New Grower First grow. Multiple strains, 400W CFL. Screwing it up already.
- Thread starter CaptainPeck
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I don't know for sure. I'm just playing it by ear right now. I'm afraid if I go with my 250W MH/HPS I will have a hard time battling the heat. It's an older fixture with a magnetic ballast and it gets HOT. I would have to vent in air from outside to cool it. Alternatively, I have two 4' 8-bulb T5HO fixtures but I don't really have a grow space large enough to use them yet. I have a space set aside for it. I just haven't set it up. Maybe I will do that.
Looks good captain peck :smokebuds:
This is unrelated to my grow but it is cannabis related. I went out for a toke and while I was sitting there I noticed some funny looking "grass" out in the middle of the yard.
Upon further inspection it appears I have inadvertently become a hemp farmer.
I remember dumping a pile of bag seeds out there a couple months ago but I guess we didn't get enough rain until recently for them to do anything.
It's too bad this isn't my back yard. But oh well. Its getting cold and this is less than 30 yards from a state highway with lots of police traffic. So they will get cut with the grass.
Upon further inspection it appears I have inadvertently become a hemp farmer.
I remember dumping a pile of bag seeds out there a couple months ago but I guess we didn't get enough rain until recently for them to do anything.
It's too bad this isn't my back yard. But oh well. Its getting cold and this is less than 30 yards from a state highway with lots of police traffic. So they will get cut with the grass.
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I've been growing for 4 years and I still do that! lol
Looking alright so far, Captain! I've done entire grows of smaller plans with one of those 200w CFLs, plants seemed to like it. I eventually made a 20" x 28" x 34" box that fits above my toilet, and I have 1 200w CFL & a 150w HPS in there. I run one light half the day, then the other for the other half. It's a bit hot to have them both on at same time, so I just alternate and I still get dual spectrum, red light & blue light. My HPS is also an older magnetic ballast, and I ended up taking the fixture apart and re-wiring it so i could mount the ballast outside the box. The bulb still gets pretty warm though, but it helps. (I also have a bigger tent with 400w HPS)
I've also got some 4' fluorescent fixtures that I'm trying to figure out where to put them. I was thinking about getting one of those metal rack shelving units to use with them. But not sure how I would enclose it yet, tho.
Good luck with your grow! I'll be watching..
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Thank you everybody for your comments and kind words. This grow is really starting to take off now. For the last week or so there has been a faint odor hanging in my room. Last night I woke up and went to the bathroom and when I came back to my room the smell was overwhelming. Other occupants of the house are beginning to complain. I have a little ozone generator that is marketed towards cat owners that really works great. Only problem with that is now I can't find all the parts. So. We improvise. I made a trip to Home Depot and bought a 4" inline fan and some aluminum duct. I also bought 2 of those carbon impregnated HVAC filters. When I got home I took a spare 12" length of 4" thin wall pvc and drilled about 100 half inch holes in it. Then I stuffed it with the carbon filter material and wrapped the outside in another layer of carbon filter material. I cut a 4" hole through the back of the cabinet and installed a 4" flange. I wired it directly to household power and viola !! Odor free !
The ladies all seem to be doing fine. I yanked the one SDH and the one AKR that were taking too long to do anything and I transplanted my 2 nicest Short Stuff #1's into the vacant pots. The oldest SDH is starting to do some stretching but I'm good with that. I've been watering about every 4th or 5th day. I planned to wait longer but they are drying up quicker than I thought and every time I water/feed the plants respond positively. The solo cups all got their first feeding Sunday. They got 6.0 Ph'd water with a weak fish emulsion fertilizer mixed in. I don't know if they could look any happier at this point.
The big pots are now 13 days old from seed and 7 days since they poked through the soil. So are they 13 days old or 7 ? I dunno when you start counting. But they are all growing pretty quickly now even the last little Sharkbite that is bringing up the rear.
Photographs !!!
The ladies all seem to be doing fine. I yanked the one SDH and the one AKR that were taking too long to do anything and I transplanted my 2 nicest Short Stuff #1's into the vacant pots. The oldest SDH is starting to do some stretching but I'm good with that. I've been watering about every 4th or 5th day. I planned to wait longer but they are drying up quicker than I thought and every time I water/feed the plants respond positively. The solo cups all got their first feeding Sunday. They got 6.0 Ph'd water with a weak fish emulsion fertilizer mixed in. I don't know if they could look any happier at this point.
The big pots are now 13 days old from seed and 7 days since they poked through the soil. So are they 13 days old or 7 ? I dunno when you start counting. But they are all growing pretty quickly now even the last little Sharkbite that is bringing up the rear.
Photographs !!!
Good clean setup captain!! Karma your way!!
The last time I tried growing I used the 250W HPS. The heat was a real issue. I did like you and disassembled the thing so I could mount the ballast outside the cabinet but its so old I don't particularly want to rely on that thing as my primary fixture. Even if replacement bulbs are only $6. I think I'm just going to use the CFL's for this entire grow. You're right, they do like it. They work just fine for me. I'll probably run to the hydro store when they begin to flower and get some cooler spectrum bulbs. But hell, I might not. I'm trying to do this on a broke-ass budget.
These are my T5 fixtures:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261248399930?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649
They are awesome. I'd love to use them and I plan to when I have some more experience. But I think I'm just going to finish this grow in my tv stand with my CFL's. It's a small space, easy to maintain, easy to ventilate most important, everything sits at waist level. I had a spinal fusion in September 2011. It was supposed to be the end of all my back problems. But the surgery went terrible wrong and infection developed and I had 2 subsequent operations to remove and replace my hardware. So I don't move around too well and bending at the waist is my biggest issue. After getting hooked on RX pain meds twice I decided to give weed a try. Here in the south its hard to get quality herb. I've had some that helped the pain and some that didn't but it all makes me feel good enough to push through the pain. This is why I decided to grow. I have a regular bedroom closet that would be perfect for the T5's. But I'll have to build a platform and a set of doors and cut holes in the floor for fresh air and the ceiling for discharge. Right now I just don't feel up to all that so I will continue what I'm doing now. When I really get good at this I have a 20' x 8' storage closet off the back of the house that would make for a nice grow room
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