Home Made Aero - Hindu Hash - CFL Grow

[Giovanni831]

I have a home made system using a Rubbermaid bin, sub pump, 1/2" PVC, with 360 degree sprayers.

Since I live in an area where 6 mature, 12 immature is the limit. The setup that I currently have only has 4 because that was how many babies i had on hand when I went in for surgery.

They have been vegging for 5 weeks. I am running behind because of the surgery that I mentioned. My plan is to have 3 cycle running 4 wks behind each other so that I can harvest 6 every month.

I chose CFL for a few reasons. The most important being that I have a very small grow area and do not have room for HID and ventilation. The other being that this is a test case so that I can see what can actually be done with CFLs. I hear a lot of growers saying that you have to use MH/HPS if you want a decent sized harvest.

I have no issues with the way that others choose to grow, I just want to try something a little differently. I think that with out the exhaust venting and using the same wattage, I will be able to flower a decent harvest from CFL. I see alot of younger/ newer growers using the equivilant wattage as the wattage for their growing. I use that true wattage. For veg I am only running 8 26W. 6500 Kelvin bulbs.

My intention is to switch my bulbs and add some more to equal 400W of 2700K CFL. For nutes I am using General Hydroponics Flora series. Starting this week will also be adding GH Liquid KoolBloom as well. I am posting a few pics so that you can check it out. I will be adding updates weekly while flowering.

Alot of people have been suggesting to me that I leave a little bit of 6500K lighting in with the 2700K for flowering. It is an idea that I have kicked around a little but not too sure if I will do it this go around.

Here are the images, let me know what you think.

8 days-

12 days-

25 days-

28 days-

32 days-

 

[TennTony]

Re: Home made Aero- Hindu Hash - CFL grow.

Lookin good. count me in

 

[Giovanni831]

Re: Home made Aero- Hindu Hash - CFL grow.

Thank you sir. I am having a bit of problem with the little runt in the lower left. I will get some pics of it up today, but I have a little stem rot. It has grown out of the rockwool now, and I gave it a little first aid for a few days with 3%HP on the damaged portion of the stem to try to see if it will mend itself. I might end up having to chop it off above the bad spot and re-root it to try to save it. I also plan to take 2 babies from each of the other 3 so that I can throw these into a flowering chamber. Just didnt plan on it being a holiday weekend and nothing being open. might just try to use a throw away cake pan w/ lid for a propagation tray for a few days. =)

 

[Giovanni831]

Re: Home made Aero- Hindu Hash - CFL grow.

Here are some pics yesterday after a foliar feeding...

Here are some of the pics from today..

Here is the stem rot that I had on my runt. Any suggestions for fixing that would be great.

I have to wait for the hydro store to open tomorrow so that I can get a propagaion tray and some rooting gel. Time to take some babies so I can flower these girls.

 

[basementdwell]

Re: Home made Aero- Hindu Hash - CFL grow.

yes u can chop the stem and root it again but it will set u back a couple wks but i would if i were u, try and save it. I would sugest root tech rooting hormone. I was looking at the gh ph kit with the tester and up & down on amazon today all for 12.75

Amazon: pH Control Kit - General Hydroponics

 

[Giovanni831]

Re: Home made Aero- Hindu Hash - CFL grow.

Firestone, thanks for stopping by. This journal is a lil hard to find since I put it in the wrong section... will have to ask mods to move it. Just not too sure to go about that. I am new to this site. All of the other forums that I belong to are techie ones with a little different protocol.

Anyway, to answer your question, I am not completely sure if it will work to chop the runt and try to re-root it. The way that I look at it is that if it is looking like it is going to die anyway, then I have nothing to lose if I try. In theory, I dont see why it wouldnt work. I will just have to cut off some growth and trim leaves to get it to take, but it should work.

I talked to the guy at the hydro store and he told me that he has a mother plant that has a few spots like that it has acquired over the last year, and he said that as long as you baby it a little, it will mend itself.

Sorry to hear that your hydro store is so high priced. I also hunt for lower prices too. I buy alot of my stuff at HomeDepot and Wallyworld too. The ph kit that you are talking about only ran me $16 at my hydro store. I dont know where you are at, but Im in Monterey Ca, and shit is pretty pricy here so I am sure if I can find that price locally, you have a cheaper alternative as well.

I am just starting up again and am only buying things as I need them. phkit and your veg/grow nutes are gonna be first. You can wait a little while for bloom nutes and suppliments. Even with my lighting, I needed to be up and running that day. I put my system together the night before i went in for back surgery. Im just now building a reflector and bought 2700k bulbs. I know how it is to be on a budget. When I harvest I can dump money back into it. That way I come out with more and more each time as my system gets more advanced. Make it pay for itself if you dont have the cash.

is this the kit you are talking about?

 

[Giovanni831]

Re: Home made Aero- Hindu Hash - CFL grow.

Okay, so now I have a few questions for those more experienced than me.

I had an issue a few weeks back with severe nutrient/salt buildup in my root system. I didnt have the cash for floraKleen to flush out the salts, so I just went with a 3% peroxide regiment. I used 150mL every 3 days and it seemed to help. The problem was that the roots looked kinda crappy. Well yesterday my girls decided to start growing new roots. They are groing pretty quick which is obviously a good thing. I noticed that the plants are starting to get height too. They were only growing about a 1/4" a day which sucks, but now w/ the new roots I got about a 1/2" since yesterday.

My question is do you think that full strength GH flora series is too strong. Should I cut it back to maybe 1/2 strenght? I almost did that a few days ago, but with the roots starting to wake up I figured I wouldnt change it and see what happens this week.

The other thing is that some of my leaves are getting light brown spotting. Its doesnt seem too urgent, just thought that I would ask.

I appreciate any input that you guys might have. Thanks.

New roots coming in

See my need for building the reflector? =)

and here are the spots that I am mildly concerned about

 

[Giovanni831]

Re: Home made Aero- Hindu Hash - CFL grow.

yes u can chop the stem and root it again but it will set u back a couple wks but i would if i were u, try and save it. I would sugest root tech rooting hormone. I was looking at the gh ph kit with the tester and up & down on amazon today all for 12.75

Amazon: pH Control Kit - General Hydroponics

I hear you bro.. I might not need to save her though, she might heal herself. Every thing is green and it is sprouting new growth and new roots, so I thought I would just leave it for a few days and see what happens.

Online is always cheaper for everything. I just cant wait for certain things. the ph testing and control was one of them for me. I think we both know that all the nutes, lighting, and care in the world wont matter if the ph is effed up.

Plus I dont really suggest online to anyone because most people are paranoid that they are going to get busted if they order online. I have never really worried about that too much. I figure that with as much stuff that they sell, that someone would be hard pressed to check out all of those orders =).

 

[Giovanni831]

Re: Home made Aero- Hindu Hash - CFL grow.

Well todays project is to build that much needed reflector. I seen someone online build one using a tube of sheet metal and some wood framing. I picked up all the parts yesterday at Home Depot for $40. That includes 20 23W 2700K CFLs. So I guess I will be starting with 460W for flowering. Lets see how well that does.

Here are a few pics of the supplies, and the frame that I built. I am in the house right now waiting for the paint to dry and then it is time to put it all together.

I realize that it isnt that sophisticated or anything, but if you need a parts list and the measurements to build one check back later and I will post that with some minimal instructions.

 

[Giovanni831]

Re: Home made Aero- Hindu Hash - CFL grow.

Well here is the finished product...

Not bad for a few hrs worth of work and only $26, plus lights.

 

[Hash Hound]

Re: Home made Aero- Hindu Hash - CFL grow.

Gio,

Nice DIY hood. My bud and me just finished up a grow with 12 x 23w cfl's and then added 2 x 70w HPS for flowering. Problem we had with the 12 cfl rig was all those y splitters. They would flicker and go out every time we just touched the hood or breathed on it wrong. However yours does look a little more stable. Ours was one of those 3 socket vanity lights you put over a medicine cabinet with 4 bulbs in y's out of each socket with a white aluminum reflector over it.
This grow we splurged and bought a 400w HPS with 400W MH conversion bulb. The HPS puts out almost 50% more lumens for less electricity than the other setup and the MH puts out about the same lumens for less elec. And its not very big either. Easier to handle for raising the lights. Heat is a little more, but the ballast is remote so you can keep it out of the grow room. And the plants seem like they are growing way faster. Our grow was OK for first time with the CFL's, smoke was good, but the buds were a little airy
Looking forward to some nice tight NL's this time around.
Good Luck

 

[Giovanni831]

Re: Home made Aero- Hindu Hash - CFL grow.

Gio,

Nice DIY hood. My bud and me just finished up a grow with 12 x 23w cfl's and then added 2 x 70w HPS for flowering. Problem we had with the 12 cfl rig was all those y splitters. They would flicker and go out every time we just touched the hood or breathed on it wrong. However yours does look a little more stable. Ours was one of those 3 socket vanity lights you put over a medicine cabinet with 4 bulbs in y's out of each socket with a white aluminum reflector over it.
This grow we splurged and bought a 400w HPS with 400W MH conversion bulb. The HPS puts out almost 50% more lumens for less electricity than the other setup and the MH puts out about the same lumens for less elec. And its not very big either. Easier to handle for raising the lights. Heat is a little more, but the ballast is remote so you can keep it out of the grow room. And the plants seem like they are growing way faster. Our grow was OK for first time with the CFL's, smoke was good, but the buds were a little airy
Looking forward to some nice tight NL's this time around.
Good Luck

Thanks brother, believe me I gave it a stress test when I was done building it. I think that it will hold up pretty good. I usually buy alot of the stuff that I need from walmart, but this time I bought all of the electrical parts from home depot. I figured that I needed to buy more reliable dparts if my lighting was going to depend on it.

I am going to be adding in another 8 @23W for side lighting as well. In addition, I will probably drop some lights down in the canopy when they get a little taller. I have gotte some decent results with only CFL before. I guess I like to experiment with different things in my grows as much as I like the grows themselves. So I guess we will see what I get with the 460+W that I will be throwing in there. Maybe after a few goes with the CFLs I will add HPS to my flowering cycle. Right now I dont have the space, ventalation, or cash for HID lighting. Plus I just have this thing of trying to find the magic formula with the lights. I am considering putting 4 of the 6500k bulbs in the hood instead of all 2700k.

Thanks for stopping by, come back and check it out as i go.

 

[PitViper]

Re: Home made Aero- Hindu Hash - CFL grow.

 

[PitViper]

Re: Home made Aero- Hindu Hash - CFL grow.

possible pest issue in the trunk there...pull some rockwool back and look at that area...prob not rotted...the rot is localized I believe...pest?

 

[Giovanni831]

Re: Home made Aero- Hindu Hash - CFL grow.

possible pest issue in the trunk there...pull some rockwool back and look at that area...prob not rotted...the rot is localized I believe...pest?

You are correct that the rot is localized. I checked for that the trunk looks fine inside the rockwool, I have been spraying with all natural spidermite and other sprays. I guess there is always the possibility that that portion of the plant didnt get sprayed. That is the problem with organic all natural pest repellents. I just have this thing that I dont want to put pesticides on anything that myself or anyone else is going to ingest.

I guess all I can do is wait and see if she pulls through.

 

[Hash Hound]

Re: Home made Aero- Hindu Hash - CFL grow.

Gio,

I also used a mix of cfl's, 8 bulbs were 27000 and 4 were 6500. things did just fine

 

[Giovanni831]

Re: Home made Aero- Hindu Hash - CFL grow.

Hash,

I was thinking the same thing for the lights. I am also going to put 4 more 2700k bulbs down each side so that i can try to get more coverage and penetration. I know that is an issue with CFLs. I think that most people dont try to get a little more creative with the bulbs.

Im thinking of building a little fixture for 2 bulbs to sit on top of the res to try to get light under the insides of plants.

I like tinkering, so it works. Plus, have this running disagreement with pops about lighting and hydro. Hes an old school MH/HPS soil guy.

Do you know anything about LEDs? I have done some research on the internet, but have no hands on with them. I want to check them out a little more before investing money into it. Im trying to get my growing up to speed so that it can pay for itself.

 

[Hash Hound]

Re: Home made Aero- Hindu Hash - CFL grow.

Gio,
all i know about LED's is they are real expensive.
On another note about the future of LED's in the home. I saw a show on tv last night showing the future LED that will replace the Incadescant bulb real soon, it only uses one really bright LED = a 60w bulb. looked impressive.
As far as the cfl's go I like how you have them flat. Mine were more on a slant because of using double y's into a single y. Takes up to much space. When we wanted to put in down the side with the 2 70w hps on top, the cfls were to bulky and to hard to hang. I think a flat setup will be easier to manipulate which ever way you want to hang them. I lost the link in here but someone made a cfl rig with pvc pipe and t's looked really kool, but the sockets that go into the t's are like $3 a piece.

 

[PrairiePoet]

Re: Home made Aero- Hindu Hash - CFL grow.

someone made a cfl rig with pvc pipe

Something like this?

Prairie

 

[Hash Hound]

Re: Home made Aero- Hindu Hash - CFL grow.

Ya Prairie, something like that one, except all the sockets were on the perimeter, none in the middle. That one looks cool, is it yours?
Much better than double y's. Supposedly the side of the CFL is optimum for giving of light. I think I remember reading that somewhere. And it looks like you can also hang it sideways if you want.