Bluntpassers Second Shot @ Nirvana Ice

[bluntpasser]

Welcome everyone and thanks for being part of the cannabis.com community. :hippy:
This is my second grow log as mentioned in the title and i am very excited to get some great results, any comments or questions are greatly appreciated..:thumbsup:

-For this log I will be using foxfarm nutrients.(Big Bloom, Tiger bloom, and Grow Big)
-The temps will be 80 in the day and 75 in the night.
-I am using 1 gallon buckets with all purpose topsoil purchased at the local hardware store.
-The plants will be watered every other day and receive nutrient water every other watering.
-The plants are being vegged under a 4foot high output t5(24hrs a day)
-I will be using a 400 watt hps for flowering in a few weeks.(12hrs a day)
-There is a 3 foot tall fan blowing air into the veg box that will also be used during flowering to keep air movement and encourage strong stems..
-The strain being grown is Ice from Nirvana Seed Bank..
-All the plants are clones from the original mothers that were confirmed females...

Pics: 1. The plants in the veg box 2. Close up of a clone 3. A few clones and current temp.

bluntpasser Reviewed by bluntpasser on 06-28-2009. Bluntpassers Second Shot @ Nirvana Ice Welcome everyone and thanks for being part of the cannabis.com community. :hippy: This is my second grow log as mentioned in the title and i am very excited to get some great results, any comments or questions are greatly appreciated..:thumbsup: -For this log I will be using foxfarm nutrients.(Big Bloom, Tiger bloom, and Grow Big) -The temps will be 80 in the day and 75 in the night. -I am using 1 gallon buckets with all purpose topsoil purchased at the local hardware store. -The plants Rating: 5

[bluntpasser]

Things are looking very good tonight in the veg box. I did some trimming on the clones earlier and cleaned the veg box. I found a huge spider in there and vacumed him up. lol.

I am just about finished with my home-made flowering box as it will be running in just a few weeks here.

The temps in the room got very high today (90) so i purchased a new fan that fits into any window and it is keeping the temperatures cool(70-75) for about 30 dollars.:thumbsup:

I am germinating 6 hashplant seeds rite now that will soon be vegging..

I have 1 Hashplant vegging currently.

The blueberry from my last grow is keeping the whole family baked lately and things are pretty happy and positive around here..

Hope everyone else is staying high..

:rastasmoke::rastasmoke::rastasmoke::rastasmoke:

[SauceeMcGee]

What's with the leaf tip burn my friend? That makes me concerned...whats the ppm of the nutes in your water?

[bluntpasser]

I had the t5 way too close when i first started giving the clones light and it caused allot of leaf burn..woops..the temps were about 85-90 for about a week and i raised the light about a week ago and now things are looking much better.. :thumbsup:

[bluntpasser]

I dont have a ppm meter but i am following the feeding schedule posted on the fox farm website for soil use..

[bluntpasser]

1. Veg Box
2. A few of the clones
3. New 30$ fan that fits into the window:thumbsup:
4. Hash plant
5. Flowering box almost finished up and ready for plants

These are my best pics yet i believe and it feels good to have healthy plants for the moment..:stoned:

[KingKronic420]

nice work bro, only suggestion i would make is using sqaure pots in there and you might be able to be able to squeeze in a couple more plants.

[bluntpasser]

Thanks man.

Yea i wanted to use those but i couldnt find any around locally in time. they are a much better use of space though. :rasta:

[KingKronic420]

will you be using the same pots all of the way through flower, or will you be transplanting? what size pots are you using now?

your temps are up there a bit, what are you running for ventilation? is it just the 3ft fan? or do you have intake and exhaust? here is, what i thought, a great post made by someone on another forum. im not going to upload the pics that are there so that might throw you off a bit, but some good info in here.

All my fans are axial, and run on standard US household current, 110 to 120VAC, 50/60Hz, which made all the wiring anâ?? such a snap...but wouldnâ??t ya know it, I come to find the DCs are a better idea. Grrr. Next time...I opted for axial fans â??cause they just couldnâ??t be beat for low noiseâ??the prime requisiteâ??and low cost. My first grows were done in my bedroom, less than 6 feet away from my sleepinâ?? head, so low noise levels were important before I even started thinkinâ?? about security. I will not accept any fan rated at 40dB or higher in my garden. Ever. (I recently lowered that bar to 35 dB...)If the noise level coming from the cab, including the rush of air, sounds no worse to me than my desktop PC running, I'm satisfied. No system will ever be totally silent, but I can sleep through that. Now that the cabsâ??re in the den, theyâ??re even less noticeable. I still like to keep a 36â?� box fan running in the main apartment for â??air circulationâ?�. The low, background white-noise it makes at least adds a sense of more security...

Axial fans develop a lousy operating static pressure, though. Better ones under 5 inches that â??run silentâ?� might only pull 0.3â?� worth oâ?? pressure, a damn sight less than a centrifugal fan. The low cab volumes, design and the fluoro lighting offset some of this and keep temps down, but itâ??s another reason why I choose to use ozone in the room over carbon scrubbers in the cabs...although Iâ??d much prefer using a scrubber...The veg and flower cabs also have smaller axial fans circulating their interior air. The cabs exhaust their volume 8 or 9 times per minute (in a perfect world, LOL...), dumping the warm air directly out into the grow room. The rooting cab was set up the same way, but things run better with that fan turned off. Saves on the extra noise, too. The roomâ??s air is treated with an ozone generator on an intermittent timer with a fan, and I hadda fiddle a bit before I was in The Zone, LOL...While a lilâ?? ozone can actually be healthy, too much is bad for man, beast AND plant. Prudence and good judgment are required. For the tiny grow room Iâ??m using, I found a great lilâ?? gennie on the â??net that does the job. Itâ??s lessâ??n 6 inches long, and Iâ??m not sure what Iâ??ll do when it eventually gives up the ghost...the company I got it from disappeared sometime over the years, and I have yet to find anything like it on the web again, but I keep lookinâ??...

While itâ??s mighty convenient to use the fan manufacturerâ??s specs, bear in mind that their measurements are done under ideal, lab conditions...something Iâ??d wager doesnâ??t exist in my garden...When Iâ??m grindinâ?? my numbers to figure air turnover rates and such, I use the results just as a general target to shoot for. At some point, ya hafta draw a reference line somewhere...

Cab #1:

Exhaust fan specs:
35dB, 70CFM, 2,100RPM, 0.18â?� static pressure
0.22A, 20W
Syntec (WTF?) bearing, 4.7�x 4.7�x 1 ½� body, 4 ¼�� fan
Turnover rate 9.12 times/min

Circulation fan specs:
36.5dB, 31CFM, 2,850RPM, 0.13â?� static pressure
0.13A, 12W
Ball bearing, 3.15�x 3.15�x 1 ½� body, 3� � fan

With Cab 1 and 3, I donâ??t usually bother with the cowling/light baffle for the exhaust fan. As for light spill inward, there arenâ??t near enough PAR watts gettinâ?? in to do anything. The den always has the shades and curtains drawn, and is dimly lit at the best of times. Thereâ??s some light spill out the exhaust hole, but given its faintness and the cabsâ?? location, itâ??s not enough for me to worry...but if push comes to shove, and I hafta, Iâ??ll leave everything turned off for the day. With the hood in place, light emission is virtually zero, but fan noise rises just slightly. Plus Iâ??d rather have the best airflow possible.

Cab #2:

Exhaust fan specs:
36dB, 32CFM, 3,100RPM, 0.13â?� static pressure
0.13A, 10W
Sleeve bearing, 3.15�x 3.15�x 1 ½� body, 3� � fan
Turnover rate 0, (~9 times/min, if reqâ??d.)

I debated with myself over whether ta even bother installinâ?? an exhaust fan in the rooting cab in the first place...but for the cheap cost, I figured Iâ??d rather have one and not use it, than end up needing one and doinâ?? without. I knew in any event that I wouldnâ??t need the massive air turnover like the other two cabs, so thereâ??s only one passive inlet in the rear wall, 4 ¼â?� diameter. The single 20 watt light, running 24/0, keeps the temps in a pretty stable range by itself, but when cooler weather finally rolls in, Iâ??ll need to turn on the heating mat. The light baffle over the fan stays in place in this cab, since the bulb is directly opposite the opening, unlike the other cabs. Despite what mightâ??ve sounded like my laissez-faire attitude towards light leaking from the other cabs, this is waaaay too bright if left unmasked. Iâ??d hazard a guess the cowl blocks 80-90% of the escaping light, but Iâ??ve got no real way of measuring that. The result I find tolerable.

Every cab is wired into its own electrical fixture box with a dimmer switch, which does allow me to turn the fans off if itâ??s ever necessary, and I made sure to add good grounding. Except for Cab 2 though, all the other fans are left on and going full tilt, 24 hours a day.

Cab #3:

Exhaust fan specs:
33dB, 81CFM, 2,900RPM, 0.23â?�static pressure
0.17/0.16A , 16/14W
Ball bearing, 4.7�x 4.7�x 1�, 4 ¼� � fan
Turnover rate 8.88 times/min

Circulation fan specs:
36dB, 32CFM, 3,100RPM, 0.13â?� static pressure
0.13A, 10W
Sleeve bearing, 3.15�x 3.15�x 1 ½� body, 3� � fan

The original exhaust fan I planned to install in Cab 3 would hypothetically have turned the air over at betterâ??n 14 times per minute, but it was far too loud for my garden. At 47dB, it sounded like a blow drier set on â??lowâ?� to my ear. The newer fan isnâ??t nearly as quick, but itâ??s a helluva lot more discreet.

While all of the cabs have a passive air inlet on the back wall, the flower and veg cabsâ?? are actually leftovers from some earlier experiments with active intakes. Cabs 3 nâ?? 1 have additional inlets below their false floors, and all of â??em are clustered at the far end away from the exhaust fan, drawing the air through the longest dimension on the way out. What really makes axial fans workable here is the single, best piece of advice I got since I started growing, from a bud brudda in the UK named POTential...make the passive intakes from 3 to 5 times the area of the active exhaust hole. The large area of the inlet helps offset the rotten static pressure the fans generate. My temps dropped like a stone when I did this, and the fans ran quieter. But Iâ??ve seen growers successfully use as little as twice the area of the exhaust, so Iâ??d always suggest experimenting. Gardens are like fingerprints, and no oneâ??s are exactly alike.

The filters covering the intake holes are pieces of fine grade Scotch-Brite (#96). Yes, the scrubbing and polishing type of pad. While itâ??s certainly not HEPA grade, itâ??s still a perfect miniature of an air filter for a regular home, and blocks the critters, dirt, and most light without obstructing air flow significantly.

Breathe...Breathe in the Air:
Ventilation was arguably the biggest PITA I wrestled with along my lâ??arninâ?? curve, and if I HAD to peg one system as most important in the overall construction, IMHO thisâ??d be it. The greatest enemy my garden faces on a regular basis is the buildup of heat, which micros are especially susceptible to in their confined spaces. The biggest impact comes from the lights and the immediate, ambient cab environment. Combined with the fact that most, if not all, noise generated in a grow cab is directly related to the fans being used for ventilation, and their vital role in odor control as well, this component also plays a huge part in stealth operations.

Iâ??d make a general recommendation of 8 to 10 times per minute as a reasonable air exchange rate, with cabs less than 10 to 15 cubic feet in volume usinâ?? fluoros. While thatâ??s been satisfactory overall for me, 10 to 12 times per minute as a rule of thumb mightâ??ve been a lilâ?? better. When I eventually upgrade to the 150W HPS, Iâ??ll hafta tinker and experiment again. Judging from other growersâ?? results, it looks like 15 to 20 times per minute might be the sweet spot to aim for if I wanna stay away from a cool-tube type oâ?? light. Iâ??ll find out eventually, LOL...Iâ??d also suggest using passive intake(s) with active exhaust, over using an active inlet to force air in. There are a few reasons, but axials operate at least 4 or 5 times more efficiently pulling the air out, than they do pushing it in. Iâ??ve spent quite a bit of time digginâ?? through various reference materials, trying to get a better handle on ventilation, among other things. Iâ??ll tell ya, Iâ??m still no expert anâ?? never will be, but at least I have done my homework. I posted my results in an essay elsewhere on the web, a brief summary for reducing fan and airflow noise while keepinâ?? good flow. Like so many other pieces, thatâ??s gone missing too, but I still have the skeleton for it somewhere on my hard drive. Iâ??ll hafta rebuild that as well*sigh*...but this sorta subject is pretty involved at times, and would be better covered in detail by another thread. Now if I can just find the time...

Peace â??n happy growinâ??...

[bluntpasser]

I'm thinking i will be transplanting to 3 gallon bags when needed. they are 10c a piece locally.. Currently i am using 1 gallon pots i found at Fred Meyer. I have a 8" dual fan In the window, a 4" duct fan for exhaust ventilation(In the Flower Box) as well as the 3 foot oscillating fan(Pointed into the Veg Box).:rastasmoke::rastasmoke:

Pic 1. Sketch Of Setup (ventilation)