Upcoming Grow Room and Current Ebb Flow Experiment

Hey everyone, great site with a lot of great info.

I'm having my condo renovated and have a small space earmarked for a little grow room (it wasn't planned to be a grow room, so the dimensions aren't ideal). I'd say it is about 6' Wide, 2.5' Deep, and ceiling height is about 7'.

It's just a one bedroom condo, so that's actually a decent size for our living area (wife and I). Anyway, I plan on getting a 400W digital lighting setup from High Tech Garden Supply.

In the meantime, I set up a little ebb and flow system on the cheap based on what the "ready-made" systems look like online. I'll post some pics later, but basically it is made up of the following:

1 18g Rubbermaid (Dark Blue) Bin with Lid for Reservoir.

1 10g Rubbermiad (Dark Blue) Bin that is the same dimensions except it is shallower (so it fits inside the Res if you want--I started off like this but did not like it so went with putting the lid between the two).

1 Eco Pump, about 400gph, which is way more than I need (fills the res in just over a minute)

1 small air pump for the airstone listed next

1 8" Airstone to aerate the res while pumping the nute solution

1 Drain/Fill kit from High Tech Garden Supply along with about a foot of 3/4" hose for the drain and less than a foot of 1/2" hose for the pump input

50L Hydroton (I probably only needed half of this as I filled the whole res with it since that's the way I saw it on the "Greenman" video.

A few various sizes of netpots
Some little pellet/pods for seeds/seedlings
A couple Coir bricks

General Hydro nutes (Grow, Bloom, and Micro)

Basically, all I did was use a hole saw to drill two holes through the 10g bin and for the lid of the 18g bin.

Then I stabbed a couple random holes in the lid in case some drops of water got onto the lid so they will drip back into the res.

Next I hand tightened the fill/drain kit through the two holes and connected the hoses, connected the pump and airstone and put them in the res, and put the 10gal/lid combo on top of the res and sealed it.

Then I added about 7-8 gallons of water and tested the pump--seemed fine so I added the Hydroton (***RINSE YOUR HYDRO BEFORE YOU ADD IT!!! I DIDN'T AND HAD TO TAKE IT ALL OUT AND REDO IT***). Then I added the seedling strength nutes and set up a timer to run the pump/airstone to run every six hours for 10 minutes.

For lighting I bought 3 12" (or were then 10"... can't remember) little shop light with aluminum reflector things (the kind you can clamp to shit) and screwed a "Y" into the receptacle so each can take 2 bulbs. (I got 6500k ummm 23 or 26 watt, six of them).

I have another timer for the lights, and that's about everything. Overall it was quite cheap and seems to function perfectly except for a couple small things (I wouldn't use coco coir if I were to do it again, because it can clog the drain).

As far as seeds go, I can highly recommend www.marijuana-seeds.nl

Prices there are good, 5 free seeds with every order, no matter how cheap your order is, cheap shipping, and quick delivery (I got my seeds I think in less than 10 days). The seeds are also cleverly packaged.

I started off just trying to germ 2 of the "free seeds" by putting a little water in an empty little vitamin bottle and putting it in a dark place. One cracked after a day and a half or so and the other did the next day.

For each one I soaked one of those little pellet/pods in some water with a little bit of hydrogen peroxide mixed in, then I dropped the seeds in with the little root tip aiming down, then pinched the dirt or whatever at the top. I put those in a little covered container and put them under one of the lamps with 2 6500k bulbs for 19 hours on/5 off.

One sprouted within a couple days, but the other one still hasn't, so I think that one didn't make it (tomorrow will be a week after I put it in the pod--anyone know how long I should wait before I give it up for dead?).

I moved the seedling from the little incubator type thing and put it in a netpot with coir and put it in the ebb flow and it is doing fine. It has two sets of leaves and I think a third is coming now, but it is still really small (hell, it's only been a week though). I have a little fan I try to blow on it for several hours per day also.

A few nights ago I germed a couple of the seeds I bought (White Rhino) and they both cracked so I put them in pods last night and am waiting for them to sprout.

After I post some pictures I'd like to get some input on how I should set up my little grow room to make the most use out of the space. Ultimately I would like to have a veg. area and a flower area rather than having to only have one thing going on at a time.

Thanks,

Pac

So far this is the only seed I've gotten to sprout. I think it's been about two weeks and compared to some others I have seen my plant is looking kind of weird....
the plant was a freebie seed I got with my order and it is "Mazar x Afghan"

(disregard the other plant in the background--it is a sunflower)

A lot of the others I have seen have much longer stems where mine is pretty squat but seems to be developing a lot of leaves while staying short.

Do you think I have my lights too low? I have the CFLs about 2" above the plant, which I thought was good.

Sorry pictures are blurry, but this is the best I've got at the moment...

Pac

Hey Friends,

Before I go and drop the $ on my lighting fixture for flowering, I figured I'd ask the experts here about some reflector recommendations.

I'm going to get a 400Watt Digital Package from HTG Supply, but I'm unsure which reflector I should get.

My room is going to be basically 6' wide 7' high, but only about 2 1/2' deep. I'm still not sure if I"m going to split it up with a shelf and have a high/low area or split it left and right sides, but ultimately I want to have both the veg. area and the flower area in that space.

I am hopefully going to be able to cut in through the ceiling and exhaust into my building's vent exhaust (I live in a high-rise condo), and I don't have access to a "fresh air" inlet. The room is too far from any windows and the venting is purely exhaust, not incoming air (it is the vents that tie in to the bathroom ceiling fans/vents and the vent over the cooktop, etc.).

I can probably cut a hole in the ceiling directly above wherever I end up hanging the 400Watt light fixture so that the fan is sucking air right above it, if that helps.

I guess the ballast will probably be somewhere in that room too if it isn't incorporated into the hood/fixture, but I'm not sure if they give off enough heat to worry about or not (do they?)

Okay, I'd like to get the light this week, but I'll wait to make sure I get some responses.

I figure I'll be spending around $250 or so, based on the prices I've seen there.

Oh, since I'm in a condo, I'm also going to have to make one of those DIY carbon filters or something too unless someone has a better idea.

Thanks all,

Pac