512 watt T8 flouro grow - purple pineberry & nebula

[onthatlevel]

Hello everyone ,

This is my current grow 8 days into 12/12. I've got 4 reeferman purple pineberry, 1 paradise nebula female, and 1 nebula male. I'm only keepin the male around to do some pollinating so I have some beans to play with in the future. These plants have spent their whole lives under flouros...they were vegged with T12s and are now flowering under T8s. They're in miracle grow soil with some added perlite...i like to keep things simple.

ANyway on to the pics

the cab with all the plants; the nebula male in the the lower left corner.




the nebula:




the tall plants here are the purple pineberry:




pineberry budding:


Thats it for now. come back for an update in the near future.

I'd love to hear everybodys questions/comments/criticism!

 

[Underground Man]

neat, have you always grown with flouro? What does the watts per square foot come out too?

 

[onthatlevel]

I used a 150 hps for my first grow and had heat problems with it. I switched to flouros since then...they work better for my situation. the cab is about 2' x 4' (actually a lil larger) so it works out to about ~50 watts/square foot.

 

[Makavellian]

hey thats a really nice light rack, i luv fluoro grows. how far are the plants away from the lights? you can put them 2-3 inches from the lights without worry of getting any burn. in the future, you should REALLLY consider doing a scrog or lsting to try to create a FLAT canopy.. this will let you use ALL the light from the fluoros to their full potential. with a horizontal rack.. lsting/scrog is your best bet at decent yields... fluoros dont give the penetration of hids.. so the strongest points of light is within 1 feet of the tube.. any further and the light is weak and pretty much useless. think about this and maybe you can train your plants to all the light they can. i dont know if you can still lst them or not since its already budding.. anywho, the plants look healthy and got a nice cab setup. Peace

 

[onthatlevel]

Makavellian - Thanks. Normally, im keeping the plants as close the lights as possible. The furthest one away right now is about 6 inches away, and the closest is about an inch away. I only lowered them to take those pics. I took clones from all the plants and I definately plan on LST'ing the clones for a more even canopy. I'd also like to experiment with a SOG too.

Not much has really changed with the plants....more pics a few days tho.

 

[Tokabowl]

Nice plants onthatlevel! Keen to see the progress and how much weight they pack on under those fluoros! Keep up the good work, you should definitely try LSTing the clones, its so easy to get a real bushy plant. keep us updated and of course

 

[onthatlevel]

UPDATE!! - 16 DAYS OF 12/12

Well since I last checked in, 2 of my pineberry females went hermie on me. I tossed em in the woods. I be checking on them occasionally to see what happens. From what I understand, they should continue flowering until may or so. I'm hoping for some nice seeded bud.....

The nebula and 2 remaining pineberry are coming along quite nicely. Trichs have already started to form.

Check out the pics.

nebula - a view from the top



both purple pineberry



a purple pineberry macro shot



the nebula macro shot

 

[Guest]

looking good bro. Nice set up too man. Keep it up!

 

[onthatlevel]

21 DAYS into 12/12

just a couple quick pics for anybody tuned in or passing by. each plant got its first bloom ferting a day or two ago....i'm using peters super blossom booster 8-16-8 with micronutrients. haha

this is purple pineberry 1. it appears to be a more indica pheno of the strain. it is shorter with more compact nodes than purple pineberry 2. the leaves are just a big fatter as well. she's coming along nicely and putting on some nice frost. i pulled her clone from the bubbler tonight and stuck in her in a beer cup under the veg lights....hopefully she'll make a nice momma.



here is purple pineberry 2; the more sative pheno of the two. she's tall with some longer spaced out nodes. the leaves are a tad thinner than PP1. her clone has shown a few root bumps in the bubbler, but no actual roots.



and here is my favorite: my nebula. she's so short for a sativa based plant there has been minimal stretch in flower. everything i've read about her from other's grow reports has been spot on. she's beautiful....i'd love to try another strain from paradise seeds. i read only good things about them and the frost on my nebula right now is crazy considering im 3 weeks into 12/12. her clone just started showing roots in the bubbler.



a new nebula closeup



that's it for now.

everybody take care and stay safe!

 

[vhGhost]

nice!

 

[Makavellian]

lookin good man.. getting frosty already. keep it all well Peace

 

[onthatlevel]

Today makes 31 days of 12/12.

heres the nebula.







heres the purple pineberry 2.








heres purple pineberry 1....maybe even overwatered a bit.






later.

 

[ickster]

drool drool

 

[Sleepy]

nice grow you have here!

how are the T8 lights different from T5 lights?

is the purple pineberry 'low odor'??

getting nice and frostee in there!!

 

[ixnay007]

Holy cow, that's impressive!

 

[onthatlevel]

nice grow you have here!

how are the T8 lights different from T5 lights?

is the purple pineberry 'low odor'??

getting nice and frostee in there!!

t8s are 1 inch wide, while t5s are 5/8ths of an inch. also from what i've read, t5s run a bit hotter although they are brighter i think. t8s are just more cost efficient for me too....a rack of t5s would be way too much $.

and purple pineberry is very low odor i would say. when i open my cab all, i can really smell is the nebula. you have to get your nose right up on a pineberry bud before you can smell it.

thanks for the commments everyone.

 

[Sleepy]

thanks for the info!

i hope you have a great harvest!

 

[pontiac]

This thread is awesome.

 

[Makavellian]

Nicee.. gonna have some fat colas. "didnt see page 2 hehe" keep it up ! peace

 

[DubPhiend]

Right on bro....sweet grow. I just wanted to point out though....your not exactly running 512 watts... i dont know if your familar or not with the "ballast factor"... ill save ya the lecture unless your interested but...pretty much...with T8's and most electronic ballasts on a 4 lamp setup....its (.88)... meaning...multiply your total output by .88 and it will give you your actualy wattage being used...its a fuckin saftey measure installed by the manufactureer, and there are ways of wiring around it and over driving ballasts and whatnot but...i dont really see the need...just be aware of the ballast factor and adapt it to your needs....ive never had a situation where i wasnt able to cram the needed amount of T8's into the given space soo... over driving and wiring just sint worth it to me..

but...in wanted to let ya know since i didnt really see it mentioned because it might throw off your numbers down the road... for example 1gpw under that rack is just about 1 pound... 445grams on a 450watt rack... if you used 512 it would be a lesser efficency rating when it reality just a screw up in the numbers...

experiment too...ive grow damn near every freakin style and shape of plant uner these lights and they all add something different.... personally high density bushes are my favorite style... 14 bushes in 8sq.ft produce tons of bud....upwards of 1 pound every 8 weeks..... good luck bro!... i dont contribute to forums much anymore since the downfall of OG but this thread caught my eye since its rare to see someone useing T8's in the same basic design...thought id add my $.02 since i have a bit of experience with the rack...