alphawolf.hack
New Member
C02 faq
dont use diy methods tanks can found cheap on craigslist and regulators are expensive but worth it. Dont waste your time with a propane or ng co2 generator unless you in a warehouse. Conserve that co2 super high c02 levels are not necessary its just air fertilizer and just like fertilizer overdoing it can have terrible results. If your grow is small dont waste time with co2 when you can get the best results. focus all your effort on perfecting your few plants. I pulled 2oz a plant on 4 plants my first harvest under 4 40w flouros. I would drive an hour away to collect spring water from an underground spring thats the type of stuff I would do if I was growing under 10 at a time
use outside air as control (around 300 ppm) and vent at least every 4 hours if you do have a controller plug it in and set co2 on half blast make sure its sealed up with a controller tho...
set regulator to 30psi by twisting the screw with a screw driver after loosening nut behind it with wrench. Be carful not to do this when tank has been recently running it will make the metal ice cold and very brittle my reg. Is stuck at 20psi and skyrockets from back-pressure when solenoid turns off.
Always have flow meter knob all the way tightened before adjusting cfh (flow rate) if metal ball shoots to the top it can crack the glass/plastic and ruin everything.
Always use thread tape when attaching regulator to tank (or any piece for that matter) to ensure a 100% seal. Every hardware store carrys it in the plumbing section.
Seal every crack and hole with foam insulation both the kind you spray and the kind that comes in strips the ones that come in strips need glue I recommend d.a.p. Specialty adhesive.
Spend time in grow room during ventilation phase 2000ppm + levels of co2 are dangerous and stay away from the floor co2 is dense and accumulates at low points one I went to set a timer on the floor and almost fell asleep I could barely stand up and knocked a plant over.
Keep lighting cooling ventilation separate from grow environment and sealed up tight.
Lighting faq
mh= metal halide
hps=high pressure sodium
k=kelvin a mesurement of color produced from light source
cfm=cubic foot minute
magnetic ballast: last for ever and put of less lumens than electronic counterparts but are easy to repair and cheap. I would recommend one over an electronic one any day. On the other hand as supplemental lighting they are the best up to 25% brighter. For a big grow I would use 1 electronic ballast to every 2 magnetic. For a small grow stick with magnetic cause if your electronic ballast goes.. its expensive to replace. For cheap mh or hps lights look on craigs list for lowbay or high bay lights they go by other names too. Then look on google diy remote ballast.
look for bulbs that supply a broad spectrum 3000k to 5000k would be considered broad spec.
mh is best for veg but flouros or hps will produce good results. just make sure there is some blue light to it if it is hps and if it flouro keep the kelvin around 5000k to 7000k for veg and 3000k to 2000k for flower
Side-lighting and ultraviolet lighting is very useful if you use mycorrhizae keep the water away from UV light and exposed mh bulbs. Uv kills micro-organisms
When thinking about brightness dont just think lumens think lumen density what I mean is how much light in an area. So if you have a 1000w light to take advantage of its full light in a 10x10 room it would need a 400w to cover the edges you would place 1000w 4 foot from the wall and the 400w 3 foot from the end of the 1000w and this would effectively cover to loss of lumens from the 1000w therefore covering the 10x10 room..
hoods and cool tubes are very use full where one fails the other succeeds. Depending in your design and space will determine the best option I also recommend bare bulb if you have the ventilation for it but if you run co2 this would be impossible Without a expensive air conditioner.
Cool tubes= pros: runs cooler, can be placed vertically, lighter weight, requires less cfm to cool,can be placed closers to plants.
Cons: glass blocks about 15-25% of light, once placed harder to move,
hoods=
pros: blocks less lighg through glass, helps create negative pressure by being a poket in ventilation, easier to move.
Cons: runs hotter than tube, heavy, requires bigger fan to ventilate.
If you run bare bulb w/ or w/o reflector just make sure theres a fan on the bulb to cool it down.
(p.s. Dont buy crappy bulbs unless you cant afford the good ones just plan on buying the good ones they have better spectrum for plants thus resulting in faster growth)
ventilation faq
get a centrifugal fan 8 in or above I would not recommend any thing else and I would recommend getting 2 of them theres no way do go about this cheap so save your money and find a cheap one online and have it shipped to a friends.
If you have at lest 7 ft ducting between fixture and the place you are in-taking air you will need a duct booster fan. For every 7 foot of ducting I would recommend 1 booster fan.
Dont go cheap on the filter just get the biggest one you can. if you dont have a lot going on it will just last longer so dont skimp especially with the filer.
Min of one oscillating fan per 5x5 area for air circulation.if its any samller tour normal ventilation should suffice.
Passive intake if room is constantly ventilated that means no fan and grill with prefilter. The fresh air is pulled in axiomatically by exhaust fans exhaustion of air inside grow area. This can be achieved in a co2 envirement with use of a motorized shutter.
Negative pressure means air pressure is less on inside of grow area than outside. Positive pressure is the reverse.
Exhaust fan should be 2x cfm rating of intake fan. The use of a large squirrel cage fan to cool ballast I run 1 1000w and 2 400 in 2x3x7 and temps never exceed 100F I use insulation to disguise heat (less area to insulate).
.there is no such thing as too much air (unless your using co2)
security:
silence as much noise as possible. A duct muffler, put air pumps in boxes with Styrofoam peanuts, or put foam under the feet. Use air stone so bubbling isnt too load put foam all around all the fan to lower their noise.any thing that makes noise (besides a ballast) try to find a way to dampen it.
Smell : like I said big ass filter and a 6 in fan or bigger. And if your big boy an ozone generator there are ways to makes these if your good with electronics but better to buy as they have a better design. I have made several and they are very effective too effective maybe.
Light: seal it up! You dont just have to worry co2 leaking out you also have to worry about someone wondering why the sun is rising in your bedroom or basement ect. So go look for holes at nite and seal em up. Also this will help with your flowering as you dont want light leaking in either.
Dont ever tell anyone what you are doing and I cant stress that enough. Be super careful about ordering things and bringing stuff into the spot. Remember to keep your heat evenly spread. Dont go straight home after a visit to the hydro store. Be conscious of what you post on internet and delete it after awhile. Dont go to hydroponics websites without using a proxy.
dont use diy methods tanks can found cheap on craigslist and regulators are expensive but worth it. Dont waste your time with a propane or ng co2 generator unless you in a warehouse. Conserve that co2 super high c02 levels are not necessary its just air fertilizer and just like fertilizer overdoing it can have terrible results. If your grow is small dont waste time with co2 when you can get the best results. focus all your effort on perfecting your few plants. I pulled 2oz a plant on 4 plants my first harvest under 4 40w flouros. I would drive an hour away to collect spring water from an underground spring thats the type of stuff I would do if I was growing under 10 at a time
use outside air as control (around 300 ppm) and vent at least every 4 hours if you do have a controller plug it in and set co2 on half blast make sure its sealed up with a controller tho...
set regulator to 30psi by twisting the screw with a screw driver after loosening nut behind it with wrench. Be carful not to do this when tank has been recently running it will make the metal ice cold and very brittle my reg. Is stuck at 20psi and skyrockets from back-pressure when solenoid turns off.
Always have flow meter knob all the way tightened before adjusting cfh (flow rate) if metal ball shoots to the top it can crack the glass/plastic and ruin everything.
Always use thread tape when attaching regulator to tank (or any piece for that matter) to ensure a 100% seal. Every hardware store carrys it in the plumbing section.
Seal every crack and hole with foam insulation both the kind you spray and the kind that comes in strips the ones that come in strips need glue I recommend d.a.p. Specialty adhesive.
Spend time in grow room during ventilation phase 2000ppm + levels of co2 are dangerous and stay away from the floor co2 is dense and accumulates at low points one I went to set a timer on the floor and almost fell asleep I could barely stand up and knocked a plant over.
Keep lighting cooling ventilation separate from grow environment and sealed up tight.
Lighting faq
mh= metal halide
hps=high pressure sodium
k=kelvin a mesurement of color produced from light source
cfm=cubic foot minute
magnetic ballast: last for ever and put of less lumens than electronic counterparts but are easy to repair and cheap. I would recommend one over an electronic one any day. On the other hand as supplemental lighting they are the best up to 25% brighter. For a big grow I would use 1 electronic ballast to every 2 magnetic. For a small grow stick with magnetic cause if your electronic ballast goes.. its expensive to replace. For cheap mh or hps lights look on craigs list for lowbay or high bay lights they go by other names too. Then look on google diy remote ballast.
look for bulbs that supply a broad spectrum 3000k to 5000k would be considered broad spec.
mh is best for veg but flouros or hps will produce good results. just make sure there is some blue light to it if it is hps and if it flouro keep the kelvin around 5000k to 7000k for veg and 3000k to 2000k for flower
Side-lighting and ultraviolet lighting is very useful if you use mycorrhizae keep the water away from UV light and exposed mh bulbs. Uv kills micro-organisms
When thinking about brightness dont just think lumens think lumen density what I mean is how much light in an area. So if you have a 1000w light to take advantage of its full light in a 10x10 room it would need a 400w to cover the edges you would place 1000w 4 foot from the wall and the 400w 3 foot from the end of the 1000w and this would effectively cover to loss of lumens from the 1000w therefore covering the 10x10 room..
hoods and cool tubes are very use full where one fails the other succeeds. Depending in your design and space will determine the best option I also recommend bare bulb if you have the ventilation for it but if you run co2 this would be impossible Without a expensive air conditioner.
Cool tubes= pros: runs cooler, can be placed vertically, lighter weight, requires less cfm to cool,can be placed closers to plants.
Cons: glass blocks about 15-25% of light, once placed harder to move,
hoods=
pros: blocks less lighg through glass, helps create negative pressure by being a poket in ventilation, easier to move.
Cons: runs hotter than tube, heavy, requires bigger fan to ventilate.
If you run bare bulb w/ or w/o reflector just make sure theres a fan on the bulb to cool it down.
(p.s. Dont buy crappy bulbs unless you cant afford the good ones just plan on buying the good ones they have better spectrum for plants thus resulting in faster growth)
ventilation faq
get a centrifugal fan 8 in or above I would not recommend any thing else and I would recommend getting 2 of them theres no way do go about this cheap so save your money and find a cheap one online and have it shipped to a friends.
If you have at lest 7 ft ducting between fixture and the place you are in-taking air you will need a duct booster fan. For every 7 foot of ducting I would recommend 1 booster fan.
Dont go cheap on the filter just get the biggest one you can. if you dont have a lot going on it will just last longer so dont skimp especially with the filer.
Min of one oscillating fan per 5x5 area for air circulation.if its any samller tour normal ventilation should suffice.
Passive intake if room is constantly ventilated that means no fan and grill with prefilter. The fresh air is pulled in axiomatically by exhaust fans exhaustion of air inside grow area. This can be achieved in a co2 envirement with use of a motorized shutter.
Negative pressure means air pressure is less on inside of grow area than outside. Positive pressure is the reverse.
Exhaust fan should be 2x cfm rating of intake fan. The use of a large squirrel cage fan to cool ballast I run 1 1000w and 2 400 in 2x3x7 and temps never exceed 100F I use insulation to disguise heat (less area to insulate).
.there is no such thing as too much air (unless your using co2)
security:
silence as much noise as possible. A duct muffler, put air pumps in boxes with Styrofoam peanuts, or put foam under the feet. Use air stone so bubbling isnt too load put foam all around all the fan to lower their noise.any thing that makes noise (besides a ballast) try to find a way to dampen it.
Smell : like I said big ass filter and a 6 in fan or bigger. And if your big boy an ozone generator there are ways to makes these if your good with electronics but better to buy as they have a better design. I have made several and they are very effective too effective maybe.
Light: seal it up! You dont just have to worry co2 leaking out you also have to worry about someone wondering why the sun is rising in your bedroom or basement ect. So go look for holes at nite and seal em up. Also this will help with your flowering as you dont want light leaking in either.
Dont ever tell anyone what you are doing and I cant stress that enough. Be super careful about ordering things and bringing stuff into the spot. Remember to keep your heat evenly spread. Dont go straight home after a visit to the hydro store. Be conscious of what you post on internet and delete it after awhile. Dont go to hydroponics websites without using a proxy.
