The 4x4 Grow Tent Club

[MasterRookie]

Just because you start flowering doesn't mean you are going to retard growth. I vegged for 5 weeks. Not a lot happened for the first month of flowering. A guy who certainly knows told me that it would take two months of flowering at a minimum. My plants are finally starting to look like everyone else's in those wonderful budding pictures. I'm still 3-6 weeks away. Patience seems to be the biggest ingredient of success for me.

Keeping a journal has really helped. I've done a spreadsheet using day zero to be when the seedlings poked their heads above ground. I don't update it daily, but I do look at my plants daily. I keep a photo diary as well. Again, it helps to mark changes. I also mark the dates that they should be done (2 different strains and grow periods). That helps to keep perspective.

Reference your cloning. What is RW? Are you treating the open ends with root stimulants before you plant them?

Soil conundrum!?

I'm PHing my water at 6, because I'm using the soil and neuts listed above. It explains about water and nutrient uptake. Good reading.

I haven't started a journal yet but i def have plenty of pics... i will be starting one today tho thanks. RW is rockwool and yes i used clonex. Ive read enough to know i need to stay on top of PH and i have been. So far so good and I'm happy to announce all 5 showed their pistils today first time seeing them grow but I'm pretty positive

 

[Calvados]

Let the flowering commence !!

 

[OregonFarmer]

Hello Everyone!

Happy to be here and would like to introduce myself! This is my first grow and I'm using a 4 x 4 VivoSun Mylar tent with two Mars Hydro reflector 144 LED 325 watt lights. I also have a carbon filter and fan for filtration. Outside of the tent is a portable AC unit to aid with temperature control. The girls are growing in five gallon root pouches and I plan on adding some rock in the saucers to aid with air circulation. The average temp seems to be around 72 - 82 degrees F and RH is around 40 - 50%. Soil is the medium. GDP (L) and Cheesedawg (R) are the strains. Cheers all!

 

[Jdub95]

Hello Everyone!

Happy to be here and would like to introduce myself! This is my first grow and I'm using a 4 x 4 VivoSun Mylar tent with two Mars Hydro reflector 144 LED 325 watt lights. I also have a carbon filter and fan for filtration. Outside of the tent is a portable AC unit to aid with temperature control. The girls are growing in five gallon root pouches and I plan on adding some rock in the saucers to aid with air circulation. The average temp seems to be around 72 - 82 degrees F and RH is around 40 - 50%. Soil is the medium. GDP (L) and Cheesedawg (R) are the strains. Cheers all!

Can you explain your air filtration and fans a little more in depth please? Looking to get one for my tent as during the day when the tents closed temps get up to 93 and I want to use a carbon filter with inline fan to cool things down

 

[OregonFarmer]

Can you explain your air filtration and fans a little more in depth please? Looking to get one for my tent as during the day when the tents closed temps get up to 93 and I want to use a carbon filter with inline fan to cool things down

Hey Jdub! I'm using a 6" 440 CFM Inline duct fan attached to a 6" carbon filter with ducting as shown in the photo. Look closely at the photo and you can see the black fan in the upper left corner where the ducting is attached. This helps with pulling hot air out of the tent and is more than enough power. During flowering, this is also going to reduce the scent significantly.

I open the sides and front door of the tent partially - to let the cool AC air circulate into the tent - during the light cycle. Hope this helps!!

-OF

 

[Jdub95]

Ok thanks for the info I'm also concerned about the ph I'm using fox farm soil and tiger nut ph in soil is 7.5 even with a ph in the feed water at about 3.0

 

[MasterRookie]

Last time i was here asking for help... Thought I'd post an update

Before

After - Never seen them before but i know what these are !!!

 

[OregonFarmer]

Ok thanks for the info I'm also concerned about the ph I'm using fox farm soil and tiger nut ph in soil is 7.5 even with a ph in the feed water at about 3.0

For sure. Yea, you can also try to flush out your system with only water ph'd at 6.5, wait until dried out, then re-introduce the nutes.

-OF

 

[Jdub95]

Would one watering be enough to bring it down to 6.5 it's sitting At 7.5 maybe I add some water at a really low ph

 

[OregonFarmer]

Possibly; It may need two cycles. I would try watering with a ph of around 6-6.5 then dry out the soil. After the soil has dried - ph test and water as needed. It's always a good idea to mix your nutrients 24 hours in advance and before introducing them; ph test and adjust accordingly. Ensure to mix and have nutrients agitated as well before introducing.

-OF

 

[turkeykush]

In like a f(_)cking chicken wing! - I have a 4x4 grow currently in progress with 4 x Strawberry Ice and 2 X Caramelicious. Link is in my sig for any experienced members wanting to chime in.

 

[ma420]

Is anyone running 1000 watts and keeping their canopy in the high 70's- very low 80's? My tent is in a basement, so an A/C would be too expensive and a pain, but my peak intake temp. is around 72 degrees- most of the time 68-ish. I'm using a 400 cfm intake and a 400 cfm exhaust; my exhaust goes carbon filter through air-cooled reflector and out, so my intake is running at about 25% power to keep negative pressure, but the air is getting turned over in the tent multiple times a minute. The temp above my light is in the mid-high 70s, but I can't get a 1000 watt to keep the canopy under 86 from 2+ feet away, and I'm at 82 at 2+, which I still don't love, when I dim to 75% power. I have a 12" oscillating fan that stays just under the light as I raise it with the plant and two, 6" oscillating fans moving air around below the canopy. Anybody getting it done without A/C?

 

[Calvados]

Ok thanks for the info I'm also concerned about the ph I'm using fox farm soil and tiger nut ph in soil is 7.5 even with a ph in the feed water at about 3.0

Hi. That sounds all wrong. How are you measuring your soil PH? Is it FF potting soil? Most people base soil PH from run off. I just worry about the PH of the water I'm using. If it is really that high you should flush the soil until the run off is in the range that you want. You do the same thing if you over fertilizer. You should also try and figure out how that happened.

 

[gr865]

Here's what's going on in my 4x4!
Stacked 315W CMH's, Vertical grow with screens, coco.

The Harem

The Ladies

Cleaned the area

Arranging them in the tent.

You can check my shit, it's in my sig.

GR

 

[Jdub95]

Hi. That sounds all wrong. How are you measuring your soil PH? Is it FF potting soil? Most people base soil PH from run off. I just worry about the PH of the water I'm using. If it is really that high you should flush the soil until the run off is in the range that you want. You do the same thing if you over fertilizer. You should also try and figure out how that happened.

I'm using a duel prob type meter with ph and moisture that I can stick into the dirt

should I get a different one ? Also I feel as if I water enough to get runoff won't I be over watering it? I have calmag coming in the mail today to use with my. Water

 

[Calvados]

I have something like that. It's not very accurate for PH. Better for moisture. I use a "pen water quality tester". Mine is a Semlos 0.01 Resolution Digital PH Meter. You dip it in the water or you can dip it in the runoff for an indication of soil PH. It is much more accurate. They are pretty cheap. I also have PH down and PH up to adjust. Never used the Up. My tap water is around 7.0.

My growing medium is Canna Pro Plus, which as I found out later isn't your typical dirt. It's PH is lower as is the PH level for delivering the neuts (5.8-6.2). I don't know about what you are using, but you should find out what its natural PH is and what nutrients it already contains. You mentioned a PH of around 3 or 4 for your neuts. That sounds like hydroponics which is completely different from soil.

Watering until you get runoff is important to ensure that you are using all of the soil and that residual salt from your neuts isn't building up. Flushing is the same thing except you are using even more water to get rid of whatever nutrients are in the soil. It's a reset.

My advice is to

a) get a PH pen and focus on what is the best PH for your water at the recommended PH for the medium. Judging by the look of your plants (they look great) I wouldn't trust your meter reading. In the mean time I would follow whatever your neut instructions are that you bought for your growing medium (assume you got ones recommend for it). Start with 1/4 strength and build up to full over time. Getting some neut burn is not a big deal if it isn't destroying much of your leaves. It's an indication that the neuts are being delivered. When I see it (depending on severity) I will skip neuts and use water until there is runoff. I've not had severe problems with anything (yet).

b) find out what the properties are of the growing medium you are using.

 

[MartiniBudz]

How's it going? I'm new to this forum, but have a question/ looking for advice, I have a 4x4 I jut set up while I have 16 plants in week 4 of veg in my 2x4 on 400w.
My question is that is it possible to run 2 600w lights in my 4x4 and be comfortable? I have magnum xxxl 1000w lights with dimmable ballasts so I was going to run them on 600 for flower since I'm in an apartment. Thanks!

 

[TorturedSoul]

My question is that is it possible to run 2 600w lights in my 4x4 and be comfortable?

In theory, sure, you'd have 75 watts per square foot - blasting indicas, fooling hybrids into thinking they're at a resort, and you're into the comfortable range for sativas.

In practice? Whether or not you can deal with the heat production depends on your environment and setup. I'd set things up so that you had a separate fan ventilating the tent (with the usual carbon filter on its exhaust) and a fan run just for your lights. I'd use insulated reflector covers and insulated ductwork in order to do everything I could to keep the heat the lights produce away from the grow. If the tent is in an enclosed room, I'd want to keep the lights' ventilation run separate from that space, too - bring in air from a different space, exhaust it to a different space. With properly-sealed runs, this air will absorb heat from the lights but no smell; this gives you more options for "disposal" of it (perhaps you can dump it near a warm air return for your central a/c and grab your intake air from near one of the a/c ducts). This kind of setup not only cools better initially, you don't end up overheating the room the tent is in whilst at the same time trying to use that... preheated air to cool your setup.

You'll also need to match your reflectors with your space in such a way that your lights' output falls evenly across the entire area of your tent. Remember that you'll tend to experience a "third light effect" where the space between the two lights receives light from both - you can take advantage of this by blending the drop-off zones of your lights together.

1,200 watts spread evenly across 16 square feet should be a healthy, well-lit environment for your plants - and your bud production should reflect that. Your future is looking... bright .

 

[MartiniBudz]

In theory, sure, you'd have 75 watts per square foot - blasting indicas, fooling hybrids into thinking they're at a resort, and you're into the comfortable range for sativas.

In practice? Whether or not you can deal with the heat production depends on your environment and setup. I'd set things up so that you had a separate fan ventilating the tent (with the usual carbon filter on its exhaust) and a fan run just for your lights. I'd use insulated reflector covers and insulated ductwork in order to do everything I could to keep the heat the lights produce away from the grow. If the tent is in an enclosed room, I'd want to keep the lights' ventilation run separate from that space, too - bring in air from a different space, exhaust it to a different space. With properly-sealed runs, this air will absorb heat from the lights but no smell; this gives you more options for "disposal" of it (perhaps you can dump it near a warm air return for your central a/c and grab your intake air from near one of the a/c ducts). This kind of setup not only cools better initially, you don't end up overheating the room the tent is in whilst at the same time trying to use that... preheated air to cool your setup.

You'll also need to match your reflectors with your space in such a way that your lights' output falls evenly across the entire area of your tent. Remember that you'll tend to experience a "third light effect" where the space between the two lights receives light from both - you can take advantage of this by blending the drop-off zones of your lights together.

1,200 watts spread evenly across 16 square feet should be a healthy, well-lit environment for your plants - and your bud production should reflect that. Your future is looking... bright .

Thanks! So the reflectors I'm using are the Magnum XXXLs , they are for 1000w, and I have 1000w in them, but just dimmed down to 400 right now with only 1 hood in the 5x5 (it's actually not a 4x4 for some reason)...but I have the 1 good at 400 until I go to flower, flower is when I wanted to throw another hood in there and a 1000w bulb but dim it down to 600 and run both hoods.
As far as keeping it cool, I have an AC right in front of my tent, so I was creating a cardboard cover with 2 6" ducting cut outs (one for my house, and one for an intake fan on the tent running through the lights, also took off the glass so there is more airflow. What do you think?

 

[Guitarofozz]

Here's my 4x4. It's not filled right now because I have 5 plants in a ScrOG setup still vegging in my veg room. Anyways here it is.

1000w Air Cooled HPS light
300w LED light
Huge charcoal Can-Lite scrubber
6" fan that moves a huge amount of air (forgot cfm but I have excellent negative pressure and air exchange. Plus temp and humidity is like clockwork.