Earth Box Grow

[TheBlkVet]

Hi There! Noob in the house! I finally got my grow room set up. Pretty jazzed right about now. Just waiting for my last two seeds to come in from Mandala before I get going. After considering my situation, I decided to grow my first grow in Jr. Earth Boxes.

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience in growing in Earth Boxes? I'm also starting my seeds in the same medium so it will go from seed to flower in the same pot.

6 plants under T-5's (4- 6400 bloom/4- 3000 veg lights//40k lumens) in Jr. Earth Boxes. Medium I'm using- Roots Organic Soilless Mix, Pro Mix Ultimate Organic Mix, Vermiculite,and Perlite. Amendments- Bone/Blood Meal, Dolomite Lime, Roots Organic Earth Worms, Bio-Bizz Root Juice, Bloom Juice, Fish Juice, and Bu's Brew (Compost Tea). Medicine I'm growing- Ketama, Hash Bomb, Hashberry, Ganesh, Chill-Om, and Black Russian.

Thanks for any help, criticism, or directions!

Peace.

[TheBlkVet]

Hey Tokage, what's up man! Yes, organic is the only way for me to go bro! I'll keep you all updated. Hoping to get the seeds in the ground this week.

[Dust]

good luck with that grow man, like toage said looks like you are ready to go will be nice to see a full grow under neon we don't see often some and i've seen some nice results when the canopy is managed nicely. hat did you plan to do on those girls to have a nice even canopy?

Have a good grow hope the mandala come quick

[oldemarine]

Hey Tokage, what's up man! Yes, organic is the only way for me to go bro! I'll keep you all updated. Hoping to get the seeds in the ground this week.

Aloha, The Earth Boxes are a neat system if you keep the fungus gnats under control using yellow sticky traps, and bacterial based pesticides like Gnatrol. We also used small pieces of mosquito dunks that contain a Bacillus bacteria for the reservoir portion of the Earth Boxes. In the early grow stage it takes time for the large EBs to dry out as compared to regular pot culture using the same amount of substrate. The production overall was not as good in the EBs compared to waterfarms and pot culture. I like your lighting set up TheBlkVet nice work. http://rinconvitova.com/bulletins_product_htm/Gnatrol_BUL.htm

[TheBlkVet]

Hey Dust- 'preciate the good vibe man. I'm thinking LST, but I might even try SCROG. I painted the inside of the closet flat white, but I'm going to get some mylar to put up once they go into veg. And I heard CFLs on the sides help too, so depending on how they grow, I'll decide whether to add them or not.

[Dust]

ok ok we'll be around to watch

[TheBlkVet]

Aloha, The Earth Boxes are a neat system if you keep the fungus gnats under control using yellow sticky traps, and bacterial based pesticides like Gnatrol.

oldemarine- thanks for the tip!

[oldemarine]

Aloha TheBlkVet, The EB is a good system if the substrate is designed to give more air than in pot culture. Due to the low profile of the EB they hold more water so it is a good idea to add extra perlite or lava rock and use coarse peat vs fine to prevent the soil from having low oxygen levels. If I were you I would try to make a soil mix with lots of pore space so the roots have air as the EB waters from below at a constant rate. One thing that is great about the larger EBs is you cold go away for a week and not have to worry about watering. Also remember that it is a good idea to go light on the fertilizer because if you put too much in it is real hard to take it back or leach it out. Using low rates if you see a problem you can add what is low as needed.

[TheBlkVet]

Hey Oldemarine- I purchased the Roots Soilless Mix, and the Pro Mix (both organic). I believe I will need to add more Perlite to the Promix b/c the Roots is coco media and should have ample amount of perlite. But I'll see. My goal is not to use anything but organic nutes (if I have to use them at all) so that I don;t have to worry about leaching or flushing in these boxes. I didn't plan on using fertilizer until it looks like the plants need it. I know the EB instructions include making a 2" trench in front of the box and putting the fert in there, but I decided against it. Thanks for passing on some knowledge.

[oldemarine]

Aloha The BlkVet, With your lighting system how many watts per sq. ft? The key to lighting and growing environment is to be able to get rid of the heat during the warm summer season and save as much as you can during cold periods during the winter.

[TheBlkVet]

oldemarine- You got me there buddy! I am ashamed to say I don't know how to calculate this. My brain stops trying after addition, multiplication, division and subtraction.

I plan to have 6 plants in a 35 sq ft closet. They will planted 6-8 in apart. I will use (4) 6400k and (4) 3200k for veg and bloom. I'm also looking into 10k uva. This is the lighting. From what I've been reading on the different forums, this should be enuf. We'll see. As this is my very first grow, I have a lot to learn, and I'm willing to accept any help that is given. Thanx!

Update: I didn't want to seem like a complete loser, so I went and checked out the wattage. It's 54 watts per lamp X 8 lamps=432 watts; and 5000 lumens per lamp X 8 lamps=40,000 lumens. I still can't calculate the sq ft and stuff (MENTAL BLOCK WITH FORMULAS SINCE SCHOOL DAYS), but do ya think this would be enuf lights for my space and amount of plants? Thanx!

Edited March 12, 2013 by TheBlkVet

[bozoph]

ive seen huge tomato plants in those before. good luck

[TheBlkVet]

Thanx bozoph! I can only pray that my mother's green thumb was encoded in my DNA. She is a master gardner, really has a feel for the earth, and she knows how to listen to her flowers. They are always vibrant and beautiful. Wish I could get her to grow my medicine!

[TheBlkVet]

oldemarine- I think I know what I have to do. I miscalculated the wattage. I stand at 432 now with the system I have. I'm going to order another one, 4ft with 4 lamps, 3000k for bloom; and side mount it. That will give me 640 watts, and from what I've read in forums, it should be enough to get a decent yield. What do you think? Anyone can answer really. Thanks!

[oldemarine]

Aloha TheBlkVet, If you can vent to an attic or outside I would use two 400 watt HID + the lights you have now. That would give you 432 + 800 = 1,232 and 35.2 watts per sq ft. You could also use 600 watt HID lighting to bring it up to 1,632 watts and 46.6 watts per sq. ft. More light equals more production if your area is a closet that is about 6 x 6 feet sq. A rough figure depending on the strain, proper climate control & skill of the grower is .25 to 1+ grams per watt.

[TheBlkVet]

Thanks oldemarine. I was actually trying to stay away from those lamps. As a matter of fact, while I'm waiting on my seeds from Mandala (don't know what the hell happened this time. it's been 10 days already. first time it only took 5 days. I probably shouldn't have registered them this time. oh well we'll see.) I'm still researching and I came upon this very interesting thread on T-5 lights. It's 490 pages long and I'm only on page 32, so I'll let you know what I think of it. I'm waiting to see his yield from his light set up, but it looks promising.

[oldemarine]

Aloha BlkVet, The lights you have now will be fine in the seedling and early stages of growth. When they get up 8" to 12" you need more light. HID has worked well for millions of growers for over 35 years. Arjan & Franco here at Strainhunters seem to think 600 to 1,000 watts per sq. meter is ideal. (55 to 92 watts per sq. ft.)

[TheBlkVet]

I know ALL about the debate about HID vs T-5 Grows! I've seen it get pretty heated on forums, and vowed not to get sucked into which method is best; but, rather, decide which method is best for ME! Ya dig?? Since I rent where I'm at, and the foreign corp, aka the Fed came up with S.M.A.R.T., I'd rather not chance the HID hookup. I live in an extremely hot state year round, don't need the xtra heat, elec bill nor any other issues these lights propose.

I've been reading this guy's page on Aquarium Lighting. He's proven that with these types of lights: UVL Red sun 630nm; UVL 454nm; UVL Super Actinic @ 420nm; ATI Pro Color 660nm; KorallenZucht Fiji Purple 630 & 440nm, one can go from seed to flower using the T-5's! And other guys did the experiment and they have been knocked the f*ck out over the results!

I'm going to finish the journal, all 490+ pages of it; but from the results of the four or five different grows I've seen under these lights, I'm gonna give these lights a whirl. Check it: http://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/358190-led-without-leds-my-first.html

But thanks for another point of view!

Peace.

[TheBlkVet]

Here is the beginning of his page. I think it should be interesting to note that he once used HPS and MH

LED Without LEDs -My First T5 Grow

"So when i decided to grow i started with a 400W hps and MH conversion bulb. I put up my tent and it was problem after problem. With the generous help from the people here i decided to throw away my setup and start from scratch. I purchased the Quantum Badboy 8 lamp T5. I started with the standard 6500k bulbs with some success. I wanted to buy an LED light but didnt have the money. So... i was at my buddies house and he has a LARGE aquarium and he showed me his bulbs..it clicked.. corals need light too and his lights produced the EXACT spectrum corals need to live and are capable of penetrating 3'+ of water. well corals and plants are very similar as they use the EXACT same light spectrum. Digging deeper i found bulbs that produce 410-460nm and 620-660 nm light.. That is also Exactly what LEDs put out..now putting one plus one together i decided to do a small test.. i bought 2 2' t5 lights ATI AND UVL Blue plus and Super Actinic. Explosive growth followed. i couldent believe my eyes. I was told on 4 different forums that actinic bulbs DO NOT WORK FOR plants boy were they really wrong!. i ahve since gone 100% T5 with various bulbs producing only yhe light spectrum that plants need. As you can see my plants are doing AMAZING for being grown with Actinic bulbs.2 of my bulbs are missing as they were broken upon arrrival. I will be changing out some of the blue bulbs with the deep red ones i found for flowering..they produce ONLY 630-660nm light. no other spectrum so i get 100% PAR. top that with MH...now i know what your thinking these lights are not bright at all... well its not about lumens.the human eye response is

photosynthetic is

, so your eyes do not see ALL the light these bulbs output. hardcore believers will flame me but let the math and the facts be known.HPS BULBS

Anyone notice a pattern here???? Lumens are not the ending factor to bud growth or you could not grow with LED. my sample grow i netted 1oz on a plant with only 116w. If your still in disbelief consider this, chect the spectrum charts for your coveted 3000k bulbs and overlay it with your chlorophyll response charts.. youll notice MOST of the light these bulbs prodice is outside the chloraphyll A+B peaks... now place the spectrums of my lights and overlay them...100% match.. seems to me im doing something right?

". Copied from:

http://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/358190-led-without-leds-my-first.html

Not trying to change your mind about T-5's- just giving you some info on a differernt type of T-5 grow.

Peace.

[oldemarine]

Aloha TheBlkVet, It will be interesting to see how 12 watts per sq. ft. works out for you my friend.

[TheBlkVet]

There you go with math equations again! lmfao! But I'm curious to know how you got there though. I'm hoping to germinate 6 seeds. If I have 8 lamps ea putting out 54 watts (or more), it's roughly 432+ watts. Then add in the 4- 54 watt lamps on the side, that's 216 watts. Together that's 648 watts. The EBs are 23" L x 7 ¼" H x 9 ½" W/D. The Ballast is roughly 47x3x24.

Here's where it gets murky for me breaking it down and sh*t, to see if it's enough lighting per sqft; but the spectrum of lights I've witnessed being used with the T-5 grows are worth the experimentation for me. I understand your preference for HID ad MH; but I wouldn't be able to use those anyways- so the results of my empirical test on these lights will be worth it for me.

T-5's and CFL/LED would be the only way for me to grow my own stash due to my temporary living conditions. But we'll see. Did you get around to checking out the link I sent you? It's hard to deny something when it's staring you in the face. This dude has proof these lites work bro. All the way to harvest. Hard to argue with success.

[TheBlkVet]

Check these out:

HERE'S A DIFF GROW USING THE SAME LIGHTS

HERE'S THE 1ST GROW RIGHT B4 HARVEST

HERE'S THE HARVEST- SHARKSBREATH. 1 OZ OFF 1 PLANT. BUT HE WASN'T TRYING FOR WEIGHT. HE BASICALLY NEGLECTED THE PLANT- WATER AND BARE NUTRIENTS. HE WAS TESTING THE LIGHT SPECTRUM. AWESOME RESULTS IMO.

Hey- I'm convinced these things work. His documentation was precise, he showed pics throughout the grow, and he showed the end results. Thanks for your input though. I'm a hard sell, and he sold me by page 38.

Peace.