Bobo's 150W HPS Grow

[bikerbo]

Hi there

My first post on the board, greetings to all of You.

Lets start :

GROW BOX

I decided to make it all-by-myself, I used 1/2" MDF for all of the walls, and 1/4" for the front door, it's held together by steel corners, and small nails all around the edges. Front door is mounted on hinges, also I cut 4 holes for the fans, and hole in the back wall for the lamp wiring. I bought everything at Home Depot
Dimensions are 1'x2'x4'








LIGHT FIXTURE

I bought Sun System 150W HPS fixture at my local alternative garden center, cant say much more.. it's bright and it will run 18/6 and 12/12 for flo. It hangs on chains that are on hooks screwed into the top wall so i can regulate the height easily. Walls are covered with 2 mil Mylar.




AIR MOVEMENT

I cut the holes for 120mm PC fans, they are cheap, quiet and work well. Each of them blows 88 CFM on 12V, 2 bottom ones blow in, 2 on the top blow out. Connected them to a universal power adapter 3-12V so I can super easily regulate the airflow -> temperature






SOIL

I used Miracle-Gro (do not hate) Organic Choice (once again) mixed it with perlite.

SEEDS

Nothing special, i found 6 seeds in the bag. Weed was tasty so i have hope for a nice buds. (I got the seeds first - while looking at them I decided to grow, and next day i built a growbox)

POTS

Started in 8oz cups, right now in 5" square pots (almost 2 liter) and after i sex the plants i will choose 2 most beautiful females and transplant them to a 9" 12 liter pots. I want to end up with only 2 plants bcuz of size of my box.

If you got any tips or anything to say, feel free

LET THE GROW DIARY START :

Day 7 :


Day 10 (bigger pots) :




Day 13 :




Day 15 (today) :






I'll keep you updated

 

[drpressure600]

. . top looking little box, i'm tuned into this ok . .

 

[tolker]

good looking setup!!!!!! good luck

 

[bikerbo]

DAY 17







they grow crazy fast, day 17 and room is filled with sweet smell, i'm really suprised how fast they grow, and no nutrients ! only organic choice and perlite, i think ~10 more days and let the flowering begin, whats your opinion ?

 

[hazeydayz]

how are your temps...in box and ambient? you think that 250 would produce too much heat?

 

[bikerbo]

well, the fans are on 6V, bulb is about 8-10" from tops, and temp is 1-3* higher than ambient, so on 12V (176 CFM) I THINK that in box this size with these fans 250W would not produce too much heat, also I got my lamp running during the night, so the temps are more even during the day, also i can get my lamp lower, and in the summer when it will be really hot my plants won't fry

 

[bikerbo]

i have a problem, because i cant decide how to train them, they grow really short and bushy right now, should i bend them in few days, od should i cut the top away ? what you guys think ?

 

[bikerbo]

I NEED ADVICE !

What happened is few days ago i underwatered my plants, they wilted and roots penetrated the soil totally, i started watering more after that (idiot) an i ended up with overwatered plants, i took them out of pots yesterday i placed on paper towels, also poked some holes in soil with pencil, thit is how they look today, is there any chance ? roots looked white



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[barth]

I NEED ADVICE !

What happened is few days ago i underwatered my plants, they wilted and roots penetrated the soil totally, i started watering more after that (idiot) an i ended up with overwatered plants, i took them out of pots yesterday i placed on paper towels, also poked some holes in soil with pencil, thit is how they look today, is there any chance ? roots looked white



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Look fine to me. I have done exactly what you did more then once. Nothing makes you feel more shitty then opening your cab and seeing you babies all wilted. Shit happens. If mine get totally dried out i will place them in a large turkey pan full of water for 15 - 30 mins to absorb as much water as they can.

Good looking grow.

 

[bikerbo]

my plant are little bit better, i needed to cut away 4 biggest leaves on 2 biggest plants because they died (dark spots, dry, curled) but i think that something is wrong

this is how they look today :



You cant really tell from the photo because of my shitty camera (all looks yellow) but the lower leaves start to turn yellow, and the plants seem to grow slow, can this be caused by overwatering few days earlier ? please help to diagnose my plants

 

[barth]

they look hungry to me. Yellowing from the older leaves up is a telltale sigh of Nitrogen deficiency!

 

[barth]

LST or SCROG them by the way.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

bikerbo, a pic w/o the light would help. I'd check the Magnesium level of your soil nutes. Miracle Grow is all purpose and you may have to supplement Mg. Epsom salts at a teaspoon per gallon of water is a pretty good Mg supplement. Calcium is another thing you'll need. If you can, pick up a bottle of CalMag and kill two birds with one bottle.

Whats your pH, preferably the runoff? Ca and Mg are bad to lock out of soil and your plants will start living off the fan leaves, especially in early flower. IMO, you need ~6.8pH. It's ok to let the pH fluctuate between 6.5 and 7.0 but 6.8 is a good target.

EDIT: Just noticed you have organic MG. You may have less pH problems than I thought. Some Liquid Karma would help. It just looks like your veins are greener than the leaves but can't really tell because of the lamp.

A Ca def will cause rust spots, usually mid way up the plant. A Mg def will cause yellowing at the leaf tips while the veins remain green. The yellowing will advance from the tips compared to a Nitrogen def that usually fades to yellow over the entire leaf, veins and all. An advanced Mg def will leave leaf tips looking burned as if you over-ferted. Hope this helps.

 

[barth]

bikerbo, a pic w/o the light would help. I'd check the Magnesium level of your soil nutes. Miracle Grow is all purpose and you may have to supplement Mg. Epsom salts at a teaspoon per gallon of water is a pretty good Mg supplement. Calcium is another thing you'll need. If you can, pick up a bottle of CalMag and kill two birds with one bottle.

Whats your pH, preferably the runoff? Ca and Mg are bad to lock out of soil and your plants will start living off the fan leaves, especially in early flower. IMO, you need ~6.8pH. It's ok to let the pH fluctuate between 6.5 and 7.0 but 6.8 is a good target.

EDIT: Just noticed you have organic MG. You may have less pH problems than I thought. Some Liquid Karma would help. It just looks like your veins are greener than the leaves but can't really tell because of the lamp.

A Ca def will cause rust spots, usually mid way up the plant. A Mg def will cause yellowing at the leaf tips while the veins remain green. The yellowing will advance from the tips compared to a Nitrogen def that usually fades to yellow over the entire leaf, veins and all. An advanced Mg def will leave leaf tips looking burned as if you over-ferted. Hope this helps.

It has been almost a month in those small pots with no ferts. It would be worth it to try a half dose of veg ferts also. I start a light feeding after about 3 weeks.

Good advice DiscoBiscuit checking ph is the way to know exactly what is going on with your plants.

 

[bikerbo]

Thank you for a response, i'll make a lot better picture today later when i'll have 100x better camera, the veins arent more green then the leaves, seems like the whole leaf is yellowing from the tip, about the water i use water from the brita filter, so i think it's little better then the tap water, but i dont know the pH i'll take a good look at my plants after work cuz now i'm in a bit of rush have a nice day

 

[HansHanf]

hi bikerbo...

awesome box you got there...
welcome on ic
and keep us posted
btw.:lookin forward to your pics with the new camera ....

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

You have a good one too, bikerbo. Maybe everything will clear up when they dry out a bit.

As long as your grows are problem free, it's probably not necessary to monitor pH and EC (nute strength). But when you get problems it's helpful.

Are we talking well or town water? This may sound surprising but unfiltered may be the way to go, depending on water quality.

 

[barth]

Thank you for a response, i'll make a lot better picture today later when i'll have 100x better camera, the veins arent more green then the leaves, seems like the whole leaf is yellowing from the tip, about the water i use water from the brita filter, so i think it's little better then the tap water, but i dont know the pH i'll take a good look at my plants after work cuz now i'm in a bit of rush have a nice day

The water in my city is horrible. It starts out at 300 ppm and has a ph of 8 or higher. I mostly use RO water because of this. When i feed my plants i use tap water cut with a little RO water. The PH comes out perfect and the plants get a dose of calcium and mag.

What ferts are you planning on using? You should start using them now. Go with half dose every other water until they look like they want more. I also use veg ferts up until 2 - 3 weeks into flower. My plants seem to love it.

 

[bikerbo]

OK, i have better pictures with the HPS off

this is how they look





I took a closer look at the plants with my eyes, and the veins seem as yellow as the leaves, also the oldest leaves on the plant in back left are white/yellow.

hope this helps you to help me, and i'll buy some epsom salt just in case. i'm little short on money right now so i cant buy calmag or liquid karma


bobo

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Get you some nutes like Barth said. You'll need veg and bloom. Some folks say tomato ferts will work but the learning curve might be a little more steep. Like Barth said, half dose and watch the results before adding more. A slight burn on the tip of the fans won't hurt the plants and you'll know you're at maximum strength. If burned tips are a bummer then back off the nutes a little. Your yellow leaves won't recover but you should see a healthier green with the new growth.