250W SCROG grow closet [70x72x200cm]

[Hydrosaurus]

Howdy grow lovers!

I am growing my 3th year now. I have had two balcony grows at my parents house, now I live by myself so I have the option to grow indoors!

My first HYDRO grow, phewww! I’m very excited about it, but also a little scared. I want to share my story with you because I would like your opinions about my methods! So if you have any questions or advice about my grow please ask them so I can explain what I’m doing.

The plants are currently on a 12/12 lightning schedule, because they have been in my closet for over a month now. From here on I will keep this thread updated.

I hope you enjoy reading my growing stories. Here is some information about my current grow.


Strain and grow style
Dutch Passion seeds: Mekong High, Feminized
2 plants
Hydroponics
SCROG

Grow space
70 x 72 x 200cm recessed closet (±150 cm grow height). Painted the walls white for light reflection, I’ve read it reflects 70% light.

An upper recessed closet with all electricity and vent exit. Size of 150 x 70 x 35cm. It has two doors which can be opened to prevent dampish air to build up in this room which also contains the electricity.

Here is a picture of the coset from the outside. Yellow = light. Grey = hood and pipes. Red = electricity. Purple = aquabubble. Black = fans / filter. Dark blue = intake holes and airflow. Light blue = reservoir. Green = plants.

And a picture of the upper closets.

Reservoirs
2x (70 x 35cm) 70L transparent storage boxes. Painted with two layers of black and brown to prevent algae growth. A small mistake to paint them dark (light absorption will occur) but I think a full SCROG net will catch most light.

2 net pots are resting in holes inside the box covers. They contain clay pellets, the plants are standing in it.

TetraTec APS300 aquarium pump.
1,5m of air hose
2x big air stone (one for each res), they are long and thin so they can cover the entire middle line of each res.

Light
250W HPS
A/C Hood – reflective

Ventilation
2x Scythe "ULTRA KAZE" 120 x 38 mm 3000rpm 45.90dBA 133.60 CFM DV12V 0.60A Case Fans
3m of vent pipe
Activated DIY carbon filter

I’ve got a 25 cm wide vent pipe. Attached to the A/C Hood, guided through a hole in the closet ceiling. In the upper closet the two fans are attached to each other with a small piece of pipe (5 cm) in between pointing in the same direction.
In the first few weeks this was my vent system. When the plants started to get more fragrance I’ve added the activated carbon filter. This was sooner needed than expected, 3th closet week or 5th lifetime week.

For intake I drilled holes in the walls of the closet, on the other side of the walls are other closets which stay open at all times.

SCROG net
I had been looking for a suitable SCROG net for a while when a fellow grower told me he taught he had seen some sort of gauze with the construction garbage. So I went to check it out and it was perfect. It fills the entire closet space. It’s firm metal so I can keep using it. And it has a nice box size (±1 inch).

Stealth efforts
The last thing I want to do is cause “trouble” for any neighbors or my roommate…

Activated carbon filter at the end of my vent system.
Air strips to prevent the closet to look like heaven’s door. Intense light were coming from the edges of the door.
I looked for fans with high fan speed and low dBA.
Egg boxes attached to the upper closet doors with polyurethane foam to reduce the vent sound.

Nutrients / addivites bought
CANNA VEGA
CANNA FLORES
CANNABOOST
PH –

Meters
PH papers & analog thermometer

Things I should probably have which I don’t: EC/PPM meter, digital PH meter, digital thermometer, humidity meter.

Some of my inspiration (Thank you!)
Everything you need to know about the SCROG method by Joe Budden
A Library of Links by messn'n'gommin', It has usefull links and images
ICMAG’s OFFICIAL ~DIY~ LINK-O-RAMA by pontiac
Carbon filter inspiration: grasscity Small carbon filter DIY by mels
My past growing experiences which are two balcony grows, one with LST: both Top 44 nirvana strain.
A lot of different forums and threads

 

[Hydrosaurus]

How it went so far
I’ve planted the seeds in sponge pot. One plant found the exit of the sponge pot into the small water res it was standing in. The other rooted back up when it reached the plastic edge of the sponge pot. This plant has ever since been the smaller plant.

After two weeks I put them in the closet on an 18/6 lightning schedule. The plants were growing pretty fast, I noticed an exponential growth.

A temperature problem occurs, the closet seems to be too hot. Leaves were curling up so I lowered the lamp because I did not know what to do, I figured they wanted more light. Turns out they were trying to hold their moist. Air humidity and temps up to 95F were my problem.
So I heightened the lamp again and sprayed water a couple times a day and it worked. I had also put a bin with water in the closet for better humidity.

The plants were better off now but the humid air also caused the temp to stay around F95. So I hung an air circulation vent inside the closet, but this did not help. But ever since I’ve kept the vent on.

The heat problem was still occurring but with little time for my grow I had to leave it that way for a little while, the plants were growing great, the leaves stopped curling. One day I’ve measured a 5cm growth in 18 hours.

The plants were starting to get a strong fragrance so I added a Carbon filter. I tested the filter with some incense, I couldn’t smell it so the filter seemed to be working fine. Also the air humidity went up so there was no more need to spray water.
The side effect of the carbon filter was another temperature increase. By now the temp has risen up to F100. F77 with lights off.

By now the SCROG net has filled up with tops so I switched to 12/12. The high air humidity caused strange root growth at the stem base. I think it looks wonderful.

It was about time to flush, so I completely flushed both reservoirs. After three days of purely fresh water I’ve added nutrients.
By now I could count up to 120 tops / shoots. I had been scrogging for a while now and all tops and shoots are at similar height.

10 days into 12/12 I decided to make an improved carbon filter and add more intake holes for ventilation. The temperature has now lowered to F84! I’m very pleased with this result, now my closet seems ready for flowering!

I’ve checked the PH every now and then with the papers, it’s pretty stable between 6 and 7 so I’ve decided not to add any PH-.

Latest picture of plants, made 05/15/2011.

And a picture of the roots, couple of weeks old.

Thanks for reading, from here on I'll keep you updated!

Peace, Hydrosaurus

 

[guest 77721]

Looks great!
Have you got your temps under control yet?

How big are your intakes?

I did a quick calculation and your effective airflow with 250W and a temperature drop of 7*F is about 113 CFM.
I'd say your little scrubber is the restriction. I'd be looking at making something with more surface area.

 

[Hydrosaurus]

Hi redgreeny, thank you!

Temps are great really, this made me so happy. They are stable around F83. They used to be F100 max.

My intakes are
6 holes of ± 0.5 inch wide
3 holes of ± 1 inch wide

I have been adding more intake holes while growing. Until now, it seems to be working the way it should.

 

[guest 77721]

Intakes make a big difference on the ventilation.

There's always something to tinker with on these cabs.

Your plants look great too!

************************
I did a quick calculation for you. 1/2" holes have an area of 0.2 sq inches and 1" holes have an area of 0.8 sq inches
for a total of 3.6 sq inches. The intake space for a 4" duct is 25 sq inches or a 5" x 5" hole.

Effectively your system is getting 113 CFM out of 260 CFM of fans so it's only 44% efficient.

 

[Masterlow]

wow hydrosaurus, this looks awesome. tagged in, really looking forward to seeing these two ladies down the line.

Peace

 

[Hydrosaurus]

Hello guys

redgreenry, thanks for the input man!
44% efficiency doesn't sound good. Do you recommend me to get more intake holes?
I'm doubting about this cause it seems to me that my temps are OK now. Or do you think lower temps is even better? It's 28*C / 82*F atm. Thanks.

thank you masterlow, appreciated!

I can clearly see both plants are female now, as expected. The first signs of flowering have started! Unfortunately my phone cam is not suited for detailed shots. So I can't really show you atm. I'll see if I can borrow a good camera soon.

PLUR

 

[Hydrosaurus]

Man what a jungle!

Man what a jungle!

Hai!

This morning I was socked when I opened the closet. The plants had grown almost up against the lamp. Some tops have stayed behind but most tops have grown to similar height. Est. plant height is now ±1 meter.

I am removing alot of leafs and shoots, cause my closet is turning into a true jungle. All plant tops should get light.

Also I've added another 20L of water to the left plants reservoir and 10L to the right one. While doing this the amazing roots amazed me! Next time the res is a little dryer I'll make a pic so you get a good look at them. For now you'll have to do with this

Underneath the scrog leaves die every day, they just dry out. They just aren't getting any light.

Here's a nice look underneath the scrog

You might have noticed the small drinking glass. It's got 2 clones in it, I might use them in a guerilla grow anytime soon.

And here, a nice pic of female parts!

All for now, good night!

 

[Hydrosaurus]

Oh and of course, sorry, here a full image!

Peace

 

[#1cheesebuds]

damm dude when r u gunnaflower them? well they look great anyway.
and yah toping them will be good for denser growth.

well heres to good luck flowering them. cant wate to see em in full flower cycle.

 

[Hydrosaurus]

thanks cheesebuds
In my previous posts you can see the flowering has started. Today the 4th week of 12/12 has started. This pic shows some flowering > http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/6501/img1092xl.jpg

peace

 

[guest 77721]

Right now your temps are ideal and you're doing a great job with the first time hydro grow so it's not that important to tear up the cab.

Just to let you know, the area for a 4" duct is 12.5 square inches and you only have 3.6 sq inches total. At a minimum, the intake area should equal the exhaust area. I recommend 2x Exhaust Area.

Cutting a 3" x 3" hole would get you to the minimum.

Hello guys

redgreenry, thanks for the input man!
44% efficiency doesn't sound good. Do you recommend me to get more intake holes?
I'm doubting about this cause it seems to me that my temps are OK now. Or do you think lower temps is even better? It's 28*C / 82*F atm. Thanks.

thank you masterlow, appreciated!

I can clearly see both plants are female now, as expected. The first signs of flowering have started! Unfortunately my phone cam is not suited for detailed shots. So I can't really show you atm. I'll see if I can borrow a good camera soon.

PLUR

 

[Hydrosaurus]

My plants are doing great, there is just one problem. I seem to be running out of height!

The plants are now 1m10 high. The distance to scrog is 40cm, so they are 70cm above scrog net now. I have about 30-40cm left before they reach the bulb at max height.

They are sativa and they are on 12/12 for 3,5 week now. I just hope they've had their stretch by now...

 

[Hydrosaurus]

I did read about chemicals they sell at the growshop which slow down vertical growth, are they any good?
Also I've read about tieing the tops down a little.

 

[guest 77721]

I'd get a screen and set it over top. You could lower it 6" below the plants right now and that would give you a foot and a half of space.

My last 75% sativa hybrid ran 12 weeks. These things grow a couple of inches a day!!!

 

[Sgt.Stedenko]

Hey there Hydrosaurus,
You ladies are looking great. That strain looks to have enough sativa in her she could go over 10 weeks. Like Red Greenery said, another screen up top will enable you to get the stretch in check, and increasing the intake area will help keep temps and humidity down, especially once they get close to the light.
Looking great for a for a first time hydro run.
If you run her again, consider a shorter veg period to keep 'em out of the lights.
Cheers and K+

 

[Hydrosaurus]

Thanks red & sgt. I'm looking for another screen atm. Sounds like a good idea!
And the intakes will get bigger this week. I'll keep updated!

Here's a picture of the stretch, couple of days ago:

Thanks all, peace

 

[Hydrosaurus]

It's been a while since the last update.

In the meantime I've flushed the reservoirs, added a top scrog and bought a new vent for inside the closet (old one died).

The plants are doing great, I've added a minimum amount of nutrients and they seem to be doing fine. THC crystals are appearing on the leaves around the buds now. This is the 7th week of 12/12 light schedule.

Today I've added cannabooster for the first time. I hope this will give some nice results. I'm a bit late with this, I've been a buisy/lazy.

Here some sweet pics!

The root of my biggest plant is looking cool. A root has grown over the stem, down to the reservoir.

Here some bud shots

Here you can see the second scrog. It has less width but that's good otherwise the buds at the side of the closet won't get good light.

CYa