150w HPS Club and Resource Guide......

[tripnoncid]

well finally joining the ranks of the micro growers
Here are a couple of pictures of my mini fridge setup with some KC Brains Mango seedlings in swc. Right now they are under a 42 watt cfl to start them off after that I just remove the light fixture that is held on by industrial strength velcrow and turn on the 150hps
trip

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

heres what i wasthinking of trying. the only problem is that i cant think of a way to attatch it to the frame. maybe someone here will see this and come up with an idea. i got it a Lowes in the lawn and gardening center.

Thanks, disfunktional. We finally have Lowes within reasonable distance, lol. I check it out the next time I get on the horse.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to disfunktional again.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

day 42 flowering, the temp reading is wrong, i had my doors open for about a hour before that vid changing nutes and shit. My temps are STILL at 80-85, any advice on how to keep it cooler? im running that brown fan that 6 in ducket fan and a big pc fan to push are out the box in the roof.
click the pic.

I wish I could give you the quick fix but it looks like you have a couple of areas you could tweak. I noticed in your video the lamp is 8" from the canopy. It's possible to get the lamp within 2 or 3 inches w/o burning or bleaching. A 150HPS only has about 12" inches of penetration so the closer the better.

You probably need more exhaust than that 6" duct booster. Consider some type of wheel fan, i.e. centrifugal or blower. You'll probably need a speed controller to keep excessive noise down. Make sure to get a controller that matches the fan motor type.

You'll also benefit from 2x passive intake. I would try this before spending any money on another fan.

A remote ballast runs cooler. Your hood is hotter than running a bare bulb with a pc fan blowing on the hot spot. I've used hoods before, with and without the lens and didn't get any difference in temps. It's the hood that is making the difference and even if you pump air through it you won't get all the bang for your buck.

I'm not suggesting you cannibalize your nice lamp but here's what will run cooler than what it looks like you have now.

Remote the ballast by extending the socket wires. Very easy to accomplish. There are remote tutorials in the growroom designs and equipment thread.

Here's the part you may find objectionable, lol. Use only the wing reflector, bulb and socket from the hood. That way a pc fan can do it's work to cool the hot spot.

If your circulation fan even approaches the air flow of the exhaust fan, it will reduce the heat removing efficiency of the exhaust. Try different circ fan positions and/or direction. If that doesn't help, try reducing circulation in the grow area.

Lowering the light will reduce your overall footprint but will grow more bud. That's an impressive amount of pants and buds you have there but a 150 is good for about 3 sq feet. Maybe you have things dialed in well and can get more, give it all it'll take.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Great DIY job there DB That's a frame for what? Soil? Hydro? How many plants under it? Chicken wire IMHO is the best for scrog. Easy to cut and form to shape. Sturdy, but flexible. What kind of clearance are you lookin at?
Stay safe n

Thanks mang. Soil, I don't know about plant numbers. I guess one, unless 2 would make for better veg time.

Clearance? Headroom or soil to screen? I didn't glue the vertical leg joints of the SCROG frame and I have a set of various lengths. What growing/maintenance distance do you recommend for starters?

I've have more headroom than the bulb will handle. Depending on screen height, I'll probably have to use a platform as lamp height isn't adjustable.

 

[Frankenstein]

Thanks disco, the part about the brown fan is helpful, its pushing way more air then my exhuast fan,so ill turn it down. I try and get the light as close as possible, but because the plants are two different heights its kinda hard. Thus why ill more then likly LST my next grow which will be Pure Afhgan. Lol not willing to rip up the light, maybe when i plan on getting a betterone, just dont wanna risk fucking up to be honest, im not good with stuff like that my friends dont let me play with electical stuff lol. Shortly after this post i remodeled some of the ventilation and it has been staying around 82-84 degrees, better, but still not what i want it. Thanks for the advice bro =D

im pretty happy with the yeild so far they got a lil ways to go, umm i do got a few more questions though, the plant on the left, the smaller one, some of the tich's are turning amber, i mean like atm its a 10 max on each bud, but still should i consider flushing this next solution change?

Also took a branch rom the plant on the right for testing and such, besides keeps me from ripping my ladies up lol been waiting a long time t harvest em and i think one is almost ready.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

I try and get the light as close as possible, but because the plants are two different heights its kinda hard.

Good point, don't wanna burn dem bitches, lol.

Lol not willing to rip up the light, maybe when i plan on getting a betterone, just dont wanna risk fucking up to be honest, im not good with stuff like that my friends dont let me play with electical stuff lol.

Good idea.

Recommendation to chop shop your lamp - probably not a good idea, lol. My hood wasn't as nice as yours so I didn't have the same dilemma.

...the plant on the left, the smaller one, some of the tich's are turning amber, i mean like atm its a 10 max on each bud, but still should i consider flushing this next solution change?

Depends on what kind of high you want. The more amber, the more narcotic or couch lock the effect. Not sure about the flush, might need a little more info.

Also took a branch rom the plant on the right for testing and such, besides keeps me from ripping my ladies up lol been waiting a long time t harvest em and i think one is almost ready.

Looking good, hope you enjoy.

 

[hoosierdaddy]

Frank, if you have trics ripening, it is probably a good idea to start flushing asap. At this point any additional quantity, if any, will easily be overridden by quality if a good flush is done. Some plants it takes a good 3-4 wks of flush to get the taste out, others maybe a week to ten days depending on how much and what you have been feeding.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Catpiss, fat with Kool Bloom Powder - 50 days 12/12

 

[grumblez]

Bountiful Nuggets

Bountiful Nuggets

I have read all 389 pages of posts in this thread prior to posting. To those that came before me, thank you. To those seeking information, I hope someday I may represent what the founder(s) of this board have intended to propagate through it's inception.

I have taken many snippets of information from SugarBearII, Pipedream, GreenGrow, Bulenath and others and compiled them for my own purposes. I figured it would be good to share this "collage" of accumulated wealth in a single post to make it easier for some seeking knowledge.

What to worry about in a small scale ("home user") grow?

Water/pH

pH of ~7 (less for hydro 5.8-6.2). This is the first place n00bs will mis-step. Think you have a magnesium deficiency? Check your pH first. Now if I only knew what pH stands for....

Water twice a week. Over-watering is one of the most common mistakes.

Tried and true Bulenath soil watering schedule:

Water plain water on Monday, Feed Tuesday, Water plain on Wednesday, feed Thursday, etc. You want to feed the flowering plants Pure Blend Pro Veg formula for the first two weeks. This is so it has enough Nitrogen to support the stretch. After two weeks you can start hitting them with the Bloom Soil formula.

Flushing?

flush the soil with three times as much water as it holds soil.


General Nutrient isms:

Veg Growth: 12-12-12 is fine, 20-20-20 is fine, 12-6-6 is fine and 18-4-5 is fine. The 12-12-12 and 20-20-20 are the best ones to find. Something like 8-20-20 is not suitable for vegetative growth.

For Bloom, cut the Nitrogen, go for the P and K factor. Use nutes sparingly (1/4 strength slowly increasing if effects are good).

Over fert will burn you plants and is an easy trap to fall in to. Remember this is a weed. Let it tough it out a bit if in doubt. Do not over fert if you want the best outcome.

Molasses (unsulphored) acts as a chelating agent and as a source of simple carbs. Feed it the second week in and prior to two weeks before harvest. Watch the yield fatten! 1 TBSP per gallon, max.

Light:

50 watts per sq foot. 6400k is for growth/vegging. 2700k is for blooming. HPS trumps CFL in most cases for flowering either works for veg. 150W penetrate 6" of canopy. LED is an interesting prospect for a number of reasons. Veg with LED is easy, flowering still has a way to go for LED.

12/12 light gets you to flowering except for some tricky sativas (stativa for my man Bulenath). For some sats, go 11/13 or 10/14 to get them to flip.

Closer you get to the light with your girls, the better. This prevents stretching and promotes penetration for better yields.

HPS is all you *need* for flowering...supplement as you feel fit.

Temperature:

Low seventies are optimal. Try not to let temps swing more than 10-15 degrees between light and dark cycles to prevent an increase in hermie action. Check out various heaters and know your environment.

Every scenario has different environmental concerns or requirements.

Method:

SOG folks can get their 12/12 on from seed. Enjoy your 7 gram colas and quick turn-around time.

SCROG folks are efficient but the screen is a pain in the ass. (more with less plants). 2oz per plant? Sure.

LST can use anything (stakes, string, cages) to stagger flower sites to maximize light exposure. Easy and effective. Same as SCROG, no wires.

FIM/Topping - do not do after flowering unless you don't care about that WHOPPING COLA. After 6th node during veg stage is common best practice.

Harvest:

When you start seeing the first few pistils (hairs) change you can start to lower the nutrients and generally 2 weeks after that she'll be ready to chop. Given that you are in soil those last 2 weeks is when you'd flush water.

flushing with a little carbs (molasses or sugar in the raw - no more than 0.5 tbs per gallon) and fulvic acid really helps bring out flavor and smooth smoke - (fulvic aids in translocation and the carbs help to add some weight and power the plants final pushes - also most final flush/finishing products are just water and sugars of some sort)

When a plant is in the last stages of flowering, one of it's natural processes is to stop the uptake of nutrients. This change in chemistry signals the plant to complete it's seeding process. While most of our plants are not allowed to produce seeds, the same signal tells the plant to stop actively producing THC within it's glands. As a result the existing glands start to decay and turn amber. Yes, those amber trichs we all so seek are in fact decayed. By flushing all available nutrients you force the plant into it's final phase and can expedite the process of changing clear trichs to a rich brown hue. Of course, not everyone desires amber. Those that desire less of a couch-lock high will want a higher percentage of clear.

On another front, I'm also a big fan of an extended dark period before the harvest. THC is produced during the dark period and quickly decays in bright light. Two to three days of darkness will increase the potency of your final product.

Curing (aside from Pipedreams paper bag method):

The main arteries I will always discard. Only some very small secondary stems will be kept through the drying and curing process. Although my ambient RH lingers around 50%, I could never dry my weed properly with that much extra stem weight. Turns out, cutting each individual bud off of every stem and stringing them up like a Hawaiian Lei, and letting them hang over the grow box's exhaust works perfectly.

Though each harvest takes me nearly 16-20 hours to finish. It takes quite some time to sew & string and entire harvest with a needle and thread. But in the end, the weed dries perfectly in exactly 7 days and I never had any more problems with the weed getting soggy after a few days of curing, even when curing properly (I.e. glass on glass apothecary jars & taking the lid off for about 2-3 hours the first day, 1-2 hours the second, 1 hour the third day, 50 min, 40min, 30min, 20min, etc...Until 2 weeks.)

I hope this summary helps some of you the way it has me. Please enjoy.

 

[ne0b0rn]

.......

 

[ne0b0rn]

"nothing to see here "

 

[grumblez]

whoops

 

[grumblez]

Not sure if I lost the last post...

Not sure if I lost the last post...

I am not sure if I can post photos yet, but would love to share progress at some point. I am at week 3 of flowering and have a U-shaped space with varying ceiling height (think "people under the stairs"). My staircase has a landing/bent configuration and I have two 150's hanging from the stairwell in the basement which I recently finished.

I used scraps from the build to enclose the staircase to make it light tight, with a door leading in to the grow space from the finished portion.

total floorspace is around 6' x 5' but I cut it in half with a sheet of drywall so when you first open the door, you see a wall with an opening on the right that gets you behind the wall (you know, the one with the BRIGHT ass glow coming from behind it).

I leave the door open to let things breath and have a simple box fan and oscillating fan setup.

I know some point soon scent may become an issue. And thus my post.

I have two main plants and three secondary ones. All are bag seed. I believe I have one mostly Sat (if not total sat), two pure indicas and two mixed breeds.

I have thrown all sorts of conditions at them to get some experience first hand.

Some were vegged a month using tuned LEDs and 24" fluorescent tubes (cheap ones from home DePot) and (towards the end) 65w CFL.

Some were dropped right into 12/12 from seedling.

One I topped for two colas (the sat), one I removed some fan leaves from to stimulate undergrowth, one I LST'd.

My scenario has grown from the ground up. I started with the 24" tubes since I had them laying around and quickly ordered LED panels from Ebay.

Realizing the LED thing (even x 4) was gonna help me veg and nothing more I jumped on the 65W CFLs x 2 from home depot....not bad.

I then asked myself why was I delaying the inevitable and picked up a sun system 150 unit because after a month of caring I did not want to deny myself the reward of being successful.

Best decision thus far.

I overcame early pH issues, avoided root binding by transplanting and have two nice plants (sat and a bushy hybrid in flower) from the properly vegged plant ranks. The ones going 12/12 from start vary greatly in results: One is stunted (my fault, dropped a light on her once, squished her once while shuffling things around), one is a popsicle in the making (as anticipated) and surprisingly the last has bushed out considerable after I nixed a few fan leaves on a bet.

Aside from the abused plant, genetics play a key factor in response - or at least that is my assumption for the variance. Total crap-shoot style.

Because of the bushiness of the vegged plants and the open wall configuration letting light leak I added a second 150 yesterday so I was not doing the shuffle all the time. My bad luck girl sighed a nice big one of relief to see that come in. Another gaff and she would most likely poison me on first smoke.

So now we are approaching the holidays and I like to entertain. Door is not going to be open. I have a large volume of air in the space. Just ordered a 6" inline fan (the type from home depot, but not from home dePot) and I am hoping this low cfm fan (160?) with a DIY scrubber setup and a couple of passive intakes (if any) will do.

Any thoughts for a setup in this kind of scenario? I would like to keep the decibels down low...I record music using very sensitive mics and also do not need the attention to what is under the stairs from family and friends visiting....

Oh that brings me to the ballast buzz issue...both of my lights are SS150's. One is SILENT the other hums. Looks like they switched ballast OEMs somewhere along the way.

I believe tightening some screws will relieve the buzz. I was able to reduce it nicely by slapping my thermometer on it sing a magnet...the weight quieted the hum...thus my thinking a mechanical connection needed to be cranked down...

Any thoughts would be appreciated...once I can post pics I will...I am under the impression I have done pretty well for a first timer...thanks to y'all.


I have gotten by with max temps of 81F (averaging 77) with the door closed. I have not tested out a full day with both 150's on and the door closed though. Maybe today I will try it and this all becomes a moot point.

-Grumblez

 

[komrade komura]

Classic line dude....funny shit.

Hey...you got a lock on the door?

Just thinking.

 

[grumblez]

Sure do chief.

 

[Frankenstein]

When do i start the trim on the plant that is flushing? do i just trim the fan leaves away about 3 days before i cut it down?

 

[grumblez]

Depends on your religion

Depends on your religion

Some folks say do not cut the fan leaves until you reap 'em. Others say lets trim them off as the plant starts showing nitrogen cannibalism to make way for more light to younger plants in a staggered harvest scenario.

I might ask a question though - why would you cut the leaves?

If you do not have a specific reason I would leave the puppy alone. If you are fidgety, give them a light tug and if they come off then it was meant to be...

 

[work2fish]

Dont take your leaves off unless they are more than 50 percent dead.


Pick your poison on your harvesting, drying and curing method.

the commercial grower: cut, trim, hang til dry, jar.

connoisseur: cut, leave all fan leaves on hang and dry until fan leaves are dry and brittle to the touch cut off all large fan leaves when dry, hang back up to dry til smaller leaves and tips of the buds are dry to the touch "manicure" take off all extra leaf cut down the stems trim it up nice then when its still a little moist on the inside of the bud but dry on the outside. Put the buds lightly into a brown paper bag and fold the top lightly. let it sit in there move and shake it around when examining it dont compact the buds let them lay loosely til it looks and feels dry and done. Then you can put it in the jar to start curing.

Im a begginer and have gone thruogh 7 cycles this year and just started that method 2 cycles ago and wont turn back now.

that was all loosely quoted from Dj Shorts: Cure your medicine.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Thanks for the info, work2fish.

 

[CovertCrops]

Hi everyone, I used to veg with a Sun System 150 hps, I was going to start using it again until I stopped and did some math.

Sun System 150 hps: 120 volts x 3.2 amps = 384 watts!!!! to burn a 150 watt light

Sun system galaxy 400 watt digital ballast: 120 volts x 3.25 amps = 390 watts to burn a 400 watt light.

I just thought some of you might be interested to know that.