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Hey guys. Just decided to share my first serious grow with you all, because I am sure my idea and concept is fantastic and perhaps would be useful for someone. I grow in fucking limited conditions: lack of space in my pantry, what located in bedroom, so it should be also as quiet as possible. Although wanted to have two strains, so i am going to make two small but fat dwarfs from that.
So, what do we have here:
-GrowBox 120x60x40, gonna be tricky to keep enough height from lamp, but i have some solution.
-Chinese LED, but performed 3 years ago in totally DIY box from Ikea. Its officially 150w and can give 759 ppfd at 30cm height.
-DIY automated reverse irrigation system, 60x40xH12 plastic box with pump inside. After a test makes circa. 400ml/min for 1 plant
- Everything connected to Sonoff CH4 switch wifi and Sonoff TH temperature and humidity sensor is also on the way.
- Made some excel tracker with some pre-calculated values, will try to stick with that.
20.11.2023 put seeds into glass of water "old school", drowned on 22.11.2023 and put them to Rockwool cubes watered with Power roots 0,3 ml/ 400 ml tap water.
Hey all, its our 1st week after casing drop. Facing some issues with Night temp, sometimes it could fall to +12C, thinking about how to improve it. Also concerned about slow growth because of that. Using just Hydro roots 1/3 of Plagron recommended dose.
Bought silencer and put ventilator into outdoor to avoid mechanic noise, with closed door hear nothing.
Hey all, its our 2nd week after casing drop. Facing some issues with Night temp, sometimes it could fall to +12C, thinking about how to improve it. Also concerned about slow growth because of that. Using just 1/3 of Plagron recommended dose.
Modified a bit my tank, made some technical window. Also set up automatic irrigation, because wool started to dry up during the day
Upd Sunday 10.12.2023, Decided to put Babys finally to Seramis.
Washing ceramics is some kind of hell:
-First, I decided to sift all the dust through a sieve, stood in a half-bent position with bags of Seramis for 30m (my back didnt like it), but there was a lot of dust.
-then I decided to check the Ph and rinse thoroughly. Although the package says 5.5-5.7 Ph, after the first flush with a balanced solution at 5.5 Ph, there was 6.5 in the drainage.
- I was concerned by the very muddy brick colour water, then got tired of mixing 5.5 in a bucket for flushing and decided to rinse it with tap water from shower and then balance it back to 5.5 Ph . As a result, I poured from the hose for another 30 minutes until the water became more or less transparent.
-I also tested FloraFlex discs, they drip great and, although round, fit perfectly into my square grow bags.
-Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Ph meter broke down, even the readings of the calibration buffer were changing from 4-6 Ph within one minute. In the end, I spent another 30min and half a bottle of buffer on this too. It’s good that i had yellow Chinese Ph meter, which even after 3 years of rest in the box showed accurate buffer readings.
-Finally, the Ph of the drainage was 5.5-5.7 and it was transparent, so I began to move it into the growbox. I sprinkled it as much as I could, it was impossible to dig deeper. The plants do not yet reach the matrix disk, so for now they will grow with the usual felt.
-The cap of the tank is very thin and cannot withstand the weight of 2 grow bags, I’ll have to come up with something else, maybe I’ll put some kind of drainage grid.
Watering will be from a tank with a mixed solution of 5.8 Ph and 1.1 EC.
So, gentlemen, the third Sunday evening after casing drop 17.12.2023.
Problems I faced:
-Slimy solution and even foam around the pump. I changed the solution, bought a “wave maker” so that the solution would not fade out again later
-My Milwaukee Ph meter finally broke down, so I returned it to the store. Then, while mixing solution, I dropped a working Chinese meter. So I was left without Ph for the whole week.
-The plants were slightly burned on the lower leaves, most likely by the previous rotten solution.
-The tank cap is still being pressed in, because of the sloppy Czechs, I can’t pick up the drainage mesh from the shop.
In general, they are growing fine, there are 5 floors, I will top on the 6th floor, LST and will switch to flowering schedule as soon as they get over the stress. Still, because of the small box, I grow dwarfs, so I don’t need a long and massive vega.
I also changed my isolation for vent, since the storage room is in the bedroom, the purchased muffler still made a little noise. I understand that with a filter the power will drop and the noise will be less, but it was just fun for me to do it myself. Result: the sound from the air flow has become much quieter, but i can hear the mechanical sound of fan (although the model is silent 25 dB), then maybe I’ll somehow modify it with mineral wool
Ladies and gents, the 4th Sunday from the birthday, December 24, 2023.
Weekly summary:
-Overall, the growth has been good, and they've gained strength, so I pruned them to prevent life from becoming too comfortable. I trimmed them as soon as the 6th floor appeared, leaving only the 2nd floor, and removed the semi-leaves.
-Finally got the drainage mesh, which fit perfectly into my box.
-Installed heating. Used 12v fan with some heating stuff, was tricky to find the 12v adapter for 100w power, finally used adapter for LED. Works more than perfect.
-I don't want to keep them on a vegetation for too long, so I'm thinking of switching to flowering in the middle of the week, as soon as the two remaining cola give two more each. Or do you think I should wait until the end of the week and then switch?
Rumyn88
