My Second Rubbermaid Grow-CFL's, DWC, Scrog

Hello my fellow cannabis lovers!!:rastasmoke:

I am back at it again but alot has changed since my first go round which im still smokin on:smoke:
Anywho, this time since i have moved back into my parents house(yea i know your not supposed to but i couldnt help myself from trying haha:p) i have constructed a single 22 gallon Rubbermaid tub which i lined with mylar, i think how i did it was pretty sweet:cool: I cut pieces of cardboard about the sizes of all the walls in the box and then wrapped them in mylar. This made it alot easier to put up in a cleaner fashion where i wouldnt have to deal with the noise of some of it blowing lose. I found an old lamp that bends and fashioned it to the back of the box and is then held in a sturdy place by a hanging wire which i can raise and lower by rolling it up or down;)


I am using 3 100w(eq.) CFL's with some reflectors that i made out of cans,
i know more is better but i think it will get to hot and dont know if my rig could support it. I also have a 6 inch fan that i fastned to the back corner of the box with zip ties, which are probably my new favorite tool haha:p.


Now to talk about my DWC set up. I purchased a water pump from lame-mart(wal-mart) for like 15 bucks and it is pretty quiet if its not against anything and looks pretty quality. For the bucket i bought a 3.5 gallon rubbermaid which i wrapped in duct tape to light proof it. I am thinking about finding one that isnt see through and smaller since i think this size might be a bit overkill for one plant and i wouldnt mind some spare room. I then wrapped the top of the lid with some aluminum foil tape. Then i am using a 3" net pot with some hydroton that i got for free from my new buddies at Colorado Grow, he just gave me a couple handfulls of some extra that he had laying around since i didnt need a whole bag:thumbsup:

Now for the plant...ooo yesss the plant:D:D
I obtained a Armageddon skunk clone from my friend, he had a couple different kinds and he gave me the shortest one. Now this could be a horrible problem in the future because it already smells a little and im guessing skunk means really stinky so im gonna have to fashion up a filter and pray:eek:. Also it was alot bigger then i expected which kind of stinks cuz i wanted to train it from really small so i could keep it as tight as possible but im gonna give it a shot:hello: I have started planning out where im gonna place the new sets of nodes if everything goes well. I received the clone in soil to which sucked so i had to get as much dirt off as possible but she seems to still be going good;)


Im still barely grasping the hydro thing so any pointers as to a daily and changing routines would be much appreciated:thumbsup:

Im lookin forward to this one people:hippy:

Looks good!
That little plant will fill that screen quite nicely!

I'm sure you'll do fine with hydro.
Keep an eye on the pH.
You'll always rather under-feed the plant(s), rather than over-feed them.

I truly think you should change to Coca Cola cans for the lights.
They are far superior to the Pepsi ones you are using at the moment.

Do you have the hydro instruments?
You want to be able to measure pH and ppm...
Keep us updated! :) :)

-- turtle420
.

haha yea these were just the first cans i had available but ill keep an eye out;)

And i bought some of the ph tester drops, i know a digital one is way better but i ran out of funds so maybe ill try and get one off of ebay:thumbsup:

thanks for the reassurance turtle, ill be keepin this baby updated:thumbsup:

:hippy:

You have used this before? How well did it work for you last time? I'm curious about yields. Very clever. Why complicate things? Some people just cant think outside of the box..too u sir I say congrats.

this is actually my first attempt at a hydro set up but i did complete a soil grow in a similar set up and yielded over a half ounce, not bad for a first try imo. i just put a link in my signature of the first grow. thanks for the support:rasta:

Your going to have to put the girl into flower in about a week. Hydro has proven to me that growth is simply insane!

alrighttt, im gonna give her one shot of FF grow big and see how that treats her and then shabamm its flower time:D

thanks for the advice:thumbsup:

Well well, alot has happened since the last post...in a good way i'd say:D

My bucket started leaking so i scrapped it and made a new one. This one is a little smaller which i was looking for. I did lose like an inch of vertical space but i think ill still be okay. I'm still havin a little trouble gettin the ph to where i want, i've added a bunch of Ph Down drops which have slowly been doing the trick, just gotta get the balancing act down

I have also Fim'ed her in two spots and i have seen the new growths starting up so thats a promising sign also gave her a quarter tsp of grow big. I'll add more on the next water change and then itll be flowering time:jointsmile:

let me know how im doin people:rastasmoke:

Well things are goin pretty good id say:D The new growth from the 'fimming' i did has really started to take off, the scrog method is freakin amazing, i can get light to anywhere i want :thumbsup: Im starting to see a few tiny spots on the leaves which i am guessing is a N deficiency so i gave her a bottle of water with about a tsp of Grow Big since she seemed to have loved the last little bit and supposedly this will help...im hoping Also, the roots have been growing like CRAZYYY, i included a pic of them:thumbsup:

And speaking of Roots...I just got the new Roots album called "How I Got Over" and i must say, its fuckin amazingggggggg. Its really conscious and has a good flow all the way through, i definately recommend it to any music lover:rastasmoke:


Let me know how im doingg :D:thumbsup:

peace everyone:hippy:

Welcome to Hydro, the land of fast growing plants :D
Looks like you are well underway and things look real good.

how is it this guy doesn't have algae problems with all that open water?

explain what you mean by open water...

I thought that if you kept the water out of the light as much as possible that algae production would be very minimal if at all? I also got some blue air tubing which i hear helps on keeping it out of the tubes.

hmmmmmmm:wtf:

The colored tube is something alot of people over look. Clear just draws in the light.

Yea right after i built my first try at a bucket i kicked myself for not getting colored line but now im glad that its colored, makes perfect sense:thumbsup:

I am definately trying your little design and system for my grow in sept.

I recommend a set up like this if your short on room for sure:thumbsup:

Anywyays heres a little update. I did my first resivoir change and let me ttell you, it was more of a pain then i thought haha:wtf: A few of my good friends were over so i figured i would take advantage of an extra set of hands. Well i handed it to him with the screen on it so i wouldnt have to weave everything back and he just held the screen and the top ended up falling and the plant hit the floor :mad: but it was just barely and she seems to be doing fine. I also spilled a good portion of water while making the switch but come on people this is a process haha:rasta:

With this resivoir change i gave her 1.5 tsp of FFGB and 1.5 tbsp. of some FFBB. The roots look a little browinish, could that be from the fall or is that just because of the big bloom that i added??

Leave me some feedback guys :thumbsup:

:hippy:

The "staining" of your roots is most likely nute stain. You can add a tsp or 2 of h2o2 and they will go back to their pretty white color.

As for your rez change, I cant see the whole system in 1 big pic so I'm guess that you are extremly limited on space. This is what I do in my Cab. Go to either lowes or home dePOT and pick up a drill pump and you will also need a couple pieces of garden hose both with a female fitting on the end. Drill pump is in plumbing section by the sump pumps. Pump works on any drill. Pretty simple put the "in" end in your rez and the "out" end in an empty container and pump away. Do not run this thing for any length of time without water as it will burn up the rubber impeller inside so buy a spare while your there :D. If you happen to pass an auto parts store or Walmart on your way to get pump, stop in real quick and pick up a funnel used to fill transmissions (long skinny looking thing) that way you can fill rez back up without bending over.

Is the staining bad or is it just a preference thing?? And ill look into that set up you were talkin bout but my funds are runnin low so i might just try to get my routine down haha we shall see.

Thanks for the help:thumbsup:

dont know for sure if bad or not cause I dont like nasty looking things so I dose with a capfull or 2 of H2O2.

sweet thanks, a capful did the job perfectly :thumbsup:

Well, it turns out that brownish roots are the least of my problems. Today i noticed a spider mite, im guess thats what all those spots were from. but yea i have spider mites FUCKKKKKKKKKK

WHAT DO I DO WHAT DO I DO WHAT DO I DOOO?!?!?!?!?!

Neem oil and Doctor Doom Fogger bomb.

Alright so ive done some research and went and talked to the guys at the hydro store and i landed on some Safer brand insect killing soap in a spray bottle. If this doesnt seem to help and the problem gets worse then i will possibly take a bomb to their ass and pray.

Wish me luck guys!:thumbsup:

So as of 2 hours after applying the spray i havent seen any mites movin around... ive seen a couple on the bottoms of leaves but i tried givin em a little poke to see if they move and nothin (normally they scamper away):thumbsup:

I also made a few customizations to my grow space; I first put a crate thing underneath it because managing it from the ground was killin my knees haha:( I also put some tacks up to hang all of my handy tools up on which has been soooo convenient. I also added a 2700k bulb to the mix just to add a little more light, i would have added a 5500k one but it seems to have been misplaced haha

Anywho im gonna keep on this soaping schedule which says once every 5-7 days, the guys at the hydro store also said to give it a little rinse mist after 15-20 minutes which didnt seem to have any negative effect on its effect:thumbsup:

peace guys:hippy:

On the spidermite thing. First you need to know your enemy. Get a loop or magnafier and see if they are red spidermites or two spotted spidermite.

I don't know what soap you got but it won't kill mites. Oh safers is good on some things but not this.

All spidermites are bad but the two spotted ones come straight from hell and it takes alot to send them back.

If you can get a doctor dooms bomb then get it right now. No time to waste or any total release pyrithrum bomb but make sure it doesn't have anything else in it. You could keep bombing every 7 days but that's alot of money.

Neem oil is good but messy but it has the stuff.
Well AZAMAX is a concentrate of neem oil. They should have it at your hydro store. It is put out by general hydroponics. Cheap at 20 buck for a small bottle but will last many many sprays in a small room.

Now what you have to do is break the life cycle of the spidermite. NOTHING KILLS EGGS. Eggs hatch in 5 to 7 days and longer if cool.

Newborns are pregnant and lay eggs in 14 days. So if you kill them now and more hatch tomarrow you have 14 days to kill them before they lay eggs but you don't want to take any chances so 7 to 10 days kill again.

If you do this 3 times they should be gone BUT 5 times and you can sleep better. LOL


DO NOT UNDER ESTIMATE THE SPIDERMITE'S WILL TO LIVE or thier hunger for your crop. The eggs can winter over in soil so we are kind of safe with hydro just keep things clean and don't re-use rockwool or starter cubes.

AZAMAX. I can not say enough about this stuff. I went through a couple hundred bucks in doctor dooms. It wiped out thrips and red spidermites but the two spotted mites just sucked it up like crack. Wanting more.
The azamax is many things as well as an anti-feedant.

Check it out and stop the problem for 20 bucks.

OH, and if you have the money get one of those 10 dollar spray bottles with the spray tip turned up. So you can spray under the leaf. It helps to kill more cause that's where they are eating.

Wellll unfortunately i dont have anymore money and wont for a little while so this will have to do, it seems to have done the job for now and i will continue with the treatment but if/when they come back ill step up the game plan but since i am growing in my little 3x3 closet and we have some dogs and cats i really wanna try to avoid the fogger, all we can really do now is cross our fingers and pray.

thanks for the advice loc nar!

:hippy:

Well boys, i have taken the dive... FLOWERING HAS BEGUN:D:D
I was due for a reservoir change and after researching the flowering stage some more it seemed like it was time. I decided to try the 24 hour dark period to see if i cant kick start the flowering stage:thumbsup:

As far as the spider mite problem is concerned i havent seen any runnin around yet, a couple on some leaves but they werent moving, i also removed a couple leaves that looked like they had some eggs on them so lets hope that this keeps them at bay:wtf:

With the res change i gave her 1.5 tbsp of big bloom and about 2 tsp of tiger bloom, im thinkin my res is about a gallon and a half so these seemed like the right amounts

Here's some pics for your pleasure:jointsmile:

feedback is appreciated:D

peace yalll:hippy:

Awesome job man, would you mind sending me a message or listing all the materials you used and if so the sizes.........for i am to going to be doing the same thing in the same space and it looks like it works great!

Well i cant seem to find out how to send you a message but heres the list:

The box:
1 22 gallon rubbermaid tub
Mylar- just get an emergency blanket from walmart
4 100 w equivalent CFL's for veg and flower
I bought a 6 inch fan for inside from king soopers for like 8 bucks
I bought a pc fan off of newegg.com 120mm should suffice
For my light fixture i had an old lamp that bends but im sure you can fashion somethin up
A CFL timer from home depot- 5 bucks and its working great
Get a heavy duty extension chord, and a power strip that can handle the load

The bucket:
I believe they are like 2.5 gallon tubs, i looked everywhere for them and couldnt find them but went searching in my garage and happened to find 2 of them, you want to try and find some that are not clear to prevent light from getting in.
The pump i got from walmart, it was like 15 bucks and is really quiet
The scrog screen is one of those locker shelves you can get for school
3" net pot
hydroton
1/4" tubing, preferabley colored

And i think thats about it...


good luck man!:thumbsup:

Hello all:rasta:

Flowerin is goin smooth and i am not seein anyy mites so lets keep the fingers crossed

I've managed to fit another bulb in there so thats 4 27w 2700k bulbs and 1 27w 5500k bulb and the heat doesnt seem to be an issue

Check this... i took this first picture on the 3rd of july...


and then i took this next one 5 days later(and this is after a pretty intense pruning session)...


and then theres a snapshot of the craziness at the top of the main stem(try to sort it out if you dare haha:thumbsup:)



Now ive been doing a res change every week and adding nutes, pretty much following the FF hydro feeding schedule and it seems to be workin its magic On the schedule it says to do a flush with clean water but i dont really think it will work with my set up since its on a small scale? heres a link to what im following http://foxfarmfertilizer.com/hydrofeed.pdf

Peace guys:hippy:

Hey yallll

Things are goin along smoothly would be an understatement I saw some mites formin up on just one little budsite that was down at the bottom so i clipped that off and havent seen any more on other leaves, still checking thoroughly though:thumbsup:

I counted and there was atleast 23 budsites, things are gettin pretty full, probably under ten empty slots in the screen id say:thumbsup:

I also talked to the guy at the hydro store and he gave me some pointers on a midflower flush where i just put some water that was a tad bit warmer for a day and then continued with the week 7 feeding schedule:D

Anyways heres some pics of the progress, i love hydro sooooooo much haha
the first one is day 11 flowering, the second is day 13, the third and fourth are on day 15 and the fifth one is to show how little space i have between the bucket and the screen;)

O and im gonna be goin campin from monday til thursday so if anyone has any pointers on what to do when you go on vacation that would be sweetttt

Anyways let me know how im doin yallll:hippy:

Sorry about the lack of posts guys, kinda seems like no ones watchin haha :(. Anyways things have been going smooth plant wise, situation wise is a different story....:wtf:

I left for my trip and then my dad out of the blue decided to go look for some shoes to go to a funeral, that were not in my closet, and well it was discovered:mad::wtf::(....BUTTTT i had gotten the brilliant idea to write a note and put it on the front of the box so that anyone who found it would get some sort of explanation. It basically said do not destroy this is for personal use only and to please wait and talk to me before doing anything. Well this thing saved the day because my plant was still there when i got home from camping. They had unplugged it the day i left so it was without light and the water pump on but by some grace from above she looked completely fine, the same way i left her:D:D

So when i got home there was a guy installing cable and my aunt just gave me a look like wtf were you thinking but after sitting down with my mom and explaining my case for choosing to do this it is still there, i havent got a final word on if it can stay but its still in there so lets keep our fingers crossed:cool:

Anyways heres some pictures for you guys, i have found a leaf every week or so with some mites on it but i just clip it off and flush it immediately and that seems to be keeping them at bay:thumbsup:

The first one is from before my trip and the rest are from just a couple minutes ago:thumbsup:

Lets get some feedback rollin guys :rastasmoke:

Peace outt:hippy:

Why hello everyonee:jointsmile:

Things have been goin pretty good since i last updated for the most part. I am still seeing a mite here and there but i check pretty thoroughly nightly, though its gettin pretty hard to be thorough when you have a freakin bush to look through haha. Anyways, she is really really starting to drink water, about an inch of water/ day so thats gotta be a good thing The smell is starting to seep through the closet door and there is a faint smell of herb so im gonna have to fashion something up, i mean im thinkin that since i got like 3 weeks left or so i should just try the air freshener deal, we shall see though.

Anywho, here are some pictures for your pleasure

Leave some love :rastasmoke:

:hippy:

Man im lovin the can idea... and your plants are lookin great.

whats up with the blue shelf? for support im guessin?

im about to start my grow after i recieve my paycheck and get the supplies. ill post some pics of my grow here soon.:thumbsup:

bomera, the screen is for something called the SCROG method, it allows you to spread out your branches while still keeping it really low, i would definately research that and hydro as well if space is an issue. remember...research research research is the key!

good luck man:thumbsup:

btw this is just one plant

Hello againn:rastasmoke:

Things are still goin smooth id say, still pretty stanky if i leave the door open but if its shut you cant even tell. Also i just gave her the week 11 feeding scehdule, im thinkin it might be more then 60 days but we shall seee. Heres some pictures, a few are kinda blurry but you get the point haha:rasta:

leave some feedback guys:thumbsup:

peacee:hippy:

Well well well, sorry about the lack of posts and stuff but school just started up andd i have a new girlfriend, we've been chillin for a long ass time but finally made it official a couple weeks ago but im still alive and so is the child :thumbsup:

Today would be the official day 60 of flowering minus the dark period that occured when i went camping but im in the home stretch It was filling out pretty slow for wuite awhile but i think shes really gonna start explodin Ive started doing some lst as well because there were some branches that just wanted to grow up so i took some wire and would pretty much tie them down to the barest spot around(even though its pretty thick ;)) but that has helped a couple of them start to fill out and kept the over all plant at about the same height. I still keep seeing little break outs of spidermites but im not given em any breathing room. Still spraying that soap stuff and ill clip off the leaves that have more then a couple eggs or mites on em just so they dont spread as much. I also think that im still a little ways away from harvest, gonna see how this newest round of nutes does and then decide wether or not to start the flush next week or the week after, im guessin the week after but we shall see.

Any who here are some pictures for your enjoyment(the colla shown is the main one, theres another 7 inches or so to her :P)

Your small grow box is great and creative ! However I would recommend getting

the spider mite problem solved asap. These little boogers are extremely small

and can do unrecoverable damage to your crop. These things need to be killed

immediately and soap and water is not going to do it my friend. Spraying soapy

water all over your plant only increases your chances of getting mold inside of

your budsites as well as covering your leaves and stomata (tiny pores on the

leaves) with a thin soapy film that can clog some pores and make it more

difficult for the plant to breathe . You may slow them down for a little while

if you do this , but believe me they will come back with a vengence my friend.

They are incredibley resourceful and hard to spot and drain vital nutrients

and stress your plants exponentially decreasing your yield in the end.

Spraying neem oil on the plants will help keep them at bay but this does not

kill them , it only makes them systemic which will make it more difficult for

them to reproduce , which in turn means that it could take up to 2 weeks to

eradicate them with the neem oil method. You can also beef up the defense

in soil by mixing neem oil in your watering schedule so the plant will uptake

it and when the bugs bite into the plant they wont like it. But the damage

that can be done in 2 weeks waiting for them to all die off can be devastating

My recommendation to you would be to immediately go to a Kroger, wal-mart

albertsons, or wherever you can find a Hot Shots no pest strip. All you have

to do is put it in your box overnight and seal it up no ventilation. The no pest

strip will release a chemical into the air called dichlorvos that will kill almost

any insect immediately when it comes into contact with it. It is essentially

one of the most cost effective and quickest solutions to the problem you are

encountering in my opinion . The reason I was recommending to seal up your

enclosure and no ventilation is because this needs to be done in the night

cycle of your schedule. You are obviously going to need ventilation when your

lights are on because of the heat, and the no pest strip needs to be

implemented when you can have no ventilation. You want no ventilation

because you want to trap the dichlorvos vapor in the container to kill the

spider mites. Trust me in saying that you do not want to breathe this vapor

for any extended amount of time. This chemical was regulated by the EPA

because it can pose a cancer risk and liver problems in elevated levels. You

however can kill everything in 1-2 nights with a strip, and since it will be in

a sealed enclosure during night cycle you won't be breathing it and the

vapor won't be leaking all over the house. Even if you were to breathe the

vapor a little you will still be ok. Dichlorvos is known for its unique ablility as

a chemical for its fast metabolism and excretion by mammals. Atmospheric

concentrations up to 17 times normal levels could not be detected in a blood

sample of rats , mice and people ! In fact it took 250 times normal exposure

in rats for 4 hours before it was detectable, so I think you are safe in that

department. I was a little unsure before using the no pest strip about the

safety and what not but after using it I am now a firm believer in its ability

to control pests in a safe , effective, and economical manner. Some of my

informational facts were derived from the Extension Toxicology Network. If

you would like to know more about dichlorvos you can read up on it here..

Dichlorvos

Happy Growin ! :pimp:

thanks for the suggestion man, ill definately go searchin for a strip tomorrow :thumbsup: