Milk jug for a Greenhouse?

[hatecable]

Im having some humidity issues with my seedling, along with ph I believe. The humidity is only 16% which is what you get when you live in Texas and die without the airconditioning going constantly during august. Anyway, I was wondering if you could cut up an old translucent milk jug bottom and make a greenhouse canopy. Im not sure if enough light would get through or what, but i thought Id ask. Maybe someone has done this before.

Herers a pic of my plant from seed. It is 9 days old from first breaking the soil and was doing good but has all the sudden seemed to stop growing over the last 3 days and the first true leaves are taco'ing a bit. There is a little bit of very light brownish discoloration too. Im going to guess that this is due to ph. Any help would be much appreciated.

Conditions:
-Scotts Premium Topsoil (has peat in it and is pretty loose so i didnt add
perlite)
-1 27W Daylight CFL 1 inch from plant 24/0
-Fan blowing on it constantly
-about 12 1/4" holes in bottom of cup for drainage
-Temps flux between 73-80

[hatecable]

-humidity 16% (changing as soon as possible via greenhouse or humidifier)
-ph runoff was 6.14 just before I gave it a 3 x pot size flush with 6.9 ph adjusted tapwater
-NO NUTES as of yet


BTW this is not a complete soil grow. Im only growing in soil until the 2nd or 3rd set of true leaves and then washing the soil off the roots and transplanting it
to a WF.

[herbie the love bud]

It looks good. Yes, people use Coca-cola bottles all the time to increase humidity (not so much milk jugs). Cut the bottom off and put it over the seedling. And move that light up and away, at this phase it really doesn't need more than the ambient light practically.

[hatecable]

If I moved the light away wouldnt it make the plant stretch and eventually fall over from its own weight. The fan couldnt blow on the stem either to strengthen it. I was planning on making vents so that air could at least circulate if not blow directly on the plant.

[a420seeker]

how are you managing 16% humidity in this part of the country? It stays a steady 58% in my grow room. I use Cfls also and my fans are 12volt computer CPU fans from Radio Shack run on a 120volt switching power supply also from the Shack really cuts back on power usage and they work great and run almost silent. I have one at the filtered intake and the other is at the exaust attached to a carbon filter so I have clean air pulling in and cleaner air blowing out.:smokin:

What is WF?

I grow in soil but I'm totally organic, I use my aquarium waste water for watering my plants and fish emulsion durring veg and Bat crap tea for flowering.

[hatecable]

WF is a WaterFarm. Its a hydro drip system, but mine is using an airstone as well so its a cross between a WaterFarm and a DWC(Deep Water Culture).

Its 16% because the AC is always going and is pulling the moisture out of the air. Otherwise we would probably drown from all the humidity inside the house :)

[hatecable]

WF is a WaterFarm. Its a hydro drip system, but mine is using an airstone as well so its a cross between a WaterFarm and a DWC(Deep Water Culture).

Its 16% because the AC is always going and is pulling the moisture out of the air. Otherwise we would probably drown from all the humidity inside the house :)

[a420seeker]

LOL, ok I got ya on the drowning part. your WF and DWC combo sounds really cool. I'd like to here more about it and how well it works when you get the time.

[hatecable]

This is my first time doing hydro so I might not be the best example of this method done properly. Once I actually get the plant transplanted successfully in the WF I will probably start a grow log. In the mean time I would suggest looking up some of Xcrispi's posts. He grows with this method and seems to always get monster trees.

[hatecable]

Ok.. i did the coke bottle thing. I cut the threaded part off and heated up a phillips screwdriver on my stove to melt several holes in the lower part of the dome to let air circulate a little. Im trying to think of a way to keep some water attached to the sides of the dome to keep the humidity up more than just evaporation of water from the soil. Any ideas? My environment monitor wont fit in with the cup so I cant tell what the actual temp and humidity is inside the dome, so Ill either have to get one that has a wire or just trust its going to work right and not be too humid as well. I really hope Josie the 3rd doesnt stretch too much with the light so high above the top.

[hatecable]

how big is your grow room/chamber a420? I thought about using comp fans but ended up going with a 7" household fan that I disaseembled and made a new bracket for to essentially turn it into a muffin fan like what your using. Im waiting until something actually smells before I get the carbon filter/make one. Im still working on getting the cabinet sealed so that the only inlet is a super fine heater/ac filter that i took apart and used the fabric to stretch across the inlet hole.

[SAP420]

LOL, ok I got ya on the drowning part. your WF and DWC combo sounds really cool. I'd like to here more about it and how well it works when you get the time.


Basically you are still running the waterfarm as usual but the only difference is that you put an airstone in your reservoir section to keep the nutes oxygenated as well as the airstone stirring up the nutes constantly. When your plants roots start working their way into the reservoir it will promote vigorous root growth and the plant will start to feed right out the reservoir as well as off the drip system feed.

[herbie the love bud]

get yourself a new coke bottle keep the top on and don't poke holes in the bottom. Move the light further away otherwise u will get a dangerous greenhouse effect instead of a humity dome effect. Don't worry about stretch and stem strength right now. All you want it to do is root. Even if it fell over that would be ok. It will pick itself up. Seedlings are tough. Most use clones.

You're gonna do great just don't overlove your plant. If you want more humidity spray the inside of the bottle with water.

[hatecable]

I can just tape the bottom holes closed if need be but why the top? Is the hole just way to big now? It does have a couple roots just barely coming out of the bottom so I thought part of the stunted growth might just be it spending its energy on root development. Im just really nervous with this one because if it doesnt go, then I have to wait until after thanksgiving to even start again. I will get another coke bottle tomorrow soon as I can if need be. Thanks for the help herbie!

[SAP420]

Check it out man. You do not want any holes right now because you need the humidity to be as high as possible with seedlings. They will root much better with a complete dome cover. That is why when you see seedling trays... they come with dome covers to keep all that great moisture in... no air holes or anything like that. Like Herbie said, no holes and don't worry about the seedlings falling over... yet what I have always done in the past and now is I use little flossers that you can get like a bag of 30 for a dollar at any dollar store usually. They work great at holding your little ones up. Plants need carbon dioxide anyhow rather than oxygen and whatnot. So.. it is also good if you don't have a CO2 generator of some type, then "talking to your plants" will keep them happy since you exhale CO2. Hope this helps. Also... you may want to start with a hydro friendly setup to begin with if you are planning on ending with a hydro setup. Consider hitting your local hydro shop or online and get a small seed tray with dome cover and some rapid rooter plugs that way when your seedlings are big enough to move to your water farm then all you have to do is simply take the plug and bury it down into your hydroton...or you can also use rock wool instead of rapid rooter plugs. I recommend rapid rooter plugs because they have little beneficials in them already which stimulate faster rooting. :D

[SAP420]

Also... you will see how damn happy those little babies will be when you keep all that moisture enclosed for them.

[hatecable]

Ahh, I understand now. I was supposed to keep the top on AND capped. Im gonna do the "talking" to them as well. I was worried about it not getting any co2 being completely enclosed, but the little one cant use up THAT much co2 to run out between spritzing of the inside of the bottle. I just have to convince my wife to talk to it while Im gone.;)

Im definately going to use rapid rooters next time. I might as well invest in a seedling tray too. If I wasnt under time constraints I would probably go ahead and start another grow with the rapid rooters and seedling tray and see if it would pass this one up in growth. Im sure I could get the rooters into the WF quicker and with much less hassle. Im not looking forward to the transplant. Im thinking about washing the roots and planting in the dark to keep as much light off the roots as possible. Not total darkness but use a led flashlight or something. Im just waiting for a few more leave before i proceed with it.

Any pointers for the root washing and transplant into hydroton?

Are there seedling trays that double as a good cloner?

I really only need 1 good harvest for a years supply, but I am so into this I want to grow grow grow just for the fun of it. Im more hooked on the growing than the green itself. :D But dont get me wrong, Its been over a year since Ive had any so I am more than ready for this grow to produce.:bonghit:

[hatecable]

I forgot to ask. Should I increase the light to 2 27w cfls since Im putting the light farther away?

[SAP420]

Personally I have gotten away with just using a long bulb 10 watt fluorescent just to get the seedlings going. And I put that mother right above the seedlings with no problems. Soooo.. If you are using a stronger output bulb... you shouldn't have much issue with having the light higher up off your plants. As far as transplanting your plants... I have no idea as I have never had to do that. If you start to see your babies stretch too much.. just move the light closer to them... it will not hurt them with just one bulb. Never had a problem. You can make a bubbler pretty cheap using a 1 to 2 gallon storage bin. You can get netted pots for about 1.50 a piece from hydro store.. cut 2" to 3" holes in snap-on lid (depending on the size of your baskets) put an airstone in the reservoir and use plain tap water to help get them rooting. I put a little bit of hydroton rocks and the rooter plug and then fill the rest of the basket with hydroton and make sure to fill the reservoir up to where it is just touching under the baskets. The airstone will cause the water to "splash" the bottom of the rooters and keep the water well oxygenated as well as encourage strong roots. Also this will keep your rapid rooters moist encouraging seedling to grow. I honestly didn't even use a dome for mine when they were in the bubbler. I will take some pics of my homemade bubbler to show you what I'm talking about. I recommend using a long style airstone for fish aquarium and a 10 gallon capacity air pump which you can get for about 8 to 10 bucks at any pet store.

[SAP420]

Okay man... got some pics for ya.. very easy to make.. I used a knife to cut the holes but now I'm hearing that I could have used a round bit for sawing doorknob holes to cut the holes... Oh well. Basically I had cut 6 3" holes for the baskets to sit in the lid. I also drilled a hole for the air hose to fit through the lid. And the pics say it all for the rest.

[SAP420]

.. rest of the pics.

[hatecable]

So you have a small layer of rocks on the bottom, then the rapid rooter right? Your water is just splashing the bottom of the baskets so does it capilary up the small layer of rocks and then the rapid rooter absorb it off the rocks, or is it just barely splashing onto the rooter itself? The reason I ask is that I had made a single hole bubbler for my 2nd try at 100% hydro from start, only I used a rockwhool cube instead of the rooter. The net pot was just a jimmy rig dixie cup with a shit load of holes in the bottom. I put a cotton wick in bellow the rockwhool and when I botched the grow... or lack there of... the rockwhool was soaked like it had been sitting in water for days. The bubbles were just splashing the bottom of my "net pot" too. The rockwhool was frustrating as hell, but I do like a challenge.

As far as this grow is concerned, holy shit. Within an hour of putting the new dome over the plant it started growing again. Ive been so excited that I have checked it about 10 times today since. Every time I see change. Loading the dome with co2 has got to be helping too. Ive turned the dome upside down and blow 2 or 3 deep breathes down one side of it to force the O2 up and out the other side(since co2 is heavier) then quickly place it over the plant.

It did get me to thinking, could you put a cup of seltzer or club soda inside the dome and it last for more than an hour or so and output co2 for clones or several seedlings?

[hatecable]

BTW are you transplanting that whole small net pot and rooter into your main grow system?

[SAP420]

Yes... I transplant the whole netted basket into my water farm when ready. I let the water level in the bubbler brush against the basket about 1 cm from underneath. The airstone keeps the rooter moist. The idea is to keep the rooter plug supermoist during seedling stage. After about three sets of leaves I move the basket to my water farm and start growing with my HID lamp. I start the plant with a seedling mixed feed for 1 week and then flush the hydroton and mix early veg grow stage and flush after 1 week and move up the feed chart. As long as the rooter plug stays moist then the bubbler is doing its job. I put about 1 mm deep with hydroton in the basket... place the rooter plug and then fill the basket to the top with more hydroton. You will be soooo much happier with rooter plugs than rock wool. I hear alot about root rot with rock wool. I used the cup with holes method too but seemed to be more sensible to just fork out a few bucks for the real deal baskets since they don't cost much to begin with. You can get a bag of like 30 plugs for around 17 bucks.

[hatecable]

Ok, day 11, I am cursed. I didnt have this much trouble on my first grow ever. The slight discoloration from before has turned into prominent dark spots. There are even discolored parts on the tips of the new growth. I see roots in most of the holes in the bottom of the cup so the roots seem to be doing good for the actual size of this little hellion, but what is causing the brown? I flushed it 2 days ago with 6.9 phed water to try and bring the run off up as per Stinky's instructions in another thread. Im afraid to water again to test the runoff until it actually needs it. Im ordering rapid rooters today. If this thing goes south Im going to be ready for another approach.

[SAP420]

I have no clue as to what the browning is man. :wtf:

[hatecable]

Looks like a job for stinky.:thumbsup:

[SAP420]

Just remember next grow get some rapid rooters with a tray and dome cover. Cannot go wrong man! Soak those seeds in paper towel till you see the taproots start showing and then put those babies in the rooter taproot down. Cover them and water the plugs daily to keep saturated with a nice bright fluorescent bulb over them. They will grow real fast. :thumbsup:

[hatecable]

i did order a proper dome with adjustable vents to go with the rooters. I didnt get a tray though. I will find something plastic that they will fit in comfy and put under the dome. I just feel lame putting like 2 rooters in a 72 hole tray:D I went ahead and got some 3" net cups too. Im guessing use the "tray" and dome until the tap root comes out, then put it in the bubbler with straight water until the 2nd or 3rd leaves, then the WF with its first 1/4 strength nutes. Im about tired of getting shut down at the "easy" part. Not a lot of posts out there about seedlings f'n up at the stage mine are. Im starting to wonder if something is wrong with my tap water or something. Im afraid im going to have to start another post to get stinky's attention.

[herbie the love bud]

I can't see close enough but it looks like you are heat burning your leaves.

[hatecable]

I didnt think you could do that with cfls, but maybe the greenhouse f'd me. Will it do that if the temps go over 85 inside the dome? Ive since taken the dome off for fear of that.

[herbie the love bud]

Yeah. And in addition you are spraying your seedling and the water droplets are magnifying the light on the leaves. Put the dome back and take off the light.