San Diego, 1st indoor, 4x4 tent, soil, organic grow journal

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This is what I did just now. Still waiting on some charcoal covers for the ends and SD hydro has those black mesh bug nets that I’m hoping combined cuts the light a little. I agree I could have run more duct and have more turns but I’m working with limited space and don’t want to crush the efficiency of the system with a bunch of long runs. If what I’ve got planned doesn’t work, I’ve considered running a fan or adding an automotive cone air filter but I’m sure that’s going to kill the effective passive draw I need to make this work.
 
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I got sent BioCanna Rhizotonic that is dated 2012. The company refunded my money but let me keep it. Think there’s any chance this stuff is still good or just trash it?
 
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Use it on your garden plants.
Don't really have that where I am. Thinking of ditching these three indoor plants I have even. Already noticed a little gnat and worms in these pots I have snake plants in. Timber is killing me, I ordered and asked how long, they said 6 days...yesterday was way over that, so I emailed and he said today, they would call me....nothing. If they don't call tomorrow I am cancelling and going plan B.
 
Smoking Gun

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Don't really have that where I am. Thinking of ditching these three indoor plants I have even. Already noticed a little gnat and worms in these pots I have snake plants in. Timber is killing me, I ordered and asked how long, they said 6 days...yesterday was way over that, so I emailed and he said today, they would call me....nothing. If they don't call tomorrow I am cancelling and going plan B.
That's a bummer to hear. They seem to have such a good reputation.

Find some Microbe Life BMC, that will take care of the gnat problem. then top dress the pots with some perlite or clay pebbles to keep the gnats away. And use the Rhizotonic on those plants.
 
stp

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Lights are up, close to 16” apart but not perfect. Ran insulated duct from exhaust to muffler, double wrapped where duct meets fan and you could totally tell the difference! Looks like shit, but looks aren’t my goal. Just bailed all my house plants, fucking things have worms and I’m not having anything here that breeds life besides what I’m breeding.
 
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Working on air flow, this Ac Cloudline 6” fan blows air like nitrous guys at a Dead show, it really sucks! At 9 or 10, I think I could fill a hot air ballon. Tent gets really sucked in, I need a way to figure out air exchange rate, is there a meter or is that a waste of money? I’d bet at 5 this fan will exchange the tent in a minute. At 9 or 10, it feels like it’s exchanging at more like 10 times a minute, not even joking. I’ve got really great flow.
 
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Is this bad? That’s the 8” bottom intake and the upper 6” 2nd hole I just ran ducts through and bug screens. Lights on. The bedroom is blacked out so no light is coming in unless I turn on the bedroom light.
 
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Got Glacier water at the local station. Tested it. Getting ph of around 7.1, 35 ppm, and tds of 72. Crazy how bad our tap water really is here in this town. 318 ppm and 671 tds! Supposedly GOV allows for just under 500 for public drinking water. Gross. Should I be concerned with 7.1 ph and drop the water ph before mixing nutrients? Allegedly I am not supposed to need or have to adjust nutrient levels if I am using good water. Is what I have "good water" or should I try another water place?
 
Smoking Gun

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First off, digging the new lights, I am glad they finally got to you. Looking nice and bright in there.

As for the exhaust fan, turn it down until you stop getting negative pressure, then dial it up one notch to get back to having some negative pressure. The AC Infinity units are awesome, and so damn quiet. If it weren't for the air moving through them you wouldn't even know they are on.

I am not a big fan of having that light coming out personally, it does mean any light l can get into the tent too. I would say make those runs longer so they have a few bends in them on the outside of the tent. Otherwise I would recommend finding some means of blocking the light through the ends, maybe stockings on both ends of the tubing.

When I lived in SD I used the water machines that were at 7 Eleven and the grocery stores. They offered RO water for 25 cents a gallon. I assume those machines are still around.
 
stp

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First off, digging the new lights, I am glad they finally got to you. Looking nice and bright in there.

As for the exhaust fan, turn it down until you stop getting negative pressure, then dial it up one notch to get back to having some negative pressure. The AC Infinity units are awesome, and so damn quiet. If it weren't for the air moving through them you wouldn't even know they are on.

I am not a big fan of having that light coming out personally, it does mean any light l can get into the tent too. I would say make those runs longer so they have a few bends in them on the outside of the tent. Otherwise I would recommend finding some means of blocking the light through the ends, maybe stockings on both ends of the tubing.

When I lived in SD I used the water machines that were at 7 Eleven and the grocery stores. They offered RO water for 25 cents a gallon. I assume those machines are still around.
Those water machines are what I used...well, just one so far and it's RO/UV....all the bells and whistles. The readings I posted are from 3 gallons. If that is acceptable to use, I found my spot.
I "tweaked" out yesterday thinking about how I had run the insulated duct out my 6" side hole (had to cut it and fit the flex part through but the insulation had to be cut in two pieces, it would not go through the 6" hole so then I taped two sections butting up to each other from inside/outside. I changed my mind and decided to go out the bigger top hole. The run got a little longer, but airflow is still as good as before. I have a lot of negative pressure after I changed to the top vent and plugged the hole it was going out before. With fan at 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, and 5 even has a little neg pressure (have not really gone any lower). After re-routing the exhaust duct, it gave me a little more of an even square to run lights up and down. I started out thinking I'd use two hangers per light....to get around the duct without touching it....now it' does not make any turns into the grow footprint like before. I have it close to the tent, maybe 2" off the side...may not be optimal but the walls don't suck in and hit it when it's running, so it's staying. Getting close to kickoff. I will probably set up timers and run them a few days to see how temps go and get a feel for the room. Got the full line of BioCanna here, going to start (6) seeds (Hashberry from a buddy's outdoor grow) and see what happens. I only really want three plants...let's hope I get at least one!
 
MIMedGrower

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Is this bad? That’s the 8” bottom intake and the upper 6” 2nd hole I just ran ducts through and bug screens. Lights on. The bedroom is blacked out so no light is coming in unless I turn on the bedroom light.


I strap black air conditioner replacement filter foam over both ends of ducts like that and point both ends at the floor. Fully lightproof.

Black panty hose works well too but cuts airflow a bit more than the filter foam.
 
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I strap black air conditioner replacement filter foam over both ends of ducts like that and point both ends at the floor. Fully lightproof.

Black panty hose works well too but cuts airflow a bit more than the filter foam.
That's what I was trying to come up with. Wanted to shove Green scotch brite pads inside the ducts....I will look for that stuff instead.
 
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So today I cleaned the grow tent and set up the timers for 18/6. I just wet (6) Jiffy starters and put (1) Frozen Custard & (5) Hashberry into the mini greenhouse, inside my closet up on the shelf. I am going to use the grow tent to do these all the way. I am not sure of strategy, I would rather just go from Jiffy to the 5 gallon Smart pot homes. I read so many conflicting suggestions I am leaning towards Jiffy-to--4" or 6" plastic squares then to 5 gallon Smart Pots. Any advice?
I want to lay these down on their side (LST) as soon as they can handle it, seems like if these are going to have huge thick Indica stalks, the longer I wait the harder it will be. Why can't you start them really young with something like a 45 degree turn with hardly any leaves, maybe two or 4 max? Either way I was not planning on doing topping or FIM, just training them to spread out around the 5 gal pot and probably run a little longer VEG.

I am running 480 W of COB LED, what is the best strength and distance for starting these babies under these lights to avoid stretch?
50% power and lights up as far as I can get them? (47"-61") 75% up that high?
My plan was to run two 5 gallon buckets as temporary plant stands to lift them up off the ground and bring them about 47" from light. I've got 61" from light to floor currently.

I could raise lights up if I have to, but they are set at max height for now and the extra space will be for emergency purposes only.

Start them on top of the buckets until transplant time into 5's, then onto the ground with short aerated risers and clear saucers. Not sure how long this will be, but I am guessing 2 or 3 weeks from today,
 
Smoking Gun

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For transplanting I do prefer to start in a smaller pot, something like a solo cup or 4" pot. Once the plant is well established in that pot and the roots are hitting the edges it is time to go into the next pot, your final pot is good at that point.

I would start your lights at 50% and keep them about 3 feet above the plants. Every third or fourth day you could increase the light intensity a bit, maybe 75 watts each increase. Once the lights are at 100% slowly bring them down to a final point of about 18" above your plants.

None of this is rigid, see how your plants are doing and adjust according to them.
 
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2/6 white sprouts popping through Jiffy’s tonight as of 6:00pm. Don’t want to leave them too long, but kinda wish I could move them all at the same time. What’s the max I should leave these in the jiffy greenhouse? 2” height max, if that?
 
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2/6 white sprouts popping through Jiffy’s tonight as of 6:00pm. Don’t want to leave them too long, but kinda wish I could move them all at the same time. What’s the max I should leave these in the jiffy greenhouse? 2” height max, if that?
Personally I don't keep seedlings under a dome. It is necessary with clones to have a dome because they have no roots to take up water and nutrients so a humid environment is a must. With seedlings the first thing the develop is a root and therefore do not need the same humid environment as clones.

With that said, I would only leave them under a dome until they have their second set of true leaves. At this point you have real plants and a transplant would be ok.
 

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