Red_Greenery's Handyman's DIY Grow Tub

[Guest]

I'm starting a microgrow in a 32" x 13" x 12" tub and I'm going to start with

69w daylight cfl (5750k) + 42w soft white cfl(2700k) = 111w cfl total for veg., I plan to veg 18/6 until about 6"-8" tall

Then switch to 168w soft white cfl(2700k) for flowering 12/12 until harvest.

My question is will the heat from these lamps melt/warp the plastic tub
because of the small space and large wattage? And, how close can I keep the lights to the sides of the tub? I don't have alot of space vertically with 8"H being used for the pot so I'm trying to keep the lights as close to the inner walls as possible, but I'm concerned it could start a fire when I'm not home.

Its my first grow and I dont want to try lst or scrog because I don't have experience yet, but how much could I yield, in dry weight, with this setup just letting it grow to the top of the box, 18"-22" in plant height?

Does the type of cfl, daylight or soft white, used have any effect on the height? I've read that daylights keep them short and soft whites cause them to stretch.

BTW, Red Greenery your plants are beautiful

Thanks hl8, welcome to the Lodge.

CFL's don't run all that hot and won't melt or burn the plastic. I was worried when I really upgraded my lights and ran burn in tests without the fans running. My acrylic shield is taped up against the bottom of the lights. That said, I wouldn't recommend running the lights without the cooling fans, just in case. Try not to have them touch the plastic if you can. I also have a smoke alarm in the grow closet.

 

[I2KanGrow]

Hey Red and group:

Yeah, I'm thinking of changing my handle to I2KantGrow! I'm a bit disheartened - oh well... try-try again, right?

I've switched to distilled H2O, I picked-up one of those 5-dollar aquarium pH test kits... it's hard to get an accurate reading (peat moss stains the water, even after filtering thru a coffee filter, making an accurate reading difficult), but I think the peat is bringing the pH down quite a bit. Any tricks for getting a clean soil pH reading w/ liquid pH testers. I was toying with the idea of drawing settled water VIA an eyedropper... how do you do it?

I drilled 5 holes in the bottom of the cups, and the water does drain thru - I
watered the soil just before placing the seeds - then left it alone... should I pre-water, say a day or 2 in advance, instead of just before?

Some have suggested not using peat moss. In addition to the 2 (canadian sphangum) peat/1 perlite/1 vermiculite mix, I also have a new, unopened bag of Agway potting mix, which contains "premium organic compost, peat moss, peat humus and perlite". It also contains 0.09-0.09-0.09 slow release ferts... this was the least amount of ferts I could find in any potting soil, in our area.

I didn't use this because of all the the "no ferts warnings" I've been reading. Would this a be better choice, however, then my basic mix?

I germinated 2 more seeds a couple of days ago (before buying the distilled water - mistake! (I think)). I'll probably have to go with a "take 3".

After suggestions of sweetning my mixture w/ dolimite lime (about 3tbls/gal), and using distilled H2O, I decided on trying to transplant my barely germinated yet in the ground (about 24 hours) seeds yesterday, to the new, sweetened soil/distilled water. 1 of the 2 has popped the (new, "sweeter") ground surface today, but doesn't look very healthy (I probably shocked the hell out of it!).

I have a fairly constant 72-degree environment now. I was wondering if I should relocate my fan to the top (drawing air out) of my ghetto growtub, instead of drawing air in with the fan on the bottom? Now it blows on the cups. I'm worried about very wet soil, but overdry leaves. Any thoughts??

I'm hanging 1 26W CFL about 2 inches from the top of the cup - does this sound right??

Enquiring minds need to know!!!

Ehhhh,
Yup - feeling like a real dunce here!!!!!

Thanks!

 

[StayHigh149]

A few pics from my 1st Rubbermaid grow. It's bagseed from Kentucky & it's actually my 1st grow ever. Still no fan, carbon scrubber or heat shield. Thx for the inspiration Red & all the Rubbermaid growers from OG!!

 

[Guest]

Wow Stayhigh, they are looking fabulous!!!


Hey I2KanGrow - don't get too down. You're getting closer and learning a lot about soil and pH right now. Everyone has different water with salts and minerals that really vary the pH. Some guys take a few attempts to figure it out.

I've had really good luck with Promix for starting seedlings. Promix is peat moss, perlite and is pH adjusted. I've found the pH does drop over time like in mid flowering but is ok for seedlings and vegging. I'm lucky that our water here is 7.0 right on.

I would add 1 tsp/gal of Epsom salts to your water. MJ needs lot's of magnesium so it's safe to add and will raise the pH and act as a buffer. The dolomite lime is very slow acting.

Those aquarium test kits turn yellow on the -pH side and blue on the +pH side. If you're testing really low, it looks the same colour as the peat moss run off. Even when the water is murky, it should turn greenish yellow from 6.5 to 6.8.

What's the pH of your well water and the treated water. Test everything and that will give you a starting point too.

I like to prewater my cups and leave the seedlings alone. I don't water until the cup gets light. I stick my finger in the soil to test for moisture. If you have a fan blowing on the cups, it will dry out the surface and trick you into watering. The seedling will develop roots very quicky if let them search for water. Not watering is really hard to do on your first grow.

There's also a BS myth that the seedlings need wind to strengthen the stems. It's good to have a gentle airchange but they shouldn't be blasted by a fan. A single 26w CFL that close is perfect. I wouldn't run the fan for just one little light.

 

[Guest]

ive got 6 20 w daylight and 2 42 watt warm white on them....too much light?

 

[Guest]

Oh no, that's way too much light on seedlings. If I remember from way back, the OG faq said about 15 watts/sq foot for seedlings and 30 watts for veg and 50 watts for flowering. A couple of 20 watters is enough to get the seedlings going. A seedling is a newborn baby that has to be treated gently.




Hey I2KanGrow - check out this thread on peat moss soil mixes. It's definately not a good mix for seedlings. Add 1 tblsp Epsom salts / gallon to your water and test the pH of the run off. If the pH tests out low, add more epsom salts in 1 tsp/gal increments and water the soil again with 10oz of water and then test the run off. Keep adding and flushing until the runoff tests around 6.8.
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=37663&page=1&pp=15

I really recommend anyone starting out to find Promix soil and buy a $5 pH test kit from a pet store. Promix is recipe, not a brand name and you can find it in the gardening section of most department or hardware stores, Walmart, K-mart and HomeDepot. It's peat moss and perlite that's been pH corrected. There's no nutes added to it so it won't burn seedlings. You have complete control over what you add to the soil.

Use my soil mixture of 2 parts Promix, 1 part Vermiculite and 1 part Perlite. This mixture can be flushed out easily to correct pH problems. All you have to do is measure the pH of your water and add epsom salts to correct it to 7.0. Anytime the plant shows deficiencies, just flush out the soil with lot's of water and add the normal amount of nute water and you're back on track.
When I say lot's of water I mean 2x the size of the pot or more. It really doesn't matter how much more because the soil mix is inert, like sand or a bag of marbles.

When you water your plants, there's two things to keep track of. The most important is to figure out how often. Cannabis needs a light airy soil and likes it on the dry side. The roots are the lungs of the plant and cannabis likes to breathe. Let the plant show you that it needs water by going droopy. It will suck the soil bone dry before it wants water. Water one day less than that. There ya go, now you know how long between waterings.

Now the easy one is how much water with nutes to add. Water until it runs out the bottom of the pot. Measure that amount and that's it. Anytime the plant looks like it is having problems. Wait until it needs watering, flush out the soil and add the normal amount of nute mix. It's that easy. Flush out the crap and add the normal nutes back in. If you don't know, flush the soil out and add nutes.

 

[I2KanGrow]

I saw that peat thread a short while back, Red - I should have paid attention to it, eh?? Well, here's what I've done...

I-plum run out of money, and I already had my seeds in the paper towels, so I need to use what I have on hand for these particular beans. I'm using the Agway potting mix I talked of earlier, to which I've added a bunch of perlite and vermiculite (2pts soil/1pt verm/1 pt pearlite). I also did run some epsom salt-treated water thru the mix, and mixed-in some lime (about 2 tablespoons/gallon).

The only lime I could find in the area wasn't a powder - instead it looks like little dingleballs. I crushed some of that to powder and added a very small amount of that to my mix (in addition to the 2 tablespoons of dingleballs, that is). pH of runoff seems to be better - not 7.0... but close.

Hey guys - what are your thoughts about that dingleball-shaped dolomite lime? What-up with this stuff anyways.... I always thought lime was supposed to be a powder, and white!!!! Am I going to have problems w/ this stuff also???

If this mess, er... I mean mix doesn't work - I'm gonna step back - take a deep breath, save up for some Premiere Promix (actually gonna get the promix no matter what!), and try again.

Hey, I've been "dry" for well over 20 years.... another couple of weeks or months ain't gonna kill me, right... (he says with a slight quiver in his voice!) besides, it sure is great fun to lurk these boards - I'm really learning alot!!

UPDATE: My White Widow is actually looking.... not to bad! Here's a peek:


My Northern Light is barely viewable, but I'm rather excited about this. The stem actually looks hardy (to me, but what do I know - what do you think???). Fingers are definately crossed here!!!

 

[ABlueDuck]

So after a couple weeks of building my tub and then another couple weeks of a slow addoption process (aquiring clones), I can now say I am a nervously proud father.

Here's what my tub ended up like..


i built a little elephantlooking carbon filter(not actually connected in picture but close)...



and with everything running it looks like my temps inside are about +4 ambient. Going back and forth between 84-74 inside. As the temp outside/inside my appt continues to drop i bet it'll go down a few more, but hopefully it'll be good enough.

I got a decent deal on a couple little Gonzo #1 clones that had maye 10+ roots coming out of the bottom of their 'sponge cubes'.

Here they are...



&




Now i know your sposed to be careful with giving new plants too much of anything so right now i put them in some cups with abuot 50% sphagnum*? and then filled the rest of the cup with 16% each perilite, vermiculate, and MG Potting Soil. Is this ok? I havent given them much water yet, just enough so i could notice a weight difference in the cup, and dont really know how to start, should they be dowsed and let to dry for a few days or spritzed? Im also scared that since i thought i saw them come out of a humidity dome, that they could get dried out.

For now i put them in under 108watts of blue\+ 46 red light,(just the little bulbs i had, i have another 4 - 42watt red's to switch in later) and they're built up as close as they can to the light.




Can someone help me out about when/ how i should water them? And anything else they thing might be ok/wrong with how stuff is started.
Thanks.

 

[I2KanGrow]

Hey Duck... nice looking clones! I've been watching your previous posts with interest, your top-to-bottom stacking arangement definately looks stealthier then the top-to-top method I've built.

Tell us about your scrubber, looks like you suck air into the unit from above, are you blowing it out thru a hole I can't see on the bottom half? Keep us up-to-date on how it performs. Itlooks like if you place it behind your tub, it pretty much dissapears, right, is that the idea? Stealthness-Maximous!!

and ohh, hey - good luck with the new kids!

 

[Guest]

Thanks everyone for posting all the great info. I intend on making a set up like this soon. I have a few questions.
1. Possible to get a female clone or seed? Hate to go thru all the trouble then find I have nothing but male plants.
2. Has anyone made two seperate setups, one for veg. & 1 for flowering?
3. Can you purchase small bags of Vermiculite & Perlite? I have only seen it on monster 4 cu.ft. bags.

Thanks again for all the postings & pictures!

 

[I2KanGrow]

Hey J... Welcome!!
I'm a newbie also, I've had a lot of time to search around, and I believe that you've found the right place to start. I've just purchased "all of the growing stuff", and all can be had at either Agway or Wal-Mart.

The hardest thing for me to find in smaller quantities (I couldn't find in smaller quantities!) is Promix - don't use straight peat moss!!!! You'll definately want to get promix soil!! I haven't purchased it yet, but I'll have to buy a $25 bale of Promix... dirt cheap??!? oh well!!

I purchased Female Seeds 4-packs - all that I've started have germinated just fine (but I managed to kill all but the latest 2 seeds started!), and they claim 99.9% female. I purchased thru Gypsy Nirvana, without any difficulties.

Red - local guru, claims I'll need to be on the lookout for hermies when using feminized seeds - time will tell.

Once I get a crop going - I believe another growtub will be in the works for me, perhaps optomized to house some mommies.

...Listen to the pros that are right here, in the lodge - you'll do great!!

 

[ABlueDuck]

My scrubber has been working well so far, temps wize, although i think i still may upgrade it with a larger fan (i want to tear this little Vornado apart, it cranks air).

I dont really know how well it works yet though because these girls are really small so they dont really put off much smell. I tried to follow Red's initial design but ended up cracking the sterilite all over the place and had to do some last minute changes.

Right now its set up with 86cfm 4" fan mounted on the inside of the box blowing out.

It has a cut up set of glad-foodsaver-container-things cut up and taped together with a small piece of 4" ducting to act as a removable seal, I just push the container onto the lid...



The air gets pumped out down the turn through a top container with a piece of screen on the bottom and about 1" of active carbon sitting on it, the bottom container (the one i really messed up) just acts as a little stand to hold it up off the ground.



Air comes in to the bottom of the box via a large intake hole( big but i still think im goin to add another on the other side) and gets sucked up and out just before the heatshield. Above the heatshield has another of the same fans.

Again, it seems to be working great for the moment, but i wont really know for another few weeks when things really get cookin.

 

[Guest]

Cold weather coming on now, so it is time to try.
Will add some pics of my set-up when I get it made.

 

[I2KanGrow]

Ahhhh, I see what you're doing there - the "quick-release" hose is a cool idea. I think the only thing I'd worry about is the lid seal on the upper (charcoal) container. Since you're using positive pressure up there (pushing the air thru the charcoal, instead of pulling it) - you may have leakage around the lid. I'd think that some duct tape around the perimeter of that lid would seal it nicely.... hey, might not even be a problem. I'm sure one of the experts will chime-in on that one.

Those sterilite container bottoms are fragile - I just happen to have this drill....



...which made the proper-sized hole without cracking the plastic. I tried to trim one of them by hand, and ended-up with a big-ole' crack in it also. You may want to try a Dremel, if you have access to one.

 

[I2KanGrow]

A little assurance...

A little assurance...

Hi:

Seedlings seem strong on their 2nd full day above the soil...



On the left is Northern Light - to the right is White Widow. Here's my question:


Is this Taproot coming thru this hole going to be a problem???

Thanks!

 

[StayHigh149]

I put the seedlings under 26W CFL's until the first leaves grow out using 24 hour lighting and then under vegetation lights.

Red, can u help me to understand this a lil better? Is it that once the seeds break the surface of the soil...u put them in the box with a couple 26w cfl & then after the 1st set of leaves show strongly....u put them under 24 hr 6x26w cfl?. What do u consider "veg" lites? I'm picking up 1 RM for a veg box so I can keep things continous. If u have a seperate veg box, can u give some guidelines for the materials u threw in it?

"How to become a success.......find someone that has been successful & DUPLICATE them". U are inspiring many people to help Overgrow the planet! Thx in advance bro!

 

[Guest]

im curious on the taproot thing too..unfortunately i used jiffy pots (been told they suck) thinking that i could just plant the whole jiffy pot...but ive got the taproot showing in the drainage hole...but it isnt strong enough to transplant..mine look just about 12kangrows seedlings..maybe not as good heh....

and right now ive dropped the lights to 4 20 w daylight and 2 25 w 2700k lights...but the seedslings were about 8 inches...hoping that further away would "decrese" the overlighting....i moved them closer today hoping that the wimpy seedlings would start to do better....just a pain to move the plastic sheild

 

[ABlueDuck]

I would love to have some taproots coming out of the bottom of my beercups.

After a few days of what im hoping was shock, my little clones are looking alittle more alive, i transplanted one and gave them both a good dousing of distilled water and they looked like theyve perked up.

Theres even some new growth on both of them, im hoping someone with a keen eye can tell me if these look like + preflowers or - ones.
I wish i could post a larger resolution or that i knew how to, they look crazy opened on just my computer.

 

[Frogger]

good job guys---

 

[Guest]

Red- I noticed several folks saying in couple of other threads to paint the inside of the cabinet white. Would this be OK to do & not install the silver blankets?
I have just about all of the parts now. Will be trying to get assembled this weekend.
Also when it comes to veg. growth 6-23watt cfl OK then switch to 4-23watt & 2-42watt. Think that would be enough for flowering? Or should I just plan on using 6-42watt for best results? Thanks for any Help!

Ikan-looks like your doing a good job to me! I hope I can do as well!