First Time Grow - Tangerine - Homemade Box

[username dude]

Hey Everybody, Username Dude here.

This is my first grow now that it is legal. I spent a while going over the ideas and in the end decided to keep it relatively simple and basic for the first time round.

I would appreciate any and all comments, questions, or suggestions!

Pictures will be coming soon. I plan to update regularly and will attempt to post a pic every few days of the progress. If I miss a few here and there don't hate me for it.

This strain is Tangerine, started from clones that were cut about 2 - 3 weeks ago.

The initial concept was to create an isolated chamber for the plant to grow in. Isolated even from the root areas. I have mostly accomplished this but my plans were created during a 3 hour brainstorm session at home depot. There are flaws and I decided to go basic this time around to gain the experience necessary to design a more advanced setup. I did not account for light sizing and other stupid oversights.

Well, I will not bother with any more background. Ask questions as we go, request pictures, and give me time to get them up and that's it.

 

[Dank Demon]

Goodluck with your grow mate, if its the same Tangerine I had she is a stretch mofo.

 

[username dude]

Day 001 Pictures

Day 001 Pictures

I still need to putty the screw holes and paint the outside before I show that part! Here are the pics! Below the reflective floor there are two 5 gallon RDWC systems setup to recirculate with a reservoir outside of the box so I do not have to open the box to check pH, nutrients, water level and drain and refill the inside buckets. I am using a basic temp/humid sensor right now until I decide on a remote sensor. I run the pH at 5.6 - 6.0 while trying to maintain a constant 5.8. There is a nice big bubbler stone in each chamber, including the reservoir. The water level is about 2 or 3 inches below the bottom of the basket. The recirculator pumps the water back in and it sprays right onto the expanded clay pellets in the basket while the bottoms of the buckets drain back out to the outside chamber.

I am going with a single 2' 8 bulb t5HO setup. I will be scrogging the plant out to fill the space while maintaining about 6 inches or so below the plant where I will place a couple t5HO bulbs delivering light up into the canopy once it starts to cover the area. My goal is to maintain an area with zero shadows cast to efficiently use the space/light I have.

ventilation is yet to come, right now its just sitting with the front door open.

 

[DIYnewbie]

Very interesting. I am in! I want to see whatcha get out of this.

I have a question.

What nutrients are you using?
Are you using tap or RO/Distilled water?
Monitoring your EC/ppm?
How much head room do you have? Hydro systems give you insane growth... Be prepared

Thanks and good luck!

 

[username dude]

Week 2 Picture and Questions Answered

Week 2 Picture and Questions Answered



The plant looks a little weak, I think its because it had not yet hit the solution with its roots. I just checked and each of the plants has put out about 5 - 10 roots into the solution just today. I expect the plants will perk up and start going crazy now.

As usual I will post any dramatic changes / problems but otherwise will have a weekly update (unless you guys request something daily)

DIYNewbie,
nutrients: gen. hydroponics floranova, one part nutrient grow 7-4-10 and botanicare aquashield. (I am open to change, I just got this because I was focused on the setup more than anything. If you know better, PLEASE let me know I am in a good spot to switch.)

Tap water is my source. I have been debating on distilled or not. If you have info I am open to it.

Ec is 750ish right now. I check pH and EC every morning at 6am and evening at 6pm. I have about two feet of vertical, its not much, I will likely find I underestimated the plants. I am going to be scrogging out to a completely horizontall plant with a flat top to keep lights close and light up from underneath.

Please keep asking and suggesting. I am so new its ridiculous.

 

[DIYnewbie]

[URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=49056&pictureid=1145817&thumb=1]View Image[/URL]

The plant looks a little weak, I think its because it had not yet hit the solution with its roots. I just checked and each of the plants has put out about 5 - 10 roots into the solution just today. I expect the plants will perk up and start going crazy now.

As usual I will post any dramatic changes / problems but otherwise will have a weekly update (unless you guys request something daily)

DIYNewbie,
nutrients: gen. hydroponics floranova, one part nutrient grow 7-4-10 and botanicare aquashield. (I am open to change, I just got this because I was focused on the setup more than anything. If you know better, PLEASE let me know I am in a good spot to switch.)
I am doing my current grow using the lucas formula, and have to say that i LOVE it and how easy it has been to keep it at the range i want (EC of 1.9 and pH of 5.8).
Lucas Formula is GH FloraMicro and FloraBloom at 8ml and 16ml per Gallon respectively.

Tap water is my source. I have been debating on distilled or not. If you have info I am open to it.

Ec is 750ish right now. I check pH and EC every morning at 6am and evening at 6pm. I have about two feet of vertical, its not much, I will likely find I underestimated the plants. I am going to be scrogging out to a completely horizontall plant with a flat top to keep lights close and light up from underneath.
2 Plants will be a bit of a pain to tame once they really get their root system in place. This will be a good time to practice cloning thought!

Please keep asking and suggesting. I am so new its ridiculous.

What size grow area are you working in?

What temp is the water in your res?

 

[LyryC]

FYI - only certain plants can photosynthesize on the underside of leaves.

The pigments in chlorophyll are more pronounced green on top of the leaf and grey on the bottom. The light hitting the bottom is pointless - and I don't mean this is a mean or bad way. With HID lighting that would be extra heat and something the plants wouldn't enjoy.

Its not a game changer in a great sense - but black is best, mimic mother nature - dirt is dark

Cannabis is similar but since you have a simulated environment it shouldn't matter that much - sorry for the rant.

But now you know!

Welcome to ICMag! :smokeout:

Its a very nice build - i like it a lot - and you definitely thought it out with your res control situation

 

[username dude]

Week 3 Update

Week 3 Update


So I was scared I had root rot coming on last week. I drained all the solution and flushed the system with cold water. I ran it for a while with no nutrients to get some of the deposits out. Afterwards I raised the water level up until it was almost touching the basket and the turgor pressure jumped and now they are looking great. I believe my theory that the roots just weren't out yet was correct. I also bought a new set of nutrients to get going with something a little more appropriate now that things are moving along nicely. Here is my list. PLEASE COMMENT.

GH CaliMagic
Hydrodynamics Ionic Grow
Dutchmaster Gold Zone
liquid karma
pureblend pro bloom

Grow Area = 2 feet deep x 3 feet wide, so each plant has about 2.0x1.5.

Water temps are about 70ish, when I add to the system to bring the water back to the proper level I usually add ice to keep the temps low. I know its a low tech solution but didn't want to invest in a chiller this time around.

I also know a fair amount about plant biology and know how the leaves work but at the same time I know that light can penetrate the leaves, my theory is that it will still contribute to photosynthesis slightly and maybe just the reflection will help but I do not believe that the light from this direction will have any detrimental effect. If you have any well received documents with information that contradicts my theory I would be very interested. Its all about the fun anyways so we will see how it turns out. I don't want to disregard your comment, it is a very good suggestion. I know that some people have no idea about these things and you never can tell but at this point without further discussion I do not feel it would be appropriate to change my concept.

 

[LokiLoki]

Nice setup, looking forward to seeing the results of this. Good luck!

 

[username dude]

Week 3

Week 3

Thanks for the comp. I have been really thinking about this for a week or two and I have decided that my setup is slightly amateur and I need to upgrade (even though I haven't finished my first grow).

I have been working on a new setup which I will be working on for grow #2. This new setup will be more in line with the 6 plants / 3 flowering laws here. I cant wait to show you guys, but that is a story for another thread.

 

[JohnnyHopkins]

FYI - only certain plants can photosynthesize on the underside of leaves.

The pigments in chlorophyll are more pronounced green on top of the leaf and grey on the bottom. The light hitting the bottom is pointless - and I don't mean this is a mean or bad way. With HID lighting that would be extra heat and something the plants wouldn't enjoy.

Its not a game changer in a great sense - but black is best, mimic mother nature - dirt is dark

Cannabis is similar but since you have a simulated environment it shouldn't matter that much - sorry for the rant.

But now you know!

Welcome to ICMag! :smokeout:

Its a very nice build - i like it a lot - and you definitely thought it out with your res control situation

I have tried talking him out of doing the lights underneath (as well as many other silly ideas) but it's challenging and i remember being new and wanting to try different things that most people dont do (things that people dont do for a reason).

 

[Chevy cHaze]

Subscribed.
Good luck dude !

 

[username dude]

Week 4 Update

Week 4 Update

Hey all, I didn't forget about week 4! I have been very busy and will get the pic up tonight along with some changes to the system for your consideration.

 

[username dude]

Week 4 Update

Week 4 Update

Hello again,
Here is my week 4 update., This past week I changed my nutrient solution to 750ppm ionic grow veg formula, liquid karma, dutch master root zone, cal mag supplement. I added my scrogging net as the plants are really growing fast. I also added ventilation through the box out to the roof to prevent my house from stinking, maintaining a slight negative pressure in the box. I am currently maintaining a pH of 5.5 - 5.8. We topped the plant last week and then yesterday pruned the lower growth. The temp/Humidity in the box are maintained at ~35% humidity, light temp is ~76 degress and dark temp is ~68 degress (F). For my first grow things are looking great! Send the questions or comments if you have them!

 

[LyryC]

Do you raise the light for pictures?

 

[username dude]

I do raise the light for pictures, although in the pictures there is about 2 - 3 inches max distance between the lights and the tops of the plants. I generally keep the lights about an inch from the plants.

 

[Chevy cHaze]

If they grew weed in "Space Oddissey" this is how it must have looked.
great looking, clean setup dude!
high 5 five for that

 

[username dude]

Week 5 and 6 Update Combined

Week 5 and 6 Update Combined

Hey all, sorry for my absence. I am combining here my week 5 and 6 update.

Week 5 - plants look good, they are bushing up well and filling out. Three of the main large branches were chopped off the encourage all around growth.

Week 6 - the plant has been pruned and training has begun. I put a number of pegs into the floor under the plants and am training the large main branches out horizontally. I will continue to do this until the plants fill the entire area under the screen. I will be using the screen to control smaller growth and support the branches if they become too heavy. The plant on the left looks a little sparse because I broke off one of the main stems, it took about 12 hours before the plant bounced back and the leaves perked back up. I was slightly concerned but everything worked out.

You can really see how sparse the plant looks once I trained down the branches. I am very eager to see how the plant fills out the space now that there is so much room to grow.

Also I have been changing solution on a 7 day cycle. I went about 14 days here with no adverse effects. I have cranked the nutrients up to 1000ppm now and so far they look like they are loving it. There has been no change in temps/humidity. pH is being maintained at 5.5 still.

I plan to change my bulbs to red spectrum and go into flower 12/12 in two weeks as long as the plants have almost completely filled out the screen. I will also adapt a second scrog net up a little higher to help support any branches should they develop heavy buds.

Here are the pics,

 

[Chevy cHaze]

Hi dude,
May i ask why you chopped off larger stems?
Whats behind this? Sorry i dont get it...
Why would you cut off anything when you want them to fill out your screen?
I top and fim my plants, but chopping off good growth?
Seems a bit contraproductive to me
Anyways, good luck and again props for your sience fiction setup!!
All the best from here

 

[JohnnyHopkins]

Hey Chevy. I am the one that is doing all the pruning and teaching userdude so please allow me to answer. Basically we are using a combination of LST and scrog to keep the plants from taking over the box. While we are cutting off good growth, the root system is getting bigger and more established. If we werent trimming off any of that then by the end colas would be tightly packed in there with no air circulation between them and would increase chances of powdery mildew. You can still LST without trimming the bottom branches but I like to get less buds that are bigger instead of a big clusterfuck of buds that are smaller.