First Grow: DWC in Grow Box w/ 250 MH Bulb

First time grower and decided to keep a journal on here in hopes of getting tips and suggestions along the way. Been reading through rollitup (best site out there) for weeks studying the art of growing.

Background:
When the idea of growing first crossed my mind a month ago, it first started with the Aerogarden. I actually bought one on Amazon, but ended up canceling the order the next day after deciding to go DWC instead (save the money and put it towards lighting). After spending a few weeks learning about growing and setting up my grow box, I'm finally ready to go. I'm already a couple days in, so going to first catch everyone up. I plan on posting pictures more frequently towards the beginning and end of the grow.

Box Setup:
- 3' wide, 2' deep, 4' tall grow
- 250W Agrosun Bulb (contains both halide and sodium)
- Four 23W CFL Bulbs (6500K bulbs for veg and 2700K for flowering)
- 6" airduct fan for exhaust (250 CFM)
- Passive air intake
- Two small fans for circulation
- Plan to make a homemade carbon filter

DWC Setup:
- 27 qt. plastic container (spray painted black)
- 80 gallon airpump w/ 2 x 10" airstones
- Three 3" netpots w/ Hydroton
- General Hydroponics Flora Nutes

Seeds:
Ordered my seeds from Nirvana Shop and got them two weeks later in a very discreet package.

- 1 AK-48 feminized
- 2 Master Kush feminized

Day 1, April 14 - Started germinating seeds (2 feminized AK-48 and 2 feminized Master Kush, both from Nirvana Shop) using paper towels and plastic containers.

I had only planned on germinating one AK-48 for my first grow, but one of the seeds was cracked, so I decided to put this cracked one in there to see if it will still germinate.

In a third container, I placed a few seeds that I’ve saved, not great quality smoke. I’m just playing around with these seeds and do not intend on growing them out.

Day 2, April 15 - Checked the moisture in the containers thought the undamaged AK-48 seed might already had started sprouting… wasn't sure (was very stoned). Nothing from the other seeds.

Day 3, April 16 - Checked on the seeds again and the healthy AK-48 seed sprouted! The two Master Kush seeds started to crack.

I transplanted the AK-48 into Miracle Grow Seed Starting Potting Soil and placed it in my grow box.

Also stared (really stoned... again) at the damaged AK-48 seed, I can’t tell if it’s trying to sprout or just mashed up. Pretty sure that baby is done.



So that catches me up to today. See next post for today's update.

Checked up on the remaining seeds today and they all the rest sprouted... except for the damaged AK-48.

I placed all the seeds in the potting soil and into the grow box. The soil seemed to dry out within half an hour from the heat so I placed some plasti-wrap on there and pokes a lot of holes... wanted to allow it to evaporate, just slowly rather than instantaneously.

As for the damaged AK-48... carried out a toilet flushing ceremony with TAPS playing in the background. Okay, not really.

All five seeds have poked through the soil! The AK-48 and one of the Master Kushes have their first leaves. The other Master Kush and the random seeds have the seed leaves. Running on 18/6 lighting. Temperature in the box is around 85 degrees. Going to leave that plastic wrap on there for just one more night before I take them off to let the soil dry out a little more. I’ll take some pics tomorrow. A bit superstitious too so I'm thinking about naming the plants.