Max's First Grow - Soil - LED - Painkiller XL

Krypt247 said:
You in a closet? Room?
Own house or renting? You can use a drywall saw to cut a hole in the ceiling and save the plug... It's an easy fix.
Click to expand...

Hi Krypt,

It's a tent inside the back bedroom. I own the house and built special ceilings for computer controlled lights - would break my heart to cut holes in the ceiling - they are works of art. I am looking to build a custom enclosure in my home office and could possibly bring myself to butcher the ceiling in there. I'd have to be certain the smell wouldn't linger outside on a still day first though.

+reps for the idea though, thanks.
 
arteekay said:
Yeah, but depending on what's outside some people's houses, it might be even more of a problem than keeping the smell inside the house, or tent. For me, my grow space is in an unfinished basement with the only two outside windows close to other houses. If I just vented straight outside and they opened their windows I'm betting I'd have a response involving sirens. :)
Click to expand...

I too have concerns along those lines. I'll have to do some tests.
 
MaxHeadroom said:
+reps for the fan speed idea - that has crossed my mind too. I've been overthinking fan speed control after hearing some cause a humming noise and burn the fan out much quicker. I've not been able to source a variac yet and may go for a cheaper option. The fan wasn't expensive but variacs are.

Yeah, the Painkiller XL has much thinner leaves than the Blueberry. Both are beautiful in their own way. The girls are looking very healthy at the moment. I'm trying to figure out how to train them at the moment.
Click to expand...

Sorry for the double post, had another thought that escaped me the first time I responded.

You can always use some flexible hosing and a few corners to slow down how much air is moving and not actually do anything with the fan itself. If your filter is in the back, maybe hang it on the side or front and add a 90 degree corner or two with some venting.

Random #stonedmoron thoughts, my first harvest is kicking my ass!
 
Great idea on bends... I left the ducting at the full 10m and put lots of twisty bends in to slow the airflow as the fan is triple the capacity I need, even factoring in a 25% drop through the filter.

I think maybe I should up the search for a controller and see where that gets us.

ps - great you're enjoying your harvest :-) I'm looking forward to my first smoke in 5 -6 years around May this year.
 
arteekay said:
Yeah, but depending on what's outside some people's houses, it might be even more of a problem than keeping the smell inside the house, or tent. For me, my grow space is in an unfinished basement with the only two outside windows close to other houses. If I just vented straight outside and they opened their windows I'm betting I'd have a response involving sirens. :)
Click to expand...

Ouch, I had not considered that but you are right.
 
DIY SCRoG Frame

Today class, we are going to build a SCRoG frame out of 2 x 1 wood, 1.5" metal eye screws and a good length of hemp twine (naturally).

Tools needed

Drill and small drill bit
Large screws
Saw
Tape measure
Screwdriver

First take some lengths of wood, sawn to the correct length
IMG_41886.JPG


Find and mark the centres
IMG_41908.JPG


Drill some pilot holes 2" apart and twist in the eye screws
IMG_41917.JPG


You'll end up with this
IMG_41937.JPG


Screw the sides together to make a frame
IMG_41957.JPG


Weave the twine in on alternate eyes to get 4" squares
IMG_419710.JPG


Then fill in the others to get 2" squares
IMG_42008.JPG


Put the legs on (more 2 x 1). Leave some sticking up to mount the fans and thermometer
IMG_42017.JPG


There you go, one SCRoG frame
IMG_420610.JPG


I left 4" squares at the start then interleaved down to 2" squares as this idea was mooted by OlderGrower, who wished he could have opened up the squares easily later in his grow. I have a great deal of respect for OG and his journal was one of the first to really outline what to do. Kudos OG.

Now I need to brush up on SCRoG techniques to get this right. It's been great fun making the frame. I hope this helps anyone else looking to make their own. Total cost was around £14.
 
Krypt247 said:
Here's a stoner question.... Is the point of scrog to bush up the plant or what? I use LST and just keep pulling down the growth into a bowl shape... Just a question maybe I need to do this as well as LST
Click to expand...

Hi Krypt, as far as I can gather it's a way to spread the plant out - LST occurs with the mesh. It also keeps a nice even canopy and increases the number of colas. At least that's what I've taken away from all the SCRoG journals I've watched.

Maybe an expert can wade in at this point....
 
Krypt247 said:
I've just done LST and I have 10 or more main colas all even canopy across the top
Click to expand...

An excellent result!

I'm hoping using a frame will make LST easier for a complete NooB like me. Using garden twine to start my LST was difficult as I just couldn't figure which bits to gently bend.
 
MaxHeadroom said:
Not yet RTK,

It's in transit at the moment. Expected Monday. I think a wee splash of Epsom Salts will adjust the pH and give me magnesium at the same time. I really should calibrate the meter and check again though. A job for today after the police have gone - they are doing door to door on my estate at the moment.

Thanks for the info. I was wondering about pH but I don't trust the meter yet and I was labouring under the misapprehension that soil does a lot of balancing itself.
Click to expand...

I know that this is early in your journal and I need to get caught up but lemon juice in a pinch will work as PH down.
 
Lady Vadalon said:
I know that this is early in your journal and I need to get caught up but lemon juice in a pinch will work as PH down.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the advice +rep. My pH down eventually arrived so I use that, although I've discovered that adding half strength Old Timer Grow and CalMag give me a perfect 6.5
 
Just a suggestion about the smell. If you suck the air through your tub and blow into your filter it may work better. I noticed that you have your carbon filter sucking the air and blowing through the hose. try it the other way around. Your grow looks good!!!:high-five:
 
Lady Vadalon said:
Just a suggestion about the smell. If you suck the air through your tub and blow into your filter it may work better. I noticed that you have your carbon filter sucking the air and blowing through the hose. try it the other way around. Your grow looks good!!!:high-five:
Click to expand...

Thanks Lady V. I'll give it a go at the weekend and report back. Would the filter be outside the tent, or would the fan be inside?

Wonderingly
 
tbought id pop along incase i could help out with anything mate. ive only briefly skimmed your journal buy def use cal mag for leds. im not going to start a hid vs led debate but imo you will get better results with hps over that panel, just my opinion and somethinh to keep in mind for future.

As far as i have ever known in more than a decade growing you suck the air through the filter and extract away from the grow spot. dont think ive ever heard of blowinh tbrough it? not saying it wont work but why would you do that??? id have my filter in tent, fan outside with a little duct on the end blower out of the room but even in the same room as tent is fine really as long as room isnt too small.

scrig frames look good. I just scrog without the net these days. mainly because i mostly do large grows and it can make access to spaces difficult but they are perfect for tent grows. sure it will work out fine.

just give me a shout if you are stuck with anything.
 
LST is just bending branches to achieve canopy, in my view uts the best way to train plants as it doesnt stress plants too much. The scrog is basically a frame to support multiple heads from LST the plant. Avoid topping, i think its unnecessary. just bend bend bend and bare in mind plants double or triple in size during flower so if space is an issue be careful.
 
Cultivator said:
tbought id pop along incase i could help out with anything mate. ive only briefly skimmed your journal buy def use cal mag for leds. im not going to start a hid vs led debate but imo you will get better results with hps over that panel, just my opinion and somethinh to keep in mind for future.

As far as i have ever known in more than a decade growing you suck the air through the filter and extract away from the grow spot. dont think ive ever heard of blowinh tbrough it? not saying it wont work but why would you do that??? id have my filter in tent, fan outside with a little duct on the end blower out of the room but even in the same room as tent is fine really as long as room isnt too small.

scrig frames look good. I just scrog without the net these days. mainly because i mostly do large grows and it can make access to spaces difficult but they are perfect for tent grows. sure it will work out fine.

just give me a shout if you are stuck with anything.
Click to expand...

Thanks for dropping by, much appreciated. Yeah, odour is an issue after 5 weeks in veg. It'll be a major problem in flower. The Buddy Pro is rated at 380m3/h and the fan 187m3/h so I really shouldn't have to slow the fan down so it can cope. I think the filter is sub standard. Tried a smoke test to see if the duct in the tent has any pin pricks but it all seemed to be going through the filter. I think my only option is to replace it.

As an interim measure I've got the window open on vent - it'll be open fully tomorrow when I have blinds fitted in the other rooms - the fitter won't be allowed in that room and I'll be shadowing him during the install.

I really don't have the ability to exhaust out of the window or through a hole in the wall - this is a small first grow and I'm not at the point of drilling holes in the wall or ceiling :-/

The tent is 1m square and the room it vents into is a total of 16m2

Cheers
 
Cultivator said:
LST is just bending branches to achieve canopy, in my view uts the best way to train plants as it doesnt stress plants too much. The scrog is basically a frame to support multiple heads from LST the plant. Avoid topping, i think its unnecessary. just bend bend bend and bare in mind plants double or triple in size during flower so if space is an issue be careful.
Click to expand...

Cheers Cultivator, I topped one plant but all it seemed to do was slow it down. The other two aren't topped at all. I suspect I should flip them tomorrow otherwise, as you say, I'll be out of room in my little tent.
 
Back
Top Bottom