Stevehman's 780W LED - DIY 4 in PVC Recirc - Caramlicious Grow

[cryodude]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

Looking good Steve. And great info from you and your posters like hydro. more notes for my first grow, hopefully starting in June. Just a thought, since my area will probably be like yours, do you see any real benefit to the 300w over the 180w lights at this point? i know there is a little more coverage, but do you notice any real benefit in the canopy penetration. I'm thinking plants will be under 36" top to bottom. maybe some LST, and trying to get more buds up to the lights. Whatcha think?

 

[Hydrologist]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

Hydro, I talked to my local hydro shop owner and he said that DM Gold Range Zone will kill all of the beneficials in the res. Which I guess is what it is supposed to do to get a sterile system. I have the Great White in there so I am going to have to hold off on that stuff. As long as my temps are good I should be alright. I'll keep tossing a 1/2 cap of Hygrozyme in each week. Even if it does very little to help, at that rate it is cheap insurance.

yeah man you definetly dont want to use something like Zone with any beneficial bacteria-zaps em right out of the water! But yo I feel you on wanting to continue blazing your own path, and all the power and luck to you! I'll be keeping a close eye to see if it works out better than the DM Zone after all. Regardless thats why I love this website and growing in general! Because its an artistic form of science! Atleast to me and there is no one right way to do anything! your grow is expecially a testiment to that as its extremely fucking unique and bad ass! Keep up the good work dude and can't wait to see a photo update with that chiller included!
Hydrologist

 

[Hydrologist]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

Looking good Steve. And great info from you and your posters like hydro. more notes for my first grow, hopefully starting in June. Just a thought, since my area will probably be like yours, do you see any real benefit to the 300w over the 180w lights at this point? i know there is a little more coverage, but do you notice any real benefit in the canopy penetration. I'm thinking plants will be under 36" top to bottom. maybe some LST, and trying to get more buds up to the lights. Whatcha think?

why june cryo? why not april its ganna be 420 soon anyways!

 

[cryodude]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

Heh, Hydro.... I'm still working on the wife for the move, etc.. sort of an early retirement for me and she isn't quite swinging through the trees yet with me on that one. have all this stuff to deal with regarding my parents yet, and need to decide on the big equipment still, lights, air/water pumps, the chiller.. room ac unit, fans.. and still not certain on my grow type, will be hydro of some sort, just not sure yet. but when i am ready i will be here picking your brains to death!!

 

[cryodude]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

Something else there Hydrolosis!!! where are some new pict's of Shapey?

 

[SteveHman]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

Looking good Steve. And great info from you and your posters like hydro. more notes for my first grow, hopefully starting in June. Just a thought, since my area will probably be like yours, do you see any real benefit to the 300w over the 180w lights at this point? i know there is a little more coverage, but do you notice any real benefit in the canopy penetration. I'm thinking plants will be under 36" top to bottom. maybe some LST, and trying to get more buds up to the lights. Whatcha think?

Cryo,
I think that for my space the 180s would have been perfect. I think the GLH 180 is the same size as their 300 (case wise) which is one of the reasons I ordered them from GLH. (although ended up with 300s). I would even say if the area was 4x4x5 I would put 4 180s in there over 2 300s for about the same cost, more coverage and an overall output of more light.

Plants 36 top to bottom may need a bit more penetration to get the lower sites covered, but if you LST or Scrog them they will be fine. I try to keep mine in the 24 inch range. I did a scrog on my first grow and some LST on my second. Both techniques are super easy, I Super-cropped one plant this grow (just so I would know how to do it in the future).

There are so many ways to grow real nice plants it amazes me.

 

[cryodude]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

OK thanks Steve. I am still on the fence as to the 180/300's and still on the fence for Advanced versus the GLH. I am looking at the 180-300's from both and if i go the 180 route i will buy at least 2 more lights. and then considering one more, probably 1 more 180 for the clone-initial veg area unless i do the t5 route.. Then duplicate the grow area in the hopes of harvesting every 30-35 days. Still in talks with the wife on how we can make this all work, since i will be moving anywhere from 3-8 months ahead of her back to Nor cal.

 

[Hydrologist]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

Heh, Hydro.... I'm still working on the wife for the move, etc.. sort of an early retirement for me and she isn't quite swinging through the trees yet with me on that one. have all this stuff to deal with regarding my parents yet, and need to decide on the big equipment still, lights, air/water pumps, the chiller.. room ac unit, fans.. and still not certain on my grow type, will be hydro of some sort, just not sure yet. but when i am ready i will be here picking your brains to death!!

yeah man i feel you. Well...idk what its like to have a wife...maybe some day I will, but I do know what its like to try to persuade the good girl that loves you to be cool with something that isn't entirely.....blessed by the federal government lets say lol. But dude I know you'll make it work, just have her read through the 420magazine.com newsletter every week man! Thats how I got my X girlfriend to be cool with it! We soon broke up bc she's a stupid slut but hey life right?

also dude I am ganna have to recomend DEEP WATER CULTURE!! MY FIRST HYDRO GROW EVER WAS 7 ounces! and it barely came in second in march's plant of the month!!!!

its easy and gets you professional results!

and that was with 1 400 watt light, no chiller and the cheapest 20 dollar pump you can get at a hydro shop!

just sayinn....
lol
new pics soon! I just posted new ones like a day ago bro lol already need more?

 

[Hydrologist]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

speaking of pictures WHEN ARE WE GANNA GET TO SEE THAT CHILLER STEVE-0!

 

[SteveHman]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

OK thanks Steve. I am still on the fence as to the 180/300's and still on the fence for Advanced versus the GLH. I am looking at the 180-300's from both and if i go the 180 route i will buy at least 2 more lights. and then considering one more, probably 1 more 180 for the clone-initial veg area unless i do the t5 route.. Then duplicate the grow area in the hopes of harvesting every 30-35 days. Still in talks with the wife on how we can make this all work, since i will be moving anywhere from 3-8 months ahead of her back to Nor cal.

I use a T5 for cloning and for moms. I don't veg, straight from the cloner into the box to bloom. T5 does a great job of cloning and keeping moms happy (and they are way cheaper) Use the money you would spend for the extra 180 and buy a T5 or two and a good cloner. I just bought the 60 site cloner and got a great deal from my hydro guy. He matched an online price that is ridiculously cheap. IM me and I can give you the link, if you don't buy from them maybe your local guy will price-match.

Hydro is doing great things with the DWC, it is an easy and effective way to grow. Depending on how many plants you are going to grow you may want to add a separate res and a way to top-up and keep levels constant.

@hydro, here's a pic of the chiller. 1st, the old one, the CL85:

And the new one, the Sunleaves Aqua Chill 132, about 3x's the size of the old and about 100x's better. Definitely worth the money, and if you search around the net you can find it new for about $270.

You can gauge the height by the cables and wires running past it.

 

[HorseBadoritz]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

High Stevehman, I just read through your journal, and I am impressed both by your plants and your attention to details.

Glad I got subbed before it's over

Thanks for sharing it

 

[cryodude]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

ha, Hydro.. thanks, well you know this one had i have been married almost 34 years.. so it's probably a lil different than your situation was.. but yeah i hear ya. and i am thinking of doing 3 together in a DWC, was gonna set something up like Steve has but i may do a recirc with 3 dwc;s. i will get on you thread and pick your brain a bit. Steve has such a cool set up though. i really like what he's done with this, and he's using LED's which is what i will be doing. Trying to decide if i do a tent that will hold 3 DWC's with either 1 300 on each plant or use 4 180s instead.

 

[Maer]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

The all blue 180 LEDs from advanced work really nice for veg, affordable too.

 

[cryodude]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

Thanks Maer. I was thinking about one of those.. wonder if its too much for clones also. I suppose up a little higher and they would be good for rooting.

 

[Hydrologist]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

dude!!!! I was just in my local medical marijuana dispensary the other day and they had that same exact chiller kickn' it when I walked in dude that things nice! and only 271 new on the internet? If you find a link on that please hook me up! Did you get yours off the internet? If so from where? Cuz dude...with summer comming up and temps already starting to worry me im thinkin a second chiller circulating through one of those "frost box air cooling radiator connector things to cool down the air running through my HID lights. lol that was a wack description but I hope you know what im tlaking about if not i'll post a pic later but ya I would need a second chiller and that one looks dope. FUck I wish I could buy that first one thats too wimpy for your set up off you. I need a small one for my veg room :-/. Lol I need a bunch of shit!

hydro.

 

[Hydrologist]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

btw are both those chillers up in a fucking attic? lol looks like it from the sloping cielings. tha would be kinda dope actually to have ur chillers hidden up in the attic with lines running down a bit unpractical tho.

 

[SteveHman]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

Hydro,
Yeah, my whole set up is in the attic space. I have no spare room anywhere else in the house. My garage is packed, my spare room is a home office and I have no extra space. If I had the room I would be using a 4x8x8 tent or larger and would probably build an undercurrent style DWC system. Everything about this grow is about low height and stealth (although I am not worried about stealth, it is just by default the location and size).

I picked up my chiller online, but should have bought it at my Hydro store, they will match any price I can find as long as they can verify it. It keeps my dollars local, I don't pay shipping and don't have a brown truck rolling up for the neighbors to see. Next time that is the plan (the store ordered my 60 site EZ cloner for me, $224 delivered to the store in 3 days!). I'll send you a link to the online stores I bought from. I did all of my research first, knew the lowest price for each item and then called the company with the lowest shipping cost and highest customer rating. I called them instead of ordering online and asked first about a price-match policy. I was able to get everything from one store when I put in a big order for Grow 4.0 (chiller, mother tent, 4' T5 for moms, 100' of diamond foil for walls, CO2 bottle and regulator and a bunch of odds and ends). But if I was going to order all that again, I would go to my local hydro store with my list and all of the lowest prices. He said that they all order from the same distributors, so some are marking their products way up, the MSRP is about a 50% mark-up (or more), so don't worry the local guy is still making money by selling me that EZ cloner for $224 when it retails for $365.

I used the Google search tool to find all of the lowest prices, the shopping search works great.

I am thinking of making my own chill box. It would be simple if you have basic woodworking skills and a few hand tools. Just Google "heater core" and you'll find several of different sizes for about $25-35 and then either build a little box for it using some 1x4 and some 1/4 plywood or hardboard and then put on some flanges, the whole project would be about $50 or less. I am going an even simpler route for Grow 4.0. I am going to take the heater core and then slap a 8" box fan from Fry's on the the back to blow air through it. I am going to have a partially sealed space next time to try to keep as much of the CO2 in. I am going to see if I can get a box fan with a thermal controller, not sure what the cost will be on it, but shouldn't be too much.

 

[Maer]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

Steve,

I see a lot of posts about mylar causing heat retention, and fading fast on reflectivity. Most of the long time growers recommend flat white paint (Kilz). What are your thoughts on that? You also might want to look at some computer water coolers they are about the same cost as the do it yourself.

 

[SteveHman]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

Steve,

I see a lot of posts about mylar causing heat retention, and fading fast on reflectivity. Most of the long time growers recommend flat white paint (Kilz). What are your thoughts on that? You also might want to look at some computer water coolers they are about the same cost as the do it yourself.

I had painted the interior of the box with kilz before putting up the mylar. White paint has a good reflective quality to it, just a few % points lower than the mylar and is cheap at about $20 a gal. I think if I was going to paint again I would use a latex base paint to make cleaning it easier, either a flat or semi-gloss arctic white. They also sell a white paint made for media rooms as a movie screen--it has reflective particles in it. That would be an interesting project

I am going to use some of the diamond foil on the next grow. I am sure it will retain some heat though. I had considered panda film (white on one side, black on the other). I know that I am probably going a little overkill with the diamond foil. If the temps get out of hand I will turn it around (the backside is white PVC plastic). I'm not a fan of mylar mostly because it is a pain to work with, crinkles badly and loses its reflectivity. This roll of diamond foil looks like high quality material, is quite a bit thicker so no crinkling and easier to put up.

I don't know if the computer water cooler will have the cooling capacity to drop the temp in a 60 cubic foot space by 20 degrees from ambient. The ones I've seen are made to cool computer cases and CPU's and have small coils and fans. If you know of a bigger unit that would be cheaper than building one with a heater core and a fan I am all ears (and if I can buy pre-built stuff, I'll spend a few bucks more, but not $160 for a chill box that costs $20 to make)

 

[Hydrologist]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

StevehMan,
I dont think my local hydro shop is nearly that dope, though I really wish they were. As far as where I live im not worried at all about my neighbors getting suspicious about brown packages showing up so i'll stick to online and try to find some good places that dont charge shipping, if im lucky. I just noticed that you are also from california, and it sucks that our state is so money strapped yet they've taxed a lot of the business and rich money maker/spender people right out of the state. I wish I could keep my dollars local :-/.

Whatever anyways the DIY chiller plan sounds awesome, I too am handy with tools, I worked as an electricians helper/asst. for about 2 1/2 years out of high school which so far has really come in handy with hydroponics. Thats also what made me notice that you were actually growing in an attic which I still can't believe because all the attics I ever spent time in, including my own (when I ran ducting and rans up there). So how do you keep yours from getting into temps in excess of 100 degrees????

Regardless if you find any schematics on how to make them please send them my way along with those links buddie and if you end up building it PLEASE take pictures and post a "how to build your own chiller" thread dude that'd be fuckin rad!

Take it easy talk to you later,
Hydrologist

p.s today after work I plan on heading to this one store I found in a major city near me that supposively has 10 gallon DWC buckets that have the same radius as the buckets im using so I can use the same net pots that are a built into the bucket lids. Im freakin excited as this will allow me to grow stronger bigger root systems and not have to change my damn res so often and maybe will help stabilize my PH but the DM ZONE already does a really good job of that. And yeah again I feel you on wanting to go the micro biological beneficial bacteria route with your roots. I have stepped away from that because the only micro biological beneficial bacteria i've used so far in hydroponics was sensizyme and I wasn't allll that happy with the results of that stuff, probably because it also breaks down your roots and turns them into a form of carbohydrate the plant can uptake and when we used it with that last grow I did with Heks with that plant sandra it started to burn her and it just broke down her root mass a ton....and the stuff just didn't seem to help do anything other than fuck my roots up burn my plant and keep my PH stable. So i've gone the opposite route of keeping my water sterile with the DM and its working great for me as i've also read and heard people say that if you have a chiller the zymes dont do you as much good as a root inoculant like Zone, but i've also got a room mate that is bent on tripping out if I flush my plants because of the shit he's read lol. Im ganna experiment and flush no matter what that dick saiz. Whatever. Whats your stance on flushing?


ttyl
hydro