Compact SOG with CFL's

[SKeletoR]

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.

I've actually been looking into and have found numerous plans for building both solar paneling and wind turbines, wind being the cheaper option @ 1 generator for $150.
The batteries are actually what worry me, assuming I need just the one Inverter. I'm totally clueless as to how many or exactly what ones I need to start searching for. As far as I know now I need the Deep Cycle ones they have at Canadian Tire.

 

[maddr101]

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!

​

​

Hey man just wondering approximately how much head room was there for the plants how tall were they? and is it a good idea to have plants under 5 feet

 

[dontae1000]

interesting things conserning sea salts, i have been putting the best salt i can find in my water n juices for a few years now, raw unheated n treated salts, beats the hell out of gaterade with its table salt and wood rosin esters cornsyrup blend, that shits garbage, ive also posted asking about concentrace sea minerals from utah as well so its cool some of you are curious about it as i am.. theres a raw food guru named david wolfe who sells sea water fertilizer and says that you can grow 92 mineral wheat grass with just a ocean water diluted and fed to your crop of grass.. i imagine its a fine line but im wondering whats the proper dose for the marijuna plant? salts so cheap, would be a great cheap amendment to fine tune i imgaine.

 

[DrBudGreengenes]

and is it a good idea to have plants under 5 feet

Huh?​

 

[Anti]

headroom for plants....

headroom for plants....

Hey man just wondering approximately how much head room was there for the plants how tall were they?

The interior dimensions of my grow chambers are 17" x 17" (length/width) x 23" (height). My containers, which are 3" x 3" (length/width) x 8" allow for 15" of vertical growth.

This AK47 is about 24" tall. I only had to even start training it in the last week or so and it's on week 8.5 right now. (Coming out in the next day or two.)

24" from floor to tip; 15" from soil to tip

Some of the others would be 6-8 inches taller, if not for bending and tying down:


23" (kinked) from tip to floor

Once I judge the yield/potency of the harvest, I will select 2-3 of the plants to keep as mothers. I have a batch of 14 more clones in a rubbermaid-type container that are all just waiting to go in to replace the ones coming out. I'll allow those to grow while my moms are reverting and then as soon as round two comes out I'll be starting a perpetual SOG and attempting to really dial in each strain to do things as the good Dr. recommends.

Prior to my experience in this thread and a few others, I never would've believed I could get these kinds of results from CFLs. I can't wait to see what I can do with this once everything is dialed in.

and is it a good idea to have plants under 5 feet

I don't have any exact data on the penetrating abilities of CFLs, but I wouldn't recommend anyone to go above two feet between the lights and the bottom of the plant. If you grow 5 foot plants, for example, I'm afraid you'll have plants that have 3ft of bare stems on the bottom.

The "magic" in the Dr. Bud method is that you are basically growing branches with roots. Dr. Bud calls them "plantlets." The benefit to this is that you are not wasting time, money or energy growing a bunch of stems and branches. Instead, you are growing small plants that fill their one main stem up with bud from pretty much the level of the soil on up.

Because top colas tend to be better bud than secondary colas and popcorn, this method in a SOG has the advantage of providing you with an entire crop that is basically made up of top colas. Very little wasted space or effort and the end result is that you can turn out an ounce or so a week of super-primo smoke. (Or more if you upscale your #s)

I trust that anyone with more knowledge than I have will spank me if I have gotten this wrong.



​

​

 

[Outportgrower]

I've actually been looking into and have found numerous plans for building both solar paneling and wind turbines, wind being the cheaper option @ 1 generator for $150.
The batteries are actually what worry me, assuming I need just the one Inverter. I'm totally clueless as to how many or exactly what ones I need to start searching for. As far as I know now I need the Deep Cycle ones they have at Canadian Tire.

You really do not need to spend $300.00 on a battery. Look around at Walmart at the marine batteries. They will do the job as long as you have a good charge source. With both wind and solar as well as the good old gas generator we do fine. The only time we need to run the generator is when we spend the weekends at the other place. Our use takes too much from the battery bank, and can cause lights or pumps to stop when ya really do not want that to happen while away.

The more batteries the better, and if you can locate old forklift batteries for free, or used from government surplus you are that much further ahead of the game. If your handy check out www.otherpower.com

Here is one of our ladies we started May 24 weekend from seed under 550 watts of CFL's

 

[DrBudGreengenes]

You really do not need to spend $300.00 on a battery. Look around at Walmart at the marine batteries. They will do the job as long as you have a good charge source.

Nonsense.....
12 volt Batteries R useless off grid after the first year
NO ONE with any Brains uses 12 volt Batteries off grid
they R useless...
exept to lite the outhouse

6 volt or 2 volt.....to build the bank...NOT 12V
and Keep in mind U must replace 1.5 for every 1 U use....ie if u run 100 watts for 8 hours U must replace it with 12 hours of Charging time
in a 12 volt deep cycle battery
the plates R 1/2 from the Bottom of the Case WTF
R U off gassing these "Walmart" Batteries every week?
I have reason to believe U do NOT live off the Grid

(More like You or a friend Has a weekend Cabin)
Show me 1 pic of your "Walmart" battery Bank?

U may want to....but ya DO NOT speak from a voice of exp
L-16's R the only "Cheep" Battery U should even consider
and they r used in PAIRS​

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.

R U tryin to tell us that U R hooking 1,000's of Dollars in Panels to 59.99 Walmart 12 volt batteries?
Think about how many 12 volt batteries U R gonna need.....remember only use 25% of the charge in the Bank...b4 recharging
I'm calling
BULLSHIT
180 watt panels R......550-700 each​

The more batteries the better, and if you can locate old forklift batteries for free, or used from government surplus you are that much further ahead of the game. If your handy check out www.otherpower.com

Used Batteries?
WTF is wrong with U man?
the ONLY used Batteries U sholud EVER look @ R
2 volt "Phone" batteries
or a well maintained L-16 bank less than 5 yrs old​

 

[justanotherbozo]

lol, good to see ya Doc, ...and still frisky enough to set someone straight!

for real man, i'm glad to see you back from your surgery, you and your work
changed my life man!

lol, and not just mine, lol, i point people at your threads all the time, often from
other sites, lol.

thanks again for sharing all your pioneering work, ...Sensei!

Nonsense.....
12 volt Batteries R useless off grid after the first year
NO ONE with any Brains uses 12 volt Batteries off grid
they R useless...
exept to lite the outhouse

6 volt or 2 volt.....to build the bank...NOT 12V
and Keep in mind U must replace 1.5 for every 1 U use....ie if u run 100 watts for 8 hours U must replace it with 12 hours of Charging time
in a 12 volt deep cycle battery
the plates R 1/2 from the Bottom of the Case WTF
R U off gassing these "Walmart" Batteries every week?
I have reason to believe U do NOT live off the Grid
U may want to....but ya DO NOT speak from a voice of exp
L-16's R the only "Cheep" Battery U should even consider
and they r used in PAIRS​

R U tryin to tell us that U R hooking 1,000's of Dollars in Panels to 59.99 Walmart 12 volt batteries?
Think about how many 12 volt batteries U R gonna need.....remember only use 25% of the charge in the Bank...b4 recharging
I'm calling
BULLSHIT
180 watt panels R......550-700 each​

Used Batteries?
WTF is wrong with U man?
the ONLY used Batteries U sholud EVER look @ R
2 volt "Phone" batteries
or a well maintained L-16 bank less than 5 yrs old​

 

[Outportgrower]

Give me a few mins here Dr. I have the photo's to back it. Not everyone can run out and pay a few grand just for a 48v system off the shelf. We run everything on 12v for now and it does the job very well with 2 Whisper 100 turbines and 500watts of solar. To tell someone that they can not do it is really not being productive.

I guess if you have $10,000+ for a 3kw turbine and another $3000 for a decent off grid inverter and the cash for a 1000 ah battery bank go for it, most people start off small and work into a larger system. Takes time, just like growing

Like I said, we do not live at the grow house, but use it each weekend. This supplies more than enough power to get the job done all year round.

PS 12v batteries at full charge are 14v, look at the display.

 

[Outportgrower]

Just incase you think the house is still on grid, I thought I better provide the proof here and now. Notice that the meter has been removed?

 

[VladTheInhaler]

I have some questions. This is my flowering cab, it's 30''H,30''W,16''D, 150w HPS.

It's not too tidy because I'm still working on few things, as this used to be a NGB type of box. Lately I've been wondering about the light distribution in this sucker.
So, in your guys' expert opinion, should I hang that reflector diagonally? I was also thinking of putting one warm white cfl in thefar rigt part of the box?

 

[SKeletoR]

Well right now these seem to be my options...
http://www.canadiantire.ca/search/s...>folder_id&FOLDER<>folder_id=1408474396672077

 

[Outportgrower]

Well right now these seem to be my options...
http://www.canadiantire.ca/search/search_results.jsp;jsessionid=KVJL8BNM2GN6GhLxMZT1dZp5ZMm0PL1ZGTsRm131jDs9rVp067QT!-1637428445?bmForm=form_endeca_search&bmFormID=1247106248374&bmUID=1247106248374&bmIsForm=true&bmPrevTemplate=%2Fhome.jsp&bmHidden=OMNITURE_FROM&OMNITURE_FROM=Search&bmText=quick_search_term&quick_search_term=deep+cycle&bmSubmit=quick_search&quick_search=Search&bmHidden=FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474396672077

I bought a few of these when they were $199. If you can get to a Costco, they sometimes have them as well. Princess Auto in the surplus section is another place that sometimes has a decent deal. You really do not want to mix battery types too much. To keep it simple look for sealed for now, you can always upgrade down the road.

I do have both types of batteries, and do not have issues like some say you will. It is all in how you use them.

As far as gases from the batteries, I did have that problem once when the inverter shut down and did not reset. When we went out to check I needed to pull a few from the bank due to being over-charged and pushing the limits with heat.

It is what you make it. For a system that you are not able to monitor all the time, go for the sealed version like Eliminator. But to be honest, you will need at least 4, and that will give you 480ah which is not a whole lot but if you are in a good location for wind such as we are then the input balances the draw very well.

If you have the extra $10,000+ go for what Dr. said, but most of us do not. A 12volt system will do the trick if you know what your needs are well in advance.

Hell when we first started out we strung 32 old car batteries together. That lasted over a year.

 

[maddr101]

The interior dimensions of my grow chambers are 17" x 17" (length/width) x 23" (height). My containers, which are 3" x 3" (length/width) x 8" allow for 15" of vertical growth.

This AK47 is about 24" tall. I only had to even start training it in the last week or so and it's on week 8.5 right now. (Coming out in the next day or two.)

24" from floor to tip; 15" from soil to tip

Some of the others would be 6-8 inches taller, if not for bending and tying down:


23" (kinked) from tip to floor

Once I judge the yield/potency of the harvest, I will select 2-3 of the plants to keep as mothers. I have a batch of 14 more clones in a rubbermaid-type container that are all just waiting to go in to replace the ones coming out. I'll allow those to grow while my moms are reverting and then as soon as round two comes out I'll be starting a perpetual SOG and attempting to really dial in each strain to do things as the good Dr. recommends.

Prior to my experience in this thread and a few others, I never would've believed I could get these kinds of results from CFLs. I can't wait to see what I can do with this once everything is dialed in.

I don't have any exact data on the penetrating abilities of CFLs, but I wouldn't recommend anyone to go above two feet between the lights and the bottom of the plant. If you grow 5 foot plants, for example, I'm afraid you'll have plants that have 3ft of bare stems on the bottom.

The "magic" in the Dr. Bud method is that you are basically growing branches with roots. Dr. Bud calls them "plantlets." The benefit to this is that you are not wasting time, money or energy growing a bunch of stems and branches. Instead, you are growing small plants that fill their one main stem up with bud from pretty much the level of the soil on up.

Because top colas tend to be better bud than secondary colas and popcorn, this method in a SOG has the advantage of providing you with an entire crop that is basically made up of top colas. Very little wasted space or effort and the end result is that you can turn out an ounce or so a week of super-primo smoke. (Or more if you upscale your #s)

I trust that anyone with more knowledge than I have will spank me if I have gotten this wrong.



​

​

Oh i get it now, sorry Dr i just didn't explain my question properly but Anti cleared up most of the questions i had only thing i wanted to be sure of is how tall do you start flowering them. 3" is that from the base of the soil or another measurement? hope i come across clear this time... I'm new to this whole indoor growing plus it's compact so i'm just trying to gather up all the info i can first.

 

[DrBudGreengenes]

Give me a few mins here Dr. I have the photo's to back it. Not everyone can run out and pay a few grand just for a 48v system off the shelf. We run everything on 12v for now and it does the job very well with 2 Whisper 100 turbines and 500watts of solar. To tell someone that they can not do it is really not being productive.

I guess if you have $10,000+ for a 3kw turbine and another $3000 for a decent off grid inverter and the cash for a 1000 ah battery bank go for it, most people start off small and work into a larger system. Takes time, just like growing

Like I said, we do not live at the grow house, but use it each weekend. This supplies more than enough power to get the job done all year round.

PS 12v batteries at full charge are 14v, look at the display.

My System was 12 volt can U not read....the simple fact that U R using a 12 volt cell to store power
shows me U do not know what U R talking about and need to research a lil more
12 volt battery systems should NEVER be pulled below 12.5 volts
You have wasted a Bunch of $$$$$ on 12 volt batteries

What is the expected life of your Battery Bank?
Mine will still be working 15 years from now
4-L-16's will blow away .....25 of the "Marine Style" batteries

U R claiming 500 watts of Solar panels?
U trying to get me to believe U spent 4500-5000 on Panels? and then Hooked them to a 79.00 Battery?​

 

[DrBudGreengenes]

I bought a few of these when they were $199. If you can get to a Costco, they sometimes have them as well. Princess Auto in the surplus section is another place that sometimes has a decent deal. You really do not want to mix battery types too much. To keep it simple look for sealed for now, you can always upgrade down the road.

I do have both types of batteries, and do not have issues like some say you will. It is all in how you use them.

As far as gases from the batteries, When we went out to check I needed to pull a few from the bank due to being over-charged and pushing the limits with heat.

It is what you make it. For a system that you are not able to monitor all the time, go for the sealed version like Eliminator. But to be honest, you will need at least 4, and that will give you 480ah which is not a whole lot but if you are in a good location for wind such as we are then the input balances the draw very well.

If you have the extra $10,000+ go for what Dr. said, but most of us do not. A 12volt system will do the trick if you know what your needs are well in advance.

Hell when we first started out we strung 32 old car batteries together. That lasted over a year.

Real TROJAN L-16's R only 199.00 each and last for 20 yrs

$1600-2000 for a Real Battery Bank
and
it is a 12 volt system
​

I did have that problem once when the inverter shut down and did not reset.

U pulled that bank to low that day(prolly under 11.7 volts) ...and DID permanant Damage to all the other batteries in the Bank​

8 of them will Power a single family Home.....for 12-20 yrs....
if U really R doing this...U R wasting alot of $$$$
a "Battery Bank".....is only as strong as its WEAKEST/OLDEST battery....that weak battery can and will destroy the whole bank.
ALL batteries is a Bank MUST be the same kind and AGE
Good Day​

 

[justanotherbozo]

so, i guess you're so busy arguing, you don't even bother to acknowledge someone wishing you well?

thanks so much for your courtesy, ...bro.

Real TROJAN L-16's R only 199.00 each and last for 20 yrs

$1600-2000 for a Real Battery Bank
and
it is a 12 volt system
​

U pulled that bank to low that day(prolly under 11.7 volts) ...and DID permanant Damage to all the other batteries in the Bank​

8 of them will Power a single family Home.....for 12-20 yrs....
if U really R doing this...U R wasting alot of $$$$
a "Battery Bank".....is only as strong as its WEAKEST/OLDEST battery....that weak battery can and will destroy the whole bank.
ALL batteries is a Bank MUST be the same kind and AGE
Good Day​

 

[VladTheInhaler]

I have some questions. This is my flowering cab, it's 30''H,30''W,16''D, 150w HPS.

It's not too tidy because I'm still working on few things, as this used to be a NGB type of box. Lately I've been wondering about the light distribution in this sucker.
So, in your guys' expert opinion, should I hang that reflector diagonally? I was also thinking of putting one warm white cfl in thefar rigt part of the box?

I hate to be a drag like this, but I would really need a suggestion on the question above.

 

[DrBudGreengenes]

so, i guess you're so busy arguing, you don't even bother to acknowledge someone wishing you well?

thanks so much for your courtesy, ...bro.

Spool down there Turbo
Give someone a chance to respond to ya......
Geeze
TY for the well wishes...BTW ​

 

[DrBudGreengenes]

Give me a few mins here Dr. I have the photo's to back it. Not everyone can run out and pay a few grand just for a 48v system off the shelf. We run everything on 12v for now and it does the job very well with 2 Whisper 100 turbines and 500watts of solar. To tell someone that they can not do it is really not being productive.

I guess if you have $10,000+ for a 3kw turbine and another $3000 for a decent off grid inverter and the cash for a 1000 ah battery bank go for it, most people start off small and work into a larger system. Takes time, just like growing

Like I said, we do not live at the grow house, but use it each weekend. This supplies more than enough power to get the job done all year round.

PS 12v batteries at full charge are 14v, look at the display.

Where are the inlet lines? there should be at least 3 in lines on your Charge controller?
looks like a 1 whisper turbine...feeding that controller to me​