Sock's Trial and error grow...

OK Ladies and Gentalmen,

I guess I should put something here as most of my post have been in the Hospital section of this site...HaHaHa

First and foremost, weed is a weed, you have to be really wacked to kill this stuff... however getting a yeild is another story and another thread..LoL

Ok just a little run down, I tried growing over a decade ago, way before CFL's hit the market, I ended up with 2 females. but under incandesants, well to put it simple, it SUCKED..

Bored out of my mind, sitting with the wife under the stars, by a fire, listening to Crosby, Stills and Nash, I said lets try growing a few and see what happens..

SO I threw a few bag seeds in a wet napkin, threw them into a takeout Thai container and put on the window seal, same thing I do with all my veggi garden seeds.

3 days later I have germination, and imeditally put into 3 gal container with miracle-grow (first mistake and not the last....) I go to the Home-D-Pot and get some garage spot lights and CFL's.

Not knowing anything I just grab $hit (do know about HID, but was not serious at the time). Ended up with 2 100watt 2700K CFL's for vegging (2'nd mistake) knew enough to put on at least a 18/6 cycle, and that is what I did for 2 weeks.

Expecting leggy plants like my first grow, I was blown away with 2 bushy plants, 8" tall, with at least 6 nodes. I was flabergasted...

That is when I said to myself that I have a chance.., Got on the internet and found this wonderful site.

Head spinning from all the info, I tried to make heads and tails out of everything. Wanting the best for my kids, I tried to make them right by giving the best from the info I found here.. First was getting some 6500k CFL's into the mix.

Made some great organic soil and did my first transplant it totally bombed. Pulled her out and base broke off from roots...:( however there is a happy ending (to date that is..haha). I gathered more info and figured I have nothing to loose, so I cloned. I took 6 cutting and used the mother stem/top..

The same time this is transpiring, my other plant went through a transplant and started to take a nose dive. I could tell the day after that she/he was not right. I know enough from gardening to know the difference in a transplant stress and other issues..

I gave it another day and the worse she got, Nute burn, but yet I waited another day and at that point something had to be done. I Flused the hell out of her (I say her cause I like to think positive). And put her back in a bigger container with a weaker soil mix (no guano and real light on the bone meal) but keeping the current root ball and soil intack..

That was 7 days ago..

So as of today I have 7 rooted clones from the dying plant that derooted on the transplant and have a healthy thriving transplant recovery plant... Yeah

Just revamped my little vegging area with a PVC light support and lined the walls with a solar blanket (mylar) from the Wally.

Made a little 18 gal rubbermade tote, lined with mylar so I can sex 2 of the clones, even though I have a good exhaust fan and only a little 1/2 pvc intake, the temp inside is still too high for use. Maybe I need a bigger intake..

Well this in my itty-bitty story and a few pics from this evening, thanks for taking the time to read.

Questions, comments, concerns??

Sock

[ISO2BWELL]

1/2" intake hole? Oye! get those girls some air!

That intake, if passive, needs to be twice as large as the exhaust fan, IMO. 6" fan exhaust, 12" of intake hole.

Looking good though, and glad you hung in there through the tough times...they are hard to kill, but that doesn't mean we worry any less!

ISO

[jangel]

Hey Sock! Boy those babies are lookin' good! I am sooooo proud of you!

Yes, you need more passive exhaust. I have a 6 in. vortex exhaust. I have 3 X 4 in passive air intakes. total 12 inches. Listen to ISO. He helped me and has taught me worlds of knowledge. He is a wise one.

Peace.

[GreenGoblin]

I just had the same comment as ISO and Jangel... which is probably where i got my info from when I did mine.. :-) Bigger passive air intake and you should be good. I actually climbed in my cabinet with a doob and shut the doors to watch the air flow with the aid of the smoke. :-) It was pretty funny.. Also, do you have a fan in there moving any air around? That has helped my plants a good bit as well.

Great start so far! I think you and I are at a similar point in our first grows.. :-) And by the way.. I screwed up everything you did as well. All part of the learning curve.

GG

[jangel]

[quote=GreenGoblin;52483]I just had the same comment as ISO and Jangel... which is probably where i got my info from when I did mine.. :-) Bigger passive air intake and you should be good. I actually climbed in my cabinet with a doob and shut the doors to watch the air flow with the aid of the smoke. :-) It was pretty funny.. Also, do you have a fan in there moving any air around? That has helped my plants a good bit as well.

Great start so far! I think you and I are at a similar point in our first grows.. :-) And by the way.. I screwed up everything you did as well. All part of the learning curve.

GG[/quote


wow!!!!!!

Good one GG! YOU caught what ISO AND I BOTH missed! Good on ya!

THAT is what I call paying it foreward!

Yes, get a little fan in there King Sock! Those babies need a breeze to strengthen their stems and make them grow better. Helps to move the air around and keep them KEWL too! I have two big fans in my flower area, one blowing on the light and one occilating. In my veg area, I have 3. all litte cheapies from wally world, I think they are about 6 bucks there. And they work well. That will help a lot with the heat too, even if just stirring the air.

Thanks for all the great info ISO, Jangel, Greeny..

My Closet ventilation is spot on, that is what the pics are of, however it's my little rubbermaid tote that I am working on the heat issue..

***Note I am not using till I get the heat issue under control*** SO No worries Mates...

I really have no other reason for the S&M Chamber (forced sexing in a tight spot)LoL, just to sex clones.

It's a little 18gal tote, mylar and foil tape on the inside, have 1 light socket with a Y attached w/ 2 100w CFL's 2700k, one 6" desk fan ontop to one side and the passive intake at the oppisite side/bottom.

Will go get some pics now, BRB,

Sock

[jangel]

Originally Posted by Sock

Thanks for all the great info ISO, Jangel, Greeny..



I really have no other reason for the S&M Chamber (forced sexing in a tight spot)LoL, just to sex clones.


Sock

ROTFL!!!! I like that! Just the devil in me!

Yeah, Jangel has a good sense of humor... Gotta love it..

ANyways here is a few pics, of the S&M Chamber..

Gonna go work on her, she will be submissive and give me what I want, or I will tear her a new hole, passive air intake hole that is... Gezzz this could go on for days...:(

Ok sock get head out of gutter and back to job at hand...LoL

Sock

Ok so i took the 1/2 passive pvc air intake out and made a 4 inch hole and installed a computer fan for intake..

I dont want to buy a 12 VDC adapter so I looked around the house and found an old Cell Phone charger that has an output of 3.7VDC, I know that it is under powered but hey dont know till I try, if temp is good yeah. If close then I can find a 12VDC adapter and that should up the RPM's/CFM's of the intake.

Last I checked it was running 79 degrees.

If this does work I still need to rig up a light diffusser, as I still need to achieve 12 hrs of total dark..

1 step at a time...

[jangel]

Don't burn yourself with that! If you have to find an adapter stick to one the same voltage. DO NOT put a larger draw on a smaller sized adapter. You could cause a fire. PM ISO about this before you do it or anyone. I don't totally understand it. Just warning you.

You will be fine if you just cut a whole and place the hole towards the wall, so it will still draw passive (no fan) air in and will be blocked from the light in the room. How much light gets behind your couch? Also, if it is the same quintity of light every day, it will not affect the flowering. It will still work fine, and you don't need to have an air intake FAN! Just an exhaust fan.

[scott06]

Sock - loved your story about early grows...common way to start....no advice to add but glad others are making sure your moving in the right direction...you seem very willing to learn and hey that's about 98% of success or maybe 50% with the other 50% being a willingness to try...either way, I see great harvests in your future.

No worries Jangel... I have a basic understanding of electronics, volts, amps, ohms(resistance) etc... Many moons ago I was in the USAF and worked on HVAC, 90% all all problems are/were electrical, so my training was mostly electrical..

Not gonna run a VDC adapter over 12v as that is what the fan is rated for, but anything under that is fair game, as long as the amps are not out of control.

Anyways, even with the intake fan running I have a consistant temp of 82, would like it around 78...:( For what I am doing, maybe I can drop down to 1 100w 2700k CFL... If I take the intake fan out it will run even hotter so that has to stay for now..

Oh my head is turning, hate to put in another hole..

Sock

[theonetrueace]

is noise an issue for you?....if not, then i know some great fans you can ebay for cheap....throw some 4" dryer duct around them, one for intake, one or exhaust, i'm sure it'll cool ur grow down.....i know they sure helped mine.....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...942478#GALLERY

[jangel]

Originally Posted by theonetrueace

is noise an issue for you?....if not, then i know some great fans you can ebay for cheap....throw some 4" dryer duct around them, one for intake, one or exhaust, i'm sure it'll cool ur grow down.....i know they sure helped mine.....

eBay Motors: NASCAR RACE CAR brake cooling air blower fan 4 inch 2pc (item 310067942478 end time Jul-24-08 10:15:51 PDT)

Yes, but why pay shipping when you can go to Lowes or home depot and get the same thing? It works out cheaper. As far as noise goes, just go to wally world. I am telling you those little plastic fans they have are just great and cheap and quiet.

Originally Posted by theonetrueace

is noise an issue for you?....if not, then i know some great fans you can ebay for cheap....throw some 4" dryer duct around them, one for intake, one or exhaust, i'm sure it'll cool ur grow down.....i know they sure helped mine.....

eBay Motors: NASCAR RACE CAR brake cooling air blower fan 4 inch 2pc (item 310067942478 end time Jul-24-08 10:15:51 PDT)

Bloody Hell, I'm not trying to put my babies in a wind tunnel to see how good they draft on the track at Daytona...LoL

But I like the way your are thinking, not so much for my little rubbermaid sexing chamber, but for the walkin closet setup with 4" HVAC flex duct..

Yes Jangel, The wife just went to wally for some Mayo and she is picking me up another fan just like I have to the exhaust. I will use for intake.. Here is the pick of the Massey fan..

Yesterday I got to a high of 83 w/ the computer intake, so I took 1 CFL out, leaving 1, put chamber in my dark, cool bedroom where I sleep during part of the day and was able to maintain 79, but still want to run 2 CFL's.

So putting in the same intake fan as I have for exhaust, this should fix all problems...

Thanks,

Sock

Originally Posted by scott06

Sock - loved your story about early grows...common way to start....no advice to add but glad others are making sure your moving in the right direction...you seem very willing to learn and hey that's about 98% of success or maybe 50% with the other 50% being a willingness to try...either way, I see great harvests in your future.

Missed your Post Scott...:(

Thanks for the kind words, yes 1/2 the battle is just giving it a go, the other 1/2 is not afraid to learn...

Peace,

Sock

[jangel]

Originally Posted by Sock

Bloody Hell, I'm not trying to put my babies in a wind tunnel to see how good they draft on the track at Daytona...LoL

But I like the way your are thinking, not so much for my little rubbermaid sexing chamber, but for the walkin closet setup with 4" HVAC flex duct..

Yes Jangel, The wife just went to wally for some Mayo and she is picking me up another fan just like I have to the exhaust. I will use for intake.. Here is the pick of the Massey fan..

Yesterday I got to a high of 83 w/ the computer intake, so I took 1 CFL out, leaving 1, put chamber in my dark, cool bedroom where I sleep during part of the day and was able to maintain 79, but still want to run 2 CFL's.

So putting in the same intake fan as I have for exhaust, this should fix all problems...

Thanks,

Sock

And Sock, you have a good sense of humour as well! LOL! I can see the little planties rounding the turn!!!!! Sock in pursuit! "My subjects PLease come back!!!" In for the win! LOL! Hilarious!

Ya know what Sock, I would not worry so much about about 5 degrees. If you are just sexing them, they should be okay. If they where babies, and going to live like that all the time, I would worry.

Peace. and it is 4:20.

Originally Posted by jangel

And Sock, you have a good sense of humour as well! LOL! I can see the little planties rounding the turn!!!!! Sock in pursuit! "My subjects PLease come back!!!" In for the win! LOL! Hilarious!

Ya know what Sock, I would not worry so much about about 5 degrees. If you are just sexing them, they should be okay. If they where babies, and going to live like that all the time, I would worry.

Peace. and it is 4:20.

I try...

I have put the effort into this chamber so just seeing what I can do with the temp. One never know's may need it for emergency situation, so would like to know that I can get that temp down.. But for what I am doing, no worries on a few degrees..

anyways I put the new fan in and testing as we speek..

Thanks,

Sock

Not alot going on here, just waiting on sex, like most men do..hahaha

Scrapped the whole rubbermaid S&M sexing chamber idea... Had it built and ready to go, but decided that I need to flower the whole lot of 'em..

Going into this venture not to long ago, I had no intentions of getting this serious, but here I am with a really crappy grow area that is not properly designed and too small for me...:(

But it will do for now and have grand plans for a nicer, bigger, properly designed area for great light ventilation, fresh air ventilation, proper exhaust into attic, and room for either 400 or 600 HID..

Anyways, my 7 clones are taking off and I was hoping to get them sexed before I had to transplant, so not to waste time and effort on males, however the little plastic cups cant hold anymore roots... Even if I do transplant and they are males, I can just recycle the precious soil...

My bigger subject is getting big, starting to stretch a bit, may have to do a little LST'ing..

Added another 2 CFL's and had an old 4' 40w shop light (holds 2 tubes) that I cramed into the the area. Got 2 GE eco 40w bulbs for it 3000k, the more light the better...

That is all for now.

Peace,

Sock

[jangel]

Sounds good babes. You will do fine. It is all learning. Just remember, this is your first and the lessons you learn here will truely guide you.

Peace my friend.