I Need Some Feedback On My First Grow Room Setup!

[CoNerd]

I'm going keep it like you see and when I water the run off will drain into a bucket that I can empty. I don't have any floor drains in the area, that would be nice.I'm just tired of waiting for each drip tray to fill then sucking them out over & over. But I am thinking about getting a basin that I fill with water and nutes. Then a submersible pump that supply's water lines with distributor buttons and sprayer spikes to each plant. Eliminates hand watering.

I'm pretty much of the same mind. I've revised my watering and now alternate between top and bottom watering and feedings. I'm being quite a bit more stingy with the water to avoid the long waits for dry soil, but it means I have to watch the plants more carefully.

I see a lot of variation in water needs between plants, now that I'm growing in soil. I really like using the fabric pots. It's easy to feel the sides and tell where the moisture is.

 

[GonnaGrow]

y.

I see a lot of variation in water needs between plants, now that I'm growing in soil. I really like using the fabric pots. It's easy to feel the sides and tell where the moisture is.

I concur, I just lift up on them and can tell by their weight when they are ready. I used 5g smart pots last round, this time I'm using 7g's with handles and they hold way more water than that 5's.

Do you use a Digital Environment controller? My sentinel dec-4 is acting kind of sketchy. I think its due to interference from the ballast that is 5 ft. away. I'm thinking about switching to the Autopilot master green house controller. Supposedly its built to withstand this interference but I wanted to hear from somebody who has used one. If you dont use a controller how do you keep your temps and humidity in check?

 

[CoNerd]

Lol. I went totally cheap and purchased a $35 "Digital Temperature Controller and Humidity Control Controller & Sensor 85V-265V" off the auction site, shipped from China. I mounted it in a deep remodel outlet box with the outlet, so the fans just plug in. End result: $45 controller. No night, day features, though, just basic control.

I run my vent fan on at humidity 45%, off at 42.5%. The ambient air in Colorado usually runs 10-50%. At >18C it turns on an internal fan that pumps hot air from the top down to the bottom of the tent. The air in the top of my tent gets to about 30C with my LED lights on.

The vent fan only runs about 5-20% of the time during the day, but runs most of the night as the plants transpire. The internal fan turns off at night due to falling temps.

The biggest problems are measuring humidity. The sensors are easily contaminated as they are just a film on a tiny piece of ceramic. If they end up in condensing conditions or are sprayed, then mold grows on them and throws them off.

Environmental control is tough to do and keep working. If you have proper grounds in your electrics I'd guess that interference from the ballast is not an issue. Just don't put any coils of sensor cables near the ballasts.

 

[GonnaGrow]

With a little bit of ingenuity I made a hanging apparatus so I can swing my two 400w hps out of the way so I can access the plants.

I also have a new veg area where I put a brand spanking new SunBlaze 4ft. 8 bulb high output T5 reflector!!! No more waiting for one round to finish before I can start another.

 

[CoNerd]

LOL. It looks like a circus tent up there. A clever bit of rigging.
What are you going to do with the free floor space in your flower room?

 

[GonnaGrow]

LOL. It looks like a circus tent up there. A clever bit of rigging.
What are you going to do with the free floor space in your flower room?

Once the one's in the veg room are ready to I'll transfer them to the flower room. I'm still thinking of how everything will be placed on the floor. I would like to have one tray on each side so I could stand between them.

 

[GonnaGrow]

Bitchez R Stretchin!

Veg room is filling up with potted clones. The ones cut just a week ago already have roots growing out of the rockwool cubes. It took way longer last time when I didn't have them in a steady environment.

First week of flower and the girls are takin off. The middle one is from seed and its THICK up top.

 

[Ascended Master Kief]

Wow! Gals looking great!

 

[GonnaGrow]

Putting on the second tier screen. Takes about a week for the plants to grow from one tier to another. Also got my super awesome periodic table of cannabis for my grow room.

 

[MassMedMan]

Re: 11 week's old

Great set up, and journal, very impressive! I'll be watching this more closely, thanks!

 

[GonnaGrow]

Re: 11 week's old

Great set up, and journal, very impressive! I'll be watching this more closely, thanks!

Thanks I put alot of time and money into it. I checked out your scrog journal I like how you put all the pots in crates. Makes it a whole lot easier to find the right anchor spots huh?

 

[CoNerd]

It looks like the waiting area of the retail Cannabis stores in Colorado.

Your room is looking very nice these days. Your efforts look like they are paying off.

 

[Ascended Master Kief]

Right on, GonnaGrow! Gals lookin' killer in them cages. Love the chart.

 

[GonnaGrow]

Plants have made it to the second screen. I just hope all the tops clear it so there aren't any buds sticking halfway through.

 

[GonnaGrow]

Starting 3rd Week Of Flower

Here we are two weeks of flower complete. I added a few more water spikes to each planter. But I think I need to switch from 1/2 gallon per hour distr. buttons to the 1 gallon per hour ones. I also put hooks on the wall and hooked the screen over them so it will stand up straight and not tend to lean away from the wall. Getting ready for outdoor season here. Dug two planter boxes with 2x6 box 18" deep by 26" deep then lined it with garden fabric. Everything is going well, Anxious to see how the summer heat will affect the conditions outside of my grow room.

 

[CoNerd]

You are really laying on the light. How may watts per square foot of plants are you using?

It looks bright!

 

[GonnaGrow]

You are really laying on the light. How may watts per square foot of plants are you using?

It looks bright!

Man-O-Man it is bright for sure. Since I'm running Co2 I want more light than just my single 1k watt HPS in the XXXL reflector. I added x2 400w Hps that I dont have glass for and they raise the temp in my room to about 85F. Now my exhaust fans only run for a few minutes once or twice an hour. But to answer your question im using 1800w on a 2x4 canopy right now. Here in a few weeks I will be adding more plants into the flower room and the two 400's will be primarily focused on those. I'm kind of just using these 400's to get the most out of those bulbs before I replace them with new hortilux here in a few weeks. I've got another 1k watt switchable ballast that I could use with a econo wing or aircooled reflector thats missing the glass. I'm just afraid it will raise the temp to much in the room. I'm considering purchasing a 1000 watt Gavita DE once I harvest again, but those aren't air cooled either. All that just depends on how the summer heat affects the environment in my room, an if I want to get a ducted ac unit or not.

 

[GonnaGrow]

One plant was behind so I weaved the other two back through the screens to let it catch up. Now look how much taller is is than the other two.

My wee Bonsai

I think my clones have rooted.

My 8x8 Gambrel roof green house is coming along. It will be covered with those clear sunlight roofing panels.

 

[CoNerd]

Should be interesting. How are you going to keep it cool in the summer under direct sun?

When I build sheds, I construct a jig on the floor using scrap to make all the roof trusses uniform and aligned. Each truss gets assembled on the floor with the plywood gussets at the joints. Each one comes out exactly like the others and it's easier to put together on the floor.

 

[GonnaGrow]

Should be interesting. How are you going to keep it cool in the summer under direct sun?

When I build sheds, I construct a jig on the floor using scrap to make all the roof trusses uniform and aligned. Each truss gets assembled on the floor with the plywood gussets at the joints. Each one comes out exactly like the others and it's easier to put together on the floor.

Yeah I assembled them on the floor. Making a jig is a good idea though. This is my first greenhouse, so I'm kind of learning as I go. Any advice is greatly appreciated.