Second Attempt At My First Grow

[Bogie]

This is my second attempt at growing. My first attempt ended badly so i figured I would document this one, and mabee get a little advice. I started my first attempt while being laid off from my job. I got called back to work, and that morning I took the dome off of my babies, which were doing very well at the time, and went to work. When I got home, the babies were dead

This time I will try to be a better parent.
So lets try this again. Most everything you see in this post has been purchased at a local home improvement store or built myself. As you can see, Ive obviously done a lot of reading, and i have watched a few videos before I started this first grow.

My equipment:
A homemade areoponics machine with 2" net pots using 1.5" grodan rock wool cubes as my medium.

I have built a 4'x2'x4' tall grow box to contain everything in. It has reflective Styrofoam panels for the siding and front cover.

I will be using up to 12- 26W 6500k CFLs. I also have 1- 24" T12 floro fixture with 6500k and 3000k tubes, and 1-23" T5 fixture with 6500k and 3000k tubes. I dont know if i will use the floros, I seem to like the CFLs better. I will also be using 26W 2700k CFLs durring the flowering stage.

I have 2 small fans to move air with, and i am using a 50cfm bath fan with a 4" exhaust duct, and a 4" intake duct for ventalation. I am also going to build a homemade Carbon scrubber. Stay Tuned

I am going to try to gro 11 plants using the SOG method not letting the plants get over 20" tall. I will veg for 20-30 days, and flower for 50-60 days. If I can just get to the Veg state this time, I think I will be ok. Wish me luck.

Also, when the time comes, I will be using Liquid Earth nutes. Vigor, Grow, and Bloom.

Well this is what i have for my second attempt. Any Feedback or suggestions from you guys would be awesome

 

[Bogie]

Here are a few more pics of my grow box. Any thoughts?

 

[Bogie]

Here are some pics of my aero machine, if possible from looking at the pics, can anyone tell me if the water is being distributed right. To much, to little, any thoughts ??

 

[FreezerBoy]

I started with the same clone/germ tray. Dome weaning was my #1 cause of death, up to 60%. So I threw the dome, and its lethal levels of RH, in the trash and death went with it. Once plants acclimate to deadly levels of humidity, they're loathe to give it up.

While I've never been successful with a bubbler used "properly" (naked stems, plain tap water) with gel and clone solution (IBA, NAA, B1) I've never lost a clone. It works the same way as the tray (flooding roots with high DO water), dome free, in 1/3 the space.



Here RH is 28%. I've gone as low as 15%. Keep cuts short and leaves trimmed and domes aren't needed. The only reason a cut needs a dome is if it's too big and/ or contains too much leaf. A dome on a seed is a direct act of attempted murder. Force a plant to believe murderous levels of RH are required and it believes you; Expose them to healthy, livable conditions too fast ...

 

[Bogie]

After reading a few bad things about domes, I considered removing mine. After removing the dome, i noticed that all the plants had roots starting to pop through the cubes. I then placed the plants the aero machine. Except for while I was sleeping, I looked in on the plants every hour or so just to make sure they werent dieing. The plants seem to be fine. They have been in the machine for less than 24 hours, and i have noticed growth with the roots and the plants themselves.

 

[Tolkin Bowls]

I am going to try to gro 11 plants using the SOG method not letting the plants get over 20" tall. I will veg for 20-30 days, and flower for 50-60 days. If I can just get to the Veg state this time, I think I will be ok. Wish me luck.

What strain are you running? I ask this because IMO a 20-30 day veg seems very long if you are trying to keep the plants under 20" tall. Most of the strains I run will get that tall after the stretch if I veg for 7-14 days. It will all depend on the strain though.

 

[Bogie]

I havnt got a clue what the strain is. Its just bag seed from some really good mid grade smoke. The reason I am thinking 20-30 days is because most of what i have read about this method the people are using HPS. I am using all CFLs, and I have heard that the CFLs take longer. What Kind Of lighting are you using, and what strains have you had the best luck with? If I can succeed with bag seed, I will then invest in good seeds. Thanks for your info, and any other info you may have to offer.

 

[Tolkin Bowls]

You may be right I do not have any experience with CFLs. I have always used either HPS or MH. Maybe someone with experience with CFLs could chime in here and advise Bogie on how long to veg.

 

[Bogie]

I wish I had the space to use HPS or MH. I think that they would be to much for my little area. But I have also seen some nice plants grown with CFLs. The plants are doing well since I took them out of the dome. Thanks for the advice FreezerBoy. I had thought that higher levels of RH at this stage was good. I never thought of it the way that you explained it in your reply.
I got up this morning and checked on the babies, and everything seems to be fine. I have one that seems to be turning down and to the side. What could cause that? Also the leaves on some of the plants are wanting to curl downwards.

 

[Bogie]

How do I get my pics to show in the thread instead of the links ???

 

[Tolkin Bowls]

How do I get my pics to show in the thread instead of the links ???

Check out the web support section, there is a post regarding this.

 

[Bogie]

Thanks Bro

 

[Bogie]

Maybe I am just stoned and missing it, but I cannot find the web support section. Anyone have a link

 

[Chirurg]

woow, nice equipment good luck !

 

[JamieShoes]

Hi Bogie,

your pics show fine for me mate, I think you need more posts to view them.. even though its your post..

Plants look happy don't they? a little stretchy maybe, but I prefer to think of that as just showing willing ... how close are your cfls?


happy growing
j

 

[Bogie]

The Cfls are about 5 inches away from the tops of the plants. I can get them closer but how close is to close ???

 

[Bogie]

I checked in on the babies this morning they all look good. I do see a second set of leaves on all the plants. They all are showing real good roots also. On some of the plants the first set of leaves are turning downward. Is this something to be worried about? My water temp stays between 80-85 degrees F. The air temp fluctuates between 75-85 degrees F. The water has a PH of 6, and very low nutes around 100ppm. My main lights are about 4" from the tops of the plants. If anything here needs to be addressed, some input and advice will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any advice

 

[Pirate]

The Cfls are about 5 inches away from the tops of the plants. I can get them closer but how close is to close ???

I've had my plants touch CFLs without getting burned. I woulddn't touch em on purpose but you can get pretty damn close. Put them right on top of those MFrs.

You said advice was OK so here's mine.
You may have planned for this already but.............The center row of plants looks as though it sits directly above the center row of sprayers. Once your roots get going those sprayers will not function. If you have to you can just remove the sprayer and tape off the holes.

Good looking closet and Aeroponic unit ya got going.

Good Luck with your second attempt at your first grow !!

 

[Bogie]

Thanks for the advice bro. I know the plants are still really young but do you think I need to be worried about the leaves turning down or any of the other info I have provided?
I checked out your cave, its fkn awesome, I'm jealous

Thanks Dude.

 

[Bogie]

I may have a problem after all. Yesterday I checked the PH level, I was shocked to see that it was above 8.5. Using distilled white vinegar, I got it down to 6. I check again today around the same time, and it had climbed back 8.5 or more. Nutes are around 140 ppm, they also seem to have climbed in the past 24 hours. What is going on here?