newb with new setup

[newb]

hello everyone im new here and thought i'd post up pictures of my setup and perhaps recieve some feedback from some of you more experienced growers.

the kit i recently purchased consists of a;

2 pod flood and drain system (pump included)
lamp/reflector
400w metal halide bulb (standard)
400w hps bulb (standard)
2 point contact relay with ballast
cheap hygrometer/thermometer
ec/cf professional truncheon
ph meter
growing media (clay pepples- also have jiffy pellets and rokwool cubes)

and as for nutrients and wot not the kit included a bottle of formulex (which im told is like dynamite for the nippers) and for main growth ive got hydro A and B solutions from 'Van De Zwaan'

iv not started anything as of yet as i need some feedback about the heat situation. iv setup all the equipment in a cupboard which is 43inches wide x 78 inches heigh x 22 depth. the inside is all painted in brilliant white vinyl matt for reflection. my only real concern is the heat as i am reluctant to buy an extractor because of the noise my plan was to use a normal household fan and insert 2 vents 1 on the wall opposite the fan and 1 in the ceiling so it fades into the ceiling cavity. anyway heres a few pics of wot i've done so far any feedback would be much appreciated.

[newb]

before i forget i've also got some master kush seeds (sensi seeds) and and citral x red hair seeds (origin unknown) both packs are a few years old and have been stored in a dry cool dark place but i cant seem to get the kush seeds to germ properly, im using the floating technique as its least hassle and i started about 20 seeds 4/5 days ago all of which have cracked and opened up but none the roots seem to be growing and im wondering if the seeds have outlived their shelf-life

[JPS]

Nah leave them for a bit longer mate, i'm growing master kush at the mo, lovely looking plants, a good smoke too.

[newb]

how did u germ the seeds and how long did it take before they had a cm of root growth, i did start another batch before that with only about 5/6 seeds and they all cracked n then sank after about 2 days the water went cloudy and stank like arse even tho im using volvic

[JPS]

Lol you've no need to use volvic mate! Just fill i bucket with water and leave it for 24 hrs to let the chlorine evaporate off the use that, you dont even really need to do that.

Took my seeds 4 days to germ.

[lkdj2003]

All looking very nice indeed mate, great job. :toke:

If you do cut a vent in the bottom of your grow space to allow air in you will be best off covering it with black speaker cloth or black tights to act as a light baffle, keeping light in and light out during your light out time but still allowing for air flow.

Having a vent down the bottom and one up the top still won't be enough to cope with the heat that will build up in there. Plus the extractor fan that you would have up the top of your grow room not only draws the hot stale air out but will draw fresh air in the bottom vent (passive intakes).

You don't want any light leaking into your flower room once your plants are flowering or they will hermie (go he/she) on you and seed up.

Formulux giving at a rate of 5ml per ltr of water is great for young plant's.

[newb]

yeah ive heard that they can do that or even revert back into veg for long periods of time the problem with getting an extractor fan apart from the added expense is the noise problem as the setup is in my bedroom and alls that seperates it all from the rest of my room is plasterboard>cavity>plasterboard plus it will need to be wired in unless im mistaken and u can now get 240v extractor fans. i mite try a dry run and leave the light on for say 5/6 hrs with a bowl of water inside to create a bit of humidity and see what temps i get with just a household fan and 2 vents, then if needs must i will buy an extractor but wouldnt mind hearing from some people who are using ruck/rvk fans in the bedrooms. if its loud then its obviously gonna affect me trying to sleep but also going to bring unwanted attention as other people within flat dont know about this experiment lol

[JPS]

Dude i grew mine to 14 inches with a 20w fluro and nothing else, so anythings achievable...

[lkdj2003]

yeah ive heard that they can do that or even revert back into veg for long periods of time the problem with getting an extractor fan apart from the added expense is the noise problem as the setup is in my bedroom and alls that seperates it all from the rest of my room is plasterboard>cavity>plasterboard plus it will need to be wired in unless im mistaken and u can now get 240v extractor fans. i mite try a dry run and leave the light on for say 5/6 hrs with a bowl of water inside to create a bit of humidity and see what temps i get with just a household fan and 2 vents, then if needs must i will buy an extractor but wouldnt mind hearing from some people who are using ruck/rvk fans in the bedrooms. if its loud then its obviously gonna affect me trying to sleep but also going to bring unwanted attention as other people within flat dont know about this experiment lol

You can stick a plug on the new fans and plug and play. ;)

I see what you are saying mate. I would do a test run and see whats what. ;)

ruck's and RVK's are noisy, but you can make a baffle for them to. Just use a cardboard box and fill it with polystyrene pieces (packing) and sit the fan inside the box and seal off. That helps a fair bit. ;)


Dude i grew mine to 14 inches with a 20w fluro and nothing else, so anythings achievable...

Yes this is true, but it is also great to get the most out of your hard work and money by having it right. ;)

I've grown plant's thousands of ways over the years and having it right does matter big time.

[JPS]

Oh yeah i agree totally, just saying it can be done.

[newb]

if i was gonna get an extractor i was thinkin of making a slot for it then once its in filling it with expanding foam. could any1 tell me if its wise to flood the system every 3 hrs even when light cycle is off? ive been told that doing it at night pumps oxygen into the water and keeps it from going stagnant im just about to test flood n drain now :)

[lkdj2003]

Oh yeah i agree totally, just saying it can be done.

Fair shout mate. :leaf: http://www.thctalk.com/cannabis-forum/images/icons/icon7.gif


if i was gonna get an extractor i was thinkin of making a slot for it then once its in filling it with expanding foam. could any1 tell me if its wise to flood the system every 3 hrs even when light cycle is off? ive been told that doing it at night pumps oxygen into the water and keeps it from going stagnant im just about to test flood n drain now :)

That would work a treat but im not to sure on the noise though as i use a bathroom extractor fan in my seedling/clone room and they are noisy buggers. It's not always the fan that makes the noise to, it can be the air flow making a whooosing sound. This is why you can buy accoustic ducting (http://www.greenshorticulture.co.uk/details.asp?productid=112&subcat=110&cat=20) to help lower that noise to. It all really depends on money and how far you want to go with growing. :smokie:

I would flood the system every 3 hrs like you say to stir the nutes and keep them oxygenated and to stop the roots drying out to much.

[newb]

just finished testing 1 side was filling up a lot quicker than the other at 1st but blew down the pump connector pipe and it seems to have sort itself out 1thing i can see being a problem is that the pepples start raising up after about 40/45 seconds and im not sure if the digital timer i've got allows seconds i think its only minutes unless the pepples rising wouldnt cause any root damage??? it seems like its a lot of fuckin work that mary jane puts you through lol

[Bitterfly]

seems like a sweet setup man!

as LK says tho there are ways round noisy fans, i know its extra cost but youve got some shit hot gear there and paying the little extra now is gonna make a huge difference in the long run!

[newb]

ive finally figured out the digital timer for the pump and have it to come on for 1minute every 3 hours i did a test run and the pepples in 1 of the pots began to rise slighty about 10 seconds before the pump cut out, is there a possibility that when this happens the roots stand a chance of being exposed to light, or even physical damage from the movement of the pebbles?

[lkdj2003]

ive finally figured out the digital timer for the pump and have it to come on for 1minute every 3 hours i did a test run and the pepples in 1 of the pots began to rise slighty about 10 seconds before the pump cut out, is there a possibility that when this happens the roots stand a chance of being exposed to light, or even physical damage from the movement of the pebbles?

Can you not restrict the flow with something like this (http://www.greenshorticulture.co.uk/details.asp?productid=761&subcat=135&cat=69) or something like this (http://www.greenshorticulture.co.uk/details.asp?productid=772&subcat=135&cat=69) , they should help you slow the flow a little to stop the movement of the pepples. :toke:

[newb]

ive found what the problem was, the grommet for the t-joint (pump connector pipe) is missing on the side that was filling up quicker, so basically what was happening was the side with no grommet was an open tube therefore letting in more water than the other side. did have a prob with the pump aswell as it sucked up some grit from one the clay pepples then woudlnt turn on , so i gave it a test out of the water and it blasted the grit out so im back on track again.

[newb]

when i purchased all my kit i was given 2 small packs each containing 2 miniture bottles. the bottles are manufactured by 'NTlabs' and are for an acidity test. what i dont understand is why i've been given this when the kit already included a ph meter and bottles of ph up and down, therefore allowing me to test and adjust the ph level.