Thread: Closet Doms in Water.... An Ad Hoc Log of Black Dominas in DWC Hydro

Well, I finally did it. My first attempt at a grow log. Now please be patient and don't expect daily pictures or updates - although I'll try to give them - as I am in the process of getting a new job and that is gonna disrupt some things during this log.

My goal is to post updates at least 3x weekly or more often as life allows. Some background: I grew a couple of Black Dominas (indica strain) in August thru October, but encountered problems with excessive heat (100 F unexpectedly during a late summer warm spell) and then had my biggest cola come crashing down and took out a couple of nice branches. Lesson learned: tie up all colas ahead of time or SCROG them.

So here is where I'm starting this log. I have 2 beautiful girls that I grew from clones (cuts taken 9/28) and they stand about 18 in tall right now, and they have been topped/FIM'ed twice. They are just finishing veg (18/6) in a Hydrohut Mini as I wait for my last crop to finish.

Here are some pics below. Pay no mind to the yellowing leaves on the right side of the pics... that is a Super Skunk mother that is being leached with water for a future project.

Another update in a while when I get back from Home Depot. Gotta grab some DIY supplies as I am figuring to install screening soon and want all the materials on hand when I prepare to move them to the flower closet.

MVP

Right now the Black Dominas (aka BD's) are in temporary quarters in a HydroHut Mini, but will be moved to the flower room within the next 10 days to two weeks. The flowering space is literally the left half of a closet in a spare room - it measures 42 in wide by 24 in deep and although the room has 8 ft ceilings, I am limited to approx 6.5 ft in height due to a activated carbon filter attached to the 6 inch Vortex 449 CFM inline fan.

So the Votex fan is rated at 449 CFM, but seems to push quite a bit stronger than that so I have it attached to a home made variable speed switch - basically a dimmer switch rheostat - that allows me to dial up or down the speed of the fan the same as one would dim lights in their home. The carbon filter is 8 in x 20 in reduced to a 6 in flexible venting and pushed by the fan through the ceiling and vented outside via the roof.

The walls are painted flat white and the closet opening is shielded from light leakage with layers of "Panda" plastic - black on outside/white on the inside. Temps are monitored by a Hygro Thermometer that displays the humidity and temperature for two separate areas, and also records the min/max for each area.

Cool MVP will be watching your Black Dominas as Ive had a look at some of those seeds on the old seedbay. Looks like your growing hydro as well so thats good to see also

Hey Jack, Welcome to the log. Last time I grew BD's I got 4 oz off two plants without paying much attention to the PPM and PH (first grow in ~ 15 years)... This time I am hoping to better that effort twice over, but with this hobby who knows what will happen.

Stayed tuned it will be informative that's for sure. Hopefully fun and productive too! Comments and questions are encouraged.

MVP

So in this closet grow space I am using a Sun Systems 430W HPS running a hortilux bulb. The reflector is a Hydrofarm ValuBrite unit with high reflectivity German specular aluminum and optional 4 inch air cooling ports that are so far not being utilized. The ballast is located to the far right of the closet space to avoid excessive heat in the flowering zone (which is in the left half of the closet).

My nutrients are as close to 100 percent organic as possible. I am using are mainly the Botanicare line:
- Pure Blend Pro (Grow and Bloom, depending on the light cycle)
- CalMag
- Liquid Karma
- Sweet
I am also using Earth Juice MicroBlast for micronutrients
And I am using DutchMaster's Zone as a root conditioner.

OK, the closet is getting prepped today - I harvested the plants that were finishing in the flowering closet and they are drying in my MacGyver drying contraption - pics below. Gonna install a screen and give this SCROG thing a try I guess. Wish me luck!

Wow.....you got alot of stuff efficiently packed in here. Good job! I can't wait to see these dominas in a scrog formation!!!! They look really good right now.....happy and healthy.

MVP....your reflector sounds ALOT like mine.....can you take a pic of it when you get a chance?

Here are some pics, including the reflector hood, etc. I will be vacuuming the filter cover today (it is SO gross looking), then installing a muffin fan on the reflector hood to create some airflow to keep temps cooler immediately under the lamp. I will probably add a lens to the lamp sometime in the next few weeks by having a local glass shop cut a piece of tempered glass to fit the hood...

Yes that looks quite a bit like mine but is it white on the inside?

It is that high reflectivity German specular aluminum stuff - in other words it is an aluminum interior that has a speckled finish that looks like an orange peel wall texture...

Yeah that's what mine has too. Im using it for my 400w mh for vegging and I REALLY like that reflector.

WH, if I remember right, you have the lens and a fan on yours? Or just a fan? How does it help the temps?

I'm half way thu installing a muffin fan right now...

I think jorge cervantes mentioned in his book that that particular reflector was one of the best deals in North America....which is saying something in my book.

I use both the glass and the muffin fan (dayton 4 inch....105cfm) but I originally bought the glass back when I used that reflector for my 1kw mh and hps so I was asking it to do a LOT more back then.....which it did very well with a four inch 279 cfm inline fan.
The 400wmh is MUCH less hot than a 1kw (of course) but a 400w/hps will run even cooler than that. The difference between your setup and mine is the space. I have mine running in a huge room so the heat buildup is pretty much nil. I dont at ALL know what it would be in a small space like yours. Are you planning on venting into the room itself? That's what I'm doing.

The room itself is vented thru a 6 in 449 CFM Vortex inline fan that is hooked up to the carbon filter. The whole closet itself is 7 ft wide x 2 ft deep by 8 ft tall = 112 cu. ft. The room is an additional 12 ft x 13 ft = 1152 cu. ft., which means my fan can clear the entire room+closet in under 3 min when run wide open. I usually have it throttled back to 60 percent or so, which means it clears the room in about 4.5 minutes.

My only concern for heat is directly under the light where I have noticed ambient air temps run 80-85 degrees at times. Much of that has changed now that I am running my light during evenings to keep room temps warm at night and moderate during the daytime hours.

I saw in Opie's SCROG (LSTTT thread) that he has a fan directly under the lamp blowing up onto it, so maybe I'll spec that into my build and use that as an additional measure if needed...

Yeah, I love Jorge Cervantes book as well as Greg Green's book too. They get a lot of use around my house. For any beginners or intermediate growers that are following this thread, I highly recommend them in this order.

Amazon.com: Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower's Bible: Books: Jorge Cervantes

Amazon.com: The Cannabis Grow Bible: The Definitive Guide to Growing Marijuana for Recreational and Medical Use: Books: Greg Green

Spent some time workin' with wood today... building the screen of course. First I built a frame out of fir strips (1x2 roughs for those unfamiliar),

then measured my 2 in x 2 in screening to fit the frame. I went and test mounted the frame first so that if it didn't fit, I was ahead of the game cuz I did not have to remove the screening to fix the fit problem.

No fit problem at all. Next I used my staple gun with 1/2 staples and secured the screening to the frame before test mounting it again in the closet. I decided to attach mounting strips to the closet, then set the screen on top of the mounting strips and attach it with 2 screws... I'll do that once I vacuum up the mess and install my glass lens on the light.

This is what it looks like with the screen in place. I am going to make a 'stadium' screen for the 2nd level (approx 8-12 in above the 1st screen) once I get the glass installed on the light and do my final cleaning/sterilization of the space.

So... that is about it for now. If there is anyone lurking out there I would like to know what you think so far and if there is anything you wanna know about the setup.

I know it is not a true SCROG since I did not veg the plants with the screens in place. In real life shit happens and my last grow had nute deficiencies that screwed up my schedule, and... wa la... I am now gonna finish by flippin' to 12/12 and doing my best to finish them as you see here so far.

If there are any Scrogmasters out there who wanna warn me what I am in for by doing this, I am up for it.

MVP

Today was a big day. I got the closet all cleaned up and monkeyed around with the fans and ventilation and stuff. Then I decided it was time to bring the girls into their new home. Before doing so I got them situared in their new DWC grow containers.

These containers I made from 10 gal. sterlite storage totes, 3/4 ball valve plumbing, and covered them with aluminum tape to seal out ALL light from the reservoir.


I then cut 2 holes in the container top - one to fit my square 6 in net pots, and one to fit the round 6 in net pots. My reason for doing this was simple: to afford easy access to the res for PPM and PH monitoring. Also to have flexibility when I wanted to use one type of pot over the other (so I didn't have to waste cash and buy multiple lids).


Now each DWC bubbler has its own 14 inch airstone that is run by a dual line air pump rated for a 30-60 gallon aquarium setup. I used a "T" just inside the res to bring both lines together and power the airstone. As you can imagine, plenty 'o bubbles.



Lastly I prepped the girls into their new containers and went on to finish up a few final details on the grow space itself...

Ahhhh, there they are in the HydroHut, getting ready to move to their new place...

The deal is that I cannot remember exactly what I posted, and when the site went down last night I retreated to the garden and did a little bit more work. I'll have to update quickly cuz I gotta run errands in a few minutes.

Moved them into the flowering closet and test fitting the 'stadium' type screen.


Here they are in the closet for the first time. The air lines and electrical cords are a bit messy, but I am gonna clean those up this afternoon when the lights go on.


When I was test fitting the top screen I had to bend it around a bit to get the fit I wanted. Once happy with the fit I attached the screen to nailing strips with the staplegun. I then mount the screen to the wall by screwing drywall screws into the wall studs in the closet. That way if I ever need/have to remove the screen it is as easy as removing a couple of screws (as opposed to stapling it into the closet and having to rip it out)...


The next two pics below show the screens in place after I attached the nailing strip to the wall and spent some time tweaking the screen and bending it into place to my liking.

Next update this afternoon sometime..... thanks for stopping by

Wow that looks great MVP! Can't wait to see those babies start spreading out through that screen. Too much work for me....but certainly would like to have the results from all the energy youve put into them. Think you'll have a GREAT harvest here!

Ps....Good photos too....even I understood what you were doing.

That looks a top shelf grow room, MVP. Lots of effort and know-how for sure.

Shovelhandle

Originally Posted by Weedhound

Wow that looks great MVP! Can't wait to see those babies start spreading out through that screen. Too much work for me....but certainly would like to have the results from all the energy youve put into them. Think you'll have a GREAT harvest here!

Ps....Good photos too....even I understood what you were doing.

It was a bit of work, but maybe I can save someone a headache or two with the pics... so far this is the best alternative I have come up with to maximize yield and minimize problems based upon available space.

Originally Posted by Shovelhandle

That looks a top shelf grow room, MVP. Lots of effort and know-how for sure.

Shovelhandle

Thanks Shov, I hope to learn some with this grow and if you have experience with this type of setup comments and suggestions are appreciated!

Man That Looks Great! Keep the Posting coming!
Got Some Rep Coming Your way aswell.

-Wil

Is there flat white on all four sides of your cab or is that piece of cardboard making it 3 white one brown?

If so, spray paint it! Or you could buy a science fair poster board.

Latest pics with screens in place and bottom growth trimmed away. Electrical and air pumps/lines have been organized as well.

Plus I snuck in a pic of the clones from the Cloning Log I made for WH a few weeks back... I'll post it there too in a sec.

Damn gnats are driving me crazy, as you can tell from the yellow sticky strip on the wall and the No Pest Strip between the pots. Who knows how to get rid of those little fuckers?! They are totally pissing me off!