1st time vert, 2kw (10x6x5ft)

[glasgrower1]

Hi there, welcome to my first IC grow diary

I guess an introduction is in order, seeing as this is only my second thread. I come from Scotland, where in the worst parts weed could cost you a LOT (prices ranging from £20/g - £10/g). Right now I'm out of weed and paying £10/g for Blueberry, Sensi Star & Blue Cheese (which is a pretty good deal around here.)

Anyhow, let's move on to the grow. The strains I'll be growing out are:

• 4 x Pineapple Express (G13 Labs)
• 5 x Chemdog (Greenhouse)
• 1 x Cheese Bomb (Bomb Seeds)
• 1 x Sour Jack (G13 Labs)
• 1 x Pure Kush (Greenhouse)

The room is approximately 10x6x5ft (I can't remember the exact dimensions, oops ) with a 4" RVK A1 (175 m3/hr) for intake and a 5" inline TT (280 m3/hr) for extraction.

I plan on vegging under 1000w (vert or horizontal veg, help guys?) then flipping to 2000w in flowering. I'm also going to be trying out Lumen8's dual spectrum bulbs for this run, any input on these?

So far I've germed my seeds and put them into the propagator, as of 25/05/2012, 2 of the chem have sprouted.

Pictures will come soon, any criticism is appreciated!

edit: I guess I could've included a few more details! I'm using the Canna Bio line of nutrients (flora, vega, bio boost, bio rhizo) with Bio-Bizz light mix soil. As it stands, I'm no expert on organics but I'd like to give it a shot. That is why I'm just going with OMRI certified products instead of making a mockery of my grow by attempting to use methods which I have no experience with (brewing tea, etc, etc. I literally have no idea about this stuff!)

 

[madalasatori]

I suspect youll need a much bigger fan (10" minimum) to keep 2kw cool through the summer

 

[guest845704]

Any photo of the room will be great. Go horizontal with that 12 plants, or split room on two caged secions and go vertical.

 

[Harry Gypsna]

Welcome mate,
I think you will need to upgrade your ventilation, you MIGHT get away with the single 1000watter, in the cooler months, but for 2k, and in the warmer weather with the single, I would have liked to have at the very least an RVK150A1 for intake and 150L1(or even better the 150L1 intake and and 8inch out) for extraction,.
If Upgrading the fans is not an option at the moment, then I would stick to the single 1 K for the time being and that will be pushing it..personally
Anyway, welcome to ICmag, and happy growing

 

[glasgrower1]

Welcome mate,
I think you will need to upgrade your ventilation, you MIGHT get away with the single 1000watter, in the cooler months, but for 2k, and in the warmer weather with the single, I would have liked to have at the very least an RVK150A1 for intake and 150L1(or even better the 150L1 intake and and 8inch out) for extraction,.
If Upgrading the fans is not an option at the moment, then I would stick to the single 1 K for the time being and that will be pushing it..personally
Anyway, welcome to ICmag, and happy growing

Thanks for the input. I worked out that I need to be shifting around 280 m3 of air each hour, even at that, I thought I would've needed a bigger fan as you said but after consulting an "expert" (my favourite grow store) he told me that a 5" extractor and 4" intake would suffice but I'd be a bit better off to cope in the high temperatures with a 5" intake and 6" extractor. If you could show me the math behind this I'd be more than happy to heed your advice and upgrade my ventilation to something more appropriate .

 

[guest845704]

This should help you with vent organization: http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=112862

 

[Harry Gypsna]

The size of the room is not the only factor when choosing fans--you have to account for the lamps, and a single 1000 puts out a lot of heat... In my experience, some growshops will happily sell you stuff that is not big/powerful enough, as when you have problems, you will be back to buy something bigger and spend more money.
For best results you want maximum airflow, the standard numbers used in horticulture are 20-30 air exchanges per hour, but around these parts, 2 exchanges per minute is popular, 1 would work.
I can't show you any maths mate, but I'm just going on my own experience. I ran 1800 watts with just a 5 inch out fan and small bathroom fan intake with roughly the same output as your 4 inch, in a cellar, and had lots of issues even in winter. Airflow is the most overlooked part in most homegrowers rooms, people tend to do the bare minimum.
Also, you have to account for restrictions on you ductwork, any bends, your filter, flexi duct not pulled tight-these things add up to make the actual amount of air moved less than the numbers on the box.
I hope that helps mate

 

[187020]

8in vortex fan is well matched with 2k hps bare/vert. Peace

 

[glasgrower1]

The size of the room is not the only factor when choosing fans--you have to account for the lamps, and a single 1000 puts out a lot of heat... In my experience, some growshops will happily sell you stuff that is not big/powerful enough, as when you have problems, you will be back to buy something bigger and spend more money.
For best results you want maximum airflow, the standard numbers used in horticulture are 20-30 air exchanges per hour, but around these parts, 2 exchanges per minute is popular, 1 would work.
I can't show you any maths mate, but I'm just going on my own experience. I ran 1800 watts with just a 5 inch out fan and small bathroom fan intake with roughly the same output as your 4 inch, in a cellar, and had lots of issues even in winter. Airflow is the most overlooked part in most homegrowers rooms, people tend to do the bare minimum.
Also, you have to account for restrictions on you ductwork, any bends, your filter, flexi duct not pulled tight-these things add up to make the actual amount of air moved less than the numbers on the box.
I hope that helps mate

Hmm, I'm going to go with a 6" extractor and then upgrade my intake the following week. The summer is getting increasingly hot and I guess I'm probably better off with the extra ventilation. The fan I'm looking at has an output of 552 m3/hr (roughly 325 CFM), do you think this would do?

 

[Harry Gypsna]

Hmm, I'm going to go with a 6" extractor and then upgrade my intake the following week. The summer is getting increasingly hot and I guess I'm probably better off with the extra ventilation. The fan I'm looking at has an output of 552 m3/hr (roughly 325 CFM), do you think this would do?

Im going to assume the 6 inch fan is an RVK150A1(the fans come in a high and low power version-A is low power, and L is high power), your current 5 inch will do as an intake for that, but I still think you are going to struggle to keep thing optimal, even with a single 1000watter. I'd still go for the 150L1 with an A1 for intake at least.

 

[guest845704]

This is math included in link i sent you: CFM = 3.16 * Watts Dissipated / delta T in *F

 

[guest845704]

For example in hot summer day 100F and 80 in room, so equation looks like: CFM = 3.16 * 2000 / (100-80) = 314CFM. In teory. So 350+ will work for it IMO.

 

[madalasatori]

Hmm, I'm going to go with a 6" extractor and then upgrade my intake the following week. The summer is getting increasingly hot and I guess I'm probably better off with the extra ventilation. The fan I'm looking at has an output of 552 m3/hr (roughly 325 CFM), do you think this would do?

You want an 8" min extract I reckons mate although 6" may be ok for winter

 

[Harry Gypsna]

The RVK 150L1 and200A1 are the same motor, in a 6 or 8 inch housing and there is only 70M3/hr between them...
I've just seen on progrow, that the 200A1 is actually 5 quid cheaper then the 150L1.
Don't forget you will need a bigger filter to match the fan

 

[glasgrower1]

Wow, sorry about the late update. I'm in a bit of a crisis . First the bulb on the 600w light blew, then the ballast died with it. To top it off, only 5 out of 12 seeds cracked! Leaving me with 2 chem, 2 pineapple express and 1 pure kush. I still have my seeds soaking using the paper towel method but I haven't had much luck. At least I have a couple of spares I can use, although it's kind of a set back so I'm going to have a friend try sort out some cuttings for me.

Anyway, ventilation! I upgraded my extractor to a 6" fan and the difference is noticeable . I'm still stuck with a 4" intake but I'm not too worried about that for the moment and have my sights set on replacing my light.

As soon as I finishing transferring pictures from my camera I'll upload them .

 

[glasgrower1]

This is the newly bought 6" extractor fan. It is a Vents VK model and is rated at 495 m3/hr.

These are the most mature of the 5 plants currently growing (Chem, Chem, Pineapple Express) before they were transplanted and around 5 days after being fed 3/4th strength Plant Magic Boost. Two of the leaves are flaking on the Pineapple Express and are starting to yellow (I'll get a picture tomorrow). To me it just looks like a combination of leaf burn and over-watering but I'd rather get some expert advice .

Just a picture of me transplanting one of the chem.

I'll be sure to take some more photos and keep you guys updated, I'm going to buy a new light some time this week to boost the growth .