KillerTrees 6 plant aero - paradise

[KillerTree]

The cuttings I got were from a friend and they said the strain is called Paradise, other than that I know nothing about it. I don't have the tent fully setup but I started my cuttings on thanksgiving. I am just using a couple shop lights right now because I need to finish building the PVC frame to hold the hood (Magnum XXXL-8) because the tent I got was an el-cheapo off of ebay and honestly, supporting those fluoros is scary. I knew the tent would be weak when I bought it so it isn't like I wasn't prepared.

The lights I will be using with my 1000w purple Lumatek are a Hi-Lux MH, and a Super HPS. The fan for the hood will be an S&P td-150 and the fan for the tent(76"x76"x76") is an S&P TD-200.

This setup isn't going to stay this small, I know the pipes are short not leaving an ideal amount of room for the roots, especially only being 4" PVC. The next grow I will definitely make them longer. I have learned a lot since I started building the setup and wish I had built some things differently but this is my first attempt at anything like this and hopefully it will get the job done.

The chiller is an Aqua Euro CL-150, and the water pump for the sprayers is some LittleGiant 300GPH submersible pump I bought at lowes or something for $50.. It definitely isn't top of the line but it works.

Don't know what else to say, this is my first time ever trying to grow so minus the research I did before diving in I'm a rookie with no hands on experience. A family member with their card needed to find a grower since she was still having to buy her medicine from random people and I was on the short list of people she knows she can trust so I decided to give her a hand

Well I guess here are some pics... and I will update with new pics as they are available.. 2 of the cuttings are already showing signs of roots, so I don't see it taking much longer.

 

[Sky Rocket]

So far so good. I'm in. How come you didn't cut part of your clone's fan leaves? I to want to get the xxxl 8 hood. Is the hood suppose to cover more surface area?

 

[KillerTree]

it does cover the largest area compared to the other hoods I was looking at, but right now it will probably be going to waste in my small setup (limited to 6 plants for now). Unless I scrog to get more surface area which is something I was thinking about doing until (if) I'm allowed more.

the fan leaves? am I suppose to clip em?? 3 of the 6 cuttings are showing around 1/2-1" roots as of today, hopefully the others start to root soon, it has been 8 days since I put them in there. I've seen people clip the fan leaves but didn't think it was that big of deal. It seems to be working, right now I have the sprayers set to 20 minutes on 1 minute off for cloning. When they are all rooted I will switch to 10-20 or 5-15 or something.

 

[notadude]

looks good to me, not that i know anything, but i'm impressed with ur setup its way beyond anything that i could build. i would have thought u would leave the fan leaves on, i thought u needed leaves to keep it aliive, but what do i know, i'm on my first grow, good luck with it all

 

[KillerTree]

I think he just means like cutting off a portion (the tips) like a lot of people do, that way the leaf is still there to capture light. But since the plant doesn't have roots to support them with water/nutrients some believe it is better to do. Either way it seems to be working like this and I'm a firm believer of "if it aint broke don't fix it". When the other 3 show signs of roots I will take more pictures, hopefully by tonight or tomorrow.

I'm pretty stoked this setup is actually working, I wasn't sure about the sprayers since I've never seen this type used but they are working great (for cloning anyway). They are just some industrial sprayers I had laying around used for spraying water for cooling equipment like saws/drills eitc.. The PVC is also stuff I have extremely easy access to and I was looking for a way to build the system as inexpensive as possible. The only things I had to pay for were the electrical things like the chiller/light/pumps so for "me" this was the most economical system I could build.

I hope it doesn't disappoint, but if it does it'll still be a learning experience since people here can tell me what went wrong. If it doesn't give maximum potential this time, I'm sure I'll be able to make the proper changes for the next grow. The sprayers themselves don't cover much area but they have a good amount of pressure that creates lots of splash so I'm hoping that does the trick.

anyway I have some things to do today so I need to head out of the house but I will check the cuttings tonight, hopefully the other 3 show roots so I can take more pics. If not tonight hopefully by tomorrow, they are all the same strain so I assume since they are all in the same environment they should be right behind the others.

 

[KillerTree]

all 6 cuttings are showing roots, this is the best of the 6. 2 of them literally only have like half millimeter roots but as long as there's something I'm happy knowing all 6 succeeded. In a couple days I will change the rez and put in some nutrients and get started.

I'll update soon

 

[CocoJoe]

Hi KillerTree, this should be interesting. Much Luck!

 

[KillerTree]

I will most likely be changing the rez tonight so I will snap some more pics, one of the cuttings is really large compared to the others and the roots are like almost transparent. I was hoping they would take off and get healthier looking but it has been a few days so I'm just gonna roll with it. I set the chiller to 71 degrees and after another day or 2 I will set it to 68 with 1 min on 5 min off for the sprayers and start the veg cycle. More pics tonight

 

[KillerTree]

I changed the rez today and took one last shot of the roots, I installed the hood but I haven't hooked up the ventilation yet. It isn't a big deal to me though, it is cold out and if anything it will help with the heat, my heater is still having to run constantly, the heat from the hood and the heater I can only seem to get the temps to the mid-high 70's in the grow area.

my unvented Magnum, at least until I get more ducting. Im about 3 feet short unfortunately and I don't wanna leave the intake open in the tent cause it will suck my much needed heat out

and the girls

my ratcheting hood hangers

and the support built for the light

I know the conditions aren't ideal, this is still a work in progress.


I have rez temp set to 70 and since the roots still aren't as long as I was hoping they'd be I'm running my sprayers 1 minute on 1 minute off. A few of em aren't even touching the bottom of the pvc and I don't want to let them hang there for 5 minutes with no water so I'll keep those settings for a few days. I will figure out what I'm going to do with the ventilation in the next few days hopefully.

 

[KillerTree]

well I decided I am going to do a SCROG, I built a frame out of pvc but I need to find the right screen. I kinda don't want to use chicken wire, I want something a little sturdier and the store I went to didn't have anything I was happy with. I will take pics as soon as I get screen on the frame.

Once switching from the fluoros to the MH I have started to have some temp problems for sure. The night cycle is fine but when that light is on my chiller can't keep up. With the light on the best my chiller can keep my reservoir to is 73 which I'm not happy with. I have moved the chiller outside the tent but it doesn't seem to help much. Hopefully my plants will make it through this grow, but next grow I will definitely do something different, maybe get the reservoir insulated or find a new/better res all together.

I am getting an algae build up in my res as well on the sides and around the hoses. Hopefully they are good for the night, I'll get the water switched out tomorrow as soon as I get home. I wish there was more of an update but until they start growing there is really nothing to see. There is lots of roots but I'm trying to not pull those out much and expose them to light. My screen I have at the end of the pvc isn't working to keep the roots in so that is another thing I will need to get is a finer mesh. Right now I am just using the type of screen on a screen door which isn't working well, the roots are growing right through it. I've got some problems that's for sure and i keep over correcting my PH and having to re-up it then bring it back down again etc.. This is definitely a learning experience and I will adjust it in smaller amounts from now on. I have been adjusting it to 5.8 once it hits around 6.5 and the sprayers are set to 1 minute on 2 minutes off. I still haven't set them to 5 minutes off, I figure when I start seeing the new growth really start to take I will switch it to 5 minutes off.

I'll update again when I get the screen on the frame

 

[KillerTree]

quick update, when I changed out the water I noticed even though the rubbermaid tub was dark(dark blue color) the light penetrated it. I hope that is all that was causing the build-up of algae. I lined the outside of it with foil to reflect the light so it didn't penetrate through. Ever since wrapping it in foil and moving that chiller outside the grow area though I am maintaining res temps of 69F during the light cycle which is more than acceptable.

I think for my next grow I will not be so cheap and actually replace my res though. I found a marine cooler made by rubbermaid that is 150 quarts and can hold ice for 7 days in 90 degree weather so I'm guessing my chiller will be a lot more efficient that way. It does run right around $100 which is steep but it is white already which is good for a grow room. Foil definitely isn't the ideal thing to use to reflect. Some are worried about burning from the foil but it's also pretty easy to tear and I'd rather not have to worry about that. The foil seems to do the trick so I'll finish out this grow with it but it is certainly being replaced by that marine cooler.

It looks like sometime on Wednesday I will finish the screen so I will take pics then, just wanted to document how I fixed the res temps. Hopefully that will help somebody in the same boat as I was. I have read people saying those tubs are fine but in my personal opinion you need to double them up if you are going to use them. You could wrap foil nice and tight around one then put it inside another tub to help protect the foil. That should definitely get the job done but my chiller kinda sucks and I think to get that 1 extra degree to get to 68 which is my goal the cooler will be the best option even though it is $100 vs $20 for 2 of the regular tubs.

-KillerTree

 

[Steve McStoferson]

looking good man, I really like your setup. I want to build an aero setup sometime soon, I'll wait till after I upgrade my lights and start getting some good genetics I can clone.

I'm in for this ride. I'm excited to see what you get from this!

 

[HealingKronic]

hey KT really like the setup, im interested in building one of these types of setups, but instead of circular piping i want to use vinyl fence posts because they are square!

 

[KillerTree]

hey KT really like the setup, im interested in building one of these types of setups, but instead of circular piping i want to use vinyl fence posts because they are square!

The square would be nice because when you drill for the net pots it is a flush fit, I took that into consideration but I have an endless supply of round PVC and free is hard to pass up when it comes to bang for your buck. I may switch to square pipe eventually but I've got a lot of $ invested already and I need to make sure I can actually do this successfully before I go dumping more $ into it.

I have no doubts that I will succeed though to be 100% honest, I did a lot of research before attempting this and I "feel" like I know enough about it to atleast not kill them. The conditions are nowhere near ideal though, by any stretch but I do know that... My humidity is way too high, my air temps between day and night cycle have like a good 20 degree difference with at night hitting close to 60F sometimes. My conditions aren't ideal and I know I'm not going to see the full potential until I change some things but the conditions are good enough to keep them alive and produce some buds. I may be a rookie not actually growing before but I'm not quite a beginner with all of the reading I have done, I'm definitely confident about what I am doing. I'm by no means a know it all though, I expect problems and I will probably make multiple mistakes. I feel I have a good enough understanding to make it to the finish line though, I just might not do as well as I'd like to but with practice I will improve.

Both during and after this grow I will be slowly improving my environment to grow in and once I am happy with it I will do another grow journal to compare. Chances are I will still be growing the same strain so it will be a good comparison seeing how big of difference the environment makes on the yield and quality. I'm thinking I might end up doing co2 as well, but that isn't set in stone. It will definitely help with temps during the winter being completely closed off from the outside world but it will be close to a year (next winter) before I make the switch most likely.

Some things came up today so I actually have some free time and may be building that screen today, if I do I will take some pics tonight instead of tomorrow.

-KillerTree

 

[HealingKronic]

yeah i hear ya on all that, im on my second grow and my humidity was too high on my first and i suffered powdery mildew... i had 5 plants and only yielded 9 oz which is pretty lame but it was good smoke! circulation and humidity seem to be the 2 key ingredients as far as room ambiance goes. oh well, this time i think i will have things dialed in... i have a portable AC unit to keep things cool. i would also like to get some co2 going but DANG! expensive! maybe next round!

 

[KillerTree]

here's the screen I made

Just set it up to take a pic, it is just over 1 foot above the plants. The legs come off and it leans up against the wall. It is 42"x48" and the screen is some vinyl coated fence. Hopefully it does the trick

 

[KillerTree]

i hooked up the fan to vent the hood finally, i set it up with one end open though to vent the tent some until I setup the other fan. Since doing that I am hitting mid 70's for day cycle and 65ish at night. The plants are getting close to the 1 foot mark so it wont be much longer of wait until I install the screen to stay, all it will do now is block the light a bit. They are definitely looking healthier than before though, a couple of them are getting huge leafs and they are very healthy looking

 

[KillerTree]

here's a shot of em, the sun leaves these things are producing right now are massive. to me they look extremely healthy but I'm no expert. They have definitely started to grow these last few days.

this magnum xxxl-8 is an amazing hood... you can get the plants right up to it and it's no problem at all. I literally just keep it a couple inches above the tops. A few days ago one of the plants was touching the glass when I went to check the sprayers and it's fine, wasn't burned at all. From what I hear about other hoods that could have been my first newbie mistake not anticipating how much they'd grow in a day but nothing bad happened.

right now I am running 1200 ppm with pure blend pro grow, liquid karma, and cal-mag


since covering the reservoir with foil it has kept it nice.. since that and the res change i haven't even had to adjust the ph.. it was 5.9 when i first filled it and and it is currently right around 6.5. I will probably adjust it back down to 5.9 today or tomorrow then if the ph repeats the same as soon as it gets back to 6.5 or so will be my next res change

 

[KillerTree]

well the roots made it through the screen so I'm going to have to find a finer mesh I guess. Hopefully nothing bad happens before I can get around to fixing it. I'm going to be away for the next few days so I'm just gonna hope for the best that some roots don't clog a pump or something. I'll be sure to update with my solution when I get back home in a few days.

 

[KillerTree]

Unfortunately I found a better mesh to use but they are currently out of stock and said it will be a week until they have it back in stock. I did put an order in on it but until it shows up I took a metal strainer I have and placed it over the sprayer/chiller pumps to prevent the roots from entering until I get the new screen. I know that isn't exactly an ideal fix but it'll keep my killer green christmas trees out of harms way while I wait.