Echo's First Grow. 600w HPS, Soil, in a GrowLab

[echohype]

Greetings Everyone!

So I'm a bit new here, I've been a surfer of this place for a couple years now, and have attempted a few grows before but unforeseen circumstances ruined them. So here I am with my first grow diary now that I have started my first "well-rigged" setup. I would appreciate any advice/opinions as well. My purchases were based off many hours of reading here at these forums, for example the Super Sun 2 I chose due to the thread which tested their reflectivity by Pico.

Seeds I will be working with:
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Plain old regular bag seed
Arjan’s Strawberry Haze
Satori
ICE
Mazar-I-Sharif freebies

I list them in that order for one reason, that I will start with regular seeds (while actively mixing in some of the others) in order to get a good grip of growing on the spot.

Current Equipment List:
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GrowLab 145 - 4'9" x 4'9" x 6'7"
600 Watt HPS Super Sun 2 Air Cooled Grow Light System(For flowering)
600 Watt Digital Lumatek Ballast
600 HPS Hortilux Bulb - 85,000 lumens
HTGSupply 2’ X 2’ T5 Lamp With Hood PL-55 Tek Lamp(For Vegging)

Ventilation/Etc:
Vortex 8" Inline Duct Fan at 600 cfm
10” Phat Filter from Humboldt at 650 cfm(Now called dragon filters?)
Two Holmes HACP9 Oscillating Clip Fans
Holmes Blizzard Jr. Fan (for floor or such)
CAP Variable Speed Fan Control
Two 8”inch Heavy Duty Noise Reduction Duct Clamps
8” inch insulated ducting (from vortex to reflector hood)
6” inch insulated ducting (from reflector hood to outside of tent)
GrowBright Indoor/Outdoor Thermometer with Hygrometer and Wireless Sensor

Soil/Containers/Nutes/Etc:

Fox Farm Ocean Forest Soil - chose this after reading how it's already PH balanced
Fox Farm Light Warrior Soil - for the seedlings and such after reading the Ocean Forest is too strong
Fox Farm Big N' Chunky Perlite - 2 cubic feet (I'm basing on a 2/3 soil to perlite mix?)
Fox Farm Three Pack of Nutrients - Big Bud, Grow Big, Tiger Bloom
Ten 1 Gallon Grow Bags
Ten 3 Gallon Plastic Nursery Pots
Twenty 5 Gallon Grow Bags
Liquid Karma
MaxiCrop Liquid Seaweed
Earth Juice Catalyst
Olivia’s Cloning Solution
Fiskars Micro-Tip Pruning Shears - LOVE these!
Mastech Digital 4-Range 200,000 Lux Luxmeter
RapiTest Soil Moisture Tester
RapiTest Soil PH Meter
Killa-A-Watt EZ Electric Reader w/ cost feature
Nutrient Syringe
Measuring Glasses
Dual Outlet Digital Timer with Battery Backup
Mondi Mist N' Spray Bottle
Grow Yo-Yo Light Hanging System
7" Tall Humidity Dome with vents
Seeding Tray for Humidity Dome


Items Still Needed:
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1. Possible more fans?
2. More liquid karma? (If I should feed this consistently throughout growth?)
3. Need to mount the fan controller, etc on a board on the wall? Picked up a piece of MDF.
4. Etc?

Some of my questions:
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1) I have my ventilation setup that it’s pulling through the carbon filter, and then pushing through the air cooled hood of the light, then out the tent. Is this okay? I hope so…took forever to setup,heh.

2) Can I just use the air from within the room the Grow Lab is in? As of now we close off the heat to that room, and it is entirely empty other than its green occupants in their tent. Would this suffice as my "fresh air"? I was thinking I would open the windows from the top, or if necessary put in those double fan window fixtures, or just go up and out the ceiling for fresh air. I would like to avoid purchasing another fan; I’ve already spent a boatload on this project! Eek

3) Watering frequency. I have fox farms online soil feed guide as to how much fertilizer to use, but should I just base my watering frequency off the meters? Or what?

Anything else I need? Advice? Suggestions?

**I'm pretty positive I left out things I need to pick up or have, but I'm just very tired and hanging with my friend, herb ** Please point out anything that seems to be missing please!

I will keep this updated, just very pressed for time. We have our first son due any day now, just moved into our new home, work, etc, you all know how it goes. I have included some pictures of the room before and after my adventure in setting up the Grow Lab last night. Took me 25 minutes to assemble everything, and putting the tent/cover on took an additional 40 minutes, once I figured out which way was which ha.

I will be updating this thread regularly and as often as I can. I would appreciate ideas, suggestions, or criticism even! heh. I'll be on again tomorrow to post more, time to light one up and head to bed!

Thanks guys. Peace.

 

[echohype]

More Pictures

 

[echohype]

Last round of pictures for now

 

[Gans]

1) I have my ventilation setup that it’s pulling through the carbon filter, and then pushing through the air cooled hood of the light, then out the tent. Is this okay? I hope so…took forever to setup,heh.

Are you pulling hot air from inside the tent through the filter and over the light? If so, can I ask why, if you don't mind?

I am still a complete newbie myself, and have seen others set their tents up like this as well and it doesn't really make sense to me, I guess. Wouldn't it be better to pull cool air from outside the tent over the light and out the other side, and just use two fans, one for the light and one for the exhaust, instead of pulling the hot air from inside the tent over the light?

Cheers!

 

[ParanoidGrower]

I'm actually going to pick up the size, one lower than this.

Great lab, I was inside of one last week. Well built, heavy duty and for what it does, I think it will pay for itself!

 

[ganjalove]

Ha good luck

 

[echohype]

Ha good luck

What's up with that?

 

[echohype]

I'm actually going to pick up the size, one lower than this.

Great lab, I was inside of one last week. Well built, heavy duty and for what it does, I think it will pay for itself!

Hey Paranoid. You won't be disappointed with the GrowLab products. It definitely is of good quality and I'm more than satisfied thus far. I had a HydroHut before.

I am thinking about getting a smaller GrowLab for a veg room

 

[echohype]

Are you pulling hot air from inside the tent through the filter and over the light? If so, can I ask why, if you don't mind?

I am still a complete newbie myself, and have seen others set their tents up like this as well and it doesn't really make sense to me, I guess. Wouldn't it be better to pull cool air from outside the tent over the light and out the other side, and just use two fans, one for the light and one for the exhaust, instead of pulling the hot air from inside the tent over the light?

Cheers!

Hey Gans,

I'm new to this myself, but I got the 8" Vortex hoping it would provide more than enough air movement, and it does indeed, even blowing through the fan.

My temperature inside the room is at just about 73 degrees F right now(taking a psychic guess based on what I saw a few minutes ago.)

My thinking was, so long as I get the hot air out, with enough force to push it through the light after extracting hot/stinky air from the room through the filter, it would do it's job. I could always go the 2 fan route, but I've already dished quite a bit of dough for all the supplies...

Anyone else think this is going to be a problem? I'm looking for some advice before I begin any germination and such. I want to have the environment set to a T before I start. I do think I'll need to grab a humidifier tomorrow, the humidity inside the tent is nearly non-existent. So I'm thinking the humidifier should solve that.

Thanks guys!

 

[ganjalove]

Don't mean to be a dick or anything it's just once you have a few grows under your belt all these questions will answer themselves and it really is experience that is the best way to learn how to grow. but to help you base how much you water by the weight of the pot dry then watered and feel for the difference a meter isn't really necessary, also i think you will be fine with the liquid karma you have just be careful as it is powerful stuff when used improperly.this has potential of being a bad ass grow i wish the best of luck

 

[ganjalove]

Forgot to mention you might need some sort of intake on that beast as a passive intake won't be enough, and use only half of what fox farm suggests on the bottle save you a little bit of a headache.
also have a fan circulating air right under the light where some heat could build up even though it is air cooled. the plants will thank you.

 

[Dödsknark]

Hey Echo.

I agree with what ganjalove said. Just make sure your pushing MORE AIR OUT then you are pulling in. To keep negative pressure inside the tent andnot getting any odor leaking out.

So; Circulating fan just below light and minor fan/fans to help your intake.

Good luck man!

Ps. That's a pretty sweet setup.

 

[Max0r]

holy shit, this is gonna be FIRE.
+Tagged

Don't make too many assumptions about humidity until you get a bunch of plants in there.

 

[INDO247]

how do u like the quality of the growlab tent? im in a twist up between getting a growlab tent or darkroom by secret jardin.

 

[echohype]

Hey all, sorry for the delay in response. Been quite busy lately, with the new addition to the family, work, and of course.... this wonderful little garden!

Max0r, thanks for the compliment, I sure hope it turns out wonderful!

Indo, I love the quality of the growlab. I had a HydroHut at first(set it up and all too, but chose to take it down and go with growlab after the off-gassing issues arose). I would recommend a growlab to anyone. I am thinking about picking up a mini growlab, for a veg chamber.

I will be posting some pictures in a few minutes after I get them uploaded.

 

[echohype]

First two pictures are younger plants, about a week and a half ago, followed by pictures taken last night.

 

[echohype]

I will post more pictures and some juicy details about what has been going on later today. Time to finally get some sleep, it's been a long day(and these 3am nights don't help...heh).

In the meantime, if anyone has anything they see in the pictures that would help me out(that I'm missing), please point it out. I don't think anything appears wrong..I straightened a high pH problem a week ago and the new growth is lush, green, and healthy. So any yellow/twisted leaves you see are probably the damage from that.

Later guys.

 

[echohype]

Hey everyone... just finished up with tonight's garden duties and I wanted to post an update.

What's going on:

• Plants are on a 20/4 light schedule under the 600watt HPS
• HPS is 13" inches from tops of plants, with a fan blowing across light.
• Appears that I have 2 runts, potentially 3, so I will be watching them to determine if/when I'll cut them off.
• Day/Night temperate are consistently between 68-75 degrees F. I check temps constantly.
• Humidity stays at 50% all the time. I love the air-o-swiss.
• With each watering plants are measured, nodes are counted, and notes are taken regarding the characteristics of each plant. I'll get my tables of notes up here then.
• Soil surface of each plant is cultivated before being watered.
• Run-off from plants after watering is at pH of 7.05. Checked with digital pH/TDS/ec pen.
• Water is pH balanced at 6.80 and allowed to sit out for at least 24 hours to evaporate chlorine.
• Any standing water is removed from watering tray so plants do not sit in the water.

What's on my mind:

• With at least one plant exhibiting nute hunger signs, and all plants with at least 3 nodes, I'm thinking I may need to start a mild feeding the next time I water. (Liquid karma?, 1/2 tsp per gallon?)
• Satori #2 is starting to show slight changes. Lower set of leaves has a dark green edge, from the tips heading inwards, and a lighter green middle. The center veins on each leaf are also more pronounced then other plants, appear red.
• Improving fresh air intake with the installation of an AC unit.

What's next:

• Continued monitoring of the plants as they continue under the 20/4 light schedule.
• Purchase a window AC unit
• Build an AC box around the AC/window frame. Ducting and a 6" Suncourt duct booster fan will be setup running from the AC box to GrowLab to provide constant fresh air. Anyone have any recommendations for an air conditioner?
• Working on outdoor plots in preparation of planting in a couple of weeks. I already have one good location setup, plan on finding another one or two. I will get some pictures of the plots up here this weekend, heading out to them Friday.

That's all for now. Need to get some zzz's for OD plot work.

Later guys

 

[CharlesSprkleaf]

the growlabs are tight I have a few of them...I just wish the 3x7 came with the windows... It's a drag to keep unzipping... good luck on your grow..peace