600+W Coco VERT (4x4 Tent)

[VAtransplant]

Just finished up my last run, came out OK but it was my first time running the LA Con cross and my ECSD.

This run will feature just ECSD and LA con cross, no master kush as I don't have any vegged tall enough at the moment and it's looking like it yielded less than anyone else last time around. I also had some issues with that strain more than anyone else previously - so she'll have her day once again, in about 2.5 months.

LIGHTING
30" dual socket cool tube
250w MH (bottom socket)
600w HPS (top socket)
Magnetic - I don't bother with that digital $hit.
VENTILATION
Stanley blower unit - cools lights and scrubs tent
Can9000 (bout to get Can33, current is old and letting stink thru)
Cheap 10" fan blowing straight up beneath cool tube
Even cheaper 8" oscillating in top corner of tent
MEDIUM/NUTES
Canna coco with ~30% perlite
Rez's recipe (GH micro, GH bloom, Koolbloom powder)
Grandma's Molasses

All of this is in a DR120 tent which I like short of the thousands of light leaks it has on the zipper and the fact that the zipper has loose threads where it was sewn.. I doubt this tent will be worthy for flowering in any non-dedicated room after this round, I don't need to give my ECSD any extra reason to sprout bananas. The tent will be changed over to veg and I'll get whatever tent has best reviews 3 months from now for flowering. Kinda bullshit that it lasted maybe three weeks before any zipper that had been opened more than once was leaking light and separating from the tent. I babied the thing too, supporting it as I zipped. SecretJardin may be the best but they still suck.

First posts are boring, huh? Sorry, I'll try to keep interesting with plenty of pictures Below is the ECSD I chopped yesterday, and a group shot of what just moved in to the tent!

 

[tngreen]

looks good man, love the setup and in for this one. does the tent have any kinda warranty? should definitely last longer than that.

 

[VAtransplant]

I know it does have a manufacturer warranty, but what do you do then? If I had a spare tent I'd consider breaking it down and getting it replaced- such a hassle for someone who's trying to go cycle to cycle. Honestly, as awesome as the tent is - I know a day spent with the right tools and some panda film I could have a cool box that would be as modular as the tent. I feel like well over 6' is too much for a single tier vert grower, even if your scrubber is in the top of the box.

Thanks for kind words man, hoping I can truly dial this one in. Thinking last harvest only netted me about a half poo off 850w for 3/4ths of the flowering process and 600 the rest. Getting pH in check saved life - everyone had been getting about 6.5ph in coco, always.. various nutrient deficiencies.

ECSD Smoke Report
Uncured, still too damp to jar, but dry enough to smoke - some of the lower stem dime sized popcorns that dummy me should have nixed in early flower (can't wait til it's cured). First, I was gifted this cut from a kindafriend back in VA and it came almost 2000 miles with me. He was the kind of guy that was incredibly well connected all across the country yet ADD as hell and not one to pay attention to details. That said, I was given the cut as "sour diesel" - and it very well may be, but it'd be the 100% ECSD pheno as I've heard sometimes you can get a mom that resembles the actual orig ecsd cut in a pack of SD.

Or, it could be the cut? I guess it's impossible to tell, but this guy acquired all of his strains from all across the US in cut form from older hippie friends. Enough story - the hit I took right before editing this to add my report has me nutty.

Smell: it smells like something that would be almost deadly. Almost like burning plastic, or modeling glue.. totally drowning out the slight skunk essence. Stays on the fingers forever, even the -pinch and smells- from late flower were like superglue and the sugar leafs would mush up against the buds stuck forever. Smells like other diesels i have sampled upon exhale.. Never had fresh bud be so pleasing.

Taste: uncured, but still had a noteworthy diesel taste along with just some strong taste representation of the crazy model glue smell-

Trimming sucked, took forever because the scissors were just getting murdered by stickyness. I too soon was murdered by scissor stickyness and had to put that on hold if I ever wanted to finish trimming. Went through 3 pairs of rubber gloves, all were so sticky each time I replaced that I could spread my fingers and have webbed hands because of gloves stretching and being stuck together.

 

[tngreen]

nice report and ya i can understand the hassle. I am leaning towards the tent so this is good to know. i was planning a two tier bcz of the height, like you said 6' is a little much for single. they should make a wider and shorter one for the vert growers

 

[redspaghetti]

hey looks great
everyone is going vert,
lets over grown the world with vert lol

tagged
good luck on the run, you probably dont need the luck anyway
cheers,

 

[hehehemann]

I'm also going vertical for my next grow. I see your using a stanley blower. I have one too that will be cooling a 600w HPS. How are your temperatures?
Also why do you have a fan oscillating in the top corner? Does it push the warm air around? Is the stanley connected directly to the cool tube?

Thanks

In my tent 4ftx6ftx6ft with a single stanley blower exhausting out the top with my bare bulb 600w HPS the temps are in the upper 80's. I have two passive intakes by the floor too. I exhaust out of the window and the ambient room temps are around 68F I'm guessing now the Stanley isnt powerful enough to exhaust the 600w bare bulb. Would it work if I bought a cool tube or should I just get a more powerful fan?

 

[VAtransplant]

Thanks red!@

Shoot man I don't know if I could ever run barebulb in here. I'd give it a shot, but that'd mean i was having to pull a TON of air through my scrubber. I know I can't afford a huge one that could handle the cfm needed to exchange air quick enough barebulb in my tent and I had so many temp problems before, i decided to do it fool proof even if it cost me some lumens.

Also, my temps reach the lower 80's with my window closed. This flowering cycle will be the first I run with lights on only at night, window open, since summer is coming up. Hoping 70* cool summer air can help keep things in check as I don't have air conditioning in my place.

That ocsilating fan actually broke so it doesn't pivot. last round I was using the bulb in the top socket and that fan wouldn't cock back far enough to aim up and hit bulb.. that fan is now on the floor- I'm sure it didn't help to be blowing hot air back on to plants.

My best tip on ventilation is spend the $ to do it overkill. I've wasted SO much money on my grow at my new spot (including trying poly-made tents before biting bullet and getting tent). I know your stanley can cool your spot with a 600w bare bulb, esp with fan blowing directly up to bulb. I'd run it on high for sure, and have a scrubber that can handle the airflow. Thing I like a lot about my cool tube is that it never contacts tent air so i don't scrub that part.. it pulls in air from the side of the tent which happens to be directly below the window. At the moment 45* cool dry winter air is getting sucked thru the cool tube and temps are 73 in tent, 73 ambient.

 

[hehehemann]

I actually ordered a 8" inline fan with speed controller so that should be the overkill I'm shooting for, the Stanley just isnt cooling it on its own and needs some help.
Now I'm in an apartment and have to be fairly stealth. At present I stuffed the stanley in rubbermaids and filled it with pillows as its quite a loud thing. Now its very quiet. Do you do anything to cut down on the noise?

 

[Lowman]

I actually ordered a 8" inline fan with speed controller so that should be the overkill I'm shooting for, the Stanley just isnt cooling it on its own and needs some help.
Now I'm in an apartment and have to be fairly stealth. At present I stuffed the stanley in rubbermaids and filled it with pillows as its quite a loud thing. Now its very quiet. Do you do anything to cut down on the noise?

The stanley needs some intake air....where is it getting it from?

 

[hehehemann]

It intakes from the ducting that is sucking the hot air out of the tent. I used 5" ducting and a 5" connector that connects through a hole in the side of the rubbermaid. The exhust is also using 5" ducting and exits out of the window.

 

[VAtransplant]

Maybe he was talking about the intake on the electrical side of the stanley? I have mine 3/4ths taped up but they're outside the tent, and I'm using the outlets. I had a box taped over the outlet of the fan sitting atop the tent and it reduced noise by 40%.

That box shifted from wind force every day, and I went without all last week. Idunno how the hell I can sleep through stuff like that - I guess it's a white noise or something.

I got some flex 6" ducting today, because the current ducting coming off the bottom of my cool tube was a more rigid 6" ducting and was just a bitch. Hooked that up and used some excess of the new 6" ducting to hook on to outlet of stanley. Perfect fit if you work it for a minute, then tape it. That reduced the noise by like 60%. I can't even hear anything but a slight air noise from 5 feet away from the tent, loudest thing is a dumb fan inside the tent that has a wobble to it.

OK i feel bad because I just took the time to re-read that and I'm typing like a fool. 6"ducting6"ducting6"ducting. Recent harvest LA confidential cross has me goneee

 

[hehehemann]

I just hung the stanley from the ceiling with bungee's...it's nearly as quiet as when I had it in the rubbermaid pillow stuffed tub. Much better. I will probably use it to exhaust the tent with the ordered 8" fan using a DIY cooltube. Or do you think the 8" fan could mean bare bulb ?

I read of a mod that lets you seal off the motor side intake if you drill a few holes in the fan. When sealing the motor intake the fan is noticeably quieter. I had already removed the grills. Do you know of this mod?

 

[Lowman]

I always run bare bulb with a small fan on the floor facing upwards below the bulb. Plants get within 6" of the bulb with no issues.

 

[wickedpete66]

I have been growing in tents for years. I have homeboxes, hydrohuts both older and newer version. they all have pin hole leaks around the zipper. it hasnt affected any of the grows. So i wouldnt worry about it. the only reason you can see them is because your running 600wts. once the lights go out room light will not penetrate it.

 

[KUSHEATER1]

yes they all do have leaks around the zippers but they are not an issue and I get about 20 zips every 75 days in a dr120 with 800 watts

 

[usda101]

I rearranged my pots in a colliseum, an hung a bare bulb down center with the existing 2 -1000s horizontals. small fan blowing on bulb makes it rotate in the center ,lower buds are exploding.finally got a camera will post pics soon.

 

[VAtransplant]

I have baeen growing in tents for years. I have homeboxes, hydrohuts both older and newer version. they all have pin hole leaks around the zipper. it hasnt affected any of the grows. So i wouldnt worry about it. the only reason you can see them is because your running 600wts. once the lights go out room light will not penetrate it.

awesome man, appreciate the input. I've noticed some are more severe than others, but i too was thinking it's so visible because there's a sun blaring within a 4x4 area.
still going to downgrade my bedroom lights to <23watt compact floros, with the three ceiling lights aimed opposite the box I'm blinded when i enter the room (as they now face door). Also lessen chance of any room light getting in pin holes.

Update on the plants, I think I started flowering on 4/4 so there's not much to see except some awesome stretch. this is an absolutely wonderful thing as it's going to allow me to have a perfect cylinder around the light.

My the tops of my diesels are pushing 3 feet which is probably as tall as I'd want them since the light is in bottom socket of the 30" cool tube, and I don't think it can spread up but so much. I don't think running any more wattage is safe though at the moment with fans and computer sometimes being on in bedroom.

After this round the setup has to be broken down (sometime mid june). Going to have to show apartment and all, then trying to get a new one. If I can find an upstairs unit somewhere I'll vent outside and allow me to run dual 600's. Also will have ac in new apartment or bust. Hoping being upstairs on like a 4th floor will allow any miniscule scent sneaking past carbon scrubbers (damn diesel) to just disperse in to air out of walking/sniffing range. Even after being scrubbed if the dieselair continues to accumulate in a closed bedroom it'll be pretty strong come morning.

 

[VAtransplant]

UH..oops?

room mate's box with 400w hps featured in this pic. i've been taking care of it since he doesn't seem to have much interest and it seems like I failed wasn't willing to risk my eyes for someone elses project so I didn't really trim em back that good at all.

ECSD flowered at like 3 feet tall.. box dimensions like 3x3 ft by maybe 5'5 tall? i can't really recall. oddly enough the buds in the back are just as big and dense as the ones that are center stage. whatev'- can't do much about anything now at day 35 so let em fly!

 

[VAtransplant]

meh, box pictured above had time to run til about day 65 with a week or so flush. my 600 4x4 was like 15 days behind. chopped day 50, unflushed, had just dropped nitrogen dammit. was going to run til like 77.

yea. appraisers. blah. two months til new lease, keep mommas alive... do something possibly smaller than a 4x4x6.5foot tall behemoth. beginning career in law enforcement, not interested in the med-$market in CO, just for the buddies.

can't wait to check back in on the vert section in a few months and see all the advancements. take it easy yall.

 

[kaiser_soze]

heheh looks crowded in there.