I just got my driver from digikey and I’m hoping the boards ship after the holiday. I googled “amazon delays“ and that’s really changing my plans.
Had planned to use a spare room for this first grow with a 4x4 tent. I’m now at a crossroad and have to invest more time (not really bothered by the $$) in educating myself in order to make a decent decision.
I did find a recipe for “super soil” and that would be the only real option I’m considering. I’m hoping our local nursery can acquire most of the ingredients if I provide them the list. My wife said “this is a lot more involved than I thought it would be” in a good way. So between the nursery and Tractor Supply I think I could mix that stuff up. The beauty of it is you just have to water the plants due to the “cocktail” of nutrients etc. The guy said he’s used this recipe for 15 years.
I’ve also taken your advice and been reading the forums a lot and really enjoying the original thread for diy lighting; lots of good stuff there. I copy and paste into my notes anything I might revisit. Also intrigued by solo cup challenge, which is perfect for a grower with no tent, no pen, no soil… mines gonna be a Gorilla Poo auto flower.
Re the PH situation, the Apera 610 I ordered from amazon will be a long time coming so I checked Walmart and in the description it said it would not give accurate readings for distilled or deionized water which explained my confusing readings. That does not explain why it wouldn’t calibrate though. I even broke out my mm to check the batteries. So because I’ve been using distilled water and Phototron nutrient solution and it always used distilled water I just never expected to have issues with the ph. I’ll be cancelling the amazon order for the pen and three items for the light build I’ll get locally.
Thanks to you folks on ILGM I’ve been realizing growing today is so much more efficient it’s crazy to look at the Tron as anything but an amusing working museum piece.
Needless to say, as I’ve tried to transition to plan B it’s been hard to get stuff and I’ve got 6 ILGM seedlings suffering but surviving. I think I’ve got to move them into soil bags and outdoors; I don’t like thinking about the pest issue mostly. Living 60 feet from a small river is gorgeous and being at the end of a dead end street means nosy neighbors are not an issue.
Our town decided to “restore” this river and that means some intrusion into our back yard via kayakers occasionally so having plants growing outdoors I just think about riff raff ripping me off. Perhaps I’m paranoid; no I’m not I’m schizophrenic lol
More research and change is good.
I will distract myself with this build at some point and look at that as a solid starting point as an evolving grower…
I don’t believe you’ll find a ph meter that will accurately read the ph of distilled water. Not from apera or any other company. That is the nature of distilled water, nothing there to check. Once you mix with nutrients will be fine though. It’s no longer distilled water and has become a nutrient solution. The nutrients in suspension will give the once distilled water the properties allowing the ph to be measured accurately. Same thing with calibrating really. Distilled water isn’t the proper liquid for doing that. You want a pre set solution.
I use the same meter and distilled water to mix my solutions. It works fine.
Will seem like a lot of information, and it is. But a lot of it is stuff you already know, or things that would work themselves out if you thought about them in the right context. Getting everything rolling is most difficult, then things will slowly fall into place. You will figure more stuff out on your own than you realize too.
Ah yes critical THINKING…
Had a prof many years ago for “intro to Astronomy” He was very precise and whenever he asked for “student participation “ there was not a flood of hands raised. The silence broke me down and I was the one who raised my hand. After a phrase he would interrupt me firmly and critique my attempt. I found it unnerving but I learned he was correcting my thought process. Eventually I was able to THINK before raising my hand. You remind me of the importance of that skill which is after all a learned process. TY again
VIVOSUN pH and TDS Meter Combo, 0.05ph High Accuracy Pen Type pH Meter +/- 2% Readout Accuracy 3-in-1 TDS EC Temperature Meter for my tds/ph/ppm tester ,
I love it and use it on the pool, tap water, it has a calibration kit that comes with it too, in case. You’re 10 steps ahead of me it sounds, im so new, and scientific terms and fertilizers and how much are all so hard for me to understand. When I flushed my first grow, my ppm wouldnt drop past 130 ppm I couldnt figure it out until I tested my tap water which was oddly reading more than the plant which told me my plant was filtering my water more than my water was filtered, that astonished me. But living less than a light away from the local drinking water treatment facility, it made sense. I have read that the flush needs to read below 150ppm so is this where the other waters come into play that arent reading?
I’ve no idea about the ppm on a flush. I’ve got my problems with my first grow (old Phototron hydroponic setup) I bought a tds pen and a decent PH pen that failed me, both highly recommended here. Started seeds in sphagnum moss/micorrizae in solo cups and hand watered until tent arrival. Amazon was backed up so no home and no PH pen. Bought a test kit (PITA) but works. At this point about 4 weeks in I’m pretty sure I’ve got a cal mag deficiency. Ordered some recommended nutrients and a flush that should be here today. Been using epsom salt foliar spray (1tblsp gallon) at lights out to keep them alive. I’ve had to do a lot of researching on this and am really just deductively narrowing down the options.
Hydroponics and low PH plus leaf appearance led to cal mag conclusion. Have a new Apera PH pen with replaceable probe coming and a tent I finally could get quickly. Heading out tomorrow for soil and bags and seriously considering super soil. Mucho dinero up front but supposedly you don’t need to get as anal about nutrients and such. I’m looking forward to just watering. Doesn’t mean I won’t check PH and TDS, just less pressure.
Have all the light build parts in hand (connectors within days) The barrel connector is for the AC in from wall to driver I’m pretty sure-I couldn’t get anything locally or Home Depot só I got stuff on eBay.
My local electric supply company asked too many questions about why I needed this or that connector. In exasperation I said, I’m just relying on a friend for guidance.
Pause
“is he an engineer?”
Got a good laugh out of me on that one. My son is in his junior year of college in Canada (BS in computer science/engineering) Totally expected the electric supply guys comments. He knew his stuff but instead of saying if he had what I needed he kept saying it was overkill…I finally just thanked him and hung up.
I’ll be starting the frame tomorrow pm after setting up the tent to visualize the final size. Lighting expert is dbrn32 (moderator also-I’m so new to this I don’t even know how to tag him on this comment!) I’ve gotta check in to see about minimum/maximum spacing of the boards. I had trouble finding 8’ lengths of aluminum angle stock; lots of 4’ but I think the 4’ is too long but then again I’m totally new to this.
Wiring it is not gonna be as big a problem. I’ve got some experience there. I’ll be trying to ask questions more about WHY he recommends certain connectors because I’ve never used them. My training is old and rusty but I think I’ve got enough aptitude to grasp it; we shall see!!!
I want the frame to be efficiently laid out to maximize the LIGHT not the total yield. I figure there’s plenty of time to focus on improving yield as I gain experience.
FWIW I NOW have a second tent coming from Amazon that may just become a bloom tent.
You are in the right place here, just be humble and ask for help (not my forte at all either)
Beginning to look like Christmas. Had to get connectors and such on eBay so the packages are piling up.
Today’s surprise was my Apera PH pen. Thought it was connectors. Pretty excited.
One 4x4 in hand and THEN amazon says they are shipping one as well. May need to build another light.
Off to HTG for grow pots/bags and soil early tomorrow so things are finally coming together. Would not be so intense if it weren’t for the 4 week old seedlings looking kinda sick.
Will need some info on your recommendations re: the minimum/maximum spacing of the 4 qb 120 boards.
Does that seem like a stupid question?
I’m just making sure
1 it fits in the tent
2 maximizes the lights capability
If you tell me the length/width I’ll get er done.
Tent 1 (in hand)
dimensions
55″ wide x 55″ deep x 79″ high
TY
Off to use the Apera!!!
Don’t put more than 6" between the boards. Otherwise see what makes sense for aluminum you have. Anything between 2" and 6" board spacing should be fine.
So as long as they are wired in series and with 2-6”
spacing between boards, it will perform to specs.
For me it is not about the cost of materials. I know you’ve mentioned elsewhere you like to give guidance but allow for the individual to design the framework.
Am I wrong to think setting up the tent and some “props” to simulate containers and shelving is foolish?
I cannot think of any other way to configure the frame (the only known variables being your suggested light board spacing and the tent’s length/width) Doing it right (safe) is my priority.
I just figure it’s easier and makes more sense to limit the occupancy. I want to have plenty of room to work in the tent and I think 4x4 seems big but it’s really not once things really take off in there. It’s been a long time for me but I do know how fast they grow up.
Appreciate your feedback
It’s a square tent, so you want a relatively square fixture. Outside of that the only thing you really want to do is make sure is that they’re not too far apart. You get help from reflection on tent walls, but not in the middle of tent, especially where heart of your canopy is. So, if anything you would want to cheat towards middle more so than away. From there, an inch or so one way or the other isn’t going to make or break you.
I’m not sure what you have or plan on buying for aluminum, but it’s not that critical for you to waste 2’ of aluminum bar per piece because I tell you to make it 28"x26" but you can only get 48" pieces of aluminum. Ideally you can get 60" pieces and it’s not an issue, but if that example were to be true wasting close to $50 worth of aluminum bar isn’t going to make your light that much better. People have been growing weed with hps bulbs that have 8"x1" light emitting surface for 60 years. A 2’x2’ fixture isn’t going to kill you lol. Put whatever makes sense and is close to a couple inches between them and call it a day.
I feel like you and every post I read about everyone is 10 steps ahead of me with everything. I feel like a teen growing in the closet with not enough stuff to get it going but just getting it going… Lol! So I understand the pain. And who knew so much science went into it? I didn’t. I thought I had it all right and messed up so much, but my 1st grow still did descent. I just want better. I am trying to do it just to do it, see if I can. I tell you what the brains of trying to figure it out isnt rocket science but it’s super hard. I couldnt imagine making circuit boards, adding switches, messing with wiring. But it may have to come down to that because I am determined to atleast get this going. You have great points and I agree with them. Its crazy because so often I thought I am over thinking it the first go around, and I think it stressed me out so much I stressed my plant out… But hey its a learning life and education is key. I definitely am trying to bring the veggie garden indoors for the winter too, just with all the crap going on I want a few back up plants for the little things that matter. So I need to get the circulation right along with lighting especially I was over here thinking I had 1200 watt led’s, they were only 260 watts… SO to my surprise I foudn myself laughing at myself because I did so much research and messed up royally there, but they work for sure.
That’s a huge help. First draft is 42” square which leaves 6” for standoffs (saw that suggestion on another thread here) have a drill press in the barn that I think works so that will help. Trying to minimize cuts and waste.
Still waiting on wago’s from eBay and 16/3 power cord. I’m still not clear about 3 pin waterproof barrel connector. I bought something on eBay that’s for autos so I don’t think that’s correct. Local electric supply was no help. Everything on the list he asked why I was using that; like it was overkill. I did not say it’s for a grow light. I finally said a “friend” is helping me so I’m just doing as instructed. He said “is he an engineer or something?” We both laughed and I said thanks and ended the ordeal. My son is finishing up his BS in computer science/engineering as well and I think it’s a great vocation. I like precision in design so you’re ichi bon in my books!!! Got to a growers paradise yesterday High Tech Gardening and hydroponics. They had everything. Settled for super soil and phat bags and a drip tray. Planning to make a frame for the bags with galvanized or SS mesh so the roots get air (another crib from this group) got super soil for the seedlings going inside and roots organic for containers outside. I got an email for a deal on AF GG so I’m gonna drop them and put them outdoors just to see how they do-short season plant and I’ve got a sunroom with room for them if I get in a jam tho I don’t think the OTHER tent will fit!!! I may just get lucky.
TY again for the Apera suggestion; it works perfectly and I was impressed with the solutions and extra batteries that came with it.
“If you read the instructions you get knowledge; if you don’t you get experience.”
I know you told me this was for the AC power cord to the driver and you even tried to recall the diameter in mm of “_____” which I took to be the nomenclature of the barrel itself. I think amazon had them but they were backed up on shipping so I cancelled the order for the hookup wire, the wagos, the power cord, and the 3 pin WP barrel. I’ve got everything but the 3 pin. My search came up with 3 pin WP connectors for marine, auto, and cable use. I know you also mentioned having to drill out the opening of the driver a bit. Having never used any of these connectors I’m sure it’s frustrating for you.
Is there a voltage rating? That would be biggest potential issue I see. On the input side you need at least 120v. That seems like it would be 50v or less.
There’s a diagram with all dimensions/diameters in mm as well on the website (which is what I recall you trying to guide me on as to the barrel diameter fitting the driver opening) 450 volts AC at 24 amps.
I could just go to digikey and see if they can help. I’m trying to ask the right questions.
Have just received the 15’ 16/3 water RESISTANT 300V molded male end power supply cord. And now I’m thinking I didn’t use my head when ordering the wagos; have 160V 9A 18-24 awg PCB surface mount 2 pin terminals. They LOOK like what I was supposed to get but I did NOT know the voltage/current ratings were critical and if you tell me what IS critical I will get the right stuff. I know this must be tedious to go back and forth and recognize you do have your own life to live. I trust you implicitly on safety. Lmk please if I screwed up on anything. TY
@dbrn32. 2x4 veg tent. Hlg 300l bspec. I have room to put a 65w v2(sitting around) on each side. Is that overkill for say 10 plants with about 4 weeks of veg?
