VERY DETAILED JOURNAL - from empty room to the finished product

kennewickrockerguy

Active Member
This is part one my list of supplies for the grow room and first grow/harvest. I have included where I am planning on getting everything from so if you see something you could use or know of a cheaper place or I may be missing something - by all means let me know.
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THE SUPPLIES FOR THE GROW ROOM
electrical timer (wal-mart)
thermometer / hydrometer (wal-mart)
tarps (wal-mart)
pots (wal-mart)
milk crates (free, thanks friend that works at a gas station)
celieng hooks for light adjustment (wal-mart)
drain trays for H20 (wal-mart using big storage container lids for drainage and the containers for storing supplies)
1000W switchable MH / HPS ballast (http://www.betterthannature.com/catalog/product_info.php?currency=USD&products_id=504)
1000W MH and 1000W HPS bulbs
reflective dome (ballastkit.com)
panda film (http://www.horticulturesource.com/product_info.php?products_id=1124)
oscilating fans (already have)
6 strip outlet extention (already have)
stapler / staples (borrowing)
blackout curtains (probably wal-mart)
industrial grade lawn care bags (wal-mart)
reflective white paint (probably wal-mart)
chair (have it)
glass table (garage sale)
hammer (have it)
nails (have em)
string (have it - for drying)

FOR GROWING
soil (wal-mart)
pearlite (wal-mart)
peat moss (wal-mart)
plant sprayer (wal-mart)
watering can (wal-mart)
fish pump (wal-mart)
spade trowel (wal-mart)
gloves (wal-mart)
cloning tray w/ humidity dome (not sure)
ph tester (http://www.horticulturesource.com/ph-ec-tds-meters-test-kits-for-water-soil-timers-instruments-calibration-solutions-c35/rapitest-4-way-analyzer-fertilizer-light-moisture-ph-model-1880-p1922/?osCsid=c9323f5c5886c6a2655575e532b667aa)
soil moisture monitor (see ph tester link)
rooting hormone (don't know - need advice)
fertilizers (don't know - need advice)
ONA mist on timer right outside the grow room (http://www.horticulturesource.com/product_info.php?products_id=1533)
sponges (wal-mart)
bleach (wal-mart)
2 ft fluorescent bulbs (don't know - need advice what kind and where)
2 ft fluorescent light fixture (wal-mart)
5-gallon buckets (wal-mart)
handheld microscope (http://www.specialtyoptical.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=537)
bamboo stakes (not sure - wal-mart or local nursery maybe)
trimming shears (buy locally)
razor blades (from my emo cousin lol)
twist ties (to keep the MJ to the bamboo)
heating mat (http://www.thegardendepotinc.com/3347.html or locally)
something to store the marijuana in (bong)

Am I missing anything besides the plants themselves? I was thinking about placing orange peels in the grow room for pest control but then I wondered about fruit flies. I would replace them everyday but welcome any suggestions.
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THE GROW ROOM

Thanks for stopping by here is my gro journal and I am starting with a description of the space and how I am setting it up. Constructive feedback is ALWAYS welcome.

My G/F and I are moving to a new apartment complex and I finally get to set up my very first grow room WHOO HOO!!! I am a med MJ patient and when it comes to growing, I keep it strictly legal so keep in mind I can only grow 15 plants at once. I know of a VERY helpful co-op and after harvest, I just get 15 fresh cuttings and start all over. In other words, I will not be cloning, veging and budding at the same time. You will hear talk about switching out from MH to HPS bulbs - I will be using a switchable ballast. I am using 2 "fake walls" (you'll see if you keep reading) because of random apartment inspeactions. Unfortunately, the medical MJ community is still viewed as some pnks who want an excuse to smoke pot so to avoid this I am making it to where the walls can be taken down quickly, the plants moved to a safe location and no harm done.

The apartment is a 1 bedroom, 1 bath. We never really have company over, so we have agreed to turn the apartment into a studio with a seperate growroom (the bedroom).

Please excuse my illustrations as I suck like Lonica Lewinski at a presidential fund raiser when it comes to illustrations, but I did my best with MS Paint. Since we have not moved in yet I don't have any pics for you but you should get the general idea and I'm sure I will post pics as time goes by.

My 1st step is to get an industrial staple gun and tacking a black-out curtain over the window followed by several layers of industrial grade black lawn bags to keep any scents from wafting out of the window. Then, spray paint everything that goes in the grow area with reflective white paint (except the insides of the pots).

I will attach panda film to the 2 apartment walls I am using and fix a multi socket electrical cord to the wall also.

Also attached to the wall will be: a timer for the lights, a digital thermometer / hydrometer and a shelf for the ballast (I'm still debating putting the ballast in the grow area or on the outside).

Next, I will attach hooks to the celing to adjust HID distance from plants. Since the ballast and reflective dome I am using are seperate. I am going to attach a bunch of rubber bands to the socket (possibly a bad idea due to heat) to keep it from coming apart when hanging it from the celing. I will post links to what I am using.

Next, it's time to lay down a white tarp on the grow floor and put down white trays for excess water and milk crates inside the trays (i thought about cutting the crates down until they were only 2 in high to have more room for them to grow taller).

I will place 2 fans in the room (since the grow area will have 2 "false walls" - no need for exhaust I'll explain later).

The 1st picture is just the basic layout of the room the red indicates the location of the "false walls" (I will explain in a minute).





The second picture shows how the false wall can be built for VERY cheap. The black lines are PVC pipe (2.5 ft for the horizantal pieces and 3.5 ft for the vertical ones for a wall 7 ft high and 5 ft wide). The red lines are PVC joints (if you are lost, take the diagram to a hardware or plumbing store). you epoxy the PVC into the joints and there you go. I will next explain why I used "T" joints at the bottom.








The wall can not stand by itself so at the bottom, I will trim the joints until about an inch sticks out past the bottom. The black lines are where they will be cut.






To finish, I will cut a round of wood just long enough to fit into the pipe (the red) and using don't-fuck-around glue, I'll glue it to a wooden base (the black) and epoxy it into place.







Last, just attach your reflective film (panda in my case) to the "wall" and put it into place. Put the walls in place, set the timer and fill the pots with some goodness and love. My first grow is unfortnately a few months away waiting on approval for the new apartment (huge waiting list) and getting the dough together. I am buying the non essentials now - stuff that quality doesn't matter like the gloves and tools. Maybe by the time I am ready to buy the good stuff, I'll have some solid suggestions on nutes and shit like that.

Check back for updates!!! Don't forget to comment if you think you have something I could use - or just to let me know what you think.
 

BLUNTED4REAL

Well-Known Member
nutes fox farm, check out htgsupply for grow shit like lights or any of that their pretty cheap there, and are you dividing the room into four? also if using a 1000watt light you might wanna think about exhaust or some way of cooling the light it might get hot, and ya dont think youl need the rubberbands on the lights
 

kennewickrockerguy

Active Member
nutes fox farm, check out htgsupply for grow shit like lights or any of that their pretty cheap there, and are you dividing the room into four? also if using a 1000watt light you might wanna think about exhaust or some way of cooling the light it might get hot, and ya dont think youl need the rubberbands on the lights

Na, not dividing into 4 - the upper right corner in the 1st pic is going to be the grow area (the red lines indicate the fake walls I am building). The rest is gonna be an "L" shaped room part used for my manicuring, part of it for shit like keeping my tap water under a fish pump to eliminate chlorine. I'm thinking about exhaust but if there is the whole rest of the room for the smell and heat to go then I really don't need it I think (maybe I'm wrong) the false walls will leave about a foot of space fro the top to the celing and with 2 fans inside a 5X5X7 enclosure that's not fully sectioned off, I am hoping it will be enough Only one way to find out...
 

BLUNTED4REAL

Well-Known Member
ya man once you start puttin it together youl really be able to see what you need to work on and change ya know, good luck man
 

kennewickrockerguy

Active Member
ya man once you start puttin it together youl really be able to see what you need to work on and change ya know, good luck man

ya i am thinking running the whole setup (without the ganja) for 24 hrs with once with a mh and once hps bulb and keeping an eye on temp and humidity and shit ike that
 

randh2004

Active Member
Sounds fun..What ive learned from experience is that to start your cutting or clones use the flouros for low lumes (cool white) which does the job very well with the proper spectrum. After awile sic the big dog(1000 watter) on em. Sounds like the heat is gonna escape out the top which is good but id still entertain air cooling the lights even if your pumping over the top wall, atleast i think your leaveing a one foot gap right?
 

randh2004

Active Member
I get alot of info from a guy named smoke and coke. He has more experience then i do and is willing to be very helpfull....good luck...oh !! and as far as the soil goes(being on a budget and all) like myself, I am useing organic choice found at home depot which is pretty good. I have been haveing great results with it. I feed my plants fish emolsion (organic section in home depot) and its hard to hurt the plants. It eats it up and ive never had any over nuteing problems...Its really lite being 5-1-1 and with the soil (which has some time release in it) but is vey minimal compared to your standard MG, is a perfect mix it seems to me.My plants are 41 days old in soil started from seed and are today busy and 27 inches tall. I still havent flowered because im looking for a good 600 watter to buy. Ill have to flower like yesterday or my plants are going to be tooooo tall to manage in a 5x6x7tall closet!!! GL
 

kennewickrockerguy

Active Member
I get alot of info from a guy named smoke and coke. He has more experience then i do and is willing to be very helpfull....good luck...oh !! and as far as the soil goes(being on a budget and all) like myself, I am useing organic choice found at home depot which is pretty good. I have been haveing great results with it. I feed my plants fish emolsion (organic section in home depot) and its hard to hurt the plants. It eats it up and ive never had any over nuteing problems...Its really lite being 5-1-1 and with the soil (which has some time release in it) but is vey minimal compared to your standard MG, is a perfect mix it seems to me.My plants are 41 days old in soil started from seed and are today busy and 27 inches tall. I still havent flowered because im looking for a good 600 watter to buy. Ill have to flower like yesterday or my plants are going to be tooooo tall to manage in a 5x6x7tall closet!!! GL

if youre not opposed to ordering online, the link I gave for my bulbs it the cheapest supplier I could find... is a 70 dollar bulb better than a 40 dollar bulb or is it same shit different toilet? and yeah i'm putting 2 fans in - one for the plants and one for the light.
 
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