greatbranch's heinz 57 lighting / yield increase/mainlining trial (strawberry cough)

Yodaweed said:

I have two lighthouse hydro tents one is the 3x1.7.x5 foot and the other is 6.5x6.5x6.5 foot and I love them. Great quality for the price I would have paid 600+ dollars for a similar quality one by another maker for the large one and got this one for 150$ !

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Thanks, Yoda! I put a lot of thought into my names...lol. I can't complain about the Lighthouse Hydro tents either. They are not 100% light tight, but neither is the night sky. I have a light shining on the side of one, and you can see a couple of pinholes of light, or I probably wouldn't have noticed. (Shining RIGHT ON)

I am diggin' the extra room I gained from shortening my buckets. More feedings and 7" more space for those 8 fat ol' donkey di&*s (I hope) from each main-lined plant to come.

And you guys can't see it, but jeeeeeeeez. The orange block is the width of Neecy's trunk. I copied it to the right. She's already thicker than my other full grown plant. Good things to come! Alright - I'm done posting other non-relevant stuff on my main-lining thread...just an EXCITING day!

I use blackstar lighthouse hydro LED's as well, I have 2 of the 240w panels and one 426w ion8 and I love the ion8 its amazing for growing the blackstars are great LEDs people always bash them but I get great results and it looks like you are too.

greatbranch said:

I put a double-sided arrow over the filter and fan - it barely fits in the tent. Many tents won't hold one this big. Be sure your poles are steel and not plastic. This tent was a Lighthouse Hydro 32"x32"x60" and was only 100 bucks. No complaints...I just got another. Don't worry Dave...just on your way to doubling your output is all. Veg in the space you have now and flower in a tent! Lol. I am looking at venting the room vs both tents. I have been kicking around the idea of enclosing a filter in a bin that is ducted on opposite sides, one leading to the duct on a tent and one leading to the fan/exhaust. This would reclaim that ceiling space in the tents if it will work. Also may put two of these in the attic and have noise cut down by getting the fans out of the room....if it works. Otherwise it's 2 Green Gators and 2 fans...filters in tents, fans in attic. When I replace the filter I have now, I have to take it down, detach/reattach filter and fan via tape, and put back up (weighs about 30 lbs together)

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Well... I'll take your word for it gb, but I'll be damned if I see a filter and fan back there! It just looks like a bare wall to my old eyes. I always fail ink blot tests miserably, too! Anyway, the important thing is how huge these thing are.

I was also thinking along the lines of your idea to enclose the filter inside an airtight box. The box would let "fragrant" air in through one side and then the fan on the other side would suck that air through the Gator and blow it out of the house.

My "dream" is to make a new room inside my built-in garage for growing. I could run a heating/AC duct from the furnace in there real easy and there are already electrical outlets in that part of the garage. My stepdaughter's hubby who works in construction could maybe help me with it. Then I'd vent the entire room through the Gator filter. And I'd have enough space to grow more plants! Neither my stepdaughter nor her husband know that I've been toking for the last 3 1/2 years. But if the state legislature passes the medical mj bill that's up for debate, I'll tell them all about my toking and growing and see if we can build that grow room!

daveroller said:

Well... I'll take your word for it gb, but I'll be damned if I see a filter and fan back there!

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...it's the HUGE thing behind my lights being suspended by the yellow ratchet straps...this is a better picture from a while ago.

daveroller said:

My "dream" is to make a new room inside my built-in garage for growing. I could run a heating/AC duct from the furnace in there real easy and there are already electrical outlets in that part of the garage. My stepdaughter's hubby who works in construction could maybe help me with it. Then I'd vent the entire room through the Gator filter. And I'd have enough space to grow more plants! Neither my stepdaughter nor her husband know that I've been toking for the last 3 1/2 years. But if the state legislature passes the medical mj bill that's up for debate, I'll tell them all about my toking and growing and see if we can build that grow room!

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I started with about 15 inches in diameter by 39 inches high. (the phototron alone)

Meanwhile, in the torture chamber...

I made another couple of these:


And I am going to essentially "leap frog" them over each other as the main grows out to direct the growth where I want it to go.

When the growth hits about mid-way between now and the edge of the pot, I am going to top, strip away all growth below two growth tips (on each side this time), and then direct the 4 new tips, so that I end up with an 'H' pattern as you look at her from above (we started growing from the middle cross-bar of the 'H')

greatbranch said:

...it's the HUGE thing behind my lights being suspended by the yellow ratchet straps...this is a better picture from a while ago.
View attachment 2986327

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Ok, I see it. Looks like a big, white Tootsie-Roll. Looked like a flat white wall in the previous pic. It's hard to see depth in some photos... or maybe it's just me.

daveroller said:

Ok, I see it. Looks like a big, white Tootsie-Roll. Looked like a flat white wall in the previous pic. It's hard to see depth in some photos... or maybe it's just me.

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I also know what I'm looking for...

I think my tent is pretty close to the same size as your cabinet (minus the shelf), btw. It is sitting in a closet under the hanging rack like your cabinet (if I saw what I think I saw)

greatbranch said:

I also know what I'm looking for...

I think my tent is pretty close to the same size as your cabinet (minus the shelf), btw. It is sitting in a closet under the hanging rack like your cabinet (if I saw what I think I saw)

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My shelf is about 60" high right now. I took out the hanging rack so that the cabinet would fit in the closet. But I want that extra 12" I can get if I take out the shelf, mostly because the Area 51 light has to be about 18" above the canopy (give or take a couple "). So I guess it wouldn't help me to buy the same tent as yours. I'd have to find a taller one. Thanks for pointing that out to my Alzheimer'ed old brain.

Edit: I'm not saying that YOU can't use an Area 51 light in your tent of course. My system on wheels is a lot taller than your pots are.

Looking good. Yeah I'm in the same boat as you guys. I was using my entire closet which was 2x4x8 but decided to downsize and bought a tent 2x3x5. Def more stealth but wish I had some more height. Temps are fine, air flow overall is less, 2 plants mainline will fill the tent no prob. Going to need to keep them shorter as Dave pointed out need 18 inches. That puts me at 2' plants after I account for pot size. Scorg would help with lack of distance as well I guess. Hmmmm :/

Dropping those bucket heights/sizes doesn't seem so crazy now, does it? I have a full 3.5 vertical feet of plant growth space in the front of the tent and 2.5 in the back where that huge ass filter is. It is a moot point if you are using a SCROG, but I use trellis line attached with bungie cords around the corner frame of the tent that allows me to slide it up and down as needed. It gives me the ability to pull them down or tuck them a little as needed. Also provides support for heavy branches (which I hadn't needed until this run. )

D - how tall is your closet from floor to ceiling? There IS a"32x32"x84" if you have a full 8 feet and think the 115 bucks is less than any construction materials. That top shelf has to go either way, though. And that high, I would mount your panel and filter to hooks in the framing of the ceiling even if it meant patching holes in the tent. You may want to stick with the closet itself. I went with a tent because it was cheaper and easier than modifying my closet.

So, as you can see, Shakira is growing pretty well. Small adjustment to be made almost daily. She was already turned and pointed up by yesterday afternoon.


Moved my "hand cuffs"

greatbranch said:

Dropping those bucket heights/sizes doesn't seem so crazy now, does it? I have a full 3.5 vertical feet of plant growth space in the front of the tent and 2.5 in the back where that huge ass filter is. It is a moot point if you are using a SCROG, but I use trellis line attached with bungie cords around the corner frame of the tent that allows me to slide it up and down as needed. It gives me the ability to pull them down or tuck them a little as needed. Also provides support for heavy branches (which I hadn't needed until this run. )

D - how tall is your closet from floor to ceiling? There IS a"32x32"x84" if you have a full 8 feet and think the 115 bucks is less than any construction materials. That top shelf has to go either way, though. And that high, I would mount your panel and filter to hooks in the framing of the ceiling even if it meant patching holes in the tent. You may want to stick with the closet itself. I went with a tent because it was cheaper and easier than modifying my closet.

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The biggest tent I could fit in that closet would be about 28" deep x 4' wide. 32" is too deep for me, because I wouldn't be able to close the closet door. The height of my cabinet is 72". But in a tent, 84" tall would be better. (Room ceiling is 96" high, btw.) Then I could fit the filter inside it up above the light panel. And if it's nice and wide, like 4' wide, I could put the Gator beside the light panel. Anyway, thanks for the suggestion. If you spot something a little smaller in depth, let me know. I'll keep looking for the right tent, but I might need to build something myself or just modify my existing cabinet.

Not to get to much off topic here but Dave you should be good at 72" (6 feet).....Def remove that top part of your cabinet. You don't need a huge filter for your space....I use a Phresh Filter that is 21.5 inches long and I mount it to the cross bars of my tent and it hangs down maybe 7" total so my light can sit right below it. I noticed on your cab how you have the light tied and maybe when you make the change in your box you can get some proper hangers to make it easier to mount and adjust.....Just a though

GB you lady seems to love being tied down, looks great and love the pictures~

greatbranch said:

So, as you can see, Shakira is growing pretty well. Small adjustment to be made almost daily. She was already turned and pointed up by yesterday afternoon.
View attachment 2987705

Moved my "hand cuffs"
View attachment 2987706View attachment 2987707

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Great photos again! Very helpful advice there. Growth is looking nice, too.

rwbrock said:

I noticed on your cab how you have the light tied and maybe when you make the change in your box you can get some proper hangers to make it easier to mount and adjust.....Just a though View attachment 2987962

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You must have looked at the wrong pics of mine, bro. I got those same hangers already. (You know they came with the panel, right? ) I use em when I need em.

rwbrock said:

GB you lady seems to love being tied down, looks great and love the pictures~

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daveroller said:

Great photos again! Very helpful advice there. Growth is looking nice, too.

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Thanks! She is growing like a weed

Things are moving right along.


I have picked out my nodes for the next topping and direction change. Be sure it is at the same node position on both sides. Notice that I have, again, done this very early and am leaving the fan leaves to assist in growth. Other than that, just like before, remove all growth below that point - or in this case, all growth inside of those points.


Now, another waiting game for a couple of days, then I will start directing our new growth in new directions!



See you soon!

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