Alpine's Mixed Experiment

[AlpineGrower]

TorturedSoul thank you so much dude.. what a difference!!

Burmese Kush:

WhiteWidow x BigBud:

i call this one.. "colas":

nice pot dude! haha

Purple Haze:

White Rhino:

again many thanks go to TorturedSoul.. the photo master!
more to come soon...

 

[Twelve12]

Photos looks great now! Plants looks even better!

 

[AlpineGrower]

cheers dude! i'm really pleased with how this grow is coming on..

 

[AlpineGrower]

oh by the way.... wanted to ask you guys some advice on adding extra light to my tent.. i saw some CFL's when i was in a hardware store today, and decided to get two to help with vegging the sativas/ boost the current grow. they are 28w, a funky shape, and apparently put out 150w worth of light!!?? having never used CFLs' before i wanted to ask you guys if you think it will help boost the yield a bit??
in theory, if these bold claims by these CFLs' are true..
..i could have (400w hps) + (2x "150w CFLs') = 700W of light power! mwwwaaahhhhh hahaha!!!!
seriously tho.. is this an accurate assumption of output with the CFLs' added???
will post up some pics of 'em soon.. gotta sort out my wiring and figure out how to mount them in the tent tomorrow..
if you have any advice would be mega, cheers!

 

[TorturedSoul]

oh by the way.... wanted to ask you guys some advice on adding extra light to my tent..

Extra light is usually a good thing.

they are 28w, a funky shape, and apparently put out 150w worth of light!!??

Err... No, 28 watts of light. They may be advertised as being (roughly, to the human eye, in some cases) equivalent to a 150-watt incandescent light bulb. Couple of problems with that are that the light that appears to be brightest/most useful to the human eye is not the same spectrum as that which is most useful to plants, and... we don't use incandescent light to grow plants, lol. If you want to compare them to a different type of lighting, I guess you could say that they put out 14 watts of (HPS) light each; which still wouldn't be correct, exactly, but it'd be closer for your needs than the claim on the box.

having never used CFLs' before i wanted to ask you guys if you think it will help boost the yield a bit??

Every little bit (generally) helps.

 

[AlpineGrower]

thanks for the advice dude, i had wondered if the spectrum would be right for growing. do you think the CFLs will be any good to help veg the next batch? or do i need to look into alternatives?

 

[TorturedSoul]

Lots of people start their seedlings/clones under CFLs. Tiny plants don't need a lot of light and the need to keep (especially low-wattage) CFLs within an inch or so isn't a problem at that stage either because there isn't a lot of plant to cover. Take a Dremel tool to a soda can and you've got a servicable reflector for the price of a soft drink (which you also get, what a deal, lol).

Not to mention that you can often find a six-pack of 20something-watt CFLs on sale for a few bucks. Ones in the 40-watt range cost more but produce more light.

6500K ones are best for vegetative.

And since you already have a HID setup, you won't fall into the addiction of adding more and more CFLs every time you turn around until you're consuming 700-800 watts of electricity to produce about the same useful illumination (and more heat, less penetration) as your 400-watt HPS.

Maybe 4-5 40ish watt CFLs in 6500K? You could always continue them as supplemental lighting around the edges in flower, would help some.

Or just pick up a 400-watt MH bulb if your ballast is a digital one - and dial the wattage down to 250 if it's a Lumatek, then turn it back up to 400 watts as the plants grow, and switch to a HPS bulb when you flower.

Options.

 

[TorturedSoul]

BtW, is that haze still stretching? I hope it doesn't force you to keep your light higher than what would be best for the other plants (that happens sometimes). Looking like a nice full tent, which is great but unfortunately it doesn't exactly leave you with a lot of space for bending a tall plant until it is level with her roommates.

Nice mix of strains. I hope you have a good harvest at the end and enjoy the variety.

 

[AlpineGrower]

thanks again Tortured! you have some solid gold advice there! i especially like the soda can refletor idea.. may have to give it a try.. still havn't hooked up the CFLs just yet, think i'm just gonna use them to help start off the next batch of seeds, which are germing as we speak. i've started a new thread for 'em so get on over and check 'em out sometime! (alpine's winter sativa project)
unfortunately my ballast is not digital, so will just keep the HPS going for now.. thinking about upgrading to a 600w in the near future though...
the haze seems to have stopped stretching now but it's quite hard to tell as i havn't measured them recently.. she seems to happy enough in her corner of the tent anyway! if she grows past the light then so be it, i put her in more out of curiosity, and the experience has been well worth it in my opinion. she has just started to frost up a bit in the last couple of days, and smells beautiful! so looking forward to smoking some PurpleHaze again, has been a while!

 

[AlpineGrower]

update time...

into the 5th week of flowering now..
P.Haze:

BuKu:

White WIdow x BigBud cola:

group shot:

 

[AlpineGrower]

here's some more pics:

more to come soon....

 

[AlpineGrower]

so here we are, week 8 flower:

BuKu:

WWxBB:

Purple Haze:

group shot:

WWxBB being flushed:

will post some harvest pics soon...

 

[spectacular]

Amazing bro, great colas.......totem poles reaching for the heavens!

 

[253Chiefin]

Wow man... Im impressed. That ww x bigbud is just my fav of yours. Wish i had a clone of that. Cant wait for the weigh in an smoke report. Great grow

 

[AlpineGrower]

spec, 253chiefin, cheers guys!! 253chiefin, i'd post you a clone if i had one to give bro! not sure it would survive the long journey tho!
chopped the second WWxBB and started flushing the third..

 

[253Chiefin]

Too bad lol.. thats a killer strain. Youve got great lookin plants bro you did a great job on this harvest

 

[AlpineGrower]

thanks again chief!

decided to harvest the 3rd WWxBB this eve.. need to free up some room for the Sativas which are coming along nicely...
anyway, i digress..
here's some pics:

bottle top for perspective, gotta love the ol' Pelforth.. goes down smooth...:

said Pelfort assisting me with the trimming:

top cola (background courtesy Banksy):

87.5g wet

she's a beaute!!!

will post yield/ smoke report once operation drysmoke is complete..
over.

 

[AlpineGrower]

here's the last of 'em:

Purple Haze:

BuKu:

WhiteRhino:

will post some pics of bud porn soon...

 

[Horticultural]

looks great man...wonderful job

 

[AlpineGrower]

thanks H!!

so then... i've chopped the BuKu:

White Rhino close up:

giggidy...

Purple Haze top cola:

all for now!