Home | Community | Message Board


High Mountain Gold Compost
Please support our sponsors.


Welcome to the Growery Message Board! You are experiencing a small sample of what the site has to offer. Please login or register to post messages and view our exclusive members-only content. You'll gain access to additional forums, file attachments, board customizations, encrypted private messages, and much more!

Shop: Kraken Kratom Red Vein Kratom   Original Sensible Seeds Autoflowering Cannabis Seeds   North Spore North Spore Mushroom Grow Kits & Cultivation Supplies   PhytoExtractum Kratom Powder for Sale   Bridgetown Botanicals CBD Concentrates

Jump to first unread post Pages: 1
Some of these posts are very old and might contain outdated information. You may wish to search for newer posts instead.
OfflineSmokerX

Registered: 04/04/09
Posts: 12
Last seen: 10 years, 1 month
$0 micro DWC
    #390237 - 03/26/10 03:09 AM (14 years, 7 days ago)

Inspired by windowfarms.org and in need of a spot to get a head start on my spring garden I decided to start this project.
I had a 4 ft long tube flourescent shoplight with 2 tubes i picked up from a second hand shop for like $4 like this:



I also had a some fence planks and welded wire mesh fencing I had scrounged up to make a rabbit cage like this:



I had a 4 foot long 2 feet deep corner of a room that provided 2 walls
and a third wall created by a 2 foot deep filing cabinet. The final wall is the door made from a piece of foil backed insulation board with an exhaust hole cut at the bottom for a small fan. The door is taped onto the filing cabinet and adjacent wall with gorilla tape. The floor is a 4X2 foam cooler lid.

The "ceiling" is a 2ft. long fence plank running down the middle of a 2x4 ft. piece of wire fencing. then the shoplight affixed to the middle of the wire fencing. Like a sandwich with the shoplight and wood plank running parallel down the middle. The protruding wire was then bent slightly to form a hood type shape to concentrate the light to the middle for the next step.

I also had 3 shoplights like these:



I took the hoods and clamps off, leaving just the fixture and the cord and affixed them in the wire squares of the wire fence. they fit nicely and hold snug by bending the wire in a little. Heres a top view:



Then I took two strings and ran them from the "ceiling" to holes I drilled into another wood fence plank and tied them to the clamps off the lights. This way i can raise and lower the "ceiling" by unclamping and winding the string around the clamps and reclamping all the way up to the second wood plank, which is secured sandwiched between the top of the filing cabinet and a large box. Like this:



I also wired 50 red and 20 blue 10mm LED`s with an AC to DC wall adapter into a spotlight then mounted into the ceiling cage. I had some tobacco seedlings that where responding well, and it did provide enough ambient light to be useful, but it burnt out within the week; and at around 30-40 dollars worth of supplies (solder,leds,resistors,second hand adapters, S+H) this project surprisingly added up in costs and I wish I spent the $ elsewhere. Like a $40 MH ballast or sumthin. =P
I figure it must have been bad resistors too many amps pulling from the adapter or the different amps pulling from red vs. blue. The wire connections between each led emits more heat than i expected on a big array, but the small fan did pull the heat away effectively.
----------------------------------------------------------------
So heres where it gets interesting. I planted all my veggies(radishes, tomato, tobacco,watermelon) in plastic cups of Scott`s brand potting soil. This stuff killed all my veggies due to the amount of nutes in the soil (too much for seedlings). I`ll have to buy some seedlings from the store this year or start my heirlooms late. So while I was doing the Scott`s cups I got a 1/4 for free from a friend that was supposed to be outdoor cali. It looked like nugs but no crystals, and had 4 seeds I saved. I planted one in the scotts brand, when that failed, I went back to the 3 I saved and realized I lost them. I decided to remove the dying seedling from the scotts brand, rinse the soil off. and put it into this:

I took a piece of square tupperware that maybe holds 1/2-1 liter of water, drilled a hole in the middle and placed the plant through. then I took a piece of foam weather stripping and cut it down the middle to sandwich the stem between and taped it to the lid. the lid is now part of the plant and would have to be cut away with a pair of scissors. then I ran a bubbler and airstone through the lid and taped everything over with gorrilla tape to keep light out.

I added 40 drops of medina hasta-grow to 1 gallon of water and ph buffered for the reservoir. I`ve been topping off with the nutrient formula, but i really should at least alternate with just ph buffered water, to prevent my ppm from rising too much, but I haven`t noticed any signs of overfertilizing by eye (no ppm gauge). It looks like it has as much as it can handle though. Its probably alot harder to overfertilize with this stuff than crap chemical nutes, theres no bad smell to the rez or signs of bacterial outbreak.  the ph sky rockets extremely alkaline from evaporation leading to solids buildup since the rez. is so small. The plant sprang back to life and is making extraordinary progress compared to the same amount of light system. I Continue to monitor ph and signs  of over/under nuting, trying to determine correct dosage for hastagrow. Then increase/ decrease dose of 40 drops per gallon. An attempt to find a cheap, "organic" efficient method of producing veggies hydroponically that are packed with nutrient.

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
InvisibleInverted
CNC Machinist/Greenthumb
Male User Gallery


Registered: 06/01/08
Posts: 9,953
Loc: North Star Flag
Re: $0 micro DWC [Re: SmokerX]
    #390316 - 03/26/10 10:46 AM (14 years, 6 days ago)

That's pretty sweet.  It's nice when you have all the DIY stuff already laying around the place.  2 of the 3 growboxes I constructed in the last year were completely pieced together with spare wood and paint and whatnot. 

DWC is actually the next thing I was looking into, while my summer garden is in the spotlight.

Keep it up.  :thumbup:


--------------------
Don't criticize what you can't understand

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Offlinedstark

Registered: 02/01/09
Posts: 38
Last seen: 9 years, 11 months
Re: $0 micro DWC [Re: Inverted]
    #392016 - 03/29/10 06:58 AM (14 years, 3 days ago)

Looks very cool, I'm suret his grow will turn very nice !

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineSmokerX

Registered: 04/04/09
Posts: 12
Last seen: 10 years, 1 month
Re: $0 micro DWC [Re: dstark]
    #396590 - 04/05/10 05:08 PM (13 years, 11 months ago)

Update: Magnesium deficiency appeared. Treated with a foliar spray of epsom salt and 1/4 tsp. of epsom salt to Rez. I can`t find any info. on a source of magnesium in hastagro, it may not be listed or the calcium in the water is blocking magnesium IDK.

40drops per gal. was ok the first week since it was so nutrient starved. downgraded to 30 drops, still showing slight symptoms of nute burn. May be due to magnesium deficiency not letting it use uptook nutes. plan on pushing it down to 20 drops per gallon.

upgraded rez. to 3/4 gallon mixed nuts container taped up the sides to block light pushed the main stem down into rez to shorten plant.

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineSmokerX

Registered: 04/04/09
Posts: 12
Last seen: 10 years, 1 month
Re: $0 micro DWC [Re: SmokerX]
    #399152 - 04/10/10 01:04 AM (13 years, 11 months ago)

FINAL UPDATE: down to 15 drops per gallon 1/2 tsp. epsom salts to rez. Looks great. I`m guessing I could push it a little harder; Although I won`t. I`d really hate to stress it any further.

About 5 days and the water goes from a tan color to clear, indicating all nutrients is uptook into the roots.

u can pick up hastagro 6-12-6 at lowes for around $10 a quart; I`ve heard of people picking up a gallon for $10 also. along with the 6-12-6, it contains seaweed extracts for micronutrients, humic acid for chelation and some shit called soil activator "active organisms derived from fermentation extracts. It is balanced with magnesium chloride, iron sulfate, and zinc chloride, so that these organisms can survive transportation."

good shit.

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
InvisibleFarBeyondDriven
Truthfully, I'm a bullshitter
Male User Gallery


Registered: 04/22/08
Posts: 13,834
Loc: Greenbow, Alabama
Re: $0 micro DWC [Re: Inverted]
    #423973 - 05/25/10 10:30 PM (13 years, 10 months ago)

DWC is easy man.  That says a lot comin from me.  I'm a n00b :rofl:

I'm thinking of doing soil next time though.


--------------------


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
InvisibleHarry_Ba11sachM
cannoisseur
 User Gallery


Registered: 04/20/08
Posts: 11,753
Loc: Nepal Flag
Trusted Cultivator
Re: $0 micro DWC [Re: SmokerX]
    #423988 - 05/26/10 01:57 AM (13 years, 10 months ago)

Quote:

SmokerX said:

humic acid for chelation.





lol, no. just no


--------------------

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
InvisibleFarBeyondDriven
Truthfully, I'm a bullshitter
Male User Gallery


Registered: 04/22/08
Posts: 13,834
Loc: Greenbow, Alabama
Re: $0 micro DWC [Re: Harry_Ba11sach]
    #424213 - 05/26/10 03:01 PM (13 years, 10 months ago)

:rofl:


--------------------


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Jump to top Pages: 1

Shop: Kraken Kratom Red Vein Kratom   Original Sensible Seeds Autoflowering Cannabis Seeds   North Spore North Spore Mushroom Grow Kits & Cultivation Supplies   PhytoExtractum Kratom Powder for Sale   Bridgetown Botanicals CBD Concentrates


Similar ThreadsPosterViewsRepliesLast post
* Balls out Second Grow (Mango Scrog, Organic DWC, 430w Son Argo Air cooled, CO2)*Updated Weekly*
( 1 2 3 4 ... 17 18 )
Integra21 188,862 346 10/04/10 05:24 PM
by coda
* My First Seed to Flower Log Hydro (DWC) - C99, Chunky Cheese, K Train (fem) grnshroprachaun 5,173 7 11/04/09 04:12 AM
by Inbred_gimp
* Dephects Perpetual DWC SOG Log UPDATED: 05/07 Dephect 9,864 16 05/11/10 11:28 AM
by Dephect
* Ni
( 1 2 all )
aerie 9,408 23 05/22/10 01:37 PM
by aerie
* Arjan's Haze #3, White Satin, and Critically Smashed
( 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 all )
Sirius 71,159 122 04/11/09 08:19 PM
by travelleler
* t0ad's adventure in gardening... a grow journal.
( 1 2 3 4 all )
t0ad 28,680 65 09/03/09 07:21 PM
by FurrowedBrow
* Cherry Slyder Mini-Grow (update june 3rd) *COMPLETED*
( 1 2 3 4 all )
coda 40,533 72 06/11/08 10:20 AM
by coda
* CFL Veggie Closet Explosion
( 1 2 all )
GreenThumb 17,969 32 12/01/08 03:59 PM
by Annom

Extra information
You cannot start new topics / You cannot reply to topics
HTML is disabled / BBCode is enabled
Moderator: FurrowedBrow, Harry_Ba11sach, Magash, Data
4,406 topic views. 0 members, 74 guests and 105 web crawlers are browsing this forum.
[ Show Images Only | Sort by Score | Print Topic ]
Search this thread:
Avalon Magic Plants
Please support our sponsors.

Copyright 1997-2024 Mind Media. Some rights reserved.

Generated in 0.023 seconds spending 0.006 seconds on 14 queries.