400w CMH, 12/12 from seed, all organic, IN A MOTORHOME!

Hello,

I've been a long-time member but not a frequent poster. I popped on OG and IC at the same time and then shortly thereafter OG went away. I've spent the last few years overhauling my life, I've moved from a non-MMJ state to a MMJ state, but the one I wound up in is still working out their laws. Consequently, I'm going to be growing underground for awhile, mostly for myself though I hope to find some patients to help when I get it all going.

I'm going to start some bagseed I've been collecting for the last several years since I am short on cash. Oh yeah, this whole grow is on a budget as you will see.

The most interesting aspect of this grow is that until I get some more buildings put up on this property, the only space I have to grow is in my 3-decade old motorhome. Specifically, I've begun building out the shower as my grow closet. I've chosen a 400-watt CMH with a non-cooled hood to put in there. So far, it seems like it's not going to get too hot as long as I get the ventilation correct. I'm working on that.

This thread is mostly to help me get motivated to finish this thing. I had to stop buying herb because work has been getting slower and I've come to the conclusion (with help from my lovely wife, of course) that I may need to slow down on my herb habit and try and start working out some of my problems without assistance. I'm riding on resin scrapings now so I'm hoping that by growing the $$$ will be a non-issue and also so that I can guarantee a good medicine. I've had a tough time finding good, clean herb that doesn't leave my head feeling angry and cloudy when it wears off. I've had to smoke much more than I want to just to mask the side-effects of chemical nutrients, pesticides, whatever. I really can tell the difference in how I act towards my spouse and kids. It's why I have to grow now.

I've pulled off a couple of other grows but it's always been helping someone else as a sort-of mentor. I've done so much reading over the last 4-5 years that I feel like I've got an encyclopedia in my head. I've been able to apply it to both buds and veggies, but due to my rapidly changing life situation, I have been disappointed in the outcome. Now it's time to do it right.


I've got 7 strains that I've been working through the banana-peel ethylene gas treatment. I hope that goes okay.

I know some of the genetic lineage of some of these strains, though they are all bag seed and were not planned for seeds. I hope I get something decent out of them.

If you've read this far, thanks! I hope I tickle someone's fancy. This seems like it may be an interesting grow.

bb

Some pictures of the build stage.











Still need to light-proof the air intake (in the door), get a better fan than 44cfm (it's a silent CoolerMaster), and I have to finish the shelf to hold the plants. I'm building a shelf made of wood and hardware cloth that will divide the shower in half. It should allow air to come up from the vent in the bottom of the door, through the canopy and then exhaust out through the ceiling. I've heard the CMH bulbs don't throw too much heat down and it certainly seems that way to me.

One problem I have is that my ceiling light-trap allows high winds to force air back into the space. There is no damper and I haven't figured out how to add one yet. I am going to need to add odor control and might have to add a can-style fan with scrubber. Perhaps I can install a damper then. I have been trying to decide if I want to add that stuff later or not since I'm low on cash. I'm 1/2 mile from the nearest neighbor, but smell travels on the wind...

I'll have to run the lights at night since we often get to freezing temps this time of the year and for the next few months.

bb

A little more space. I think that's all I will need, just in case I need to post links or something.

The ballast is a DIY GE thingie that I bought on Ebay with the CMH bulb for like $115. It came with a lamp socket, but I had to adapt it to the HTG reflector. I used a square electrical box w/cover, knocked out the center holes and inserted a 1/2inch electrical pipe extension thing. All was done on the electrical aisle of the hardware store.

I used an open reflector because I wanted to orient the lamp perpendicular to the grow space. My space is 30.5 x 24 x 77.

I'm leaving the bottom half of the shower open because I am more than a little interested in possibly using the shower basin as a fish tank! I've been interested in aquaponics ever since I first found IC!

bb

Here's some info on the soil mix I'm using.

I wanted to go with the classic Moonshine Mix, but my local suppliers only carry Ocean Forest, so I had to adapt. I think it should be alright:

Soil Mix:

1 bag - FF Ocean Forest
1 bag - Black Gold organic mix
1 sm bag - Age Old Organics start mix
1 bag - Black Gold 80% Worm Casting + Peat mix
1/2 bag - Botanicare CocoGro coir
6 gal - Regular Perlite, no big N chunky :-(
1 cup - FF Happy Frog/POM Fruit & Flower
1 cup - FF Happy Frog/POM Starter
1/4 cup - Texas Greensand
2 TB - AN Piranha humic acid
1/4 cup - Rooters Mychorrizae
1/4 cup - Jamaican guano

Herbal liquid fertilizer:
1/2 TB coffee grounds
1/4 cup hydrated garden lime
1/4 cup earth worm castings (different than the Black Gold above)
1 tsp Fennel seed
1 tsp Skullcap
1 tsp Comfrey Root
1 TB Comfrey Leaf
1 TB Nettle leaf
2 tsp Alfalfa
2 tsp Kudzu root powder
3 tsp diatomacious earth
2 tsp Horsetail
1 tsp Reishi mushroom
1 tsp Atlantic Kelp
1 tsp Pacific Wakame (seaweed)


I added the rest of these amendments by blending them up with water. I poured them in the soil with some fresh compost tea to get everything working. The area I live in is very dry and I wanted a fresh, working bacteria load from the get-go. This stuff has been brewing for a month in my breakfast room.

Yes, there are some unusual herbs in here. Perhaps by using small amounts of these healing, medicinal herbs it will help to infuse my plants with more power. I guess we'll see.

bb

Cool, the CMH is supposed to have the most balanced spectrum, so good there. I am using organic soil too, but the easy Blazeoneup's recipe. No added nutes for grow.
You can get a lot of smoke out of that space and light.

I thought I'd mention one more thing about my environment: Water. My water is coming from two places depending on the time of year. I'm in the mountains, and we have a protected, undisturbed spring that dumps into the property. There is a pond that is fed by this spring and I hope to stock it with trout this year. If that happens, I'll be hauling all of my water by hand. It shouldn't be too much for this little room.

I've also got a good, clean well. I haven't tested the water but I've been drinking it for almost a year and it's wonderful.

I've heard that water can make all the difference with ganja so I hope I've got a good source!

bb

Just bought a 4" fan and filter combo on Amazon for around $160 shipped. We'll see how good it is.

Needed a heat mat too as temps are too cold with uninsulated motorhome walls.

More soon. I'm anxious to get it started.

bb

A grow in a motorhome ?

I'm interested by this post, it's quiet original !

Good luck m8.

Yeah, it's proving to be quite tricky.

My main problem is that I live in the mountains and right now it's dipping below freezing at night. We also get 50mpg winds and they blow straight into the vent. There is a 14x14in hole in the ceiling and above it is a type of wind deflector so that the vent faces the rear (to stop wind from coming in when driving). Unfortunately, this means the 50mph winds blow straight into the vent and down into the room.

This is part of the reason I ordered the carbon filter now. Hopefully it will stop this wind.

Also, the shower is not really insulated at all. The whole motorhome was built in the early 80's and the walls are made with a crappy type of foam insulation sandwiched between aluminum paneling on the outside and thin wood veneer on the inside. The shower itself is some sort of composite material. Basically, there is no insulation except for air-gaps.

It's also very dry here, so I will have to add humidity. I think I have come up with a novel approach in that I am going to plug up the shower basin and fill it with 10 gallons or so of water. I purchased an aquarium heater and I'm going to try and run it up to around 85 degrees. This will be located about 1 1/2 foot underneath the grow shelf and so hopefully will provide both radiant heat as well as humidity to the space. Hopefully not *too* much humidity.

If it all works out I will probably dial the temps back to 75 degrees and see about adding some cheap fish in there. If they live and I can build up the beneficial bacteria somehow (perhaps by colonizing them on a medium), I will try and start watering plants with the fish water and see how it goes. If all goes well I may just switch from soil to coco or lava or something and try full-on aquaponics in there.

We'll see.

bb

Very unique place to grow...

Very unique place to grow...

I'll be following along.

GreatLakes THC

Totally stoked about this grow good luck. That soil may be a little hot for your seedlings so watch out.

Tagged. Your organic ferts are mesmerizing me...comfrey?horsetail? Fennel seeds? I am glad I got here.

Wrapping that shower in mylar should be easy-peasy.

BakedBeans said:

If it all works out I will probably dial the temps back to 75 degrees and see about adding some cheap fish in there. If they live and I can build up the beneficial bacteria somehow (perhaps by colonizing them on a medium), I will try and start watering plants with the fish water and see how it goes. If all goes well I may just switch from soil to coco or lava or something and try full-on aquaponics in there.

bb

Click to expand...

They sell beneficial aquarium bacteria at fish/pet stores to get it going. Fish need some light so you may want to think about how the guys will get some 'sunlight' in the tank.

dest said:

Totally stoked about this grow good luck. That soil may be a little hot for your seedlings so watch out.

Click to expand...

I sacrificed a wayward unknown bagseed just to test it out and so far the soil seems fine, though my temperatures are not so good.

I just ordered a real seedling mat and a thermostat for it. Hopefully that will help when it gets here this week. I'm really anxious to get this off the ground, but I'm trying to do it right so I have to take my time.

Thanks for watching everyone!

bb

Oh yeah, I hope everyone had a good Easter. We're not religious at all but the kids had a fun time searching for goodies.

bb

And here I thought motorhomes were only good for mobile meth labs (lol).

Best of luck to you from another med state grower!

This sounds like a bad (but cool, nonetheless) idea. Its almost tantamount to smoking a tube while driving lol.

hehehee Breaking BUD!


totally awesome... I'm locked in for this one

Just to be clear, the motorhome is sitting parked on private property right now. We were living in it for awhile until we found this amazing place. I've got a bunch of work to do to get it back road worthy. It drives but I accidentally knocked off the black-water sewage piping underneath.

Also, when we had a baby this winter I cannibalized the water pump and some hoses to make a drain pump for our birth tub (we had our baby at home.

It *would* work for a mobile grow though. I have a 4,400 watt generator on-board and all of the electrical should be done properly. It would work just fine for leaving an RV campsite by 10AM, traveling, and then getting plugged back in by 10PM. Electricity is usually free at RV parks when paying daily. Sometimes they require a meter for monthly rates.

Maybe I'll be able to fix it all up for someone to turn the key and grow somewhere down the line.

Oh yeah, the latch on the shower door broke so you need a special tool to open it. That would stop most casual observers. My goal is to have it 100% stealth inside the motorhome and so far it is.

bb

This is awesome. I love your herbal nutes, and your approach to the whole thing. I'll be watching this for sure.