First Grow - Closet LED Hydro - Pineapple Express

[driftme]

Hi guys. New to this board and thought I'd post my first grow.

General Hydroponics PowerGrower Eco (modified to add 3 airstone feeder lines)
3 5" aquarium airstones
2 pumps (1 small pump to feed the drip ring, and a larger one for the 3 air lines)
UFO LED grow light 90w
Black grow tent
General Hydroponics FloraGro, FloraMicro, FloraBloom
General Organics BioRoot
Rockwool cubes

I'm using a General Hydroponics PowerGrower Eco bucket system, which I've modified a little bit (details below). The light comes from a UFO Led light (90w). Everything is contained in a tent, cant remember the brand or the exact size sorry!

The seeds =] G13 Labs Pineapple Express, feminized.

Rockwool cubes, resting on some chopsticks for airflow. Cubes were soaked in 6 pH water, then quickly dunked in General Organics BioRoot solution. Keeping the room temperature around 75. As of the taking of this picture, the seeds had sprouted but no roots were showing yet. This was about 20 hours after placing the seeds in the rockwool.

On to the tent.. This is what it looks like in my closet when its closed. With the closet doors closed, it sounds like there's an invisible fish tank in the room.

The PowerGrower with light about 2 or 3 inches above the hydroton. Man this thing is bright. Sunglasses are a must.

Looking up at the light.

The pumps. I'm going to head out today to find a replacement for the larger one. It's 45L/min, way more than I need to feed the 3 5" airstones in the bucket. A nice quiet one would be good. The three lines that split off go to each of the airstones.

The bucket, with normal light =] You can see the three airstone feeder lines going in the top. I just drilled holes through the caps and then through the green bucket lid under the caps, and fed the line through.


I'll be updating the progress frequently as the grow continues.

 

[QueenTokelove]

Re: My first grow - a journal

I'm a noob also but I am into soil. I don't know anything about hydro but it sounds like to me that you got everything together...Oh btw, Welcome and Good Luck with your first grow. I'll be checking in from time to time..

 

[driftme]

Re: My first grow - a journal

Still waiting for the rockwool cubes to show roots, hopefully they will by the time i get back from work today.

Anyone have any tips on controlling humidity in the tent? ive had the system on and running to test it out before i put the seedlings in.. and the humidity has gone up to 65%

 

[NateRamrod]

Re: My first grow - a journal

Hey DriftMe. Nice looking set-up you've got there. I'm about to start flowering on my first grow. For lowering the humidity you could either vent the space(inline fan / exhaust fan) or if you have any type of ac unit I know it will lower temps as well as humidity.

Best of luck with seeing some roots and hope the seeds come up nice and vigorous.

:]

 

[driftme]

Re: My first grow - a journal

For now I put a small DampRid bucket in the tent and closed it back up. Humidity has gone down to about 55% since my first post. Getting better! Will post some more pics later

 

[420Farmer]

There is nothing wrong with high humidity for young plants. It is actually preferred.

 

[driftme]

Re: My first grow - a journal

i was thinking that if the humidity is too high theres a much higher chance for root rot/mold.

how high is too high? (lol)

right now with no ventilation, the inside of the tent is holding at a constant 76-77 and 60% humidity.

i'm thinking about introducing a small exhaust vent. i just need to figure out my odor control options first. probably building one of those ona buckets like this:
Deep Water Culture Tutorial, SH Kit & DIY

EDIT:
Just took some more pictures.

This is the new pump I'm using to power the 3 5" airstones. No indication of the flow rate, but it makes the water bubble like crazy =]

Got it from WalMart for like 14 bucks

And here you can see how i have the three air lines feeding into the reservoir. I drilled a hole in the cap and at the bottom of the round things on the corners. I recommend feeding the line through, then using something to secure it to the little cutout, otherwise you're going to have a bitch of a time putting the bucket lid back on without pinching the air lines. Trust me, I didnt do it, but I'm about to.. its a pain.

 

[driftme]

Re: My first grow - a journal

What strain is it?
Pineapple Express
Is it Indica, Sativa or Hybrid? What percentages?
Indica/Sativa
Is it in Veg or Flower stage?
baby!
Indoor or outdoor?
indoor - closet stealth grow
Soil or Hydro?
hydro
Size of light?
90w LED UFO light
Is it aircooled?
no
Temp of Room/cab?
77 day/72 night
RH of Room/cab?
60%
PH of media or res?
5.75
Any Pests ?
no
How often are you watering?
constant drip
Type and strength of ferts used?
General Hydroponics:
FloraGro, FloraMicro, FloraBloom - 2.5ml of each per 1 gallon of water for now

 

[420Farmer]

If its a seedling, no need for odor control for months.. There should always be a constant flow of air. It has so many benefits. Cools the lights, creates thicker stems, keeps humidity from reaching an unwanted level, allows the plant fresh air... Yada yada yada.. It's very important to get a fan going in there!! That should drop your humidity to 40ish

 

[driftme]

Re: My first grow - a journal

The sprouts are just about to poke above the top of the rockwool.

The first taproot is coming out =]

 

[420Farmer]

Awesome! I'm subbed for this. Actually decided to grow this strain after I'm done my current grow. Ill be watching to see how they do!

 

[driftme]

Re: My first grow - a journal

Awesome =] I've got high hopes for this grow, its my first personally but I'm getting advice from a friend who's always done very well.

So, they went from just little sprouts about to poke out of the rockwool this morning to this at lunch time:

Its now about 5 hours later and the one that was sticking out is starting to really grow. Still waiting on the other one to poke out. Once some more roots show and the sprouts are a little taller, I'm going to remove the plastic from teh cubes and bury them up to the first set of leaves in the hydroton.

EDIT:
Forgot, I was shopping today for some ventilation for the tent, just for the sake of fresh air - the climate is actually holding very well with no ventilation and a closed tent. But I know the plants need air, so I think this might do the trick.

Anyway, the highs/lows for the day look like this:
Temp: 72-78 degrees F
Humidity: 55-56%

 

[driftme]

Both seedlings are finally sprouted above the rockwool. Gonna see what they look like later today, would like them to have some more roots before transplanting the cubes to the grow bucket.

 

[driftme]

So the lil guys are in the bucket, and seem to be taking to it just fine. Four days since the seeds were initially placed in the rockwool.. They seem to be goin pretty quick.

This one took a little longer to sprout and is a bit smaller than the other.

Today's High/Low Temp/Humidity:
Temp: 78-71
Humidity: 57-50%

The water that's currently in there (2.5g) has this per gallon:
FloraGro-2.5ml
FloraMicro-2.5ml
FloraBloom-2.5ml
BioRoot-2.5ml
Some H2O2 (roughly 30ml)
pH is about 5.5-5.8 (using strips..)

 

[driftme]

Man its hard to find fans anywhere this time of year lol... I got a little air purifier for $15 that's acting as a fan right now. It's kinda loud for how much air it pushes though, so I'll be looking for something to replace it. I just wanted to get some breeze on the seedlings!

 

[ledtron]

I'm subbed- wanna see what this light can do by itself....when i grew pineapple express, it was done in 6 weeks flower! good luck!

 

[driftme]

So the little one finally caught up to the big guy. They're both looking great. When I originally placed the rockwool in the hydroton, i buried them up to the first set of leaves. They are now about 2 inches above the hydroton, and are sprouting their next set of leaves. Lookin good! Just over 24 hours til I change the nutes to the "Mild Growth" phase.. don't want to over-feed the seedlings.

 

[NateRamrod]

It's gonna get exciting soon man! Those seedlings are gonna go bananas once they get big enough to use all the nutes and light they are getting. Just an FYI on the duct fan.. I wouldn't get one. I've always heard they are louder than the inlines with so much less power. You are better off saving up $80 for a 4" little inline fan that will actually move air IMO. Check amazon, that's where I get all my grow gear. :]

Can't wai to see the growth, I've been contemplating pineapple express for a future grow.

 

[driftme]

Some current pictures. A little more growth. Can't wait till they get their first real set of leaves! They seem to be doin well though.

Nate, thanks for the tips. The fan I got IS an inline fan, and its 160 CFM. My tent is like 2'x3'x5, so the fan should be able to totally replace the air in the tent a little more than 5 times a minute. Seems like it at least. I'll of course post how it works out!

 

[driftme]

Oh, also I switched to the 5/5/5 nutrient levels - 5ml of each.