Harvest a Pound Every Three Weeks!

Kludge said:

CO2 is something I've thought about adding but won't it all just get sucked out as soon as I turn on my exhaust fan? Or if I use CO2 am I supposed to have my lights cooled by an external air source so I don't suck out the air from the room?

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I have sealed and vented lights. I draw my air from another room and vent into the attic so I don't suck out all the CO2.

I use a 440 CFM fan for the lights and a 200 CFM fan to vent my room.

I use A/C during the Summer when it get too hot.

I have my controller set to vent the room at 60% humidity. When the vent fan is on the CO2 automatically shuts off.

So from your statement about the yeast and tablets, I take it they don't work well. Have you tryed, or heard anything about those CO2 boost buckets they advertise? I was hoping 1-2 of those would be enough for a much smaller grow then you have.

Let's talk a little bit about air quality.

The plants don't need fresh air, they need CO2.

Having to keep your temps down and bringing in fresh air can all be solved by going to CO2 and a dehumidifier system.

CO2 lets you run higher temps so you don't need to vent as often. Temps can be controlled by A/C.

The only thing you will have to worry about is humidity. Solved by a dehumidifier or vent fan.

I know, you can't afford all this right away. That's OK. You can add as you grow.

Start with vented hoods and vent them outside the room. I vent into my attic. Then when you can afford CO2, you will only have to hook up the input of the fan to draw air from outside the room.

You need plenty of oscillating fans in your room to keep the air circulated well. The leaves of your plants should be moving at all times.

Temps:
With CO2, day 85, night 75
Without CO2, day 75, night 65

Humidity:
60% during early flowering
50% during late flowering

Tips for controlling heat:
Keep your ballasts outside of your grow room.
Run your lights at night.
Install a wall A/C unit

Thundercat said:

So from your statement about the yeast and tablets, I take it they don't work well. Have you tryed, or heard anything about those CO2 boost buckets they advertise? I was hoping 1-2 of those would be enough for a much smaller grow then you have.

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You would be surprised at how much CO2 your plants will use if you give it to them.

With lots of light and Aeroponics, your plants only limiting growth factor will be CO2. Your plants will freak once you give them all the CO2 they want!

The CO2 buckets sound promising but they seam expensive at this time. They use big Alka Seltzer tablets without the medicine. Maybe when the price comes down they will be good source of CO2. Aren't they over a 100 bucks a shot now?

Also, I use a CO2 controller. I'm not sure if you can have it go on and off quickly like a tank does.

There is no way you will produce enough CO2 with yeast. If you could, your whole house would smell like a fucking bakery. Everyone will be asking "Where's all the fresh bread bitch, I want a piece!"

StinkBud said:

Everyone will be asking "Where's all the fresh bread bitch, I want a piece!"

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i was checking them boost buckets out the other day i think its like 140 bills for it and 109 for the refills it lasts like 90 days i think so it would be 110 bills a gro to run that jawn not sure how you would regulate it thou you only use it during lights on and only up to 1500 ppm so maybe its tweekable to make it last 2 grows how much does it cost to run your co2 setup stinky??? i know the regulators and shit are expensive but can you break it down for me

anyone out there has a few moments to help me please feel free to do so:

This is my first attempt at growing with the aerogarden let alone my first time growing period. I want to put a seed in the aerogarden and grow for my own needs. I have read the threads all day long and i know that i want to use the LowRyder Seeds. What steps do i need to take to make this happen? Please excuse my ignorance

I made a setup thats totally different than yours, and it works quite well but I'm thinking of just trashing mine and making the one you have plans for on here. mine has been redone so many times that its a frankenstein of a grower. I already have tons of blue/red LED grow lights. Do you think that your setup would be as efficient as it is now if i switched all the veg lights for leds?

bwh1529 said:

anyone out there has a few moments to help me please feel free to do so:

This is my first attempt at growing with the aerogarden let alone my first time growing period. I want to put a seed in the aerogarden and grow for my own needs. I have read the threads all day long and i know that i want to use the LowRyder Seeds. What steps do i need to take to make this happen? Please excuse my ignorance

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Sell your Aerogarden on Fleabay and build one of my veg systems for $40.

Trust me on this!

You can do a complete grow with my veg system, even if you have limited room.

Grab a cheap 400W or 250W MH light online.

Use my nutrient formula and you can actually grow some REAL BUDZ.

Don't fuck with LowRyder seeds. Order some kick ass Feminized seeds online. Or better yet find another grower and get some cuttings.

Check out the illustration of my veg system. Read this whole post for more detailed information.

You can do this!

Tomapalooza said:

I made a setup thats totally different than yours, and it works quite well but I'm thinking of just trashing mine and making the one you have plans for on here. mine has been redone so many times that its a frankenstein of a grower. I already have tons of blue/red LED grow lights. Do you think that your setup would be as efficient as it is now if i switched all the veg lights for leds?

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You could veg with just about any type of light source you wanted. Veg long enough and any plant will get big.

For flowering you want to use an HPS light. You just can't beat the results. Vented hoods address all the heat issues.

I'm actually looking into switching my 250MH veg light for some HO fluorescent.

I like how FL's kept the inter node length down. You can also run the light very close to the plants without burning.

Thanks stinkbud when I get my outside harvest done I will be tryn my hand at a setup like yours seems basic but yet productive. This will help many rollitup members!!! So I am sure you will be hearing from me will have alot of questions for you hope you do not mind. So once againg thank you very much. Good luck.

I just finished my clone and veg closet. next is building the clone and veg unit and ordering pumps etc... I built this closet in a spare room with the back of the closet open next to a screened window that has fresh air and sunshine... is this a good idea? or should i seal up the closet 100%?

Also, i am a member of a club here and have access to clones, but they are usually rooted in soil or rockwool. Could i just stick them in the cloner rockwool/soil and all?

I built this closet in a spare room with the back of the closet open next to a screened window that has fresh air and sunshine... is this a good idea? or should i seal up the closet 100%?

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Natural light is great!

Security is the only thing that comes to my mind. You will have to have 18 hours of light to keep the plants in veg.

The window may be a bright beacon when it starts getting dark early.

Also, i am a member of a club here and have access to clones, but they are usually rooted in soil or rockwool. Could i just stick them in the cloner rockwool/soil and all?

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My next subject was going to be genetics.

The success of the entire grow is dependent on your choice of genetics.

I wouldn't worry about whether the clones are in rockwool or soil.

You can always stick the plants in soil and take cuttings off of them in a few weeks.

If you can get Granddy Purple or Trainwreck then snag them no matter what.

Rockwool can go directly into the netpots.

I tried going from soil to hydro once. Washing the soil off nearly killed the plants. The cuttings I took outgrew the mothers that where in soil!

Stay tuned for a detailed discussion on genetics...

I live out in the boonies so the light wouldnt be a problem, i just thought maybe pests could get into the cabinet somehow if it wasnt completely sealef off... thanks for the info.

Do you have problems with nutrient salts clogging the sprayers? Also, when your exhaust fans come on isn't a lot of the Co2 removed? I would only recommend Co2 if you are running a complete sealed room w/ A/C b/c you are wasting a lot of Co2- just my two cents. I am not knocking your grow by any means b/c you are getting great results- I just want to see you get MAX results the most efficently! keep up the great work!

LMAO! keep it up SB! i told ya, i had yo back from the beginning im really going to build this, so if u can help me... i'd appreciate it... flower room in the garage in a 13x9 area.. this looks perfect for my space... . 2x600W + 1x400W HPS... veg room in my closet under 40k lumens of T5 flouros =) FLOWER ROOM COMING SOON

Do you have problems with nutrient salts clogging the sprayers?

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I usually don't have problems with salts. It is usually the roots that get in the way of the sprayers. Sometimes I have to move the roots in my veg system to keep them out of the sprayers.

I always have clean sprayers handy. They are easy to clean and replace.

Also, when your exhaust fans come on isn't a lot of the Co2 removed?

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My CO2 controller automatically shuts off the CO2 when the fan is on so I don't waste CO2. As soon as the humidity or temp reach the right point the controller kicks the CO2 back on until it reaches 1500 PPM.

The controller then monitors the CO2 keeping the room at exactly 1500 PPM at all times. (during the day)

My lights and room are completely sealed. Air for my lights is drawn from another room and vented into my attic.

I only exhaust when humidity goes over 60%. So with my room temp kept at 85, the exhaust fan only goes on a few times a day (this time of year).

I'll have to fire up a dehumidifier as soon as the rain comes. My A/C is put away for the rest of the year.

ok the one thing i dont get is how do the plants support themselves
i mean you have these huge fat plants with huge fat buds
what stops them tipping over, there are no roots supported by (soil/rock/pearlite/coco)
apart from that i want to just make your cloner box and go full to flower with that
just carry the box from the veg room to the flower room : too easy

DaveTheNewbie said:

ok the one thing i dont get is how do the plants support themselves
i mean you have these huge fat plants with huge fat buds what stops them tipping over, there are no roots supported by (soil/rock/pearlite/coco)
apart from that i want to just make your cloner box and go full to flower with that just carry the box from the veg room to the flower room : too easy

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Actually you just carry the lid and leave the box for the next batch (and lid) You can even move lids around so that the new plants receive the most light.

I had two plumbed together so the the back container drained into the first res via a hose. That way I only had to deal with one res per two lids.

7 sites per lid is all I could get to fit for flower. Any more and I had space issues with the plants.

After all that I still prefer Aero/NFT for flowering.

Check out the photos of my Aero/NFT system I use for flowering. You can see that I build my plant supports into the frame.

If you wanted to use the veg system for flowering you would need to build some sort of support for the buds.

Stinkbud can u show me how you made your flowering system. Found this very useful.

Thanks for the quick response.
My brain is burning with an idea I have that would make the system even more simple for my purposes.

1) I accept that I would need some sort of system to hold the plant so it doesnt fall over ScrOG seems one possible answer. I just have other issues with ScrOG. Once a ScrOG sets in you wont be able to lift the lid and look inside.

2) You dont seem to use the net pots at all, they dont hold any medium, so why have them?

3) if you wernt going to take the plant out of the lid, could you just drill a finger width hole in the lid, and use some cut foam (say from a yoga mat) to hold the small clone in the hole instead of the pots that you have now?

4) I assume after the roots are a certain length that they sit in the nutrient solution, bubbler style. I assume that the nutrient solution gets airated by the sprays. Would you possibly get a better growth by including an air bubbler and air stone as well ?

5) The one problem I have with Aeroponics and DWC bubblers is that you have to remove the lid to check (water/PH/ECM) levels and refil the bucket. I saw one professional system with a clear plastic hose up the side of the bucket from the base to see how much liquid is in there. Is there any reason that I couldnt do that and use a funnel on top to refil the bucket? Im fearing mold/fungus issues here.

6) If I do remove the lid and drag it from bucket to bucket, how tough are the roots. I hear about light causing them to rot, and stuff like that. I see pics of you exposing the roots to the air/light for photos so I assume that they are tough enough.

7) I am thinking of covering the top of the plastic bucket with Mylar or Foil or something to keep the heal and light out of the res. I hear that too much heat in the nutrient solution is bad.

I am seeing 2 of these systems, one under a 400 MH and one under a 600 HPS. I guess I would have to have a CFL for cloning as the MH would blast them into stupidity. But I like the idea of not having to lift the lid all the time, and just drag the bucket from room to room and keep the plants in the bucket the whole time. I suspect I wouldnt want more than 4 plants per bucket (maybe 6) as I like to double top and get a big bush before I flower. I suck at cloning and I love the simplicity of cloning and then just leaving them in the same system for veging.