[Quazi]

Hello ICMag!

Welcome to my new grow thread.

After having some success in my 150W, DIY cabinet, I really felt it was time to upgrade. I had a ton of fun building it and learned a lot. Coming from basement grows and fluoros, it was a whole new ballgame:


Don't get me wrong, I had a really good time with every harvest I pulled from there with the most recent providing me with almost a gram per watt! Here are some pics of some of the good stuff along the way:

-Chocolate Thai


-The Purps


-Robin's Revenge

Ultimately: I just didn't feel like I could really see all the potential plants had to offer in such a small space with such a limited spectrum. Having now gained experience in setting up many larger grows, I felt it was time to upgrade my grow too.

Since quality is by far my goal, the CMH seemed like a no-brainer for me:


I won't go on about the merits of the lamp because you can find the best source of information for it online in our forums here:
Ceramic Metal Halide (CMH)

Having assisted others with setting up grow tents, I decided to pick one up for myself. The space I had to work with was about 3' x 3' so I went with the DR80 tent and am more than pleased with my purchase. For ~ $170, it's extremely well built and worth the money.

But, let's get to guts of the operation!

I present to you:
Quazi's Movin' on Up - 400W of CMH in a DR80

The ballast is a good ol' magnetic Xtrasun Sodium 400W Ballast:


I'm rocking the 4" vortex and have it running so that the air is blowing directly on the ballast giving it some extra cooling ability. These are both positioned on a shelf above the grow tent and, thanks to the physics of heat, it all blows out pretty well:


I'm using a DIY cool tube because I can't justify paying so much for them and it works out wonderfully. It's just a regular 5" Hurricane Glass tube that would normally be used for candles. You can find it at your local craft store:


The filter is the Elf carbon filter. It's amazingly compact and dense. I chose it because it is already setup for 4" connectors, it's a great size and the CFM rating is really nice considering how small it is. It's only around 7 lbs, it's 6" x 10" and it's got a CFM rating of 150-265. The 4" Vortex sits at 172 CFM making this filter optimal. For only around 60 bucks, it seems like it was worth it. I guess we'll know soon won't we?:


Here's everything working together in the top of the tent:


I know, it may look simple but it takes a hell of a lot of sweat and work to get things looking nice and clean up there like that

Of course, the reflector is DIY as well. It's not quite finished yet. Here it is drying after it's second coat of paint -- titanium white. It'll get one more coat and then be cut and folded so it fits in the tent:

Again: I just can't justify the cost of purchasing a reflector. This galvanized sheet metal cost me about 10 bucks and the paint was about 6.

Here's a shot of everything working together:


And a final shot of the tent:

The little wire hanging down is just a thermometer hanging so I can get a decent reading near the canopy.

With the lights on and everything rocking, it's around 78-80 degrees in there. Yes, there is an air conditioner in the room where the air is being passively drawn from. I might try turning it down a bit to see if I can drop the temp a couple degrees, but overall I'm very happy.

As soon as the reflector is complete and installed, there will be Afghooey, RGD, PK, Bubble & Squeak and Headband going in to play. They're vegging now and still need to be repotted. Good thing we've got the long weekend!

Oh and, just for educational purposes, there were some mishaps along the way:
1) I didn't put the socket back far enough in the cool tube so the lamp wasn't positioned in the center of the tube very well. Pain in the butt to move.
2) The first CMH lamp I picked up was jingling and jangling a lot more than it seemed like it should whenever it was bumped and moved. Before I left the shop I asked the shopkeeper if he would be sure to give me a new lamp if this one wouldn't fire. I got it home, hooked it up, turned it on and after about 15 seconds of watching an arc move back and forth, it fired. Huzzah! -- I thought. Got everything all hooked up and working, ventilation all sealed. Fired everything up, the lamp came on after 15-20 seconds of the arc moving again, then it shut itself off after another 15 seconds. Waited the prescribed 20-30 minutes before trying to re-fire it and it wouldn't go. The arc just kept jumping around the in the lamp but it wouldn't fire. Took it back to the shop and exchanged it. Got the other one home. Not only did it fire, there was little-to-no delay in firing; no watching the arc move around in the tube at all.
3) Hemp string makes an excellent hanging medium. Even the thin stuff is very, very strong.
4) This wouldn't be possible in it's enclosed location (ie. closet) without an A/C in the room.

More pics soon... hope you enjoy the show!

Good luck in your travels!

-Q

[vinnythebat]

what temps you getting?

[Quazi]

Like I said: with lights on it's around 78-80 degrees last I checked. It was around 83-85 a couple inches away from the cool tube. I could drop that down a bit by dropping the ambient temp. I'm going to be installing a little fan inside the tent to aim near the canopy to assist as well.

Keep in mind though: those measurements were taken before the A/C had really had a chance to works it's magic in the room for a while so it may be even lower now. Also, I've still got plenty of degrees I could drop the A/C unit.

I'll letcha know if it gets outta hand.

-Q

[ambr0sia]

A new Quazi grow? Consider me subscribed - Can't wait to see what you can do with the new gear!

[FunkBomb]

You will see some big plants in that tent soon. I run the exact same setup you've got and it works wonders. Best of luck to you

-Funk

[DiscoBiscuit]

Very clean. Are you using insulated duct?

[Quazi]

Hello amrb0sia, FunkBomb, DiscoBiscuit, thanks for stopping by!

Originally Posted by DiscoBiscuit

Very clean. Are you using insulated duct?

Nope. Just regular 4" ducting.

So, I've got the reflector done. It fits so snug that it doesn't even require anything to hang it:

For < $20 -- it does the trick nicely. It really illuminates the bottom of the tent now.

Ran into a bit of trouble because of how it's positioned. When I bought the piece of metal, I didn't think I would have to modify it. I didn't account for the fact that 4" of ducting needed to fit on either side of the reflector so I had to trim a couple edges off to fit it in.

Also, I wasn't real happy with how my temps were bouncing up into the low 80s (and higher closer to the lamp). I knew my ambient temps were pretty decent but that, due to the location of the tent, the heat wasn't getting ventilated out well enough. I really wanted to make sure I could keep it under 80 even near the upper canopy level. So, I added a regular little desk fan on top of the tent that comes on with the light. It helps to ventilate the heat out of the area above the tent leaving the intake to suck in the nice < 70 degree ambient.

Now, temps are securely around 79 degrees near the lamp. It's actually cooler towards the base of the tent. Does it add to the noise factor? Well, yes, a bit. But, there are a bunch of ambient sounds in the area including the A/C so it's just another fan sound. I will probably look for a quieter fan that will do the trick but that'll be later. This will be in addition to the small fan I plan to put inside the tent to aim at the canopy level so my girls can get as close as they wish to the light.

I'm also thinking of building a small box to house the ballast in with a 4" opening on two sides. This would allow me to pipe all the air into the ballast box and straight out the other side of the box. I could then pipe the ventilation down the side and out -- perhaps all the way outside. At this point in time though: it doesn't seem like it will be necessary; I guess we'll see. It'd allow me to cut down on the bit of noise of the extra fan, but would create the unsightliness of having ducting running around...

I've got some soil mixed but I don't think it's quite enough for everyone -- ran into some constraints so I can't repot everything to throw it in flower, yet. There will be some repotting going on though. Hopefully I'll be able to update with some plants in this thread later this evening.

Stay tuned...

-Q

[Quazi]

Hello everyone!

Got some stuff transplanted today.

Also got some interesting experimentation results to show ya!

First off, I got the temps completely under control. Turns out that from messing with the remoted temp thing, it slipped on what it was hanging and the probe got much closer to the lamp.

Now looky see what we got now that I'm sure it's measuring near canopy level:


Woot! I can deal with that.

On to the plants!

I guess I should disclaim that I really enjoy doing my own experimentation to gain first hand knowledge of stuff that just isn't well documented, or in my opinion well founded, when it comes to cannabis. Those who have followed my stuff before know this. But if you're just seeing my stuff for the first time: welcome to some neat stuff.

So, "root bound" and "container size" are two things mentioned quite often in conversations about growing cannabis. I wanted to see what kind of limits could be stretched and how "root bound" plants would be in the end.

First off, we have a 32" girl in a 3.5 inch little cup. Root bound? Pfft, not even close. This one's a PK:

Tiny container, as you can see.

Nice and tall and healthy:


32" -- her tip was a bit bent over:


And when it wasn't root bound, I wasn't kidding:


In an only slightly larger pot we have a PK F2:


Lot more internodal branching on this F2. Strong sweet smell from it already. Different than the parentage for sure. Gonna be exciting to see what she gives me:


Last, but not least, in a slighty larger cup, we've got another PK plant:


Beautiful plant too:


The other experimentation I decided to try with a couple of veggers was altering the pH drastically. I wanted to see if the root system would also be affected. In addition, I wanted to see if the pH could be adjusted without "flushing" the plant.

Check out the results!

Here's Bubble & Squeak. It's a Big Buddha Cheese / Dubblebubble cross from a friend of mine:


After throwing the pH up and down to either side of ideal, she's been adjusting back to regular watering.

The new growth is looking nice, green and healthy:


She was not flushed at all. I've got one other girl who received a similar treatment who I'll be introducing to you in a couple of days.

The surprising thing was the root system on this girl. Super thick and beautiful. Just filling the soil:



Anyway, interesting to see the pH fluctuations didn't really negatively impact the root systems. At least not on this one.

So: all these girls were repotted and are spending a week or so under the CMH before they get flipped:


There will be some more girls joining them in just a couple of days so: stay tuned!

Good luck in your travels!

-Q

[growMEDS]

Nice grow and setup bro! I'm tagged

[HerbGlaze]

Everything looks great!

CMH are the best of the best, you have a perfect sized area.
Super clean, and that Cheese/DoubleBubble cross is going to be the best of the best!