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Green2Black

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I like to turn things from green to black!

I am a later-ish 20 something or so living in So Cal with a prop 215 card for about 7 years.

I found this forum about a week ago after googling about some lights that I got. Now I cant stop reading, its amazing what you can read here!

I cant wait to get more knowledge from everyone.

I started a small tent grow out in a shed in my yard! Let me know if the rest of this post should be in a different area.

Back story, my friend had an old storage unit, unfortunately lost his life, and I received the contents. There was some grow equipment in there, so why not take advantage and give homage to an old friend. I have a shed that I have the tent set up in on the back side of my house.

The first thing I have is a small tent. It is about 2.5'L x 2.5'W x 5.5'H.
I have 2 T5 high output lights. One is 2' and the other is 4' tall. Each one has full working bulbs, I believe they are the Veg bulbs, 6500 k or something. I want to have one standing up and one hanging in the tent.
I have a Elicent 6" fan with a 6"x16" carbon scrubber and some ducting. The fan is pulling air from the top of the tent out to the vent in the shed. The carbon scrubber is attached to duct that is connected to the bottom of the tent.

I know my set up may not be fully functional yet, but that's why I am here. I want to have possibly 2 or 3 plants, I know I can't fit too many because of the size of the tent. The plan is to veg for 4 weeks and flower for 8. I would just need to get flowering bulbs.

The clones would probably be in a version of Massproducer buckets. I would water with advanced nutrients coco safe nutes.

So my thoughts/questions:

1. Should I have a fan that is pulling air from the carbon scrubber and into the tent?
2. What bulbs would yield best with my current light fixtures? I know flowering should be red lights, 2700 K or something?
3. Will running a 24 hour veg cycle for 4 weeks over stimulate the plants? Can I do some 24 hours days and then switch to the 18-6 cycle or even the 12-5.5-1.5.5?

Any more suggestions I am open to.

Thank you again guys for the wisdom I have already gained from reading and the more I will gain soon.
 
Welocome to our site G2B. I am glad you have been reading and decided to join us.. Others will be along shortly with their ideas..

I will go to #3. Yes you can run veg 24 hours and then flip to 12/12 with no problem. Some people like to veg 18/6 but both works.

#2 you need about 3000 lumens for veg and about 5000 for flowering. T5's are nice to veg with as you can put the light right on top of the plants and it won't burn them but makes them nice and tight. What lights did your friend leave you. I am sorry about your friend, but i bet he would be thrilled you are growing.

Others will advise on the air... I suck at air..get it? I don't ever remember the push and pull of the air.. but lots of others do.. Again. welcome.
 
Your carbon filter is not set up correctly. It is meant to filter odors and the way you have it set up, it is not doing that. It needs to be connected to the fan so the air the fan is pulling out is filtered. However, do not even connect the filter until you need it--sometime during flowering. When the time comes, it will need to be set up so that you have filter, fan, and then ducting to outside. I like to pull the air out of my tent. This creates negative pressure and helps to keep odors contained. The intake can be passive.

You are going to want a minimum of 3000 lumens per sq ft for vegging as Rosebud mentioned. For a space 2.5 x 2.5 (6.5 sq ft), that is 19,500 lumens for vegging. How many bulbs does your 2' T5 have? I am using a 12 tube fixture in a tent just slightly larger than yours (32" x 32") and it does great for vegging.

As you have height restrictions, I would recommend vegging 24/7. Running your lights 18/6 will encourage stretch. I wouldn't even consider a flowering light schedule other than 12/12.

While you can pick the amount of time you want to veg your plants, the flowering time is not that way. Flowering time is very strain dependent and can vary depending on your lighting. There are not a lot of strains that finish in 8 weeks and you absolutely do not want to take a plant down before it is ready, as indicated by the trichs. So, flowering time will most likely be longer than 8 weeks unless you choose a fast flowering indica dominant strain.

As for flowering, I am going to try and encourage you to try and save money while the plants are vegging for a HPS to flower with. For that size tent, a 400W would work just great and give you a lot more bud. If you flower with T5s, you will need 32,500 lumens. The 2' bulbs put out between 2000 and 2500 lumens per tube, so you would need a whole bunch of tubes (12-16!) to be adequately lit....or a single 400W HPS.
 
Hello again guys and thank you for the replys!
Rosebud: i have a 2' 4 tube and a 4' 8 tube. I also have a hood that says hydrofarm Rd luminaire series, but the glass is missing. Also have a 1000w switchable horticulture lighting system. 1000w hps use s-52 bulbs. 1000w mh use m-47 bulbs. 120 volt 9.5 amps 60 hz. 240 volt 4.75 amps 60hz. Also have 6 2' flowering t5. I just found them. And a 1000w sun master super high output hps deluxe. I don't think the hood will fit in the tent :/

The Hemp Goddess: thank you for the info. For now should I just have the fan suck air out of the tent? To keep it cool? Thermometer says 80 with the fan on. When it's off it csn be about 90 to 95 during the day. I have 2 small fans inside that blow on the plants. The two strains they said the clones were are girl scout cookies and superman og. The gsc looks indica, fatter water leaves. The superman has a little thinner longer leaves. Maybe sativa? I have a total of 4 2' and 8 4' ones, would I be wrong to assume I would be around 40000 lumens? I just doubled 2000 to 4000 for the 4' ones.

Weedhopper: Yeah, I like to turn my greens into black via a nice glass piece or the occasional blunt. Also it's a Rebelution song.

Thank you guys. Yeah I'm sad about the loss, but it is time to make something from it.
 
95 is not good for your plants without CO2. I would leave those fans on all the time. Hydro needs even cooler temps.
You need alot more light my friend then those two tubes.
One 4ft HOT5 tube is aprox 5000 lumens. The 6500k is for vegging,,2700k will flower,,,but HPS does a better job,,,and uses less electricity watt per watt.
 
Ventilation is for more than keeping your space cool. Plants need a continual supply of fresh air all the time the lights are on for proper photosynthesis. So, as hush and WH mentioned, keep the fan on all the time.

As you only have a tent that is 2.5 x 2.5, what are your plans for the 4' lights and the HPS?
 
Sorry about your friend! But he left you some pretty good tools to work with. Probably way too much for the tent you have though. And some great advise from the other members.
A bigger tent, or grow room, would be the best way to make use of what you have. Like Mr. Hopper mentioned, they don't do well with temps 90+. And when you fire up one of those big Ks you'll see what 'hot' really means!
Good luck!! These folks will help you get it dialed in.
Peace, Superman
 
Thanks again for the replys. So yeah, I measured and I can fit that one hood into the tent. So is it better to have 4 2' T5 HO and 8 4' T5 HO or to use the hood with the 1000w bulb and ballast?

The Hemp Goddess: I want to leave the fan on all the time but at night it gets quite cold, so the tent drops to maybe 60 to 70. I cant track it for now, but the other night I came out at 4am and it was at like 62 or so. I figured that was too cold so I turned off the vent fan but kept the 2 small fans going. During the day I keep it on because thats when it is warm.

I have 2 timers as well. They seem way high tech compared to the basic one I use for my Christmas lights. Titan Controls Apollo 9 120 Volts / 15 amps / 60hz / 1800 watts.

I am sure I can use it for the fan. I just have to google the manual. That way I could get the fan on at maybe 11am or noon, and turn off at about 9pm or so.

I wish I could have a bigger tent, but I do not have that much space. I was thinking to maybe flower some of the plants outdoors, but then it would veg for however many months haha? Maybe a tree or something.

Thank you again guys. You all are very helpful.
 
My advise would be a thermostat to control the temps. Titan, CAP, Hydrofarm, as well as others. 62 isn't horrible at all, not 'perfect', but not bad.
Peace, Superman
 
What lights are you running now? Are you running 24/7? Do you have a fan speed controller?

My spaces often get down to 60 when the lights are out. If you stay above 60, you should be fine. IMO, it is more important to give the plants fresh if the lights are on than it is to keep the temps above 60.

I doubt that with the size tent you have that you are going to be able to veg the plants until they are ready to be put outdoors unless you are in a very warm climate and can put outside in March or April
 
Right now I am running the lights 24/7 with 2 T% HO light fixtures. One is 4 feet tall and has 8 tubes. I have that one standing straight up. Then I have a small one that is 2 feet that has 4 tubes on it. I have this one on the top.

I do not have a fan speed controller. I need to make one or buy one. I think I saw something about using a light dimmer or something on here. I have been a little busy the last few days to dig into that one.

I am purchasing another fan, a 3 speed 6" one. I was thinking of hooking that one up to the tent and using the fixed speed one for the carbon scrubber. The guy selling it also had a portable AC unit, was thinking of scoping it out and possibly picking it up. That would help control the temperature if I can pump the cold air into the tent.

I am in southern California. I would hope I could put the plants outside next month, but it depends on this el nino. I could possibly put some of them outside and then flower one or two in the tent?

Thank you again. I really do appreciate the help so far. I will try and take some pictures to show how it looks.
 
If the 6" fan is a centrifuge type fan, that one should be enough for ventilation. I am running a 6" fan in a 5 x 5 tent. You do need some kind of oscillating fan in the space though to move the air around. Fan speed controllers are cheap. You cannot use a regular light rheostat on a centrifuge type fan, get a fan speed controller.

You should not need an A/C with T5 lights.
 
Awesome thank you Goddess - I have to get a fan controller, but I am not sure which kind. I do have 2 small 4" fans blowing air inside the tent. I also have a small 4" fan outside the tent blowing air into the tent through a small vent hole in the bottom.

Here are some pics.....Let me know how bad I have it. Yea...I had 4" ducting for free so I got 2 4" to 6" connectors.

1. A pic of the lights and one of the small fans inside the tent
1Dc7Lmg


2. Small shot of a couple of the clones. They are dark.
MHDBvQO


3. Here is the small fan blowing air into the tent. Behind it, you see a carbon scrubber that's being sucked by the fan in the next photo.
MHDBvQO


4. This is the top of the tent. You can see the 6" fan pulling air from the ducting that goes into the tent. The air is pushed out the vent at the top of the shed, right out the fan.
2YORt3v


So let me know what you all think. I will take some more photos tomorrow when I have some more time.

Thank you again!
 
I do not know for sure why the pics did not post. There is no approval process for pics. Did you use the "Manage Attachments" link below the reply box? These appear to be a link to an outside source and not posted directly here? When I removed the designation, I could access the link, but it gave me a google site I could not get into without permission?

Pictures posted directly here may need to be resized. If you have problems, let us know.

Fan speed controllers: [ame]http://www.amazon.com/Hyrdroplanet-Controller-Hydroponics-Exhaust-Control/dp/B019J7KQJO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1455127449&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=fan+speed+controller&psc=1[/ame]
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Active-Air-ACSC-Speed-Adjuster/dp/B007TFTITS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1455127449&sr=8-2&keywords=fan+speed+controlle[/ame]
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/VenTech-VT-SPD-CTRL-Variable-Controller/dp/B00EVYGPJQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1455127449&sr=8-3&keywords=fan+speed+controller[/ame]
 
Hmm so now i uploaded them on imgur. But still shows up as small thumbnail thingy.

Any of those 3 better than one another? Are they pretty easy to install?

I am supposed to be picking up 2 more 6 inch fans tomorrow as well as a portable AC unit. I want to use one to pull fresh air into my shed, and then the other is as a back up if one fails.

My plants have grown anywhere from 1 to 3 inches, dependent on plant. I have been taking some measurements, trying to keep as much data as I can.

Thanks ahead guys!
 
I still cannot see anything. We really need to see pics. Is there a reason that you are not posting them here?

I don't think you need 2 more 6" fans. Most of us run our rooms with a single 6" fan. The money would most likely be better spent on something else you need.

The height of your plants is not really that important unless we lso know how many leaf sets are on them. Stretched plants are not good--height is not good unless it is also accompanied with leaf sets.
 
Hmm it failed every time to upload the files. They are jpeg, I thought under the file size limit. Any ideas? I had the photos in my google drive before, thats probably why the photos didnt show up. I have a spreadsheet with some of my grow data. This is my first time with this tent, so I would be curious as to how each plant does.

Maybe I can share the folder with the pictures or something.
 

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