit with either the EVO8 or EVO10 LED. My highest priorities are simplicity, reliability, and automation.

A little about my situation...
I am a C4 quadriplegic following a tragic accident in 1988 when I was 13 years old, and I have no movement below my neck. Because of this, all of the physical work involved in maintaining the grow will need to be carried out by family members or carers. My goal is to build a system that requires as little day-to-day maintenance as possible while still producing high-quality results and it's something I'm sure I'll enjoy and learn from.

One of my biggest priorities is finding the best gravity-fed or low-maintenance automatic watering and feeding system available. I came very close to purchasing the Vivosun Smart Box because I was so impressed with its simplicity and automation. Unfortunately, at only 18" × 18" × 45", it's simply too small for what I want to achieve. If there is a similar system that can comfortably support at least two plants.

This is where my lack of experience becomes obvious. After spending many hours researching different growing methods, I've decided that a coco-based medium seems to suit what I'm trying to achieve.

My current plan is to use:

• Canna Coco Professional Plus
• 70% Coco / 15% Perlite / 15% Worm Castings

For nutrients, I'm considering:

• Canna Coco A & B
• Canna CalMag

Should I be adding anything more or reducing or if there are better alternatives for an automated coco grow, I'm more than happy to learn.

The grow tent will be located in a dedicated room that was originally built as an indoor swimming pool enclosure. The room measures approximately 6.5 m × 5.5 m (21 ft × 18 ft) and has a high cathedral ceiling.

One feature that I think will work in my favour is that access to the room is through a two-door air-lock entry from the house. The pool itself has been empty for well over ten years, but the air-lock should help minimise odours from entering the rest of the home as thats the whole purpose of having the Air lock.

My current plan is to place the inline fan and carbon filter on the floor outside the tent and duct fresh air into the tent, rather than hanging the equipment inside. If anyone has experience with this setup, I'd appreciate your thoughts on whether it's a good approach.

Out of curiosity, I recently had a friend measure the temperature and humidity in the room after it had been closed up for many years. The temperature was around 22°C, but the relative humidity was 85%, which surprised me. We opened the large sliding door immediately to improve ventilation and the temperature and RH dropped to 19 celsius & RH dropped to 55/60% within an hour of opening that sliding door.
So now that I know this I wont bother purchasing a humidifier or dehumidifier although the room has a huge dehumidifier on the wall which was put in back in 2001 and only used it 3 or 4 times but whether it still works or not I don't know. All I know is that it was great as it gets rid of the condensation real fast. Anyway I think I've rattled off way to much but I'm interested in hearing how others would prepare a room like this before installing a grow tent.

Based on those results, I'm thinking I may not need to purchase either a humidifier or a dehumidifier, at least initially. Interestingly, the room already has a large wall-mounted dehumidifier that was installed when the indoor pool was built into the slab back in 2001. It was only used a handful of times, but I have no idea whether it's still operational. I do remember that it was extremely effective at removing condensation, so it may still prove useful if humidity becomes an issue.

I've probably rambled on more than enough, but I'd be very interested to hear how experienced growers would prepare a room like this before installing a grow tent. If there's anything you would do differently or any potential issues I should address before getting started, I'd really appreciate your advice.

As someone completely new to growing, I'm looking to build a system that is as automated, forgiving, and reliable as possible. I'm prepared to invest in premium equipment if it significantly reduces maintenance and improves consistency.
At the moment the AutoPod gravity fed system seems to be great in the XL from what I've read and hooked up to a reservoir.
Finally, if anyone is willing to share what their typical routine looks like, I would be incredibly grateful. For example:

• How often do you top up your reservoir?
• How frequently do you feed and how much do you feed during the different cycles?
• How often do you check pH and EC?
• What does your daily or weekly maintenance schedule look like?
• Is there anything you wish you had known before starting?

I know there's no single "correct" way to grow, but hearing from experienced growers would help me avoid many beginner mistakes.
Ideally I need a very basic point form doccument to follow which would be ideal if anyone can share this with me.

Thank you in advance to everyone who takes the time to reply. Any advice or recommendations particularly regarding AC Infinity equipment, automated irrigation systems, or growing in coco—would be sincerely appreciated.

Regards
Wheels74

 

[compostmike]

For two plants I'd buy the 4x4/EVO6 and a 2Pot XL. The 5x5 kit comes with the EVO8, not EVO10, and mostly buys more canopy, cost, and reaching for the person doing the work. Run plain buffered coco/perlite, roughly 70/30, and leave the castings out. Canna Coco A+B is already a complete base; add A to the water and mix before adding B. CalMag should depend on the starting water rather than being automatic. Let transplants establish for 7-10 days before opening the AutoPot valves, refill the reservoir at about one third remaining, and flush the lines regularly.

That 85% closed room RH needs solving first. Test the old dehumidifier with the room closed for a few days, because opening the outside door is not climate control. Set the inline fan to exhaust warm, humid, odorous tent air through the carbon filter, ideally out of that room; use the tent ports for replacement air. A carer should still do a quick daily leak, valve, and plant check. Check pH, EC, and tank level daily at first, then reduce the schedule only after the readings prove stable. The missing number for a useful feed sheet is the EC of your source water.

 

[Wheels1974]

For two plants I'd buy the 4x4/EVO6 and a 2Pot XL. The 5x5 kit comes with the EVO8, not EVO10, and mostly buys more canopy, cost, and reaching for the person doing the work. Run plain buffered coco/perlite, roughly 70/30, and leave the castings out. Canna Coco A+B is already a complete base; add A to the water and mix before adding B. CalMag should depend on the starting water rather than being automatic. Let transplants establish for 7-10 days before opening the AutoPot valves, refill the reservoir at about one third remaining, and flush the lines regularly.

That 85% closed room RH needs solving first. Test the old dehumidifier with the room closed for a few days, because opening the outside door is not climate control. Set the inline fan to exhaust warm, humid, odorous tent air through the carbon filter, ideally out of that room; use the tent ports for replacement air. A carer should still do a quick daily leak, valve, and plant check. Check pH, EC, and tank level daily at first, then reduce the schedule only after the readings prove stable. The missing number for a useful feed sheet is the EC of your source wat

Thank you for all the information, it has been extremely helpful.

Does the 4x4 grow tent generally grow 4 plants?
Or would two plants be a better option for achieving the best overall results for this particular strain as I believe it can grow quite large or would you reccommend 2 plants in a 4x4 irrespective of strain?

Are you able to offer me some sort of wartering chart or point form word doccument on amounts of water to feed them through each stage?

 

[Gmix]

Good advice you got from C Mike
52 your still young in this day & age
Coir aka coco if that’s your using needs watering every day as they get older sometimes twice a day.
With humidity keep It below 70% mold grows as 70%
I would think a 4x4 would work for four plants
I’m more of a organic soil guy so I can only offer limited advice m

 

[stanknkatz]

This site is handy to have bookmarked when you're new to coco. Tons of good info.

Cannabis Grow Guide - Coco For Cannabis - Science and Practice

Cannabis grow guide: articles, tutorials, DIY projects & more! Dedicated to the science and practice of growing cannabis in coco perlite and other media.

www.cocoforcannabis.com

 

[Wheels1974]

This site is handy to have bookmarked when you're new to coco. Tons of good info.

Cannabis Grow Guide - Coco For Cannabis - Science and Practice

Cannabis grow guide: articles, tutorials, DIY projects & more! Dedicated to the science and practice of growing cannabis in coco perlite and other media.

www.cocoforcannabis.com

Thanks a lot for sending that link, very interesting. Much appreciated.

 

[Wheels1974]

Good advice you got from C Mike
52 your still young in this day & age
Coir aka coco if that’s your using needs watering every day as they get older sometimes twice a day.
With humidity keep It below 70% mold grows as 70%
I would think a 4x4 would work for four plants
I’m more of a organic soil guy so I can only offer limited advice m

Thank for your response to my post, I greatly appreciate it.

I'm not sure why the room initially measured an RH of 85% when I tested it last week. It's a relatively large room that has had no heating or ventilation for approximately ten years, and with it currently being the middle of winter here in Melbourne, I expected the humidity to remain elevated.

However, after opening the sliding door and allowing the room to ventilate for just two hours, the relative humidity dropped to between 45% and 52%. The sliding door has now remained closed for the past week, and the RH has consistently stayed within that range.

Before I even consider germinating any seeds, my plan is to fully assemble my 4' × 4' AC Infinity grow tent with the EVO 6 LED light, inline fan, and carbon filter. I intend to run the complete system with no plants inside for at least 48 hours, testing the light at both 75% and 100% output while closely monitoring the room's temperature and relative humidity. This will allow me to establish a stable baseline environment and identify any potential climate control issues before introducing plants into the tent.

 

[Wheels1974]

On the 1st of August, I germinated 2 × Gorilla Glue #4 and 2 × Black Widow seeds. Thankfully, /3 out of the 4 germinated successfully, although one of my GG#4 seeds failed to sprout. I'll simply germinate another one, even though it will end up being approximately 10 days younger than the other plants.

Unfortunately, my grow tent conditions were far from ideal in the beginning. Temperatures were fluctuating between 15°C and 19°C, with relative humidity sitting at around 50% after the grow tent was up and running. Since I already had three germinated seeds with taproots measuring approximately 5-10mm. I had no choice but to plant them into the medium despite the poor environmental conditions.

As expected, virtually nothing happened over the next couple of days. After they had been sitting in the medium for two days, I decided to invest in an AC Infinity T7 Heater and an AC Infinity Cloudforge S7 Humidifier. The difference was incredible.

For the first two days, both the heater and humidifier were running at their maximum setting (Level 10). I was genuinely surprised that the S7 humidifier had to work that hard in a 4×4 tent. I originally chose the S7 purely because of its 15 litre capacity, hoping it would reduce the number of refills required. Looking back, I'm very glad I went with the larger model because I'm certain it wouldn't have raised the RH it needed with the T3.

Thankfully, the grow tent has now stabilised beautifully. Both the heater and humidifier have backed off considerably and are no longer running at maximum output continuously, which was a pleasant surprise. I also noticed that the inline fan rarely switches on over the last 36 hours.

Black Widow #1​

The first two photos show my first Black Widow seedling. It developed a classic helmet head, with the seed coat preventing the cotyledons from opening. I improvised with the only thing I could find at home at the time (shown in Image 3) to act as a temporary humidity dome. Thankfully, after approximately 15 hours, the increased humidity softened the seed coat enough for the cotyledons to push through, as shown in Images 4 and 5.

Black Widow #2​

My second Black Widow has easily been the star performer of the three seedlings. Nothing emerged until after I installed the humidifier and heater, but once the environment was corrected, she went from showing no signs of life to becoming a healthy seedling within about 12 hours (Image 5). It's amazing what a stable environment can do.

Gorilla Glue #4 #2​

My second GG#4 is currently my biggest concern. The seed coat is still firmly attached, preventing the cotyledons from opening. Today, I had a friend place a very small drop of distilled water directly onto the seed coat before covering it with a plastic cup to increase the humidity. I'm hoping this softens the shell enough for the leaves to break free and finally receive the light they need. Fingers crossed.

The final image (Image 10) shows my current environmental conditions as monitored by the AC Infinity Controller 69 Pro.
Over the past 60 hours, the grow tent has remained exceptionally stable, consistently maintaining my target temperature, relative humidity, and VPD. Achieving a stable environment has been one of the biggest milestones so far, and it's reassuring to see the heater and humidifier working seamlessly together exactly as intended.

I honestly couldn't be happier with my AC Infinity 4×4 Grow Tent Kit.
The build quality has exceeded my expectations, with the heavy duty canvas which is extremely well made, while the inline fan is impressively quiet during operation. The EVO6 LED has also been performing exceptionally well and is currently running at Level 3, producing PAR readings between 220 and 270 at the surface of the growing medium, which is ideal for my seedlings at this stage.

Although expanding my setup is a long way off, based on my experience so far I wouldn't hesitate to purchase another AC Infinity system, most likely either a 2×4 or 5×5 when the time eventually comes.

I'd like to extend a sincere thank you to everyone on this forum for your ongoing advice, patience, and support throughout this journey.
As a first time grower, I've invested countless hours researching, asked plenty of questions across forums and communities, and watched well over 100 hours of YouTube content before purchasing any equipment. The knowledge and willingness of experienced growers to share their advice has been invaluable, and I genuinely appreciate everyone who has taken the time to help other growers along the way.

Hopefully this update provides some insight for other new growers who may find themselves facing similar challenges. If it helps even one person avoid the mistakes I made or gives them confidence to keep going, then it's been well worth sharing.

Finally, I hope to upload more photo's in the weeks ahead if everything continues to go well.
I cannot wait to recieve my AC Infinity AI+ Environmental Controller and the Spectron 7, AI-Powered Grow Camera, which I really wish I had prior but It'll go in there as soon as I get it which should be late next week as I love watching time lapse video's.

 

[Galgrows]

That outta work for the shedding of the shell. Usually softens it up with the drops of water so it can push it off. Sounds like your handling everything well so far. I'm growing outdoors right now but i do fall/winter indoor grows. Please give us updates and good luck moving forward.

 

[Wheels1974]

That outta work for the shedding of the shell. Usually softens it up with the drops of water so it can push it off. Sounds like your handling everything well so far. I'm growing outdoors right now but i do fall/winter indoor grows. Please give us updates and good luck moving forward.

Yes mate, that was a good recovery and the second photo looks considerably better.

In the first photo, the seedling was essentially stuck with the seed shell/helmet still attached. In today's photo, the cotyledons have opened and are starting to expose themselves properly. The little bit of moisture and the humidity dome clearly helped soften the shell.

 

[Wheels1974]

On Friday I flushed GG1 and gave her 4 litres of feed slowly and recieved a fair amount of runoff 10 to 20% after first 2 litres so I tested the EC & pH of the runoff and the EC was as high as my EC went at 3.8 and pH was 7.3 - So I continued giving it the other 2 litres and every 200 to 400ml I tested the newly released runoff each time but nothing changed, so I stopped watering.
Every time I've flushed so far, I've actually given them the same EC and pH as their normal feed required. For example, on Friday, GG1 received 4 litres of feed at an EC of 1.3 and pH of 5.8.

Apart from the first week or so, I've never given the plants just pH adjusted water. So I'm just trying to understand the correct way to flush.

1. When flushing, should I use plain pH-adjusted water with no nutrients, rather than my normal feed?

2. My tap water has no measurable EC. Is it okay to use this water, adjusted to pH 5.8, for the flush?

3. Or should I raise the EC slightly first, to around 0.2–0.4, and then adjust the pH to 5.8?

4. Once the flush is finished, should I immediately return to my normal nutrient feed, or should I leave the plain pH water as is for that feed?

I've been using nutrients every time I've watered apart from the first week or so, so I just want to make sure I'm understanding this correctly, especially now that my runoff EC has been off the charts and I tested my EC in 2.77 and it is showing 2.6 solid, slightly off but im purchasing the cleaning kit and will give it a clean before using it again tomorrow.

I also topped GG1 and BW3 today. I had a mate have a go at some LST, although neither of us really knows what we're doing yet
I'll also need to start looking at defoliation ASAP and on that topic, is it ok to cut those huge fan leaves that are as big as your hand and if so which ones don't I cut?

Apart from that, the plants are looking as healthy as I've ever seen them, so thanks to you all! GG1 is no longer wilting now that I'm aware I was underwatering these girls and thats what caused the wilting.

Thanks again everyone, I really appreciate all the helpful information you guys have to offer.

 

[stanknkatz]

You have dry coco in your pots. Dry coco will mess with both your ph and EC.

I'd up the fertigation schedule (more feeding multiple times a day). Your plants appear to be plenty big enough to need that.

More here:

How to Manage Run-off EC - Coco For Cannabis

Learn how to manage Elelctrical Conductivity (EC) in your coco grow. Simple instructions how to control EC to maximize growth & keep plants happy & healthy!

www.cocoforcannabis.com

 

[stanknkatz]

I got called away by the grandkids and didn't finish.

Please don't make the mistake of chasing runoff ph in coco. Been there, done that, have migraine headache stories to tell about it. You'll be endlessly chasing that rabbit down a hole. Just make sure what's going in is in the correct ph range.

https://www.cocoforcannabis.com/adjustph/

 

[Wheels1974]

I got called away by the grandkids and didn't finish.

Please don't make the mistake of chasing runoff ph in coco. Been there, done that, have migraine headache stories to tell about it. You'll be endlessly chasing that rabbit down a hole. Just make sure what's going in is in the correct ph range.

https://www.cocoforcannabis.com/adjustph/

@stanknkatz thanks a lot for that feedback mate, it was the EC that was concerning me the most as I knew it was crazy high from the two previous flushes I tried where the EC on the runoff was 3.8

I flushed BW3 on Monday or two days ago as I'm a day ahead of North America & Europe, this time I got my flushing solution down to an EC of 0.4 with a pH of 5.8 before commencing.

The first runoff appeared after about 2 litres, and the EC was still 3.8 with a pH of 7.4. I continued flushing, but even after 5 litres there was absolutely no change.
Thankfully, after 10 litres, I finally saw the EC start to decline, dropping from 3.8 to 3.2, while the pH remained at 7.4

The thing is my Blulab EC meter only goes upto 3.8 so I don't know what the correct EC was from that runoff, it could be 3.8 or 6 or higher
As soon as I saw that EC finally move, I felt like I'd won a bloody major prize, no kidding!
I continued flushing, and after 18 litres in total the EC had dropped to 1.1 with the pH at 7.3

I was quite satisfied with the EC reduction at 1.1, so we stopped flushing and gave BW3 a normal 2 litre feed at EC 1.0 and pH 5.8.

At least now I understand exactly where I was going wrong. I should have asked earlier whether the flushing solution itself needed to be at extremely low EC level.

Previously, I was flushing with nutrient solution at the same EC I had been feeding the plants, and that feed EC was increasing as the weeks went on. So I was effectively trying to flush accumulated salts while continuing to add nutrients at the same time.
That was a really important lesson for me.

The biggest thing for me was actually seeing the EC finally start dropping. I had been up until 6am the first time I dealt with this just a few weeks ago, and the second attempt was another very long night, finishing around 5am. Then I was up again until 6am this time.

Yesterday I flushed BW2 & BW1
BW1 only needed 10 litres of EC 0.4 & pH of 5.8 before getting runoff that had an EC of 1.1, and BW1 took 14 litres before her runoff EC reached an EC of 1.00, which took around 5 hours total.
I then gave both plants a 2L feed with BW2 getting an EC of 1.2 & BW1 an EC of 1.1 - After flushing is this the correct method, to feed them again with the same nutrient levels they were getting on there previous feed OR should I drop the EC ever so slightly compared to their previou feed?
At lease now I know I'm giving them the correct pH with every feed NO MORE pH strips.

Just finished flushing GG1 tonight, she took 12 litres and got her EC down from 3.8 to 1.2 then gave her a 2 litre feed with an EC of 1.1

I think I'll flush GG2 also, who is the runt of the tent, despite the probability of me throwing her out is almost a certainty I think It'll be a great test to see if she improves dramatically of not and just to note it all down in case she makes a seriously dramatic changes.

Oh and your totally right regarding pH as the pH didn't alter at all, whether I flushed them with 18 litres or 10 litres.
It has been an exhausting few days, but well worth the effort. Seeing the EC finally come down to the right levels and understanding what was actually happening has made all the effort worthwhile and again thanks so much for all your ongoing comments that have already taught me so much.