6 site Aero, between 2-1000w lights

DutchCali · Jan 15, 2011

Hello all! I'm about start my first grow. :leaf:

The clones are in domes under their own T5 bars, and a sharing a tent with a 600w air cooled MH tending to their mothers.
(pics will be posted)
When the clones are rooted in a few days, it's on!

Very excited and hope I can produce some decent medication.

Here is a preliminary pic of my aero build to give an idea of what I'm working with.

I will have a 6 site areoponics system.
3.5" net pots will be filled with hydroton holding rockwool rooted clones.

I haven't made a decision on strain yet. Might go for a combo. I will have a choice of Blue Dream, Chemdog, Lemon Haze, and AK47 clones. I'll have pics of the clones once they're rooted and ready.

I set up a drain to recycle separate reservoir with a 396gPH submersible pump feeding a 17 sprayer pvc manifold with 360 degree coverage on each site. The reservoir will have with 5 airstones from two aquarium air pumps and another 396gph sub pump "turning" the res solution to help keep the nute solution cool and EXTREMELY aerated.

Do I need a cycle timer? 1 on / 4 off type spray. I'm really leaning towards a 24/7 feed? Suggestions?

I will have this 27" x 19" tote in between a 24" space created from 2 2' x 4' flood tables each centered under their own 1000w switchable HPS/MH light.

I am sharing a collective garden space.

Will I get enough light in between the 2 1000w for my canopy?

I have a small 150w SunSystems HPS. Should I put that in between the 2 1000w for flowering?

I figure it can't hurt, or might even make a huge difference? Not worth it? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Also, since I plan on using an external res; to cut down on the cost of nutes, can I use the nute solution in one of the flood and drain tables pumping to my aero roots and draining back to their res?

We'll all be running the same light sched. 1 week veg on MH. 1 week flowering with MH. HPS flowering till ripe.

The grow room itself has a 10" fan pulling air through a LARGE carbon filter to exhast.
A 6" fan pulls external air and cools both glass enclosed hoods inline to exhaust.
There are 3 10" oscillating fans directed at canopy and under canopy positions.
RO water filtration feeds the reservoirs with float valves and an installed quick drain to waste line for simple changes.
The entire area is lined with panda film.
AC IN / in the CENTER of the room.
Industrial grade timers.
240V circuit running 2-1000w digital switchable ballasts.
Top end spectrum HPS and MH bulbs.

Any help will be appreciated or comments?
Thanks ALL!!!

Look out for the onslaught of pics!

GUESSES ON YIELD??

DutchCali · Jan 16, 2011

ALMOST READY! :leaf:

Worked my arse off today with collective members to get an 80% complete grow facility for our medication.

A view of the 220 control board with the two 1000w ballasts for flowering and the 600w ballast for veg plus assorted timers and 110 power supplies:

The flood and drain tables and my aero site:

I was worried about enough light! HA! I'll be just fine.

600w and floros tending to mothers and clones in tent:

Air filtration and cooling:

Water filtration, drain to waste, and other assorted plumbing and pump assembly will be done soon!

DutchCali · Jan 16, 2011

Cali temp was in the mid 80's today. :leaf:

The room hit 90 quick. I have a rolling 7000btu AC unit we installed, but it died.
Just pushing hot air. I dont know if it needs a recharge, but we need AC. The outside air fan, and heat extraction fan wont be enough. Ughhh.
Setback, need to get an AC tomorrow.

Running plumbing and power for pumps tomorrow once I get the AC situation squared away. Thinkin about ScrOGin my 6 site. Whaddaya think??

DutchCali · Jan 17, 2011

Cooling problems! Solved? :leaf:

We bought a 12000btu AC unit today.

I think that should help cool down the room!!
It'll be delivered Thursday. We only have a few more days before the clones are ready!!!

We're also re-arranging the fans and ducting to be more efficient. Might even go so far as to completely move the 600w & floros mothers/clones tent to a completely different room. Shame, we have a pretty sweet floor plan, but the extra space opens other possibilities as well. We'll see, a decision has to be made SOON.

On a surprise, a gift, a clearance sale, and a stroke of luck, brought a CO2 regulator and controller into the fray today!!!!!!!

This brings a whole new element to the grow. Picking up a 50lb tank tomorrow.

RECAP of setup so far :leaf:

The CO2 rich environment will be kept at 1500ppm @ 80degrees with the newly aquired AC unit and CO2 regulator and controller.

I'm getting PLENTY of light between 2 air cooled hoods with 1000w hortilux HPS bulbs for flowering after 1 week of veg under 2 1000w hortilux MH bulbs.

My areo chamber drains, no DWC/bubble hybrid tub, the roots will be misted 24/7 and suspended in the open light proof chamber. 3 air stones will be pumping fresh air into the root chamber.

I cant quite wrap my head around the nutrient program my collective partner set up, but its a combination of about 20 large jugs of botincare and general hydroponic products. So think tailored extensive nutrient program.

View attachment 1388485

The is reservoir itself is supplied by a RO filtration system.

The reservoir itself will be aerated by a 396gph submersible pump.

Soooooo......I know the flood tables running a SOG will produce a decent amount, but what about my 6 site aeroponic grow?

I think I'm going with grape ape and bubba kush.

GUESSES ON YIELD??
I want some people with growing exp, to tell me what they think I'll get on my first grow with this setup!
Screen of green, or just let 'em grow!???

DutchCali · Feb 2, 2011

Day 1 Veg

ALL SYSTEMS GO!
:bigjoint:

I decided to ScrOG afterall.
I figured I could maximize my yield with 6 plants in the same area of the two flood tables.

We decided to move the mothers into their own room and ditch the tent.

Filled up the reservoirs with RO water, balanced the PH, and mixed up some veg nutrients.

We took all of our clones in rockwool plugs and filled into rockwool cubes for the two flood tables.

I took 4 ChemDawg 91's, a Blue Cheese, and a Blue Skunk
in rockwool plugs and dropped them into my aero net pots with hydroton.

Checked to make sure the pumps were operational and set the reservoir aeration pumps and the aeroponic sprayer pump to 24/7.

Set the AC to auto @70 degrees and the CO2 regulator and PPM reader on auto to maintain 1500 PPM.

Checked the 2000w of ballasts and set timers to 18/6. 6" Inline fan pulling filtered air from a separate AC cooled room cools both glass enclosed hoods and is exhausted to the attic.

We'll veg for a week under the 2 - 1000w lighs with MH before we flip to 12/12 under HPS.

First grow ever, hope I don't fuck up the aeroponic ScrOG.

Come on yall, if I get some feedback and guesses on yeild, I'd probably participate more in other threads! Trying to get some advice from experienced growers!!!

ANY ADVICE? AM I DOING ANYTHING WRONG?
Thanks in advance!

MediMary · Feb 2, 2011

Hey great looking room+rep
(hope you don't mind the comment, your thread is all clean and uncluttered, if you want me to ill remove it)

DutchCali · Feb 2, 2011

MediMary said:
Hey great looking room+rep
(hope you don't mind the comment, your thread is all clean and uncluttered, if you want me to ill remove it)

no please! Please, I want comments!!! I am a first time grower, so anyone with advice, comments, and guesses on yeild would be very appreciated!! As soon as I get at least one grow under my belt, I figure I'll be a little more active in the forums here!

Thanks for the nice comment!!

MediMary · Feb 2, 2011

Looks better than my room :oops:

, and I have been growing for awhile :eyesmoke:

Keep up the good work, ill be a regular in here.

rosecitypapa · Feb 2, 2011

Looks like a clean uncluttered setup. Nice job.

I'd suggest a light over your rig. The offside lighting is not something you'll be happy with very long. I didn't see any sprayers on your rig, what do you intend on testing? Get a paint filter bag for your pump so you won't have to clean your sprayers as often.

As for yield, think more about caring for healthy vibrant plants, some might even say sentient. Your motives will be amplified and reflected back to you. You take care of them, they will take care of you. How would you want to be taken care of?

DutchCali · Feb 2, 2011

rosecitypapa said:
Looks like a clean uncluttered setup. Nice job.

I'd suggest a light over your rig. The offside lighting is not something you'll be happy with very long. I didn't see any sprayers on your rig, what do you intend on testing? Get a paint filter bag for your pump so you won't have to clean your sprayers as often.

As for yield, think more about caring for healthy vibrant plants, some might even say sentient. Your motives will be amplified and reflected back to you. You take care of them, they will take care of you. How would you want to be taken care of?

Thanks for your comments!! Rep+

I intend on getting another light in the room after this 1st grow. The entire room is 12' by 10' with 2 - 1000 watt lights, and I'm right in between both. I saw a table on HID lighting saying a single 1000 watter will cover a primary are of 8'x8' and stretch to a secondary area of 12'x12'. The entire room isn't even 12'x12', and we got 2! So I hope it's enough. The pics do not do the intensity justice. I figure it's better than a single 400 or even a 600 watt light????

LOL! I do have sprayers. The pic of the manifold was taken before I finished building. Each center bar has a 360 sprayer, and each outer bar has a 180 sprayer for 17 sprayers total. Each net pot gets hit with nutrient spray from all 4 sides!! I do have a filter for the pump, which rests in a separate res.

And I agree, this is a legal medical grow for patients in need. Quality, care, and compassion is my main concern. The yeild guess requests is more of a fun question?

Thanks for the input, much appreciated!! Keep em comin, and bookmark, the babies are just getting started!

rosecitypapa · Feb 2, 2011

The table you've seen that gives you those numbers is misleading. A 1000 watt light lights a 6' x 6' area well at 24" from the foliage. Light intensity doubles for every 6" you get the light closer to the canopy and the opposite is also true. For every 6" you are away from the canopy, the light intensity is cut in half. For a 1000 watt bulb on a horizontal axis you do not want to be closer than 24".

Diminished light intensity slows growth and affects overall yield. So the answer is No, the current lighting setup is not better than a dedicated light hung directly over the plants that you can adjust for canopy height.

I haven't grown your strains, but if your rig is setup right you have the foundation for optimal growth. Ph, nutrient concentration and rootzone temperature are your biggest limiting factors at first. Get some reflective insulation on that aero unit for sure.

What kind of sprayers?

I'm not talking about the filters that generally come with pumps. You need a finer mesh to keep the sprayers from getting clogged as frequently.

DutchCali · Feb 3, 2011

rosecitypapa said:
The table you've seen that gives you those numbers is misleading. A 1000 watt light lights a 6' x 6' area well at 24" from the foliage. Light intensity doubles for every 6" you get the light closer to the canopy and the opposite is also true. For every 6" you are away from the canopy, the light intensity is cut in half. For a 1000 watt bulb on a horizontal axis you do not want to be closer than 24".

Diminished light intensity slows growth and affects overall yield. So the answer is No, the current lighting setup is not better than a dedicated light hung directly over the plants that you can adjust for canopy height.

I haven't grown your strains, but if your rig is setup right you have the foundation for optimal growth. Ph, nutrient concentration and rootzone temperature are your biggest limiting factors at first. Get some reflective insulation on that aero unit for sure.

What kind of sprayers?

I'm not talking about the filters that generally come with pumps. You need a finer mesh to keep the sprayers from getting clogged as frequently.

I'm sure I will benefit from my own light source, and will get one next cycle. We're under MH right now for veg, but when we switch to HPS, I do own a 150watt SunSystems HPS bulb, reflector and ballast. I might drop that sucker right above my rig for flowering. Couldn't hurt right?

Though I think I'm still getting PLENTY of lumens from the 2 lights. Like I said, the whole room is only 10' across.

And I didn't even think about reflecting the light away from the root chamber as a method of insulation!! I'll be sure to throw some panda film around it soon. Awesome! ;-)

The sprayers I'm using are like these:

I bought a filter bag for the pump today! We use an all liquid nutrient program, so hopefully that eliminates and possibility of solids clogging the sprayers, I hope the nutrients don't have too much of a 'salt' build up effect?

DutchCali · Feb 3, 2011

Day 2 - Veg :leaf:

My babies have all shot out some new growth. About an 1" per ChemDawg 91. The Blue Cheese and the Blue Skunk, not so much, but there is slight new growth.

I've already started to train the mains of the ChemDawgs back under the screen.
:mrgreen:

My collective growers flood tables feed timers got tippled up some how. They flooded for 20min and drained, 3 times last night! Yikes, the rockwool cubes were all swollen and the babies went limp from overwatering. Almost a disaster on day one! Pulled the timer and they are going to manually flood and drain the rockwool as needed. More like once every 2-3 days the way that rockwool holds water. After a few hours under the lights, and no more flooding, they are finally starting to perk up and show signs of new growth! :lol:

rosecitypapa · Feb 3, 2011

We use an all liquid nutrient program, so hopefully that eliminates and possibility of solids clogging the sprayers, I hope the nutrients don't have too much of a 'salt' build up effect?

They won't as long as you are balanced in your tds, ph and reservoir change outs. Salt build up comes from nutrients not being utilized. Some brands have more mineral salt buildup than others. GH, I've known to be high.

DutchCali · Feb 6, 2011

DAY 4 - VEG :leaf:

PICS FIRST!

Yesterday everything seemed good. The CO2 tank was getting light. I saw some stretch. Later that night I realized I touched the feed pipe for the areo sprayers, and it was warm!!!

The lights were off, so sterilized a couple of jugs, put water in them, closed them up, and placed them in the freezer.

Today I put the frozen ice jugs in the the reservoir.
It brought the temp down from 76 degrees to 69.

I've been playing around with rotating our sterile frozen jugs in the res all day and have got it down to a pattern and ice volume to maintain 68-72 degrees.

Sweet, but a ton of work to do every day. I don't want to invest in a water chiller yet.
(YET being the key, maybe next time)

Whats a good way to keep the water temp primo?

OH YEAH, the CO2 tank was done tonight. Swapped it out.

I pulled the tops back under the screen today. Secondary growth sites are reaching the canopy for the 4 ChemDawgs. I peeked under the Blue Skunk hydroton basket quickly and glanced root systems from all 6 sites stretching a few inches out of the hydroton and down into the aero chamber.

IN 4 DAYS!
Awesome!

:mrgreen:

phenob · Feb 7, 2011

If you really get bogged down with res temp issues you might consider switching from a tote to a cooler. Probably be a pain in the ass adapting your manifold but it wouldn't be too bad I bet.

A good cooler will maintain res temp for at least 3-5 days. Just top off / refill with cool water and you're pretty much set. No ice needed assuming your room is under like 85f, and definitely cheaper than a chiller.

and I really like your concave scrog screen. an inspiring design.

DutchCali · Feb 7, 2011

phenob said:
If you really get bogged down with res temp issues you might consider switching from a tote to a cooler. Probably be a pain in the ass adapting your manifold but it wouldn't be too bad I bet.

A good cooler will maintain res temp for at least 3-5 days. Just top off / refill with cool water and you're pretty much set. No ice needed assuming your room is under like 85f, and definitely cheaper than a chiller.

and I really like your concave scrog screen. an inspiring design.

Thanks for the compliment on the ScrOG design. I tried to figure a design that would get the most of the 2000w of light in the room sitting in between the 'sweet spots'. +REP (BTW I'm subbing to your grow journal just in time for harvest eh? The flowers look good!)

I use an external reservoir. If I was using the tote itself as a res, I would think the cooler would help, unfortunately I'm all plumbed up to one of the flood tables res. I wanted to keep a true aeroponics chamber, where the nutrient mist is the only feed source, opposed to a aero/DWC hybrid where the roots grow into the solution. So for now, the ice jugs are working. I was thinking about getting an extra pump and a fan so I can run a home made heat exchange manifold. I know a solid heat exchange design WILL work, I just need to do some research. I'm not an engineer, but know enough to know how a heat exchanger works, so I'm scheming.

This is my first grow on a limited budget. My collective members were nice enough to share their nutrients and lights. In a few months, I should be able to afford my own nutrients and 1000w (I'm even thinking 2 600w) and probably a NFT ala stinkbud set up for next time.

We'll see. Day 6 veg post coming tonight.

Thanks ALL for the encouraging words and advice so far!!

DutchCali · Mar 8, 2011

Hey ALL!!

I have been so busy with work, school, care of my family, and the patients this medicine is for...I have not kept a good journal.

Phenob was kind enough to take interest and drop me a line, so here's the update!

Flowering Day 21 :leaf:

We'll get to the meat of the update...PICS!!!

OK, where do I start.

This first grow has taught me sooooo much, and I still feel there is so much more to learn.

Right around the time I stopped updating, after the first week of veg, we got BUGS!

Root Aphids and Gnats!!

Wanna talk about a nightmare. We had a clean operation. The mothers were all in coco. But 3 strains came from various caregivers, and we isolated the infestation to have came from one of those.

But the damage was done. All the rockwool cubes had aphid clusters sticking to the roots. I pulled up a net pot, and found one or two aphid taking a nute shower in my system! A few gnats were present, but not an alarming amount like the aphids. Man did they take hold quick!

So what to do? We were just about to flip over to 12/12. But did not want to use pesticides during flowering. So a HELLISH week of Azamax, Pyrethium (sp?)bombs during lights off, resivoir changes and flushes, and a routine of pump, hose, fitting, and all surface cleaning took place.

The mother room basically got torched. 3 clones of each strain were taken, insured to be free of pests and isolated in a new clean environment. The rest of the mothers, coco, and containers were essentially thrown away. The new and improved mother room has gone to 100% areo cloning and hydro mothers.

All in all, a rough spot in the grow, but I got an extra week of veg time to help fill out the screen.

We flipped to 12/12 using MH. Kept it that way during the first 3 weeks of flowering during the stretch.

Yesterday/Sunday (depending on how you want to look at the start of the light cycle) we started week 4 of flowering and changed to HPS. I took out the old 150w HPS and hung it right over my rig. I need my own light.

Oh, and I've switched over to my own external reservoir. Have not had any temperature issues.

DutchCali · Mar 8, 2011

A quick HD video:
[video=youtube;yVsX38sUUIU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVsX38sUUIU[/video]

MediMary · Mar 13, 2011

lil miss lone has a thread over at thcfarmer talking about root aphids and how to get rid of them.. .you should def check it out

6 site Aero, between 2-1000w lights

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