Headcase's Ghetto Growshow!

[Headcase]

What's up everybody! It's been a whole year since I tested my green thumb, and I'm more than eager to get going again! This thread will serve as my grow diary. Hope you all enjoy!

Here's my setup:

The cab is a Homebox XS (2'x2'x4')
250w HPS bulb in a batwing reflector (EDIT: using a 250 CMH now)
120cfm fan pulling air through my homemade ultra ghetto carbon scrubber.

The scrubber is just an old cardboard box I taped up to make it air tight. On the inside there is a wooden frame attached to another wooden frame with some activated charcoal in between. It ain't pretty, but it gets the job done, and the price was right. ;-)

I used dryer ducting leading from the back of the cab into the back of the scrubber. The other end of the ducting is placed right next to my bulb.

Inside the cab itself i've got a 5 gallon home depot bucket and lid, a tiny net pot, and some hydroton chillin. Inside the bucket I've got two airstones hooked up to a fish pump from the pet store.

I've got some mesh nailed to the most ghetto wooden frame ever built (I'm a pretty shitty carpenter!) to make the perfect scrog screen.

Temps in the cab run about 3-5 degrees above ambient, which is totally fine. I've got the cab under the stairs in the basement, and it rarely gets above 65 degrees down there.

This go around I'll be growing some Greenhouse White Widow (feminised, since I don't have the time or patience to get the males out of the screen!)

For nutes I'll be using flora nova grow and bloom, and cal mag as needed. I'm totally open to suggestion on some other nutes though, as I'm hoping to get some monster frankenstein buds.

Anyway, I'll be keeping the thread updated throughout the grow, so take a seat, grab some bud, and enjoy!

Now for some pics! (sorry about the quality, all I had on me today was the cell phone.)

-Headcase

 

[Haps]

How do you get in there to change or add water/nutes? Have fun dude,
H

 

[Headcase]

Good Question!

I have a 2nd bucket filled with nutrient rich water. I pop off the lid a little bit, and pour some water in. When it's time for a rez change, I just slide one bucket out, and slide the other one right in.

 

[FrostyGreen]

Headcase you might wanna rethink that res swap system. Once the plant grows thru that screen it's not gonna give you much room to move it up to change your res. Plus consider the amount of wet sizable roots to deal with too. I'd suggest putting the res on a block of some kind so you can remove it underneath to allow the res to drop down enough to work with so you can do the swap. Becarefull not to do drastic nute changes with the swaps...it might stress your baby. Just lookin ahead for you if you haven't thought of this already. Keep it green. FG

 

[swampskunk]

you had me at "old cardboard box." i'll be watching

oh, and i'd solve that little accessibility problem by never doing rez changes, but barring that, at least maybe rigging something up so that you can raise the rez lid and screen at the same time. peace!

 

[Headcase]

Frostygreen, thanks for the advice! I've done the rez swapping before, and it's not too much of a pain in the ass, but a little block, maybe an inch or two, would make it all that much easier, so thanks! Also, I keep my nutes in check, I've got my PPM reader at the ready.

swampskunk, I don't like doing rez changes too much either, but I like to do at least a few over the course of the grow, especially around the flip to 12/12. Glad to have you aboard!

 

[moses224]

Cany wait to see the plants your pulling with a 250 and some cfl....good vibes

 

[Headcase]

Update! After reading through the CMH thread I went ahead and bought a 250 watt CMH bulb, can't wait to test it out.

 

[TylerDurden]

Excellent bro, Ill be watching. Always wondered how GHS WW was and especially how their feminized beans perform. Love the tent too man, I think Im going to get another one getting one and seeing how convenient and bad ass they are Take it easy.

Mr. Durden

 

[SkunkyDemon]

Looking GOOD! Ill be hanging around!
Peace

 

[Headcase]

I started germing one bean today. They are female seeds, so I don't feel the need to pop more than one. (Besides, in this economy who can afford to waste good beans? )

Here's my method, which works every time.

1. get a tea saucer
2. fold up a paper towel and soak it in hot water, then place on the saucer
3. place bean on the towel
4. place another hot water soaked paper towel on top
5. put a small tupperware container on top
6. take a nice hot shower to get the room nice and humid
7. wait 24-48 hours and you're done!

After the bean pops, I'll put it in a rockwool cube, and then stick it in to the DWC bucket with some RO water with about 300ppm of GH flora nova grow.l

I also put my axial fan up on a box so it will be moving air under the canopy once it gets to that stage. I put the res up on a block to move it a little closer to the net, and for easy res changes/nutrient adding. There's about 8 inches between the screen and the net pot.

My CMH bulb gets here in a couple days, which will make for some much better photos from my craptacular cell phone.

Stick around, it's gonna be good!

-Case

 

[Pirate]

Can I watch ? ....

 

[Headcase]

the more the merrier!

 

[swampskunk]

a 400w cmh is going to be my next purchase, definitely sounds like a win/win

 

[Headcase]

Ladies and germs we have a taproot!

Gonna let that taproot drop (Rockwool the casbah!)

I'll put her into a rockwool cube tomorrow, and then she's getting the CMH treatment.

Woohoo!

 

[Headcase]

Update:

Looks like some spiders got into my rockwool stash, and I'm broker than broke, so i just placed the bean right into the hydroton. Should be ok, since my air pump isn't making too much movement in there. Pics tomorrow.

I'm already thinking about the next grow, and while i thought i was going to go with some cali-o, i recently discovered the magic that is DJ short Flo. Looks promising, and a nice sativa will complement the narcotic qualities of my white widow.

All in all I'm hoping for 50 grams from this plant. anything more is fine by me!

-Case

 

[Headcase]

day 2 since being placed directly into the hydroton

The seed's taproot has extended nicely, it's now in the little bit of water that's seeping into the net pot. The shell is totally cracked, and the first set of leaves are starting to poke through. Should be open by tonight.

The rez is ph'd between 5.3 and 5.5. 300 ppm of flora nova grow.

 

[Headcase]

So she's being a little shy, and doesn't want to come out of her shell just yet. The shell is fully cracked, so maybe some progress will be made overnight.

Here's some root porn for you pervs out there.

Careful, she's underage.

 

[Pirate]

LOL. Funny !!

Now I've not seen anyone drop seeds into rocks before. Good Save.

 

[MeltingPOT]

Nice Headcase! I have a few WW going from seed, searching for pheno I used to have...Hopefully that bean is a gem bro.
MP