Grow Journal - Mars Hydro TS 3000 & AutoFlowers

A fresh new Grow with MEMBER input. (seeds and tent)

The grow light will be a Mars Hydro TS3000. I have not finished a grow with this light, up to this point only veg. Typically I finish under the FC6500 in a 4x4.

I will be purchasing a new 3x3 tent for this grow, @ least that is the plan. I will make the purchase in 2 days, perhaps YOU will talk me into a different footprint for use with this light?


For plants I have the following SEED options;

1. Pineapple Chunk Auto
2. Sour Diesel Auto
3. Girl Scout Cookies Auto
4. UK Cheese Auto
5. Purple Cheese Auto

Hoping to grow 2 to 4 of these in 5 gallon fabric pots with similar growth habits and timing. I have enough that I could do a single strain grow but I would like to mix it up, if there's compatibility. I will get the strain growth details up in the next post or so to help drive that selection.

I will figure out the fan and will most likely be using a carbon filter as these are kinda stinky strains.

I have to this point only grown a handful of Autos, UK Cheese and Green Crack. The rest of grows have been photos.


So, if you want to give input on the 3 variables please do-

1. What footprint would you recommend for that light?
2. Which strains should I put in there?
3. How many plants (each get a 5 gallon fabric pot)?

This grow journal is open to comments/questions/support/etc pertaining to my grow. Please don't post outside info here.


Thanks for joining me!

1) It’s a little much for a 3x3 and not quite enough for. 4x4, although I think Mars hydro 3x3’s are actually 1m x 1m. I would go 4x4 just because it’s bigger.

2) Sour Diesel & UK Cheese

3) 2 if it’s five gallon.

Ever since I got the tsw2000 it’s bugged me that their light sizes don’t really work with standard tent sizes.

Brettman said:

1) It’s a little much for a 3x3 and not quite enough for. 4x4, although I think Mars hydro 3x3’s are actually 1m x 1m. I would go 4x4 just because it’s bigger.

2) Sour Diesel & UK Cheese

3) 2 if it’s five gallon.

Click to expand...

Mars Hydro does have the 3.3x3.3 footprint. I was just looking at that. I'm glad to hear that you feel its a bit much for a 3x3. I originally put it in a 4x4 and felt the same- just not enough.

What do you like about that combo? Sour Diesel and UK Cheese?

And you are saying, only 2 5 Gallon pots, so 1 of each, correct? Maybe I should downsize to 3 gallons? Its a delicate balance filling the space and not overdoing it. I very much dislike wasted space though

Brettman said:

Ever since I got the tsw2000 it’s bugged me that their light sizes don’t really work with standard tent sizes.

Click to expand...

They just put up a bunch of the smaller lights in a new form factor which I'm kind of jealous of. Spread that light out!

Mr. Bakerton said:

What do you like about that combo? Sour Diesel and UK Cheese?

And you are saying, only 2 5 Gallon pots, so 1 of each, correct? Maybe I should downsize to 3 gallons?

Click to expand...

Nothing at all lol, just picked two for you.

If it was me I would do 4x3gallon in the 3x3 or 4x5gallon in the 4x4.

Mr. Bakerton said:

A fresh new Grow with MEMBER input. (seeds and tent)

The grow light will be a Mars Hydro TS3000. I have not finished a grow with this light, up to this point only veg. Typically I finish under the FC6500 in a 4x4.

I will be purchasing a new 3x3 tent for this grow, @ least that is the plan. I will make the purchase in 2 days, perhaps YOU will talk me into a different footprint for use with this light?


For plants I have the following SEED options;

1. Pineapple Chunk Auto
2. Sour Diesel Auto
3. Girl Scout Cookies Auto
4. UK Cheese Auto
5. Purple Cheese Auto

Hoping to grow 2 to 4 of these in 5 gallon fabric pots with similar growth habits and timing. I have enough that I could do a single strain grow but I would like to mix it up, if there's compatibility. I will get the strain growth details up in the next post or so to help drive that selection.

I will figure out the fan and will most likely be using a carbon filter as these are kinda stinky strains.

I have to this point only grown a handful of Autos, UK Cheese and Green Crack. The rest of grows have been photos.


So, if you want to give input on the 3 variables please do-

1. What footprint would you recommend for that light?
2. Which strains should I put in there?
3. How many plants (each get a 5 gallon fabric pot)?

This grow journal is open to comments/questions/support/etc pertaining to my grow. Please don't post outside info here.


Thanks for joining me!

Click to expand...

don't forget to share the growing pictures~

Just got back from a week long vacation. I ended up ordering the MARS HYDRO 39''X39''X71'' HYDROPONIC INDOOR GROW TENT - 3.3'X3.3'



Started seeds via the papertowel method. I've had 100% success so lets hope that keeps up. But I'm trying to stay ahead of failure and I started 6 seeds.

Pineapple Chunk Auto
Sour Diesel Auto
Girl Scout Cookies Auto
Purple Cheese Auto

Really hoping the Purple Cheese makes it, I received 2 freebies and the last one was consumed by fungus gnat larvae that showed up in the brand new bag of dirt. The seedling was chopped in half on at about an inch tall. It was by chance that I moved the soil ever so slightly and found a big larvae curled around the stem. Never would have guessed it.

turns out Pineapple Chunk Auto & Purple Cheese Auto have the same initials.

Seeds popped some tails. Planted them all yesterday

And today-

Girl Scout Cookies for the win. Both were the first to show from the soil.

Tent came in the mail! Will move the seedlings under the light today.

About the tent,

• Setup was a breeze, despite the fact that I had limited room and was not able to assemble like the directions suggest.
• No light leaks the inside is super reflective, the material seems right
• The door is questionable to me. I defiantly prefer the double door setup of gorilla tents. BUT that opinion could change overtime. Change can be difficult. I just need to open it a few hundred times...
• I like that MarsHydro label. the texture is neat to me.
• Every tent I've seen so far, I wish they would include more top bars. I would pay for this! They are just so darn handy and They are HOW you mount and Hang stuff so more is always better for flexibility.
• So far I'm very happy with my purchase. The size of just bigger than 3 ft is really what pushed me to this tent.

It was good to bring the TS3000 out of storage. I forgot just how bright that thing is. The Mars Hydro logo fell off during the first grow, So I've added my own sticker that came with the light.

I have relocated the LED drivers to outside of the tent. I didn't see in the directions where vertical mounting was an issue, nor did I read about mounting requirements. I reached out to tech support and they preferred that I didn't mount them to wood. So I guess I should change that prior to CRANKING up the power. Might try and get some stand offs or something to separate them from the wood.

Still waiting on the 6" ducting and filter to install the fan. I'm really not sure it will all fit in this small tent given the limited 2 support bars on top and hole configuration. Will update.


Hey Look @MarsHydrofactory I finally got my Mars stuff out and pics up!

Time to hurry up and wait! The babies are tucked in, warm and getting some light.

At this stage in the grow I don't have any air circulation. One of the top vents is open as well as one lower side window to allow some air flow. Keeping humidity high can be a challenge for me this time of year.

Temp and humidity is hanging just about 80 degrees and 54%.

I just added a plant tray of water on the heat mat. It will be nice to see if that increase the general humidity.

I will be adding some broccoli seeds most likely over the weekend to get a start on them to move outside in a 4-6 weeks depending on the temps outside. Broccoli grows slow and I don't anticipate room issues but time will tell.

The seedlings are growing in a mix of coast of Maine seed starting soil and some other seed soils I had. I added worm castings and recharge.


Tracking temp and humidity with an InkBird IBS-TH1.

Broccoli is starting to show. Going to add some kale this week.

4 Autos doing there thing.


Light is at 35% power.
Temps at 80 degrees.
Humidity at 55%. A bit low but its winter and dry outside. I'm thinking about getting the inkbird reptile humidifier. Downside is that my water has stuff in it and that will leave a film on everything, from what I read.


Later this week I will install the fan and upsize the pots.

turns out the inkbird sensor reading was stuck. I thought it a bit odd that there was practically no change in temp or humidity. Replaced the batteries and unstuck it became. Actual reading was very similar though.

upsized the pot. will move to final pot most likely next week depending on growth.

cleaned broccoli up to only one plant per cell.

added some kale, Collards and Kohlrabi seeds today.

broccoli is getting true leaves.

4 Marijuana plants are growing like weeds.

Moving the LED drivers out of the tent makes a big difference in heat. Anyone with heat issues should relocate the drivers if you haven't yet.

BTW, the heat pad is not on. I may end use it when I start tomatoes, peppers and herbs so its staying there for a while longer.

Kale and collards have popped. Kohlrabi not so much, I think i had a seed saving issue two winters ago as most of those seeds just aren't doing much.

here is a picture of the ventilation/filter. AC infinity Cloudline S4, controller 67 and carbon filter. I went back and forth between the 4 and 6 inch setup for this tent. The size of tent and ease of mounting is really what pushed me to the 4 inch. Though, I don't think I would ever need the 6 inch, With the LED drivers removed, its just not that hot in there.

Final pots today.

upsized some of the broccoli. Move some out doors under cover. I'm missing a circ fan to strengthen the sprout stems.

took the tops off each plant, some at 5 others at 6 nodes.

raised the light and increased to 75%

Growing along!

I think the purple cheese is starting to bud already. That would be strange.

Fungus gnats wont go away.

going to fit some echinacea seeds in there today.

Its getting a little dirty in there for my liking but that comes along with all the seedling trays.

planted some more seeds. Peppers and other herbs and flowers. new flat has a heat mat. The kale and collards are sitting on concrete and kept cool enough to be happy.

Moved basil cuttings to the little salad box green house.

Soon to move out some kale and collards and replace them with tomatoes, chard and more herbs like chives.


So far these autos are staying small and thats just alright with this grow.