First Grow - 2600 + watt CFL!!!!
If I may add.....
1st off, your watt output, in your flower room, is 646 watts; not 2150 watts. 2150 watts is totally irrelevant here. We're looking at the watts your bulbs are pulling. Your 150w "replacement bulbs" are using only 40 watts, 100w's are using 23w. SO, your using 646 watts to power you flower room. Not sure how you came with 480w? You lights are producing 36,700 lumens of light.(keep in mind lumens will diminish over bulb-life) Now, that's a very good lumen/sq. ft. ratio, pretty good overall. But, just know that 600w HPS HIGH OUTPUT bulb emits 95,000 lumens. So when you break it down a 600W HPS H.O. is bringing 158 lumens/watt to the table; your current set-up is only producing 57 lm/w.(rounded up) Ultimately, your producing 3x LESS the amount of lm/w with with 15 bulbs as opposed to 1 bulb while burning 46 more watts. Lumens are the amount of visible light emitted from a source. More lumens = more visible light = deeper penetration into your canopy.
A 600w, cooltube, HPS light will run ya about $200, with everything, digital ballast(uses actually less power), reflector, bulb, and cords and necessary fixtures, you 4-6 inch fan to cool it....$30 bucks. You would be able to have you plants closer with a cool-tube than CFL's and your temps would be a hell of lot cooler. FYI also, no one uses Halogens to grow, a 5 year old maybe.....maybe. HPS, MH, these are called H.I.D. lights (High Intensity Discharge) that's what they are made for, lighting up yards and buildings and shit. Closest thing to natural sunlight.
2ndly. Pretty much all the strains you list have an 8-12 week flower period. the Hazes will be on the longer side considering they are sativa dominant. Your looking at 2 weeks in the seedling stage alone.(A seedling does not shed it's cotyledons for about 2 weeks) So, there's 2 weeks in the seedling stage, then add another 2-4 weeks for vegetation, 2 weeks would be the bare minimum IMO. Plus your 8-12 weeks of flowering(every strain will finish at different times) I have heard of some heavy indicas that can finish in just over 6 weeks, i believe Blackberry is around 45-49 days, pure Blackberry. Your basically looking at 4 months from seed popping to trichs turning amber more or less.
Ruderalis is being used now crossed with some strains to shorten the flowering period. But basically its the stuff that grows wild in ditches and pastures. It's also the shit they were smoking in Reefer Madness back in the 30's. It's an auto-flowering strain, so it doesn't need a change in the light cycle to start flowering necessarily.
I'm just seeing too many discrepancies here. This may seem well thought out, but in reality its excessive overkill. Inefficient use of space and lighting and time. If you did plan to LST, it would actually make the process longer, FIM-ing too. Think of FIM-ing as....your basically cutting a person's foot off and telling them to run faster, as soon as you cut the top off of that plant it is going to go WTF happened??? It's going to slow down for a minute and try to figure out what to do now. It'll take back off in a week or 2, but the added stress will slow it down which you don't seem to have to time for. Patience is virtue.
MG is usable. In a case where it is the only thing available I can agree. But, it takes practice with MG to use it how it needs to be used for growing marijuana. I'm don't have time to get into it now.
Overall, good concept. Probably could have spent your money a little more wisely. I suggest reading up more before you jump into this. Know the tendencies of your strains. Focus on 2-3 strains first, pick your 2 favorites and try to make each cycle more productive than the last one. Pick one that clones easy, roots faster, flowers shorter and in less time. 5 AK-47 seeds are going to give you 5 different plants; the characteristics of each varying. 1 will ultimately best to pick of the litter, 1 will ultimately be the runt of the litter, the other 3 will suffice, but we don't want average here. We want the best of the best, the Top Dog.
I'd ditch your sandbox idea as well. Your plants will need to be about a foot apart to have adequate room for roots. I've read the 3lbs. per light growlog, a few times over the years, pretty awesome i know. On a big scale it'll work, small scale....no way. You may get to week 5 of flower and your plants may start to kill each other off with one plant basically winning this royal rumble. A good rule of thumb to remember is that these plants need about 1 gallon of pot space per foot of plant. So a 3 foot plant should be in a 3 gallon pot(before it reaches 3 feet). It should finish at 3 feet.
Im not trying to rag on ya or "hate" on you. You obviously have the drive to produce some top shelf buds. It seems to me you have been misinformed on some major details. Or you may just think that it might work. Stick to the basics and when you get that down you can start experimenting.
Can you fill me in on your germination methods btw? Just curious.
Peace.
First Grow - 2600 + watt CFL!!!!
My germination methods sucked - Still new - I tried 3 different methods, first was water in a cup covered for 24 hours at room temp - This barely cracked any seeds, from the cup to the soil (wasted seeds). Then I did from cup to toil, same result more or less, seeds didn't crack, or barely cracked, planted in soil, wasted seeds. What finally worked for me was a little bit of distilled tapwater in the breeder bags, put in a cup and covered until they not only cracked, but totally popped, which was 2-4 days. Then plant, and they took (although my AK 47 isn't coming up yet, no worries, more seeds on the way)
I wanted to thank both of you for your advice. I've done more reading, and looked into it more, I'm going to turn this into a cloning/rooting cabinet (veg on bottom) and yes, I'm going to start using bigger pots. I also like the idea that fimming and training are more or less a waste of time - I do have to disagree on the strains though, although I do agree that most ruddies (ruderalis) are ditchweed, there are some acceptable, and even decent (I will never say kind or dank) quick flowering strains that are ruderalis. Yes, I'm also aware that ruderalis is more or less hemp, not mj :) There are some smokable strains though (60 day wonder and sweet mango rdr are two of them)
I realized today after I shocked amy that I need to learn more. I've read alot, but nothing is going to replace hands on experience. I will say that your right, I've got the strive, dedication, determination, and assets to ensure a huge yeild, I've just got to get overmyself. The biggest problem I'm finding is that there isn't a solid guide, I think that's why its so important for me to document all of this.
How did I fry Amy? My soil mixture (which she shouldn't have been moved to yet) was overloaded with N - Completely overloaded.... I've got her sitting now, and soaking, hoping that I can bring her back, hazel, on the other hand, is still alive, not really kicking, but still alive.
I honestly don't care how I grow, hydroponically, soil, superponics, reverse hydroponics, hell, seriously, I don't care. For the most part I have the time (just the next few weeks is tight for me, busy time of year) I have the resources, its only the knowledge I'm lacking. If I can get away with it, I'd prefer to steer away from soil, for the simple fact that I don't like the idea of shipping soil... Honestly, I don't have the proper type of vehicle you would use to pick up a large amount of medium, especially something dirty, without being noticed. This was my main concern behind using smaller pots originally, the importance of people not knowing overtakes the thrill of the grow.
I can do just about anything - I guess what I really need is a local mentor, that I can actually talk things over with. You guys can surely see though the amount of work I'm willing to put into decent cabinets, I'm willing to do much more to entire rooms, houses, or ultimately, my underground grow (years away guys... years...)
The funny part is, I really don't want to produce, I want it all for myself. Not sure if that makes me greedy, or just means I like to smoke alot, but I am a high function smoker (unless I'm on the couch watching family guy, then you know I'm done!)
So yes, your comments are appreciated, your advice is appreciated, and no, this thread is not jacked, because this is information I really need to make this grow a success :)
I've read alot proving that the distance of the HPS negates the lumens put out, proving that CFL could be closer and yield better results, if this isn't the case I'm assuming thats only because we're using a decent cooling technique - Also, if we're using the longer horizontal bulbs, aren't we losing half of the lumens, or a decent portion off of them because it's reflected light? There were several reasons I went with CFL, and like I said, I don't mind switching (I guess I need to bring some seeds into veg first, haha) but I want to make sure I'm getting the most bang for my buck.
I've got about a 8k budget for a grow right now, I really wish there was someone in PA I could actually get clones from, tired of dealing with seed companies :( Still waiting on my last order and it's been 13 days (sigh)
All the help you can give me is appreciated, and if you've actually got a log that explains this, please point it out to me!
First Grow - 2600 + watt CFL!!!!
Try a damp paper towel in a Ziploc bag for germination. Keep them dark and warm, in the 80's, consistently. Should pop in less than 24 hrs.
Actually, you lose more light with your bulbs being vertical. Your setup is great, horizontal bulbs will give you more light. (It should say that on the CFL box cause that's where I read it, different brand tho) But, it said it right on the box. Distance does negate output, but when you output is 3x's more, I wouldn't be too concerned Honestly, your not going to lose 60,000 lumens with a reflector. You can buy a light meter to read light output if you desire. I agree CFL's are good, used em for a long time, but it's a head over heels difference with a HPS; plus more bang for your buck. Just depends on your situation.
And yeah, auto-flower strains will flower out in 60 days or so from seed, but you can't really clone them. Pretty much every strain you list is derived from Indica or Sativa. The purp, ak, the hazes, none of the those are auto-flowering strains. And over the years I've heard more bad than good things about auto flowers.
Search for the user Stinkyattic, read everything she's ever posted. I believe she was from Mass. but she retired from the site a few years ago. That women knew more about anything i could imagine. She's won awards for her strains, she knew her shit and laid it all out straight up. Plenty of great threads from her.
That's it. I'm off to bed. Peace.
First Grow - 2600 + watt CFL!!!!
First Grow - 2600 + watt CFL!!!!
Lit Up....You are right about Stinky...I'm sure that there are alot of us that really miss her.:(
First Grow - 2600 + watt CFL!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lit Up
Try a damp paper towel in a Ziploc bag for germination. Keep them dark and warm, in the 80's, consistently. Should pop in less than 24 hrs.
Actually, you lose more light with your bulbs being vertical. Your setup is great, horizontal bulbs will give you more light. (It should say that on the CFL box cause that's where I read it, different brand tho) But, it said it right on the box. Distance does negate output, but when you output is 3x's more, I wouldn't be too concerned Honestly, your not going to lose 60,000 lumens with a reflector. You can buy a light meter to read light output if you desire. I agree CFL's are good, used em for a long time, but it's a head over heels difference with a HPS; plus more bang for your buck. Just depends on your situation.
And yeah, auto-flower strains will flower out in 60 days or so from seed, but you can't really clone them. Pretty much every strain you list is derived from Indica or Sativa. The purp, ak, the hazes, none of the those are auto-flowering strains. And over the years I've heard more bad than good things about auto flowers.
Search for the user Stinkyattic, read everything she's ever posted. I believe she was from Mass. but she retired from the site a few years ago. That women knew more about anything i could imagine. She's won awards for her strains, she knew her shit and laid it all out straight up. Plenty of great threads from her.
That's it. I'm off to bed. Peace.
Thanks for saying that,easiest method dude seriously. All that other stuff your doing is overkill. Everyone hates on it because you supposedly aren't supposed to touch the plants but marijuana is a very strong plant pulls through almost everything it will be fine. I personally use the damp paper towel for all my plants and all my seeds popped no problem. Easiest and most straight forward method also the quickest. That's just my personal experience not speaking for anyone else. Sorry to hear about the mishap with the girls low, you will bounce back, and your feedback is always appreciated in my log so keep an eye on me let me know if I'm doing anything stupid
First Grow - 2600 + watt CFL!!!!
Just got the replacement seeds in. They're soaking now, will switch over to a papertowel in the morning and I'll keep everyone up to date, thank god this growlog isn't over yet!
First Grow - 2600 + watt CFL!!!!
Well any expert will help on it.
First Grow - 2600 + watt CFL!!!!
seems pretty over to me, whats going on give us a update
First Grow - 2600 + watt CFL!!!!
Okay - It took awhile to get to this point. Basically the other girls died, poor soil and PH balance.
Those of you who started off on this thread though can basically tell I'm pretty dedicated to growing
and becoming very successful at it. So here is the update:
When the new seeds came in, I immediately started to germinate my Pineapple Express - Now I germinated
her totally wrong, again in a bag, and then transplanted to soil, but at least this time it was PH negative soil,
so no MG nutes or anything like that, just basic soil with some moss. I'm going to put in some pictures of this
phase, but I found a local guru, and we talked alot.
I've put together a great soil mix using coco fiber, perlite, and fox farms soil. I'm also using the fox farm soil
nutes.
I've got 6 strains going right now, Pineapple Express was the first, a few weeks later, bubblelicious autoflowering.
I also have bubblelicious, white widow, Cinderella 99, PowerBud, and Durban Poison.
I enjoy naming my ladies, my wife likes Fiona Apple, and since we couldn't come up with a good pinapple name, we
went with Fiona - Here are some progression pictures of her:
Attachment 287953
This is a few days after Fiona came up. I was very happy my grow wasn't over.
Attachment 287954
Here we are about a week later, put her in a new container with more moss and soil.
Attachment 287955
This was the first shot of nutrients on Fiona, these were the fox farm nutes
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A very short 3 days later, here is Fiona, totally roided up on nutes, and rootbound in
a 2 gallon long tub - I was totally happy she flipped out, but it canclled my grow plans.
Attachment 287957
So I switched her over to a 12x12 5 gallon bucket, yes its a hydro bucket, but I'm
switching soon - You'll see :D Anyway, I also germinated 2 bubblelicious auto's, which
still aren't named yet (you can help!)