The growing large plants, outdoors, thread...

[theJointedOne]

i know what supp lighting is, thanks though , i was just wondering why gold would want to run it till end of july

edit- right on tg thanks, i get it now

 

[Trinity Gold]

will use the 45w cool white CFLs that I didn't get to put in to play next year

 

[theJointedOne]

nice to hear those wont go to waste

 

[Trinity Gold]

I put them up for the winter I think I need a couple more cases of bulbs though...

The goal is to have all my green houses built and lights strung by Jan 1.

I want to be planted April 14.

Get some.

 

[bringinbudsdown]

TG how big are you making your hoop houses? i want to make my hoop houses 10' wide by about 8' high and 60' to 80' long for supplemental i want to put 1 600 watt digi lumitek using a conversion bulb with a 4x4 parabolic reflector (vertizontal from sunlight supply) every 15.' which is 1 per plant i chose this cause i already have 8 of theses lights minus the conversion bulbs sound good? any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Trinity Gold]

I think that would be a waste of light, mainly because you're supplementing the sun... but your plants will grow in relation to that "waste of light" during the off sun time...The awesome thing about gardening is that it doesn't matter what Tom, HL, myself, fisher, nomaad etc., are doing if you've got an idea you want to implement for yourself..by all means do it!! It may be something that other people end up trying !! There is a million ways to do it right...Growing and Nike have the same slogan...Just do it!!

Even a 23w cool white CFL will do the job. The dimensions of the hoopers I build will be similar to yours but longer.

 

[bringinbudsdown]

appreciate the feedback TG. i was planning on doing that to 8 plants and the rest of the garden with cfl's but when you put it that way it does make sense costly on the electric bill as well. ill probly throw one maybe two in each hoop house to keep them warm i get mid 20's often in may over here in lassen county. you think this would be worth it?

 

[simos]

appreciate the feedback TG. i was planning on doing that to 8 plants and the rest of the garden with cfl's but when you put it that way it does make sense costly on the electric bill as well. ill probly throw one maybe two in each hoop house to keep them warm i get mid 20's often in may over here in lassen county. you think this would be worth it?

Just skip the HID lighting in hoop houses. It kinda makes sense in permanent commercial greenhouses, but definitely not in high tunnels. A simple electric heater/fan or two would almost certainly be more efficient and effective, as far as heating goes.

Keep all those ballasts and reflectors in your indoor room. Pull a harvest in June, give it an extra super duper cure, and then shop your killer indoor around in August at the height of the drought.

 

[somoz]

Simos wrapped it up pretty succinctly......better to let the sun do what it does and use a more efficient heating solution and save your indoor gear for indoors.....he nailed it with the chop and drop time for your indoor as well but you could also chop mid may and run one more smaller pull indoor and hopefully that should last you till the end of the outdoor and the rest should be gravy.

@ Trinity You gonna light dep at all in your hoop houses or you going to run em full tilt till the end...just wanted to pick your brain a bit if you are going to light dep....

 

[Trinity Gold]

I had a hoop house for my dep this year and do not like that design for doing a light dep at all...i will use high tunnels as glorified row covers over my smart pots but my dep will be in a different type of green house...I will have the first set out in may, second set in july, third set in september and another wave just for fun put out in the dep green house in october........I will do my best to help you how ever I can! Have fun in the garden!

 

[McDank8O5]

Perpetual season sounds killer TG

Few more questions for anybody who can answer...

How early do you guys start spraying brix mix? as well as calcium 25?

any of you 200/300 gallon + guys experience the roots breaking through the bottom of your smartpots?

 

[Trinity Gold]

I start spraying them once they're rooted.

Yes my roots grew thru the pot and in to the ground, I have 300s...

Edit :: 420 posts!! WOO!

 

[McDank8O5]

What about seedlings?

No wonder your going for triple that next year should be very interesting....

thanks!

 

[mapinguari]

McDank805, some of the folks on this thread who make their own breathable pots don't even use bottoms. I'd guess it depends on your drainage rate (and of course whether you are thinking of moving it).

TG, I am thinking of using 7' tall x 10' wide hoop houses for light dep. What turned you off about doing it that way?

 

[nomaad]

McDank805, some of the folks on this thread who make their own breathable pots don't even use bottoms. I'd guess it depends on your drainage rate (and of course whether you are thinking of moving it).

i think the main factor upon which to decide whether to use homemade, bottomless pots or sealed ones (commercially available or otherwise) is whether or not you have gophers and voles in the area. You can, of course, seal your homemade pots with a bottom made out of gopher/vole-proof mesh.

being able to move them is a major benefit of smartpots. saved my ass this year. Roots grew through them as well... i am considering drilling holes for bigger roots to pass through next year... I guess this will make it more dangerous to move them if you have to once the roots have grown thru... also helps to root the plant to the ground... next year, i am going to have to use 12' Tposts rather than the bamboo i used this year. completely insufficient. We wasted a lot of time tying plants into upright positions when the vertical 10' bamboos that were sunk into the pot itself failed.

 

[somoz]

I had a hoop house for my dep this year and do not like that design for doing a light dep at all...i will use high tunnels as glorified row covers over my smart pots but my dep will be in a different type of green house...I will have the first set out in may, second set in july, third set in september and another wave just for fun put out in the dep green house in october........I will do my best to help you how ever I can! Have fun in the garden!

Right on, thanks for the open arms. Just curious to what fabric you're going and/or have used in the past? I know there's the ghetto rig panda film tarp style but I was looking into the breathable black out tarps from forever flowering.......

http://www.foreverflowering.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4&Itemid=6

Also, if you're not going to black out any hoop houses what type of greenhouse are you working with? A rectangular GH or a more sturdy hoop constructed design?

I was interested in nomad's Dome Design he purchased but I don't see that being conducive to light dep'n and glad to see he's popped by.....maybe he'll chime in as well towards the GH and dep fabrics.....also @ Nomad why don't you run the pvc style hoop houses next year for your support instead of the T's? Is there something you don't like about them......I guess it would be difficult to move some pots with that design but the upside is there is a great structural support for your plants already.....

open ears over here so thanks for chiming in guys.

 

[nomaad]

last i checked that FF material was $2.12 per square foot. that's 3 grand per hoopty for me... unless i was sure they would last 3 or 4 seasons, I don;t think i will make the investment...

the dome i have would be a huge pain in the ass to light dep, unless you did an internal cube of light dep withing the dome. I have messed around with various concepts. that FF material would make things easier.

I'll use the hoop rows as my trellising where its feasible, but the home garden just would not work with all that PVC everywhere. Individual trellising will be required. The hoop rows require T-posts (i would put them at either side of each plant, tied into the apex of the hoop) for rigidity as well... and they also only trellis the sides of the plants oriented to the outside of the hoops. The sides oriented lengthwise will require some kind of additional trellising.

 

[somoz]

agreed, that is a steep price tag if it doesn't hold up.....they did drop their prices a bit, $1.55 for the "triple layer" and $1.05 for the "white on white" which eases the sticker a little bit.....probably drop em during the off season and kick em back up during the spring....that's what I would do if it was my company but then again that doesn't really make sense if they ship internationally etc.....but regardless, the price did drop a wee bit.

 

[nomaad]

nice price drop. at $1.25 they might have a customer.

 

[bushweed]

Old school Norcal Haze:

Oaxacan Highland x White Widow

Oaxacan Highland x Norcal Skunk

Mullumbimby Madness x Skunk Haze

This is a current shot of a self seeded MUllum Madness x MM/SkHz, 6 monts til harvest here in Oz, so this one should be mammoth