First Grow: Digital Fusion 600W Mh - Organic

[famous]

So i just started my first grow. I've done a lot of research through this board(Thanks a lot guys! ) and through other various sites.

My room is a retired clubhouse/fort from when i was little. My mom hired a carpenter, and did the whole thing legit; ended up costing her $2000for the labor and materials, but we've definitely gotten our use out of it. Before it was the grow house, me and my buddies in highschool would fit about 8 people in there, and we had a rug, some pillows, bongs, and beanbags ,and would just hang out. Its definitely improved over the years.

It's 8'x8'x8', raised 6" off the ground, and r30 insulation in the ceiling since the roof let in so much heat(there is still a 20"x8' section of it directly above the light exposed). The walls have Coleman emergency blankets stapled to the wall. My biggest problems right now are heat, sinccne its sitting in almost direct sunlight. To combat that, i have a 4" duct fan for my intake, and a 4" shanty cap to let air out. Also, i have a 20" box fan in the opposite corner from the filter, and 10" moving fan, facing upward. The Digital Fusion light is cooled by a EcoPlus 6" Fan, pulling through a Carbonair fiter. I'm using a SunMaster Mh conversion bulb for the veg, and a standard HPS bulb for flower. I set up an irrigation system by using a 80gph waterpump, put inside of a basin, and then running a line with button drippers through the pots.

The pots are 5 gallon buckets, filled with BioCanna Earth Mix Soil. I plan on going out and purchasing some organic Nutes, but im not sure which ones yet.

The clones were cut from a plant i had growing in my backyard since a few months ago, but they are pretty small. I'm afraid that thye might be too close to the dirt, and this could all end in failure. I plan on investing in a 12" attic fan to replace the shanty cap, i need to drop about 5-7 degrees to be comfortable.

The plan is to veg them for 2 months, and flower for 2 months.

So anyways,
Day 1 Pictures, fresh after transplant, July 17, 2007. About 1 AM.


I'll be posting probably every 4 or so days...
Comments and suggestions are welcomed!!!

 

[famous]

So heat is sorta becoming an issue. I've insulated the roof all the way now, and i hope that it drops temps significantly. right now im getting ranges from 72 at night to 85 during the day.
One clone died, pot D(i labeled them abcde, starting at the top right, and going counter clockwise.
I'm seeing slight new growth in 3/4 remaining plants, and i hope that the 4th one isnt dead too.

I tried to replace the "D" clone with one from a plant i already had going in my backyard, and hopefully that one comes through.
If that fails, i ordered Nirvana Super Skunk seeds, and i'll have to just hope thta i dont need them till my next grow.

Any suggestions to drop heat?

 

[famous]

Installed a 9" passive exhaust on the roof today, but plant E died.
I cut 3 more clones...hopefully i can get 5 plants total!
if these clones dont work out...seeds are on the way.

 

[famous]

Got my Super Skunk seeds today from Nirvana.
Put them in a papertowl/ziploc in a dark, cool, spot.
i put 9, hoping for at least 5 females...i figured it wasnt too bad?
I plan on just putting these straight into 5gallon buckets, with irrigation, under the 600MH. i'm leaving in 5 days, so i'm hoping to come back to 9 little seedlings.
The light is set at 24" away.

 

[famous]

While the seeds are germing, i set up the room. i put 3 dixies per 5gal pot, wit the bottoms removed, this will suck up water that is dispensed from the irrigation.
Here is the setup.

I'm lining the area in:

and i have this on the way:
465cfm Hydrofarm Blower

i need to drop temps about 10degrees.
hoping this will produce seedlings over my vacation!

 

[famous]

so 8/9 showed the taproot. I still sowed all the seeds.
Starting 10 days after i had set the initial clones inside, lets see how this goes!

 

[hazy]

hey famous
looks like your walls are not insulated.
throwing up some 4" thick paper backed insulation might help them temps.
maybe get a small ac for your room. too.

good luck.

 

[famous]

Whats the normal cost of running a 5000 BTU AC unit for about 8 hours a day? i think im just going to get an AC unit instead of that blower...its only like 20 bucks more with a thermostat

 

[HAPPYTREE]

hey famous
looks like your walls are not insulated.
throwing up some 4" thick paper backed insulation might help them temps.
maybe get a small ac for your room. too

DITTO THAT

Famous what are the ambient temps like outside the box during(higher than 85and your plants are gonna suffer cause you cant cool the space) the hottest times the lights are on this will help to decide whether or not you need an ac.

Whats the normal cost of running a 5000 BTU AC unit for about 8 hours a day? i think im just going to get an AC unit instead of that blower...its only like 20 bucks more with a thermostat

Not sure of the cost on running it but kicked this idea around for my summertime plan
I think this is probably your best bet as a bck up plan during the hottest times of the year, and maybe when things cool down you can go back to passsive vents(just make the vent covers so you can take them on and off easily )

GOOD LUCK
HT

 

[famous]

I already have the 9" passive exhaust on the roof. Should i plug that up for the AC? I bought the AC, and i have R90 Insulation in the roof.(the roof is the significant income for heat, as its flat, and has a tar/gravel top). Ambient temps outside the box are about 80-85 in the summer, on the HOTTEST days. its normally around 70-75. Temps are down to 69 max lows, 77 max highs.
Thanks for the help!

Oh yeah:

Nutes are: Canna Bio Vega, Cannazyme, and Rhizotonic.

 

[kovenant]

ill be watching this one. how are the seeds coming along, and the original clones you planted?

I plan on just putting these straight into 5gallon buckets, with irrigation, under the 600MH. i'm leaving in 5 days, so i'm hoping to come back to 9 little seedlings.
The light is set at 24" away

you're putting the seedlings and clones directly under a 600w? im thinking that might be a bit overwhelming for them, even at 24" above. im new myself, so definately no expert here. i begin my clones and seedlings under floros until they are about 6-8 inches tall, then switch to pre-veg under my 400w lamp on an eb&flo tray, then switch to my recirculating DWC buckets under the 600s.

of course, if it works off the bat under 600s for you, great! looking forward to your updates

 

[J-Roc]

FAMOUS!
ur setup is tight man!
i hope to seeit full of green soon!

 

[famous]

So big update today, i planted the seeds 7/26, heres a picture in the setup. They are in the dixie cuts, which had thier bottems removed so they plant could suck up water.


Heres an update on 8/10, seedlings looking strong! Only 5/9 popped through though (for now)the clones are the 2 on teh right.


Heres the update 3 days later, 8/13. huge growth for only 3 days!
Still working out problems with my irrigation, i do have a new 30 Gallon resevoir though.


Another update from today, 8/16. The plants are LOVING the nutes, but i had to switch to a lower strength irrigation pump cause i was still having problems. hopefully the new system works.
and another seedling popped up today. its on teh side of the pot, its because i dumped the cups with the ones that didnt sprout back into the soil, i figured why not. i guess it payed off!!


The shed is in a remote location, and i wont have access until the 24th. Update then!

 

[guest5703]

Nice looks like it's coming along. How are those temps, I'm still getting hot in my box....Oh well it's summer

 

[bitchhitsbongs]

looks good, don't know if you heard of the "one plant one pot" rule of thumb, it might not be a problem but what if the roots bound together? or one turns male? im just a noobie myself.

 

[famous]

temps are at 73-79, a little warm, but it does fine.
i know hte 1 plant 1 pot rule, but i've seen others with 3/pot, and i figure i'll be fine. I have 8 plants now; 2 clones, 6 seedlings. i'll probably be throwing out about half the seedlings, seeing as my legal limit is 6 mature.

 

[Black Ra1n]

Hey famous, nice size room you have to grow in. You would see a big difference if you insulated it, but it would cost a few bucks. Looking forward to seeing the super skunk, I want to get some of those beans myself for a future cross project. Good luck with your grow, this is a great place for resources.

B/R

 

[-VT-]

looks like you're well on your way to a phat harvest...

good luck

 

[famous]

Went back today to check things out, and possibly draw another power line into the room. While i was standing in the room, the light shut off on me, and hten powered up. I dont know how many times its been doing this because of a possible overload on the socket, so i plugged the AC into a separate extension cord, and things looked good from there. i've had steady temps of 74 min. 79 max. Do you think i should plug up the 9" passive exhaust? Let the filter/fan do the majority of the work?

This is the end of week 3 veg, i figure i'll give it a solid 6 or 7 weeks more.

 

[famous]

So i never really thought about humidity untill now. Its at about 70 all the time. should i increase the intake? maybe switch it for a vortex or squirel cage fan? or should i get a dehumidifier? that seems a little excessive for a 6-12plant grow.