Deptrai's Soil Indoor Blue Dream Grow Journal — 2015

[deptrai]

My first ever grow attempt.
In a homemade space bucket. Two 120mm computer fans (1 inlet, 1 outlet). 4 6-gallon buckets with 3-gallon smartpot inside.

Fox Farms Ocean Forest potting soil
LED light strip lining interior wall of bucket
Apollo Horticulture 180W LED UFO on top. Actual output 109W
Tap water ~ 7 ph.

Reduced to ~6 ph with "ph down"

Day 0: Humboldt Seeds Blue Dream feminized seed. 80% indica, 20% sativa

Day 1: Rinsed seed with tap water, placed in lid of prescription bottle with cotton soaked in distilled water. Placed on top of my cable TV box since it is on 100% and generates a small amount of heat. Covered with bottom of prescription bottle.
Day 3: Taproot emerged

Night 3: Planted in small cup ½" deep.

Soil was previously watered with ~ 6 ph tap water. Cup left indoors. I have the section of the bucket with the LED strip lights surrounding the cup. UFO light is on top, but not turned on.

Night 5: 1st sign of green emerging from soil.

If everything goes well, I expect to transplant into 3-gallon smartpot in bucket in 1-2 weeks. I'm concerned that my bucket will be in a cold garage. I tested with the lights on, the temps have been around 61-65F inside the bucket. I've since purchased some fiberglass insulation made for heating ducts and will wrap it around the bucket. I'll also get the base of the bucket off of the concrete floor.
Can video be uploaded here?

 

[deptrai]

Day 2 above ground. I watered 2 days ago, but soil is still moist so I'll hold off until tomorrow before giving more. I have been spraying water with a small amount of fine mist twice a day.

I'm turning on the UFO light now. It's only 2" above the top. Not sure if this is too close?

 

[deptrai]

I left the UFO, LED strip and 1 exhaust fan on all night last night. Temp was about 81F...good. This morning I unplugged fan, because I turn off the house heater when I leave for work. Came home just now and she is laying on her side. Temp jumped to 95F.

Is she dead? Anything I can do now? I took off the UFO, have the top open with just LED on and fan now back on. Temp has dropped to 85F, but is it too late?

 

[Mtn Dew]

First Star Wars comes out and now the Space Bucket has arrived. This is going to be bad ass. Hope you don't mind me pulling up my recliner for the show? Thanks for the journal. Blue dream Mmmmmmm....

 

[Mtn Dew]

My first ever grow attempt.
In a homemade space bucket. Two 120mm computer fans (1 inlet, 1 outlet). 4 6-gallon buckets with 3-gallon smartpot inside.

Fox Farms Ocean Forest potting soil
LED light strip lining interior wall of bucket
Apollo Horticulture 180W LED UFO on top. Actual output 109W
Tap water ~ 7 ph.

Reduced to ~6 ph with “ph down”

Day 0: Humboldt Seeds Blue Dream feminized seed. 80% indica, 20% sativa

Day 1: Rinsed seed with tap water, placed in lid of prescription bottle with cotton soaked in distilled water. Placed on top of my cable TV box since it is on 100% and generates a small amount of heat. Covered with bottom of prescription bottle.
Day 3: Taproot emerged

Night 3: Planted in small cup ½” deep.

Soil was previously watered with ~ 6 ph tap water. Cup left indoors. I have the section of the bucket with the LED strip lights surrounding the cup. UFO light is on top, but not turned on.

Night 5: 1st sign of green emerging from soil.

If everything goes well, I expect to transplant into 3-gallon smartpot in bucket in 1-2 weeks. I’m concerned that my bucket will be in a cold garage. I tested with the lights on, the temps have been around 61-65F inside the bucket. I’ve since purchased some fiberglass insulation made for heating ducts and will wrap it around the bucket. I’ll also get the base of the bucket off of the concrete floor.
Can video be uploaded here?

Most farmers upload to youtube then paste link.

 

[deptrai]

Let's try this Youtube link:

This is a video with my GoPro inside the Space Bucket operated remotely.

Video doesn't see the lower intake fan.

I watered tonight(as planned) and although she is still laying on her side, looking a bit better. Temps down to 81F. I hope I can save her. If not, I have a Chronic x Northern Lights seed from Spanish Seeds that I will start.

 

[deptrai]

Propped up with a bent twist-tie today. Maybe this will help her recover?

 

[Mtn Dew]

You need to head over to the DIY section and show off your space bucket.

 

[deptrai]

I have my power strip hooked up to a Z-wave metering device. I can see exactly how many watts are being used and how many cumulative kWh I've consumed since the beginning of the grow. LED's are pretty efficient. 9.2kWh since 14-Dec.

This includes a combination of the LED strip lights, LED UFO & computer fan (only using the exhaust for now until I transplant into the Smartpot inside the Space Bucket.

I can control the power strip through my iPhone that controls my SmartThings hub. SmartThings hub goes offline occasionally, so you can't rely on it 100%.

 

[deptrai]

I'm gonna give her until tomorrow. I'll pull the plug if there isn't any improvement. Started soaking the next seed just now. This will give me a little time to work on the low humidity (25%-30%) condition I have. I'm also going to look for a better cup, like a Solo cup. The wax-paper cup I've been using makes me a little nervous that the bottom will get soaked with water and fail.

 

[TokinElf]

wow whats this space bucket bit,, looks amazing,, i want one!!

 

[deptrai]

There's a whole (or a few) websites dedicated to growing in buckets. Its for people with limited space...like if you live in a small apartment or something. I have plenty of room, but just wanted to go cheap & small for my first attempts. You can supposedly build one for around $100 if you use CFLs. If I can do good in the bucket, I intend to scale up later and get a proper tent with more light, ventilation and odor control.

My bucket is an assembly of four 6-gallon buckets with one lid. Cut a huge whole in the lid for my LED UFO and cut 2 holes in the sides for computer fans. The whole thing is ultra compact & portable.

 

[TokinElf]

its the led ufo thingy i like,, gotta find one of those!

 

[deptrai]

I bought my 180W UFO for $80 on Amazon. They make this particular model in 75W - 1200W. After 180W the next size up is 300W and they become rectangular instead of round.

 

[deptrai]

Dead. I'll be asking mods to move this thread. I'll be starting a new one soon. Taproot just beginning to show on new seed.

 

[David Bowman]

Hope all is well in your world.

Thanks for sharing this grow with us.

Please head over to the 420 Strain Reviews forum and post your smoke report there too.

I’m moving this to Completed Journals now.

Have you started a new grow you would like to share with us?

If so, please feel free to start a new journal here: Journals in Progress

You can use the Report Post feature found at the bottom left of every post and we'll move it for you right away.

Sending you lots of love and positive energy.