MAYBERRY (BLUE STAR S1) M-22 breeders cut

[delta9nxs]

here is the 1680 watt capable fixture from the top.

the frame is an octagon made with 1" pvc using eight 1" pvc 45 degree fittings.

the sockets are supported by green 2" mesh plastic fence. it's flexible and strong.

this light is over a year old.

it has 120 pigtail sockets all hung from the fencing material.

simple parallel wiring using 18ga walmart extension cords.

there are two circuits, one inner and one outer. 60 bulbs each.

i didn't built it to use permanently. it is experimental.

it comes out over 100 watts per square ft. and will produce 1500 umols at 30".

but i don't recommend anyone build one like this as it is really too powerful with all the bulbs in.

this is the one that caused the dense plant in my grow above.

not too much light at top dead center but overall too much light hitting the plant.

it did not damage it. it made the nodes in veg too tight. not only was i using this light but it was all 5000k bulbs for the first two weeks.

i had to cut off a bunch of small laterals that would not grow toward the light. extremely tight nodes on these.

once i cut back overall power and removed the affected growth it started growing more normally.

the second two weeks were with 38.5 % 2700k bulbs.

and at the flip, i went to 66.6 % 2700k.

and turned off 60 bulbs by unscrewing 30 bulbs from each circuit in a more open pattern.

this is using 840 watts, which is about 52.5 watts per sq ft over 16 sq ft.

right now I'm using it at 1200 umols which is achieved at 16".

i have just grown a bunch of plants using it at full strength. 6 on and 6off at 1500 umols and they loved it.

this is just proof that every cannabis plant is different and there is no one size fits all.

 

[delta9nxs]

here's the top view of the 1008-watt capable light.

those are metal shelf hangers for the frame.

i had to climb a ladder for these shots so i thought i would show the canopy today while i was up there.

you can see i tilted the two outer rows toward the plant.

the bulbs have been out of the 12 corner positions but i think i'll turn them on bringing the fixture up to the full 1008 watts. i need to straighten the tilted ones too.

the plant is in great health and growing fast.

editing to add that you are looking at a plant that is getting today about 1250 umols at the tops, which is about 54 moles of light per session.

with a nutrient feed at about ec2 and 5.8 ph

 

[Redrum92]

That is an absolutely beautiful setup for lights. Being able to angle them is a big plus.

 

[DunHav`nFun]

Merry Xmas Bro.....Thanks for your time and experience.....

Peace......DHF.......

 

[delta9nxs]

and i thank you and everyone else who has even looked at my weird threads.

i just can't stop experimenting, even when i should.

it's become a neurosis at this point but i'm quite happy being a crazy old nerd!

 

[midwestkid]

and i thank you and everyone else who has even looked at my weird threads.

i just can't stop experimenting, even when i should.

it's become a neurosis at this point but i'm quite happy being a crazy old nerd!

Good work... glad I'm not the only fidget. Lol

 

[delta9nxs]

That is an absolutely beautiful setup for lights. Being able to angle them is a big plus.

thank you! as i said this is experimental.

one of the research papers i've read lately discusses the occurrence of cannabinoids and terpenes in relation to the light source.

it is almost a common sense thing that i think most experienced growers understand intuitively.

what they found was that the closer to the light source the higher the cannabinoid and terpene content was.

and it is stratified on each plant according to light intensity.

again, i think most of us just kind of took this for granted but now we have actual evidence.

so, we grow a plant that is 3D but we use 2D sources of light.

previously somewhere i said one-dimensional but after thinking about it i realized it was really 2D.

but anytime we grow 2D, we grow plants that only the tops are really quality.

and the rest of the plant is everything except what we can market.

i'm thinking about an adjustable, curved, umbrella-like structure to hold the lights at the correct distance from a greater portion of the plant canopy than we can light effectively using flat emitters.

i'm through the design phase and hope to build one soon enough to use in the next grow.

this is also an effort on my part to minimize physical labor and energy inputs.

you have just witnessed me missing the flip window to make a compact bush.

this, in turn, required me to put a net on them and do a little training and tying to keep them from getting too close to the light.

if you are familiar with the thread "something wicked this way comes" you will see plants that were very labor-intensive to grow as they were huge.

i had to grow this way to beat Oregon's medical plant count limits.

but it was not efficient if you are not worried about plant counts.

long veg times and a lot of light and cooling energy were necessary to grow like this.

meanwhile, rent still has to be paid on the building, payroll must be met.

oregon was 4 years ago and i was 68 when i left there.

because of back problems, i have trouble doing a lot of plant work on large plants so i'm moving away from that to growing compact, heavy bushes that do not require much labor input.

and i'm now supplying a very sophisticated, educated market that knows quality from shinola.

it certainly is an interesting world!

 

[delta9nxs]

time for the weekend update. yesterday was the end of week 7 and 20 days into flower.

these shots are just one plant and a day late because of the holidays.

your are looking at a plant that is receiving about 1350 umols of light for 12 hours each day.

which is about 58.32 moles per period.

still no solution removed, only input.

ya'll have a good un!

i forgot to mention that you don't have to rub stems anymore, the whole room smells like it.

 

[delta9nxs]

thank you raco1962! you're a nice guy!

 

[greyfader]

"hello, is it me you're looking for?"

so, i have retired delta9nxs.

the grower formerly known as "delta9nxs" has become "greyfader".

i recently found that most of the passwords i've used on various forums over the years are known to probably advertisers. and they have linked it to the screen name delta9nxs.

it could be through gmail so i've changed to a more secure email server.

it's still me and i'm just as obnoxious as ever!


today is the end of week 4 of flower.

i have made both lights 1008 watts with 72 bulbs each.

one plant is getting a 66.6% ratio of 2700k to 5000k bulbs. as of the flip.

the other is running all 2700k bulbs.

just a few pics to show progress.

the first 4 pics are plant one with the all 2700k bulbs.

the last 2 are with the 66.6% ratio.

 

[greyfader]

yesterday was the end of week 5 flowering.

plant A is getting all 2700k light.

still, no solution removed from the system ever in the life of this plant. input only.

 

[greyfader]

plant B is getting 2/3 2700k and 1/3 5000k

no solution removed from this one either.

 

[greyfader]

we are at the end of week 6 of flower. starting to put on a little weight and getting some slight purpling.

i couldn't help myself and cut off a small branch. it should be dry enough to taste by tomorrow.

it smells fantastic!

 

[bloyd]

How did she taste? Doesn't look like a fun trim but hopefully effects make it worthwhile. What is the red light shown?

 

[greyfader]

How did she taste? Doesn't look like a fun trim but hopefully effects make it worthwhile. What is the red light shown?

hey buddy! so yesterday i had a branch i cut off at about the 5.5-week point dry enough to try.

it is very, very smooth. pretty strong blueberry flavor even though it's so early.

but the effect is surprising. first, i took a long, slow, high-volume hit and held it a bit.

almost immediately i got a wave-type sensation washing over me with a strong sense of well-being.

i slowly did a large bowl, trying to retain as much as possible. by the end i was feeling relief from the normal body aches and pains an old man gets.

the high then settled into a stimulating mental experience. i was impressed with the energy level i had.

instead of couchlock, i wanted to do stuff.

i ate the whole refrigerator. did a bunch of household chores.

but absolutely no anxiety. just an extremely pleasant experience. in addition to the blueberry taste, i get something else but i can't identify it yet.

my wife is sick with a cold right now so she can't help me with nailing down the flavor and aroma.

my nose isn't that great after that time i accidentally fell face-first into a pile of white powder for a couple of years.

later

formerly d9

 

[greyfader]

i forgot to talk about the red light.

"you don't have to put out the red light"! roxanne!

the light is a 36-watt 660 nm screw-in. i've got it aimed at a section of the canopy.

it pegs my par meter at 4" dead center. the meter tops out at 2000 umols.

alone it produces about 1000 umols at about 10".

it cost 40 bucks.

i'm experimenting with applying different spectral distributions at different points of the plants life.

the plant above has been getting all 2700k white light since the end of stretch.

it was getting various ratios of 2700k/5000k light starting with 100% 5000k then 38% 2700k, 66% 2700k to all 2700k.

most of the commercial led grow light manufacturers use both 3000k and 5000k white diodes and then throw in a few 660nm and some uv or far-red.

most of them are using the phosphor coating method of producing white light. which starts with a blue diode and then converts color temp with the phosphor coating.

because of the strong presence of blue it is impossible to reduce the blue spike without filters.

so with a 2700k color temp diode the blue is still about 32% of total power.

the old mogul socket hortilux super hps had about 7% blue added to the 2100k base.

the DE philips greenpower had about 14% blue.

the hps lamps produced heavier, larger flowers than i get with these screw-in bulbs.

i think that it's because of the blue/red ratio.

i read several papers indicating this and also papers showing that blue light produces a higher cannabinoid and terpene level than red light.

i have grown six different strains using these screw-in bulbs and got potent, dank flowers but they didn't get as large as i thought they should have based on my hps experience.

looking at the spd graphs below you can see various color temps of white light diodes with and without auxiliary 660nm red.

these household bulbs are just as good at producing white light as a grow light fixture.

the octagonal one is 1680 watts when all positions have a bulb. it produces 1500 umols at 30".

i'm running 60 2700k bulbs in both fixtures right now which is about 840 watts each.

the only real drawback is that they are not as electrically efficient. roughly 107 lumens per watt as opposed to 140 lumens per watt with the better store-bought fixtures.

this could be an important thing to consider in a large facility but that's not where i'm at now.

i'm semi-retired and consider myself to be an advanced hobbyist at this point. so a slight increase in my electric bill is no big deal.

you can see the pronounced blue spikes in all of these phosphor-coated white light diodes.

the 2700k has the lowest amount.

therefore it is easiest to reduce the overall blue/red ratio a little further by adding more red light.

the graph on the right shows samsung lm 301h white light diodes with and without supplementary red at 660nm.

These are from some manufactured grow light.

throughout the industry we see the makers using overlapping white light diodes with supplementary 660nm red.

mars hydro states in their literature that they used 3000k and 5000k white light diodes.

i thought i would try it and see what happens.

 

[greyfader]

today is the end of week 8 of flower. i'm going to take them down now.

a beautiful, trouble-free plant to grow. the flowers are dense and hard.

i bent over a couple of branches to show how it stacks.

this entire grow was done with solution input only. at no time was any solution removed from the system.

this is through 30 days of vegetative growth and 8 weeks of flower. 86 days.

the medium is perlite amended with worm castings and DE.

total list of materials used; per plant

6 gals chunky perlite

243 gr. jack's 5-12-26

162 gr yara liva calcinit

81 gr mag sulfate

36 ml 85% phosphoric acid

1.5 quarts worm castings

1 cup diatomaceous earth

6 oz mr fulvic

3 heaping 1/2 tsps kelp powder.

i cut off a branch at 7 weeks and my wife and i tried it this morning.

smooth, very smooth!

strong blueberry with an undertone of perfume floral though but it's subtle compared to the blueberry.

strong terp profile on the inhale.

but it's about the high of this plant.

i get a physically relaxing sensation with relief of muscle and joint pain.

accompanied by a general, overall sense of well-being.

it is relaxing while being mentally stimulating. makes me want to do stuff but no anxiety or nervousness.

it's an extremely pleasant experience. you just feel good.

i'll be back with another report once it's dried.

 

[Alpha666]

I’m an admirer of your work.
I‘m wondering why you decided on that particular choice of medium for this grow? I remember you extolling the virtues of prococo chips and fibre on your “wicked” thread.

 

[greyfader]

I’m an admirer of your work.
I‘m wondering why you decided on that particular choice of medium for this grow? I remember you extolling the virtues of prococo chips and fibre on your “wicked” thread.

thank you!

i used prococo chips and fiber at the 10k sq ft cbd flower operation. it works great, but like all coco, had to be treated for potassium/sodium issues before use.

and i have never been able to get through a grow using coco that didn't come with fungus gnats.

at this facility, we were using bulk perlite for cloning. the same manufacturer we were using started making this product;

Harvest Hero Perlite+ Silica – Harvest Hero

www.harvesthero.com

which is chunky perlite coated with diatomaceous earth.

i didn't get a chance to use it at the cbd flower room but i have been experimenting with perlite for about 2 years now.

perlite is a great hydroponic medium. the main issue with using it alone is that it has virtually no cation exchange capacity.

and it dries down too fast and becomes finicky about irrigation timing.

simply coating the perlite with DE gives it a significant CEC, provides plant-available silicate, and is non-toxic pest control.

i haven't seen a fungus gnat since switching to perlite and DE. or any other bugs. for that matter.

rather than pay high prices to have someone coat a cheap substance with another cheap substance I decided to do it myself.

the only other ingredient added to the medium is worm castings.

worm castings add another substance with a large CEC plus all the beneficial bacteria.

it also retains moisture in the medium and slows the drying down.

as you may know, this is a ppk hydro device and i use timed, quantified amounts of solution applied to the top of the medium.

because of this, i don't mix the DE and worm castings throughout the medium.

i know the solution is going to move it down slowly anyway so i mix it into the top of the medium.

i am putting about a 3/8 to 1/2" layer of worm castings on the top first. evenly distributed.

then using gloved claw fingers i work it evenly into about the top 2-2.5".

in this large 7 gal container, i used 1.5 quarts.

then about 1 cup of DE was worked into the top 1".

you would use less or more depending on container size.

i think i could use a little more worm castings per volume but since nothing leaves the system i'm trying to be moderate and not trigger any bacterial blooms.

i irrigated with 1.5 quarts per hour avg.

in the pool below the plant container right now after harvesting, there is a fine visible layer of DE and worm castings.

i'm using the fulvic compound and the kelp in the liquid feed.

nothing was ever removed from this pool.

all ingredients are either in the plant, the medium, or the solution.

 

[Miraculous Meds]

Yo amigo, killer grow and show! Excellent information sharing as always.

Blueberry-cedar-rose is what I get off her. Hope your enjoying some blissful relaxation.