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indoor Air Cooled 600w HPS Tent w/ Under Current Hydro System

So I have this display tent in the store we have been playing around with
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While waiting for the starts that are going into the Current Culture sytem I have been growing my soil Hab from the end of summer in there. After reading about a similar problem of flower drop and no pods I upped the bloom (has been equal parts GMB) and along with keeping the tent closed at night(higher temps) I saw almost instant changes. Flowers are staying on and much more pollen, and instantly pods started forming
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So thanks guys I come straight here to solve my issues and it has worked well.

Heres the starts that are going into the hydro system, Bhut's, Aji Limon's, and big sun Hab's
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I'll do a monthly or so update on this stuff and let you guys know how its going, along with testing out new products the best way I can, Growing plants with them.
thanks again THP this is a great resource.
 
Nice set-up, I see your reflector is vented, do you also use a small fan for air circulation?

Greg
 
Nice set-up. I've been watching the under current design for some time now. I look forward to you log one this one.

I did notice in one of the photos you were using bagged exhale. What are your thoughts on this product?

What do you think the ppm increase is?
 
PIC-1....Yes I will make sure and post up pics, I have a 6" inline fan rated at 445 cfm outside the tent pushing the air through.
Costeve....My thoughts on Exhale lol... from customer feedback I have heard of being able to get up to 800 ppm from 300 ppm(someone has an environmental controller that reads co2 ppm) but with most of the co2 controllers having set points of 1400 and above I still think it is no replacement for real co2(burners,tanks).I would probably rather have just a fresh air intake but I am showcasing a closed loop Air cooled setup(no positive or negative pressure).
queee...8 gallon is still bigger than most bucket systems and for 600 watts and 4 plants in a 5x5 I think that is probably overkill in most peoples eyes as I will have a total of 30 gallons+ circulating through....but believe me it crossed my mind when ordering unit :).
 
Hi growgearS, i have a suggestion for your fan. Most fans are better designed to pull air through the restriction (hood and ducting) By the sounds of it your blowing air in, and you could benefit from flipping your fan over so its pulling through the restrictions. May increase the life of your fan, and be a little more efficient cooling things down a little more.

just a hint. you may have a purpose for this, or have specific fan type meant for it. but If you do try it out, see if your temps decrease at all, and/or if you can feel the difference at the other end of the ducting. Cheers. I love the setup :) I wish i had access to all this equipment. perks of the job :)
 
I copied this from another site. Noticed your using an exhale bag.

Another great way to maximize your yield is to increase the amount of C02 in your growing environment. You probably already know that plants need it for photosynthesis, but you may not know that all plants today are really under productive compared to their ancestors. When vegetation was first starting to grow on the earth, the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere was exponentially higher than it is today. The good news is, most plants (especially cannabis) have not lost their ability to process massive amounts of C02, and when introduced to the growing environment, they can grow much faster, denser, and produce a much higher yield.

How to Introduce CO2 to Your Growing environment:

As you can imagine, you can spend a shit load of money and get really sophisticated equipment that will work wonders. However, as with many things in the *** growing community, there are ways to do it inexpensively.

(if you are interested in the "Highly sophisticated" version click here)

If cash is something you can't spend, but you have just a little time and about $2, You can make a basic CO2 generator (aka fermenter) that works great for small to medium size grow spaces.

Materials Needed:
Empty Milk Jug or a somewhat large vessel with a lid.
Water
Sugar
Yeast
Safety pin or something you can poke holes with.

Method:
Fill the milk jug 1/2 - 3/4 full of water, and add 1-3 cups of sugar. Let the water stand until it is room temperature (or just use luke warm water). This is important because yeast is a living organism, and if you put it in water that is too cold or hot, you will shock it and kill most, if not all, of it. Add about 2-3 tablespoons of yeast. Place the lid on top and use a safety pin or something to poke a handful of small holes through the lid. Place the jug in your grow room in the exact opposite position of your vent fan (if you have one). For example, if your vent is in the upper left-hand corner in the back of your grow area, place the jug in the bottom right-hand corner in the front. If your grow area is larger, place multiple fermenters around your grow space.

What to expect:
Within an hour of adding your yeast, you should see it start to activate. A foam will start to develop on the top and grow larger. Some yeast strains are much more aggressive than others, and it's very possible that it will "boil over" or ooze out of the top. If it does, clean up the mess and remember to add less yeast next time. After a week or so, the yeast should start to calm down and the foam will decrease in size. After three weeks, most of the yeast will be sediment at the bottom of the fermenter. This yeast is NOT dead, and it can be rechagarged. You want to recharge the dormant yeast because it is no longer producing C02. To do so you can either give the jug a shake to give a it a quick recharge, or you can add more sugar to make the effect last longer.

Why This Works:
The yeast consumes the sugar and expels (shits) alcohol and CO2. This is the exact same process used to make the alcohol that people drink, although CO2 is usually seen as a byproduct. In this application however, the alcohol is the byproduct. By placing the fermenters in the opposite location of your vent fan, you are allowing the CO2 to be spread more evenly over your entire grow space.

If you don’t know the basics of photosynthesis, basically, the plant takes CO2, water, and sunlight and converts it into glucose and oxygen (here oxygen is a byproduct of photosynthesis).

Here is the formula:

Six molecules of water + Six molecules of Carbon Dioxide + Sunlight = 1 molecule of Sugar and six molecules of oxygen

6H2O + 6CO2 ----------> C6H12O6+ 6O2

The plant needs sugar (or glucose) to grow anything, so the more glucose it makes, the faster and bigger it will grow (think of a kid who only drinks soda and eats McDonalds).

You want to use the lid with the holes in it because it will become slightly pressurized and therefore, will slowly release the Co2 and cause it to spray out and upwards. This is opposed to not using a lid and having the CO2 slowly ooze out of the top and immediately fall to the floor of your grow area.

Alternatively, if you are into brewing your own beer/wine at home, you can run a blow off tube from your fermenters into your grow space.

Quantities of yeast, sugar, & water aren't really important because the yeast will go dormant once all of the sugar has been consumed. So, don't get too rapped up in the "right ammount" of stuff to use.
 
I'd say if you make a mini CO2 thing like that and put it in to grow room, use a fermentation lock on it. Seems like it lowers the amount of fungus gnats you have to deal with.
 
someone makes a small tankless hot water heater for camping, i think its like 100 bucks. in this case you would be using the exhaust, and wasting the hot water, but id mess with something like that on a cyclical timer beffore trying to exploit fermentation or fungi. if you wanted to get fancy, an hvac type co2 sensor can be had from ebay cheap, but one would have to be able to convert the analog signal they typically output to a setpoint that triggers a relay to run your solenoid/ pump.
 
If the pressure drop is the same, which it will be if you only change ends with the fan, the volume will be the same. Draw-through fans distribute air a little more evenly, but they won't handle more air.
 
You could do it for about 500 or less. But of course, you could always get better stuff and drive the cost up.

600w Lights for 200 with no air cool, 250-300 aircooled
Tent for about 150
Vent Fans 25-100 depending on typed
ducting-25-50 dependant
4 buckets- 10
air bubbler- 20
4 net pots- 10-40

Then add power strips and fans which should be common houshold items.

Like I said, you can spend stupid money, or research deals and find stuff for less. Use eBay, they are usually the same items from the same dealers but free shipping or a few bucks off....
 
You could do it for about 500 or less. But of course, you could always get better stuff and drive the cost up.

600w Lights for 200 with no air cool, 250-300 aircooled
Tent for about 150
Vent Fans 25-100 depending on typed
ducting-25-50 dependant
4 buckets- 10
air bubbler- 20
4 net pots- 10-40

Then add power strips and fans which should be common houshold items.

Like I said, you can spend stupid money, or research deals and find stuff for less. Use eBay, they are usually the same items from the same dealers but free shipping or a few bucks off....


That is a current culture setup. The hydroponics setup alone is $875 off their website. http://wholesale.cch2o.com//index.php?main_page=index&cPath=37&zenid=c15im0kd15caak2kl57ajibos1
That and they have an ad stuck to the back wall of the tent in the picture they posted of the setup they are using/selling for $875 haha. Those aren't single bucket systems like I'm guessing you thought. It is a recirculating system with res. A very good one.

The $1800 guess sounds about right. Might be able to get it a bit cheaper if you searched for great prices.
 
You could do it for about 500 or less. But of course, you could always get better stuff and drive the cost up.

600w Lights for 200 with no air cool, 250-300 aircooled .....right on the money here
Tent for about 150.....ummm its a 5x5 so 150 is a little low even for the cheapest ones
Vent Fans 25-100 depending on typed....this is a 400 cfm centrifugal fan maybe maybe 100$ somewhere online
ducting-25-50 dependant...yeah
4 buckets- 10.....sure make sure and paint them so no light penetrates
air bubbler- 20.....actually this uses a 48 lpm air pump try 150$ on a discount website
4 net pots- 10-40....yeah or cheaper
air stones water pump fans etc. yes you can diy but this would be installed and running correctly in a few hours

I need to also say I am in no way trying to sell anything here I come here to learn because it is the best and most active pepper site!
Comments criticism always welcome :)
 
ive always wanted to build an outdoor UC type system from those square brute trashcans. i guess you would need a fairly decent pump... and something like a rocking piston air pump.
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=23323&catid=755
 
That would be awesome with the rubbermaids I think I am going to have to put the Aji from this tent in a single bucket system like that and move it out of the tent as it has doubled the size of the others and I don't want to overgrow them.
 
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