Stealthy's NL/BB Hydro Grow

[Stealthy1]

Hey guys been a long time in the making basically a cascade of issues put of the grow, but lets focus on the present shall we.

Im using my hydro setup from my SIG Not using the venturi because its going in the bedroom and its not needed in such a small reservoir.
As you can see I started the 4 seeds in rockwool and there in hydroton clay balls in 3" baskets so far 3 have sprouted 1 is growing like crazy with roots that have penetrated the rockwool.
One started ok but the stem did a loop before if decided the best way to grow up.
One had trouble sheding the seed casing which I pulled off when it was loose enough.
and another just didnt sprout although it cracked.
Right now Im using a cfl bulb and a small 18 watt aquarium fluro. I dont have my 150watt HPS anymore =(

Nutes should be arriving Monday or Tuesday.
This is going to be a cabinet grow which I'm starting to build today.

Camera will not focus on the curly one

 

[Stealthy1]

Here's the cab.

Here's all the guts of the cab

Here's the inside

Here's my modified bathroom fan

Here's the fan installed with the fan controller (not a dimmer switch)

I cut off about 4 inches of metal to make it a lower profile also I removed the motor and put rubber washers on the mounting bolts to reduce vibes. It suspended by bungee also has bubble wrap on the back so it doesnt transfer vibes as well. very quiet on medium speed although it barely turns on low.

 

[Dain Bramage]

have just come home frome home depot with two bathroom fans to use in my closet grow like the idear of using dimmer switch

 

[BassBong]

I don't believe you should or could use a dimmer switch, I believer it has to be a fan controller like stealthy said.

I like the set up, I just bought a storage cabinet and some goodies.

Keep it going and keep with the pics.

 

[Dain Bramage]

I don't believe you should or could use a dimmer switch, I believer it has to be a fan controller like stealthy said.

I like the set up, I just bought a storage cabinet and some goodies.

Keep it going and keep with the pics.

ok i miss read not a dimmer switch

 

[Stealthy1]

Thanks for the comments.
I've been sitting here waiting for these things to grow...

Yes dimmer switches wont work its a 3 speed fan controller you can get them for about $20 HD or lowes. The good ones let you adjust the speed to anything you like but are more expensive.
Dimmer switches just increase the resistance fan controllers are solid state electronic doohickys
linked to Wikipedia which explains the technology

I just finished lining it with mylar looks like a damn spaceship in there.

Yes Ill update the pics soon probly tomorrow when my cousin comes to help me haul it to its permanent location...oak is heavy...

soon to come DIY odor scrubber and more lighting...

 

[Stealthy1]

I wanted to create a time-lapse setup with an older digital camera I have but it turns out it would take too long to make the controller for it as im pressed for time at the present.
They have software to do it from a computer too, but I sold my really old laptop and my old towers (was using for servers).
so maybe in the distant future I will come up with something.

 

[Stealthy1]

Heres the recent pics.
Got a 28 watt 5600K CFL today to add to the 23watt warm white bulb.

They are starting to take off now.. Ordered my nutes they shouldve been here today but the company is run by bone heads I will not buy from them again.

 

[Siscokid]

Yo Brother man, so no outdoor grow this past year? I don't blame ya with all this awful rain and cold. Well, here I am and ready for some action. What is the strain again? Looking forward to the grow and like Tunes would say "Green Mojo your way brother grower".

 

[Stealthy1]

Its a Northern Lights and BigBud cross.

No outdoor grow we ended up selling 20 of the 22 acres to the town it was in so our patch got very small.

Yah I got high hopes for these babies...
Thanks for stopping by....

 

[Stealthy1]

The mess

The hood

Now I need to go get a couple sockets and mount and wire them.
What you guys think not bad for 2 hours work eh? No real equipment just hand tools and wood blocks.

 

[Strain Hunter]

Thanks for the comments.
I've been sitting here waiting for these things to grow...

Yes dimmer switches wont work its a 3 speed fan controller you can get them for about $20 HD or lowes. The good ones let you adjust the speed to anything you like but are more expensive.
Dimmer switches just increase the resistance fan controllers are solid state electronic doohickys
linked to Wikipedia which explains the technology

I just finished lining it with mylar looks like a damn spaceship in there.

Yes Ill update the pics soon probly tomorrow when my cousin comes to help me haul it to its permanent location...oak is heavy...

soon to come DIY odor scrubber and more lighting...

Yea man things are lookin sweet, what nutes do ya plan to use m8 ?

have just come home frome home depot with two bathroom fans to use in my closet grow like the idear of using dimmer switch

Well whats up man, dont be expecting to much from the extractor/bathroom fans, if your runnin a high heat output lamp like a HPS for example you'll need a lot of em

 

[Stealthy1]

I ordered some nutes a while back and was waiting for them to come. While I waited I started the grow after nutes never came I finaly got my money back from them.
I was a little freaked out because these things were growing the first set of leaves and I had nothing so I found a place that "DHLs" overnight some no-name stuff and it was cheap.
Place called "Great Lakes Garrden Supply" and yes they misspelled it in the email I just copied that from lol.
Long story short they screwed 2 ways made me order twice as much as I wanted and then they shipped it fedex ground...5 days after I ordered it

 

[Stealthy1]

Ok So a bit of an update here.
Got the cab moved sheesh that was heavy...
Got the plumbing for the fan hooked up...
Finished light fixture came out fairly good only issue I had was There was no lamp cord at the store so I had to use 16ga landscape wire very thick which made joining them a mess at best But everythings soldiered even the screws on the sockets them selves this thing works verry well for something that was just wiped up. Im going to get some more reflective material to line the reflector eventually.

I used standoffs or nylon spacers to get the space from the reflector, Otherwise the bulb would touch the aluminum.

Here is a shot of the cab a bit further along than last time. Ive just about got it light tight just have to get to store for some weather striping.

And heres a few shots of the plants just recovering from the shock of adding nutes a couple got a little bit burned but seems ok now.

The runt

The PH is slowly rising but is still in the safe range
the TDS was originally at 450 ppm which caused burn I added enough water to bring it too 400 ppm and that seemed good I checked this morning its down too 350ppm Guess it means there drinking right?
Just a note the one that burned was very slow to develop roots outside the pot even the runt has more root mass Could this have anything to to with why it burned?
This is my first hydro grow so input is appreciated.
Aslo Found out my nutes are just repackaged GH 3 part nutes I have only the grow and micro is that sufficient or do I need the bloom as well there is now dosage schedule on the bottle.

 

[usul]

Hey Stealthy - good looking setup and great pics! Looks like you and I are on very similar paths - except I'm vegging under a Metal Halide. I've had root issues as well and just finished a huge battle with pH, which is now solved.

Keep an eye on the pH - if it starts climbing fast you may have issues with algae or bacteria, which is what I ran in to (check my journal for the complete horror story). I have one plant that is doing great root-wise and another that can't seem to get it going. Started my nutes at 450 and they seemed to do fine - now the nutes are now at 570. We'll see if that helps.

By the way, how old are your plants?

Good luck!

 

[Stealthy1]

2 weeks i think. I was just at the pet store looking for some ph up/dn .

seems fine for now but ill keep an eye on.

Seriously feel like buying a digital ph meter though.

 

[BassBong]

Just swapped my plants from soil to hydro. I will be interested to see how you progress.

 

[Stealthy1]

Thanks,

I checked this morning and they seem to have gotten over there initial shock and are growing at decent rate now Im going to mix up a new nute batch hopefully they like this one as much.
But after reading alot im going to mix it in the other container get the ph adjusted then introduce it to the mix.

right now im using 5 gals at a time anyone know if I should up this to 8 or so? of course that makes it harder to mix up the nutes.

 

[usul]

Hey Stealthy, checking back in on your grow... I'm a newbie myself but have been getting some good advice along the way. Regarding some of your wonderments:

- Get that digital pH meter - it'll make your life so much easier. I use The Checker by Hannah. It's inexpensive and seems to work fine. Note that you'll also need to buy 7.01 and 4.01 solutions for calibration, which I do weekly.

- If you can go up to 8 gallons by all means do so. A larger res is more stable.

- I recall you're using GH Flora series nutes? Me too. I just got turned on to the GH Lucas Formula and think it's the way to go. Google it.

Good luck! Let's see some pics

 

[Stealthy1]

Yah deffinitely going to get a digital PH meter but trying to decide if I should get a cheapo $50 meter or one that does tds ph and temp for thrice the price.
the combo meter is much better obviously because you can mount it and dont have to get samples everytime.

Anyways yesterday I changed out the nute solution, I had adjusted the ph down to about 6 and the tds was 650 no problems so far they seem to like it.

I found out my RO system is junk besides the fact it leaks like crazy now it has a bypass vavle that doesnt close all the way so the burn I saw on the plants could have been from the clorine in the water im thinking. So i basically took a sawzall to it and replumbed it without the system I cant afford to replace that right yet.
So I just let the tap water sit out for a while first.

I think Ill stick with these nutes for veg at least because well I paid for em so might as well use them right?

I might bring it up to 7.5 gals just to make it easyer but itll have to be a situation where I use 5gals for the rez change then a day later add the 2.5gals.(I can only steathily keep one bucket in the room lol)