100 Plants Under a 600w Hortilux; My 1st Year with RIU

My First Year with RIU and Growth; A Learning Experience (All grows have concluded!)

I began growing just over a year ago and joined RIU right after. The help and experience I gained has been invaluable. RIU is the source for a wealth of information and knowledge about the cannabis commitment. I would advise any newb to first understand that it may be a couple of years and several grows (as GG would say) to become an efficient grower, and depends on the amount of time dedicated. Also, read, read, READ. Just keep reading and you will be surprised at the well rounded understanding you arrive at. Let others make your mistakes, in other words learn from them.

All of my four first year grows have failed to reach maximum potential, but emerged as powerful experiences of education. This is the first grow in my buddie’s, buddie’s attic. My bud was to supply the funds as I grew. The budget stayed very limited and tight, the attic was usually above 90, it was a mess.

Then I completed this grow on my own, under a standard 1000w hps. I later realized that nutrients got locked out around week 6. I flushed but lost a lot of time. No pics are posted from after 37 days flowering.

Three was outside. I got out there in August, just in time to flower a few foot talls.

That was when I saw a grow by GanjaGoddess in which she built a room with 2x4’s and plastic film. The last I saw she was trying to decide on a watering system, and Panhead demonstrated his watering wand. I came up with the idea to put 200 plants in ½ gal. grow bags, side by side, under a 1k HPS, to fill a 7x8 foot grow space (4 per sq. ft.). I decided to go with 100 plants under the 600 Hortilux because of a security concern. It would create a 5x5 ft. grow space, but feeding was a concern. I would not be able to use Panhead’s device to individually feed 100 plants, so I decided to incorporate drip feeding with a natural wicking technique I had read about years ago in High Times. Swamp Man (or whatever his name was) put plants in peat-filled burlap bags and set them on perpetually wet land to allow the fluids to “wick” up into the peat moss. I put styrofaom on the cement floor, then covered it with plastic to create a flood table. I used pvc to build a watering frame.

I used the 5 gallon bucket, hose, and gravity to feed but there was no pressure and I needed some to create more than a drip. So, I went to a 1500 GPH pump. This would give me the stream to cover all of the plants. I had calculated the amount of nutrients needed by beginning with app. 1/8 gal. per plant, and increase accordingly.

The problem with this grow turned out to be the fact that I allowed the roots to remain too cold. At harvest, you could literally pull these plants out of the peat very easily as the roots were way underdeveloped.

Though this is an ongoing learning process, almost every idea I have come up with to date was born out of something I saw or read on RIU. When the new grow facility is operable, I will share my new explorations. Blessings and peace to ALL.

Wow very nice came a long way.

jesussss thats so awesome i only have 2 haha i wish i could do what you have done. good work!

MrSprout said:

jesussss thats so awesome i only have 2 haha i wish i could do what you have done. good work!

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thanks so much. but, why can't you?

think2toke said:

Wow very nice came a long way.

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thanks for the positivity. +++

Very good, love this shit!!

Very nice but you have how many plants under 600w? What kind of yield?

jerryclub1 said:

Very nice but you have how many plants under 600w? What kind of yield?

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yield sucked so bad I didn't want to post it. less than a p. roots must've stayed too cold. they never developed past a 2 week stage, as I found out at harvest. it was an experience, but the goal (100 plant SOG under 1-600w hps) can be achieved effectively with proper care.

haha i cant for allot of reasons, 1 no space, 2 thats allloottt of money and 3 idk man thats just a little to big for me right now im a first time grower right now

I went with 800w or 100,000 lumens for 20 plants. That works out to 5000 lumens per sq ft. I'm going for less plants, bigger yields. You have a really nice setup. I'd add a couple more lights on those girls and see what happens! I think you'll see your money come back to you in 1 yield.

MrSprout said:

haha i cant for allot of reasons, 1 no space, 2 thats allloottt of money and 3 idk man thats just a little to big for me right now im a first time grower right now

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stop limiting yourself. did you read how limited my budget was on the first grow? my partner bought me a 600 hps, a few pots (i had to find buckets and all) and a few bags of miracle grow (it was my 1st grow). i had a timer, power strip, 4 ft. flouro, some MG fert., and some other supplies. we got busy and ended with a crappy grow but a little more knowledge (i did).

the few bucks i made from that went to #2. bro', you can grow on ANY budget and i never had more than a room (trying to get a building, now). you can do 32 easily:

https://www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/156863-grow-2-lbs-2-x.html

blessings and peace...

jerryclub1 said:

I went with 800w or 100,000 lumens for 20 plants. That works out to 5000 lumens per sq ft. I'm going for less plants, bigger yields. You have a really nice setup. I'd add a couple more lights on those girls and see what happens! I think you'll see your money come back to you in 1 yield.

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for sure, but I'm not even going that route again (not now, anyway). I am waiting to put this DIY aero project together. two of these https://www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/156863-grow-2-lbs-2-x.html under a 600, multiplied by four would be a good start for a small space, in my opinion.

Thats a great start! Can't wait to see the pixs.

How true brother. Everyone starts out in a closet. Don't smoke all the profits and put some back in and soon enough you are thinking 2 1/2 car garage, lol.

DrGreenFinger said:

for sure, but I'm not even going that route again (not now, anyway). I am waiting to put this DIY aero project together. two of these https://www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/156863-grow-2-lbs-2-x.html under a 600, multiplied by four would be a good start for a small space, in my opinion.

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I was gonna suggest hydro, but i have seen variants of this grow method where they just build a sandbox couple inches deep fill it with dirt and plant like that. No bags or pots needed.

Great job puttin wat ya learnt to practice, then spreadin it back around!
+Rep fer the whole damn thing. (Though I wud strongly advise against tryin to grow 100 plants off 800W HPS)

I have never been the type to judge anyone or any style. I do agree with "Where in the Hell". I'm a numbers guy and I use the formulas that have the test of time. Mr Green seems to be breaking that train of thought. I can't wait to see what comes from it. Mr Green, keep us posted!!!!!