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First time grower, almost ready to go

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DocPot

New member
Hey all! After lurking on a few forums, I'm now just about ready to start my own little garden of green beauties.

I'm wanting to do a grow in a Secret Jardin DR100 tent, which is ~3.25'x3.25'x6'. I've got some experience with gardening in general, so I figured I'd go ahead and make a set up that'll last me a while. However, I've never done a tent grow, so I have some questions about lighting/ventilating.

I was going to do a shit ton of CFLs, but after further consideration, have decided to go with a switchable MH/HPS lighting system. If possible, I'd like to use a 1000 watt system.

The plan is to use a 160 CFM inline fan to cool the light using outside air, and a 400 CFM inline fan to pull air through a carbon filter inside the tent to the outside. Then of course, just have passive intake. I keep my house around 65-70 degrees, and I'm wondering if this setup will keep the tent cool enough. It's going to be a RDWC with the controller/reservoir outside of the tent. Also going to have an oscillating fan inside to keep good air flow and thicken up those stems.

I've also thought about supplementing CO2, but wondered how well this would work if I'm venting the tent.

Thanks in advance everyone! I'm excited to get going and see some pretty ladies grow up before my eyes!
 
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Pompey_Monkey

Member
You could save yourself a few pennies in electric bills by running a 600W rather than 1kW in that space. 600W is plenty of light for just a smidgeon over 10sqft. You'll find it easier to keep the temperatures down in the summer too.

Some would even say that 400W is enough...
 
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el dub

I'd go with a 600W and try to remember that this doesn't have to be rocket science.

Good luck, bro.

lw
 
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edgey

a 600w hps is fine for that size tent , i have the dr120 and am using a 600w in that

learn as you go and you'll do fine

edgey
 
imadoofus

imadoofus

Active member
Veteran
the 1k light will be wasting lumens and electricity while providing you with nothing more than excess heat, a 400w would much more efficient and applicable. i use a 400w pl for a 4x4 space that provides amazing results.

no matter the amount youve read and researched regarding growing cannabis, theres no experience like experience. its not as daunting as it sounds, rahter, places emphises on starting off a basic as possible and learning firsthand what works and doesnt. since your using a smaller space, instead of rwdc i would go with dwc. you can get the same results with less chance of something going wrong. dwc is the holy grail of hydro, its simple and highly effective. the issue with rwdc is its more intricate and less room for error, which as a newbie, you will encounter.

that being said, the range of acceptable temps is between 70-85. once youve set the tent and light up, just dial it in between those parameters and you will be fine.
 
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DocPot

New member
Thanks for all the comments! I was thinking about going with the 1k HPS to try and approximate the sun in my tent haha.

My biggest concern was keeping the temps at an acceptable range, but I crunched the numbers for cost of running the 600W vs. the 1K and it's pretty significant, and that's not even counting the cost of running a fan for cooling.

I found a pretty sweet (I think...) deal for a 600W system over on indoorgrowsource.

So, looks like I'll be going that way with the lighting.

And imadoofus, I appreciate the tip to stay with DWC to start off with, but I'm wanting to get a system going that can maintain itself pretty well, and the increased total volume of the RDWC lends itself well to that. I know it's not directly applicable, but I have a LOT of research lab experience, mixing reagents and stuff like that. From what I've gathered, as long as I start out undershooting my nutes mix (planning on using the H&G FloraMicro and FloraBloom), and gradually building up, I should be ok...but definitely correct me if I'm wrong!

Do you guys have any suggestions on nutes? Like I said, I'm tentatively planning on H&G, but definitely open to suggestion.
 
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edgey

nutes = canna .....go with the base nutes and build from there imo

edgey
 
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spectrum90

New member
With your set up i would actually flip the fans around. From most of reading i did on constructing grow spaces you want to stay around 1 air change per minute anything more than that could apparently cause unnecessary stress. When you can forget about cooling a 1000w with a 160cfm fan, especially in a tent where you trapt all your heat. It took me a while to set up my tent (3.9 x 3.9 x 6.5 Growlab), with a 1000w in it. But now if i want to i can keep my temps below 70 with lights on (using a/c as an active intake on a day/night thermostat for my room) and a 6" in line centrifugal fan for my light.

Just for your room you would need 3.25 x 3.25 x 6 = around 63
so you 160 on a fan controller for you main room would be great
try to get negative pressure in your tent (the sides will pull in) because if you dont that stinker will do nothing for you

Suplementing CO2 in a tent can be hard since they have a bunch of pin holes so its hard to seal it, if you still want to get them a little boost maybe do some other methods like brewers yeast with a few lime drops or something simillar. Whole CO2 equipment is expesive when you count in the meters and all of that to waist because your tent isnt air proof

Just my two cents, hopefully it would help

BTW maybe your house will stay the same temp but if your going to run a 1000w the room with your tent is going to warm up a lot also.

about the lights i would go with a 2x600w (i wish my self i done that)

P
 
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DocPot

New member
edgey said:
a 600w hps is fine for that size tent , i have the dr120 and am using a 600w in that

learn as you go and you'll do fine

edgey
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip on the canna nutes, edgey.

What kind of system do you have running in your tent? My biggest concern about the rDWC is piping to the res outside of the tent.

Spectrum--everything I've found has told me to shoot for around 5 air changes/minute, especially if pulling through a carbon filter, but I appreciate the input!

And big thanks for the CO2 input! The only CO2 supplement I was going to try was possibly bakers yeast in a bottle with sugar water...might still give it a shot, or hold off til second grow so I have something to compare it to.

Also, I found a better deal on fans, so the new plan (constantly changing, haha) is to have a 400 CFM pulling air through the filter and another 400 CFM ventilating the light.

Really appreciate the help guys!
 
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Zen Master

Cannasseur
Veteran
if you are running vertical you can get a cool tube and air cool the light, otherwise if you are running a hood, you should definitely air cool the light.

if you are going to run your exhaust thru your carbon filter then ducted out, you'll need an intake and it will make your c02 enrichment pointless as you'll be exchanging the air so often it wont have time to build to 1500ppm.


since its your first time, honestly skip the c02, wait till you know what to expect for one full run because no matter how much lab experience you've got there is a still a learning curve, hydro only makes the learning quicker and the fuckups worse.


have you thought about goin vertical?
 
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Zen Master

Cannasseur
Veteran
btw I recommend GH nutes for DWC especially if its your first time. Super cheap and simple, you dont need a ton of additives, just base micro/bloom, some kelp and silica and you're set.

just make sure your pH is on point day in and day out, calibrate your meter if you are using an electronic one, and get a set of the pH drops as a backup and double check system, seen many grows go down over not using some simple little drop pH test kit.
 
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deidree barlow

Member
youcan produce co2 just by buying some mushroom compost,that lets a regulated co2 level out . and its natural and you get mushrooms for your breakfast lol
 
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bud lover

Member
docpot im in a 1x1x2m tent using a 100mm rvk fan outlet with air being pulled in through the mesh vents at the bottom of the tent, the outside temp in the room is about 60-70deg
im using a 400w hps with a 12" fan for air circulation and my temps range between 75-90deg so imo id stear clear of the 1k lights. good luck anyway trail and error is the way forward.
 
HempAlchemist

HempAlchemist

Member
GH is great and easy to use. hear a lot of good things on canna but im cheap and so is GH lol
the 600 sounds perfect for you. make sure your fans have a controller or buy/build one for them. that way if you find that they are causing too much stress to plants you can adjust it.
also make sure when you finally do get everything setup, that you give your tent a good week of a "dry" run to make sure you have everything dialed in. would suck to have plants die cause of some silly mistake that could have been avoided. good luck
 
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DocPot

New member
Hey everyone, thanks for all the feedback! I had exams (brutal) that kept me away, but I just made the purchases for my setup.

So here's a summary of the (major) parts

Secret Jardin DR100L tent (39.5"x39.5"x72")
600 W HPS lamp with Xtrasun hood
160 CFM 6" duct boosting fan to pull air across the light
400 CFM 6" inline fan to pull air through a 36"x12" Active Air carbon filter (creating negative pressure for passive intake)
FloraMicro and FloraBloom from GH

Once everything is in, I'm going to buy some Rubbermaids to set inside and have 4 plants going on RDWC with the controller outside of the tent.

HempAlchemist: thanks for the "dry" run advice. Once the hydro set up is ready, it's going to run for a few days to see what the temps look like. One question I had for ya though, is what kind of controller do you get for the fan? I had been wondering about running the fan to vent the room 24/7 and if it was necessary, or necessary to run it at full blast.

Zen Master: I hadn't thought about going vertical...do you have any links you'd recommend looking over? I was just thinking stick a light over some plants and watch 'em grow, haha.

deidree barlow: awesome idea! I think that's what I'm going to after my first run to see how everything goes. Even if it doesn't up my CO2 PPM, I'll still get some tasty shrooms :)

bud lover: thanks for the input, your setup sounds pretty close to what mine is going to look like, I really appreciate the advice man.

So I guess the next step is getting the genetics I'd like, and any feedback for this would be amazing as well. I've looked these strains up on attitude and done a little outside research, but any personal input on the effects are greatly appreciated!

Dutch Passion Shaman
World of Seeds Legend Collection New York Special (NYC Diesel, unless I'm mistaken?)
X-Line Bubblegummer
G13 Labs Blueberry Gum
X-Line Iced Grapefruit
World of Seeds Diamond Line High Tension
Sweet Seeds Cream Caramel
Ministry of Cannabis Shanti
Mandala Seeds Kalichakra
TGA Subcool Seeds Chernobyl

All but the last two are feminized (fem is my preference, but the last two looked sooo good)

Thanks again, all!
 
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