first public grow, cfls, hydro, micro

hi all this it my first public grow. i will be updating whenever i can and responding to as many questions as i can and without a doubt many pic. right now i have a camra phone so bear with me and asso i am not a good speller or good at grammer

for this grow i will be growing bagseed in hydro (bubbleponics) grown under cfls in a grow box

the growbox
this box was made out of dryeracer board $13 usd (2 sheets) and
2 (2by2) i had them cut down to 4 (4ft5in)and 4 (2ft2in) from homedepot
the size of the box is 4ft4in tall 2ft2in wide 1ft7in deep




the lights are for now 6 42w cfls warm yes i do plan on doing the whole thing under cfls and yes i do plan on geting more



the hydo system is one that i home made for like $30usd it is an 18gal tote with a airstone and water filled right up to the base of the netcups which are 16 2in i do plan on growing all my plants in this area right where they are



my seed germ technic is simple i take a small amount of dirt in a cup and add about 8 to10 seeds in it and add water and leave on dresser, checking it every day it should take about a week to 10 day for the seeds to sprout once they all or as many as you want to plant sprout remove them from the cup by taking all sprouted seedling + as much dirt as you can grab with them and lay the mass on a table then seperate each seedling take your time try to keep as much root and dirt intact as you can then put them in presoaked rockwool then into 2in netcups

right now i'm in week 1-2
my lights are 18/6 and are closer then in the pic.

i hope that i have given enough incrimenating evidence so that you can follow my micro grow if there is anything i left out you know what to do

i need a ppm meter
nine out of the 10 seeds sprouted

my reason for this grow is to try to see if i can grow a sea of green (sog) under cfls with no side lighting, all lights will be suspended above the canopy. i am working on a fixed budget right now. I have about $60 a paycheck to work with so i plan on buying 3 42w cfls with clamp and hood each check i am going to try to make a 600w cfl light and hood when i complete it i will post pics

why not buy a 600w hps you ask, because of the budget. a person on a budget can DIY a light and hood and grow at the same time

the light setup that i am going to try to makes will cost about $300 give or take $50
16 42w cfls
16 sockets (the kind with the clamp and hood unless i find something cheaper)
10 20in 2x4
02 rosting pan (the big ones that are used at thanksgivening)

any ways how much will a fully loaded(light, hood, ballist, cord, what ever else comes with it) 600w hps cost before i try to make this thing (or should i be trying a 400w)

try the 400w i got two and they are great

appliedstyle said:

try the 400w i got two and they are great

Click to expand...

how much $$$$$$$$$$$$ and what did that come with

That 5hit said:

how much $$$$$$$$$$$$ and what did that come with

Click to expand...

ive seen 250w hps systems with ballast and hood for under $250.. seen some good yields from them too

based on what you see iam trying to do what watt light do i need

That 5hit said:

based on what you see iam trying to do what watt light do i need

Click to expand...

imho, just look at the cfl journals and the 250w hps ones and see what is best for you, im only experimenting with cfl's indoors atm but am getting a 250w hps for flowering soon because the yields are much better.. i think if you can get cheap cfl's from around the house and its all you can afford thats awesome, but if your spending 250+ for cfl's you should instead pay around the same and do a hps scrog.. i think you would get more for your money with a hps.. could be wrong though

$$$ noone is saying the price they paid for there setup & watts
but thanks anyway

That 5hit said:

$$$ noone is saying the price they paid for there setup & watts
but thanks anyway

Click to expand...

I paid $120 for my ballast, and $60 for the cool tube.
And that's for a 400 watt.

g00sEgg said:

I paid $120 for my ballast, and $60 for the cool tube.
And that's for a 400 watt.

Click to expand...

does that also come with a light and if not how much is the light

check http://www.htgsupply.com/growlighttypes.asp?categoryID=1&subcategoryID=155 there 400w hps is $119 and if u look under there specials they have 400w hps for $95. Most of there setups come complete with bulb.

thanks
..........................

The cool tube itself is the socket...The bulb you need for it is only 20 bucks.

thanks
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update
plants are still alive but they are showing signs of overwatering and heatstress
i moved lights up and added more fans

do you have any vents in the cab??? check my AG grow in my sig. the hole in the side for my powerstrip is a passive air intake, and up top i cut a whole out for a little desk top cage fan, it sucks hot air, up and out! remember to keep your water level, just at the bottom of the pots so they dont drown!


Shack

p.s.
subscribed

i think that some thing maybe wrong with my hydro setup becouse my plants are dying, not all just some. they are still cupping. i dont have a ppm meter, or a good ph meter. i need to get one untill then i think im going to transplant my setup to soil. i did not know how important a ppm/ph meter was for hydro people should bring this up.

when i need to add nutes or adjust ph i feel like a blindman at a stripe show (i mean no harm by that statement)

im going to stop my hydro grow untill i get a proper ph/ppm meter, so far i have been guessing
sooner or later my luck was going to run out. so i need to get a good meter

for now im going to finish my grow in 16in (or more) cups

someone on here said soil was better anyways, maybe this was one of the reasons

you should pick a method and stick to it, honestly the problems you're having can probably have a rapid turnaround. flush your res and just run straight, plain pure water, no nutes of any kind, and see how they recover.

a i saw a another simerlar grow https://www.rollitup.org/dwc-bubbleponics/197587-uber-stealth-bubbleponics-cfl-white-7.html they have the same setup that i have and they have come pleated there irst grow and are opn there second grow i think that i am going to stick with it and see what happens that shackelford for the imspirations