Mole's 150 HPS Stealth Micro SWC Grow - White Berry

[MoleMcHenry]

Well, I did it! After a month of planning and waiting to get paid, I officially started my micro grow!

Genetics: 5-pack Paradise Seeds White Berry (feminized)

Cabinet: Altra Oak "wood" cabinet from Staples

Cabinet Dimensions: 66" High x 30" Wide x 15" Deep

Flower Lighting: 150 Watt HPS (Floralux all-in-one from HTGsupply.com)

Clone/Seedling Lighting: A couple 40-watt full spectrum CFL's from Home Depot. I plan on vegging the first week after germ with CFL's, then moving the girls under the HPS when it comes in the mail.

Hydro Method: SWC (got the everything but the container, so will post pics later)

Nutrients: GH FloraNova Grow, FloraNova Bloom, and Hydroguard.

Here's a pic of the seeds I bought from SeedBoutique (as a freebie I got Durban Poison xSkunk#1, but will not germ them now):


Right now I am soaking them in a bowl of water with one drop of bleach in it.


When they sink, I will put them in paper towels and use sugabear_II's germination method using paper towels over a warm external hard drive before moving them to rockwool cubes in a perlite wick system. After the seedlings root, I will place them in the SWC.

Right now I am so excited! I've been planning this so long, and it's finally happening!

I'll put up pics of the rest of the germ process and seedling growth when it happens in the next few days. Thanks for visiting my new diary! Any comments, questions, or advice is appreciated!

 

[greenhead]

Hey, good luck with your grow ! Do you have your cabinet completed, ventilation, exhaust, fans, fully lightproofed etc. ? I've never grown feminized seeds before, looking forward to see how yours turn out !

 

[MoleMcHenry]

Hi greenhead - no, I don't have the cabinet yet. Staples will deliver it tomorrow, and I'll assemble it tomorrow night.

BTW- I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good, cheap (under $20) exhaust fan for me. I am not very mechanically inclined and would prefer not to do any wiring, like you have to do with computer fans. If finding such a fan isn't possible, I guess I will have to buy a computer fan and re-wire it. I just don't feel very competent with electrical work because I've never done it before.

 

[greenhead]

I just don't feel very competent with electrical work because I've never done it before.

I never did any sort of wiring before I started my first grow also, and it is really not hard at all to wire up a computer fan or two to a power adapter. There's only two wires to splice and connect. There's probably plenty of threads on here that explain how to do it. Most computer fans are 12 V, so if you have a 12 V adapter lying around at home, you're already half way there.

 

[MoleMcHenry]

Thanks for the advice greenhead. Since computer fans are so cheap, that makes the most sense.

Are cell phone power chargers 12 volt?

 

[greenhead]

Thanks for the advice greenhead. Since computer fans are so cheap, that makes the most sense.

Are cell phone power chargers 12 volt?

No problem. Yes, I do believe that most cell phone chargers are 12 volt, but to be absolutely certain, the info should be written on the adapter itself. The amp rating on the adapter is also important, especially if you wish to connect multiple fans to a single adapter. You should check out some of the threads that go into more detail.

 

[pontiac]

Most cellphone chargers dont output 12v (especially ones made for newer cellphone models); they output 5v-6v, which will still power a 12v fan, but not to its full potential.

What you could do is wire 2 cellphone chargers in series and get 10v-12v of juice, which should run a pc fan to its full potential (or near full potential). Or better yet, simply get a 12v ac adapter from radioshack.

 

[greenhead]

Most cellphone chargers dont output 12v (especially ones made for newer cellphone models); they output 5v-6v, which will still power a 12v fan, but not to its full potential.

What you could do is wire 2 cellphone chargers in series and get 10v-12v of juice, which should run a pc fan to its full potential (or near full potential). Or better yet, simply get a 12v ac adapter from radioshack.

Maybe the newer ones don't, I didn't know that, that would make sense I guess as the phones keep getting smaller and smaller. The three adapters I had at home from cell phones that I don't use anymore were all 12 volts, and that was from three different companies. That info should be found on the adapter itself of course.

 

[MoleMcHenry]

I think I'll buy a decent, but cheap computer fan and buy a 12-volt adaptor from Radio Schlock. Thanks for the suggestion Pontiac!

 

[MoleMcHenry]

Yeah, I checked all three of my old cell phone adapters and two outputted 3.6 volts and the third outputted 5.6 volts. I'll be buying an adapter from RS.

 

[MoleMcHenry]

Progress! The three seeds I put in paper towels sprouted, and I put them in rockwool cubes inside a wick system with perlite and PH'd water. It was hard getting them 1/4 inch down into the rockwool with just my fingers, so I gently poked them down with a bamboo skewer. For lighting, I hung two 30 watt 5500 K CFL's over them. They're in a bedroom closet until they start living in their new cabinet.

Here are some pics!





Right now, the ambient temp in my place is about 75 F, and I expect it to go down to 55 F tonight, so I set my thermostat at 70 F.

Tonight I'll be putting their cabinet together. I can't wait for them to start poking out of the rockwool! I'm still kind of surprised I germed 3 of 3 seeds. ICmag rocks!

Just like before, any comments or advice you can give me is appreciated.

 

[JlMH4LPERT]

McHenry looking forward to the grow, cabinet looks like it will work out great and clean looking... are you considering an NGB type design? Also when in radioshack just grab a universal adapter adjust the voltage up and down to cange fan speed and for more temp control (if you grab the ones that go up to 16V you can do multiple fans)

 

[MoleMcHenry]

Hey JimH, no, I don't think I'll do a NGB design. I'll build a separate veg cabinet with a cheap target cabinet. Thanks for the advice about buying a universal 16 volt adapter.

 

[J-Roc]

lookin good man!
be watching here for sure

 

[MoleMcHenry]

Great news! This morning I checked my girls and one of them sprouted some leaves! I had been worried I over-watered the rockwool cubes, so I removed them from the perlite, placed them over a warm external hard drive, put a fan on them, and let them dry out. That seemed to do the trick.

I also decided to germ my last 2 White Berry seeds, so put them in a paper towel over the same hard drive. I'd rather have too many girls than not enough. After they've vegged a while, I can pick the strongest for flowering under the HPS and keep the others under the CFL's to wait their turn.

Here's a pic of all of the seedlings and seeds.


Here's a close-up pic of the two on the left.


Here's another close-up pic of the two on the left with a different angle.


So far, the one on the left that sprouted leaves looks really healthy, with dark green cotyledons and a dark brown, purplish stem.

Right now all the cubes are moist, but not wet. I am going to a friend's place tonight so won't be around for about a day. Do you think it would be okay if I put the rockwool cubes back into some moist perlite?

 

[bitchhitsbongs]

hell yeah you got a sprouter, and also it sounds like it should be fine going back in the perlite

 

[J-Roc]

hes up! this is a good day!
congrats on ur new baby girl mole

 

[Merman]

Computer fans - I am able to buy 120V computer fans at my local electronics store [not radioshack]. the cable comes separetely but obviously doesn'y require an adapter.

I think if you look around evilbay, you can find pretty much the same thing.

 

[MoleMcHenry]

Merman , J-Roc, and bitchhitsbongs - thanks for stopping by and checkin things out!

I have some good news. I put the three seedlings in rockwool back into the perlite starter for my trip overnight. The last two seeds germed and I put them into rapid rooters that I'm manually watering. That makes 5 of 5 White Berry seeds germed! Also, I found another sprout so that's two sprouts. The first sprout hasn't grown much in the last day so I'll be interested to see it tomorrow.

More good news. I assembled my cabinet, drilled large intake holes and one exhasut hole, built my DWC hydro unit.

I originally planned on doing SWC, but couldn't find a shallow tub that fit my cab, so bought a 10 gallon Sterilite tub from Target. I know I could have gone with a smaller one, but have read lots of stories about smaller tubs needing res changes more often and having more PH fluctuations, so chose this. To give my girls more room to grow, I raised the fixed shelf in my cab a good 10 inches to compensate for the taller hydro unit. Now they have plenty of room to bud, bud, bud.

Right now I'm just waiting for the girls to grow big enough to put in their new home, and for payday, so I can buy that 150 watt HPS.

I'll post some pics tomorrow. Right now I'm going out to get drunk. I'm hoping someone will get me high...Being dry sucks!

Cheers,
Mole

 

[MoleMcHenry]

Update with pics

The third seed in rockwool finally sprouted, so now I have three seedlings in rockwool and two germed seeds in rapid rooters!



Here are some close-up pics.




I put plastic domes over them to keep their humidity up.



That's it for the update. I've heard conflicting advice about when to put them in their DWC home. Most say wait until I see roots coming out of cubes and a few say you can put them in as soon as you see the first set of true leaves. When do you think I should move them to DWC?