Grow Room Feedback on new setup

[jackskelly]

Hi all, im new to this forum but im a regular on rollitup.org, just wanted to pop in and get some feedback on the self supply setup im putting together. i just moved to a new state, moved from cali where the weed's reputation proceeds itself, but where i am now SUCKS, terrible overdried buds full of stems, no wax, hash, or edibles, and to top it off my teenage dealer brings me halfs in a GALLON sized freezer bag -.- its a nightmare. so naturally i plan on supplying myself and avoid spending anymore money on the pitiful shit this state calls marijuana.

MY background: in cali i was friends with a commercial grower, all photoperiod plants though, so the world of autos is kinda of new to me.
i have done HOURS of research though and am feeling confident that i can yield enough to supply myself on a single plant grow.

MY strain of choice: for this grow ive got 10 of sweetseeds F1 black jack seeds.

MY cycle: i plan to run 10 weeks from sprout to harvest (seeds are advertised as 7-8weeks for harvest but my research tells me that the real weight on autos comes from going a couple weeks over the advertised harvest times, and watching the leaves for signs of time to harvest, i also have a jewlers loupe to inspect trichombs although ive read from several sources that this is not the best way to determine harvest time for autos as it is with photoperiods) i will of course harvest based on the plant not based on time but i would like to keep it as close to 10 weeks flat as i can, assuming i pull a minimum of 3oz from the plant it should be able to hold me over until the next cycle is finished.

and Finally, MY setup:
DONE:
-i first constructed a pvc frame of 18"x18"x42" (1.5ftx1.5ftx3.5ft)
-my pot is a 5gallon planter that stands 15" tall and 17" round at its widest point.
-going to use fox farms soil trio for nutes, and my soil is coco/perlite at an apx 60/40 mix
-the pvc frame has side rails built in at 21" to hold my screen (scrog sits 6" above planter lip, so about 7 inches above the soil line)
-my light is a 150watt Hydrofarm sunburst ballast/hood in one, the ballast is dual supportive so it can run MH or HPS (plannign to do 16/8 for the first 4-5 weeks with MH bulb and then switch to 18/6 with HPS for the remainder)

WILL BE DONE SOON:
-i have a roll of panda film on its way that im going to use to wrap the pvc frame up.
-and i have 4 comp fans (ac/dc adapter is on its way also for me to wire them up) 1 will serve as intake, 1 as exhaust with a diy carbon scrubber attached, and 2 will be for wind simulation inside the tent.

so just 2( or 3) questions for you guys:
1.what do you think of my setup? any suggestions, comments, anything i may have forgotten/overlooked?
2.have any of you grown the strain im using? if so under what conditions and how much did you yield?
3.how much yield do you think i can expect using this setup?

looking forward to all your responses

 

[jackmc]

Hi Jack, You seem to have a great plan. If odor is an issue for you you may want to consider a more robust filtration system. I grew Sweet Seeds Fast Bud for my first grow and got enough yield to hold me over until I got the hang of Autoflowers. My only advice would be to sprout an extra seed or two in something like a rock-wool cube so you can choose the more vigorous seedling to grow. I've found a lot of variation within each strain of plant. When you aren't growing many plants it's nice to know that you have a winner. "Munch..munch..munch

 

[jackskelly]

hey fellow jack! lol. thanks for your feedback for starters, i wanna say im pretty confident in my filtration. i used a cylinder air filter. "swiss cheesed" a 1.5in pvc pipe, that inserted in the inner diameter of my 5in drainage flange (dont ask where i got a 5incher lmao but its perfectly sized to attach my 120mm pc fan to). so then while holding my 1.5in pipe in place in the middle of the filter i packed in around it the activated carbon. then slipped my 3in pvc pipe into the mouth of the filter (the filters padded material made an almost perfectly airtight seal around the 3in pipe by itself but i silicone sealed it to be safe). ontop of that i put a 3in to 2inch coupler on the 3in pvc. my measurements made it so the 2in end of the coupler and the 1.5in pipe in the center were at the same height sticking out of the filter. once this was all done my drainage flange slipped right into the 2inch coupler end while the 1.5in slipped into the inner diameter of the flange. use some silicone seal in your joints and you have a perfectly air tight carbon filter i will try to post pics of this at some point for those who would like to build one thats as good as professional grade for smaller grows.

EDIT:forgot to mention, my fans can move between 8 and 50cfm using the fan controller, seeing as my tent(once enclosed) is only a rough 13 cubic feet these should have no issues sucking enough air thru the filter and at a slow enough pace to truly scrub the air, if not then i have another set of 120mm fans that can move between 20 and 90cfm. but i feel like these would be overkill for my space, we shall see though.

as for sprouting an extra seed i just cant afford to do so, between the cost of seeds and the shipping+stealth costs it would just be throwing money down the drain to sprout an extra one that i know i cant grow out fully. but i do plan to setup an even smaller tent, like a 1'x1'x2.5' for veg. then when im a few weeks out from harvest i can start a new plant in the veg tent and by the time i harvest the new one will be ready to go under the scrog

SECOND EDIT: by the way i forgot to mention that i redid my pvc frame to be an exact 22"x22"x46" ratehr than 18"X18"x42", i did this for the extra space of course but also so when my panda film gets here i can cut perfect 4'x2' and '2x2' sections and they will have an inch on every side for overhang when i cover the frame

 

[jackskelly]

just a few pics of my gear

 

[jackmc]

Nice job on the filter. Good thinking on the resize. Whenever you don't have to re-dimension your building materials you save a ton of work. Good luck!

 

[jackskelly]

Lol so i actually redid the filter again. its quite simple but very complex in design, i did research on properly drilling holes for airflow rather than just goin crazy with a drill like i did the first time. i actually posted a very nice how-to on rollitup.org on how i built it, going to find it real fast and copy/paste here. Also i downsized my pot size. what i have in the above pic hold like 6gallons. after some reasearch ive found that the census is 3gal pots are the best for autos, gives the roots just enough room to fill out during their short lifetime while also being big enough for them to not overcrowd the pot. i wish i had room and light for 2 plants so i could do a side by side and see how much of a difference it makes. but since i only have 1 i went ahead and got a 3gal pot, after work today i will carefully scoop out a large amount of dirt with my seedling in it, then i can fill the 3gal most of the way and gently unscoop the seedling into its new home, im hoping that since its a seedling as long as i scoop enough surrounding dirt with it that it wont treat it like an actual transplant.

My DIY carbon filter has of a core made of 1.5in x 15in pvc pipe, capped on one end, with 6 columns (columns go the length of the pipe) of holes drilled, since my filter hangs vertically i cut 4 rows (rows go around the pipe) of 3/8inch holes at the capped end which is the bottom, and then went to 1/4inch holes the rest of the way up it to where my flange connects, this decrease in hole size towards the fan makes it so the fan doesn't have to work as hard and ensures the entire filter will be used to potential rather than just the half of it closer to the fan. this pipe is then wrapped with 1 layer of fine mesh and 1 layer of pre-filter (i used household floor vent filters they work great in a single layer for the inner pipe). after that pipe was finished i took a 3in x 13in piece of pvc pipe, again capped on 1 end, with 11 columns and 12 rows of 1/2in holes drilled, again the reason for bigger holes on the outer pipe just like the lower end of the inner pipe, is so the fan has less restriction from the container itself and only has to work through the restriction of the carbon and pre-filters which is where your scrubbing takes place,extra restriction from the canister in small filters such as this will only result in your fan working harder, once that pipes done it is wrapped in 1 layer of fine mesh and then wrapped in a double layer of the vent filters as they are pretty thin. Once both pipes are constructed i insert the capped end of the 1.5in pipe inside of the 3in pipe so both end caps are at one end, then i use a funnel to carefully add the carbon (i used crushed although i hear pellets work better so im gonna try those next time i refill it, went with the crushed because it was readily available), i make sure to shake the hell out of it while doing this and pack it in semi-gently with a shim or something as i add more until its full leaving just enough space to wadd in 1 of those vent filters at the top in between the 3in and 1.5in pipe, then a 3in to 2in coupler is slipped onto the open end of the 3in pipe, assuming you measured correctly (your measurements may be different than mine for your own needs) then the 2in end of the coupler is sitting at the same hieght as the 1.5in pipe sticking out of the center of it. I had to search long and hard for the flange i needed to do this but its a 6in square top drainage flange, with a 4.75in wide 2.5in deep bevel (the bowl shaped space between the drain grate and actual drain pipe hole), that accepts 1.5in pvc on the inside of the flange and accepts 2in pvc over the outside of the same flange, so that flange slips over/into your 1.5in pipe/2in coupler. viola! you now have a 20$ refillable carbon filter that can be pulled through with a 120mm PC FAN! The reason i mentioned the specifics on the bevel is because it gives my 120mm fan enough vortex space to effectively suck through the 1.5in pipe (im already waiting for the haters to jump on me about how pc fans cannot successfully move air through a scrubber. haters gon' hate but it works for me so

) Since my tent is only 16cft and i only want to replace air once every 3-5mins its better to have a filter with less canister restriction for proper ventilation and odor filtration IF your gonna use pc fans. Pc fans only have so much power behind them, cfm specs for them are only true if they have an open airflow, adding restriction to them slows them down considerably therefore slowing down the cfm it can move, but if you make sure you construct your filter so that really the only restriction is the carbon and prefilter material then the fans will power through! The canister alone should have enough airflow to not restrict the fan at all or very very very little, let the carbon handle that part! This is the secret to pc fan-carbon filters that most people cant figure out. So just to satisfy the haters,NO a pc fan is not enough to pull through a manufactured carbon filter properly, however if you go through some trial and error of your own like i did and keep track of what you did on the attempts that failed, eventually you'll get your math right and you can make one yourself that's just as effective as the real deal! Dont let anyone tell you it cant be done!

OH and my panda film should show up today!! time to turn my frame into a tent!

 

[jackmc]

Man after my own heart. If it's worth doing it'd worth overdoing! I've read about soil growers starting plants in a peat pot and then just cutting off the bottom and setting the plant into a larger container of soil. Although I'd think with coco/perlite mix it would be pretty easy to transplant. I really think you can effect the shape of the plant with the size and shape of the pot you grow it in.

BTW Next time you buy seeds try Mitch at Mephisto. Lots of us are growing his gear and he's very generous with free seeds. That way you won't feel like you're wasting your money if you sprout and extra seed. Peace

 

[jackskelly]

Thanks. And good to know about meph seed. I'll surely give then a shot my next purchase

 

[minime]

Really like your diy skills bruv my attempt was nothing like that, actually looks like yours was manufactured

 

[jackskelly]

That's the look I was goin for haha. Thank you!