Compact SOG with CFL's

[jqueen777]

Thanks guy. you are right seaweed is great and i am so glad that you are using it. just make sure you dont rinse off all those good salts that crystallize when it dries; like most people tell you to. i dont know if you live in the states but im sure most of you have been there. people are sick. everyone knows atleast one person who could benefit from a perfect source of minerals that is easily overlooked with all these advertisements going on.

Minty Fresh, i am referring to mineral rich salt aka salt minerals. a good test is this, if the salt is white/clear, its pure sodium chloride. this is what almost all salts are, but this is not what you want. what you want is something that is greyish in color, containing no anti-caking agents. The only brand that my local organic markets carry is Celtic Sea Salt. its about 12 bucks a pound. the site i posted seaagri.com is much cheaper and the s&h is included in the price.

experiment with your nutrient/ec levels; an easy way to try this out is with a foliar feed containg just water and a little bit of sea salt. probably an 1/8 tsp per 2 cups water. test this mixture to see if its too strong as i am high. i actually use like 1/16 tsp salt per 2 oz water which is probably too salty but hey, i live life on the edge

the organisms in sun-dried sea salt/seaweed will re-populate the water when it is added.

 

[MtnKuSh]

epsom salts

 

[#1cheesebuds]

hey DBG I am fixing to try ur growing styl for my next grow.

ur growing styl is a very big inspiration to me. so now I must try it.
but I may need a little help along the way.

also I have both a veg cab and flower cab. so that should help me get a lot of plants to work with. cuz some of them night be male.

 

[akabud]

cab dimensions

cab dimensions

Hey drbud, excellent work, and im sure there are so many peeps appreciate you sharing your wisdom.

could i ask if you could give dimensions of your cabs? you say 2x2 is that 2 wide 2 long? how about height? as in your pics it looks higher than 2 feet.
thanks and keep up the good work
Also im using coco pro which is quite a fine med, i have pertile and vert in it, could you recomend anythin else i could add to my med?
thanks again.

 

[jay-toker]

akabud--- the doc has already stated the dimensions of his cab many many times as have other people. read the first page i think it is on there or u can filer the post in this thread by just him and u will find it.

doc iv been reading this thread for a while. i have a dresser iv been wroking on turning into a nice lil mother clone area and a flower chamber to. its dimensions are roughly 4'x18''x2' im totally inspired by u. im not sure how to figure out just how much light i will need for the two areas but im sure there will be enough room for to cabs in there. what do u think? id like to start small with the dresser and then go bigger but ill talk to u more about that when i have some more experience with the sog. i totally re thought my way of growing just because of u and i want to thank you alot. any thoughts on how big a fan im gonna need to be running through the carbo im gonna make as well as how much carbon i will need? thank alot everyone that has helped make this thread possible but especially u doc.

peace toke out

 

[akabud]

akabud--- the doc has already stated the dimensions of his cab many many times as have other people. read the first page i think it is on there or u can filer the post in this thread by just him and u will find it.

doc iv been reading this thread for a while. i have a dresser iv been wroking on turning into a nice lil mother clone area and a flower chamber to. its dimensions are roughly 4'x18''x2' im totally inspired by u. im not sure how to figure out just how much light i will need for the two areas but im sure there will be enough room for to cabs in there. what do u think? id like to start small with the dresser and then go bigger but ill talk to u more about that when i have some more experience with the sog. i totally re thought my way of growing just because of u and i want to thank you alot. any thoughts on how big a fan im gonna need to be running through the carbo im gonna make as well as how much carbon i will need? thank alot everyone that has helped make this thread possible but especially u doc.

peace toke out

I have read the whole thread, but looking at the picture in drbuds first post it looks like the plant and pot exceed 2ft..

 

[jay-toker]

if i remember right he has 28 inches of height not sure on that one though. not much more then two feet of growing room and u have to take into account of how tall the bottle is my guess 6-8 inches.

peace toke out

 

[akabud]

if i remember right he has 28 inches of height not sure on that one though. not much more then two feet of growing room and u have to take into account of how tall the bottle is my guess 6-8 inches.

peace toke out

Thanks, this is why i asked, as the plant looks easy 24"+ and then the bottle/pot.
Im building my cabs starting today, i have feminised superskunk and white diesel from sensiseeds which i have in a greenhouse, i plan on taking clones from these and starting my sog.
The lights i have
6 x 20watt cfl 2700k (for flowering)
1 x 250watt cfl 2700k (for flowering)
1 x 250watt cfl 6700k (for mother/s)
The cab is going to be 44" wide x 44" high and 23" deep, i aim to split this cab into two, 1 part for rooting clones and the other for flowering (advice on how to use this space to get max results appreciated drbud)

Any help or comments greatly appreciated.

Regards

 

[Anti]

My own homage to Dr. Bud!

My own homage to Dr. Bud!

My cab is largely based on detailed notes I took while reading this thread and others.

I have two chambers separated by a smaller drying cab. Each of my growth chambers is lit by six 2700k 42w CFLs. My chambers are each 17" x 17" square and 23" tall. (2.0164 sq ft)

I have deviated from the good Dr.'s designs insomuch as I am using 32oz square half and half containers as my soil containers:

3"x3" and 8" tall (32 oz)

My cabs can hold up to 25 plants in rows of 5 each.

(Early in grow)


AK47 at day 72 (41 flower) standing 23" tall from floor to tip.

At this point, after males and runts have been eliminated I have 13 females nearly ready for harvest. They've been in there 87 days since the seeds germinated, and 56 days since flowering began. Here's what they looked like 10 days ago:


(L to R) Left Chamber, Right Chamber, AK47, Magical Mystery Plant #6

Once this harvest finishes up, I've got a batch of clones (taken about 3 weeks into flowering and already rooted and growing) that'll fill up one side of the cab while I reveg the moms and cure this harvest. Once I've selected my best yielding/tasting mothers, I'll get down to following the Doc's methods a little closer. 2 of my 13 plants *ARE* in small 20oz soda bottles so that I can try to judge the difference in yield between the two container types.

Thank you so much for the inspiration and trail blazing, Dr. Bud. I'm about to have a successful first harvest with a cab that can be built for under $500 (including tools to build it, soil, paint, nutes, etc.) that only pulls just over .5 kW per hour during peak usage. Dr. Bud, you are the man!

​

​

 

[#1cheesebuds]

wow wow wow wow weoweo weoweo weoweo weo.

they look super great. the grow box has a very nice design to it.

 

[Outportgrower]

Be really interesting to see what you are able to harvest from these first plants. Looks like a winner for sure.

 

[Anti]

6 x 20watt cfl 2700k (for flowering)
1 x 250watt cfl 2700k (for flowering)
1 x 250watt cfl 6700k (for mother/s)
The cab is going to be 44" wide x 44" high and 23" deep, i aim to split this cab into two, 1 part for rooting clones and the other for flowering (advice on how to use this space to get max results appreciated drbud)

Any help or comments greatly appreciated.

I am not the Dr. I have not got years and years of experience with this.

But here's my take: You're talking about 370w of CFL in flowering. If you split the cab exactly in half it'd be:

22" wide x 23" deep x 44" tall. So 3.514 sq ft. You're going to be giving 105 w per square foot and so that sounds like that'll be fine.

The thing I'd be worried about is your 44" of height. Light penetration from your CFLs at 3.67ft is going to be dramatically lower than at 1 ft.

I'm pretty sure the reason that Dr. Bud keeps his cab height close to 2 ft is because of the light penetration issue. Much taller than 2 ft and you're gonna end up with several extra inches of bare stem at the base of your plant... and the Dr. Bud method is all about maximizing your bud to stem ratio by growing "branches with roots" that bud all the way to the dirt.

My cab is about as tall as yours, but I use the extra height to put in stealth exhausts for my fans and this allowed me to mount my exhaust fans in the center of each room in the ceilings which makes heat extraction pretty much optimal. My plants have a vertical space of 23" to deal with. The lights are mounted half inch above a plate of thin glass which seperates the lights from the plants. There's a fan extracting the air from the lightbox and a separate fan (with carbon scrubber) to extract air from the grow.

​

The soil containers I'm using are 8" tall. So 23"-8"=15" of vertical space for each of my plants to bud in. If we assume that CFL penetration is measured at a 1ft distance from the light the way most lighting products are measured, that means all but 3" of my plants are within the "optimal" footprint of 6 different bulbs!

I'd love to hear the Dr.'s thoughts on this, but I base my opinion of this on a conversation (in my notes) between Dr. Bud and Blackone:

Blackone: The high number of lights has another advantage - it actually increases "penetration" of the light in at least 2 ways:

1. Most leaves/buds that would otherwise be shaded out will probably be illuminated directly by one or more lights.

(Dr. Bud Response): You are 100% correct

Blackone: 2. "The inverse square law" changes as the number of lights go up... If the grow area is large enough (actually infinitely large, hehe but let's forget about that for now...) then it doesn't matter at all what the distance to the lights are... You can emulate a very large multi-highbay light grow on a smaller scale.

(Dr. Bud Response): Ding....Ding.....Ding......Blackone WINs the prize he has fiqured out the "Secret" of my Method....you got it Buddy...."Light Saturation" in a given space. The Inverse Square law....Is why a plant can start out 12's from a light inside one of my cabs and be just fine.....I put them a lil' closer Just to control stretch at first....so I don't need to bend them over

Blackone: 3. (speculative) Plants receiving the light from all sides might translate into fewer chlorophyl molecules getting hit by a photon while they're still busy taking care of the last one... photosynthesis isn't an instantaneous process.

(Dr. Bud Response):

 

[akabud]

I am not the Dr. I have not got years and years of experience with this.

But here's my take: You're talking about 370w of CFL in flowering. If you split the cab exactly in half it'd be:

22" wide x 23" deep x 44" tall. So 3.514 sq ft. You're going to be giving 105 w per square foot and so that sounds like that'll be fine.

The thing I'd be worried about is your 44" of height. Light penetration from your CFLs at 3.67ft is going to be dramatically lower than at 1 ft.

I'm pretty sure the reason that Dr. Bud keeps his cab height close to 2 ft is because of the light penetration issue. Much taller than 2 ft and you're gonna end up with several extra inches of bare stem at the base of your plant... and the Dr. Bud method is all about maximizing your bud to stem ratio by growing "branches with roots" that bud all the way to the dirt.

My cab is about as tall as yours, but I use the extra height to put in stealth exhausts for my fans and this allowed me to mount my exhaust fans in the center of each room in the ceilings which makes heat extraction pretty much optimal. My plants have a vertical space of 23" to deal with. The lights are mounted half inch above a plate of thin glass which seperates the lights from the plants. There's a fan extracting the air from the lightbox and a separate fan (with carbon scrubber) to extract air from the grow.

​

The soil containers I'm using are 8" tall. So 23"-8"=15" of vertical space for each of my plants to bud in. If we assume that CFL penetration is measured at a 1ft distance from the light the way most lighting products are measured, that means all but 3" of my plants are within the "optimal" footprint of 6 different bulbs!

I'd love to hear the Dr.'s thoughts on this, but I base my opinion of this on a conversation (in my notes) between Dr. Bud and Blackone:

Hey, looks like you have a real good setup there, i agree with what you are saying, however i dont intend using all my head space for flowering, as in my last post i am splitting/have already split the cab into 2 sections.
I have 28" height for my flowering cab and 16" height for my clones, the 2 sections totaly light proof and will have independednt ventilation (im still workin on which fans/extractors to use).
I have taken cuttings today and have got them in a close to ideal condition to get them started, however i do have to finish my cabs over the next few days to ensure im ready for my first run,

 

[Anti]

Hey, looks like you have a real good setup there, i agree with what you are saying, however i dont intend using all my head space for flowering, as in my last post i am splitting/have already split the cab into 2 sections.

Ah. I guess I missed the part where you said you were splitting it vertically rather than horizontally. My bad. Sounds like you've got the right idea.

 

[akabud]

Ah. I guess I missed the part where you said you were splitting it vertically rather than horizontally. My bad. Sounds like you've got the right idea.

i didnt actualy state which way i was splitting,lol.
I have taken a few notes from your setup as it looks practicle.
Im growing mothers in a green house at mo and taking clones from them.
I will be experimenting with coco and a good soil mix, then i will choose which comes out on top.
which part of the world you from dude?

thanks

 

[SKeletoR]

I absolutely love it.
Any chance the doctor has any info on Solar or Wind Generated Power?

 

[Outportgrower]

I absolutely love it.
Any chance the doctor has any info on Solar or Wind Generated Power?

That's what we use to run the show. Your biggest issues are batteries and what voltage you require. have a look around at places like otherpower.com for ideas on diy systems, you might just be surprised on how little of an investment you really need to make to have it all work out.

We have not gone the diy route just yet, but Southwest for the wind portion and a numb er of 180 watt solar panels for those few days of low wind.

 

[phr3d0m2gr0]

Just finished the thread and really enjoyed it. It's definitely got me thinking about new ways to tweak my grow when I return from abroad.

I'm curious about one aspect though if you could clarify Dr.:
Could you give a detailed description on how you rotate your plants? It's perpetual so you have plants of all heights in the chamber at once, so which plants get the best light? Do you have the finishing plants closest to the lights, or do you place the new plants closer? Obviously the finishing plants are closer height wise, but i'm talking about placement on the the floor.

 

[randude101]

It is a perfect way for a person just growing a head stash.

 

[saint]

Very impressive, Keep up the good work guys