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

[BongDaddy]

Just a quick update, since I said would...

I didn't get to work on the modification the next day like I was hoping I would last time I posted, but I did through the week. Got it all together and tested it out. We have light! Thanks again everyone, you made it a lot easier. I figured I might have been worried about nothing, but it never hurts to check.

I did end up using sugarbear_II's security light tutorial ( https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=36344&highlight=remote+security+light+tutorial ) that someone mentioned above and it did help a lot.

A couple of notes, if anyone else uses that tutorial for converting a Sun System 150w HPS to remote ballast:

1) The red and blue wires as indicated on his "AFTER" wiring diagram are not the same red and blue wires on the Sun System. In fact, the colors are reversed, so where his says red, it's your blue wire, and where his says blue, it's your red wire.

2) I wanted to bypass the Sun System's lit ON/OFF switch, but it is wired slightly differently than the light sensor on the security light in the tutorial. The ON/OFF switch has an extra white lead. I think that's to power the light in the switch. Make sure if you want to bypass the switch that all your white leads are reconnected properly. Be careful and SAFETY FIRST! If you're not comfortable with bypassing the switch you can just put some electrical or aluminum tape over it to cover the light.

 

[J23]

Nirvana's fem NL coco one plant scrog

Nirvana's fem NL coco one plant scrog

Hello everyone. One month into flower. I think I solved one issue: a couple of leaves were getting burned/dry at the ends (see first pic in a center). I was testing the ppm of nutes solution and runoff. It seems that the reason was simple: I did not empty frequent enough a runnoff water container under my plant. I guess it was just seeping back up to the pot causing imbalance in coco's ppm. Other than that - I'm kind of worried that my buds should be slightly bigger...?



what else... my runoff is around 950ppm, H3ad nutes formula = 6ml floramicro + 9ml florabloom/1gal water. should I make any changes?

 

[thinkin]

J23 -nice girls! nice and healthy!
Still very early to gauge size of buds.

I wouldnt change %s. i run heads %s.
Most of the leaf tips still become brittle.

still new to me defloration.
think about opening your plant up. looks like lots of shade in thar.
i had no bad reactions when i cut most of big leaves in half.
(reduce size not number)


bought a 5% UVB. Applied two doses to girls. 40 min and 1 hour
Until leaf curl was evident. Hopefully, the resin reaction will occur.
i have no way of knowing how effective it was. (no control group)

-big frostie yields for all!

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Here's some serious fan removal, lol. Might have got carried away but air flow is better than before.



IMO, a single plant shading itself doesn't reduce bud-size like multiple-plant competition. That said, air circulation thus bud quality may improve from excess fan trimming. Some strains need a little recovery time and staggering removal might help. Others appear to improve more quickly.

 

[BongDaddy]

I've read (but I'm no expert) that you should only cut as a very last resort. Whenever possible you should try to tuck leaves to the side instead of cutting or removing them. I think the reason for that is that the leaf is still able to photosynthesize better with the ambient light it can get while tucked away than it could do if cut in size (or of course if completely removed). Source: Closet Cultivator by Ed Rosenthal.

Take that as you will, but I try to practice it. In most cases, the only time I cut a leaf off is if it is dead or very close.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Good points, BD. I doubt I'd cull fans outdoors. Indoors, I need the stealth of low-speed exhaust/circ fans. IMO, doesn't lend well to air-flow w/ excess fan leaves. I respect Ed and recognize my space limitations. Where I draw the line is subjective and possibly counterproductive. Tough to know w/o a side-by-side.

 

[BongDaddy]

I think, in practice, I'll probably eventually approach it the same way you do DB. I have a small space as well (only 1 sq. foot, soon upgrading to 2). I've just been growing so few plants that even in that tiny space, real estate hasn't been a big issue.

But as I learn more and get more comfortable with maintaining multiple plants at a time, I'll probably learn when it is or isn't a good time to cut, if necessary.

I'm always reluctant to quote published information when I don't have much personal real-world experience to back it up, since it almost always turns out that there are exceptions to any rule. I just haven't happened on that exception yet.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

I think it's a good idea to mention because evolution ain't for naught.

 

[BongDaddy]

So true. And if I could be so bold as to mention evolution and god(s) in the same thread, guys like Ed Rosenthal are pretty much gods in my eyes.

 

[J23]

thnx thinkin. I have just finished some maintenance: twist tighten longer stems and cut off ends of some fan leaves to allow better penetration. Man, my palms are all sticky! And that aroma... citrus-grapefruit-sweet...?

 

[BongDaddy]

Happy 4/20, fellow 150-ers! Anyone have any special plans today?

 

[Hazeface]

Hey guys, this is my newest project.
JamacianXHawaiian (jamacian father)
She's been flowering for 44 days now and my place stinks!
She's outgrown her light and stands nearly five feet tall, this beaut of a sativa was engineered by a friend of mine and in its second generation.
The last time it was grown it had the most beautiful taste and huge buds, great buzz and (damn my new pants) munchies!
enjoy!
Hazeface

 

[BongDaddy]

Nice work Haze, looks like she's almost ready. Did you bend her over to get her back under the light?

 

[BongDaddy]

Well I finally got my shit together and finished my 150w cab. My little girls have some nice breathing room now. I'm finally officially an active 150-er!

 

[BlueGrassToker]

Real nice HawxJam Hazeface! (maternal first paternal second is the normal way to list, btw)

Cab looking nice, BongDaddy.
Just a point or two if you don't mind...
The intake at the bottom looks like it will trap light well, although you could probably get it done with less pipe and give your self more floor space.
I assume that you have an exhaust fan that is probably similar in size to the intake port? If so, then you will need to increase the intake a bit. You would be way ahead to add another intake just like the first. It is a good idea to shoot for double the air space in, as the air space that goes out.
If all of those plants are fems you will need all the room you can possible muster up, and you will need to have a good handle on your temps. Having a decent fan for exhaust and having twice the amount of intake as exhaust will allow you to get control of the temps fairly well even in higher temp ambient like a hot garage.
Letting the fan slide, or not providing adequate holes will make life tough.
Not trying to bust your balls, just trying to help.

 

[BongDaddy]

Thanks for the input BGT, and don't worry, I don't take it as ball bustin. I'm always open to suggestions that would help with better results.

I have a few more pics of the cab in an album I made:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/album.php?albumid=29129

That intake you can see in my post above is one of two. I have two 3" passive intakes and one 4" active vent. That makes about 12% more intake than vent. According to redgreenery's Ventilation 101 tutorial, a minimum of 10% more intake than vent can work, so I'm right at that threshold there. It's been running constant for over 24 hours now with no temp issues so I think it'll be ok.

Fortunately the cab is in my basement so ambient temps are never higher than mid to upper 60s. If it does become an issue though, I can enlarge the lower right intake to 4". For now I'm trying to conserve space so I'm going to see how it works out. My vent fan is a 161 CFM vortex fan on a temp-controlled speed controller. It hasn't run above minimum speed yet and temps haven't gone above high 70s in the cab.

The reason the intake in the pic above has a couple of elbows running into the cab is because where I have the cab, there's only about an inch or so clearance on the outside on the left side, so I had to bring the light trap inside. Those ducts are painted flat black on the inside. I now have a shelf over it, so I can put stuff there without worrying about bumping the ducts around and it only used 4" of the vertical space.

Most of the plants in the pic are female, but probably not all of them. Half of them are clones of a bagseed that I flowered and had great results with, so I re-vegged it after flower and took some clones. It actually cloned really easily too, I wish I knew what strain it was. It's some indica heavy variety (or maybe pure indica). It tastes amazing and really puts you on your ass.

The rest are some Blue God and Indica Diablo clones, gender unknown as of now, as well as a couple of Vancouver Seed Bank Indoor Mix beans that I germed, gender also unknown as of now. If all the unknowns end up being 50% female, then probably 3/4 of the plants in the pic above are female. Most are in 1L (1 quart) milk cartons. They fit in the cab really well and I'm hoping they'll work out well for a perpetual SOG situation as time goes on.

 

[J23]

Nirvana's fem NL coco one plant scrog

Nirvana's fem NL coco one plant scrog

Hello everyone. Today I noticed curly and discolored leafs. Checked runoff @ 900ppm. Is it normal? Other thing, as you can see on the pic, hairs are getting amber color already, but buds are still very small. I don't know what to think about it... Any thoughts, please?

Happy Easter!

 

[BlueGrassToker]

Bong Daddy, it sounds like you have your head on straight and grasp the concept of the air as explained by Red. He is spot on about the 10% and you are correct in thinking you are at the threshold and may need to increase to correct in the future.
It also seems as if you are having big fun...cheers to that!

J23, the little tips burnt on the background leaves shows that they have been fed heavy, and the burnt tips us usually a sign of an over abundance of Nitrogen. If you were feeding it well in veg, it is very likely that it was still uptaking N even after it went into flower.
The big fans are probably a result of overfeed, since there is already sign of overfeed.
Necrosis has set in to those leaves and they won't heal, but you can help it recover some by cutting back on the feed. You may want to flush out the container real well with about 3 times the amount of water that the container holds. This will get any of the old built up salts dislodged a bit and flush out anaerobic bacteria. It will also help to oxygenate the root system. After a treatment like that, let the container get light before watering again.

 

[J23]

Thnx BGT: I will dilute my fert.

 

[BongDaddy]

Thanks BGT, I really am having tons of fun. This is the coolest hobby I've ever had, and I really love my guitar so that's saying something! I definitely agree with others who've said that growing cannabis is more addictive than smoking it will ever be.