OCCG Hydro's 1000w Closet Drip System - Blueberry Kush & White Russian

occg.hydro · Jun 16, 2008

Hey everyone! This is my first grow with hydro. The clones were transplanted 4 days ago and look like they're just starting to settle in. A few of them are still lookin a little scragley but I think they'll make it just fine. Here's my system:

9 bucket drip system
10" mesh pots w/ hydroton pebbles
20 gal resoivoir
1000w MH conversion bulb (for veg)
1000w Hortilux HPS bulb (for flower)
air cooled sun system reflector w/ 172cfm Can-Fan inline fan
Charcoal Filter w/ 172cfm Vortex inline fan
HEPA filtered air intake
2x air stone (I've only been using 1 to keep pH stable)
7000 BTU Amana air conditioner w/ digital dehumidifier

Botanicare Cal-Mag +
Advanced Nutrients Sensi 2 Part
Advanced Nutrients Piranha
Advanced Nutrients Carbo Load
Fulvix
Clearex (for every other res. change)
:holysheep:

occg.hydro · Jun 16, 2008

I've been having a little trouble with the pH bouncing around so far, but I think it's mostly due to algae growth in the translucent blue return lines that I didn't paint. I taped them up and now they're light tight and things seem to be leveling out a little bit. I also scrapped the dripper stakes and made my own drip rings out of some left over 1/4" tubing. I'm going to put yet another gaping hole in the wall tomorrow to vent the A/C's hot air in to the living room so that I can keep the door closed and have all of the intake air coming in through the HEPA filter instead of the door. I'll keep posting pics as the grow comes along. Any feedback or suggestions would be great. I'm pretty experienced with soil and know how to handle a plant but this is my first try with hydro. I've definitely done my homework, but I still have plenty of learning to do.

occg.hydro · Jun 16, 2008

ok, so at the end of the day cycle the plants looked like they might be showing signs of overwatering or nute burn. I've got them on a hydro cycle timer that does 1 minute on and 4 minutes off. I didn't think that it was possible to over water with straight hydroton, but I think the problem is that my drip rings are too small and they're letting out too much water, too close to the coco plugs that the clones are in. I got rid of the dripper baskets in the picture because it seemed like the plants were staying really dry but I might end up putting them back. The pump is off during the night cycle so that should give the babies some time to dry out. I'm going to change out the res today, flush with clearex and bring the nutes down to 500ppm. We'll see what happens. If any one has any suggestions, let me know!

DomsChron · Jun 16, 2008

Looks like this grow is going to be GREAT! I can't wait to see this get started. I also use Eye Hortilux HPS and it is one beast bulb. Who makes your metal halide conversion bulb? Mine is a Sunmaster Cool Deluxe.

Lets see some pics of that nute burn man.

GREEN MOJO MY MAN

Aurora_Indicas_Dad · Jun 16, 2008

the plants should only take in,what they can use.i heard that hydroton drys up quickly..i'd suggest havin the water be on 5 minutes..off 20.thats just my opinion though.

camcam · Jun 16, 2008

Nice setup you have, but take that electric extesion off the floor you are asking for trouble with that there (first post, number 1 picture to the bottom right).

occg.hydro · Jun 16, 2008

I have a sunmaster as well. "cool deluxe" is a huge over-exaggeration. That bulb burns hot as hell and only puts out around 95,000 lumens. The HPS I'm using puts out 165,000 and runs close to the same temp.

occg.hydro · Jun 16, 2008

camcam said:
Nice setup you have, but take that electric extesion off the floor you are asking for trouble with that there (first post, number 1 picture to the bottom right).

good call, you're right. I'm gonna mount that to the wall today.

occg.hydro · Jun 17, 2008

I decided that the benefits of h202 outweigh the benefits of the piranha. Added 80ml of 3% today and the algae issue immediately cleared up and the pH stabilized. Every thing's looking much better! I increased oxygenation a bit since the pH stabilized and the plants are loving it. Everything seems back on track. One question though. Should I be watering during the night cycle? The hydroton dries up very quickly. I intentionally picked it to avoid over watering and to get max oxygen to the root mass. I have the pump hooked up to drip rings on a hydro cycle timer that does 1 min on / 4 min off. Should I leave it running at night? I also have very low humidity in my room because I have to use an air conditioner constantly to keep the heat at a reasonable level so I need to make sure the babies get plenty to drink. Any feedback would be great! I'll post more pics tomorrow night.

occg.hydro · Jun 17, 2008

Plants are lookin pretty droopy again so I'm dropping the 1 on /4 off timer and going with 15 on / 90 off. I'm going to keep an eye on it during the next day cycle to see how much moisture these guys need and adjust it from there. I also made new drip rings that should distribute the water more evenly throughout the hydroton.It seems like they'll have plenty of moisture to make it through the night so unless someone says otherwise I think I'm gonna keep the pump off during the night cycle. Check back for new pictures tonight!

occg.hydro · Jun 18, 2008

Everything's looking much better! pH is stable, plants dried out and I switched the timer to 15 on / 90 off. So far so good, I'll know for sure by tomorrow. Started mild cO2. I'm using a 5lb block of dry ice inside the cooler with a tube hanging over my light to disperse it slowly over the tops of my plants. The cans circulate the air inside and the air conditioner exhausts air and pulls in fresh stuff through the hepa filter. Shouldn't be a problem with the cO2 ppm getting too high, I don't think. There should be enough air exchange to not let it climb too high. I don't think it's going to make a huge difference actually with the amount of air moving through the room, but we'll see. Just an experiment. Res change tomorrow with the fresh nutes.

occg.hydro · Jun 18, 2008

Here are some more pics of the closet. Used to be 5' x 5' x 8' full of clothes. Much better now!

Canadia · Jun 23, 2008

Yo 510, any updated pics yet?

occg.hydro · Jun 24, 2008

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occg.hydro · Jul 8, 2008

I've been doing lots of training so the babies are still pretty squat. These pics are from last week. I'll take some more today that show the training, topping, etc. I have to run an air conditioner 24/7 to keep my room around 83 degrees so my humidity is way lower than I'd like. I've started using yeast co2 generators hooked up to my fan. The AC constantly pulls air out of the room but even just blowing co2 enriched air over them has increased foliage growth a decent amount. I'll try to find the time to start another post with instructions on how to build the generators. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask!

occg.hydro · Jul 8, 2008

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occg.hydro · Jul 8, 2008

... pt 2

occg.hydro · Jul 8, 2008

Keep in mind that this grow is a joint effort between two medicinal marijuana patients. We are always within our legal limit in terms of number of plants. Just thought I'd add that!

he he he... I said joint... he he he he he