Radogast's Hi-Brix Basement Grow - New Location - New Soil - New Experiences

[Radogast]

Once my plants are in their #10's, I only top water. Brother Duggan said he has always done the same and has great results. I also use fabric, root pouch brand, love em! My #1's are plastic. Looking forward to seeing your progress on the grow stalls.

I have a mixture of 7-gal and 10-gal SmartPots and GeoPots.

Would you suggest I fill the 10-gal to the rims or use 7-gal of soil in the 10-gal pots?

 

[weenmeoff]

I fill mine pretty much full but at the same time there is room to add soil, EWC, recharge. It also makes watering easy in that it won't spill over the sides. There is 2-3" from top of pot to soil. One day I want to try bigger pots.

Have an awesome weekend Rad and crew!



This emoji reminded me of a bong me and my college buddies made out of a 4 foot Chianti bottle which we named euphoria, it was a 2 person operation.

 

[Radogast]

I fill mine pretty much full but at the same time there is room to add soil, EWC, recharge. It also makes watering easy in that it won't spill over the sides. There is 2-3" from top of pot to soil. One day I want to try bigger pots.

Have an awesome weekend Rad and crew!



This emoji reminded me of a bong me and my college buddies made out of a 4 foot Chianti bottle which we named euphoria, it was a 2 person operation.

In this photo you can see the top of a 66"x4" PVC pipe bong with bubbler bowl. I glued and drilled it, someone else painted it gold.

A two-person contraption, one person would light a 'snap' in the bowl while the smoker did a preliminary inhale to fill the bong with smoke. One or two iron lung inhales and you were ready to cough. Not my cup of tea, but a good conversation piece and an opportunity to challenge one's lung capacity. We left it behind with friends when we moved this summer

A tall glass chianti bottle sounds rad! Have a great weekend -

All y'all have a great weekend too

 

[brightlight]

A suggestion on watering, Rado ...

When the pots are dry, the soil doesn't wick worth a crap so water runs down the sides. I get around that by drenching a quart at a time, from plant to plant. But I was still getting dry pockets. So, when the soil is wet already it wicks great and it'll accept more, to accept its full share of water.

GT....when roots & soil gets to that hard impermeable stage a little yucca added to water/nutrient mix works wonders. Any brand works but the liquids keep better. The higher priced micronized powder turned into a hard lump from humidity in the air & became unusable.

 

[Radogast]

Vegging girls




The temporary veg area - 57 days since I planted feminized, photo-period seeds.

These 3 girls are all about 55 days old. Topped 10? days ago.

Amherst Sour Diesel

Not quite a top, not quite a FIM, it looks like I will get 3 arms out of this. As if I pinched the stalk above both the side branches.

AK47 XTRM

Buddha's Gift

Borderliner - 35 days old - I gave her 1/4 Growth(GE) and 1/4 transplant today.

I am VERY happy with how these 'kit' girls are growing

Thanks Doc

 

[Doc Bud]

Vegging girls




The temporary veg area - 57 days since I planted feminized, photo-period seeds.

These 3 girls are all about 55 days old. Topped 10? days ago.

Amherst Sour Diesel

Not quite a top, not quite a FIM, it looks like I will get 3 arms out of this. As if I pinched the stalk above both the side branches.

AK47 XTRM

Buddha's Gift

Borderliner - 35 days old - I gave her 1/4 Growth(GE) and 1/4 transplant today.

I am VERY happy with how these 'kit' girls are growing

Thanks Doc

Looking good! You might up the feedings just a bit....or use warmer water, or both. I'm still seeing sluggish looking roots on a couple.....not bad, but not quite as strong as they could be. Looks like low temps to me.

 

[Radogast]

Looking good! You might up the feedings just a bit....or use warmer water, or both. I'm still seeing sluggish looking roots on a couple.....not bad, but not quite as strong as they could be. Looks like low temps to me.

I acknowledge that you are right.

I was slow to water/feed last two times.

I am also struggling with keeping the water warm - my RO faucet has been leaking about 7 gallons a day so I have been ending up with water in several buckets on concrete floor and none of them warm. I bought a new faucet today, but I bought the wrong adapter so the RO system is shut off.

I plan to paint today, so the girls should be in a better home very soon

 

[bobrown14]

In flower, I have previous bottom watered with a tray containing several inches of perlite and kept the perlite moist all through flower. In this new city, I don't think I can buy perlite for anything close to $20 per 40 gallon bag. So I'll water more traditionally.


For veg, I still want to let the soil dry out to get the roots to spread.
I think I'll try your suggestion, water for 2-3 days in a row, then let them dry out

Thanks !!!!

You can also load the container with a 1-2" layer of clay balls or those rocks the hydro guys use. I've been doing that the last 3 runs with good effect. I'm in hard pots tho. I would expect you to be able to put the fabric pots in a drain tray with the clay ball layer in the btm of the fabric pot and btm water thru the drain tray. A different take on that per-lite tray with fabric pot btm watering.

There's lots of good uses for the hydro gear with soil growing, just gotta get creative. Think outside the ebb n flow... FTW.

Old houses FTMFW... go Rad grow.

Edit:
your pictures of the glass reminds me of the original... Toker II, ever see one?

 

[Radogast]

Constructing the grow areas


I have created two roughly 4x6x7' grow rooms in one of the basement rooms. They are nestled in one corner of the room leaving an L shaped open area around them.

First step, create a "deck" of 2x4's and 3/4" OSB sheets.


8 foot 2x4's roughly 15" apart

Trim 3/4" OSB to 6 foot long - I only get about 2 long cuts per battery charge so I swapped batteries every few minutes. This is probably a good thing as it gives me time to measure twice and think about what I am doing.

I placed OSB as a floor 3" above the (cold) concrete floor. This way I can set pots and plants on the floor without them overcooling.

I nailed the 3/4" OSB to the 2x4's with 1 3/8" brads. My little $60 nail gun setup needs to pause every 30 nails or so if I nail fast, so I nailed slowly

I cut 1/2" OSB for 7 ft tall walls and attached to the joists with 1" narrow staples. Veg area is in the back. Flowr area is in the front.
The hardest part was cutting 7" holes for the HVAC cool air ducts (especially since my largest hole saw is 6" )

Flower area - I sawed 2" strips out of the OSB scraps and used the nailer to staple them to the deck to position the bottom of the walls. I also sealed the HVAC ducts with duct tape. (p.s. The exhaust fan is in the wall behind the red lampshade.)

I caulked the gaps along the walls and around the ducts

Veg area - I had to relocate a power box a few feet to place it centrally in the ceiling of veg area

I brushed the walls for a 3rd time and used a hand held paint sprayer to cover the walls in white primer.

This is my first time using a paint sprayer. It's OK for really rough surfaces like the brick walls, but I prefer using a roller for the OSB. The previous owner clogged the sprayer before it showed any wear - so it's possible paint sprayers can work better than this one did. It was worth the $3 at aiuction.

Waiting for the paint to dry before I move plants into the veg area and install doors.

 

[brightlight]

Been enjoying watching you put together another grow room. Looks like you have more space, what's the approx. size? More time I know since you retired. Both good. Sense you live in cold area, do you put some kind of insulation between the wood & concrete floors?

 

[Radogast]

Been enjoying watching you put together another grow room. Looks like you have more space, what's the approx. size? More time I know since you retired. Both good. Sense you live in cold area, do you put some kind of insulation between the wood & concrete floors?

Wood and trapped air are two of the best insulators - There is some leakage, but the 2" air gap should make a big difference. Most of the heat loss will be around the door and through the walls.



The plan is to downsize and grow faster and better.




Last grow - I had an 8x8' veg room divided into early veg (4 tube T5 CFL), late veg (4 tube T5 CFL with purple tubes), sitting area (60w CFL), and storage with 6 outlets. In the winter I had to heat with a radiant oil heater

This grow - I will have a 4x6' veg room (4 tube T5 CFL with purple tubes) and 4 outlets. In the winter, I will be using the same radiant oil heater, now heating 168 cu ft as opposed to 480 cu ft.


Last grow - I had a 4x8' flower room with a 8" deep 4x8' flood tray floor, two 600W HPS, 4 outlets, and an extraction fan to remove the heat.

This grow - I will have a 4x6' flower room with a 6" deep 3x4' flood tray (formerly used in late veg), one 600W HPS, 4 outlets, and an extraction fan with a carbon filter to remove the heat and the aroma. I will hang one HPS at one end of the room to light a 3x4' area with the option to hang the second HPS if I fill the other half of the room.

 

[Gaffle]

Dishing out some reps Rad! I have a larger room build in my head and seeing your room helps with my planning. I dunno what my dimensions will be 100%. Before I harvest I'm moving my plants to the new spot for a better idea of what I can fit. I was thinking about building a deck, and then I thought about just using 1in foam board under the plants. I'm interested to see what you do for doors. The idea of framing and interior door and keeping it square makes me sweaty.

On power tools, I have been using a Ryobi set for years now with no issues. I did buy a lithium battery which lasts a long time. Although, using charge time for correct measurements is smart as I have been known to measure twice and cut 4 times...and then measure again.....and again....

Edit : Just wanted to mention that my basement room was too cold next to my concrete wall, I ended up having to glue 1/2in foam to concrete.

 

[Radogast]

Dishing out some reps Rad! I have a larger room build in my head and seeing your room helps with my planning. I dunno what my dimensions will be 100%. Before I harvest I'm moving my plants to the new spot for a better idea of what I can fit. I was thinking about building a deck, and then I thought about just using 1in foam board under the plants.

Thanks for the thoughts, reps, and comments

In my first grow I did a flowering room with 1" foam board for two walls and poured concrete foundation for 2 walls with an inner shell of panda film. It did an excellent job of insulation, but a 600W HPS puts out so much heat that it didn't matter much - for flower.

I later added a veg room with unpainted 1/2" OSB for 2 walls and poured concrete foundation for 2 walls. The insulation was not as good. With 2x 216W CFL it needed supplemental heat 2-3 months per year.

The main reason I chose OSB over 1" foamboard was I constantly worried about stumbling against the wall and putting my hand through it. Also foamboard is harder to transport since driving at 40 MPH without some protection the wind can snap a foamboard into pieces. I never had accidents with the foamboard, but I had near misses and worried a lot.

I suspect a foamboard floor would need some wood over it to protect it from being torn apart by footsteps and solid objects.

BTW: using a deck minimized the framing time and effort as I basically have studless walls

...

I'm interested to see what you do for doors. The idea of framing and interior door and keeping it square makes me sweaty.

On power tools, I have been using a Ryobi set for years now with no issues. I did buy a lithium battery which lasts a long time. Although, using charge time for correct measurements is smart as I have been known to measure twice and cut 4 times...and then measure again.....and again....

DON'T do it the hard way!

Framing a door and keeping it square is daunting to me too.

I installed actual doors last time because it was a state legal grow where the state required doors with locks - no rules about locks in my new state.

What I did before is take measurements and go to ReStore (the Habitat for Humanity resale store.) The stock varies from visit to visit, but they always have some pre-hung doors. I loosely attached the prehung door frames to the other framing members, fiddled with the position until everything looked and worked just right, then screwed into position and cut the wall sheathing to go around the door frame.

The really hard part about using normal doors is controlling light leaks. I used door sweeps under the doors, insulation on the door frames, baffles/interiot thresholds for the inside base, and curtains inside the rooms. Too much work!

This time, my half-formed plan for doors is a smaller hole on the inside and a door a few inches wider than the hole on the outside.

My rooms are inside a light sealed room with a light proof wall between the veg and flower area, so heat management is more critical than light management. I'm more winging it than planning

. . .
On power tools, I have been using a Ryobi set for years now with no issues. I did buy a lithium battery which lasts a long time. Although, using charge time for correct measurements is smart as I have been known to measure twice and cut 4 times...and then measure again.....and again....

Edit : Just wanted to mention that my basement room was too cold next to my concrete wall, I ended up having to glue 1/2in foam to concrete.

I considered buying a lithium battery - They had 2 lithium batteries for $99 on Black Friday, but I have 2 batteries and it's only about 10 minutes to recharge so I decided I could make do with the original batteries. And then I bitched about it in my post


I built this against the interior brick walls and chimney base. From what I understand, brick is a beter insulator than cement. It doesn't feel cool to the touch so I decided to forgo foamboard or sheetrock insulation.


- -

Sorry if this was boring or sounding like I am defending my ideas.

... if my ideas are stupid, please challenge them. I'm more interested it getting things done right than proving that I am right.

 

[Radogast]

Yesterday morning, I had fever and sore throat and only moved off the living room sofa a few times to the bathroom and kitchen.

This morning, I had slightly worse fever and sore throat but decided the plants needed attention anyway.


I moved the coffee table, tray, plants, heater, fan, light etc into the veg stall

Amherst Sour Diesel

AK47 XTRM

Buddha's Gift

Borderliner

The veg area

I cut a 4x8' sheet of OSB to ceiling height and braced it against the door to seal in most of the heat. There is a gap at the top between the rafters, but it should still hold in a lot more heat than the open room. I'll fix that when i feel up to it.


I have a bucket of water warming for my first foliar spray.

 

[weenmeoff]

Hey Rad! Looking great! The grow stalls are shaping up nicely. I hope you feel better. One think about the foliars is not to overdo it, I learned the hard way. For the # of plants you have and their size, you could mix up as little at 3oz of water to 2ml of Brix or even 2 oz to just over 1ml. Drenches don't need to be super accurate but foliars do. Destress is 1/2 the formula of Brix so for 3 oz of water only 1ml of destress. I am just learning this so you may want to confirm with a more experienced brixxer.

Rock on!

 

[Gaffle]

- -

Sorry if this was boring or sounding like I am defending my ideas.

... if my ideas are stupid, please challenge them. I'm more interested it getting things done right than proving that I am right.

None of that shit Rad. Your rollin along pal. I really enjoy seeing rooms of fellow growers. I'm always interested in how each grower sets up shop. Helps get my own creative juices flowing.

Plants look great, feel better. Most of this year I have taken to an anti-virus mantra.

I say this to the virus, "I hate you, you will not mess up my day, and I'm going to kill you."

 

[dr.h00k]

Ryobi makes a very nice line of tools for the DIY'er..a lot of their tools stand up well against trade standards...when used with lithium batteries...a well documented journal is always a good thing...provides much food for thought...cheerz...h00k...

 

[Radogast]

I was part of an exchange of ideas over on Emilya' thread The Proper Way to Water a Potted Plant

The converstion was about using these type of meters:

You might want to try one of these units. Its a 3 way tester, moister, soil ph and light meter. I've got 2, one for the grow room and 1 for the nursery, very simple to use and accurate. Hydro Farm, Amazon and quite a few places sales these, around 10 bucks.

They work as well as can be expected for the price. They have two readings... wet and not wet... moist means absolutely nothing. Degrees of moist mean nothing. Wet and not wet... when the meter pegs all the way to the right, it is wet... and you have reached the water table line. Above that, it is moist... way above that, it is dry.

The important thing for you to know is where the water table line is and how much it falls each day. Wait to water until the water table falls to the last inch of the container. According to a meter, a hard sided container will never completely dry out in that last inch due to capillary action between the roots and the sides/bottom of the container.

INTERESTING take on the meter readings.

I have been interpretting the water table line as where the needle moves from dry to somewhere moist - not pegged all the way to the right.

By this (somewhat moist) reading it took about 30 days for my seedlings to dry out the first time and about 7 days the second time. The second time caught me by surprise and I lost a pair of leaves to yellowing but otherwise they are very happy - but slow growing - watering only when dry.


A 9" topped seedling in 1 gal plastic pot that has been watered 3 times in 50 days

I have seen it happen. I like the meters because with the silly thing you can get a very accurate read on what the water level is doing in your container, but you have to be careful to not overestimate the capabilities of the $6 device. The pH setting on those things is useless, but the light meter can also be used to find dark spots in your room and depth of penetration.
Water from now on based on the position of the water table line or the true wet/dry line, and your plants will love it. Remember, they have the ability to adapt to all sorts of crazy situations, at a cost.

Based on this exchange, I might need to redefine 'dry'. Do you all agree that I should look for 'wet' to appear rather than 'moist' to appear when measuring ?

I am no longer over-watering, but I think I have been under-watering by waiting for the soil to lose all moisture.

 

[Doc Bud]

I was part of an exchange of ideas over on Emilya' thread The Proper Way to Water a Potted Plant

The converstion was about using these type of meters:

Based on this exchange, I might need to redefine 'dry'. Do you all agree that I should look for 'wet' to appear rather than 'moist' to appear when measuring ?

I am no longer over-watering, but I think I have been under-watering by waiting for the soil to lose all moisture.

In veg, it's desireable to let it dry out completely.....ideally to where visible signs of wilting will happen in 5 minutes. Of course, if they won't wilt for another hour that's fine too.

This is what produces thick stems, short internodes a high calyx to leaf ratio and a massive root ball. Watering tech in bloom is almost the reverse.

I don't use those little probes, and I've got a couple. The weight of the container is a far better measure of when to water.

 

[Radogast]

In veg, it's desireable to let it dry out completely.....ideally to where visible signs of wilting will happen in 5 minutes. Of course, if they won't wilt for another hour that's fine too.

This is what produces thick stems, short internodes a high calyx to leaf ratio and a massive root ball. Watering tech in bloom is almost the reverse.

I don't use those little probes, and I've got a couple. The weight of the container is a far better measure of when to water.

I've been trying to timing it for 30 seconds before wilting - thanks a lot
I can relax now!

I wish I had the type of memory where I could go by weight of the container. To tell you the truth I can barely tell the difference between swinging a 3lb hammer and a 2 lb hammer unless I am holding it for several hours, so I appreciate those cheap little probes.

I'll keep watering as I have been watering except to make sure I check every morning - and not skip 2 days because the weight felt fine when I lifted and turned the pots.