55 gal dwc

[natrensland]

ok so, I'm going to try something different. I'm going to build a 55gal dwc to see if i can grow a monster. I want to document this grow for a year. What im trying to go for is over 3 pounds from one single plant, i plan to super crop / fim and trim till i have no more room. Im working with a 12ft x 12ft garage with 2 1,000 watt metal hailed / high pressure sodiums. I have already selected my breed im going with northen lights orignal thats ment to be grown outdoors do to the height it can reach. I will be using a 70l per min pump, with the following Humboldt Nutrients so i will be updating later this week with pictures as soon as i complete the build first

[khyberkitsune]

Sounds like a blast. I love massive hydro buckets.

I'm hoping you've got your drain and refill planned out. 55 gallons is a LOT to lug!

[natrensland]

ya i have that part figured out too i tapped into an existing water pipe that goes to the bathroom and put a facute on it, and i have another 55 gal barrel to be thee res. to drain it completly i have a subpump that will take care of that. My sealing is around 12 from the top of the barrell.

[tinytoon]

Christmas tree for 2011?? sounds fun as hell.

[khyberkitsune]

You may wish to save yourself some on your power bill and invest in some CFL lighting for starting the plant before you go into kicking on the kilos. A slow ramp-up will save you money and give you better control.

[natrensland]

i have a nice little dimmer on my ballast so i can dimm my 1000 watt down to say 100 watts

[natrensland]

now if i get some money soon i might try getting a couple ufo lights and give that a try but at 250 a piece and the fact i will need around 4-6 of them is alot, but what tinytoon said is not a bad idie hmm just might hang my cristmas oriniments on it lol

[tinytoon]

You would def have to post a pic of that so I can make a xmas card out of it :thumbsup:

[khyberkitsune]

Dimming the bulb down that far would likely result in no light. 1000 watt tube needs minimum 600watt arc.

[natrensland]

i can usually get it to about 400 watts by putting a 600 watt bulb in, but yes i see what you are saying untill it grows to about 1ft i usaully use my t12's cool blue, like in my current grow.

[khyberkitsune]

Sounds like a good plan. I no longer use fluorescent lighting, nor HID lighting, so now and then I still like to check in on higher power grows.

[natrensland]

Hey i know you use leds, now i have been growing for quite some time and i know how conterversel leds vs hid can be, but whats your experince on it?

[khyberkitsune]

Hey i know you use leds, now i have been growing for quite some time and i know how conterversel leds vs hid can be, but whats your experince on it?

My experience is good Following a very limited nutrient regimen that I used in prior HID/T5HO grows, I'm getting the same yield in the 'grams per watt' section, however the grams per kilowatt-hour section is much higher, which means I'm producing more product for less energy using the same nutrient regimen.

If I used the same nute regimen that the commercial growers use, odds are I could do much better.

The potency is definitely higher compared to HID/T5HO grows I've done from the same strain.

[natrensland]

hmm well it sounds like i just might sell my hid and give the leds a chance to shine :) thanks for the info can wait to finish building this thing, takin me 4 days so far i had to tweak the air pump to produce enofe bubbles thats alot of freakin water! I have the northern lights plant vegging in a differnt dwc right now till it gets a bit bigger and then its going into the monster, hope to get pics up soon