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

[Bulénath]

Bonsai grower,
Bounty's advice is very reasonable.

Your better off going with a 600 and doing a SSScrog.
BigFatJay was his name? Anyway he had a 400 hps and a 3x3 box. 9 plants in square 1' pots each. Each row of three had a different strain. It was magic. He was cropping 1.125 GPW with that set up.

Also, buying five can scrubbers is kinda over kill man. And using five fans (if your considering it) Your going to eat up your electricity bill. Each 172 cfm fan is like 70-80+ watts. I dont know if its possible to run five small can filters off a single vortex...I dont think it would be very efficient, especially for the price....
Your better off buuying one huge fan for one huge box and growing differnt strains with a modular scrog all at one height, then using one U2 for a veg chamber with three moms if you like.

Also,
four 150's without capacitator will cause a HUGE initial power spike, possibly up to 400 watts or more for each light at start up. I dont know much about electricity, but you need to look into this man, you could get caught growing this way because of the great power spikes from each lamp. Or overload your circut.
In the backpages there is a link to this OG tutorial that explains this.
Suga you got the link?

And....
Its *almost* impossible to crop 1gpw with a 150. Using a 400 watt bulb or greater, 1gpw is possible.. The 600HPS has the best lumen to watt ratio.

Oh yeah I just recieved the floralux and it KICKS ASS. Definately worth the $100 + shipping. The thing is FULLY remote ballastable leaving the reflector perfectly intact without affecting the cooling system! OB1 your time is soon!

Heres a picture I took of a Yak in Nepal you can stare at while you contemplate your possible senarios.

 

[shasta]

70 Watt HPS

70 Watt HPS

Due to space, budget and heat issues I've started exactely one WW Fem, ~2 weeks veg under CFL. OK, so I got the 70 watt HPS security light...I plan to splice the two wires from the light fixture, one black one white, to an extension cord from wall socket. Everyone on this thread must know the answer to my question....will it matter how the black or white wire is matched to the reciprocal wires on the extension cord?? Also, how to deal with ground wire, if at all? Many thanks in advance. Shasta

 

[BonsaiGrower]

Thanks for the feedback Bulénath...greatly appreciated. it was just a thought and wanted to know what you top dogs might think. I think I got the initial responce I was looking for. I wanted to hear...ya man...what a great idea!!! or this guy has to be mad!!! A little mad yes...ha... see my initial plan is to go with a 430W air cooled hood. I already have the hood and most supplies for a single wardrobe C13 style...but after the last few weeks seeing what you guys are doing with a 150w and knowing what I can do with Bonsai and my other grows I started thinkin...hmmmm...what if? alright...so unless someone else pops up and says...ya great idea..now lets refine it...I'll move back to the original plan and go for a 430W grow. in the past I have had great success with closet grows and 2 or 4 inch square pots in soil. I prefer to clone and wait for roots...about 4 days to a week in peet pellets...then plop the pellet and clone in promix under the 430w for a few days on 24/7 .. then shut off the light for 24 hours..then put them in flower 12/12 .. and what they do is what they do..(a little nutes here and there)...but this scrog idea and LSt reminds me of the old outdoor days when we tied them down with tent pegs and had competitions to see who got the biggest circle of tops....12' diameter is the biggest I've seen of one plant...I'm sure there is bigger out there somewhere..anyways... here's a shot of the girls tonight just after they woke up..this is supposed to be my mother/veg cab but I wanted to see what might happen in there on 12/12 .. not bad for floro's if I do say so myself...this is about day 45 with Lengend's Ultimate Indica




Peace Guys..I really appreciate all the help I can get and give from this ...Learn something new everyday

 

[BonsaiGrower]

Shasta...since I'm here ha I thought I'd give my none electrical expertise...it's not that the wires have to match colors...as some cable companies or whatever may choose a different color....however...good rule of thumb is the white is Hot and the Black is cold and the green is ground....just make sure hot is to hot and cold is to cold and make sure the ground is to a prpoer ground...floruescents won't fire up properly if they aren't grounded properly for example...and if you have hot to cold and cold to hot...it's not for sure but you do run the risk of failure overheat and then fire....not sure if that helped but I sure did get to practice typing high...cheers

 

[Natural]

My 150 watt grow! The sprouts are Rez's 'Quick Mist'.
I don't know what day of veg the seedlings are on. I lost my little paper I was keeping track on, if I had to guess I'd say 8-10 days veg (from popping out of the soil). Lighting schedule is 20/4

Bonsai is of Nirvana's 'White Rhino'... I won't be growing her again. She is 1 1/2 years old now and she finally gets to flower! The yeilds aren't that great on her, so I have to let her go. I couldn't just kill her though without fully becoming a woman!

The seedlings were transplanted about 2 days ago into a mixture of peat, perlite, dolomite lime and 1/2 strength Dr. Earth's 7 (4-4-4). Soil was composted for ~3-4 weeks. I don't quite remember what organic mixture the bonsai lady is in.

Anyways, pics!:

Bonsai


(The volcanic rock is for stem support)
Plant 1:


Plant 2:


Plant 3:



Plants will be flowered in ~20 days, or as soon as I can take 2 clones of each and establish some new growth. From there I'm planning on running an SOG of 8 cuttings in 6 in. pots! Wish me luck, I haven't grown from seed in a year or so!

~ Natural

 

[BonsaiGrower]

Natural..I wish you all the best...she looks pretty...it'll be nice to see her fill out...do you use rocks for stem support at the begininge all the time? I always thought it best for them to work hard and get strong...does this work well for you? ..cheers

 

[Bulénath]

Natural, I like that mother plant of yours. Your medium makes me wonder how "hot" a compost really is. I always thought it would burn seedlings, even if its totally organic.
Plus the Dr.Earths, and reguardles they are looking very good.
Your mother plant looks great. What type of light, wattage, spectrum etc..?

BonsaiGrower,
I cant believe your plant is so small and frosty! What type of floros are you using?
Like the cabinet too, very good set up!

 

[Natural]

Thanks!

I have always used toothpicks for support, but I decided to try rocks this time. The idea just popped in my head while I was transplanting and saw the bag of them sitting there.

The only reason I use stem support at the first few weeks of life is because I'm usually flowering in the cab those pictures were taken in and in my veg spot I don't have a fan to help strengthen the stems.
Call me picky, but I can't stand the noise coming from my bathroom (connected to my bedroom) so I just let them grow without any fans or anything for the first few weeks.

Plants 2 and 3 don't even need them anymore, but plant 1 seemed to stretch a bit its first week of life so her stem isn't that strong.
I have a fan blowing on them now, which is why the pictures are kind of blurry... the plants were swaying a bit! :wink:

... I hope that all sounds ok... I just got done smoking some of this and my brain isn't functioning too well at the moment


~ Natural

 

[Natural]

Natural, I like that mother plant of yours. Your medium makes me wonder how "hot" a compost really is. I always thought it would burn seedlings, even if its totally organic.
Plus the Dr.Earths, and reguardles they are looking very good.
Your mother plant looks great. What type of light, wattage, spectrum etc..?

BonsaiGrower,
I cant believe your plant is so small and frosty! What type of floros are you using?
Like the cabinet too, very good set up!

Thanks to you too!

The compost isn't too "hot", I plant my tomato seeds right into it and they do fine!

My light is just a security light from Lowes that has been remote ballasted and put in a cool tube.
Wattage is obviously a 150watter, spectrum - no idea, I just bought a cheap 150 watt bulb off of 1000bulbs.com a while back. I like to change the bulb every 6 months...

I forgot the exact dimensions of my cab, but if I had to guess I'd say it's about 3 1/2 feet tall, 3 1/2 feet wide (2 1/2 - 2 3/4 feet actual growing space), and I know that the depth is 18 1/4 inches (just measured that today). Running a cooltube with a 4" Vortex for the exhaust and an 80CFM computer fan blowing on the plants. I just use an Ona block for odor control. The exhaust is vented under my house, you can't even smell the pot without odor control, but I say better safe than sorry.
I used a carbon scrubber, but it cut down on my airflow too much... sent the temps up to 82F

... ah ... typing makes my numb fingers feel great!

 

[BonsaiGrower]

Natural Thanks...my suspicians have been confirmed. but I had to ask eh? lol

Bulénath..my floros to my best memory at this moment are 4, 2' 20w Daylights 5000K mounted on top and 4 18" 14W 2700K mounted in the corners....

 

[Bulénath]

Natural,
our very lucky to have the space for a vortex. Its hard to put the Vortex where the sound wont be noticeable.
Sorry for not being more clear, but what are the lighting specs used on the mother?
She looks very healthy!
Thats cool your compost isnt hot. You make your own? Im going to buy those big plastic roller types pretty soon. Going to compost many fruits and hope it will better the plants aroma.

 

[Bulénath]

Thank you BonsaiGrower, those little popsicle like bud sticks are really something special

 

[BRNEYDBVR]

What's up everyone?

Bulenath -
Dimensions don't matter anymore......gonna go get a U5 tomorrow. The U5 is the same as the U2....only 59" tall.

So.....post up the tut......I'll be using it in the future.
I'm glad your floralux is going to work out for you!!

NEPAL!! WOW!

Now THAT is a nice yak.......as far as yak's go.

Looks like a beautiful place.

Oh yeah......remember how I said I had the A/C filter doubled on the louvers?

Well.....I changed them to just one layer. (Still have them doubled on the vent between the cabs.)

As a result......It dropped my temps by 4-5 degrees!!!!! SWEET!!!!


BonsaiGrower -
I would suggest the same as the what has already been said..... bigger box/light......It's what I plan to do with my C-24 and 600.

By looking @ that box of yours..... I have no doubt that you have the skills to pull it off if you wanted to.


Natural -
Good Luck with the Quick Mist.....I have a few of his strains as well (Apollo Mist, Princess D, and SD ibl).
Those are for later.....when I have the room (height) to do them properly.

That's a pretty WR mom......but I guess her time is up....time for something new!


Suga -

I wanted to ask you about the PH fluctuations in the 2 gal. buckets......Have you had alot of problems with it?
I know that the smaller the res.....the more you have to watch the numbers. How often do you check/change your nutes?
I'm still considering doing my next run hydro.

Thanks.


I hope everyone has a great weedend.









Be lucky and be safe.

BRNEYDBVR.

 

[Natural]

Natural,
our very lucky to have the space for a vortex. Its hard to put the Vortex where the sound wont be noticeable.
Sorry for not being more clear, but what are the lighting specs used on the mother?
She looks very healthy!
Thats cool your compost isnt hot. You make your own? Im going to buy those big plastic roller types pretty soon. Going to compost many fruits and hope it will better the plants aroma.

The sound is noticeable, I have to run a fan in the room the box is in... sucks

The bonsai mom was kept in my bathroom, which has skylights during the time of year when we have enough light to keep her in veg. She wouldn't grow too fast but would stretch, I would just cut off the new growth though. I only used 2-3 clones every 2 months or so... so she didn't need much light to produce 2 cuttings.
During the part of the year where we don't get enough light, I'd just put her next to the fluorescent light in my bathroom and leave the light on all the time. Seemed to work fine, although she didn't grow much at all.

I do make my own compost, not much though. I only use about a 1/2 cup of my homemade compost per gallon of soil. I only use that compost in my flowering mixes though, since my veg cycles are always so short they don't need all the extra nutrients.

For the soil they're in right now, I just mixed it all in a 5 gallon bucket and let it sit for a few weeks, turning it at least once a week.

 

[BonsaiGrower]

Thanks for all the great advice and praise guys. I can see being part of this community is going to really help me out. I've always had a green thumb and been pretty handy with tools but with the help of pros like you I can only learn and get better.

Thanks BRNEYDBVR .... I've lurked a few of your posts over the last 2 weeks and it's nice to hear praise for my popsicle buds from you. Cheers.

When I build my 430W Cab in the next few weeks I'll be sure to start a diary from build to grow and be sure to get everyones input along the way

Oh for the record folks. As most are aware...The Home Dump in Canada has discontinued Mills Pride but in the bathroom section they do have a cab that's about the same size as a c13 Can't remember the company that makes it but it is 24" deep and about 6' tall ... I noticed it on one of the higher shelves as I was walking past to the Ducting section...ha... kinda said to my self....hmmm ... well well...that would work just perfect.... sale price? $99.00 Canadian...Happy Hunting....if anyone knows of other alternatives post them here. I downloaded the Mills Pride Catalog and they actually have better cabs than the C13 and U2 but I have no idea how to order them or find them easily....it would cost a fortune to order direct from Mills Pride No?

MMMMMMMM Morning Coffee and a wakin bake .. I love Saturdays....lazy day and Jammin with Bands

Cheers Everyone....thanks again

 

[HeadyPete]

Due to space, budget and heat issues I've started exactely one WW Fem, ~2 weeks veg under CFL. OK, so I got the 70 watt HPS security light...I plan to splice the two wires from the light fixture, one black one white, to an extension cord from wall socket. Everyone on this thread must know the answer to my question....will it matter how the black or white wire is matched to the reciprocal wires on the extension cord?? Also, how to deal with ground wire, if at all? Many thanks in advance. Shasta

Sorry to have to correct some electrical advice but BLACK is HOT and WHITE is NEUTRAL!! Not the other way around!!! The electrical code determines wire colour, not manufacturers. If the colours of your ex. cord don't match, the HOT (black) connect is the larger prong on the left (when looking at a receptacle), NEUTRAL (white) is the smaller prong on the right and the ground is the round prong on the bottom . Ground wire should be attached to the metal case of the light somehow. Grounding is very important or you could get shocked or start a fire. If there is no ground and only a two prong polarized cord is used, the above info (prong sizes) still applies. I would recommend using a 3 prong grounded extension cord and connecting the ground to some part of the metal case or metal frame with a screw. Make sure to scrape away any paint and connect to bare metal. The longer the length, the thicker your cord should be. I would use at least a 14 ga if not a 12. The lower the gauge number, the thicker the wire.

Wire color is important to get right as you may contribute to electrocuting someone if you reverse the colour codes.

This is for AC wiring only. DC wiring uses black as negative, but make no mistake, in AC black is HOT!

Newer DC wiring (called safety wire) is now using a yellow for negative and red for positive (mostly marine wiring) so there is no confusion or hazard with boat wiring that uses both AC and DC together.

If you need any more info don't hesitate to PM me.

 

[HeadyPete]

Here here to wake n bake!!

Just twisting one now!

 

[BonsaiGrower]

ahhh...and that's why I luv ya man...thanks for squaring that up...I was dislexic (sp?) last night I see....Hope HeadyPete helps ya out Shasta....*sticks head in sand

 

[HeadyPete]

ahhh...and that's why I luv ya man...thanks for squaring that up...I was dislexic (sp?) last night I see....Hope HeadyPete helps ya out Shasta....*sticks head in sand

LOL!

I love you too man! :friends:

 

[sugabear_II]

Wow busy few days here....

Fired back up my 150 the other day, it's on 12/12 from 9am - 9pm and the 400 is on 12/12 from 9pm - 9am. I've got a femaleseeds grapefruit 2.5 weeks old now under the 150 and a clone of the trainwreck I've been growing. They're getting ready for the big cabinet next week. In the big cabinet I have the two OB1s, one coming down this week and the other coming down next week or the one after. There's also a burmese pure at 5 weeks flower and a trainwreck at 5 weeks too. I've got a clone of the indica pheno of the OB1 at 1.5 weeks into flower too. The trainwreck looks like it will be ready at 7 weeks and the burmese will take a full 9. Finally in the big cabinet I have a lone blue thunder seedling that is 2.5 weeks old and has been under 12/12 in the big cabinet for a week. I'm really hoping she'll be female - this has been on my wish to grow list for a while and if it ain't female I'll be dropping more beans.

Also collecting some pollen from a burmese pure male - that will be used to make some burmese pure f2s and some OB2 [(oregon90 x burmese pure) x burmese pure]



The big cabinet and having soo many plants going at once is soo much more work... but hopefully it will be worth it.

BonsaiGrower - that cab desing screams for a flip/flop switch. That is to say you could run four 150s all on 12/12 on 2 ballasts. The ballasts stay on all the time and the flip flop switches the ballast from one bulb to the other every 12 hours. This is what the commercial growers use - 2 flower rooms, 2 sets of bulbs, one set of ballasts drawing 24/7. Just a thought if you were to go that way. Nice budsticks btw - how is that LUI? Also good info on the bathroom cabinet - nice to hear there is an alternative out there.

BRNEYDBVR - looking great - I really love your U2 cabinet - so nice and roomy the way you have it setup. How's the light distribution with the cool tube? I hope you get some good girls out of the BMR - that looks tasty. As for PH fluctuations in the 2 gallon buckets I have not found it to be too bad. I'm pretty lazy and I just change the nutrients every 3-4 days or so dumping the old and mixxing fresh. I adjust ph to 5.3-5.5 when I mix fresh and just leave it be. When I have measured the ph after a few days I find it has dropped down to 4.8 or so. Generally I don't mess with it though and just wait until I change the nutrients again. Not the most efficient method of growing as compared to topping off and adjusting, but to me the nutrients are cheap compared to the cost of the end product, so I'd rather change more often and be sure that they're getting what they want then change less and try to adjust things to save some $$ on nutrients.

Bulénath - glad the floralux was easy to remote - please tell me more - how is the noise level on that ballast? my lowes 150 hums so friggin loud I wish it would be quiet. The 400 is so quiet in comparison, I bet the floralux is super quiet too. I can't wait to see what you think of the OB1 - I am super happy with it right now - I'll let you know how she smokes soon.

Natural - nice looking plants and nice looking bud shot! welcome aboard

Headypete - welcome aboard and enjoy your wake and bake, I know I will be enjoying mine soon!

-suga