# My Homemade Aero 600W CFL Grow



## Monkeyman87 (Jul 24, 2007)

Hi,

I'm new here and this is my first grow. 

SETUP:

Homemade Aeroponics setup with 375GPH pump approx 25gal tub, 5 360 degree sprayers, 6watt air pump with 2 8 inch air stones, 6 pots and 3 plants (bagseed). Might plant some Papaver Somniferum later in the remaining 3 pots (Persian White Seed)

LIGHTING: 20 2000 lumen CFL 30 watt 8 6400K and 12 2700K total of 600 watts. I will be getting 20 more to fill in the remaining space in my homemade hood.

NUTES: Dutch Master 2 part can't remember the exact specs EtOH is fuckin with my memory right now.

I'm running a 20/4 on/off schedule on the lighting and the nute spray right now. Also I've got a fan on the plants.

I had a little Nute burn at first from the nutes slashing directly on the lower leaves through the potting medium (gravel - thanks for the idea KP).

I'm a little bit worried about the light on the roots bit temps aren't too high (75F) and I have a good amount of bubbling going on so hopefully anaerobic bacteria won't be a problem... I'm planning on spraying the tub probably white so it reflects a good bit of the light and stays cooler. Also I will spray the hood with the most reflective paint I can find when I find the time.

I really need to get a good PH meter... Maybe borrow one from the chem lab that I work at 

Anyway let me know what y'all experts think... I'd love to what your thoughts are on my setup. I need to get this grow finished before 8/27 cuz of school starting (maybe I'm the first EE major to grow on this forum lol)... I soubt i'll get nice fat buds by then but whatever... Sorry if the pix are a little crappy....I'm using my 1.3mp phone cam....


Later


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## creative_mind (Jul 24, 2007)

hopefully it all works out the first few grows are always the hardest but a great learning experience good luck with it all


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## lenny420 (Jul 26, 2007)

how did you start your seeds. im doing a hydro grow and it my first. Nice pics


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## GreenThumbs (Jul 26, 2007)

it looks like light is getting to your roots.
if so this is not a good idea can cause problems and the water will likely form algae. Even with the bubbles.
Paint the tub or put a black bag inside.
Everything else looks ok though


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## SmokerE (Jul 26, 2007)

Let the root rot begin. Clear is bad, nice little deal with the cfl's though. Should paint that reflector white, or put some mylar in it.


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## reeffermadness (Jul 26, 2007)

yea the rez tub needs to be light proof...or rooot rot


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## FilthyFletch (Jul 26, 2007)

Yup few issues here.Tub needs to be blacked out as lights to roots is a killer.Also allows alage and bacteria to grow which will be bad quick.Not sure why your wasting so much money on those cfls.If your dead set on useing cfls and dont want that giant fire hazard you have there go buy an actual 250 watt cfl which if made for growing company like vitalumne sells them in 125 actual watt or 250 watt.Ebay has the 250 watt with reflectors for about $89.Its correct spectrum has correct reflector and is spectrum enhanced and about half the price of those little cfls your using which real really are a waste of time and electricy,You also have the lights way to far from the plants.At this stage youd be better off buying 2 sets of 4 foot T8 shop lights which would be 4 four foot tubes I got mine for about $8 bucks each at home depot so $16 bucks.The results would be 100 times better then those dinky no light giving things.Good idea just wasnt quit done right.Keep on learning good luck and hope to see you up dat


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## BIGMIKE13 (Jul 26, 2007)

not a bad set up for the first time. just a lot of watts for little lumens.

another thing, you say finish buy 8/27......no way (sorry). plants take 8-10 weeks to flower.

if you want you can send them to me when you go to school....and ill finish them under a 600hps...lol


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## Monkeyman87 (Jul 26, 2007)

I've got some updated pix...

I definitely will be painting the rez black as soon as I get a chance...I am a painter so you'd think I would be able to get that done.

Also I will paint the hood flat white as soon as I can.

Filthy... 

As far as the CFLs go your assumption that I paid to much for them is a bad one. The setup you suggest would give me 500w for $178, and I would only be able to cover 1 or 2 plants. This setup covers the whole six plant growing area. By the way I only have $80 in those 20 bulbs. Thats 40000 Lumens for $80. A 1000W HPS would give me 107000 Lumens for at least $300 (I didn't price them but I know the probably more expensive than that). I can get 107000 Lumens from these CFLs for about $200. And I don't have the added cost of cooling the lights. The only downside is they consume more watts. The bulbs that I have are the correct spectrum too. Also the lights are as close to the plants as is possible without burning them...about an inch away from the two larger ones. Check out that pic again maybe it was the angle I took it at.

Lenny...

I started them in a moist paper towel, then planted them in potting soil for about a week cuz my setup wasn't ready yet.

Bigmike... 

Yeah I wish I could finish that quick. I don't know what I'm gonna do when I leave for school. I'm only about 1.5 hours away from school so maybe I'll be able to check up on them every few days. Anyway if you can tell me what kind of phone I took the pictures with I'll give 'em to you.

I can't believe how much their growing now since I have the lights on them. Hope you like the pics


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## BIGMIKE13 (Jul 26, 2007)

I'm using my 1.3mp phone cam....? anws. - MOTOROLA -


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## Monkeyman87 (Jul 27, 2007)

Sorry I really did want to give them to you... 

It's a LG VX8000... Practically a dinosaur


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## bearo420 (Jul 27, 2007)

well, i guess like 100 newbs will finally see what happens if they really did put 20 cfls on a plant. Not making fun, it looks like you have better handyman skills than me, but I know your bullshitting about not needing ventilation. Those cfls all together like that are easily 110 degrees underneath pretty quick if not vented. And at that point get the 400 watt HPS which is $120 by the way and your good cause your already venting im sure.


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## FilthyFletch (Jul 27, 2007)

Hmmm $80 bucks for 20 little ineffective cfls and your gonna buy 20 more so $180 for light that doesnt truely come close to an hps lamp intensitiy.Guess you should shop[ around for $170 you can get a brand new 600 watt swithcable ballast with new reflector a high output enhanced spectrum bulb that outputs 95000 enhanced lumnes that will cover a 6 by 6 area which is big enough for 20 plus plants.Guess you just didnt do the homework to know though.Cfls like those suck for growing as the lumnes dont really fit right for tight bud growth or quick growing.You add weeks to the grow using them.If you want a real ballast you can get the digital air cooled ones for $119 at Maryland Hydroponics the bulbs are on ebay for $20 and sunleaves sells the lightwave reflector for $29.99. Any grower cant argue a 600 watt enhanced spectrum setup vs a 40 bulb cfl setup not even close.Also the 600 watt digital will also cut down the power consumtion heat and fire hazard.Good luck though


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## FilthyFletch (Jul 27, 2007)

Also keep the res water temps at 65-68 warmer will stunt growth nute intake and cause rot


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## Ralphie (Jul 27, 2007)

you can buy a 400 watt MPS / MH (both lamps included) with ballast and reflector from htgsupply.com for $170.. not a bad idea for flowering.. i think theyre HPS alone is abour $130 with ballast


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## Monkeyman87 (Jul 28, 2007)

Whatever Filthy...I'm really worried about what you say about my lights when you give me numbers that aren't even right. Come on man 80+80=160. No doubt a HPS would be better for flowering, but I'm seeing excellent results from these puny ineffective CFLs in the vegetative stage of growth. I have done quite a bit of browsing this forum doing my "Homework" and have found some excellent grows from CFLs. Anyway I do think my rez temp is a little bit high. Around 78F with lights on. I suppose I've been lucky so far as my root growth looks excellent, and the roots are nice and white and very thick.

bearo...I do have a small window fan blowing across the plants, and it probably pulls some of the hot air out of the hood. You can see the temp in the top of the hood in the pictures is 99F.

Some new pics...Enjoy


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## Monkeyman87 (Jul 31, 2007)

There was four days between the plant pics.


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## Monkeyman87 (Aug 3, 2007)

Just a few more pictures...They have been in flower for 3 days now. Also I found quite interesting how much the one that I planted out in the woods grew in comparison. It was germed at the same time!!! Notice how the two larger plants look different. One is a bit spiky and the other has fatter rounded leaves. Do you think that could have something to do with male/female. I did paint the hood inside flat white. I also have a 25 liters of wort fermenting for making into grain right under the plants. I'm using turbo yeast that ferments to 14% in 48 hours so it is definitely putting off some CO2. And btw the smells from growing and fermenting do not mix very well. Its quite nasty. I may get around to buying a HPS, but I really don't want to get to much $ in this if I can't keep it going when I leave.


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## Token (Aug 3, 2007)

damn dude your roots are huge, is that a clone, has to be right???


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## wafflehouselover (Aug 3, 2007)

dude you need to cover up that tub with black tape, use gorrilla tape since you cannot remove your plant and spray the tub down with black paint. It needs to be lightproof


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## Monkeyman87 (Aug 3, 2007)

Nope its not a clone its from seed germed on 7/7/07.

So what exactly does root rot look like? I haven't seen anything that looks remotely like rot on the roots. They look nice and white to me. I know that I should paint the rez, but I just haven't got the motivation yet.


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## nowstopwhining (Aug 3, 2007)

Damn dude lookin VERY good. Those plants have super tight nodes 
Tell all the cfl haters to go blow. I too have seen some nice grows with cfl's.
Also Lumens do not mean everything. most of the light an HPS or MH puts out is not even used by the plant. Plants use alot more of the light put out by cfl's. 

Dude I dont know what I just said...smokin my mother in laws stash. 


A much larger yield should be motivation enough man!


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## Monkeyman87 (Aug 3, 2007)

Yeah what is up with all the CFL haters. Some people have done some nice grows with them. I think its humorous when someone says something like "the lumnes dont really fit right for tight bud growth or quick growing." What does that mean. How does a lumen "fit".


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## Token (Aug 4, 2007)

It's the intensity that your looking for and cfls are only intense close up to the plant, meaning that when flowering comes around the whole plant isn't going to get light like a hps or mh would, and thats why you get bigger tighter buds with a HID because they provide more usable light that is more intense provide the plant with more light.


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## Monkeyman87 (Aug 4, 2007)

Yea I'm not gonna argue with that....The whole luminous intensity and radiant intensity and luminous efficacy and blah blah blah...The only person that could really explain this crap is a optical engineer or scientist....And then we probably wouldn't be able to understand it....I'm just gonna keep going with the CFLs and if I get popcorn buds whatever. One thing is for sure: CFLs are excellent for vegetative stage of growth. These plants grew like crazy, with a new set of leaves coming out every 12 to 24 hours. And the plants are very compact. Does anybody have and idea what strain these might be...to early to tell right. I would say they definitely leaning towards indica.


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## SmokerE (Aug 4, 2007)

did i read that right...are you pushing 100 degrees in there?


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## JonnyBlunt88 (Aug 4, 2007)

Hey dude, love the setup...If its working, dont fix it.
Your going to love those flowering nutes...im using the same two 
part right now for my girls, and they grew so damn fast.
You can check em out if you want...links down there.
Anyway, keep it up...


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## Monkeyman87 (Aug 5, 2007)

Yeah you saw right. The top of the hood gets pretty warm, but the temp around the plants is only around 80F. Thanks JonnyB


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## nowstopwhining (Aug 5, 2007)

"You dont have a fucking clue what you are talking about!!!! MINUS rep"

Who the fuck sent me this....YOURE A FUCKING ASSHOLE.

Is there anyway to tell who left you the rep????


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## trapper (Aug 5, 2007)

nowstopwhining said:


> "You dont have a fucking clue what you are talking about!!!! MINUS rep"
> 
> Who the fuck sent me this....YOURE A FUCKING ASSHOLE.
> 
> Is there anyway to tell who left you the rep????


ya call the crime unit and ask to talk to the lead investigator,they can find out who sent the minus rep.


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## wafflehouselover (Aug 5, 2007)

how do you know if u get a good rep or bad rep and to read the rep message?

Nobody gives me good rep =(


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## trapper (Aug 5, 2007)

what the hell is a rep,is that the guy who gets laid alot or does alot a time in the joint.


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## UnEmploymentDude (Aug 6, 2007)

trapper said:


> what the hell is a rep,is that the guy who gets laid alot or does alot a time in the joint.


Both. But I think the women of this site had more rep than the guys...

And its under "My Rollitup" its on the bottum.


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## Monkeyman87 (Aug 6, 2007)

Why the hell are you bitching about your minus rep in this thread... It wasn't me I haven't given any rep.


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## basinlat (Aug 6, 2007)

where you pick up those misters? Do they mist or just spray water?


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## Monkeyman87 (Aug 6, 2007)

I got them at Grow Lights, Grow Bulbs and Hydroponics - Plantlighting Hydroponics & Grow Lights they are the 360 degree micro sprayers
They kinda spray a cone but it seems to work pretty good. The plants are way to 
big they are growing like crazy now that their in flower. I'm moving them into a
new grow area tonight because they are touching the lights at their highest position
Since they will be in a very hot place now (at least 100F), I have come up with a setup
to cool the rez. I will run a 25 foot cool of copper tubing into the rez, and hook it
to the cold water pipe in my place with vinyl tubing. Future plans include a thermocouple
and some kind of control loop so that I don't waste water, but don't need to look after it
non-stop either.

Question if I were to just eat like a fistful size clump of leaves from a female plant would
I feel anything. I did try it with the pruning from the plant that I think is a male and
felt nothing at all. BTW it doesn't taste all that bad a bit like spinach. lol

New pix coming soon.


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## basinlat (Aug 7, 2007)

Definatly dont eat any leaves man. That shit would taste horrible. I treid eating a small piece of good weed a long time ago and it tasted like shit. Stays in your mouth for a while. Not worth it man definatly not worth it.

Make some brownies or some hash. Brownies are easy, just simmer the buds grinded up in some butter for 45 mins or so. Then strain and make the brownies. They will get you HIGH.


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## basinlat (Aug 7, 2007)

How much gph is the motor you have on those? You have 3 sprayers on the pump? 

I have technaflora for nutes. You think that stuff will clog those sprayers. 

Sorry for the question but almost done with grow and was goin to do dwc cause no motor, but i been debating on aero or hydro for like a month.


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## FilthyFletch (Aug 7, 2007)

the rep system doesnt work anymore.There is a + or - sign by the rep in your My Rollitup section.Rep hasnt really workd for me in few months I got 1 point in 2 months for 45 + reps left for me


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## trapper (Aug 7, 2007)

FilthyFletch said:


> the rep system doesnt work anymore.There is a + or - sign by the rep in your My Rollitup section.Rep hasnt really workd for me in few months I got 1 point in 2 months for 45 + reps left for me


ive got people wanting to rep me every day,and ive only been growing with a 60 watt incandecent.mind you i did do that grow with the archaeologist seeds that gave 18 pounds from one light,those were the seeds found in ancient pottery from the time when the biblical giant lived.but i gave them organic matter that was found in the tar sands from thousand years ago,thats why ive probably got all those rep blocks,but sorry monkey for screwing up your thread good luck and happy growing.


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## Monkeyman87 (Aug 7, 2007)

lol trapper.....

basinlat I have a 375 gph pump, and it is way more volume per hour than is needed for the 5 sprayers. The reason I got the larger pump is because they provide higher water pressure so that I get more of a mist than a spray. I really don't know about your nutes. I don't see why they would clog unless there is a lot of particles in your nutes. I heard organics will do that, but I don't know about technaflora. I didn't think the leaves tasted all that bad though. Probably cuz I washed it down with a coke. 

I'm gonna do pictures tomorrow. It took a lot of time getting everything moved to the new grow room and hooked up.

Does anyone know of a good way to make a watertight seal between the rez and lid. I really can't afford to leak ANY water now. I was using that weather strip but it doesn't work all that well.

I've got one new picture of the largest plant when I was moving the aero system yesterday and had it removed.

Lata


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## trapper (Aug 7, 2007)

if you have those sprayers then it doesnt matter your water level because the sprayers always wetting down the roots is that right.


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## Monkeyman87 (Aug 7, 2007)

Yes, but the roots go crazy when they hit the water. I suppose its from the oxygen. They spread out sideways and get really bushy, so its good to have the water level up.


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## basinlat (Aug 8, 2007)

You could get some caulk but if its a bad leak it will be hard to let it seal while leaking. 

Ya its the oxygen that makes aero faster. The more of a mist you have the more you get from it. 

Is that bagseed you have there? I grew a bagseed and it came out very bushy like yours.


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## Monkeyman87 (Aug 8, 2007)

Did you get any good buds from that seed?

I fixed it temporarily. Thick strips of weather seal and ducktape all around to hold the lid tight. I was gonna try caulk but I want to be able to remove the lid and I think it would create a mess.

I also planted some salvia divinorum (blosser strain) in the remaining slots. They don't look so healthy. I think my new grow area is way to hot it has to be over a hundred with the lights on, but the rez is cooler don't worry. The pot is looking good though.

Question, will the plants 
stretch alot when the start to flower? They are getting tall!!

And I just took some pictures. Are those little spiky things (pistils?) any indication of sex in the first picture?


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## basinlat (Aug 9, 2007)

no soon either pods (balls) will come out of those or a little green pod will open and have white pistils. 

My bagseed thats exactly the same lookin as your didnt strectch much at all. Got a little higher but didnt stretch. My pics are too big to post on here and didnt figure out how to make them smaller. Mine just started flushing yesterday. So in 2 weeks i will be cuttin down. The buds look beautiful. My plant also went in to flowering automatically after a month. I bet your will too. Did they already go into 12/12?

Where you get salvia seeds?

You got alot of fans right. If the temps on the plants are over 100 degrees, your plants are gonna die. You gotta get lots of fans and try do something to make it cooler. Some strains are made to deal with weather good but you got to find them.


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## basinlat (Aug 9, 2007)

Check out my log. Only got to there (wasnt budding yet) and couldnt get pics on anymore.https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journal...rst-heads.html


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## Monkeyman87 (Aug 9, 2007)

I did move the lights further from the plants so maybe thats why they are stretching. I did check out your grow and I hope mine turn out as nice as yours up to the point where you stopped taking pix. I have a fan blowing acoss the plants, but they don't seem to mind the heat. As long as the rez is cold. I have the rez temps around 65F using the copper coil thing that I said about earlier it works beautifully. They have been on 12/12 since 8/3 so I hope I'm seing hairs soon.

The salvia was bought on ebay and they are clones not seed. Seed is very hard to find.


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## Monkeyman87 (Aug 13, 2007)

Hey does this look like balls to you?








Here you can see how much their growing upward......








And another pic of the top of the largest plant......


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## JonnyBlunt88 (Aug 13, 2007)

sorry dude...hes got nuts...


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## Monkeyman87 (Aug 13, 2007)

Crap.... I did guess in the beginning of this grow that this one was male. The plant looked so much different. I'm gonna go get the chainsaw out. lol

At least the others are showing no signs of balls yet.


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## ConstructABlunt (Aug 13, 2007)

damn thats heartbreaking


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## TheConstantGardner (Aug 13, 2007)

my plants that have turned dude all looked so much better, bigger, and healthier than the girls did. They always showed sex first too.

good luck!


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## Monkeyman87 (Aug 16, 2007)

Well so far I have one male and one female....Check out the pics.


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## basinlat (Aug 18, 2007)

congratulations


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## Monkeyman87 (Aug 28, 2007)

Its been awhile but I've been pretty busy lately moving and stuff...

BTW I turned up with 2 females and 1 male and here are some pictures the first ones are from a couple of days ago and the last are from today. Sorry about the out of focusness of the pics for some reason my camera doesn't like to focus on what I want it to.


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## aust411x (Sep 1, 2007)

if you are still flowering in the hydro system how is it gona support it when they get bigger and heavier?
where are you going to transplant them to?


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## Monkeyman87 (Sep 5, 2007)

Well this grow is over. I finally ran out of space, and it was a little difficult trying to take care of plants when I was 1.5hrs away.

Turns out the one was a hermie...or at least from what I could tell. The shemale got little clusters of pods along with pistils but when I cut them down there was some powdery stuff (pollen) that came out of them. 

Anyway I feel really bad whacking them early but it was too much of a pain is my ass. Thanks everyone for the support during this grow.

I can't wait until I get the next one started


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## aust411x (Sep 5, 2007)

hey monkey do you have like AIM or MSN to talk to you over,
i am intrested in making my own hydro system and do not know where to start.
i was wondering of you can help me because your set up looks pretty suffecient.


thanks 
-aust


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## ohyaitsgrowing (Sep 6, 2007)

u just chopped them all down even the females man thats heartbreaking lol


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## mike.lawry420 (Apr 10, 2009)

better luck nex time bruh!!


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