New grower wanting feedback/advice on current setup <3

[xrevolutionx]

Hi all, I’m new to growing and just started my first grow despite being a casual user for over two decades! very exciting but it is not without trepidation! I have been reading about growing online but often there is widely differing information so I am here for help and to engage with the community <3

LIGHTING: I have assembled and have setup at home a budget grow as I am a light user and couldn’t afford to spare a fortune on the kit but that being said after reading snippets around the internet I am considering upgrading the full spectrum LED light as I am not sure how good the one I have in my setup is going to be for flower, It is a Fecida 100w Full Spectrum LED Grow light

Amazon reference link: https://www.amazon.de/-/en/FECiDA-D...tion/dp/B08G7Y1STZ?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1&psc=1

When I look at the specs and the heat map for my Fecida light, it is comparable to two seemingly well regarded LED lights for small grows, the Mars Hydro TS1000 and Spider Farmer SF1000. (If I am understanding the details correctly)

Also the ViparSpectra 150w XS1500 seems like a great light. Maybe that extra power will really help the yield at the end of the grow and I should just spend more now up front as I do plan on doing perhaps 3 grows per year.

What I am wondering is should I upgrade now before the plants get too big to a different light or has anyone had a positive experience with such a light? Maybe I could stick with it and see what happens and post the results here?

TENT AND STRAIN: As I have limited room and I am a light user of this beautiful plant. My thought was to get a small tent and grow two autoflowering indicas at a time (strains that grow max 90cms high.) For that purpose I have a 2x2 tent (60x60cms). The height is only 120cms but I fitted a Vevor inline duct fan and vivosun carbon filter outside the tent and piped it in, so I have the whole height inside to put my light up to ceiling level if possible when required later in the cycle.

Both plants I have started growing are Blueberry Auto and are currently five days old as seen in the pics.

EQUIPMENT AND SOIL: I am using 11 litre cloth pots and inside I have used Biobizz Light Mix in both. Plus in one pot I have added half a packet of a Zamnesia Fertiliser called Monster Bud Mix https://www.zamnesia.com/6114-monster-bud-mix.html

I also have the Biobizz try pack for the other pot and potentially for both pots. Inside is Bio Grow, Bio Bloom and Top Max. I plan to start slow maybe give 1/4 or 1/2 measures and increase from there. Maybe I won’t add these to the pot with the Amnesia Monster Buds Mix Fertilizer as I would be wary of Nutrient burn. That being said I understand the BioBizz Light soil I am using doesn’t have much in it, so maybe adding some of the three BioBizz bottles would be worth it.

My Fecida LED light is about 36cm above the seedlings running at somewhere between 40 and 50 percent intensity. Getting PPFD reading of around 250-300 at plant level.

TEMP/HUMIDITY CONDITIONS: I am keeping at the moment the temperature between 71F (21c) + 78F (25c) and I have a small humidifier running most of the time which usually stays around 80%RH. I have a small desk fan at the top blowing down to give a little air movement on the seedlings.

WATERING: I am PH balancing my water with a drop or two of white vinegar as it is alkaline about 7.4 - The vinegar takes it down and I settle for about PH 6.0.
I am watering the soil around them every few days, and I have also been misting the plants leaves three times a day. I soaked some black lentils and use the water for watering since a few days as I read that it can be beneficial to grow strong roots.


Any thoughts or comments regarding my newbie situation would be super appreciated. It is both an exciting and hugely connective experience for me nurturing these plants and growing with them. And I hope anyone reading this will share in my excitement at the beginning of one of many journeys with these gorgeous girls!

James

 

[Gmix]

hi

Everything your adding to the plants is organic you don’t need to ph organic grows

Throw the ph meter and solution in a draw and forget about them or sell them you don’t want not need them not with organics

The light well 100w will suffice for now as your not even in veg yet the first 2-3 weeks is still seedling stage
Once you get into veg it will still do however for flowering nah it’s not enough. For one plant it still not really enough to get a good yeild from a 150w would cover one however for two you really want a 250w

Now am not saying it won’t work I’m simply saying to get a decent yeild you would need more than 100-150w in flower to cover both plants properly.

The humidity your running is way to high I know there seedlings however it’s still to high above 70% and you promote fungi growth. You need to get it down to around 50-60%

I see it’s a small tent I know there a pita to keep at the right temp / humidity it may look big now with two seedlings in it however once they grow up they will easily fill the tent.

Hope you enjoy the adventure and end up enjoying your first own grown harvest

Oh btw stop misting the plants leaves if you do it to much it leaches the plants food and don’t feed for a few weeks till they get older there’s enough food in the soil for seedlings if you feed now you risk stunting the plants

 

[Purfict]

I would say spend the money now on a quality light. None should be too expensive, maybe like a 200-250W light that fits a 2x2. Looks like a solid setup, I’d just agree to not mist seedlings leaves.

 

[xrevolutionx]

Thanks for your tips guys, I actually since purchased a 2x4 tent with an extra 30cm on the height to replace it, im wondering now if i should get 180cm height rather than 150cm if I want to put the inline and carbon filter inside this time. I also ordered the Spider Farmer SF2000 latest model as a light upgrade, but im having second thoughts whether the ViparSpectra 2000XS would have been a better choice for just a little more. Do you think I should change the order and go for the 2000XS instead or are they much similar?

 

[Purfict]

SF2000 is a solid light, I haven’t looked into viparspectra, but solely based off light dispersion, the SF2000 looks a little better. I’d say just stick with that.

 

[Newty]

Consider having your exhaust fan pulling from the top instead of the bottom. Heat rises so your exhaust fan will do much better with the duct at the top of the tent. Plus with the passive flaps open on the bottom, fresh air gets pulled through the whole tent instead of only across the bottom of the tent.

Spider Farmer G3000 is only $70 more then the ViparSpectra XS2000 before any discounts. The G series seems to be highly spoken of so thought I would mention it. I have the SE4500, the SE series has Samsung Diodes, SE3000 is $100 more then the ViparSpectra XS2000 and $30 more then the SF G3000 series, that's before any discounts. Can find regular discounts between 10%-15% as well Amazon deals at times.

 

[xrevolutionx]

Consider having your exhaust fan pulling from the top instead of the bottom. Heat rises so your exhaust fan will do much better with the duct at the top of the tent. Plus with the passive flaps open on the bottom, fresh air gets pulled through the whole tent instead of only across the bottom of the tent.

Spider Farmer G3000 is only $70 more then the ViparSpectra XS2000 before any discounts. The G series seems to be highly spoken of so thought I would mention it. I have the SE4500, the SE series has Samsung Diodes, SE3000 is $100 more then the ViparSpectra XS2000 and $30 more then the SF G3000 series, that's before any discounts. Can find regular discounts between 10%-15% as well Amazon deals at times.

Great advice, thanks so much, the reason I piped in from the bottom is that i was watching a video and it said if the room temperature is over a certain amount then it is best to do it from the bottom, cant remember exactly what that was, but it made sense. When my bigger tent and light setup arrives in the next few days, I will follow your advice and pipe it from the top on the outside. Assuming it is best to have the filter and inline fan externally with the tent being 150cm high just to allow maximum grow height for any future strains I grow. These blueberry autos shouldnt get much past 80cm by all accounts but I suppose I dont want to restrict my height internally too much by hanging the inline fan and carbon filter inside when the height is limited, perhaps I should have gone for a 180cm high tent, Mars Hydro seem to do an equivalent one to the Spider farmer for the same cost but with the extra 30cms height inside. I could change it if needs be but like I said originally I dont need humongous plants as I will never be able to get through it all!

 

[Purfict]

Great advice, thanks so much, the reason I piped in from the bottom is that i was watching a video and it said if the room temperature is over a certain amount then it is best to do it from the bottom, cant remember exactly what that was, but it made sense. When my bigger tent and light setup arrives in the next few days, I will follow your advice and pipe it from the top on the outside. Assuming it is best to have the filter and inline fan externally with the tent being 150cm high just to allow maximum grow height for any future strains I grow. These blueberry autos shouldnt get much past 80cm by all accounts but I suppose I dont want to restrict my height internally too much by hanging the inline fan and carbon filter inside when the height is limited, perhaps I should have gone for a 180cm high tent, Mars Hydro seem to do an equivalent one to the Spider farmer for the same cost but with the extra 30cms height inside. I could change it if needs be but like I said originally I dont need humongous plants as I will never be able to get through it all!

I battle tempts myself in my 4x4 since where I live it’s still below freezing now. I still opted to go with inline at the top. It’s really preference where you put the carbon filter, aslong as connections are tight. Looks like a solid setup, though.

 

[xrevolutionx]

hi

Everything your adding to the plants is organic you don’t need to ph organic grows

Throw the ph meter and solution in a draw and forget about them or sell them you don’t want not need them not with organics

The light well 100w will suffice for now as your not even in veg yet the first 2-3 weeks is still seedling stage
Once you get into veg it will still do however for flowering nah it’s not enough. For one plant it still not really enough to get a good yeild from a 150w would cover one however for two you really want a 250w

Now am not saying it won’t work I’m simply saying to get a decent yeild you would need more than 100-150w in flower to cover both plants properly.

The humidity your running is way to high I know there seedlings however it’s still to high above 70% and you promote fungi growth. You need to get it down to around 50-60%

I see it’s a small tent I know there a pita to keep at the right temp / humidity it may look big now with two seedlings in it however once they grow up they will easily fill the tent.

Hope you enjoy the adventure and end up enjoying your first own grown harvest

Oh btw stop misting the plants leaves if you do it to much it leaches the plants food and don’t feed for a few weeks till they get older there’s enough food in the soil for seedlings if you feed now you risk stunting the plants

In which case with regards to the humidity and risk of fungal growth, I have a dehumidifier, should that go in the room or even inside the tent? I guess I will stop using the humidifier altogether inside the tent right? I was running it because I read that seedlings like the humidity in the early days like 80 percent or so, but of course there is so much conflicting information it is sometimes hard to know what to follow or now.

 

[xrevolutionx]

I battle tempts myself in my 4x4 since where I live it’s still below freezing now. I still opted to go with inline at the top. It’s really preference where you put the carbon filter, aslong as connections are tight. Looks like a solid setup, though.

At the moment I have just put duct tape between filter and inline fan. It seems to work but it looks a bit like a dogs dinner! Should I use those steel ring clamps that came with the filter instead? I overlooked them before as I thought I would try the tape, but perhaps the clamps are more effective long term

 

[Purfict]

In which case with regards to the humidity and risk of fungal growth, I have a dehumidifier, should that go in the room or even inside the tent? I guess I will stop using the humidifier altogether inside the tent right? I was running it because I read that seedlings like the humidity in the early days like 80 percent or so, but of course there is so much conflicting information it is sometimes hard to know what to follow or now.

Yea, I run my humidifier directly in both my tents. Someone I know who is older who gave me advice that has worked perfectly my first grow. Start with humidity at around 90, and each week drop it by about 5rh. If you opt for a shorter veg, maybe a little more. What I do is just turn the humidifier down, I don’t even run a dehumidifier. Now that my plants are in week 5 of flower, I don’t even have to turn the humidifier on for a day or two after watering. You went with the 5 gallons I believe you said, so humidity can be manipulated relatively easily. You have the equipment now, so Id say don’t touch the dehumidifier until your rh sits at around 60-70 with humidifier off. It might seem scary to have such high humidity in the beginning, but with proper airflow you won’t have much to worry about with mold. Even pests hate airflow, so if you get that right, it’ll be easy to control humidity, aslong as your inline fan isn’t too powerful or too weak. I’d say use the clamps and duct tape over them, but I have a 2” inline fan that I have with duct tape and a bug net.

 

[Newty]

You don't have to put the filter inside the tent even if the duct is at the top, you can run it just like you have it at the bottom except the duct would be at the top. Just set the fan/filter on the table next to the tent and run the duct to the top.

All I can imagine is a passive flap open on the bottom and the fresh air being pulled across the bottom instead of up and across the plants and their canopies.

Plus the air helps cool the light which is set higher in the tent.

Duct would only have 1 bend at the top, currently you have 2 bends in the duct being at the bottom. More bends, more air restriction.

I run intake fans at the bottom of the tent instead of using passive flaps, this greatly increasing heating and cooling control and maybe something you could consider in the future.

Use foil HVAC tape on your connections, I put hose clamps first and then foil tape over them.

 

[xrevolutionx]

Yea, I run my humidifier directly in both my tents. Someone I know who is older who gave me advice that has worked perfectly my first grow. Start with humidity at around 90, and each week drop it by about 5rh. If you opt for a shorter veg, maybe a little more. What I do is just turn the humidifier down, I don’t even run a dehumidifier. Now that my plants are in week 5 of flower, I don’t even have to turn the humidifier on for a day or two after watering. You went with the 5 gallons I believe you said, so humidity can be manipulated relatively easily. You have the equipment now, so Id say don’t touch the dehumidifier until your rh sits at around 60-70 with humidifier off. It might seem scary to have such high humidity in the beginning, but with proper airflow you won’t have much to worry about with mold. Even pests hate airflow, so if you get that right, it’ll be easy to control humidity, aslong as your inline fan isn’t too powerful or too weak. I’d say use the clamps and duct tape over them, but I have a 2” inline fan that I have with duct tape and a bug net.

Thanks for your feedback. Im in a bit of a quandry about the humidity part of the comment as the other member who commented above said that the humidity was way too high and i should try and get it down to 50-60 percent. They seem to be fairly happy currently with around 80 percent-ish humidity which is what the humidifier brings the RH up to inside the tent.

 

[Newty]

Thanks for your feedback. Im in a bit of a quandry about the humidity part of the comment as the other member who commented above said that the humidity was way too high and i should try and get it down to 50-60 percent. They seem to be fairly happy currently with around 80 percent-ish humidity which is what the humidifier brings the RH up to inside the tent.

Where are you measuring humidity? I keep my temp and humidity probe near the top of the canopy of the plants.

 

[Purfict]

Thanks for your feedback. Im in a bit of a quandry about the humidity part of the comment as the other member who commented above said that the humidity was way too high and i should try and get it down to 50-60 percent. They seem to be fairly happy currently with around 80 percent-ish humidity which is what the humidifier brings the RH up to inside the tent.

Sorry, I should have been more clear. In simple terms, seedlings like rh 80+, veg likes between 60-80, flower goes from around 40-60 depending on stage. Basically, it should follow a steady, controlled decline.

 

[xrevolutionx]

Sorry, I should have been more clear. In simple terms, seedlings like rh 80+, veg likes between 60-80, flower goes from around 40-60 depending on stage. Basically, it should follow a steady, controlled decline.

Perfect Purfict! In which case I will keep the humidifier running most of the time to keep humidity high and follow suit with each stage decreasing, as these lovely little ladies progress through their lives. As the grow room is about 70 percent RH by default, for veg I will stop using the humidifier and let them be at room humidity roughly 70 percent, then for flower I will run the dehumidifier inside the tent to try and get it under 60. Great advice!

 

[Purfict]

Perfect Purfict! In which case I will keep the humidifier running most of the time to keep humidity high and follow suit with each stage decreasing, as these lovely little ladies progress through their lives. As the grow room is about 70 percent RH by default, for veg I will stop using the humidifier and let them be at room humidity roughly 70 percent, then for flower I will run the dehumidifier inside the tent to try and get it under 60. Great advice!

Sounds like a good plan. I can’t speak for using a dehumidifier since my natural rh is around 45-50, but I know people that do run them directly in the tent. Definitely will need it for later flower and drying.

 

[Newty]

I'll note that air conditioners can help lower humidity, great when your light is cranked up in the heat of flower because it also helps cool. Most air conditioners nowadays have built in dehumidifier modes as well.

If you can't fit an a/c or dehumidifier in your tent, you can run an intake fan and put a duct and register boot right over the a/c or dehumidifier and have it feed into the tent.

 

[MrVicriously]

Thanks for your tips guys, I actually since purchased a 2x4 tent with an extra 30cm on the height to replace it, im wondering now if i should get 180cm height rather than 150cm if I want to put the inline and carbon filter inside this time. I also ordered the Spider Farmer SF2000 latest model as a light upgrade, but im having second thoughts whether the ViparSpectra 2000XS would have been a better choice for just a little more. Do you think I should change the order and go for the 2000XS instead or are they much similar?

I actually have a full on VIVOSUN setup I can post some pics later today if you want to check it out. Everything from my pots, tent, fans, ducts, lights, humidifier, dehumidifier, pH tester (if I needed it), etc. Almost everything is VIVOSUN except the connection cables and power cables.

 

[Natep]

I would move the duct to the top of the tent. Heat rises.