Dumpy's First 1000 Watt Soil Grow

Week_5c.jpg
Week_5b.jpg
Week_5a.jpg
Week_52.jpg


some pics from week 5 of flower. Gonna back off on the nutrients for the next couple of weeks and get ready for clear.:morenutes:
 
Well. Abberation was right in telling me not to assume the last boy was the only one..... Had to cut another down tonight. Been keeping a close eye on one and her girl parts began drying up and it started sprouting male pods throughout the buds. The rest are girls right now and considering there is approx 2 weeks left to harvest I think I'm out of the woods. 6 of 8 left.
 
I just checked out that Iponic 600 controller you were talking about. Did you pick one up?

Oh yes. Haven't even opened the box yet though. Been doing lots of yard work and it's playoff season. My buckets and uniseals arrived this week. Been trying to get some info on LED light brands but not getting a variety of opinions. I have 2 new Big Kahuna hoods but if I throw 2 1k hid lamps in there I'm staring at approx. $360 per month for hydro if I keep the 4x4 tent running as veg. If i can cut that back with two 600W led lights and get the same yields, I would like to. I've got some more pics though.
DSCF07952.JPG
DSCF07941.JPG
DSCF07931.JPG
DSCF07923.JPG
DSCF07911.JPG
DSCF07903.JPG
21156.jpg
11536.jpg
 
Big and healthy man. They look great. I don't know much about LEDs but one of the members whos journals I follow did a couple comparisons on different LEDs I believe. I have to admit I did not read them as I'm not in the market, but if his buying guide is anything like his journals it will be thorough and well written. Apologies if you've already dug through this one. Here's the link.

LED-Buyers-Guide

Again congratulations on your beautiful tent.
 
Dumpy

I just followed your link, awesome plants! ... you will want at least 3 panels of the size I am using to get you into the range of this grow. I will have to go back and check this thread out.

Good Luck!
 
Hey guys. Thank you for all the support. I did read through that post Mr W and found it very informative. I was hoping to get info from people on more of a personable level, meaning how a specific brand performed for them, if they are happy and feel they've gottten good value for their money, if they have ever had an issue and how the company handled it. Much the same as the difference between a Ford and Chevy. The chevy will get you there after 5 frustrating trips to the dealer in the first year. First time was drivers door handle quit working internally. Had the truck for 2 days fixing it. Second time was the passenger door handle quit working internally. Had the truck for 2 days fixing it. 3rd time was the driver side passenger door. Had the truck 2 days fixing it. Fourth time was the 4 wheel drive solonoid was screwed up and the truck was stuck in 4 wheel low and had the truck for 3 weeks. They told me the part was not available at this time in North America. I phoned gm head office and was told the same thing. I then phoned six different dealerships and of the six, four of them had the part in stock. Called the dealership and told them where i found the parts and was then told, the other dealers will not want to give up the part. Called my lawyer and miraculously, 4 hours after his phone call to the dealer, the truck was ready for pick up. The fifth time it was the passenger side rear door handle. Two more days. I get rid of the truck and buy a F-150 and haven't had one issue. The manner in which GM handles their customer service, in my opinion leaves alot to be desired. The door lockd obviously have a problem, so why didn't they fix them all at once instead of one at a time as they broke. And the whole 4x4 episode.... Since then i have purchased a new F150, ford edje and multiple transit connects. Got a call from GM approximately 6 months ago, wondering why they haven't seen me.
On the other end of the scale I bought a Sentinel chhc-4 enviroment controller for my 4x4 tent and one day it quit. I sent an email to the company on the weekend and about 30 minutes later got a response that they knew what was wrong from my description, and offered to replace the unit or send out the replacememnt part, my choice. 2 days later, my unit was back up and running with no issues. They even contacted me after the fact to make sure all was good. Thats customer service!!!
Thats kind of what I'm looking for. Just because you can read on this topic until the cows come home and still be no further ahead. One watt, 2watt ,3watt leds, cree drivers, 3 to 11 spectrum blah blah blah. Contrary to popular belief a wattage rating is not a lighting rating, it is a rating based on a units ability to dissipate heat which worked pretty well in the past with incandescent lighting. So i could in theory see a well engineered 200 watt fixture outperform a 400 watt fixture if it caters to the useable lght spectrum more efficiently.
In the end, if i have to put 800watts of led in place to replace a 1000W hid, my return on investment will be years. If i can replace a 1000W hid with 400W led as some advertise then my roi will be months. :reading420magazine:
 
Dumpy

In time I will be a better resource. Here is my suggestion. One thing I know for sure 3 smaller panels are more versatile than 1 big one and you will be able to cover a little bigger area. So, start small put in 1 - 4 plants under one panel of whatever light you choose (I am thinking in the 200 watt range panel) and start your grow. If you have a preferred strain you are accustomed to growing you are going to know within a month or two how you will end up doing. I know it is an expensive gamble. The two red panels bought were a total gamble and I ended up with a hostile vendor WTF!! It is going to take me another month to see how S2 girl does against her mom S Girl. I have a problem with that though ... I seeded S Girl and don't really want to seed S2 Girl unless it was from her seed (I want to square her as it was my only plant) but I might do it just for a test and what the hell I can always use the seeds. I am going up now to get some more pics of S2 Girl's lower buds and veg to see how she is doing against S Girl ... not sure where I will post them but they will be in my gallery
 
Dumpy

In time I will be a better resource. Here is my suggestion. One thing I know for sure 3 smaller panels are more versatile than 1 big one and you will be able to cover a little bigger area. So, start small put in 1 - 4 plants under one panel of whatever light you choose (I am thinking in the 200 watt range panel) and start your grow. If you have a preferred strain you are accustomed to growing you are going to know within a month or two how you will end up doing. I know it is an expensive gamble. The two red panels bought were a total gamble and I ended up with a hostile vendor WTF!! It is going to take me another month to see how S2 girl does against her mom S Girl. I have a problem with that though ... I seeded S Girl and don't really want to seed S2 Girl unless it was from her seed (I want to square her as it was my only plant) but I might do it just for a test and what the hell I can always use the seeds. I am going up now to get some more pics of S2 Girl's lower buds and veg to see how she is doing against S Girl ... not sure where I will post them but they will be in my gallery

I'm thinking of getting 4-300W stealth quantum units from a site sponsor and starting there. Waitng to hear back from GS as I asked what they thought would be required in order to give me the same punch as the 1k hids. If it works as well then I will continue to use them. If not, I'll keep one for seedlings or clones and throw the rest in classifieds. I'll run a detailed journal on the grow. Can't really compare it to this journal though. The new tent is going to be a undercurrent deep water culture and this is soilless. Going to us the same nutes though.
 
I'm thinking of getting 4-300W stealth quantum units .

Wow! that is going to be a lot of light! I see you don't screw around! Cool! I can't wait to see your new setup.
 
I'm going look into a sentinel controller for my grow. I see a smaller version of yours for $239 on amazon. Its the EVC-2. My temps get down to 60f at night and only 72 when lights are on and exhaust is on.

Damn Puff you living in my house somewhere LOL same temps I'm getting right now...I'm liking that controller myself..mmmm hmmmm Peace
 
Hey Dum, I notice you stated this in your post "I'm staring at approx. $360 per month for hydro".......is that what the increase in electric is? I guess running hydro will add some money on your bill each month right? I have been running a 400W MH at a friends, funny thing is the electric bill went down from this time last year, now I'm sure it was colder last year , but then again I looked at March and April, so it was already getting warmer anyway so I don't think that played into it as much as there was a 19 yr old living there at the time, and I have instilled checking everything is turned off in the house that is not in use and unplugging things that use electric even when not in use, so these things played a huge part in this. Well being happy with the low cost of vegging at 18/6 I pulled the trigger and bought a electronic ballast for a 1K-600, in hopes I can use the 1K in my 5X5 at first my concern was heat, but I borrowed a 1K MH bulb, knowing if I can run that with no problems then a !k HPS will be no problem because they are not as hot, well the tent handles it fine!! so I'm buying a 1K HPS this week, now I'm a little concerned about the cost of using it, it should be roughly twice as much as the 400, but I'll be using it for 6 hours less a day, so I hope it works out..I guess we'll see huh LOL BTW one hell of a grow!!!! I'm drooling, WW and W rhino are two of the first I want to grow, sadly we are just using scag weed seeds at this point and hoping for the best, I live close to a MMJ friendly city, but not close enough sniffle sniffle... hahah

Sad to because cannabis has given be back my life after so many years of having to take prescription medication to deal with the pain, the years of side effects has tore my insides up, to the point I have lost 90 pounds most of it since Jan of this year and I have never been so sick, I suffer from some painful things cluster migraines for one, but nothing like this. I'm almost off of the meds since I starting smoking in Dec and things are slowly getting better, but at 400 an O ( and thats cheap here) I can't afford it (I live on SS) but at least I gave MMJ a chance and I'm so thankful I did, I'll just have to do what I can until I set up a way to get the genetics I need, or I can move which ever comes first. Peace
 
Hey Dum, I notice you stated this in your post "I'm staring at approx. $360 per month for hydro".......is that what the increase in electric is? I guess running hydro will add some money on your bill each month right? I have been running a 400W MH at a friends, funny thing is the electric bill went down from this time last year, now I'm sure it was colder last year , but then again I looked at March and April, so it was already getting warmer anyway so I don't think that played into it as much as there was a 19 yr old living there at the time, and I have instilled checking everything is turned off in the house that is not in use and unplugging things that use electric even when not in use, so these things played a huge part in this. Well being happy with the low cost of vegging at 18/6 I pulled the trigger and bought a electronic ballast for a 1K-600, in hopes I can use the 1K in my 5X5 at first my concern was heat, but I borrowed a 1K MH bulb, knowing if I can run that with no problems then a !k HPS will be no problem because they are not as hot, well the tent handles it fine!! so I'm buying a 1K HPS this week, now I'm a little concerned about the cost of using it, it should be roughly twice as much as the 400, but I'll be using it for 6 hours less a day, so I hope it works out..I guess we'll see huh LOL BTW one hell of a grow!!!! I'm drooling, WW and W rhino are two of the first I want to grow, sadly we are just using scag weed seeds at this point and hoping for the best, I live close to a MMJ friendly city, but not close enough sniffle sniffle... hahah

Sad to because cannabis has given be back my life after so many years of having to take prescription medication to deal with the pain, the years of side effects has tore my insides up, to the point I have lost 90 pounds most of it since Jan of this year and I have never been so sick, I suffer from some painful things cluster migraines for one, but nothing like this. I'm almost off of the meds since I starting smoking in Dec and things are slowly getting better, but at 400 an O ( and thats cheap here) I can't afford it (I live on SS) but at least I gave MMJ a chance and I'm so thankful I did, I'll just have to do what I can until I set up a way to get the genetics I need, or I can move which ever comes first. Peace
 
Hey Tricks if you are using a 1000w ballast instead of 400w then your hydro will go up. For every hour your light is on, that is a kilowatt hour. If you are paying 10 cents per kwh and your light is on for 24 hours then that cost you $2.40 to run that light for that day. In my case I will be looking at three 1000 watt lights, a two tonne split a/c unit, water pump, chiller, fans and dehumidifier.

Your light calc will be (hours x watts/1000) x cost per kwh. Some locations pay as low as 4 cents per kwh to as high as 14 cents per kwh. Some people have their hydro included in their rent so it doesnt matter to them..
 
Back
Top Bottom