Necessity is the mother of invention/ Use what you have/ Ideas that can save money!

I had a problem one time that actually turned out to be one of the best things that could have happened to my grow set up.

I had a tent I couldn't use because it was to tall for my basement.
Then it hit me. I've got a 4x4x6'6 tent.
If I laid it down I'll have 6'6x4 of floor space and not just 4x4.

Then I thought about how weak the tent would be, and the problem with hanging the lights.

So this is how the single double veg was born.

I needed 6 1 1/2 inch pvc T's and 4 pieces of 1 inch pvc pipe.
4 small drywall screws.
4 pieces of a coat hanger cut down to 8 inch's.
And the original tent package.

Now I couldn't stand everything being on the floor, so I built a table using a full sheet of osb/plywood and cut down a 4x4 for the legs.
It's like a hydro table, and I now have storage for my soil tubs under the tent.

I take 2 pieces of pvc pipe and screw a T on each end.
These will be my floating, completely adjustable light bars.
I take another pipe and screw a T on one end.
This will be my support in the back from top to bottom.




So now I put the tent together on it's side on the table.
As I put the top rear bars together I slide on a 2 T pipe then the 1 T pipe and then the other 2 T pipe.

Then on the front top bar I repeat the process, using the last T with out the pipe in the middle. I leave the front support T unscrewed so I can remove it from time to time if needed.



Then I pull the tent over the frame.

This is my favorite part. Since the T's a bigger they will easily slide back and forth from left to right.

Now I take the wire and I wrap it around the light bar leaving just enough to bend a hook on the end. I do two on each bar then, I hook my light pulleys onto the hook and now the lights can move left to right and forward and back with little effort.


Yes, thats right not put in a light but the lights. We now have more space so we need more light.
2 400 watters work perfect for the 6'6 x 4 footprint I now have.

So now it's time to bring in the plants.

Look at all the space for airflow and light to get through.
Her are 9 plants in 3 quart pots and there is room for a lot more.


This not only allows me to have more room/plants in veg, it lets me have different stages of veg in the same tent. I can set one light lower for smaller plants while leaving the other higher for the older veg and mothers.

Modifacation cost under 15 bucks.
Added veg and usability of a tent, priceless!

It's not cutting corners, I just made them child proof by rounding them off a little!

Now most clone/mother or veg tents run over $100. And they are only 3x4x2 or 3x3x4. This tent cost me $75 bucks and it's larger then two regular veg tents.

So who else has some money saving/ creative solutions or helpful tips for our fellow growers ?

Good idea, I like what you have done with the material at hand!.

So they have this converter now that turns a 1000w ballast into a ballast that will run 2 600 watt lights.

1 1000 watt ballast is cheaper then 2 600 watters,$$$$$$ and the 1000 watter will use less electic to run the same 2 lights.$$$$$$$$$$$
Less cords, less mess.

Do you have a link? It might be just the thing I need to upgrade my 600hps/400mh, 4x4 tent, to 600hps/600mh.

rasputin71 said:

Do you have a link? It might be just the thing I need to upgrade my 600hps/400mh, 4x4 tent, to 600hps/600mh.

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http://www.atlantishydroponics.com/search/contact-us.aspx
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuLsUApPjCo

Nice post buddy, Veg is very important and a mistake probably everyone makes is putting all the focus on their flowering and neglecting veg, I do prefer 1,000W over a 600W in my current situation but thats in part due to the dimensions of my rooms (very tall with about 1/2 the width and depth as the height) - If you can cool it then I think its worth it to use 1,000W lights assuming you have a lot of vertical space and intend to use large plants, I have grown side by side a 1,000W and 600W for quite some time now and the difference is very clear for me from my observations that 1,000W is more growth all around, however in a small space like this with small plants the difference is negligible. If your going to have buds 4feet or more below the canopy(big trees not pruned) then it is essential to use a 1,000W but if you train and prune this shouldn't be an issue. The clear choice in buddy's situation is multiple 600W as he is doing and I think they fit the profile of just about any tent grow on this scale perfectly. I think its also important to note that 2 lights is better than 1 any way you slice it.

Having trouble with mites and tired of paying for shit that doesn't work and kills off the plant ?
Try this then, it is made from everyday house hold items, and if you don't have one or two of them, the lot can be bought for under $10 and will last for a long long time.




- Gather 1/4 cup baking soda, 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 2 drops dish detergent & 1/4 teaspoon epsom salt. Take one cup of hot water to dissolve epsom salts and pour into a clean 2 liter container with the rest of the ingredients. Add water to fill to 48 ounces (a 2 liter bottle will be 3/4 full) and shake well. Put into a spray bottle and cover your soil/medium with plastic. With the lights off, mist the plant all over concentrating on the underside of leaves. Wait 20 minutes and sprits off with clean fresh water, shaking as much water off the plant as you can. Solution is alkaline and rinsing is important in order to remove mites and eggs, and to prevent the solution from burning the plant leaves. Test on a small portion of the plant and wait 24 hours to observe before dousing the whole thing. If you see plant damage, dilute with more plain water and test again.

How about a homemade cloning solution or two.
Both of these are 100% natural.

1st:
Dip your cuttings in honey.

2nd:

The first step in making homemade rooting compound is to gather tips of willow branches. You will need about a handful of the willow branch tips.


<LI class=step>2 You will now want to either smash the willow branch tips using a rock or hammer, or cut them into very small pieces using a paring knife.


<LI class=step>3 Next, place the willow branch tips in a container. Cover the tips with water and allow them to soak overnight.


<LI class=step>4 The next day, remove the solid pieces of the willow. Dip your cuttings into the willow water making sure to cover the stems.


<LI class=step>5 Place your cuttings into a potting soil/sand mixture.


<LI class=step>6 After roots have formed on the stems, you can then transplant or repot the rooted cuttings.



(The bark is said to work the same as branch tips.)


3.)homemade rooting compound can be made by
dissolving 1 plain uncoated aspirin in one cup of
water. Dip the cutting in the solution then plant.

So really simple cloner that clones faster and easier than rockwool/jiffy and soil methods. I didn't take any pics my camera is out of operation so this will have to do.


Step 1 - Supplies
1. Go to home depot and purchase heavy duty rubbermade tub 2 gallon (DO NOT GET A CLEAR ONE) (smallest they have here) ($5) - If you want to make perfect cuts also pickup a holesaw attachment for a drill (15$ extra) - I already had this but you might want to pick up something to seal any leaks or to hold your airstone down- you can use caulk.
2. Go to hydroponics store or order 16 2" netpots and 16 2" neoprane inserts. ($16)
3. Go to store with aquarium supplies and purchase cheapest air pump, tubing, and airstone (15$) (I already had this)

Step 2 - The build
1. Drill 16 holes in the lid of the rubbermaid for the netpots - you can drill holes for the tubing also but not nessecary.
2. fit the neoprane inserts in the netpots and drop in the netpots.
3. caulk the airstone to the bottom in the center so hopefully it blocks any leaks (sometimes these have a pinhole in the center)
4. After it dries fill with water to check for any leaks
5. If there is no leaks hook up the airstone to the pump and plugin the pump
6. PH your water to 5.5 or so
7. Sit this thing up in your veg room far from the light if you use metal halide or put it under your lights at a good distance for fluros.

Thats it, you should get roots in 3 to 7 days if you monitor your ph. No more rockwool cubes to buy, no more waiting 2+ weeks for a good solid clone on occasions. My total cost was about 20$ and all togather this shouldn't cost you more than 50$ unless you also buy a power drill. It doesn't really save you money right away like buddies methods but it does save you money in the long run to build something like this. You dont need to buy any supplies after this ever you just let it run. I suppose you could use clonex or something if you wanted but I just cut it right from the plant with no gel or anything with 100% successes.

You can water a re-vegging plant with homemade Willow Water to promote new root growth and faster re-veg time.

Rj41 said:

You can water a re-vegging plant with homemade Willow Water to promote new root growth and faster re-veg time.

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Give it a try, and then post your results...

Buddy Ganga said:

So they have this converter now that turns a 1000w ballast into a ballast that will run 2 600 watt lights.

1 1000 watt ballast is cheaper then 2 600 watters,$$$$$$ and the 1000 watter will use less electic to run the same 2 lights.$$$$$$$$$$$
Less cords, less mess.

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that is fuckin brilliant, but are the intensities of both 600's gunna be diminished in any way due to the lack of 200 additional watts ? thats my concern

fatality said:

that is fuckin brilliant, but are the intensities of both 600's gunna be diminished in any way due to the lack of 200 additional watts ? thats my concern

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Sun Pulse SunPulse Splitter, Grow Light Bulb Maximizer
Split every 1000 watt HPS lighting system into two 600w lighting systems!
Growers suffer from excessive energy consumption and too much heat in the grow-room. The lights heat the room up and then growers pay money to heat and cool the room. The SunPulse Splitter brings a new solution for these specific problems. Use a single 1000 watt HPS magnetic ballast to drive two 600 watt lamps whether they're in the same room or not. Watch your electric bills go down along with your total cost of operations.


http://www.amazon.com/600W-DUAL-Lumatek-Digital-Ballast/dp/B000I1S43Q
Here is something else that might interest you.
This is one I'm positive will operate 2 600 watt true to their 600w capabilities..
600W DUAL Lumatek Digital Ballast - 240V

It's only $100 more then a single 600 and definitely cheaper then a 1000W and the cost of the splitter.

You really should run your bulbs at the power level they expect. Under powering will greatly diminish its output, and over powering will reduce its life. Given that, I'm sure those splitters do work, but they require you to use a magnetic 1000w ballast.

I'm curious- does anyone know why the Willow/Aspirin soak should help the clones? What is it about that stuff?

magnetic ballast just plain suck in comparison to digital - among other benefits, you save a significant amount of money on your power bill by using digitals and allow yourself to run more lights on a given circuit - if you run a 1,000W magnetic ballast you could replace it with two of those dual 600W lumateks giving you 4 lights and you would still have room for other things on that circuit before reaching the power level your 1x 1,000W was using...Last year I replaced a 1,000W magnetic ballast with a 1,000W digital and a 600W digital and my power bill went down.

Also you cant go wrong with a hortilux or hortilux knock off for a bulb(IE Growlux), they seem to be better even compared to the newer types which claim they are better. (IE Lumatek or "Dual spectrum")

95% of the bulbs on the market are not even designed for our type of application.
Even the top manufacturers fall way short.

How many people know what their "re-strike" time is for the bulbs they use ?
How many people know what the optimum operating temp is ? Not the operating temp, but the optimum operating temp ?
How often do you clean your bulbs ?
What is the reflective value/or loss from any hoods/reflectors/walls ?
Do the ballast and bulb manufacturers specs line up right ?

I was amazed to find out that every time a light is turned on or off it loses output.
The tests they do are done by turning the bulb on once and periodically checking it's output.
Hence the "24,000 usage hours" on the box and us replacing them every 1,400 to 2,100 hours.
So it's like buying a new car. It's value goes down as soon as you start it up.
And the higher the wattage the greater the lose.

subbed-

good ideas guys. i like it when a plan comes together.

Bron Anon said:

.

I'm curious- does anyone know why the Willow/Aspirin soak should help the clones? What is it about that stuff?

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"Willow bark contains auxins (plant growth hormones), especially those used for rooting new cuttings. The bark can even be used to make a simple extract that will promote cutting growth."

And the history of the Aspirin.

The leaves and bark of the willow tree have been mentioned in ancient texts from Assyria, Sumer and Egypt[8] as a remedy for aches and fever,[9] and the Ancient Greek physician Hippocrates wrote about its medicinal properties in the 5th century BC. Native Americans across the American continent relied on it as a staple of their medical treatments. This is because willows contain salicin, a substance that chemically resembles aspirin. Salicin is metabolized in to salicylic acid in the human body, which is a precursor of aspirin[10]
In 1763 its medicinal properties were observed by the Reverend Edward Stone in England. He notified the Royal Society who published his findings. The active extract of the bark, called salicin, was isolated to its crystalline form in 1828 by Henri Leroux, a French pharmacist, and Raffaele Piria, an Italian chemist, who then succeeded in separating out the acid in its pure state. Salicin is acidic when in a saturated solution in water (pH = 2.4), and is called salicylic acid for that reason.
In 1897 Felix Hoffmann created a synthetically altered version of salicin (in his case derived from the Spiraea plant), which caused less digestive upset than pure salicylic acid. The new drug, formally Acetylsalicylic acid, was named Aspirin by Hoffmann's employer Bayer AG. This gave rise to the hugely important class of drugs known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).