Hello!
New grower here. I have two other topics open Down the rabbit hole - #15 by Jackie_Daytona and Hows it look and light question - #23 by IslandGrown76.
but decided to try and condense it to one spot. Hope that’s the right thing to do.
Made the decision to try my hand at the science/ art of cannabis cultivation. A steep and challenging Learning curve but it has to be done. Wife has Peripheral neuropathy and I am not trying to pay for medicine we can now legally grow.
We certainly appreciate any guidance. There is so much information to go through some right some wrong that things get confusing.
So this is what were working with.
Grow tent in a climate controlled garage area.
- opulent systems grow tent 96x48x80
- 8: KB-QB288’s with Lm301B Diodes and CREE XP-E2 660nm reds. Kingbright
- 4: HLG-240H-48B Mean Well drivers with dimmers.
- 1: AC Infinity Cloudline T8 Exhaust fan
- 1: AC Infinity Cloudline T6 Intake fan
- 1: AC Infinity 8" carbon filter
- 1: iPower 6" carbon filter
- 1: Apera PH 60 ph tester. (comes in handy for wifes fish tank also) and a bottle of 3m KCL Solution.
- 1: HoneForest tds,ec, temp meter
- 2: Acurite RH temp gauge and one random mini ph gauge from local indoor store
- 1 each of general hydroponics PH UP and Down. 8oz
- 1: vivosun green led headlamp
- 1: 1A10BC fire extinguisher
- 1: Camco 400043 taste pure water filter(have a hose bib in the garage
- 2: BN-link 7 day timers(dual outlet)
- 2: Vivosun 10x20.75 seedling heating mats
- 2: Vivosun digital heat mat temp controllers
- 1: Kuman KW48 electrical usage monitors
- 2: echo gear 12 outlet surge protectors
- 1: Delxo 10-Pack 5 Gallon Grow Bags
- 1: 20 pack of dual sided yellow stickies for bugs.
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20 ILGM White Widow FEM (photo)
Growing medium Is Fox Farms Happy Frog for now and we have Ocean forest for a HF OF transplant to bigger pots if we make it that far.
We also have propagation trays and domes, NX pot elevators and a ton of other stuff.
We have a few 15 amp circuits to choose from and a 30 amp i can pull from if need be but I probably wont at the moment
First thing we did was set up the tent. It wasn’t very difficult. It does however have some light leak issues. a few pin holes in the back and some seam leaks. I contacted Opulent Designs and spoke with a rep there several times on the phone and through email. They were very honest and said that QC is an issue which is being addressed and As soon as the Item is back In stock they will send me a whole new 4X8 Grow tent for documenting the issues for them in detail and sending it to them.
Next the KingBrite lights came. I was pretty sketched out ordering from China and especially an item I am not familiar with. I did a fair amount of research however and felt some relief when they arrived. In the beginning I was going to go with two larger HLG 550 style boards. However I chose going with 4 smaller boards so can have more placement options.
The boards arrived 10 days after i ordered them. no duty fees. The reps I worked with were professional and informative.
The items were packed well.
Inside the box were the boards, drivers, an assortment of connectors, pulleys and power cables. I requested longer wires to mount the drivers outside the tent which they sent free of charge. However I ended up not using them and going with some wire from the local hardware store. Everything appears very well made to my untrained eye 
I Decided to mount the boards outside the tent for better temp control. I started by laying out everything that needed to be mounted on a thick piece of wood. I went to the home store several times before finding a sturdy enough piece of lumber I felt comfortable hanging all the weight on.
I mounted the board to the wall using lag bolts making sure I was into the studs being very careful to avoid wires in the wall. being electrocuted sucks. Also changed out the outlet in this wall as the plugs were loose and arcing is bad. I plan on affixing power cables to the wall more securely with some cable channel the coax staples are temporary. I also have a cable pick holding the wires up high between the wall and tent. I don’t like power cables down low. especially where water is to be involved. One thing you cant see here is the 3/4 Outside diameter 1/2 inch beveled rubber washers. I used these to raise the drivers off the mounting board. I did this for better air flow under the driver.
I decided to not use solid core wire in a 15 ft run and instead went with 16g wire. Wire by the foot was like 86 cents a ft so I decided to just buy some extension cord for $20 and use that. Worked great and is nice and pliable. I measured out my runs and left plenty of room for light length at floor level and room on the back end for adjustments. I also used the 3rd strand to ground at the drivers and on the board.
I set up the 8" and 6" Ac Infinity fans. The T8 as an exhaust and the T6 as filtered intake. I had to use a 6" to 4" reducer for the intake fan. I decided to place the exhaust fan and filter outside the tent for space issues. after speaking with a rep from AC Infinity regarding this setup I was confident it would perform fine. On setting 1 of 10 the 8" exhaust has an incredible amount of pull and creates a great amount of negative air space in the tent with almost no noise. the floor fan is louder.I have my 6" set to 4 to adjust. I am sure once things get going other adjustments will need to be made. I also plan on placing the intake fan horizontally to remove the bend in the flex tube for greater efficiency.
I also added rubber flooring to clean things up and have a nicer work space in front of the grow. Needs a little smoothing out as but normally sits really well.
Room has ac and a dehumidifier if needed. I may be buying a Humidifier as humidity is getting into the low 50s some how in this garage at times. It gets up to 80+ humidity at night outside with temps into the 90s.
So.
I germinated 13 seeds in water using the ILGM method but then decided to put them in rapid rooter pods. This was a move which I believe has complicated things. Next time straight to soil.
We are down to 12 as one didn’t make the cut. Folly occurred on germination day as a couple seeds got spilled, stepped on and sucked into a shop vac. No doubt nervousness contributed to that.
Anyway. Seeds went into the rooter and trays a few days ago lightly moistened with distilled water. Placed on heat mats set to 75ish and under a dome. Not sure if this was the best thing or not. so many opinions… I probably adjusted these 2 dozen times or more.
about 15 hours later we had sprouts.
Kept the heat pad at around 72-75 and rh at 83ish best i could in the dome.
kept them there for a day then moved them to cups. Once again may not have been the right move.
I used a soldering Iron to make drain holes in the bottom of clear cups and red solo cups. seedling go into clear cups then into solo cups. I saw others doing this so they can inspect root structure and decided this was the way to go. I used Fox Farms Happy frog with added perlite for drainage lightly moistened with distilled water.
At this point I was having issues with how much light to get on them. I am still not sure. so many opinions.
The sprouts got leggy and some were flimsy. this could have happened for several reasons. Not enough light. didn’t put them in rooters deep enough etc. So i made the decision to re-pot deeper all the way up to the cotyledons. The FFHF was moist out of the bag so i didnt add any water.
This was this morning 12 hours after re-potting and them under 130w at 18 inches all night.
I’m seeing some yellowing but not sure if its from the stress of me repeatedly trying to kill them.
Still not sure of light wattage or height.
temp at 72 rh at 56. I need to go grab that humidifier asap i think.
So that’s where I am at.
Thanks for looking and any comments or thoughts are greatly appreciated. thank you.
thread title has nothing to do with anything btw.
!
