Skunk #1 Mediumless Closet Grow

[Guest]

Hey everybody!

Here I go again trying to mess something up! I don't want to jinx myself and say anything too brave yet, but barring any troubles, I should have two skunk #1 babies veggin in this system within a few days. Both are rooting as I speak, and are just about ready.

Here's what's new, and some info for those that haven't seen me goof up a grow yet...I am of course running my same old 2x400W HPS in my little bitty 3x5 closet. I harvested about 1 1/4 lbs last time in this closet, and hope to do better this time. I'm gettin' this closet thing down.....

The lights are cooled through 4" bake a round tubes that goes into a 6" Y to my 449cfm vortex fan which is housed in the water heater closet behind this grow area. Here is a pic of the lights and my box fan propped up. Behind the box fan is the access to the water heater closet. This piece of drywall is worn out, and will be replaced before the show starts. The water heater closet also houses both ballasts for the lights. The lights were turned from both intakes facing center to the intakes facing the door. This puts the light reflectors in the right orientation to throw light across the 5' width.





Cool pic of a HPS bulb warming up. I just liked the color and ambience of this shot. You can also see that the tubes are held up by the actual bake a round racks that come with the tubes. I turned them upside down, bent the sides inward some, and they have held those lights for about 3 years now.



This is a pic of the 5 gallon reservior. You can see the 1 1/2" lines on the bottom. Previously, I had 4 grow buckets attached to a 5 gallon res in the middle. All four had 3/4" line from the res, and 3/4" drains causing me to downsize the 3/4" pipe at the grow buckets with a 1/2" piece of tubing. More on that later. These lines are attached using the amazing uni-seals. If you aren't using these, you better get some. I had doubts about their ability to hold water on a rounded bucket connection, but the work FABULOUS. I love these things.

Currently, there is one 5 gallon res. and two grow buckets.



In the res pictured above you can see my massive 595gph pond pump which is now attached to tubing so that it sits out of the water as far as possible because of heat. You can also see the cooler's line running in, and see it's big white cooler jacket/ring that went around the tub on the water cooler. It's already powder coated with something so it shouldn't have any problems with the nutes/corrosion etc. There are two 1/4" air lines running into the bucket from my GH dual diaphram air pump, but only one air line runs in the res because with both I get too much heat from the air in the room pumped through the water. Took me a while to figure that out. There is a probe from my digital thermometer/hygrometer in the bucket. It measures indoor (growroom) temp on it's own, and outdoor (reservior) temp through the probe. Nifty deal the indoor/outdoor thermometer, and it's far more accurate than the little plastic ones I've had so long.

I know the pump looks like it can be hooked up inline, and it is, sort of, there is just a short line going to the bottom of the bucket. The housing around the impellar where the connections are does not have a seal to the pump because it's a pond pump (submersible) I guess. I had it out of the bucket but it leaks like a sieve.

Here is a shot of the res and cooler. (water cooler from The_Dopest's DIY water cooler) It is finally working and keeping the res itself at 50-60F. The other buckets linger around 65-70F. With my massive pump circulating, the cooler can not keep up. So, I bought a timer that has pins for every 15 mins and set the circulation to run 15 mins every four hours. Any more frequent and the pump adds too much heat for the cooler to deal with. Being a 595 gallon pump running 15 mins it is circulating the whole system of only 15 gallons thoroughly in that short time.

I must say with the cooler there are limitations, but I have got it tweaked right I think, and it's working good. Just wanna see how it does on a few warmer days too. I also think I might have bent the cooling line a little far when putting it in the bucket. No kink or anything, but it didn't seem to cool to well, so I straigtened the bends as straight as can be, and that seemed to help. So be careful if you decide to use one of these. It's obviously easy to decrease it's ability to cool if those lines are even curved too far.



This is the little timer that's helping with the pump. It allows me to ensure my res and buckets stay well mixed (unlike just gravity would do) and it also serves to mix the cold res water with the other buckets as they warm back up from the lights and room temp. It is working well so far...





And the thermometer showing lights on temp for air at top, res temp in middle, and humidity at bottom.



As for the drains. I upgraded from those lowly 3/4" return lines to 1 1/2" PVC. My silly ass forgot to get CPVC for light protection, so I wrapped the return lines in aluminum tape. Helps keep em cool too.

Since that massive pump is only pumping to two buckets, the flow is quite strong, and I have kept the 1/2" piece of tubing in the end of each water line as pictured below. This slows the flow some and keeps it from splashing everywhere. When it circulates, it creates a TON of aeration from the powerful flow.

These buckets will be mediumless, meaning, the tape you see on top is probably all that will hold the plants up for a week or two of veg until I start tying. **EDIT: No picture of lids. They just have a 2 1/2 hole with alum. tape over them** If I get a chance, I might build a scrog screen, but I am about to grow two HUGE skunk #1 plants in this closet, and I can just do my LST and support with string as usual if I have to.

Here's the water line going into one bucket. You can see the 1/4" airline that goes into the bucket, a 90 elbow, then straight to the bottom through 1/4" tube to a 1" airstone with two 1/4" stainless steel nuts threaded on the end of the line for weight. She bubbles great!



If water temps stay constant at 65-70F this may be my best grow yet. Now, if those clones will finish up. Maybe I'll throw a pic or two of them and my momma plants up later. If this grow goes as good as I think we may have some Blueberry in here for the next run followed by some bogglegum. Ahh, so many strains, so little space.

So, grab a seat, grab some and let's see if our closet hero gets the lady or if he just get's laughed at!

 

[Guest]

i'll be kickin back, rooting for the mediumless team!

you've got this locked down, should be a pretty run

merry christmas!

 

[Guest]

Hey UN!! Thanks for stoppin' in! Happy Holidays, my friend!

I just took a look and the skunks are finally showing roots, so any day now....

EDIT:

Forgot to mention an important upgrade. I have finally sealed the door completely using 1x2 strips inside the door that are lined with the rubber stringy gooey weather stripping where they meet the jam, and I have conventional foam weather stripping on the face of the boards so the door seals tightly and no light leaks. I'm adding a doorknob with a lock when I get a chance.

I'll have to snap some pics of the bottom of the door. I came up with an ingenious solution for the bottom a long time ago. It has worked for over a year at least.

 

[Guest]

can't wait to see this run.

 

[The Dopest]

great job on the bake arounds man, not to metion the rest of the room! you got a nice hual last run eh? i need to take some notes from you! also i use a 365gph fountian pump from lowes its a Beckett brand. its in the same bucket with the chiller and runs 24, the chiller is uneffected by it. i'll be on the couch over here

 

[Guest]

Heirloom Thanks for stoppin' in. I'm doing a few last minute tweaks over the next few days and the clones will go in.

The Dopest Hola! Yup, last run ended in a very nice yield. I'm still smoking on the candy sweet tasting skunk and the spicy tingly skum. Gotta get this one moving though...stash goes quick!

Oh yeah, the pump. Welp...gotta get a new one, it burned out. Somehow though, the cooler is still keeping the grow buckets between 65-70F with room temps around 80-85F!!! I dunno, maybe I did kink the line some. Either way, I will get a slightly smaller one, maybe closer to the size of yours and leave it on the timer anyway. I might have to kick the cooler back a notch now. How long have you used that cooler Dopest? How long you figure one that works will last? I'm pretty excited to have COLD water! The res has condensation and sits at 50-55F and I guess it gets cold enough the other buckets are at 65-68 usually.

Here's a little update on a couple things too guys!


This is the way I sealed my door. First, I set up 1x2 strips as close to the door as possible on the door casing, floor, and upper part of casing. I then screwed them in place to the floor and the door casing all the way around. The 1x2's were then sealed to the door casing with "cord weather stripping". It's gooey putty like stuff that comes in a roll. You roll off a string, and push it in where you need it. This stuff is great, I prommise.





Anyway, once I was sure no light could penatrate between my new frame and the casing, I focused on the door. I ran the thinnest regular foam weather stripping I could find. I read someone used felt instead of weather stripping, and that would probably do for this too. On the hinge side of the door, you have to put the weather strip onto the face of the jam, the rest of the way around, you put it on the face of the new 1x2 trim. It's too tight at the back side of the door as it swings in, and it will tear the stripping off if you put it on the trim. Actually on my door, I had to put it halfway on the trim and door casing for a tight seal. Just fiddle with it on your door....you'll get it.





Once you have that, you might need to take care of a gap at the bottom of the door like I did. My door sat a few inches off the ground, so I went and bought a piece of garage door trim with the rubber flap. These are usually for the outside of the garage door on the left and right sides to keep weather out. You'll have to measure, but with the gap under my door, all I had to do was cut a piece to length and fold the rubber so it sits how you see it. I then screwed it to the bottom of the door using a couple flat brackets and put a strip of weatherstipping and aluminum tape over the join on the inside of the door. The garage door trim is flush with the backside of the door, so it seats nice an easy with the rest of the door when it's shut and the rubber drags the floor giving a tight seal.



Here is a top down view of my bucket arrangement and plumbing. The res is the one with no tape on the lid.



Looking in the door:



EDIT: Forgot to mention. You can use the cord weather strip to block out light between the joints of the new trim. I just shoved some around all of them just like you would caulk....beware, white caulk does not block light so good!!

 

[Guest]

.

What's going on, S2D ?

Thanks for the informative thread of your set-up. I see how the heat is accumulating in ya grow. Can we do something like the below suggestion, to help alittle.

With a pump that puts out that kind of pressure, have you thought about introducing oxygen naturaly. Then you could eliminate the heated air pumping into the water, and allow the cool air from a venturi to help cool the pump heated water. Now that is a descriptive sentance.

The below pic is a commercial ebb-flow venturi valve. I have a link to get one that is very inexspensive, compared to some shops. It does regire about 15-20 pounds of water pressure, which you have. I tested mine with the eco plus 633 pump, and it works great. Alittle noisy though.



I see you found thoose 10 dollar box fans, they are wonderful.
Have five of them now. I like the light coverage of the two seperate 400 watt reflectors, covering this 3x5 area. See that has worked well for you over the years. The hygrometers are awsome, and they blow away the typical themometers found at stores.

Serious about the venturi valves, if you are intrested. PM me, and I'll give you a link to my plumbing connection (pun intended), and any further details of it's description.

Here is the address: http://www.aquaticeco.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/product.detail/iid/9841/cid/2332

I can't wait to see these babies grow !!!


CW

 

[Guest]

Hey Chilly, thanks brother. I know what a venturi is. We used them to pump resin into our system out of barrels. Ours didn't just suck air into the system like you're talking about, that end had a pvc pipe we would stick in the resin and when we cut on the water it sucks the resin in. Imagine using one with 2" chemical proof steel belted fire hoses with big aluminum dog ear clasps on them.

Here's a scary story with one of those. Working midnights regenerating semi trailers set up as mobile regen stations, I was attaching the end of one of these 2" hoses to the end of the venturi when an (IDIOT) co-worker decided to release the pressure from the holding vessel we pump in to. The only problem was this. The VENT is where we pump the resin into the vessels because it doesn't have a screen on it, AND the other end of my 2" hose was attached to said vent. I swear, I got the hose about 1/4" away from the venturi (keep in mind the hose was about 50 ft. and he had just walked by and seen me hooking it up) about to slip it onto the 2" nipple on the venturi and lock the dog ears down and I hear WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH...BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!!!!! and had the whole damn metal buckel snatched out of my hand in an instant. It felt like a sledge hammer hit my hand but didn't do any damage. Just cold wet hands in winter.

I just consider him lucky that damn buckle didn't hit me in the mouth, because he would have gotten the same in return.

Man.....you shoulda see me move though. I went from where I was standing to about 100yds away in half a second.

Damn, forgot this part:

My water pump died. Water drained back out of the pump during it's off cycle and it couldn't pickup again on it's own, so it just burnt to death. I should have another smaller pump tommorow and some updates.

 

[Guest]

.

That is Funny.....

Sounds like that was some pressure there, hope your hand is alright.


Sorry to hear about the pump failure, looks like ya caught it in time.
So, some pumps keep the hose primed, while others allow it to drain dry ?

Nice to be back, hanging with my friends. I will be back to see how your new pump is working out.

Peace

.

 

[Guest]

Hey Chilly. Well, as far as the pump goes, I had a submersible pond pump and the housing around the impellar did not have an actual seal on it, it just clamped on. With me trying to suspend it out of the water, air would leak back into the lines through the housing while it waited 4 hours to turn on again. I wonder if it stunk when that sucker burnt up, lol! Good lesson there.

Anyway, since the only thing I can find at local hardware stores is pond pumps, I went and got a 240gph pump this time. No more 595gph pump pushing a system only using 15 gallons of water, heh.

I'm going to see if this one can run full on or if I'll need the timer on it, but it's fully submerged. It's pushing water pretty quick, but I'm hoping it won't get as warm as the other. This one is a magnetic drive too I think, so that may be cooler somewhat. I'll make the sucker work until I can get my hands on a cheap inline pump.

Anyway, I've got a bunch of clones going, and I have two testers in the system, but one lost it's root due to light leaks in my clone cabinet buckets. I fixed that by buying these cool little one gallon black buckets to match the bigger ones in the grow room.

Soon as I get a chance, I'll update with pics of all the cloning action, the new buckets (way cool), and hopefully two sk#1 clones ready for a full on run under the HPS.

 

[Guest]

.


How is that new pump working for ya ?
Are you still going to need a timmer ?

I was thinking, while reading your thread again. What if the resivoir was larger; this would cool things down a bit. You could also airiate the resivoir, where the airiator would not build up as much heat. Then if that is not enough, add a CAP ART-2 Timmer, and use the pump less.

I know you have thought about this; from here to Tuesday. Just trying to show my support.

Oh YeaH......sneaked a small bud from one of the plants the other day.
I am still stooned.

.

 

[Guest]

Hey Chilly. The pump is working great. I'm getting it fine tuned now. Had to actually back the cooler down. I've got the pump circulating 15 mins every hour. I know a larger res would help, but I was trying to minimize my water usage. I think I may have to go back to the larger res. I had an 18 gallon res at one time, but I don't want one that big again. Maybe if I can find something that will hold 8-10 gallons for a res I'll do that later.

So, I'm trying to get a stable 65-68F now by adjusting the cooler to only cool as much as needed. Things are looking GOOD!

Can't wait to get this show back on the road. Gots babies everywhere too. I'll try to get some pics up soon.

 

[The Dopest]

glad to hear the cooler is workin out for ya, hey you could easily tap into the reserve you have now with another poly hose and add one more bucket wherever you want. it will gravity drain into the other reserve adding more volume. just an idea...
lookin good man!

 

[Guest]

Man, I'm so glad that you were able to get a pump so quick.

Space; always seems to come down to space.
I know if there is a clever solution, it will be S2D;
that comes up with the answer.

Now, we can get back to business. "The Skunk #1"



Oh, man. You won't believe this. You know when i was playing around with pollen. You guessed it. Found one seed in each of the two buds, I smoked early. You were right. All you have to do is think pollen; and it spreads. Well, guess i will have some seeds afterall.

Glad to see ya up, and running !!!

CW

 

[Guest]

Hey The Dopest! Thanks for the idea bro. I think I have seen this in your own grow, correct? I'm gonna try to ride it out with a 5 gallon res. The only problem I see is when they really start drinking during flower....10 gallon res on list for next run.

Hey Chilly! Thanks for the credit man...I have to have ingenuity cuz I don't have much money, lol!

Here's some photos to add some fun to this thread. Things are happening behind the scenes, and it's time to unviel some of them.

This is a photo of my clone/momma cab. I recently ALMOST lost my skum widow haze #4 momma due to light leaks in her res, so I went to usplastics.com and got me some 1 gallon black buckets to match the big grow room. I had to clone off the skum momma and see if I can save her, so pictured in the cab is 2 skum clones in top back, 2 sk#1 clones top front, and my BIG sk#1 momma in the bottom.



In my main grow room, I have these two sk#1 testers going. The one lost it's root somehow so it's been slow moving, but it is re-rooting. Getting roots in a bubbler is TOO easy. The one on the left has grown like a weed in about one weeks time in the big room. (it started same size as one on the right...this is one week's growth) I have a feeling this grow is gonna be fun.



Anyway. The one that is doing so well in the big room is going to be the new SK#1 momma. The momma in the cab is just getting chopped. The two sk#1 clones in the cab will be used for this run as soon as they both root.

Here's the big sk#1 momma up close.



And here is the soon to be new momma and her roots.





This is just a little better shot at the 4 clones rooting (2 skum in back, 2 sk#1 up front) and a better look at the cool little 1 gallon buckets. No more light leak troubles with my old CLEAR, painted buckets....thank my lucky stars...



Well, I know some will say "flower that big sk#1 momma" but I want equal size plants on this run. I am going to try to maximize my yield this time, and uneven plant sizes won't help. Also, my original sk#1 momma is too big for her home, so it's easier to just use another smaller one to keep that clone going.

I do have a couple more goodies on the way. A whole new set of nutrients, a good hanna ph/tds/ec combo meter, and all the calibration solutions.

I also have some 5 1/4" hurricane glass tubes on the way so I can switch off the 4" cool tubes and run one 6" duct to both lights in series. This should help the airflow significantly on my 6" vortex and help bring air temps down. I'm trying to avoid adding another noisy exhaust fan, but the cooler is heating the air in the room. If it ain't one thing.........

 

[Guest]

BTW, most of the damage seen on my sk#1 momma in the cab is not a health issue. It's from those daggon fans in there and lifting her lid to water her...A number of leaves have been gnawed at by the fans, lol!

 

[clowntown]

Looks very similar to a 6-bucket DWC grow I have planned as soon as I can get some cuts to root. I have a near identical DIY cooler/chiller, but I'm hoping to use an 18gal Rubbermaid instead of a 5gal bucket for the controller, for more room. I hope that's not too much water to cool and the chiller can keep up.

What type of pond pump do you have? Do you know how much power it draws? I have a 396gph EcoPlus submersible/inline pump, and hoping it won't add any heat just like The Dopest has experienced.

 

[Guest]

Hey clowntown...I'm not sure what pond pump I have. It's a 240gph pump from lowes garden section. I'll look later and tell ya what it is.

Anyway...I got myself a new toy today. Very rare for me. It's a Canon PowerShot S3 IS. It's six mega pixels, 12x optical zoom, optical image stabilizer, and tons of other stuff including super macro, which I'm still figuring out. http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelDetailAct&fcategoryid=144&modelid=13077

Damn this thing is sweet. I've just been toying with it for a couple hours trying to figure it out. Here's a few shots of my current stash, up close and personal. These shots will do much more justice than I've ever done my stash before. Enjoy!

Skunk #1





Skum Widow Haze #4





Yes, I still have a lot to learn, but these are the best photos I've ever taken...

 

[clowntown]

12x optical?! Wow!

 

[Guest]

Yup....12x. Mostly good for distance shots with the zoom, but the super macro mode allows it to take shots at 0.0" distance. Now, if I can get it to do that through my magnifying glass......yikes!