Equipment check

[Sir PsychoHashy]

I measure veg time from when the seedling breaks the surface and opens up, or with clones from when they have developed enough roots to self sustain outside a humidity dome.

 

Yeah I'm an idiot, of course more heat will lower humidity.
however I am in it for the glory

 

I wouldn't be certain that high heat will lower humidity in an enclosed grow environment as it's possible that the extra heat encourages extra transpiration?  But I would assume the radiated heat from HPS lighting would at least take some of that humidity out of the air?  Certainly in cooler weather I have seen in tent RH lower than outside RH, never really looked into it in hotter weather though so maybe I should instead of making assumptions.

[merl1n]

Thanks PsychoHashy. Will definitely get 2 SCROG nets. When you measure veg times, when do you start it from? From the day of planting the seed, cloning, hitting a certain height? I like the idea of vegging at 4 weeks, would keep the grow nice and short I'm tempted to flower mine quicker than usual on the first grow so that I can get some bud... It's actually amazing how flexible marijuana is solely based on lighting: you can keep it in veg for years or send it into flower after a week.

Hey sydneycoyote,

I'm a scrogger, I use 3 nets. The first is a heavy steel framed net, a bit like a table frame covered in fencing mesh. This is used to train the growth out under the netting (hint: do not weave you growth thru the netting cos come harvest it's a bitch), once the table is full of growth I then turn 12/12 and allow the growth splurt to grow up thru the netting. About a foot up from the scrog table I have a flexible trailer net, this net helps to support and direct the stems to where I want them. The top net is another flexible trailer net, this supports the weight of the developing buds. Without that top support the buds get so heavy they end up facing the floor instead of facing the lights above. I have 2 oscillating fans blowing thru the canopy, this flexes and strengthens the stems, a bit like our muscles the more they flex the stronger the stems become to hold the weight of the BIG buds.

You ask about veg times. These vary massively depending on strain, the size of the space you are trying to fill and the number of plants. Personally I don't have a set 'veg time', I veg until my scrog net is full, then turn 12/12. My space is 3m x 3m and with one plant to fill that space, it can take up to 4-5weeks of veg, but this depends on the strain and the intensity of light over the entire space. My lights are suspended on a straight bar with a bearing in the centre, this allows me to rotate the lights to where I want them. But an area that does not get maximum light doesn't grow at the same rate as an area with a constant maximum, hence my lights being rotatable, to be able to balance the amount of growth over the entire grow area.

 

Merl1n

[sydneycoyote]

Thanks merl1n for your response - it was very helpful.

 

I'm still alive btw. I know it's been about a month, but it's been a very productive month! Since I was last here I acquired all of my equipment and built my space. Tonight I put my seeds into those little coco fiber pellet things. I've decided to test out the hybrid all star pack (from southern star) first, using two of each of the following: skunk star, purple cheese, wizz fizz and texas gunian plus one of the iron duke (got 5 freebies). I'm not sure what I'll do if I get more than 4 females (as I will only be doing 4 plants) but I'll cross that bridge when my eggs hatch

 

Over the next day or so I'll start up a grow diary.

 

I just thought that I'd make this post to thank all of the great members of this community for helping me out in this thread. I hope to see you guys around in other threads (and in person when this shit becomes legal)!

[Annabanana]

Hello,

 

I am new to this. I only started smoking a few months ago and have only consumed cannabis products on a handful of occasions. After casually chatting to my mother about trying it, etc I discovered that she is a user (the things ya learn). Anyhow, I had a friend who was supplying but he's moved away and apparently his supplier does not want to be known (fears of getting busted, etc). So I've decided to grow my own. I figure it will be a good way to get high quality marijuana (in terms of potency and safety). Also, I don't like the idea of supporting a criminal organization (not because of their 'illegal' 'drug' enterprise but because the funds are often used to support violence, etc).

 

Over the past couple of days I've been doing some pretty heavy research into cultivation and equipment. Also, I've ordered some seeds from Southern Cross (awesome service btw).

 

I was just hoping to get some advise on the preliminary equipment I have chosen. Money isn't really an issue - if I need to invest in equipment then I'm more than happy to sink my hard earned cash into it if it means that I get some quality gear (and don't have to buy twice). With that being said, I'm not going to be growing on an industrial scale, just for our families personal use and I'd like to save on things that I don't care about (e.g. brand names).

 

I was looking around my house for the best grow spot and couldn't find adequate space in any of my ideal locations. So, I've decided to build a new shed with enough space for a grow. The shed will be shared with the lawn mower and a couple of garden tools but will be quite spacious (3x1.5x2.4m, width, depth, height).

 

The primary vendor that I've found most of this stuff at is hydroexpert.com.au. Not sure if anybody can recommend anywhere else in the Sydney area that has better price/range/service?

 

Grow tent:

This has been my biggest source of grief. I've been looking at all the different brands and it's pretty hard to differentiate. I've seen a couple of posts regarding toxic tents. This seems to be an outdated issue that primarily affected cheaper ebay (and grow lush) tent's but considering that it contains plants that I and my family will later ingest I'd like to make sure it's safe. Also, when it comes to size I'm thinking to go as large as I can (probably about 1.5x1.5m). With that being said, having a smaller tent may not be a bad idea when/if I upgrade to a larger tent in the future I can use the smaller tent for a mother or for pollinating (for seeds).

 

The main competitors are:

a) Hydro Expert's 1.4x1.4x2m tent - $200

GrowLab (owned by HomeBox) GL145 V2.0 (1.4x1.4x2m) - $340

c) HomeBox Evolution Q120 (1.2x1.2x2m) - $340

 

I'm not sure if the price delta between a and b/c is justified. I'm cautious of c because of the panda-type material which I feel would smell noxious/PVC like and could be bad - this may well be unfounded/wrong. Light leaks aren't really a concern considering it's going in a shed, however, I would like a decent quality fabric, zippers, general construction that will last. I'm probably leaning towards b at the moment.

 

Grow light:

From what I've read LED is the way to go.

 

The main competitors are:

a) Mars Hydro II 900 - $580

Viparspectra 600W with veg/bloom switches - $239

c) Viparspectra 600W with veg/bloom dimmer - $290

 

From what I've read/watched Mars has shitty customer service. Viparspectra has great reviews on amazon and they're really price competitive. Dimmable seems like a good idea in-case if the lights are burning the plants, etc. Currently leaning towards c.

 

Fan/filter:

 

The Hyper Fan 150mm (6") with a Phresh 150x500mm 475CFM carbon filter is what's currently on my mind. Any other suggestions? I've seen centrifugal fans mentioned a bit but haven't dived into that yet. The kit including 6m of ducting and some fittings is $449.

 

Thermometer/humidity meter

 

Just picked a basic $30 for now to get me going.

 

Timer

 

Looking at a relatively basic digital timer. It's $50.

 

 

Ultimately I will setup some sort of digital monitoring system. If I can't find one that fits my needs (web GUI/phone app for monitoring and controlling temps, lights and maybe watering) for a decent price then I'll make one (that's my professional field). This may already have been done (haven't really checked for any open source solutions yet which would be nice). If it has then I'll check it out and may just use that (no need to re-invent the wheel, right?). If not then it should be a fun project

 

I'd like to get growing ASAP so I better start building that shed...

 

Anyhow, thank you for your advice and thank you very much for welcoming me into your community.

I'm also setting up my first indoor grow (in 15 yrs). Your plan sounds awesome to me! I've got my 'shed' already so I'm setting up 2 tents in there. A 1.2 x 1.2m. and a 2 x 2 m one is arriving this week. I've gone with LED so I won't have too much heat to deal with (Summers are HOT here)

I have solar power so it's just the nights to consider power wise. If you don't have solar, LED seem like the cheapest in the long term.

When you are further along, you'll need a pH reader and an EC reader. I got mine for less than $50 for the pair off eBay.

I'll be interested to read your progress! Have fun with it.