First grow advice

[jesseR]

MY setup will be
Gotham grow tent 5x5x7
400W built in ballast hood
Exhale C02 bag (1)
3.4g Air pots
Coco coir
large ground fan

Im in southern california and im a bit worried about the heat issues that i read about and im wondering if i can just have a fan inside the tent circulating the air and have passive in and out?

Beacuse of possible heat what strains does anyone know of that has some resistance to heat that i can get clones in california? I will post all the strains at a future date for advice that i can get my hands on.

Most clones in my area are in rockwool and i plan on using coco coir for my medium hand watering with the lucas formula will the blocks cause different PH at all or cause different growth beacuse of the roots moving through the rockwool to the medium?

I noticed threads on the air pots and i do agree that there is a noticable difference, although couldnt i copy the affects by simply drilling holes into a regular pot on all sides?

The C02 bags are 30$ which isnt much and they do last 6 months but is there any other bags i can build myself for the same price or cheaper?

The Coco Coir im using alone but will it benefit my plants to add perilite?

 

[Chunkypigs]

you need a filter and an exhaust fan even especially since you can't remote the ballast in the hood you bought. I'd try to return that hood/ballast combo and set up a properly ventilated system.

a 5x5 is ideally lit with 2 600 watt aircooled fixtures or a single 1000w fixture. a single 400w will work to grow about a 3x3 foot area.

rockwool into coco is no problem.
prerinse your coco until runoff is within 100-200 ppm of your tapwater. after it drains water with the lucas until runoff.

I add perlite and castings and beneficials to my coco.

if you can't set up proper ventilation on your tent you would be better off to buy your herb if you are in so cal IMO. the learning curve to grow decent meds is going to be long if you are going to grow in the way you describe because that setup will be hot and smelly.

if you can make a few changes you should have a tent full of fire come fall.
good luck!

 

[bad gas]

Any deficiencies in your environment will cost you somewhere. Dial it in now. Don't go cheap.

Find a grow style that suits you and shamelessly copy what the successful people do.

The info is here. Research always pays off.

Good luck. bg

 

[Growcephus]

Im in southern california and im a bit worried about the heat issues that i read about and im wondering if i can just have a fan inside the tent circulating the air and have passive in and out?

Test your system before you start to grow so you don't have to worry about it during the grow.

Heat management can be a pain in the ass, but each grow space is different, so set your grow space up and run it to confirm / deny any potential heat issues.

Check out this thread on venting and cooling:

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=112862&highlight=ventilation

There's a lot of technical info that went over my head, but it definitely got me pointed in the right direction, and clearly demonstrated the distinction between ventilation and cooling, and approaches to use to handle both issues.

Good luck.

 

[supermanlives]

you dont want you ballast in hood and 400 is tooo small. anything else let me know. in my test tent 4x4x7 in run 2 600s. that would rock your area with even coverage. skip the 400 get a 6 . you can buy another later. those co2 bags wont last 6 months and dont even work well. save cash get proper setup later.i dont reccomend hydro or coir for any beginner so your on your own with that . i am organic soil guy. theres alot of others tho that can help ya there

 

[jesseR]

I bought the 400watt months back and i cannot return it, i do regret it now after iv been lurking in these forums not posting and reading the other growers posts. I have grown with the coco coir before and it went great but my plants died either from heat or nutrient burn and this was when i didnt have a ph meter or a ppm meter and it was done all by the GH guide on my bottles but i changed it up a bit for my plants need. I started off with two skywalker Og clones and they both grew very bushy and went fine in my closet but it did hit 100 degrees. Im thinking since its a 400 watt i can tape a 3x3 square and fit my plants inside of that untill i upgrade my lighting and ventiliation and with it being only a 400watt in such a large space heating shouldnt be a problem. also the tent will be in a shaded area 24/7 so that might help
.

 

[Chunkypigs]

so throw the light in the tent and run it for 18 hrs and report your hi/lo temps homie.

 

[jesseR]

The tent arrived today and i will need some type of cooling. i stood in the tent for a little bit and with the sun beating down on the top its Hot i came out a sweating not bad but noticable. im thinking i will try to put a tarp over the top to provide shade and possibly get a swamp cooler?

 

[jesseR]

Also there are some pin holes in the tent will that affect the flowering?

 

[logistixz]

Also there are some pin holes in the tent will that affect the flowering?

If the pin holes allow light leaks into the tent, then yes it may affect the plants.

As previous posters mentioned, the biggest thing when getting into cultivating is being able to maintain the proper environment needed for cannabis (sufficient lighting while at the same time controlling the heat and humidity) if you cannot do that, it may not be worth your while to jump into this until you can take care of the environmental factors.

 

[vukman]

Also there are some pin holes in the tent will that affect the flowering?

Yes, that might affect the flowering but since it is 'winter', so for now you can set up your 'sleep' cycle to correspond with the night time which will help.

Also, if they are only 'pin holes', you can seal them with either a touch of enamel paint or dark silicone or be creative and see what works. I use a tent also and I know the frustrations of getting a brand new tent and seeing little tiny flecks of light coming through.. ........but that's quality control these days..what can you do?

As for ventilation and all that, once again, the best solutions are usually the easiest. For circulation within the tent, yes, you will need to place a fan in there to keep the air moving especially if you're going to put a CO2 bag or other CO2 delivery system. I use a 2L soda bottle personally and works good. Just needs to be changed on a weekly basis which really isn't a big deal.

Good Luck

 

[sweetestsin420]

1

 

[Wendull C.]

One thing I learned was I have always had a get it done attitude while my partner has always had a spare no expense mindset and was patient. Long story short now I have a spare no expense attitude and am trying to work on patience. Every good investment in a grow will not only pay off but make your life easier in the process. That said if you cant do it right don't waste your time or cash on marginal equipment. My half cent worth or the super silver haze keeping me up?

 

[Hank Hemp]

You can't pick and chose what you want to fix. All must be in order to grow a good crop. Everything is important. If you can't fix it now put off your grow until you can. A hot grow area leads to all sorts of problems down the road.