Getting started

[teetee]

Hi fellow Stoners

 

I've been lurking for a while, but now I make my intoduction... HELLO!!!

 

Just settling in to residency, and thought it was time to stop taking a risk by scoring off a dealer and spending cash on average standard meds. 

I'm not new to growing, done a couple of DWC grows back home, and am waiting for my growing gear to arrive along with my furniture etc.  in the next month or so.

The main things I'm waiting for are my LEDs, a Helios 6 and 2 Helios 2's. They are the mutts nuts. I have my pH pen and EC stick, so just need a few things to get cracking.

 

1. Seeds. I am waiting now, it's been 12 days so far..... mainly Dutch Passion autos to get a quick few ounces, then i will go onto photos.

 

2. Tent. I used to grow in a custom wardrobe... but now a tent feels like a better option. Probably a 1.2x1.2 and the usual sites sell a basic (Seahawk) and the Gorilla at 3x the price. Anyone out there rate the Seahawk? - in terms of light proofing, and pole strength

 

3. The electrics at my place wont handle the needs of a DWC grow, so I'm going for Rocketpots and Coco (+20% vermiculite). I used House and Garden nutes and additives succesfully in the past, and will most likely use them again. 

 

4. I'm in the mid east coast of Aus, so temps are different to what I'm used to back home.... I'm thinking an 6 to 8 inch extraction with 2 carbon filters on a Y piece, and a 5 or 6 inch intake fan. Anyone out there think this will deal with the summer heat? My LEDs run pretty cool. and I have a portable aircon on its way...

 

5. Any recommended brands of fan... I want something quiet....

 

6. I have a Harvest Master control unit on its way, it does everything! Anyone got any tips on getting a supply of CO2 cylinders? People use them for aquariums etc, so it's not so dodgy anymore

 

 

Any other tips to help me on my way would be well appreciated.

 

All the best of growing karma to you all, and I hope to get a diary on soon to share with you all!

 

Boomshankar!!

 

Teeetee

[Midget]

I would avoid the CO2 if this is your first grow and really hate to burst your bubble but the Helios 6 and 2 arent the ducks nuts... they are chinese multichips...

 

Hope you didnt buy them in the UK because they can be found much cheaper elswhere.....they claim to use anywhere from epistar to CREE to bridgelux LEDs... well there you will have one problem..they quality from all of those are different and I highly doubt they are using many crees...

 

Not trying to burst your bubble but multipchips and mono's are proven to grow less efficiently than white leds... in fact the few "good" manufactureres are using predominantly whites and adding reds for flower...

 

just so you know..... dont get your hopes up on big yield that you see on forums or youtube... all is not as it seems

[herby]

Hi fellow Stoners

 

I've been lurking for a while, but now I make my intoduction... HELLO!!!

 

Just settling in to residency, and thought it was time to stop taking a risk by scoring off a dealer and spending cash on average standard meds. 

I'm not new to growing, done a couple of DWC grows back home, and am waiting for my growing gear to arrive along with my furniture etc.  in the next month or so.

The main things I'm waiting for are my LEDs, a Helios 6 and 2 Helios 2's. They are the mutts nuts. I have my pH pen and EC stick, so just need a few things to get cracking.

 

1. Seeds. I am waiting now, it's been 12 days so far..... mainly Dutch Passion autos to get a quick few ounces, then i will go onto photos.

 

2. Tent. I used to grow in a custom wardrobe... but now a tent feels like a better option. Probably a 1.2x1.2 and the usual sites sell a basic (Seahawk) and the Gorilla at 3x the price. Anyone out there rate the Seahawk? - in terms of light proofing, and pole strength

 

How many plants are you doing? A 1.2x1.2x2 would only be good for 3ish vegging, and once they start flowering, only 1 will fit unless you dont mind cramming them in there. As for the Seahawk tents, They are great! Some people on here say they suck, but i have 1 x Clone tent 75x50x60  and 1 x veg tent 1.4x0.8x2.0 in Seahawk and they dont leak any light AT ALL, not even 1 pin hole, The poles are nice and strong, I have 1 x fan, 2 250W big CFL lights and 1 x LED light hanging on the poles and it doesnt flex, They are a VERY tight fit though and can be a bit hard to set up, but that just means they are better quality then those loose ones. I also have a a large flower tent but it is a really shitty old one that leaks really bad and is loose , has crappy structure and i will be replacing it with a 3.0x1.5x2.0 seahawk as soon as money permits.

 

3. The electrics at my place wont handle the needs of a DWC grow, so I'm going for Rocketpots and Coco (+20% vermiculite). I used House and Garden nutes and additives succesfully in the past, and will most likely use them again. 

 

House and garden were competing with Advanced Nutrients at one stage so they will be good for sure, Others will say that they are all the same but im not convinced yet

 

4. I'm in the mid east coast of Aus, so temps are different to what I'm used to back home.... I'm thinking an 6 to 8 inch extraction with 2 carbon filters on a Y piece, and a 5 or 6 inch intake fan. Anyone out there think this will deal with the summer heat? My LEDs run pretty cool. and I have a portable aircon on its way...

 

A portable aircon is going to rape your power bill, I used mine for about 1 month but it was adding a good 1-1.2kw/h to my power bill so i stopped using it, If you can find my old grow thread you will see i was hitting 42 degrees celcius in my tent for most of my grow through summer, and that was in my VEG tent, in the flower tent i was hitting 46-47C!!.

 

Others will argue this with me, But i would just ignore the temps for now, Even with those temps i managed to yield about 3 oz per plant on my first grow, the plants all survived

 

My hydro shop said your better of getting a "water cooler aircon" The ones you poor water in the back, But i had a PROPER aircon that worked with gas, and when i used it i was dropping temps from 42c to 16c haha. A water cooler will probably keep ya down to 25-30

 

 

5. Any recommended brands of fan... I want something quiet....

 

Ezi-Air do the "Whisper" Fans which are supposed to be very good, They are a fan and silencer in 1, they are like a long tube and are about 300$ for a 150m and 500$ for a 250m, Which is exactly why i didnt bother with any silencer fans, But if you need it and can afford it then go for it.

 

6. I have a Harvest Master control unit on its way, it does everything! Anyone got any tips on getting a supply of CO2 cylinders? People use them for aquariums etc, so it's not so dodgy anymore

 

Pretty sure you can get massive Co2 bottles from welding shops too, I dont think it was ever considered dodgey.

 

 

Any other tips to help me on my way would be well appreciated.

 

All the best of growing karma to you all, and I hope to get a diary on soon to share with you all!

 

Boomshankar!!

 

Teeetee

 

As for the LED's, The technology is not exactly brain surgery so I dont believe a 1000$ LED Will out perform a 200$ china unit, Just ask them what chips they use and then Google them up.

Edited August 31, 2014 by herby

[teetee]

I would avoid the CO2 if this is your first grow and really hate to burst your bubble but the Helios 6 and 2 arent the ducks nuts... they are chinese multichips...

 

Hope you didnt buy them in the UK because they can be found much cheaper elswhere.....they claim to use anywhere from epistar to CREE to bridgelux LEDs... well there you will have one problem..they quality from all of those are different and I highly doubt they are using many crees...

 

Not trying to burst your bubble but multipchips and mono's are proven to grow less efficiently than white leds... in fact the few "good" manufactureres are using predominantly whites and adding reds for flower...

 

just so you know..... dont get your hopes up on big yield that you see on forums or youtube... all is not as it seems

 

Well, thanks for the hearty welcome, Midget!

I used my Helios for a few DWC grows, and it did the job nicely, mate. I used CO2 not to increase my yield, but so I could work at higher temps (a bit of an issue that I had with a wardrobe sealed environment set up), but I agree, using CO2 in a tent is hard cos of the rapid air exchange.... it will just get extracted and thus wasted.

I'm a West Ham fan, so no one can burst my Bubble.  Cheers for the input though!

Lots of things really, all answers to my questions....

 

Cheers Bro for the input. I'm gonna do some photos, and plan to veg 3 or 4 and scrog the best ones.... maybe 2 if possible. I follow Hygrohybrid's technique, it works quite well.

House and Garden are expensive, but I like the theory behind each additive..... the roots excellurator is pretty good stuff.

 

If the auto seeds ever arrive, I might chuck them in pots, get them started under a 80W CFL and then leave them outside, and see what nature can do (probably not much!). Otherwise, I have some beans from Southern Star on their way 

 

Hopefully I can get cracking pretty soon, just need to get a morning off so I can visit my nearest growshop (70Kms away FFS) and do a cash deal.

 

Boomshankar