1st grow: Bagseed + WW, 2 plants LST CFL low watt

[trifase]

i've got the same concern, will the bud pack it on?
i know it's supposed to, but you get a bit nervous watching and waiting

true - time really is sort of lapsed in these cabs ahah!

about weight it is my biggest concern also, but I'd like not to break the 150-170W barrier so it's even more of a delicate subject:
my aim for this setup is to harvest 20g (2/3rds of an oz i guess) per plant , below that I think I may switch to a 150w HPS in the middle or two 70Ws from above, and deal with the expense and their (reasonable) heat.

I've just started lurking for 70W / 150W (here and here) HPS threads and saw that they get interesting yelds - but I'd like to stick with cfls if I can get not too far away from what those yeld

 

[growone]

i well understand on the watts, that's about as far as i want to go
you should get your 20g then some, lst is supposed very efficient
i say this over and over at this stage to keep my morale up
the 150 hps would be more efficient all the way around
it will cost less than 2 70w setups, and the lumens/watts efficiency is quite a bit better
i read over the hps threads too, hey they're bulbs, i'm not married to any light source, whatever works best

 

[trifase]

i well understand on the watts, that's about as far as i want to go
you should get your 20g then some, lst is supposed very efficient
i say this over and over at this stage to keep my morale up
the 150 hps would be more efficient all the way around
it will cost less than 2 70w setups, and the lumens/watts efficiency is quite a bit better

you're right, but what if I hang two 70w and attach them both to the same "ignitor+reactor" rated for a 150w? that would be my idea if it's possible so that there are two light sources which would be good for lst/scrog.
or yeah maybe a 150w - more efficient as you point out - in the middle would be better.
(I attach a scheme of the two setups I was planning IF this one goes ****** up...)

...what I don't like much about them anyway is that they fade out quickly as you get away from the source (scheme attached) and that they stretch plants more than cfl and provide just one warm spectrum only

i read over the hps threads too, hey they're bulbs, i'm not married to any light source, whatever works best

couldn't possibly agree more m8
so this is an experiment after all, we'll see what happens!!!
cheers

 

[HardCorps420]

growone, smokeymcpotjk, dezracer, hardcorps thank you all for stopping by I'll keep on checking your helpful ops

...I guess I'm getting it right about LST and lighting for 155W (4900 lumens 2700k, 1500 lumens 6500k = 6400 lumens/105W Per Plant, 1.5-2 inches away)
but I have NO idea about what I'm doing elsewhere lol:
convenience store regular soil, 1/2 strenght general nutes (Atami B'Cuzz soil mix) no CO2, no PH monitoring, no temp monitoring, no pruning nor killer genetics as far as I know (bagseed)

so now we'll see how much weight it'll pack up - as it could be good looking but not effective

another couple of yesterday's pics - will update soon & start some light blackshard molasses - if it's the right time (1 month into flowering) ?

so wait a minute, your not keeping track of temps or humidity or anything? its like $3 for a temp/hygrometer combo. go to home depot or something similar. if anything thats one thing id keep track of. ph monitoring is also just as important, but i guess you could get away with not keeping track lol.

just throwing some thoughts in there

Out

-HC

 

[SmokeyMcPotJK]

growone, smokeymcpotjk, dezracer, hardcorps thank you all for stopping by I'll keep on checking your helpful ops

...I guess I'm getting it right about LST and lighting for 155W (4900 lumens 2700k, 1500 lumens 6500k = 6400 lumens/105W Per Plant, 1.5-2 inches away)
but I have NO idea about what I'm doing elsewhere lol:
convenience store regular soil, 1/2 strenght general nutes (Atami B'Cuzz soil mix) no CO2, no PH monitoring, no temp monitoring, no pruning nor killer genetics as far as I know (bagseed)

so now we'll see how much weight it'll pack up - as it could be good looking but not effective

another couple of yesterday's pics - will update soon & start some light blackshard molasses - if it's the right time (1 month into flowering) ?

Awesome job so far with little monitoring. Keep it up man.
You can get a 3 way meter from lowes cheap. I think it was lowes...like 10 dolla...PH/moisture meter/light meter.
[FONT=&quot]A[/FONT][FONT=&quot]lso yeah pic up a cheap analog thermometer with a hygrometer on the bottom I got a cheap white one from the hardware store for less then 10 dollars. Ill try to remember to get pics of both and post...the meter and the thermometer/hygrometer
But like I said your plants are looking good so you must just be lucky or have a natural green thumb )
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

[/FONT]

 

[growone]

you're right, but what if I hang two 70w and attach them both to the same "ignitor+reactor" rated for a 150w? that would be my idea if it's possible so that there are two light sources which would be good for lst/scrog.
or yeah maybe a 150w - more efficient as you point out - in the middle would be better.
(I attach a scheme of the two setups I was planning IF this one goes ****** up...)

...what I don't like much about them anyway is that they fade out quickly as you get away from the source (scheme attached) and that they stretch plants more than cfl and provide just one warm spectrum only



couldn't possibly agree more m8
so this is an experiment after all, we'll see what happens!!!
cheers

can't help you much on the 2 70w to 1 ballast, i guess it's possible
my guess is it would need some major mods
point well taken on being able to distribute the 2 70w more nicely, this is true

from what i've seen, you will get less stretch with hps during flower
i know the heavy red spectrum seems unnatural, and it is but MJ seems to eat it up
but for the smaller hps, it's not completely straight forward because there is quite a bit wasted spectrum which MJ can't use
when you get up to 400w, it seems to become a bit of a mismatch, some argue this is true for even lower wattage hps
but for veg, cfl's are excellent, i love vegging with my 5500k, excellent results for my small plants

 

[Dezracer]

Tried to reply earlier to this but it didn't go through.

You can do 2@70w off of one 150watt ballast. It will take a little longer to start up but it will work fine. Also, if you decide to go HPS make sure you air cool the bulb(s) in either case. there's some really simple ways to accomplish this without spending much money. One way I really liked that I saw on here was a dude used a "bake around" and some 4" drain pipe from a hardware store with a PC fan. He just attached some tube to each end of the bake around with the buld inside, hung it vertically in the middle of his plants (like one of your drawings) and connected it to some flex duct so it pulled cool air from under the plants and expelled it out of the top of the grow area via the fan on top of the fixture. He has a pic of him holding it in his hand while the 150watt hPS bulb is on so it must work really good.

 

[Dezracer]

I've got 2 of the 150watt HPS outdoor flood lights from Lowe's that I removed the sockets from and extended the wires between the ballasts and the sockets that I'm not using but intended on using until I got the deal on the 400watt HPS setup I currently have. My intentions were to install the bulbs in the fixture I made for my CFLs and see how effectively it lit up the 2'X4' room I use for flower. The 150 will give you better plant penetration than the 70's will so you won't need the bulb as close to your plants.

Don't get it twisted though, I'm not trying to sell you anything, just giving you some info that I found and giving you some ideas as to what's possible. You seem like a cool dude so I'd like to help you in any way I can. If you have any electrical questions or need any help with anything, let me know. I'm new to growing but I'm very good with electrical, cabinetry, etc... I'm a finish carpenter by trade and a contractor so this stuff is fun for me.

Later bro.

 

[trifase]

@hardcorps420, SmokeyMcpotJK: I guess I should buy one combo meter, even if I was luckily "graced" by temps and humidity until now and will post values. About lumens I'm quite there (100w/1st sqft, 50w additional foot) and really don't want to add more for now, even if I'm tempted!

@growone: ...well now I have doubts about wiring two 70w on one HPS box!! will check that out lol ^.^' (ah no ok, dezracer answered that) and what you say about spectrum makes me think that an hybrid system would be worth considering (cfl veg + hps flowering, or mixed all the way) cheers m8 didn't think about that!

@dezracer: yeah I saw that setup, very neat cab if I remember well - I was thinking more about a bending a transparent plastic foil to get a cooltube, place it vertically in the middle and put a fan blowing air in it, then rely on cab's ventilation (no direct pipes in/out of the cab for such tube) - scheme attached - and thank you for the insight I know you're not trying to sell anything, me too I'm just wondering what to do next if I don't hit "around 20g" with my plant

***

update:
a couple of lower fan leaves were yellowing a bit yesterday on both plants (low N maybe? will try to correct at next watering) plus plants were thirsty anyway, so I watered them with light fert both, and gave a little superthrive to the small one and molasses to the big one (oh come on fatten upppp!!! )

peace

 

[growone]

dezracer - very interesting info on the multiple hps from 1 ballast - this is why i hang out on these forums, so much good info

trifase - hybrid lighting seems to be a very common setup, lot of hps growers use cfl as side lighting
i have a bit of yellowing on some lower fans too, not much and hoping not a large issue, so we are really in synch

 

[Dezracer]

Sometimes yellowing of the lower leaves is normal, Not all strains I don't think but I've seen it in a bunch of grow journals on here. The lower leaves will yellow and then fall off in flowering. I think it might have been a little later in flowering than we are right now though.


You guys should check out my "perpetual grow" thread. I took a couple pics of the colas on my little plants last night and put them there. It's the 2nd link in my sig.

Thanks for the rep Trifase!

 

[Bagz]

Good to see another sweet LST Grow on here. I got a slightly bigger version of this with an HPS, Heat is a huge issue as well as height, and I had to lst my plants to fit in my space. Check out my journal. Good too see you rocking the CFL's! I will be watching this one through!

 

[Bagz]

And Dezracer, it would have been real interesting to see if your twin 150w hps setup you mentioned in an earlier post worked. It sounded sweet, How would you have cooled it?

 

[trifase]

stopped by some of the grows of you guys
one thing only comes to my mind: jesus christ you all rock!!!
dezracer the switch to hps worked like a charm, Bagz your hps cab is very very nice (commented in your thread) and growone what you did with 78w cfls was astonishing... jeez how could she pack so much weight?!?!?

goin' lsting my small one now - I'll try to lower the top branches so that the lower ones can catch up
will update soon see ya!

 

[Dezracer]

Thanks for the props man.

You know you can supercrop the taller branches to make the shorter ones catch quickly too, right? I tried it with my Hindu Skunk and in only a couple days time there was a noticeable difference in the lower branches. They all started to turn up towards the light instead of growing outward. It took about 4 days for the main stem to recover and when I put her in flower the other day she looked healthy again and the lower branches were still creeping upward. Of course my fan is messing with it some now since it's the closest plant to the fan but I'm sure it'll be fine.

 

[trifase]

Thanks for the props man.

You know you can supercrop the taller branches to make the shorter ones catch quickly too, right? I tried it with my Hindu Skunk and in only a couple days time there was a noticeable difference in the lower branches. They all started to turn up towards the light instead of growing outward. It took about 4 days for the main stem to recover and when I put her in flower the other day she looked healthy again and the lower branches were still creeping upward. Of course my fan is messing with it some now since it's the closest plant to the fan but I'm sure it'll be fine.

good advice dezracer
but I'm a little scared about it since I'm into flowering already - I read some say that it's better to do that in veg state because the buds on the supercropped branches slow/pause fattening. maybe it's worth doing it anyway?

but sure it looks an effective method - I have another plant "entering the arena" in days and maybe It'll be better to experiment supercropping on that one it'a a violator kush from barney's.

 

[Dezracer]

Yes your right, Supercropping is better to do when in Veg. I wasn't suggesting you do it with the flowering plants, just wasn't sure if you were familiar with Supercropping. It sounds like you have read up on it though. I'll be doing it to my next round of plants early and FIMing them after.

 

[growone]

... and growone what you did with 78w cfls was astonishing... jeez how could she pack so much weight?!?!?

thanks trifase, guessing you were looking over my 'grow tube' and the nl#5
everything went right in the grow, and nl#5 is a good yielder
if we're talking about the same grow, that was 35g of dry bud, would have been a bit more but lost some to mold
that was about 0.5g per watt, which is good, but there are some cfl growers that seem to do a bit better
my trick was making the reflector and grow chamber the same space
very good for using all light, kind of a pain of the ass getting plant in and out
current grow is lst in the same tube but shrunk dow to 24 inches tall from 38 inches

 

[trifase]

Yes your right, Supercropping is better to do when in Veg. I wasn't suggesting you do it with the flowering plants, just wasn't sure if you were familiar with Supercropping. It sounds like you have read up on it though. I'll be doing it to my next round of plants early and FIMing them after.

nah I just read the highlights I may try it also on my next plant I will germ a seed this week or the next one - still don't know if it's going to be another WW ora a violator kush...

thanks trifase, guessing you were looking over my 'grow tube' and the nl#5
everything went right in the grow, and nl#5 is a good yielder
if we're talking about the same grow, that was 35g of dry bud, would have been a bit more but lost some to mold
that was about 0.5g per watt, which is good, but there are some cfl growers that seem to do a bit better
my trick was making the reflector and grow chamber the same space
very good for using all light, kind of a pain of the ass getting plant in and out
current grow is lst in the same tube but shrunk dow to 24 inches tall from 38 inches

that is amazing...!!! 0.5 grams per watt looks very very good to me with that equipment/grow space... congrats!

- - -
hope I can get a pic soon of mine, I've got my gf camera only now but I don't like to ask her for this lol!
anyways, leaves were yellowing so much yesterday on the smaller plant - likely missing N - tried to correct that, will see what happens in the next update
c ya!!!

 

[trifase]

wonder were I've been?
fighting N deficiencies, obviously... lol! I had N low on both plants, pretty badly, and nute lock on the bagseed (burnt tips)
Luckily now everything seems to be back on track, and looking quite good thanks to you folks at RIU!!!

but here they are, and 2 new plants entering the arena!

1- Bagseed: 5 1/2 weeks flowering (1 month veg) this is the correct figure, I was wrong before

2- White Widow: 3 weeks flowering

3-4 sprouted yesterday: 1 Violator kush & another white widow

155W CFL total

Njoy!!! see ya