Indoor Vapor's Ridiculous 15+ Auto Strains 5th Grow

[Son of Hobbes]

Good morning AFN! Today I'm going to start germinating my seeds for my 5th grow. I'm currently wrapping up a set of photo strains/clones which are less than a week from final chop (or sooner depending how anxious I get with this grow.)

The Seeds
Advanced Seeds BioDiesel Mass (feminized)
Auto Seeds Berry Ryder (feminized)
Auto Seeds Trans Siberian (feminized)
Auto Seeds Purple Cheese (feminized)
Buddha Seeds Purple Kush Autoflowering (feminized)
Buddha Seeds Syrup Automatic (feminized)
Dinafem Seeds White Widow Auto (feminized)
Dinafem Seeds White Cheese Auto (feminized)
Dinafem Seeds Critical Cheese Autoflowering (feminized)
Dinafem Seeds Original Amnesia Auto (feminized)
Dutch Passion Seeds Think Different (feminized)
Dutch Passion Seeds AutoBlueberry (feminized)
G13 Labs Auto Pineapple Express (feminized)
G13 Labs Auto AK (feminized)
Lowryder Seeds Diesel Ryder (feminized)
Lowryder Seeds Easy Ryder (AKA Lowryder #2 x AK47) (feminized)
Lowryder Seeds Purple Ryder (feminized)
Pyramid Seeds Auto Blue Pyramid (feminized)
Pyramid Seeds Auto Super Hash (feminized)
Pyramid Seeds Auto Purple (feminized)
Pyramid Seeds Auto Anesthesia (feminized)
Short Stuff Seeds Mi5 (feminized)
Short Stuff Seeds Russian Rocket Fuel (feminized)
Sweet Seeds Auto Black Cream (feminized)
Sweet Seeds Auto Red Poison (feminized)
Sweet Seeds Auto Dark Devil (feminized)
World of Seeds Afghan Kush Ryder Autoflowering (feminized)

The Grow Space
I've pretty much always used tents. I have two tents so far (both Aviditi,) but on this last photo grow; I made a DIY tent out of 3/4" PVC and fittings, 8 mil plastic, and velcro stick-um's. After seeing how well this thing turned out; I've decided there's nothing wrong at all with using these materials and they actually turn out a pretty durable tent. The thicker the plastic the better; this 8 mil plastic is THICK. I'm sure you can get even stronger stuff; but I've taken a blade to this stuff to create 6" openings and it doesn't tear, run or stretch, even with a big ass in-line can fan sitting on top of it. Very impressed!

So instead of using the 3 foot by 2 foot by 5 foot tent, or my other DIY tent which is about 3 foot by 2 foot by 5 foot; I'm going to take them both out of the small room they are in and turn the whole damn thing into one large space. When it's finished; it should be roughly 6 foot in length; a little over 3 feet in width, and 6 to 7 feet in height.

Square footage of the floor area will 18 square feet.

Lights

I have several options for lights; I have a magnetic 1000W HPS/MH, two 400W HPS/MH, two true 125W CFL's, and several single bulb T5 ballasts.

On my last documented AFN grow; I used the 1000W for a 16 square foot area.

I've been talking with GoAuto6 about how much I could feasibly fit into this space where light is concerned. This is where I'm at on it and I'll explain a few of the other details that may make the final outcome decided.

My 1000W HPS/MH has a hood with 6" openings for venting.
My two 400W HPS/MH both are have 6" cool tubes.

I'm not really interested in the T5's or CFL's based on what I'm working with; but if someone can make a feasibility case in adding them to the mix; I'm open to it.

My outside temperatures here will easily average around 20-30 degrees Fahrenheit for the next few months; and down to sub-zero intermingled with many of those days (come January; it's COLD.) I mean it's 36 deg out right now at 8 AM.

To add to the mix; my basement is completely uninsulated, and long story short; without supplemental heat it quickly takes on a temperature that doesn't variate far from what it is outside (minus wind chill.)

So I'm not super worried about heat. In fact, I'm considering running them on a 20/4 light schedule or maybe even 24 hours to try to keep a more consistent temp in there.

If I ran a 1000W light for 18 square feet, that's 55.55 watts per square foot.
If I ran a 1000W + a 400W for 18 square feet, that's 77.77 watts per square foot.
If I ran the 1000W AND both 400W's, that's an even 100 watts per square foot.

My original plan was the 1000W and the 400W, but I've been advised I could technically throw that other light in there.

What do you guys think? Is doubling my watts per square foot going to give me any noticeable gains? I don't care about the power bill; I just want to know if those pennies burned are pennies returned, know what I'm sayin?

I'm totally pumped no matter what happens!

Ventilation and Odor
I have two 400 CFM 6" Hydrofarm centrifuge fans, one 720 CFM VenTech 8" centrifuge fan; two 6" tees, an 8" to 6" reducer, and like at least four or five 240 CFM 6" inline can fans.

I have three 6" clip on fans I use for moving air around in the tent; I might toss a Vornado or two in there; those 6" clip on's are great for smaller tents but I think I'll need more movement in there with that square footage.

I have two 6" carbon scrubbers that will be pulling air out the tent; I'm thinking with the two 400 CFM fans on each for exhaust; then maybe that one 720 CFM as an intake. The two 400 CFM's will be running at a reduced CFM rate with that scrubber; but hopefully the exhaust CFM is still greater than the intake so I can achieve negative air pressure and keep those smells in there where I want 'em.

As an added defense; I use ONA essential oil products, of which I have an ONA quart gel jar; ONA concentrate which I'll be using to make my own ONA gel (using moisture absorption crystals,) and ONA mist, which nebulizes into the air using a timer and dispenser.

The Growing Medium

Pro-Mix BX (71 pound bale)
Earthworm Castings (15 pound bag)
Additional Mycorrhiza (2.2 pound bag)
Xtreme Gardening Azos Nitrogen Fixing Microbes (6 oz bag)
Azomite trace minerals (67 trace minerals, 2 pound bag)
Perlite (I use Hoffman, 18 quart)

I've used Pro-Mix before and I LOVE it. I mixed it in with earth worm castings and perlite; wonderful stuff.

The new additions will be the additional mycorrhiza, Azos nitrogen fixing microbes, Azomite (I used it when I watered on some of the plants on my last go-around; I'm going to try it mixed into the soil from the get-go this time around.) The Azos nitrogen fixing microbes seems interesting; I've read a little bit about it and like anything, some guys LOVE it, some guys HATE it. It was expensive, almost $20 for a 6 oz bag; so this better produce blow-job quality results!

Pot Sizes
I will be intermingling pot sizes based on strain. I have a few 5 gallon buckets; I believe three or four 4 gallon buckets; and about twelve 2 gallon buckets. I've been trying to do some research and look at visual cues from other members grows on how big some of those plants can get; I know I have some "big" strains in my lineup.

I drill additional holes in the bottoms of my pots; but I'm considering drilling holes in the sides of them to act as ghetto air pots. I'm not sure how much of a difference that would make; but if getting air flow to the roots is important; I think it would make a difference.

I'm going to Low Stress Train the CRAP out of every plant; I use fuzzy pipe cleaners (like kids make art with) and cut them into thirds, they work very well. I'm hoping that with LST and proper placement of pots (larger plants on the outside walls; small shorter plants on the inside; that I'll be able to effectively manage the growth. I've gotten into the habit of building little "pillars" to get my shorties at the same horizontal growth level of the tall girls.

Water
I've used spring water in the past; that got to be VERY expensive. Then I started using tap water; and that works okay. Lots of chlorine in it. Lots of fluoride. But it works; been using it on every grow up to this point and so far it's been okay.

However, on this grow I decided to take some admin advice and oxygenate the water first. I dont' have a water source near my grow space; so watering plants involves carrying jug after jug of water down a flight of steps; and that is a big pain in the balls.

SO, I've decided that I'm going to fill up this huge, 17+ gallon sealed plastic tub full of tap water. I'll use this as my watering can dipping vessel. Then, I bought a 100-gallon (overkill I know, but the cost versus a 55 gallon and this were negligible,) aquarium pump, a good length of hose and several connection fittings. I plan on running a total of 8 small air stones in the tub and just letting it bubble, bubble, and bubble some more. I'm hoping this aggressive aeration will remove some of the chlorine and other chemicals in the water over time.

I've never used aerated water before; so let's see how much of a difference she makes!

Pictures coming soon!

 

[Son of Hobbes]

The seeds!

 

[thugga]

This should be a fun ride. I have a similar setup for my first grow with around 17 autos 5 photos. but i decided to stagger them and try a little breeding. KARMA your way

 

[Son of Hobbes]

Grow Space Redux

Took down the DIY tent and the Aviditi tent. Converting the whole room into a grow space. Here's what it looked like before. Each tent contained a 400W HPS/MH in a cool tube.





Pretty cramped in there. I'm moving out all the paints and varnishes in there; nothing like VOC's and fumes from opened cans with HPS lights to make you feel safe and warm inside.



Almost got it cleaned out...




There's an old coal chute that's been plugged off in the wall; at least I thought it was more plugged than it actually is. It's vented outside with a cap; but there's a nice cool draft coming in through it and just had a rag stuffed inside to plug it off. So I can use this as a fresh air intake for the grow space; right now I'll leave it as a passive intake since I can feel a slight breeze coming through; but I could retrofit a 240 CFM 6" inline can fan to it to pull in fresh air at a better rate.



Time to clean the carbon filter sleeve. Pretty gross looking. Quick wash on delicate cycle in the washing machine; then will either air dry or tumble dry on low heat for like 15 minute intervals.




Ah crap. This is what happens if you leave your carbon scrubber on the floor of the tent and don't pay attention to run off from your plants. I might take a wire brush to it and scrape down some of the rust; but still. What a poop chute. I'll be sure to make sure these sit up on blocks next time; or will have them hang up top at the ceiling of the space.






Here I have the frame nearly finished. As you can see I cobbled the CRAP out of this frame; I wanted to reuse what I could of the 3/4" PVC and well... it shows haha! I will unfold and wrap the 8 mil plastic sheeting around the frame of the tent and using heavy duty duct tape to seal the seams. I'm going to make a flap on the ceiling towards the entrance of the tent so I can access the ballasts and other electrical. All of the cords and electrical will be completely off the floor.

Once the plastic shell is on; I have a large roll of mylar that will be getting fixed to the interior walls and ceiling. The floor is getting another tarp layed down to catch excess water; then I have my foot by 4 foot and a 3 foot by 2 foot drip trays from my two Aviditi tents that I will lay down on the floor (they have a reflective material on them; the same as the inside of the tents.)

More to come; got plenty to do on this beast! Stay tuned :stylez rasta smoke:

 

[GoAuto6]

:Cushty:​

 

[swampman]

:smokebuds:

 

[DABaracuss]

LOL Ill ride to the gates of hell with ya brother LOL this should be crazy fun..How long have you let your soil cook?

 

[Chankry]

Im speechless, incredible setup. Im in for the ride!

 

[eleventysix]

15 different strains!!!!!! Holy crap styles!!
I'll definitely be watching this one! I'm excited to see this grow! Good luck buddy :gthumb:

 

[Son of Hobbes]

Germination Photos

Germinated the seeds using the paper towel method. Folded a paper towel in half; soaked it in spring water (did not pH it; but it beats the chlorine/fluoride that's in my tap water.) Wrung out the excess water and placed seeds on the towel; folded several times and placed in zip lock snack baggies. One baggy per strain. Zipped up the baggies; stuck them all in a paper bag folded over and placed about 5 feet in front of the floor blower fan of my gas fireplace.

Checked them daily for moisture; on the third day I decided to see if anything popped and found that nearly all had popped and shown tap roots; several of them had probably germinated in the first 24 hours as the tap roots were several inches long. Some had even grown into the paper towel! I carefully pulled the ply of the towels apart and stuck the germinated seeds into coco coir seedling starters (just the little husk pods,) filled up with straight Pro-Mix BX.



Before going in; I watered the Pro-Mix so it would settle a bit in the little coco starter pots. It was afterwards I realized I may have moistened the soil a bit too much. Fearing water logging/drownig; I damped off the excess moisture and stuck a small 6" clip fan inside my seedling starter box.



I also stuck a space heater next to the space; so the fan was sucking in warm air through a small hole in the box; helping to dry the soil out a bit.





I'm going to put a few blocks under the tray to get it closer to the CFL; I have another 125W CFL I could stick in there for 300W CFL total; but I'm hoping to have my grow space completed within a few days and I'll be able to stick them under metal halide and in their final pots.

Speaking of which; I will be transplanting these to their final pots either after I see at least 2 sets of actual leaves; or when the roots start poking out the start pots (whichever comes first; I expect both to happen rather quickly.)

Today is the 4th day since they were put in paper towels; and here's what they look like!

LOL Ill ride to the gates of hell with ya brother LOL this should be crazy fun..How long have you let your soil cook?

I used Pro-Mix on my last auto grow and I didn't cook it at all. I'm honestly quite new to myrorhizae (hell I can't even spell it without looking it up haha!), so I'm open to suggestions to improving on it, even if it won't apply to this grow. I was impressed enough with Pro-Mix out of the bag; so if it can be improved on please help a brotha out! I have two bales of Pro-mix BX on hand; one freshly cracked and one unopened (the big 60-70 pound bales.)

Do you think it would be beneficial to add the additional Mycorrhiza and the Azos nitrogen fixing microbes even if I'm not giving the soil time to cook? If those amendments need time to do their thing; I'd rather not waste the money now if I can use them for my next grow after this (I'm game to try to make some super soil, why not?!)

I've got the grow room probably 66% complete; I've started adding mylar to the walls. Boy; that stuff is a pain in the butt cheeks to work with. Crinkles; and if you don't have it laying perfectly flat; well; it looks hideous!

Thanks for taking a look :High 5: