Get a Harvest Every 2 Weeks

Cervantes says CO2 is a 'must'? Bit of a stretch.

Maximising growth mainly entails minimising setbacks. Don't overwater nor overfertilise, keep your room at 24-26C @ 30-50% RH and you'll do very well.

The Adjust-A-Wings batwing shades are made in Australia but sold worldwide. Check your local hydro shop.

I have a tiny 10L reservoir and was wondering if I only needed to test the pH when I changed the water or more often?

you said Don't draw more than 80% of the rating of a circuit, i.e. no more than 16A continuous load on a 20A ckt bkr. I am sorry I am a bit out of physics class, is there any math you can do to determine the amperes you are or would be using?

fiona said:

I have a tiny 10L reservoir and was wondering if I only needed to test the pH when I changed the water or more often?

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Test daily until you establish the pattern of pH changes between topping up the tank. I don't know what sort of watering system you have, how many plants nor the media you are using, but as a general rule, bigger nute tanks tend to keep their nute concentration and pH more stable between top-ups than smaller ones. If you want to run a tank for 2 weeks, about 5 litres of reservoir capacity per plant will keep things fairly steady, though as plants get larger and room temps are higher, you may find that you have to top up once or twice in a 2 week life of a tank of sauce to keep the tank above 60% water level.

Tapwater is usually about 7.1-8 depending upon your local municipality's treatment, source water mineral content and some other factors. Of course, topping your 5.5-5.8 nutes with tapwater will raise the pH of the tank, requiring you add a bit of pH Down sauce (usually phosphoric acid based) to correct it down. Every time you top up, you'll need to check pH and correct if needed.

I swear I've seen this grow before

denverm4x said:

you said Don't draw more than 80% of the rating of a circuit, i.e. no more than 16A continuous load on a 20A ckt bkr. I am sorry I am a bit out of physics class, is there any math you can do to determine the amperes you are or would be using?

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Yep, you need to know a bit about Ohm's Law. Here's a calculator to help work things out.

Most devices will be marked with the amount of current they draw, in amperes. Sometimes they are only marked with the operating voltage and power draw in watts. If you know the operating voltage and the power draw in watts, you can calculate the current draw in amps. Watts = Volts * Amps; thus Amps = Watts/Volts. If your device runs on 240V and draws 10A, it will be using 2400W. If your 240V device draws 200W, it will be drawing .833A.

Simply add up all the amperage figures from the label on each device connected to your circuit to determine the total current draw in amps.

You'll know your maximum continuous draw by multiplying the rating of the ckt bkr for the ckt running your op by 0.8, i.e. a 15A bkr should carry no more than 12A continuous load.

HID lighting and electric motors require more current to start than they draw while running. Refer to the literature or labelling for your device for start currents. Small electric motors as found in vent/circ fans and small aquarium water pumps do have higher than operating-level start currents but they're small enough to be inconsequential in our application. Only the start currents from HID lighting is normally large enough to consider when planning your wiring. It is wise to use individual timers to start multiple HID light systems. Time them to start about 2-3 mins apart to reduce load on your ckt.

Your bkr should be able to carry its rating plus about 5-10% for a few seconds to cope with transient startup loads, but if you hit a 15A bkr with a 15.5A load for more than a few seconds, it should trip.

daddychrisg said:

You amaze me with your resiliency to redundancy...

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Pardon? Not sure what you mean.

Sublime757 said:

I swear I've seen this grow before

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You almost certainly have if you used Overgrow.com prior to 2005 or have been to Grasscity and OSA. I tend to spread the love, baby.

OG Refugee myself. I had been a member since '03-'03 I think it was.

heh, dcg- if I've answered the same query several times, it just goes to show you that there's not really all that much to this dope growing gig.

Thanks for your help Al. I can't wait to get my seeds in the mail and start this thing right. I'm like a sponge at the moment soaking up all I can!

I'm also thinking ahead to phase II, flowering. I was thinking I would get a 600watt aircooled lamp. Since the rule of thumb is 50watts/sq ft that would mean a grow area of 12ft squared. I was also thinking of buying some version of the Hydrohut, which only comes 3x3 and 4x4. So is it better to go more or less given the choice? I would just go 1000watt but living where I do, 600watt would be less conspicuous. Also, using a SOG grow method how many plants could I realistically expect to grow in a 3x3 or 4x4 environment?

So, a 4'x4' Hydrohut is about $289... that's a hell of a lot of money for a grow tent. Nothing you can't make yourself out of pandafilm with a frame of 2"x2" timber or 1"x1" square aluminum tube with Qubelok connectors (lotsa hdwe stores have qubeloks) for an AWFUL lot less dough.

I'd be really surprised if you could not duplicate a 4x4 Hydrohut with timber framing for under $50, if you can wield a saw, a staple tacker and a screwdriver.

just use an old closet, i have 3 and they work great.

View attachment 64692
here are a pic of my grow closet,with fans and a light,
whole ste up for closet fans and lights 600hps.
closet free
light £100
fans £15.
if your just starting out, its cheaper,and plus if you buy all the grow tents, ect. you might find you have to stop growing or dont think its for you.
try the cheaper way first.



































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Hey Al B. Fuct,
Whats going on? You seem to be a busy person and with that said I would like to thank you for you time and effort in this thread and the other ones that you have put your time into.

I have been reading your threads for awhile now and I'm tring to duplicate your over 10 year adventure (yield every two weeks).
Thanks for R&D
So with that said this is what I'm dealing with. I have an area that is 6Lx3wx5.5h that is lined with panda film. I have a 600w dig hps/mh system, a 80cfm and 465cfm exhaust fan. I also have a 6' light mover.
The area above is only the flowering area, I have another area for cloning and vegg. the same size.

I'm in soil at the moment but would like to get into the floc or the other medium that you were talking about, to do a flood and drain system. Do you like the floc better? I have looked on line and in the local hydro stores but I can't find it. I would like to buy it in bulk to save some money.

I would also like to make the flood and drain tables but can't find the flood/drain adapters.

I want to have four stations (one station every two wks) in each stations I would like to have 6 1 gallon contains.

What would you recomend for a heavy yielding stain but doesn't lose any ? Right now I have Grape Ape.

Thanks for your input.

crazy-mental said:

just use an old closet, i have 3 and they work great.

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Yep, that'll do.

However, if you use a particularly cheap old wardrobe, one made from MDF/particleboard, make sure you keep humidity down and protect the floor from spills. MDF goes back to being sawdust pretty readily when wet. Line the interior of the wardrobe with pandafilm. Fill any gaps and glue pandafilm where needed with silicone sealant.

Thanks for the advice everyone...duly noted. Think big. Start small.