[oobnuker]

Long story short, I grew a bit about 15 years ago and got the bug again. I scoured the internet for information and found ICMAG and fell in love. I read and read and read some more for a few weeks and was still undecided about actually jumping into it. Then one day I drove past a Garage Sale and saw a BIG vertical outdoor HPS light, ballast, and hood. I stopped and talked to the guy and walked away with two 400W complete light setups for $40. I bought a new bulb from Lowes and took the ballast apart to create a remote setup.

I started with some seeds that I got out of bags from a known local grower that had some decent flavor but never seemed to be cured properly when I got it. Then I started gathering seeds from some other sources, and finally purchased 10 Caramelicious seeds from AMS.

Right now, there are 10 plants that are above the ground. The oldest three seedlings were started on 9/15 directly in the soil. There are another handful of seedlings that are about 2 weeks old, and another that are only a few days old. There are also potentially 5-10 more in soil now waiting to pop. I am experimenting with what kind of germination works best for me.

I ended up buying a 72" x 44" x 20" (H x W x D) cabinet for cheap from Odd Lots. And the rest of the stuff came from either HD/Lowes or I had lying around my house. The cabinet is not totally stealthy right now, but it is in a secure location in the house so I'm not too stressed about it. It is light proof, and in a few days I will build a carbon scrubber to insert into the exhaust ducting. I saw what a lot of people were doing on here as far as ventilation and basically kept it all in my head while I was designing the cabinet.

When I first turned the lights on, the temps got to around 93 degrees at the bottom of the grow area where the seeds were, and upwards of 126 degrees in the top of the cabinet where the ballast and light were. Once I put the ventilation system in, I am now consistently in the mid-70's in the grow area and in the low 90's in the electronics area.

I decided to go with 12/12 from seed because I didn't want to be locked into a specific schedule with anything. I figure this would be easier to manage and would also allow me to experiment with growing techniques as I go. Eventually, I want to try a small DWC system. I will need to design an easy system that will cater to the 12/12 from seed nature of things. I will need smaller containers that can be individually moved around and removed as needed to make room for new plants, etc.

I also decided that I wanted to add some blue spectrum lighting to the mix. My thinking was that, from what I understand, the plants do not begin flowering until they are physically mature enough anyway, so why not throw some good vegetative light in there to boost the veg. growth during the few weeks before they are able to start budding. So there is a 400W HPS bulb in there in a homemade air cooled reflector, along with 4 23W 5500K CFL bulbs (100W equivalent Day Light spectrum).

I think the cabinet design is pretty good right now - in fact I am really happy with the way the temps are holding - and I think with a bit of messing around, I'll be able to fine tune a total grow system that works for me. I would like to have a continual harvest of delicious herbs soon, and I think it's going to work!

Sorry for the long intro. I am open to suggestions and criticism as always. Thanks for checking it out - I'm going to try to update as often as I can. The grow box is literally 10 feet from where I spend a majority of my time at home so it shouldn't be too hard...



I'll add some pics of the plants later.

[oobnuker]

I'm off to a slow start with this thread, but here's a good update: I have at least one confirmed female! I just noticed the alternating internodes indicative of flowering on the oldest plant, and today I found a nice little flower. This plant is 26 days old from the day I set the seed in the soil.

How is that for first flower? I honestly have no idea.

[oobnuker]

No picture updates. Another flower appeared on the oldest plant at 27 Days.

The Caramelicious seeds both germinated so I am excited about those! Right now there are 12 or 13 plants growing.

I'm thinking about putting in another 100W of CFL or getting a small MH depending on the $$ difference. I think I have plenty of room to move with the temperature and airflow is great.

[MrBomDiggitty]

Go for the MH. Its winter time. You can always do CFLs for the summer

[oobnuker]

Originally Posted by MrBomDiggitty

Go for the MH. Its winter time. You can always do CFLs for the summer

That's what I'm thinking anyway. It seems like a 100W MH would be within a few dollars of the cost of the CFLs by the time I get the bulb fixtures and the bulbs and produce a lot more light more efficiently.

Then the dilemma will be where to mount the MH. The 400W HPS is basically not able to be moved - it is built into the upper shelf. So I have to figure out where to put the MH so that it gets a good spread and doesn't affect the HPS. I will probably modify a Home Depot security light for remote mount and just put the MH bulb smack in the center near the top. Any "shadow" cast by the MH being in the way of the HPS should be counteracted by the MH itself as well as the CFLs at the bottom of the cabinet.

[Che]

Sounds like you've been having a lot of fun, I love your cab design and the intro was a great read!

Have you designed your carbon scrubber yet? You might not need it now but 10+ plants in flower will surprise you with their powerful aroma. My concern is that the scrubber required will create drag on your air system, and throw your temps into the red zone. Not a good time to run into problems.. for a grow that size a 250cfm carbon scrubber/fan combo would be perfect, if you DIY one make sure it's comparable in size and CFM.

Subscribed, I'll be following along!

[oobnuker]

I am building my carbon scrubber this week!

I wanted to get some pictures tonight but we ended up having company and I couldn't break away. I hope to get in there tomorrow morning before the lights go off.

Everything is doing well.

I also got a nice piece of information last night: The majority of the stuff I am growing is an AK-47 variant that has been grown and bred locally for the last 12 years or so. So I'm excited to know this if nothing more than for informational purposes...

So right now, I have 2 Caramelicious seedlings that are just a few days old that I ordered from AMS. The other 13 plants are from the AK-47 local strain. Total of 15 plants now ranging from basically 1 day above ground to 30 days.

[oobnuker]

The oldest plant is now producing little pistils from the lower shoots and I've found tiny little flowers on the other two oldest plants.







I also just had my dryer die...So this unfortunate turns of events has actually turned into a blessing in disguise. I am going to use the old dryer as an experimental mother/clone/seedling/veg chamber. I figure if I put about 200W of CFLs in there I could have a nice little space to try my hand at cloning and to veg plants before I throw them into the flower chamber.

I took the pictures with a 300mm macro lens but it was handheld. I'm going to set up my tripod for the next pics and see what I can get.

I'm amazed by the visible growth that you are able to see in the first hour the lights are on. I always check it as soon as I can after they first come on to make sure I don't have any problems, then I usually go back for a longer bit about an hour or two later. Seedlings that still have the shell casing on have ejected it an hour later.

[oobnuker]

I went out last night and didn't get a chance to get into the cabinet until this morning just before the lights went out. The oldest plant is now really budding all over and the other two oldest plants are really just right behind it by a couple of days.

I'll try to get some more pictures tonight. I need to do a lot of transplanting in there tonight and get some of these babies into their permanent homes.

[oobnuker]

Update - I think I may have gone completely insane with my seed sprouting...We now have 19 plants ranging from a day above ground to 35 days from the day it was dropped in the soil.

I think I have germination down to a science. I am using the "seed on soil surface" method, where you simply drop the seed right on the surface of damp soil and wait for the root to emerge then lightly cover. It turns out that the electronics portion of the cabinet happens to be the perfect environment for seed germination. It's dark and warm, and in the little peat pod dome, nice and humid. I have had 100% success with germination up there and decided to germinate 6 of the random seeds that AMS sent with the Caramelicious. 4 of them are sprouting nicely and have been moved to the main cabinet, and the other 2 have just popped their taproots, so we will have 21 plants.

I'm getting worried that I may have gone crazy and will run out of room, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it. Worst case scenario, I will put something else together. I have the second 400W HPS that I have not even used yet, although it has been tested. It just needs a new bulb and a home. I want to make this cabinet work though, so we will see just how big these AK47's get.

Here is a shot of the cabinet at 32 days for the oldest plant:

The oldest plant is in the middle.

Here is a closer view of the oldest AK47 @ 32 days:


And here she is at 35 days:


Also more good news: We have 2 more confirmed females for a total of 5 confirmed females. None of the other plants are mature enough to begin flowering.

So the total breakdown right now is:
13 x AK47
2 x Caramelicious
6 x Random AMS Seeds

I am hoping to put a 100W Metal Halide bulb in next week and hang it from the 4 corners by chains. My thinking is that I will be able to adjust its location as needed. I raised the oldest plant up to about 20" from the HPS bulb and the temps are still in the mid-70's because it has gotten a lot colder here recently, so I think I'll be all set as far as temps go at least during the winter.

Hope you are all enjoying this little experiment. I think it is going to get interesting in the next 4 weeks...

[oobnuker]

6 Confirmed females now. The latest one is probably less than 6" tall and already has a handful of baby flowers.



And the oldest plant at 39 days:







These girls are really starting to stink. I am getting the stuff for the carbon scrubber on Tuesday. I think I'm also going to grab the MH then. Good things coming.

[bengie187]

Nice looking setup and plants happy grow to you

[oobnuker]

Originally Posted by bengie187

Nice looking setup and plants happy grow to you

Thanks! It's a work in progress. We're having fun and learning a lot!

Here's another couple pictures from last night:

[Kush_Dreams]

oobnuker it looks like you're off to a great start after such a long time away from the scene. Your cab design is really nice. The dead dryer idea for experimental chamber sounds awesome! I'd like to see that. will stay tuned

[oobnuker]

Originally Posted by Kush_Dreams

oobnuker it looks like you're off to a great start after such a long time away from the scene. Your cab design is really nice. The dead dryer idea for experimental chamber sounds awesome! I'd like to see that. will stay tuned

Thanks!

Here are the ladies as of "Lights On" last night:



We have 8 confirmed females now. 100% success rate as far as gender goes. The youngest lady is still in a 16oz party cup that's how small she is. This 12/12 from seed regimen seems to really be working for these AK47's. I wonder how the Caramelicious and the other random AMS seeds are going to do...

We have a couple of babies that are falling over under their own weight - I'm not sure why. I guess they are stretching too much? I'm going to be getting a couple things for the cabinet in the next few days, one of which will hopefully help with that issue. I'm going to devise some sort of shelving system that will allow me to put the older plants above the CFLs on at least one side of the cabinet. This way as the plants get larger and are more eager to soak up that HPS, I will be able to elevate them. I will then be able to slide the youngest plants under the older plants to get some direct CFL blue power. The shelves will be either wire mesh or plexiglass so as not to completely block filtered light from the HPS.

I'm also going to finally make my carbon scrubber. This cabinet already has a distinct odor to it whether the lights are on or off and I know it is only going to get worse. Once the carbon scrubber goes in, I'm hoping that the 100% fan duty will potentially increase growth while the lights are off. I have read in a few different places that some growers have seen noticeable increases when they were constantly bringing in fresh air - even during "Lights Off" - as opposed to only when the lights were on. So we will see...

The 100w MH should be going in this week as well. Temps are really on the low side at the soil level on the plant that is closest to the HPS - hovering around 70 degrees even after 12 hours of light. So I think I have a lot of leeway as far as heat goes. We'll see how the combination of the MH and the carbon scrubber affect things, but I'm also thinking of adding another 120v duct fan when the scrubber goes in.

Here is the youngest confirmed female still in her party cup, how cute. She's on the right;

And here is the oldest girl @ 43 days:



And another shot of her:



This plant is really growing into a mini-tree with lots of side branching. I had read that 12/12 from seed often times resulted in single cola, "soda bottle" plants with one main bud, but this girl is growing in all directions.

I want to get motivated enough to set up my tripod, marking the feet locations, and taking a picture just as the lights come on and just before the lights go off. I love this grow method so far! This plant is not even a month and a half old from the day I stuck the seed in the ground!