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

[jawnroot]

My goals are to be able to harvest once a month, getting 6-8 zips a month, does this sounds reasonable, 8 plants per light sog style, with lst training? Im not a total newb just with sog, not sure how many plants to put under there. Some guy has like 72 under 420 watts of cfls and he was pulling over a pound.

I don't see that happening with 150s, unless you really have your stuff together. It's possible, but if that's your goal go with higher wattage.

A fairly serious perpetual setup is required to pull a guaranteed, reliable, and consistent HP a month SOG style. I'm talking a 250 MH veg chamber, and two 400 watt HPS flowering lights with 10 small "budsickles" under each.

Granted, if you find the perfect strain and really dial your setup in, then three 150s, with the addition of a 175 MH veg chamber could conceivably net you a consistent 6oz a month. But in my experience and opinion (emphasis on "my" and "opinion"), a 150 is a hobby/personal light, not a commercial production light.

 

[jgrow]

jawnroot I appreciate the advice but this isn't a commercial grow, I'm generous with family and friends and id like to make my self a nice stock of hash. My self could easily smoke 4 zips a month.

If properly dialed in with the right strain you can achieve 4 plus O's a light so then with 3 lights running a perp system, harvesting half the cab every month why wouldn't 6-8 zips be realistic? The strains are not yet chosen but heavy yielders they will be. So if i can pull 4 zips a light thats 12 zips, half of which is 6.

I also know it takes a lot of work to get a grow dialed in but like most of us who do this I'm very dedicated. I do understand it would take a few runs to get this running optimal. But hey I'm not to greedy ill take what i can get and with any extra ill help out my family.

 

[Shred42O]

if you get the right gentics that should be no problem for you but it would probably take more the a month on each they would need some good time to get what you want

 

[grumblez]

I just grew 5 plants (1st timer) from bagseed and scored 3 zips from 2 well vegged plants and three that I 12/12'd from seed and neglected to some extent. They all finished within a few weeks of each other...I would say that 2 zips came from two main plants.

I used 2 150's and 2 65 Watt CFLs and little training..hope that helps set expectations...

I found that one serious plant takes up a 150 watt light once you get to serious budding if left relatively untrained. I would not wish to be finishing two plants at the same time unless I was screening the grow under a single 150. If you need 4 zips a month you need scrog and a few plants (3) with a 150. Even then it may be hard to due month after month...

HAPPY NEW YEAR YOU GREEN THUMBED BASTARDS!

 

[catman]

Happy New Years 150w Crew!!

Looking great Inverted. Way to utilize that space man!


Here they all are.

Anyone have any 2 cents on the optimal height that bulb should be at? My theory is that the most intense light leaves the cylindrical element normal (90 degrees.) There is plenty of light that goes out approximately 45 degrees from the outside of the top and bottom circles and I don't want to waste it. I'm just wondering if I shouldn't be pouring all the normal rays right on the tops of the bud. I put a 42w CFL to light the tops.

Didn't get a good pic on this one, PD x AK47

BubbleGum

BubbleGum Sativa Pheno. She is like pure fox tails as you can tell. Crazy. Takes about 90 day for trichs to go cloudy. Her stalk is vigorous and I wonder if this is just the way she is or if my environment is making her do this. I thought Sativa's liked more intense light than hybrids and indicas.

I had 2 of them from last one and I trimmed one up, but this one looks the same as when I chopped.

Here she is this current run. Topped three of them and they turned out much nicer than the untopped one.

Here is what my ISO looks like. Made from all the strains combined and for this run I only used sugar leaves.

*edit* Almost forgot the squirts! I knew I risked this happening when I put them into flower too soon after topping and I wish I would have experimented by allowing one to veg longer. These are all under 10'' from top of the cups. They are flowering faster than the others if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Inverted]

Questions Questions...

Questions Questions...

clean, green and frosty, Inverted.

Thanks man!

I think I finally have this configuration figured out. It may not appear that way but the mistakes that were made to cause the physical "blemishes" lets call them have been corrected, although the foliage that was affected was probably beyond repair.

I plan to trim out all the "claw" leaves as they are so skinny and narrow now that they are doing more harm than production at this point. I think that if I trim a few of the larger damaged sets up top, at least the lower branching will receive more direct light and hopefully as a result will get less popcorn.

Either way this was more of a test run to figure out how some of my strains work indoor and to get used to my setup. I just added another 65w 2700k CFL with a nice aluminum reflector to the flower chamber.

With 5 plants, vegged for 24 days (3 Chrystal) and 27 days (2 Haze), and flowered under 360w, Do you think it's possible that I could end up with an average of 25 Grams per plant?

FYI I'm an OD grower (9 Years) primarily so I'm still getting used to this system, and these strains yielded pretty high outdoors, so I'm assuming they can still produce decent sized buds with better conditions than the OD run? (EX. 12 hours of constant light whereas OD it's not sunny all day every day) Some of the plants (2-3 ft) had top cola's weighing in around 14 Grams! I'd be happy with 5 gram colas this run! (I have Chrystal, Hindu x Master Kush, and Sensi SuperSkunk x Bubba Kush future mothers vegging for my next project, the more reliable yielding Sea Of Green. It's either that or just grow 4 larger plants and do a Mod ScrOG... Any Ideas on which would get better penetration from the 150 while still preserving floorspace? (4 Sq. Feet x 4' High)

I know they look a little behind, by a week or 2 on a couple of them, but they will just take longer to finish. 125 Grams total would be less than .5g/watt and I consider myself to have a pretty decent greenthumb (don't judge me on this run please!) so do you guys think I can achieve this? I know there are so many variables and factors to determine yields, and it's pretty pointless, but I am used to monster OD plants and am a bad judge of what an indoor plant is capable of!!! I mean I see plenty of people going 12/12 from cuts or seed and they seem to get around 12-20 Grams per plant and I vegged til they were 8-12"???

Any input or lively conversations on the subject are more than welcome! (More like requested)

Thanks guys! I love this thread!

 

[Inverted]

Thanks Cat!!!

I have done a decent amount of LST on the Haze. It was dumb to try to grow that strain under a 150 but I love my Haze in the morning and my Couchlock at night! *Shrugs*

I am still surprised at how well these low wattage systems work for the personal grower. Yeah i'm using some CFL's to supplement so I'm not a pure 150ist but I should have grown smaller plants for better penetration and light coverage but it is what it is. This is all headstash and free so what can I complain about!?!?

I think you have the bulb positioned just right. You are right, the majority of the intense light comes off at a 90, but there is still plenty of usable light coming off at more of an angle. I agree with not wasting any of it. Penetration is key with the 150 I have noticed in the last month since I started using mine.

The Bubba Kush x Super Skunk is going to be the one to watch so keep an eye out in the Indoor Soil and Grow Diaries forums... Here's a picture of the future moms at day 5 since germination. (2-3 days above soil) The larger seedlings are Chrystal (my best pheno, not used in current crop) and Troublemaker (Hindu x Master). I plan to do a 4 x 4 clone setup, 1 gallon bags, 1 week of veg... It will be perpetual so half of the clones (8) in the Flower Box will be 4 weeks staggered. At 10-14 grams per plant, that's more than enough for me to smoke whenever I want and never need to run out and buy a sack.

Keep in mind the CFL's were only set up like that for a couple days while I worked on upgrading the flower chamber...

 

[jawnroot]

jawnroot I appreciate the advice but this isn't a commercial grow, I'm generous with family and friends and id like to make my self a nice stock of hash. My self could easily smoke 4 zips a month.

Regardless of what you call it, it's still a commercial level grow. All you can practically fit under a 150, without supplementation, is about 4 fairly small, SOG style plants. Two plants if you're going more bush style. If you have the right strain, those four plants could yield an O a piece, but I'd count on .5 oz per. So that's maybe two oz off your first light, and maybe another oz off half the second (assuming you're splitting the three 150s up half and half for the perpetual). So I'd count on 3-4 oz per month off a well-dialed in tri 150 setup, with the potential for a bit more with the right strain.

If properly dialed in with the right strain you can achieve 4 plus O's a light so then with 3 lights running a perp system, harvesting half the cab every month why wouldn't 6-8 zips be realistic? The strains are not yet chosen but heavy yielders they will be. So if i can pull 4 zips a light thats 12 zips, half of which is 6.

The problem is that this is pie in the sky speculation, based upon the best of possible circumstances. Often times, this isn't the way it works out. You have to low ball it and work up from there. If you want a guaranteed 6-8 oz a month, you have to go with 400s. 600s if you really want to be safe.

And even if you're able to pull 6-8 oz a month off your 150s, that will be with a very select few strains. So you'll be smoking the same variety over and over and over again, and it may not even be a variety you like that much. In my experience, high yielding commercial strains (which is what you'll need to meet your goals under a 150) get old quick.

I also know it takes a lot of work to get a grow dialed in but like most of us who do this I'm very dedicated. I do understand it would take a few runs to get this running optimal. But hey I'm not to greedy ill take what i can get and with any extra ill help out my family.

That's a good mentality. If all you can practically run are 150s, then go for it and get what you get. If you don't absolutely have to have 6-8 per month, then by all means hit up the lower wattage. But as I said expect half of your goal (3-4), even after having it dialed in. If you're really gunning for 6-8, and you have the space, go with 400s. They'll open up a world of different strains, and make achieving your goal fairly easy.

...a good compromise might be to go with two 250s as opposed to three 150s. You'll be getting more overall wattage, more intensity, AND the system will be cheaper to purchase, and most likely be more efficient. You can squeeze 6 SOG style plants under a 250, each of which will yield between .5oz and 1oz once you get it dialed in (depending upon strain). The potential for 6oz a month, IMHO, is much greater with one 250, as opposed to one and a half 150s. The wattage difference alone (250 vs. 225) speaks to this, but your light will also be more intense under a 250 regardless.

Food for thought. Good luck, happy growing.

 

[hoosierdaddy]

There are 6 plants just put into 12/12. Maybe two weeks from seed cast.
They are in two 18" flower box planters under 150hps.
14" from top of planters to bottom of light.
Footprint of box is 18"x21"

Training is essential to growing multiple plants in a small space...
we need complete control of the plants.

When the stretch is on, manipulation is critical.

Outside planter pulled out to show middle area...
Having qa small area and plants so close to the light it is also essential that the air flow be very controlled. The small fan that is mounted on the left side of the box is directly blowing on the light, and the exhaust fan is pulling that air right out the box.

Planter put back in place.

Top of the main tails got 2-3 inches of the light, and no leaves or buds burnt on this run at all.
I basically create a screenless scrog.

 

[vintner]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to hoosierdaddy again.
Awesome grow Bro! Way to represent!

 

[work2fish]

hoosier, way to kill it with the 150 for real man thats a true farmer right there.


got some beans poppin my new years resolution is to maintain a journal on ICMAG this year.

 

[jgrow]

jawnroot The info you provided has made me start thinking and i dont want to be limited to a few heavy yielding commercial strains. Maybe ill run 2 250s side by side, or a 400. Idk if i could control the heat of a 600 while trying to be somewhat stealth and not having a jet engine in the grow room exhausting it.

 

[hoosierdaddy]

Thanks mucho, V.

I look forward to your reports, work2fish. Thanks for the kindness.

 

[jawnroot]

jawnroot The info you provided has made me start thinking and i dont want to be limited to a few heavy yielding commercial strains. Maybe ill run 2 250s side by side, or a 400. Idk if i could control the heat of a 600 while trying to be somewhat stealth and not having a jet engine in the grow room exhausting it.

Even with 3x 150s, you'll still need some serious ventilation. I'd say a 150 cfm inline would be minimum, and those guys aren't terribly quiet. Same goes for pretty much any setup that'd yield to the levels you're discussing.

You can, however, mask the sound of fans with a loud computer, a floor fan, an air conditioner, etc etc.

 

[Castelvetro]

i posted my rooms specs on here asking if a 150 would be too much heat. the room is shaped like an L. lets say rougly 3ft by 8 long, by 3ft by 6ft the other way, ceilings being around 5 ft average.most said it would be too hot without exhaust. well im off to buy another light, a 250 to go with my 150. my 150hps is cooler then my 80+watts of clfs. its winter here, a huge advantage, but a 150 puts out very little heat. there is cracks in the wall were winter n its cool provide fresh air which is a blessing but i believe that multiple smaller hids are cooler by nature then larger wattage ones of equal total wattage, i know they put of less lumens per watt and this might be part of the reason why there cooler but im generally impressed with the little heat of my htg 150hps. cant complain. i have heard there 400 htgs run Hot!

go with circular vertical , run just two lights and smash the gram per watt game with far less effort...and lesson your heat sig..

 

[sito007]

Here's a few pics of my ladies. I gotta use smaller pots next time. These two plants got way too tall. I had to tie them away from the bulb to prevent any burning.

i train them as they grow i think its called super cropping.anyone correct me if im wrong.

 

[hoosierdaddy]

Looks good sito007.
I bet those buds are set now and won't extend a whole lot more. I doubt if any supercropping will be needed. But if it does, don't be afraid to smash the stalk and then bend it at the smash.

 

[Pipedream]

Agreed. I think they'll just bulk up from this point and not stretch much if any at all.

 

[hoosierdaddy]

sito, you are at the fun part now. The stage of growth that I like best, save for the harvest.
All the resins are ripening, the terpines start to mature, and the calyxes swell up to give the buds their density.

 

[work2fish]

whats your guys methods of moving your light up and down ( i have a sun system IV) to adjust to your plants height in your box?

I usually just grew in open closets but have to make a box/tent for mine.

dimensions of the corner of the closet I am gonna build it in

L 22 1/4"

W 18 1/2 "

H up to 5 1/2 feet


all the 150 pimps what would be the ideal height for this and what size pots? I want a 3 1/2 maxi pot is that overkill for it? I have some OG kush beans and heard they reak even thru veg so getting a carbon filter is necessary so have that in mind.

Never had to deal with keeping my grows low key so this is kinda new to me and want it to be as effective as possible.