Help with lights and nutes and my beginner questions please?

S

SalmanEskay

New Member
Hi

I live in a place where it's illegal to smoke let alone cultivate marijuana. But I've been smoking since a decade and can't resist cultivating my own home grown high quality stuff:weed:

I just ordered some Ak-47 seeds but I'm very confused about few things.

It's impossible to get full spectrum grow lights without tearing my pockets so I took some Ppf readings of a regular 20w LED bulb (household use)Screenshot_2025-01-17-10-12-19-06_fd1e8ef594b195c55a3bba4818d0ce35.jpg
PAR Readings:
150-160 micromoles (1/2 ft distance from bulb)
65 micromoles (1 ft)
25 micromoles (2 ft)

- If I use 5 of these spread evenly across a 3x3, it should be around 800 micromoles, so can I use them like this?

These bulb are not even warm to the touch after an hour of usage, I'm confident that these will not even create negligible amount of heat after long hours.

- So can I place them as close as 0.5 ft from the top of the plant or will it lead to light burn even if there's no heat?

My neighbours are nosy and I'm planning to exit the air outdoors through a window with an exhaust fan and a carbon filter with activated charcoal but I'm not sure it will kill the odor.

- If it can kill the odor will I have to keep changing the charcoal multiple times? Or will it last atleast for 1 harvest?

Then there is the problem of unavailability of marijuana fertilizers or being too darn expensive due to shipping. So I'm planning to buy each of the N, P and K separately and mix into different ratios myself. Or just make a diy liquid fert from scratch.
Please let me know if that'll work?
 
GemGrows24

GemGrows24

Well-Known Member
SalmanEskay said:
Hi

I live in a place where it's illegal to smoke let alone cultivate marijuana. But I've been smoking since a decade and can't resist cultivating my own home grown high quality stuff:weed:

I just ordered some Ak-47 seeds but I'm very confused about few things.

It's impossible to get full spectrum grow lights without tearing my pockets so I took some Ppf readings of a regular 20w LED bulb (household use)View attachment 5451326
PAR Readings:
150-160 micromoles (1/2 ft distance from bulb)
65 micromoles (1 ft)
25 micromoles (2 ft)

- If I use 5 of these spread evenly across a 3x3, it should be around 800 micromoles, so can I use them like this?

These bulb are not even warm to the touch after an hour of usage, I'm confident that these will not even create negligible amount of heat after long hours.

- So can I place them as close as 0.5 ft from the top of the plant or will it lead to light burn even if there's no heat?

My neighbours are nosy and I'm planning to exit the air outdoors through a window with an exhaust fan and a carbon filter with activated charcoal but I'm not sure it will kill the odor.

- If it can kill the odor will I have to keep changing the charcoal multiple times? Or will it last atleast for 1 harvest?

Then there is the problem of unavailability of marijuana fertilizers or being too darn expensive due to shipping. So I'm planning to buy each of the N, P and K separately and mix into different ratios myself. Or just make a diy liquid fert from scratch.
Please let me know if that'll work?
Click to expand...
Respectfully you'll have more growth in your window sill than using that bulb.
 
skink#1

skink#1

Well-Known Member
Finding a private spot under natural sunlight is a possibility if you cant obtain a grow light. I'd recommend buying fert mixes rather than make your own to start. I'm a fan of Neptune's Harvest fish and seaweed 2-3-1.
 
S

SalmanEskay

New Member
skink#1 said:
Finding a private spot under natural sunlight is a possibility if you cant obtain a grow light. I'd recommend buying fert mixes rather than make your own to start. I'm a fan of Neptune's Harvest fish and seaweed 2-3-1.
Click to expand...
Natural sunlight is impossible. Have you ever tried growing without a grow light? Like with a cfl?
 
skink#1

skink#1

Well-Known Member
SalmanEskay said:
Natural sunlight is impossible. Have you ever tried growing without a grow light? Like with a cfl?
Click to expand...
Don't waste your time without at least a small light. A friend of mine put A hundred Watt hlg under the lid of a big trash can put some little fans in for the intake air and made a trash can into a grow room. Where there is a will there is a way.
 
skink#1

skink#1

Well-Known Member
SalmanEskay said:
Natural sunlight is impossible. Have you ever tried growing without a grow light? Like with a cfl?
Click to expand...
Don't waste your time without at least a small light. A friend of mine put A hundred Watt hlg under the lid of a big trash can put some little fans in f the intake air and made a trash can into a grow room.
Where there is a will there is a way.
 
S

SalmanEskay

New Member
skink#1 said:
Don't waste your time without at least a small light. A friend of mine put A hundred Watt hlg under the lid of a big trash can put some little fans in for the intake air and made a trash can into a grow room.
Click to expand...
So that's what I'm thinking. Adding up multiple bulbs to get around 150w and 800 micromoles per sqm.

Are you really sure it won't work? Have you experienced it before? Cause if that's the case I may never be able to grow my own weed.
 
S

SalmanEskay

New Member
skink#1 said:
If you have a closet perhaps. Maybe you could save your money up to get something like a hlg 300 refurbished.
Click to expand...
It's not only about the money bro. It's complex, the only grow lights that can be shipped to me have to come from outside the country and that's a huge issue even for a tiny mobile phone due to custom duties and rules. On top of that it's 3x shipping costs adding up to it.
 
Drop That Sound

Drop That Sound

Well-Known Member
I would suggest to make a fixture with 16 sockets. 4 rows of 4 of those 18w bulbs in sockets spread out equally in a grid formation in the 3x3 tent.

288w total, giving you around 30w per sq ft. They are probably very efficient if they aren't getting that hot. I'm not familiar with Philip's "Acebright" model, but it sounds expensive. Probably worth it over the cheaper less effecient bulbs that only put out 100 or so lumens per watt though..

You could unscrew some bulbs from your DIY fixture to save power if you don't need as much light in one area, or even add a switch to turn off some of the rows, unless they are dimmeable too?
 
S

SalmanEskay

New Member
Drop That Sound said:
I would suggest to make a fixture with 16 sockets. 4 rows of 4 of those 18w bulbs in sockets spread out equally in a grid formation in the 3x3 tent.

288w total, giving you around 30w per sq ft. They are probably very efficient if they aren't getting that hot. I'm not familiar with Philip's "Acebright" model, but it sounds expensive. Probably worth it over the cheaper less effecient bulbs that only put out 100 or so lumens per watt though..

You could unscrew some bulbs from your DIY fixture to save power if you don't need as much light in one area, or even add a switch to turn off some of the rows, unless they are dimmeable too?
Click to expand...
They don't cost much compared to anything in the market. Just $3. Not dimmable but that could easily be solved by attaching a dimmer switch.

I'm also thinking of buying some red led cob's and adding those into the mix.
 
coreywebster

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
SalmanEskay said:
So that's what I'm thinking. Adding up multiple bulbs to get around 150w and 800 micromoles per sqm.

Are you really sure it won't work? Have you experienced it before? Cause if that's the case I may never be able to grow my own weed.
Click to expand...
Listen.

You can grow perfectly fine weed with those LED bulbs but you need to cut off the globes.
And you need a lot more than 5 of them.

There's plenty of people have dine so on here!

But you need to ignore any equivalent wattage and look at the actual wattage of the bulb , they are usually 5w and you need at least 40w per square foot to flower with them.

Which means you need 8-10 of them per square foot of plant canopy.

Which means you need many bayonet adaptors , wire and a lot of bulbs.

That makes the whole thing very expensive to build in the first place.

Look up migro on YouTube, he did some tests on which are the best bulbs.

But I'd strongly recommend you buy a light online .


As for filters, buy a high quality one, itl last you 18months.
Buy a good fan because they are loud!
 
Woedae

Woedae

Member
There aren't to many places that don't have a hardware store. Personally I feel like the home-use led bulbs are more trouble and expense than it's worth. What about T5 fixtures? Commonly found everywhere and the ballast and lamp can be replaced, or increased. You can also use the housing of a scrap T12 or T8. Just retro fit new hardware to accommodate T5.
 
coreywebster

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
SalmanEskay said:
Hi

I live in a place where it's illegal to smoke let alone cultivate marijuana. But I've been smoking since a decade and can't resist cultivating my own home grown high quality stuff:weed:

I just ordered some Ak-47 seeds but I'm very confused about few things.

It's impossible to get full spectrum grow lights without tearing my pockets so I took some Ppf readings of a regular 20w LED bulb (household use)View attachment 5451326
PAR Readings:
150-160 micromoles (1/2 ft distance from bulb)
65 micromoles (1 ft)
25 micromoles (2 ft)

- If I use 5 of these spread evenly across a 3x3, it should be around 800 micromoles, so can I use them like this?

These bulb are not even warm to the touch after an hour of usage, I'm confident that these will not even create negligible amount of heat after long hours.

- So can I place them as close as 0.5 ft from the top of the plant or will it lead to light burn even if there's no heat?

My neighbours are nosy and I'm planning to exit the air outdoors through a window with an exhaust fan and a carbon filter with activated charcoal but I'm not sure it will kill the odor.

- If it can kill the odor will I have to keep changing the charcoal multiple times? Or will it last atleast for 1 harvest?

Then there is the problem of unavailability of marijuana fertilizers or being too darn expensive due to shipping. So I'm planning to buy each of the N, P and K separately and mix into different ratios myself. Or just make a diy liquid fert from scratch.
Please let me know if that'll work?
Click to expand...

Try looking through this part of the site.

Used to be common for people setting up stealth micro grows with LED, CFL ect

Look at the work that needs doing and cost it out before you go buying anything.

Stealth / Micro / Cab Growing

Growing secretly, and in small spaces
www.rollitup.org
 
S

SalmanEskay

New Member
@Drop That Sound @coreywebster @skink#1 @Woedae @GemGrows24

Thank you so much for all the useful insights guys;)

I read a few books on lighting for MJ and I think it was mentioned somewhere that wattage doesn't matter, PAR, PPFD, DLI and spectrum are what matters.

But now I understand it is better to make sure even the wattage is taken into consideration as I have never really grown weed before. Especially after watching this video from Migro suggested by some of you:

I have decided to go this route and it is far far cheaper, easier and risk free for me, even if it means lower yields. I might upgrade to full spectrum led panels for my second grow.

But I'm still curious if I can place these lights closer to the canopy like 6 inches close. Especially after Migro in his video is taking PAR readings from around 6 inches. I'm thinking it will give more photons to the plants but not sure if a light burn can happen even when the lights don't emit much heat at all?:?:
 
skink#1

skink#1

Well-Known Member
You will also want to choose a variety that does well in the environment you are creating. A compact indica perhaps that does well in low light. Never grown the AK 47 so no insight there.
 
2WorldsFrog

2WorldsFrog

Well-Known Member
Like any new setup, you're going to have to go through some trial and error. Keep your eyes on how the plants are reacting to different adjustments you make and you'll be fine.
If you're worried about neighbors and smell, double filter.
Premixed nutes don't have to be MJ specific, just look at N-P-K ratio and you'll most likely find something that works. I veg a stealth spot with a dry mix meant for Tomatoes.
Hardware stores here sell low wattage MH/HPS ballasts meant for outdoor lighting. They can pretty easily be converted for grow use, especially for anyone feeling confident enough to wire up a multi-socket cfl rig.
I'm not trying to rain on the parade here, but without good lighting you might end up with some bammer weed man. Sure, you'll get something, but is it going to be worth all the effort, expense, and risk? Way back, I would just take an outdoorsy kind of weekend trip to a remote spot with some 8" sprouters in a backpack. CFL's will get you some babies, let nature do the rest. If you can, I mean.

Just trying to help, good luck.
 
S

SalmanEskay

New Member
skink#1 said:
You will also want to choose a variety that does well in the environment you are creating. A compact indica perhaps that does well in low light. Never grown the AK 47 so no insight there.
Click to expand...
It's currently hitting peak colds in temperature
16°C in early mornings
Then gradually increases every hour or so until it hits 26°C in the afternoons
And gradually decreases again until next morning.

Humidity low is 47% and high is 82%

But then again, these are from Google but indoors, especially in the wooden cabinet I intend to grow may be very different no?
Accounting for the fan and light too.

I'm looking to grow a sativa or sativa dominant as I mostly like to be very social and energetic with my mind feeling unlocked after smoking. Which station would you recommend growing?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top