Twist's Tropical Indoor Garden

MrTwist1

Well-Known Member
Hey guys. I decided to finally show off my garden here. It's a small stealth operation (for now) consisting of a veg cabinet and 2 flower spaces. I live in the tropics, so it might seem counter-intuitive to grow indoors, but it is very risky to grow here and people are very nosey. I have grown outdoor here in the past but it is very nerve wracking. Growing indoors in the tropics can be very challenging through the summer. The ambient heat and humidity mean that I am limited in some aspects of my grow. I do have AC in my house but it is very inefficient and very expensive to run, so I have to limit my use to just the bare minimum.

For those reasons and others I only use LEDs these days... although I have grown with HPS, and grown/vegged with CFL and T5 in the past. I am always tweaking and adding to my operation, but right now the setup is as follows;

  • Veg Cab - 1x Samsung Influx L09 5000k, 2x Samsung Influx L04 3500k run at 0.7A @ 65W dimmable
  • Flower Cab - 4x Cree CXB3590 3500k, 1x Citizen CLU048-1818 3000k 90CRI run at 1.05A @ 200W dimmable. Also Exo Terra UVB 200 CFL 26-watt.
  • Flower Tent - 1x Samgsung Influx L09 5000k run at 1.4A @ 65W, 4x Cree CXB3590 3500k run at 1.4A @200W dimmable.
Both of my flower spaces also use DIY 730nm Flower Initiators made out of cheap 10W LED Floodlights. I swear these take nearly a week off flowering times and I will not flower without them ever again! I tend to run the UVB for 4hours around midday weeks 5-7, and then 12hours a day weeks 8&9. It's not a powerful bulb so if the plants are not close it doesn't really do much.

Veg Cab @ 1.5sqft

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Flower Cab @ 4sqft

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Flower Tent @ 6sqft

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I'm currently running Berry White (an S1 from California) which I am totally in love with. I have been running a couple of DNA Lemon Skunk phenos, but elected to let them both go as they are just not keeper material. The final Lemon Skunk #2 clone can be seen yellowing in the flower cab cos she is one hungry bitch.

I run 1gallon fabric pots with Blumats which are great. You do have to expect and plan for a few runaways with the blumats, but I love how easy they have made my life, and how much the plants love them. It's really nice being able to run such small pots and still have happy plants.

I use Hydroponics Research Veg+Bloom which is somewhat controversial. I use shop bought RO water (at significant hassle) and I add a little of my hard tap water for Calcium, and a little Epsom Salts for Magnesium. I tend to give a little bump of Koolbloom powder around week 4, and I am currently playing around with Mammoth P (haven't had the chance to run a side-by-side yet to really test it). I add DripClean to my Blumat res to limit salt buildup. I feed molasses towards the end of flower for extra terpy sweetness. I taper down EC in the last 2 weeks, but do not flush as such.

Feel free to ask any questions. Cheers and happy growing folks :peace:

Edited to add:
Thanks to all the awesome folks here who have helped me get my knowledge and setup to where it is today... there are literally too many names to mention. It's funny to think how without this subforum I would still be struggling to deal with crazy HPS temps etc.
 
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MrTwist1

Well-Known Member
Man I searched all over for those samsungs and can't seem to find anyone selling them
Yeah it's hard to find info - Samsung seem to use confusing names/part numbers for these. It is probably easiest to search them at digikey here but they are way overpriced. You can normally find them at half the price at Arrow or Verical but it is hard to search them on those sites. Once you find the part number on digikey, use octopart to find the cheapest price across suppliers.
 

Big smo

Well-Known Member
Yeah it's hard to find info - Samsung seem to use confusing names/part numbers for these. It is probably easiest to search them at digikey here but they are way overpriced. You can normally find them at half the price at Arrow or Verical but it is hard to search them on those sites. Once you find the part number on digikey, use octopart to find the cheapest price across suppliers.
Thanks man your rocking them pretty nicely as main lights but these would kick ass for side lighting too. I just built this cheapo 2530 bar
 

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MrTwist1

Well-Known Member
Thanks man your rocking them pretty nicely as main lights but these would kick ass for side lighting too. I just built this cheapo 2530 bar
They are only main lights in my tiny veg space.

I have one in the tent also cos I only have 3ft vertical space in there. I have been using one for side lighting in the flower cab also, but it is not shown in the pics. So yeah, great for side lighting or main lighting where headroom is limited. cheers

Your bar looks decent by the way - I am defs getting more into side lighting lately cos I think it can really boost yield.
 
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Vnsmkr

Well-Known Member
Looks pretty good. Whats wrong with water from your tap that you need to go to trouble of sourcing RO water?
 

MrTwist1

Well-Known Member
Looks pretty good. Whats wrong with water from your tap that you need to go to trouble of sourcing RO water?
Hey man thanks for checking it out.

My tap water is crazy hard and alkaline and fluctuates pretty wildly. Where I live it's mostly limestone, so my tap water EC can go as high as 3.0 at times!! I tested it just now for fun at only 0.78 EC and that is actually the lowest I have ever seen it.

Although it's a hassle to go buy RO water, it does make nute mixing sooo much easier. I don't have to check PH anymore except for (very) occasional troubleshooting, and I don't even own a PH pen anymore. One day I will buy a RO system and that will make my life easier. Cheers
 

Vnsmkr

Well-Known Member
Im in the tropics too. Water is used straight out the tap. Thats why I asked. I utilize my rooftop patios year round
 
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MrTwist1

Well-Known Member
Im in the tropics too. Water is used straight out the tap. Thats why I asked. I utilize my rooftop patios year round
Nice. I had a little look at your thread - hope u get your troubles sorted soon.

I used to live in a place with a patio roof and it was awesome for growing. I feel a lot safer indoors now tho.

Thanks for stopping by amigo :peace:
 
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