Bubbler System & New Grow Cabinet Quesions

[Texastweeked]

I have just started (over the past several months) decided to try and grow my own. I found a connisuers cabinet on www.overgrow.com (will add link directly to page(s)) and it seemed to be the perfect choice for what I wanted to accomplish. I will be posting updates to his design(s), as well as more accurate and current pricing for all parts needed, and also a parts list, design drawings, etc. for anyone who's interested. I am extremely new to indoor growing....actually to growing in general for that matter, and could use all of the expert advice ya'll are willing to offer. I started (8) plants from seed acquired from a bag or two of dirt weed, just to make sure that I am not wasting the primo stuff if it does not work properly, they are about 6 weeks old and have been growing under CW Flouro, cut back once already to start making bonsia mums for the mother room, I am using 6" pots with enough space to fit three for cloning useage. In the flowering chamber, I am using a rubbermaid 7 gal tub, light tight, with a PVC frame for the SCROG area, and his design recommended a 150w HPS light kept at about 1"- 1 1/2" above flowers. Air circulates from openings in the mother chamber into the flowering chamber and then throught the utility chamber (contains all lighting ballasts, electrical, and the exhaust fan) so that it is using a negative pressure type system, keeping the mother room at or near 78deg and the flowering chamber at or near 75 deg. Now that I have taken up an hour of your time without asking anything, here are the questions......
1. How do I find out what sex these babies are?
2. What is the nute of choice (from professionals) (flowering only)
3. suggestions on lighting (if not already set-up ok)
4. Sites that may be of importance to me later on.

I will be adding a grow time line as well as all specs on the cabinet, etc. as soon as I know that it is going to be even close to working properly. So many questions, So little time......Thanks for Your Time and Patience.
Please be patient as I gain wisdom from you.

Texastweeked Reviewed by Texastweeked on 05-05-2005. Bubbler System & New Grow Cabinet Quesions I have just started (over the past several months) decided to try and grow my own. I found a connisuers cabinet on www.overgrow.com (will add link directly to page(s)) and it seemed to be the perfect choice for what I wanted to accomplish. I will be posting updates to his design(s), as well as more accurate and current pricing for all parts needed, and also a parts list, design drawings, etc. for anyone who's interested. I am extremely new to indoor growing....actually to growing in general for Rating: 5

[notanovice]

i am using a similar cabinet based on the ideas of that stealth cab. it works great. it`s pretty cheap to build, especially if you got an old dresser to gut out and use.

you should have great results with it.
you`ll have to sex your mothers to find out about male/female
just take 2 clones from each plant and immedieately put in a 12/12 light regiment. that`s 12 hours light on, 12 hours light off. floros are good lights for this, and are cheap to obtain.they will show sex within a week or so doing it this way.
cloning this way keeps you from stressing a plant by putting the whole plant into flowering mode then back to veg then back to flowering when big enough.

as far as nutes, if you can afford it, i would suggest Advanced nutrients brand
they are specifically created for the growing of cannabis plants. there are plenty of other nutes, but the best results i`ve had were with Advanced Nutrients brand, any of their bloom nutes would work good, but if money and time is tight, i also use a blend of orchid bloom hydro ferts, it`s cheap and you can get it at any lowes or home depot, it has what the plants need for blooming and is pretty cheap, it also completely disolves in water, and has the trace minerals cannabis needs for optimum bud growth.
as far as lighting goes, a good compact floro for the mother side of your cab would be a good choice, as far as the flowering side, i think your original choice would be a good one as long as the heat build up is not too high.
this cabinet has massive air movement and works great.
make sure you paint the inside with a flat white paint, it will help reflect the light all around your plants
good luck, and if you got any questions, just ask, i will try and give you the best advice i can.

[Texastweeked]

Thanks for the advice. The plants seem to be doing ok with the heat being built up in the different areas. Although, they are currently not in a climate controlled area (AC) and are around 78-82 in the flower chamber, and 85-89 in the mother chamber right now at or near the top. lower of course lower in the chambers. I am going to try to open up a little more airflow by changing the direction and the location of the exhaust fan...Dayton 265cfm blower. Too big for thet intended purposes by about 1/4" so had to adapt a little. Fan seems to be a little noisy as well...?? Have you had this issue??? Thanks again for your time and patience with a newbie

[notanovice]

no problem, i`m glad to help.
the only noise i get from my cabinet is air movement noise
the fan i use is quiet running, but the air moving out is what makes the noise
your temp. is a bit on the high side, the flower chamber temp isnt too bad but your mother chamber temp seems awful close to maximum. you may have problems if it gets any higher.
my cabinet has 3 timers, one for the fan, and one for each light.
i have it set up where the fan comes on a few minutes before the lights.
my maximum temp on either side is no higher than 78 degrees farenheit
if you got more questions, just ask
by the way, is your cabinet built with the pvc elbows and such for air intake and exhaust?

[Texastweeked]

Thanks for the advice on the temps, and yes I used the 2" PVC for the air inlet and outlet(s) for the flower room. Have not put in the hood yet as I am waiting on the HPS 250w light to get here. I think my fan is not positioned properly for max air flow is part of the problem. Due to the fact that the smaller fan was not available locally, I elected to go with the 265 CFM and was 1/4" or so too big. I will turn it and make a few adjustments to the cabinet and hopefully open up a little more air. We'll See I guess. I just went ahead and put all plants on 12/12 at 10pm monday night (05/16) and am hoping I will know what I am looking for. I have not found any real definative pictures or instructions on sexing the plant. One pic on this site was close, but I am a highly visual learner, don't get me wrong, I have NO problem figuring things out, but would be soooooo much easier if there were more information available, ya know?! I think that when I am done with this thing I will post a site specifically for all of those like me. If all of this works out anyway. Being that this is a test run, with a hopefull reward at the end, it will not hurt my feelings to bad if the 12/12 is too much for them. Thanks again for all of your information and interest. It's is extremely helpfull. Will post pics of box later. Talk to Ya!

[notanovice]

by this time next week you should know the sex of your plants, the females will have little white hairs coming from the nodes(where branches and fan leaves meet stem)
use a magnifying glass to get a closer look, a male plant will have a little pod, roundish, looking thing in the same areas.
i hope this info helps. it usually takes a week or 2, but sometimes sooner, so be patient, get a magnifyer and you`ll be sexing plants like a pro in no time

[Texastweeked]

You will never truly know how much help you are on this project so far. If you don't mind too mych, I am going to use your knowledge a little further. I am going to draw a sketch of what I am seeing on these babies, and add a few pics of them as well, and see if there is something on there that you may be able to notice that I am missing...everything that is protruding from the nodes look just like leaves that are emerging, no pods, no hairs, and on some of the lower branches and leaves that have developed a little further, they are exactly that.....leaves?! If you get to where I am being a bother, let me know, call me a dumb@*! or something and I will leave you alone. Once someone shows me on my plants what I am seeing, it will be permanently in the memory bank from there and I will ask other (stupid) questions
Thanks Again for Your Time and Patience.

[Texastweeked]

Here are the pics after about day 5 of 12/12. Are these the areas you are referring too....??! Too new of growth? I am not being impatient for the end results as I said...these are just try it out plants. I am impatient however for the knowledge that I will recieve when I finally know what to look for....ya know?! Anyway, here are the pics, please let me know if I am even looking at the correct locations.
thanks Again ya'll

[notanovice]

yesyou are lookin in the right spot, within a week those will be able to show you what sex they are. i am happy to try and answer any questions you have, hopefully with the right answer. there is no such thing as a dumb question when first starting out. so ask away

[Texastweeked]

This is different !......is this what I am suppossed to be seeing? If so does this tell you anything...M/F ??? Not seeing any others (8-total) that are showing anything different yet...

thanks again for the assistance