AK-47 Fall/Winter Attic Grow 2008

Okay I just started my attic grow about two hours ago. It's going to take place in an uninsulated 2nd floor attic of a workshop so temp and air flow are going to be variables constantly monitored.So far I have the frame layout constructed with 2x4s. Tomorrow I'm heading to the hydro store for some mirror finish mylar to coat the inside of the frame in. I will have an intake fan at the bottom of the box ducted to the attic vent window, and a fan taking hot air out of the box and into the rest of the attic. Any input throughout the process would be great. Once I get a little bit more done I will post lots of pics.

details

- Approx 7' x 4' x 9' (peak ceiling so the height is at a 45 degree angle)

- Fox farm original potting mix (using four home depot buckets for soil containers with drain holes cut in the bottom) -any ideas on how high to fill them up to make sure I never have to do a transplant or add soil.

- 18-4 veg lighting

- 12-12 flowering

- XXX ak-47 seeds (unfeminized so i'm going to have to sex plants) - Started germinating using paper towel method in a Tupperware container at 11:00am this morn. I'll be pulling them out of the stove in like 2-3 days to check if the tap root is healthy enough to plant, that is pretty much the deadline of my grow space.

-Lighting, was thinking a 1000w budget system. I'll look and see what they have 2morrow morn.


______________Goals___________________

1. Dense buds/ Descent yeild

2. To Have fun (Doing this to help cut down on buying budda, hobby grow of sorts).

Okay so heres the deal. I just installed the rest of the framing and picked up my mylar. For price reasons i ended up going with solid black. I have installed one of the vents (intake), and am going to be installing the exhaust later on tonight. I'm heading out there right now to take a few pics so that you guys can give me some input. Hopefully the mylar is going up today or tomorrow. The seeds I still have not checked yet, but the room will be ready when they are. Also in the northern u.s, its getting kinda cold in the attic this time of year, do you think that a 1000w light would warm things up enough to not need a little heater in the dead of winter?

I just picked out the lights that i'm going to use. I'm going with a 1000w hps, just not sure if i'm getting the bargain one or the Sunsystem. One question I have now is with the size of the room that I'm working in being relatively small would it be worth it to go ahead and put two 1000w lights in there, and what type on impact would that have on my monthly power bill in $$$

Okay the mylar is up completely now, and the venting is going up next.

Room is complete and the ak's are sowed. It is like 45-50 degrees outside and in my growroom it says 68 degrees. I installed the 1000w Hydrofarm 3ft from buckets of fox farm original so that the 1000w does not stun them right off the bat. Lots of pics to come.



*****veg light is 24/0 *********

Pic!! 10char

Okay time for the pics to start flowing. The info is off still on my temp gauge and i have not put the right info in yet but i'll figure out all of it's little features soon enough. Oh and the doorbell is for my girl can buzz me down when she needs me.

looks good. im sure your light will keep plants plenty warm during the cold months. ventilation is going to be tough for me, growing in a basement. I dont have the patience to grow in my attic though. fuck climbing ladders. but damn the ventilation options would be nice.

Okay cool its good to hear that someone thinks that light will be enough heat. I was kinda worrying about that a bit.

Oh and by the way, feel free to post in this thread, the more the better, good or bad.

you are going to start the seedlings on fluoros right? Because a 1000 watt hps will burn those suckers

Nope they are already under the 1000w, i've seen a few other journals who used hps all the way through without problems so i'm crossing my fingers. The light is farther then it will normally be as well.

ive seen seedlings and clones both grown from 1000w. usually the worst thing that happens is they stretch because the light is so far away. but youre using soil so its really nbd, you can just put soil up the stem as it stretches until you get to the 1st set of leaves. they should be fine. make sure it dont get too cold when the lights off.

I'm heading up to walmart to pick up a portable heater. Just something that will be electric and keep the growroom around 70ish all year. I just dont want a propane heater because of the dangers so it has to be electric

Okay this morning was a cold one, I went up in the grow room and it was around 48 degrees, so panicking I went to the hd and picked up some insulation and a portable heater, should be good now. you can see a spec of green life in each bucket if you look real hard, lol i'm optimistic.

also i added a few ml to each plant of water to keep the soil slightly damn.

Here are some updated pics. I placed a Dutch passion blueberry in one of the buckets that I needed to get out of the house. From what I have read so far I should not use the heater so I might take it out. I'll update in a little bit.

Okay the heater is no longer in the room. Actually there is a new addition that just went in though. I was walking my property line when I found a little dying bagseed plant that I sowed a while back. It is about 2ft tall and dying, but I'm gonna try to save it. I'll go out and take a picture right now.

It is in a medium size pot with fox farm, Its been a while since it rained here to she was dying for water

Here is the rescue plant and the temp at noon.

Scratch the rescue plant, it was a hermie. I'm glad I spotted that quickly because things could have went wrong real fast. Temp is stilling the same, turned on the oscillating fan to get air moving and the exhaust is flowing. I moved the Dutch passion into it's own container, (The one the rescue was in).

-RoFL- I just found an Australian Blue that I germed in my garden that never got big, it's sharing a pot with the blueberry until I can tell if it is going to live.

AK's are yet to break the surface completely, but showing signs

all i can say is be prepared to drop money on a heater. and/ or insulation. i'm talkin from several lost crops in my lifetime. u must always plan for the shit that can go wrong and have a solution at hand or u will be learning some expensive lessons later whne u lose bud. the 100 or 2 that u spend on temp control can make u thousands or cost you thousands.
i would say if u budget yourself to 2grand, aim more for $500, u will always have to fine tune a new room... just ventilation can cost 1000 easily, and is often overlooked.
i know a guy who grows 12 plants in a 4x8 start to fiinish with 1000wats, he gets 8 oz's every 4-5 months, he only spent $500 on his whole setup.
another friend has 600wats in a 4x4 closet, he gets 12 oz's every three months of better bud. he spent the $500 on exhaust and another $500 on lights etc..
In one years time the guy in the closet doubles the others production under half the wats and half the space.
true story