First Attempt seems fine but.....

[MrBungle]

The soil looks dry and for the first 3 to 4 inches it is. I

I was thinking about it.... and most of the roots of those plants are dwelling in those dry 3-4 inches of soil...



a great way to distribute water across the top surface of the smart pot is to use a garden watering can with an aerator (water sprinkler) on the spout

 

[MJPassion]

Thanks Douglas,

Yeah, currently I have a 4" fan that will be used to scrub the air once they start putting off that beautiful smell we all love. If I can find a reducer from a 6" to 4" I will be able use the existing 4" ducting I have leftover. I have seen setups where growers use an exhaust fan to both pull air through their hoods and scrub the air all in one setup which seems resourceful. I have no problem creating a negative pressure using just the 4" inline I currently have and it has a speed control so I can dial it down to where the tents sides even out. I might go with a 6" but IMO I don't think it is needed for reasons I stated. A 4" dedicated exhaust fan just to keep the lamp cooled (somewhat) and exhaust into the attic is what I am leaning towards

I've set up my tent similarly when growing ID.


Check the CFM of that 4 inch and compare it to the volume of your tent.
Ideally, you want a minimum of 2 times the volume of your room being exhausted every minute.

 

[bsgospel]

Is the addition of CO2 plausible for you? I'll re-read your first post but I don't recall any source of CO2. I think everyone else is on point. You'll see some gains soon if you listen to them.

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

I run a 6" in my 4x4 and love the amazing amount of airflow in such a small space. So do the plants. Between the high airflow and high micron air filtration, I've never seen mold in my flowering runs.

 

[Traceofvenom]

Is the addition of CO2 plausible for you? I'll re-read your first post but I don't recall any source of CO2. I think everyone else is on point. You'll see some gains soon if you listen to them.

This is not a sealed environment so yeah no Co2. Thanks for the comment.

 

[Traceofvenom]

I run a 6" in my 4x4 and love the amazing amount of airflow in such a small space. So do the plants. Between the high airflow and high micron air filtration, I've never seen mold in my flowering runs.

Excellent!

Ok so here is a shot of my tent. Up top you see the carbon filter and 4" inline fan. I have it detached because there is no need to use the filter this early in the game as there is no odor so why waste the carbon right? The other end of that duct run is just hanging behind the tent exhausting air into the room the air temps coming out of that are right around 79-81 degrees so that tells me the ambient temps in the room where the tent is, is ok and there is no need to vent this air outside of the room that the tent is in. Am I right on this? The piece of duct you see resting on the plants down below is a make shift duct where the other end is attached to an ac window units outflow where I made a customized plenum to pipe the cold air straight into the tent when the thermometers sensor kicks it on. I have the sensor hanging around the height of the plants which are really low right now maybe 7 inches max. Not sure if this is where I need to place the sensor. Any thoughts on that would be appreciated.
Also, I am running in conjunction with the 400w MH, an 8 lamp T5 HO fixture. These will go away once I get my cool vented hood but I am a little confused on setting it up when I get it. So I am gonna discuss how I think I should set it up and you all tell me if it's right or if I can make any adjustments for maximum efficiency.
I will obviously need another in line fan so suggestions on that would be helpful as far as keeping it economically as possible and the fans CFM rating. Since this fans sole purpose will be to cool the lamp the only variables I can think of are heat and how long the duct runs will be in choosing the right fan to accommodate these. The light will be 1000w and I plan on ducting the heat into the attic right above the tent so I cant imagine the whole run being more than 10 feet. That should give me plenty of slack for lowering and raising the lamp.
Where I need some clarity is how to set this in motion. My research shows that it is best to blow air over the lamp and not pull in air for cooling effectiveness. My research shows that the fan doesn't have to work as hard and it wont rob all your humidity if you set it up this way. I live in a pretty dry area so I don't want to lose the humidity if I don't have to. For people growing in damp areas like basements the reverse of this setup would probably be beneficial. So based on my tents construction there are two vents at the top that are inline with each other from side to side. So my thought process from left to right if your staring at it is to run about a 5 foot piece of duct through the tents left side vent (pulling air from the room the tent is in) and attach it inline to the fan then attach the exhaust end of the fan to the hood where it will blow air over the lamp then on the right side of the lamps fixture attach another 5 feet of duct that will exit out of the vent on the right side of the tent and exhaust that hot air into the attic above. Please advise if my thinking is correct or incorrect or somewhere in between or if there is a better way that is more efficient. You guys are great and I really appreciate the feedback and comments. They are very helpful





Sorry for the low quality of pics. My camera is a piece!

 

[Traceofvenom]

I was thinking about it.... and most of the roots of those plants are dwelling in those dry 3-4 inches of soil...



a great way to distribute water across the top surface of the smart pot is to use a garden watering can with an aerator (water sprinkler) on the spout

Yeah, I gave them a good watering last night. I used this to water them. Distributed the water evenly

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

With your cooled hood, I would run a 6" duct from a top corner of the tent to the hood, a duct from the other side of the hood to the outside of the tent, connected to a 6" fan. Off the fan I would put a short section of ducting (at least 2') and the carbon scrubber on the other side. This also allows you to put your carbon scrubber on the floor. I like the Can150's and they're heavy. lol

This keeps the tent under negative pressure, so smells are sucked into the tent. The only smell issues you want to watch for is the short section and connections between the fan and carbon scrubber.
Yes! Run the scrubber during veg. Your nose will adjust and not be able to smell the plants unless you leave for 8-12hrs or so. Happy plants stink, even in veg. You can keep them hot and dry and they won't stink as much. lol


I use the same plenum idea for my intakes, only I add a high-micron furnace filter to the end sucking cold air. I use 20x20" filters and prefer 2 intakes at the bottom of the flowering space. Filtering the air makes for super smooth smoking, while also reducing/eliminating pollen, spores, bugs and whatnot. A solid cardboard box, a 3M high micron filter, some foil tape and a 6" ducting take off makes for a seriously cheap HEPA style filter.

 

[Traceofvenom]

With your cooled hood, I would run a 6" duct from a top corner of the tent to the hood, a duct from the other side of the hood to the outside of the tent, connected to a 6" fan. Off the fan I would put a short section of ducting (at least 2') and the carbon scrubber on the other side. This also allows you to put your carbon scrubber on the floor. I like the Can150's and they're heavy. lol

This keeps the tent under negative pressure, so smells are sucked into the tent.

Thank you for the reply. Please take a look at the (horrible) drawing. Is this in line with what your saying with the direction of the arrows being the airflow? If it is, I am just curious how this creates negative pressure inside the tent with the fan and CF being outside the tent. Please advise

Thank you

 

[Cvh]

Look into the BioBizz nutrientline if you are looking for a good and easy to use organic nutrientline. It's specifically designed for Cannabis. Virtually impossible to burn your plants with it.

http://www.biobizz.com/products/

 

[Traceofvenom]

Look into the BioBizz nutrientline if you are looking for a good and easy to use organic nutrientline. It's specifically designed for Cannabis. Virtually impossible to burn your plants with it.

https://www.biobizz.com/products/

Hey CVH!

Yeah I have been reading a lot up on BioBizz. Seems really popular over in the UK. I have seen some grow journals where it was used from start to finish. Very impressive! Do you think just the Grow and Bloom would be sufficient? You know how it is, these companies offer 20 different items in their line of nutes that probably are not even necessary. Like products that claim to fatten flowers up when applied the last several weeks when really all you have to ad is Unsulphured molasses because really that seems to be all they are is sugars. However I am considering Biobizz for sure.

 

[Cvh]

It should work fine.
The Alg-a-mic is also very recommended. It's a cold pressed kelp product.
It does wonders for the plant. (Just don't use it the last 3 weeks of flower).

Maybe also get yourself a copy of the books: True Living Organic by The Rev and Teaming with Microbes by Jef Lowenfels.

 

[Traceofvenom]

It should work fine.
The Alg-a-mic is also very recommended. It's a cold pressed kelp product.
It does wonders for the plant. (Just don't use it the last 3 weeks of flower).

Maybe also get yourself a copy of the books: True Living Organic by The Rev and Teaming with Microbes by Jef Lowenfels.

Thanks man. Yeah I have Teaming with Microbes. Kind of dry reading but lots of good info! I'll have to check out the other one by The Rev!

 

[ReikoX]

Teaming with microbes is the first in a series of three, Teaming with Microbes, Teaming with Nutrients, and Teaming with Fungi. I still need to read that last one. They are a bit dry, but will really help you understand the why behind certain amendments or practices.

Another good one is The One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka. A nice easy read about the philosophy that created no-till.

 

[Traceofvenom]

Another good one is The One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka. A nice easy read about the philosophy that created no-till.

Thanks for the recommendation bro!

 

[Klompen]

Your plants look really good but I would like to make one point that I think a lot of growers overlook. When you start a plant in a large container like that you will never get the efficiency of root growth that you will get from a progressive set of containers. I would start plants in tiny cups and work them up to eventually being grown in convenience store fountain drink cups, and then finally to large grow bags. The root density was immensely better than starting directly in large grow bags. The trick is to grow them just to the verge of being root-bound and then gently loosen up the root ball while avoiding any more breakage than necessary. Once that is done, you move it to the new container and start the process over again with it sitting on a new supply of soil. I had planters that were insanely packed with roots and that allowed me to fit much more plant in a given planter size. After all, your root mass and your canopy are generally proportional.

 

[MrBungle]

When they are transplanted into big containers as relatively small plants they can stall out, especially if the roots don't have moist soil to spread out...

I was thinking about it.... and most of the roots of those plants are dwelling in those dry 3-4 inches of soil...

Yea it was mentioned... a few times n this thread

 

[Traceofvenom]

Your plants look really good but I would like to make one point that I think a lot of growers overlook. When you start a plant in a large container like that you will never get the efficiency of root growth that you will get from a progressive set of containers. The trick is to grow them just to the verge of being root-bound and then gently loosen up the root ball while avoiding any more breakage than necessary.

Right on. I did start them in solo cups and moved them to the 5 gal smart pots about a month into it. One thing I didn't do was break the roots up. I just let them fall out of the solo cups and placed them in a mold I made with a solo cup so they fit perfectly. However as you can see they are acclimating to their new homes. This is 6 days after I posted the original thread. You can see a difference each day. I did add a layer of straw for moisture retention. I am still dialing in the watering. It's looking like I will be watering every 4 to 6 days based off the weight of the pots and the feel of the soil. In general I believe cannabis prefers the dryer side when growing in soil. Today is 5 days since the last watering and they look like they are doing great. I ended up topping two of them (front left and back right) and Fimmed the one on the far right. I am not a deadline or anything so I can take my time before I move into flower. I want to start implementing some training on these girls so I can get as many bud sites as possible with maximum light exposure. I do have a question though. Is it okay to trim or defoliate all the small stuff towards the bottom of the plants without stressing out the girls at this age or size? I believe it is lollipopping. Thanks!

 

[Klompen]

Yeah they do look like they are doing good. Breaking up the root ball carefully and spreading it out means the roots end up in the top layer of the soil and covering more of the width of the planter at that level. Roots tend to grow down and out, forming a downward cone. So the more you can spread it out at the upper layers the better.

Your instinct about the watering is correct. Its far better to keep the plants a bit under-watered than to over-water them even slightly. I have found that a good amount of coco coir in the soil mix helps avoid drowning plants, but it is still better to be careful with the water. Its incredible how it can be so deadly. Bubbling your water with an aquarium stone for a few hours before watering them helps a ton as well.

I've become a big believer in mulch over the years. I have never used straw for cannabis though. I've used it for fungus and for garden plants, but for my cannabis plants in the past I used forest mulch with pretty good results. I'm sure straw will do great though. Fungus loves straw. It will reduce your watering to keep something over the surface of the soil.

I am a huge believer in FIM. Its my favorite technique. It took me a while to get it right, but once I did the results were stunning. Nothing causes branching like FIM, except maybe hormone sprays. I would not trim out the lower growth though until a week or so after doing the topping. That lower growth will provide some extra sugar production that will help keep up the metabolism of the plant. I could be wrong though, but that's just my instinct on the matter. A lot of it depends on what sort of canopy you're going for....

 

[Traceofvenom]

A lot of it depends on what sort of canopy you're going for....

Well, my tent is just under 80" just under 7 feet. I would like to keep them shorter rather than taller and would like a minimum of 4 large colas per plant so that would be 20 and hope it is as even as possible. That should fill out the space adequately. I will probably just incorporate LST on them and try to avoid cutting anything off them keeping it at a minimum if I do cut anything as the leaves were put there by nature for a reason. I am interested to see how the ones I topped and the one I fimmed turn out. Basically, topping is a no brainer. I just took the very top that was about 1/4 inch long and gently bent it till it snapped and then it just came right off at the base. The one I fimmed I just pinched using my thumb and pointer finger just above the base leaving just a little growth so hopefully that worked...