U)<now's 2016/2017 Indoor/Outdoor Glog

U)<now · Feb 12, 2017

Argentine said:
How much perlite did you use for the substrate?

What proportions of elements did you use for germinating soil?

Hi, I used purple cow seed starter mix from the local hydro store. They had both purple cow and Fox Farms products. It was about $21 per bag.

U)<now · Feb 12, 2017

stettoman said:
It's looking mighty nice, though that grow area should , by rights, be more man-messy. I got shit all over the place, and my grow is going on in my studio!

You work on that, I'll be back to check progress!

Just for you stettoman.... decided on a full revamp. I'll upload the finished pics soon of "Version 3.0" of my grow setup!!

U)<now · Feb 13, 2017

So, here it is! Technically version 4.0 of my grow setup. I wanted to make my own grow tent/box that could fit everything I have plans for inside of it, and keep them warm since my basement is only about 60F year-round.

To do that, I needed to make the stand deeper to come out to the edge of the table. Since I was doing that and already had the materials needed, I added a spot for a 6th light. The floor space inside is now 13.32 sq ft and I will now have 6 twin tube T8 inside there (haven't hung the other 2 yet). This puts me at 34,080 total lumens for 2,559 lumens per sq ft.

I may revamp the front panel/door as its near impossible to get to the hooks on top to hang the 5th and 6th lights the way it is currently.

It brought my air temp inside from 60F to 73F so far and humidity from 33% up to about 50%, but humidity depends on how much I spray them.

Trident chilli · Feb 13, 2017

Nice bit of chilli engineering ... hope this works well for you

dennish · Feb 13, 2017

Nice varieties and love your ever expanding / evolving grow area! Nice work, hope you have a great season.

U)<now · Feb 13, 2017

Trident chilli said:
Nice bit of chilli engineering ... hope this works well for you

Thanks Trident! I think ill keep it like this for a while, it should work out nicely for my plans this season.

U)<now · Feb 13, 2017

dennish said:
Nice varieties and love your ever expanding / evolving grow area! Nice work, hope you have a great season.

Thanks Dennis! I hope your season goes great as well! Hoping to keep 1 to 2 of each variety, up to 60 for myself, which I should be able to fit in this grow box.

U)<now · Feb 13, 2017

For anyone curious, its outside dimensions are 51" wide x 50.5" tall x 41"deep.

Rough cost for the 6 light version of the stand from scratch would be:

$18 - PVC pipes (nine 10ft, 3/4" schedule 40 pipe)
$20 - PVC elbows and "T's"
$3 - Eye hooks for lights
$18 - Chain for hanging lights
$12 - Reflective emergency blankets
$6 - Double sided tape
$3 -Bag of zip ties
$Free - Cardboard free from work.

$80 Total for the stand(not including lights and electronics)

Lights and electronics would be:

$120 for lights - 6 twin tube T8 fixtures
$35 - box of 12 6500k Sylvania T8 2580 Lumen ($48 for 12 of 6500K XP 2850 Lumen)
$40 - 48"x20" heat mat
$20 - Ink Bird thermostat
$15 - light timer
$3 - 6 Outlet power strip for lights
$?? - Belkin surge protector (free from work)

Total $223 for me.

With the stand, puts the grand total at $303

stettoman · Feb 13, 2017

Funny you brought that up, curious is exactly what I am. I was thinking woodframing, but that just went away...

U)<now · Feb 13, 2017

stettoman said:
Funny you brought that up, curious is exactly what I am. I was thinking woodframing, but that just went away...

My original stand was a wood "I" shape, then a smaller pvc stand and now 2 versions of this one. I'll dig up my build pics from this original stand for you in a bit. They had all the measurements for every piece of the 5 light version. Don't think I have those on my phone.

Devv · Feb 13, 2017

I like the system you just built. It should hold the temps nicely. And am jelly about a basement. I grew up in NY and we had them; not here in Tejas. Here I grow in a 24x8 room, part of the shop and insulated. I have 4 2 bulb T8's with 6500k bulbs and a 4 bulb T5 with 6500k's in it. Those lights heat that room, which faces the North, so much that I open the doors to the 8x8 well house and the shop, except on the colder days.

U)<now · Feb 13, 2017

stettoman said:
Funny you brought that up, curious is exactly what I am. I was thinking woodframing, but that just went away...

Here ya go, pics of the original 5 light stand design...

Here are all the pieces you will need -

You'll also need the 5 top poles with T fittings on them. Forgot to include a pic of those. I think they are 49 3/4" long sections of pipe. I'll check when I get home.

And here is how it goes together -

These are the 5 top poles with individual pieces (note the 2 vertical support poles are not shown in this pic, they go between the four 2 1/4" pieces in the middle)

Bottom of the side/uprights -

All pieces laid out -

All laid out and put together - (turn on its side and hammer together with a deadblow)

Stand it up -

Drill some holes and put some screws in to insure it does not fold during use (can be folded flat for storage though)

gunaka · Feb 14, 2017

This setup looks amazing. Gl with your peppers man !

U)<now · Feb 14, 2017

gunaka said:
This setup looks amazing. Gl with your peppers man !

Thanks!

OCD Chilehead · Feb 14, 2017

All caught up. I really like the setup. Some great ideas in there.

Good luck with your grow Troy.

U)<now · Feb 14, 2017

OCD Chilehead said:
All caught up. I really like the setup. Some great ideas in there.

Good luck with your grow Troy.

Thanks Chuck! It's going pretty good so far. Not having much luck with germination on a few varieties from THSC though. They went in the dirt on Jan 31st and on the heat mat Feb 2nd. So technically it's only been 12 days on the mat.

0/24 Butch T scorp (the BT Scorp I got from BT have almost all sprouted)

0/12 THSC Chocolate Scorp

0/12 7 Pod Douglah

0/12 7 Pod Brainstrain

1/12 Moruga Scorp

1/12 7 Pod Barrackpore

I think the others are mostly about 6/12

The Purple Naga Viper went 12/12 though and I think the Fildalga Preto are 11/12.

I'll check when I get home today and update my list.

stettoman · Feb 14, 2017

That's some well thought OH engineering, Troy! Unless you, uh, like, design PVC swingsets and such.

My grow area isn't quite square, but your template seems sound!

So, I keep the lid on my PVC cement, yah?

U)<now · Feb 14, 2017

Yeah, I didn't glue anything. The fit is tight enough it won't come apart.

No swingset designer here, haha. Pvc was just easy, highly customizable, and reusable. Not to mention easy to store. You could break it down and fit the whole stand in a camping chair bag if needed for storage

U)<now · Feb 14, 2017

Update:

Things are coming along nicely. Starting to get a hint of green algae on a couple cells though. I might try bottom watering now for the ones already sprouted. A little disappointed at my germination rates on 7 of my 12 varieties I purchased from THSC. It's been 14 days and 5 of them are at 0% still. 2 others at 7% to 8% (one seed germ'd of each) the other 5 varieties are at 58%+ germ rate which I'm ok with. They were ordered in June last year and stored in the the same sealed glass bowl with silica gel at 38F until the day I sowed them (7 months) And since some are at 60% to 100% germ rate, I don't think my storage method was an issue and I checked their site for storage and it was actually one of the recommended methods. I'm going to reach out to Neil and see if he'll send fresh replacement seeds for the duds since it was over half my order and I just ordered another batch from him last week. I'll let you know how that goes.

Germ rates from Butch T are really good. Burpee seeds as always are at or near 100%.

Grow box got up to 75F @42% humidity today before I opened it up to spray/water. Seems to hover around 73F to 75F so I'm really happy with it so far. I could seal up the front door a bit better to hold in more heat/humidity as well.

Tapatalk app refuses to post these next 4 pics vertically for some reason. You'll all just have to do the sideways head look like dogs do, lol.

Didn't even notice I had a tri-coty BTR til today lol.

The simese tri-coty reaper.

I also have a uni-cotyledon as well. I'll get a pic of it tomorrow. It's like single siamese leaf pointing straight up. Looks like it has the opening in the middle still for true leaves to sprout, we'll see.

U)<now · Feb 17, 2017

Neil at THSC got back to me. He said some of those varieties can take a week or so longer than others, but he is sending replacement seeds anyways free of charge!

As of this post, 17 days since they hit the dirt, still no change in germination of those varieties, so I'm happy he is sending more.

I bottom watered for the first time also. Went down and checked on them a few hours after, it worked nicely, so I'll be going that route moving forward.

I also rearranged the trays, moving most of the non-germinated cells into one tray.

Also, I remembered to snap a pic of that weird unicotyledon CPR.