600W HPS DR100L Hydro: First run

[WoodElephant]

So the title says it, I've done some reading and finally feel like I'm ready to make a run at it.

The grow is already underway...I didn't want to jinx it by starting this too soon .

I started with 2 Cream Caramels from Sweet Seeds and 2 Blueberry Gum from G13. I killed one of the CCs during the seedling stage and tried to pop another bean (my last)...the other three have taken off and that poor CC seedling is not looking great. I hope it survives, but if not, I'll just have to make do with clones off the lady remaining. Hopefully she was the strongest of the bunch in the first place!

I'm running rDWC in 4x5gal buckets connected to an 18 gallon tote outside the tent. The tent is vented by ~400 cfm Active Air fan and the light has it's own 200 cfm duct booster fan pushing air across it.

The light has been set at 400 W so far (I have an electronic ballast with a wattage selector).

I will be posting more, and I need to get new pictures of my ladies. But for now, here is my setup, and I will post more specs on what exactly is running in my little set up.

Thanks in advance for the views, and I look forward to sharing my first grow with everyone!

Edit:
Here's the pictures

 

[Arthur Dent.]

I look forward to seeing this,

Send some pics that everyone can see, unfortunately the format is not working here.

Namaste

 

[WoodElephant]

I look forward to seeing this,

Send some pics that everyone can see, unfortunately the format is not working here.

Namaste

How would I go about adding pics in the correct format? I've got three new ones of the little ladies just taken from their "evening."

Thanks for stopping by for a look see Mr. Dent

I'm excited to see reactions to these girls, I really like how they've taken off. I'll try to get a digital rather than my iPhone (there's not an app for taking fantastic pictures...)
I'm high and can't wait to go back to check on the ladies and add to the reservoir

 

[WoodElephant]

I think I fixed the picture problem, so here's another go at it.

This one had it's tall branch pointing back in, I think, supercropped soon after. It's in the front left


This one is in the back left of the tent.


This one is in the back right. I think I'm most impressed with this one. I might move it up so it's easier to prune

 

[Arthur Dent.]

I can see I can See....

Nice dude. my favorite stage of growth.

Hows your PH the top pic the little lady looks a bit tired?

other wise nice setup. Impressive.

Let me know.

Namaste

 

[WoodElephant]

Mr. Dent,

I don't actually have a pH meter, I've just been using the little bottle where you drop in the indicator...though according to that, the pH has been spot on between 6 and 5. The nutes are sitting right around 330 PPM using the Lucas 2.0 method over on the GrassCity forum (can we post links to other forums on here?).

As to the sagging lady in that picture, all of them were pretty droopy, but I think it was light stress as I kicked the e-ballast up to 600W and didn't raise the light hardly at all--right at or less than a foot away. The temp was good, I think it was just too much light at that time.

But without further ado, I trimmed up the ladies and here pics pre and post trim appointment.



Don't forget to bring a towel!

Btw, Mr. Dent, I really like the "namaste" salutation

 

[CareFreeLivin]

Clean setup! Looks good dude!

 

[WoodElephant]

Clean setup! Looks good dude!

Thanks man! Just about everything that went into this setup came from what I learned on this and other forums like it from Google searches...so I should also say
to ICmag forum members!


Now rather than upload pictures all the time, I've been adding them to my album, and here's a link to the album

https://www.icmag.com/ic/album.php?albumid=26207

Thanks for dropping by!

 

[Darth Fader]

Nice setup. How are your temps? How did you get the 6" ducting through the tents 5" ports?

 

[WoodElephant]

Nice setup. How are your temps? How did you get the 6" ducting through the tents 5" ports?

Thanks for dropping in, and thanks for the kind word . My temps have been holding pretty steady around 80 lights on and 70 lights off. I have to keep my place around 60-65, but I'm only there to sleep, and I have blankets.

EDIT: Sorry I didn't answer right off Darth, but the DR100L actually has 6" ports so I just had to wiggle that ducting through the ports. It was a tight fit, though!

The water has been around 70, though I have a couple of frozen 2 litres and a couple of 1 litres that I throw in the res in pairs before the lights go on.

PPM is holding around 330 right now and they're not drinking too much, thought that may be because I've been training and pruning a fair amount. I'm going to leave the little girls be for a bit and grow up before I do any serious "hand of God" work on them haha.

 

[WoodElephant]

Hey all, sorry for the delay in updating...life just seems to get in the way of having fun sometimes haha!

The ladies are still doing pretty well, with the PPM holding around 335. I haven't needed to top off too often, which is nice. However, they are growing like weeds!

I've been pruning off any and all fan leaves that appear to be blocking a lower site, as well as supercropping and some training. The lady in the front left didn't seem to like training as much as the other two larger ladies, so I untied her.

But without further ado, here are the stars, and the real reason you're looking at this journal!

The lady in the Front Left:


Front Right:


Back Left:


And the not so small anymore girl in the Back Right:


Oh! The lady who's behind wasn't looking so hot for a while there under the 400W with all of the others, so I put a clear tupperware over top of her for a bit and she perked right up. Her leaves are still a bit yellow, but she has nice new growth as you can see, and the new growth is nice and dark.

Peace all, and thanks for stopping by!

 

[WoodElephant]

Hey all, I had a quick question for anyone stopping by:

I know the THC couldn't be high, if there's any at all, but what do you all think about smoking the trimmed fan leaves? Normally I wouldn't even think about this, but I've been dry for a bit and sure could use a toke.

Peace

 

[WoodElephant]

The ladies haven't changed much since the last picture update, but I figured I'd go ahead and post a few more pictures. Still haven't gotten a nice digital, so sorry about the crappy cell phone pics.

The ladies are being trained and supercropped still, along with pruning just about any and all fan leaves that look like they're shading a branch site underneath.

Temps are holding steady around 75 for the day, 70 or a bit below at night. The water level hasn't changed that much, or perhaps the roots are just displacing a lot more water now so I don't notice as much. The pH has remained just a bit under 6.0, and the PPM has also stayed pretty steady around 330, occasionally dropping to 320. Every few days I add a bit of water and some Lucas yum yum for my ladies.

And without further ado, the stars of this show!

Front right beauty:


Front left lady:


Back left (this one has gone NUTS with leaves and branches!)


And finally the late bloomer but still an apple in my eye:


These pictures are after trimming back the fans.

Peace

 

[WoodElephant]

I've been doing some reading, and I'm wondering if anyone might have any experience/input on the subject.

I'd like to add UV light to the tent, but I'm not positive what type of light or when. The primary idea behind it, I believe, is to promote the conversion of cannabinoid precursors to our favorite delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol . This would lead you to believe that the MOST important time to add UV, if you want to, is during flowering, esp trichome production/maturing. But would it be beneficial to add the lights earlier, perhaps just to prepare them so there's no new stress as they enter flowering?

Then, there's the question of which light to use? I know a lot of people use the reptile lights from PetSmart, but do they actually provide enough UV to make a difference? I've seen some posts about this fella Mega-Ray ZOO SB 160 watt Self-Ballasted Flood UVB Lamp. But I guess the big question is what would be the most cost effective set up to provide UV for my ladies most similar to what the sun provides?

I might just end up starting a thread on the growroom setup and equipment thread...

Any input appreciated, and my thanks in advance!

Peace

 

[WoodElephant]

No love for my thread/ladies?

Well anywho, just a really quick update (sorry no pics...within 24h though!)

After a pretty thorough trim job, my ladies just completed their first day of 12/12. The three large ladies (please see earlier posts) were sprouted 12/8/2010, and their younger sister was sprouted a couple weeks after that, perhaps just a bit after Christmas. I was hoping to wait until the young'un had caught up in height (she's undergone no training), but I'm just a bit paranoid about where my grow is and wanted to flip the lights to go ahead and finish up.

So here goes the fun part!

And a question for anyone who's done the defoliation method...

In the original thread on defoliation, some said they trimmed fans during the stretch if they blocked a branch site, while others said absolutely ZERO trimming during the stretch. Anyone with experience in the matter, your advice would be much appreciated

May your gardens prosper and may the bacon stay away.

Peace

 

[WoodElephant]

No love for my thread/ladies?

Well anywho, just a really quick update (sorry no pics...within 24h though!)

...


Sorry if that came off sounding a bit petulant...wasn't my intent! Tryin' to be funny when high AND via text...no bueno.

But while I'm posting, I just visited my ladies. Sorry, no pics because they were in dark (I turned on the room light-fairly dim-with the tent's back to the light. Only very, very low levels of light reached my gals). Nothing major to report besides my pH got a bit low, which I of course rectified. However, I am SO happy to say that they are getting skunkier. For the last week or so, whenever I open the tent a slight skunky smell has tickled my nostrils, but it is definitely getting stronger! I can't wait to open 'er up when they're a few weeks into flower

May your gardens prosper and may the LEOs stay away!

Peace

 

[WoodElephant]

And the promised pictures! Sorry I'm a bit late in posting, life got in the way

Weird note before progressing to the ladies...my tapwater has all of a sudden turned hard(er). It was holding around 130-140 PPM, and has now jumped to over 400 PPM. I had to add water to my res, so I used it anyway. They haven't shown ill effects, yet at least, but that was right before lights off and they haven't said good morning to me yet. I'll report/post pics if/when anything happens.

So without further ado, the stars of the show!

The lady in the front right (I believe a G13 bred Blueberry Gum)


The lass in the front left (I believe my original Sweet Seeds bred Cream Caramel)


The lady tucked in the back left (I believe also a G13 Blueberry Gum)


And finally the Cream Caramel young'un in the back right


And for your viewing pleasure, overview of the tent.
--Any and all suggestions are welcome, and greatly appreciated!



May your gardens prosper and may the LEOs stay away!

Peace

 

[:-(]

Hey WoodElephant,
Sorry dude noones been responding to your thread. Your grow looks good though.

Just wanted to let you know about smoking those fan leaves. I've got a buzz off of the sugar coated ones before, but that's at harvest time. From my experience, if you pick any buds before 6-7 weeks, they won't be very potent and they are usually really harsh when you smoke them. Try to stick it out through those dry times man, I feel your pain!

Again, your grow looks good and healthy. You're definitely off to a good start from the looks of your pictures. Don't sweat it that people aren't stopping by, these new grower forums are new and I don't think people are regularly checking them. If you have any specific questions, ask them in the "want to ask the old farts a question" thread. Otherwise, keep doing what your doing.

If anything this is just a journal to check on when you do your next grow.

GOOD LUCK

 

[Darth Fader]

... the DR100L actually has 6" ports so I just had to wiggle that ducting through the ports. It was a tight fit, though!

OMG, I'm an idiot. I used (2) 6">4" reducers last run instead of simply trying to squeeze a 6" piece thru!

At least NOW I know.

Journal tip: Eye candy helps

 

[Arthur Dent.]

Looking good still man,

How is the sugar, are your ladies throwing any out>?

Namaste