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Hey Bro.....Took me a sec to find it cuz your link didnt work in the rep column , but hey.....I made it.........now...... Let`s talk bare bulbs hangin and proper watts per sq ft......When I first started with Krusty buckets with 4 plants and 5 lights , I was TOLD to use 1k hps in the corners and a 1k mh in the middle for mixed spectrum in 10 x 10 rooms.....
Well I couldn`t add the extra amperage where I was so I opted for 600 watt Eye horti`s in the corners and the 1k mh in the middle to drop from 50 watts per sq ft which is THE optimum.....so......@ 34 watts per sq ft , Krusty called Blasphemy , but I was bound by my power draw and went with it using a dialed to the tits mex skunk I`d been growin outside the previous 12 yrs before choppers flyin grid patterns forced me indoors......that said.....
The best match for large plant grows are 50/50 sat/ind hybrids that don`t take forever to veg , and blast off with proper environment once you pull the trigger and flip em and I had a damn good specimen.....so.....
Runnin only 34 watts per , my yields suffered somewhat with less total weight , density , and trichome coverage , but I stilled pulled 10 lb rooms consistently after the first 2 runs , so I gave 2 fucks cuz where I grew was the Hell of the Dirty and back then it was still the best dope anyone could find in my neck of the woods......Krusty and his freedom crew were pullin 3 1/2 and 4 lb plants left and right with colas the size of 3 liter coke bottles using strains they`d hunted and found.....but.....after almost 10 yrs....
Time moved on and I grew weary of the same ol same ol so Heath Robinson talked me into ebb and flow buckets cuz he said it was all but bulletproof and set it and forget it type system , so I built fuck out of em and put flip rooms in all the basements I`d been growin in as the yrs went by , and again got preached to about 50 watts per sq ft , so I said fuck it and bit the bullet.....
Put sub panels in and still only ended up runnin maybe 4000 watts a day total with all bells and whistles involved , and that was almost as much as before with 24/7/365 totally recirculating fast hydro setup that was a PAIN in the ass to keep up and maintain , but now I had lights on and off every 12 hrs that actually saved powerbill cash like a mofo cuz it was only lil over 2000 watts daily on the meter with em flippin every 12 hrs , so I was pleased......but......
I had 36-5 gal buckets in each room with 3-600`s in each 6 x 6 room runnin the SAME mex skunk cut that I knew backwards and forwards , and I started pullin 2 1/2 oz mini xmas trees EVERY run with the finished product as different as daylight and dark .....Faaaar more trichome coverage , closer internode elongation making laterals and colas much denser , and overall bag appeal was insane with much more pronounced "loudness" , so that said.....
I`ve preached it ever since.....with HPS lighting that is......but......Duan Juan Matuus my ol growbro swears up and down 37.5 watts per sq ft is by far enough to get the job done , but he started with smaller plants and moved UP to big 1`s so he never saw what I did with the exact same strain , but I digress....Heath Robinson swore and be damned he started out with 25 watts per sq ft and did ok , so there you go.....You can grow dope under many situations , but there are optimum ways to do it as well if able to employ said methods.....anyways.....
Your setup needs 2 more 600`s in the 8 x 12 to get to 37.5 watts per , and the other room as well but do the best you can with what you have and go from there.....I got faith in your experience to figure it out , so handle it and make it simple......babyshit....Holler if I can help and.....
Always enjoy your posts and value your input, DHF, thanks for stopping by and taking the time to search out the thread.
@ 6- 600's per 8'x12', I was a little worried about cooling and it saves me running an extra breaker and lighting controller. But, the end goal was absolutely blasting max watts as we dial it in and moving up to 5-6 bulbs per 8'x12'... Same for the 1-plant room. I hear you on w/sf and will definitely consider trying to blast light from the get go or at least the second run once we get some jars filled. You can't argue with bud structure and trich coverage...
I might drop a 1k in the middle with 600's on the side (5 bulbs total per 2-plant flower room) which bumps me up to 40w/sf at least looking at interior dimensions of the spaces (roughly 7.4' x 11.4').
I've got some info to chew on and possible redesign. Still plenty of time, build likely not starting for a week or so. So, thanks for the thoughts! Respect
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Edit: Moving doors, adding a bulb, quick sketch. Either this as drawn with 1k on the wall, or move the 1k bulb right smack into the center of the room assuming we have enough clearance and won't have heat issues or burn on the central most flowers... The latter would be ideal if the cooling can handle it. This gets us to 40w/sf
Slap small muffin fans under every light and start out on low speed and change speeds if needed , plus use oversized inline fans to move the heatgain out and put em on speed controllers where the intake fan`s pullin in less than the exhaust scrubber combo and you`re golden with negative pressure and no stank leaving said grow units.....Not rocket science , just dialage....Keep strokin.....We`ll make it come together.....
Planning to run 8" exhaust and 8" or 6" active intake with several registers on the intake side for nice distribution. Intakes and exhaust on opposite sides of the room. Muffin fans under all bulbs. With losses due to duct runs and filters, I'm estimating 1 air exchange per minute (larger flower rooms are roughly 600CF, 8" fans pull 750CFM without restriction). If needed, I'd toss in a second smaller 6" exhaust fan to hit the two air exchanges per minute mark, but I'm hoping tandem 8" fans on intake and exhaust with controllers will handle it.
Active cold air intake on a temp controller into the lung room pulling outside air in, and it's cold enough in winter I should probably just blast light
Hey Bro....Didn`t pay much attention to the pic you added while I was posting last , but after lettin that sink in , you`ve only got 4 less sq ft than I ran with my 4 plant rooms , so why not let that room be all it can be with 4 plants.......I mean......
You got 4-4 x 6 areas for plants that if given perfect environment will possibly give you at least 4 lbs fairly regularly , and once you find perfect 50/50 hybrids , possibly double that number......now.....With 3400 watts in 96 sq ft , you`ll be runnin 35.4 watts per sq ft , and that`s a good place to start dialin and tweakin....that said.....
4 plants in the middle of each wall with 4-600`s in the corners and the 1K dead in the middle trimmed , pruned , and shaped to fit each 1`s area with chickenwire stapled to the ceiling where you can open each plant up for proper air movement as well as light penetration with strings hung that will also hold up lateral limbs and colas to prevent snapping under their own weight during mid-late bloomage.....and then.....
You`re off to the races and each run gets easier knowing what you`re up against.....anyways.....My 2 cents and by no means trying to tell you what to do , but if it was mine , I`d pack it with 4 to hedge my yield bets.....and lastly.....I walled off my basements and created the lungroom for all air extraction , but I did have to have a wall banger a/c in said lungroom so it pumped in and sucked out as close to perfect temps and environment as possible during summertime.....got thru winter most of the time , but HPS heatgain takes dialing Bro....aight....Get to work and.....
DHF, I think we're sharing a wavelength... Been on this since your last post...
Right now, after your notes a few days ago, I took that info to heart and have been reassessing. You tell me resin and structure was miles ahead at 50w/sf, and there's no arguing with that logic. I wanted to run flip rooms to regulate temps and humidity, but the flip is not necessary, just preferred. Hopefully the new plan can bring down the weight, leaving more room for activities
Now, I'm planning to quash the second 2-plant room. I can expand the first 2-plant room to roughly 9.2' x 10.9' for almost a perfect 100SF interior dimension and go 4 trees, tried and true. This saves me a few lights, an extra controller, and can double up on ventilation so I'm not worried about cooling potential. Two 8" fans on exhaust with speed controllers shouldn't have a problem there. It makes a small portion of the basement unusable due to weird dimensions, but I'll need some storage anyways and will use that for grow storage and extra boxes, behind a wall in the 4-plant grow room... I may use it as a ballast/electrical room and throw a 6" fan in for exhaust so I can better control temps (either dump ballast air outside or recirculate inside for heat retention).
Ya, new plan for the treehouse. We'll still rock the one 1-plant room with two 600s in the corners. The other space is now planned to hit 100SF with three 1kw's diagnoally and two 600's in the other two corners for ~42w/sf...
Just remember that each 1K of light puts out 3400 btu`s of heatgain PER , so with you bringin room up to 4200 watts , you`ll also be dealin with 14280 btu`s of heatgain just from the lights, so to hedge your bets set the room up and run it without plants to make sure you can dissipate heat with air exchange twice per minute.......
Put the muffin fans under each bare bulb and turn em on their "lowest" setting to merely assist natural heat convection straight up so as to not blow heat up faster than the extraction fans suckin said heatgain out......and for the record.....My Krusty bucket days were long before I ever learned from Heath about smaller rooms using extraction with no CO2 supplements......that said.....
I ran wall bangers thru wall in my big plant rooms with active air exchange in and out , but it was nowhere near twice per minute way back then and scrubbers weren`t available in my world , so AC and dehueys in late bloomage with 5 gal buckets and muffin fans mounted to the tops with Ona gel in the bottom to more or less mask the dank smell instead of doin what scrubbers do......anyways.....
You know the drill , but the MOST important thing with big plant rooms is picking the RIGHT hybrid , and this can make or break your yields .....and why ?.....Well over a decade has produced literally 1000`s of mostly Indica dominant hybrids that absolutely have no use whatsoever in a bare bulb room unless you plan for it and KNOW what you`re gonna end up with.....and what does this mean ?.....
We were taught to veg under horizontal light and keep as max amount of watts on top of em that they could stand without bleaching and heat scorching and grow em to "tits high" in the buckets......and then ......We pulled the trigger after cleanin out all the innards and getting rid of all sucker branches so as to establish dominant laterals and divert energy where it was needed to end colas......so....once flipped and put in the bare bulb rooms......then.....
The bulbs were set at the ends of top cola height and raised daily all the way thru complete end of stretch , and what that did was put the plants right under ceiling height in normal 8' rooms and right at 6' plants that`s growth structure is xmas tree style , then the lights were dropped down into the plants where the top of the mogul sockets were even with the tops of the plants where they stayed till end of cycle.....so why`s this different from the mostly Indica dominant hybrids of today`s weed world ?......
You`ll NEVER be able to veg any 1 of said hybrids tall enough for the yields that`re needed to consume EVERY cubic inch of the grow area to be all it can be BECAUSE Indica dominant varieties take for fucking ever to veg to any height at all , and once you flip em in a bare bulb room they grow OUT toward the light stimulus instead of UP no matter how far you raise the lights......and what that does is negate all the real estate the plant mass COULD BE instead of where it ends up at 4' if you`re lucky with round ass balls of massive foliage growin leaf instead of budmass till end of stretch that needs to be dealt with or forever live with the flarfy popcorn lesser buds they turn into come choptime , regardless of all the while poppin multiple budsites but NOT stretchin vertically.....and yeah.....
There`s hybrids out there that`ll stretch once flipped , but they`re spindly OG`s and a few more that will never fill the bill yielding like a proper hybrid will , but lastly ?......What are you willing to live with to get the right quality dope that sells compared to the right hybrid that yields more but of less quality , and that right there is the tradeoffs of growin dope.....
Grow more and it sells for less , or grow less and it sells for more but at what cost or comparisons , and that`s where you gotta put your head and move forward with all you can do with the best product you can turn out that moves as fast as it`s available for as much as you want EVERY run.....anyways.....
Wake and bake over ....Ol lady`s callin breakfast so take care and holler if I can help.....
Great breakdown DHF. More stretchy hybrids do make a huge difference. You can fill out canopy space a lot faster. I learned that quiclkly with coco and salt nutes.
lou the ecsd x sfv x chem is fucking perfect bare bulb strain with amazing yields....i’m collecting pollen from a male now to have more seeds to look into. thank you!
Nice wake and bake knowledge drop... Agree, pheno selection is key. This first round will be two of the SUSQ Chem (Chem4 x Sour D IBL) x (ChemD x Sour D IBL), two of the OG Chem (SFV x ChemD bx) and a Gorilla Bubble BX2 (GG4 x Sour Bubble) bx GG4.
The SUSQ and OGC will be in the large flower room, and have the ability to definitely stack. SUSQ is more on the sour side, vigorous, stretchy, and likes to make those colas. I'll have wire on the ceiling to deal with the flop. They should be the top yielders of the 3 based on past experiences...
The OG Chem yields a bit less, but still well, nice dense nuggets all the way down. A bit less prone to the huge colas, but still nice yields and vigor. Less secondary branching.
The GB is more on the sour b side. So I don't expect any crazy yields there, but the headstash is pretty killer and I'd like to still try to push a unit with two 600s vert bare bulb. She's got potential.
Hey Beau, ya, ECSD x OG/CD was beastly in most crosses with adding vigor and yield. Again from Ganja Rebel/D and we all know he likes to grow his trees. I have a selection of F2s set aside from my big yielder that I lost that we may search through, but also so many hybrids. I had a bad ass Cookiewreck from CannaVenture, awesome smells, frost, and high, but lacking a bit on yield. I've got those on a short list with a few others...
CookieWreck x (ECSD x OG/CD)
Double OG Sour from Ganja Rebel (SFV x SFV x Sour D)
Malawi from Ace
AK47 from Joey Weed
Also have access to a bunch of gear from Archive, Ethos and a few others. Dosi Dos, wedding cake, sunset sherbet, Chem 91, Face off OG, white tahoe cookies x dosidos, etc...
Too many seeds, and not enough plant count! Hoping to be able to do some proper pheno hunting here soon...
We can skin a buck , We can run a trot line , Country Boy CAN survive......Welcome Beaucephus......Lou.....Good luck and I`ll be over here on my bucket watchin and waitin for dialage.....
Hoping to wrap this in a long weekend and a few nights next week, we'll see what hiccups we run into. Rigid foam insulation, wood framing, reflectrix for walls. New electrical for lighting controller and a few smaller breakers for pumps, fans, etc. Leaning towards hard sided ducting for ventilation intake and multiple distribution registers to help airflow. A few elevated risers for plants with corrugated roofing for drain to waste through a PVC run to a sump. Shouldn't take too long, still waiting on some supplies.
Hoping to have plants in place this weekend while the build finishes, with 5 plants, 4 bulbs (600s) to acclimate before they go into the final rooms as described alongside the latest sketch. We're planning 10 gal fabric pots. The girls are currently in 2 gals and will give them 2-3 weeks veg in place before the flip after repotting.
DHF, or anyone, a question, and all input always welcome...
We've got bare concrete for the floor, in a basement. I'm struggling between leaving it, going with pond liner, or trying some sort of sealer or epoxy. I'm leaning towards the former (bare or pond liner) mainly because of the time to apply, time to dry, and potential for offgasing. It was waterproofed not too long ago (walls) but you can see coatings starting to flake. The space has been dry thus far during big rains I've witnessed. The slab is in good shape and we'll have plenty of moisture barrier between any walls and the ceiling, so I'm hoping to get away with bare or if needed pond liner, especially since plants will be on risers with drainage anyways. The main concern is nasties, so will likely get a bleach mop and sterilization prior to plants coming in. But even then, concrete is porous. Epoxy would be ideal but it is hard to apply right for a DIYer...
Thoughts welcome and appreciated. We should be getting interesting here soon...
I used to place an epoxy sealer on concrete floors. Roll on like paint. Easy enough to let it dry. Never had an issue with off gassing. Since you are going to elevate the plants, you don't have to worry about R-factors.
I`ll try this once again.....Keep gettin knocked offline after the 3rd fuckin Hurricane to hit the Redneck Riviera this yr.....Sick and fuckin tired of scrapin debris up and dumpin it at the road....2020 can`t get done fast enough for my old ass.....anyways.....
Frank`s right Bro....but.....If the slab`s been sealed even though it still looks porous , you`ll have a hard time with the shit bonding and that`s most likely what you read about pre-treating the slab before painting it.....now....They`ve got garage floor paint that covers sealed slabs I`m all but positive , but check it and see.....Pondliner will allow condensation to form underneath from heating and cooling from season to season and most likely from the heat and light in said grow areas.....No bueno for mold and other nasties that guaranteed form underneath at some point in the game.....anyways.....
Can`t wait to keep cleaning up my property on both sides of the road NOT , and pray this is the LAST fuckin time I haveta do it for a while.....Keep strokin and make shit happen......
2020 is bringing it hard, for sure. Thanks for fighting through the outages to still comment on the flooring options. Hope I helped you procrastinate from the cleaning for a bit and of course also that everyone is safe and sound. I think I prefer the occasional tornado than what you all deal with down there
I'm going to just roll the dice and sanitize heavy between rounds and keep it bare concrete. I see too many hit or miss applications of paint/epoxy with significant failure of the materials. I got caught up at work, so am behind on the build already and itching to get rocking.
In the meantime, some DSD and NYCO girls after a bit of defo, day 20. They've been under a MH to keep stretch down, and now switching over to HPS for the remainder of flower from 21 on. The DSDs should be done by 60