Recirculating SWC 864w T5 Attic Design

[Guest]

Hey all,

Just thought I'd pop in to show some progress on a little attic grow I'm building to try out some 8 lamp t5s. I'll be using these from start to finish.

The room is nearly complete and I am going to take some cuttings off of a white russian mama. Cold water temps in a homemade bubble cloner are preventing me from starting asap. Current cloner water temps are 66 F.. a bit too cold eh?

The Space:
Poly area in attic

The Lights:
(2) 8 Bulb Sunleaves Pioneer T5 Flourescents (54w per bulb) 864w Total.
Mixed Spectrum alternating the bulbs. 3000k and 6500k GE bulbs.

The System:
Below each light sits a Botanicare 2x4 tray. Lid is constructed from thick foam insulation from hardware store. 8 plant sites per tray using 3.75" netcups. Going mediumless with neoprene.

Water is pumped from a reservoir in the closet below the attic room in 1/2" tubing to the top of each tray using a PRO 500 GPH pump. The water then overflows back down to the reservoir using 1.5" drain fittings and sump pump hosing positioned at the bottom of the netcup ...determining my water level. I plan to toss 2 3' Pacific Diffuser hoses in each tray to aerate the water. These will be pushed by a large 950GPH Sunleaves DuraAir Pump 35w.

Nutrients:
Lucas Formula using addback formula. System holds roughly 50 gal and will be topped automatically using float valve and RO water source.

I'll let the pics to the explainin. :wink:

Let me know what you guys think. Comments, suggestions, questions..all welcome and appreciated.

Peace
PL

 

[The Dopest]

sweet attic setup an, the t5s are great too!

 

[Guest]

Update

Update

Hey folks, Update!

Finally got this up and running. Took nearly 3 weeks for nicely rooted clones in my bubble cloner although they showed roots in 2 weeks. Not bad considering they were exposed to 50-60 degree air temp while maintaining a 68-81 rootzone temp with a heater.

Anyways.. on with a few pics.

Day 6 Veg. 1st couple days were a little rocky, but looks as though they are well on their way now.

Strain - White Russian
PPM - 750 ish @.70 conversion
pH - 6.1 - 6.2
Res Temp - 71

Tray 1 - Really taking off


Tray 2 - A tad behind (were not quite as rooted as Tray 1)


Root Shot (of tray 1 plants)



Thats all I have for now. Topping off the reservoir with RO water right now and plan to bring PPMs up to full strenth lucas formula 0-8-16

Hope these T5s work great all the way through flowering. I've heard amazing things. 1st time growing this strain aswell so we'll see how it goes.


Comments, Suggestions Welcome.

EDIT - Mods please feel free to move this thread out of the design forum to the grow log forums or whatever if need be. Didn't want to start a new thread.


Peace,
PL

 

[mushupork5]

im glad you got your attic all setup, i remember when you proposed this idea. looks ike a great system, any leaks??

 

[bounty29]

Looks awesome, I can't wait to see how it turns out. Will you be training the plants at all? I'd imagine scrogging would maximize the effectiveness of the T5s, since the light is all coming from one flat rectangle, why not make your canopy one flat rectangle as well?

 

[Guest]

mushupork5 -
No leaks as of yet. I hope I do not obtain any either as I'll be in deep shit. Nice new drywall ceilings down below. The feed is 1/2" and uses compression Ts to the TOP of each tray where a 1/2" GH Grommet and barb is installed. Its a tight fit. The drains are just siliconed in..and I didn't do the greatest job drilling the one tray. This is my biggest worry. I siliconed the hell out of them so I hope they never leak.

Bounty -
I do not plan to train any, nor scrog. I will try to prune a little.
Scrog seems like it would perform wonderfully, but due to my tight space dont know how I'd do one. I'm trying to keep things as minimal as possible. I guess I could build a PVC rack to hold some screen, but it would have to sit on the lid due to the way the trays are butted together in an L shape.

Now that I think of it..it might work great! The legs could be pushed down into each corner of the insulation board for a tight fit. Getting to the back corner of tray 2 still would be a problem regardless.

This 1st run I just plan on winging this one and setting my standards a little low.


I'll post updates weekly or so unless requested more often.

Later,
PL

 

[bounty29]

This 1st run I just plan on winging this one and setting my standards a little low.

That's where I am right now, but on a much smaller scale. I did some LST, but not too much, now that I'm more comfortable with how the plants grow and what it's like training them I'll feel much more comfortable on my next run, hopefully I'll have a nice scrog.

 

[PonicalChillin]

Update!

Day 14 veg here and ran into some problems. I'm thinking it is magnesium deficiency and looks to be in full swing. I need to fix this fast!

PPM is at about 1300 PPM @.70
pH - 5.58
Res Temp - 69

Now, I am unsure of why I'd be lacking MG if that is the case. I thought the lucas never need epsom salts?

Now my ppm was always around 900-1200 in veg due to the lack of knowing my system's total volume and always coming up a little short. Would this be my problem?

Should I supplement with epsom salts? IF so what rate?

I am hesitant to add anything to the reservoir as I was planning on going all the way through flowering using this current res and using lucas formula w/ add back.

I'll let the pics do the explainin. HELP is greatly appreciated.

Also..really unsure of when I should flip using these t5s to flower. Never have yet. I havn't done any training other then snapping/pinching the actively growing tips. I plan to prune lower growth in flower...and also have access to superbud / phosphoload to be used as a height regulator if needed.

got a few runts. Had to lose a gal because she had no top? Roots were thriving, but the main top had died off leaving me with just 2 massive fan leaves. who knows//

Check em out.
Peace,

PC

 

[cabanetforester]

Hey PonicalChillin.

Hey PonicalChillin.

Nice setup you have. Very clean and well thought out.

Why did you go with the Lucas? I know many have done well with it. Just curious. Those are GH chem nutes right?

I have heard many use some kind of cal-mag when running the RO water. Your probably right about the magnesium deficiency.

I only have a few grows under my belt as a first year personal med grower and I have only used the Botanicare PBP line as my base nutes with 130PPM tap water so I can't personally compare, but I am very happy with their products.

Most of what I use.


My first (SCROG) and 3rd hydro grows.




You run about 2x the gallons I do so I'm sure the Lucas is a lot less expensive.

Maybe you could remove one of the plants (netcup and all) and put it in a small SWC bubbler 2-4 gallon rubbermaid with a cheap airstone and pump and try adding what you think they need. That way you don't have to commit the entire system until you know it works.

The T-5's are great. I have never flowered with them as my primary though. I use them in for my seedlings/veg/mothers/cuttings. You probably know this but the closer you get those T-5's the better. With a slight breeze through your canopy and room temps like you have you should be able to come within 3" of the canopy no problem.

Looks like youve done your research and are about 95% dialed. Can't wait to see those T-5's in action.

 

[cabanetforester]

The drains are just siliconed in..and I didn't do the greatest job drilling the one tray. This is my biggest worry. I siliconed the hell out of them so I hope they never leak.
PL

Just noticed this. How much do you know about the silicon you used? How many hours did it cure?

Probably wont hurt and your plants look pretty good from the pics, but you might want to investigate.

Also I thought I remember reading that deficiencies usually show in the newer growth? Could be wrong in your case though.

1300 PPM for that size plant in veg might be a little on the high side, but that can depend on the strain your growing. Again I know nothing of the Lucas forumla either just generally speaking it sounds a little high.

 

[PonicalChillin]

Hey,

CF - The silicon is some GE stuff labeled silicone II. I let it dry for a few days before adding water.

I like the lucas formula because it is extremely simple, and rather cheap.

I think I may have solved my problem simply dropping the PPMs. Perhaps the lucas at 0-8-16 is just a little too strong for my plants since their under t5s.

Here are some updated pics at day 4-5 flower. I may consider using phosphoload to control stretch since the t5s have limited penetration potential.

Current PPM - 870 @.7 conversion
Current pH - 5.9
Res Temp - 69F




Comments and suggestions welcome.

Catcha Later,
PC

 

[cabanetforester]

Dam those are some tight internodes. How bout them t-5's !

I'll be watching this the rest of the way. Always wanted to see what the T-5's could do when used for flower. CF

 

[cabanetforester]

Hey PC, Hope all is well. Hows the garden doing?

Any updates in the works?

That T5 setup is the best I've seen yet... Hoping for some more flower shots. Peace. CF

 

[PonicalChillin]

Hey,

For those that are still watching/wondering I'm around..and with a long due update.

I posted harvest shots over in the flower pix section.
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=826231#post826231

Comment, questions, ect..welcome here or over there.

Gotta Run,
PC

 

[Sleepy]

nice...

nice...

looks like a lot of buddage from the T5's!!!

that is one rockin' attic!

 

[teddybud]

looks great!

 

[katythedog]

would love to see an update!! i'm using T5 also and am curious on your progress, i'm week 4 flower