Wow, it's been a long time- but I am SO happy to FINALLY be starting this thread.
A bit of background:
The original plan is/was a DIY set up intended to become an autoflower perpetual grow- (we'll see how it goes).
The intent is a three plant rotating drop every six/seven weeks.
The space: Is a DIY wooden enclosure with a working floor space of 4' x 4' x 6.5' high. Built mainly out of recovered lumber- it's a meticulously planned work in progress that will evolve as necessary.
I tried to build a "veg light" from DIY components found on ebay: The plan was 3x 100w High power, full spectrum LED cob's driven by 3x 80w constant current drivers. I decided to go cheap on the cob's- figuring if they lasted half a year they'd pay for themselves (@27$ each), and to get good drivers to last (@ 80$ each). Bad idea.
The cheap cob's turned out to be cheap indeed- actually 30w cobs sold AS 100w cobs. I smoked the first cob in under three minutes on the first test connection- there was literally smoke, and not the kind I was hoping for. Ended up wiring all three cheap cobs to a single driver- my "veg light" became a germination rig- and set me back a LOT of time with the back and forth between the sellers on ebay.
Now my Frankenstein's monster is hanging inside a scabbed together DIY "space pod" style germ box putting out an estimated 160w (120w actual?) because of the smoked cob.
The pod's built of two 25 gallon totes clammed together and wired in with a computer fan for ventilation. It cools passively (big fat heat sink found at local scrap yard for peanuts) and testing with Nirvanna's freebies have been very encouraging- but it's apparent that it wont support the veg stage of the auto's- so for now it remains a germ box.
Decided NOT to try and DIY the "flower lights" like I was planning and spent the rest of my light budget on a "starter set"- a two pack of old style Marshydro prefab veg/flower lights advertised as a "600w" package so "300w" each. I plan to get some good LED cob's later (about the midway point of first grow) and use my currently unused drivers as planned at that time.
Spent the last month practicing with freebies, checking temperatures/humidity's etc- which went very well. Ended up with a 100% germination rate and good growth on the little critters despite outside temps dipping as low as single digits f.
Now the freebies have outgrown the germ box (they are competing for light) and are spending their time out of doors, awaiting sexing and permanent placement.
Which brings us at last to this- the first day of the real deal- and my first grow:
Dropped 2x Bubbleicious and 1x Northern lights (from Nirvana) 21 March- and I'm EXCITED AT LAST!
I'll work on getting some pic's of the rig/germ box/chamber/and freebies posted in the coming days (week)- after that I'll focus on the three ladies.
Here's hoping!
-
Edit.
Read the sticky on logs after I posted (cart before the horse)
Comments welcome. It's a soil grow. Seeds started in jiffy starter and tiered into soil mix-
I'm a scholar of the following.
FD's Guide to Growing Hefty Autos in Small Places.
Excellent work!
A bit of background:
The original plan is/was a DIY set up intended to become an autoflower perpetual grow- (we'll see how it goes).
The intent is a three plant rotating drop every six/seven weeks.
The space: Is a DIY wooden enclosure with a working floor space of 4' x 4' x 6.5' high. Built mainly out of recovered lumber- it's a meticulously planned work in progress that will evolve as necessary.
I tried to build a "veg light" from DIY components found on ebay: The plan was 3x 100w High power, full spectrum LED cob's driven by 3x 80w constant current drivers. I decided to go cheap on the cob's- figuring if they lasted half a year they'd pay for themselves (@27$ each), and to get good drivers to last (@ 80$ each). Bad idea.
The cheap cob's turned out to be cheap indeed- actually 30w cobs sold AS 100w cobs. I smoked the first cob in under three minutes on the first test connection- there was literally smoke, and not the kind I was hoping for. Ended up wiring all three cheap cobs to a single driver- my "veg light" became a germination rig- and set me back a LOT of time with the back and forth between the sellers on ebay.
Now my Frankenstein's monster is hanging inside a scabbed together DIY "space pod" style germ box putting out an estimated 160w (120w actual?) because of the smoked cob.
The pod's built of two 25 gallon totes clammed together and wired in with a computer fan for ventilation. It cools passively (big fat heat sink found at local scrap yard for peanuts) and testing with Nirvanna's freebies have been very encouraging- but it's apparent that it wont support the veg stage of the auto's- so for now it remains a germ box.
Decided NOT to try and DIY the "flower lights" like I was planning and spent the rest of my light budget on a "starter set"- a two pack of old style Marshydro prefab veg/flower lights advertised as a "600w" package so "300w" each. I plan to get some good LED cob's later (about the midway point of first grow) and use my currently unused drivers as planned at that time.
Spent the last month practicing with freebies, checking temperatures/humidity's etc- which went very well. Ended up with a 100% germination rate and good growth on the little critters despite outside temps dipping as low as single digits f.
Now the freebies have outgrown the germ box (they are competing for light) and are spending their time out of doors, awaiting sexing and permanent placement.
Which brings us at last to this- the first day of the real deal- and my first grow:
Dropped 2x Bubbleicious and 1x Northern lights (from Nirvana) 21 March- and I'm EXCITED AT LAST!
I'll work on getting some pic's of the rig/germ box/chamber/and freebies posted in the coming days (week)- after that I'll focus on the three ladies.
Here's hoping!
-
Edit.
Read the sticky on logs after I posted (cart before the horse)
Comments welcome. It's a soil grow. Seeds started in jiffy starter and tiered into soil mix-
I'm a scholar of the following.
FD's Guide to Growing Hefty Autos in Small Places.
Excellent work!
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