PuffPuffPass's Phototron 9 Grow

[bahnzo]

Any more pics soon?

[DankCloset]

remember adding more light bulbs, doesnt increase your lumens, alot of wasted energy and light, as i see it, it will stretch the piss out of your plant, to the point where it wont beable to hold itself up on its own, specially without those top bulbs. wait till flowering lol....

[NoDirtWeed4Me]

Originally Posted by DankCloset

remember adding more light bulbs, doesnt increase your lumens, alot of wasted energy and light, as i see it, it will stretch the piss out of your plant, to the point where it wont beable to hold itself up on its own, specially without those top bulbs. wait till flowering lol....

?? more bulbs does'nt mean more lumens? You know something I don't? Because as far as I know the light/lumens come from the bulb, the more bulbs the more lumens. Could you explain what you mean?

[DankCloset]

Originally Posted by NoDirtWeed4Me

?? more bulbs does'nt mean more lumens? You know something I don't? Because as far as I know the light/lumens come from the bulb, the more bulbs the more lumens. Could you explain what you mean?

just because your stacking light bulbs doesnt mean you wont will have wasted light, there is nothing in the phototron to direct it. concept holds true to light as well, just because you have more bulbs, doesnt mean you have more lumens, by adding more bulbs you dispurse the lumens, and or concentrate the lumens, take for example fluoro's. adding fluoros to a grow with a 1000watter is like pissing in the wind. i may not be making myself clear. i should have waited on those bong hits before giving advice lol.

[bahnzo]

A Phototron's sides are covered I believe with a reflective substance (mylar?) so all light is retained inside and not lost outside the unit.

[PuffPuffPass]

Originally Posted by DankCloset

just because your stacking light bulbs doesnt mean you wont will have wasted light, there is nothing in the phototron to direct it. concept holds true to light as well, just because you have more bulbs, doesnt mean you have more lumens, by adding more bulbs you dispurse the lumens, and or concentrate the lumens, take for example fluoro's. adding fluoros to a grow with a 1000watter is like pissing in the wind. i may not be making myself clear. i should have waited on those bong hits before giving advice lol.

Absolutly incorrect.

1. There is no light lost in a phototron. The inside of the unit is basically one big mirror. including the top. Additionally, they suggest you use tinsil (like the stuff you put on your christmas trees) on top of the soil to reflect light up from the bottom.

2. As you can see in the photo attached, the plants don't stretch. The first one did simply because I kept it under my germ light 2 days too long. The reason they don't stretch is because the bulk of the light is coming from the sides, rather than the top.




This is about 14 days growth. This was the last of the 3 seeds I planted. After speaking to the people at pyraponics, I was told that the unit is designed to handle up to 6 plants. (Phototron Series 8 and 9) I decided to go with 3. 1 Ice, 1 Grapefruit, and one seed I got from a dispensory in an 1/8th of some purple urkle I got. The streched one is about 2 days ahead of the other 2..

The first plant which was the ICE, stretched because after it germed, I hadn't received the phototron on time and it stayed under the germ light too long. However, the pyroponic people tell me thats fine, because the first 45 days, the light cycle is 24/0 and by the time it hits day 46 and the 12/12 cycle the stem will be more than thick and strong enough enough to hold it upright.

Also, you don't pull your plants at harvest time. You simple pinch off the buds and when they are all done, you go back to 24/0 for a set time, then back to 12/12 and they rebud. After each "cycle" the next buds are supposedly stronger in potency.

I have also introduced a small 4" fan on top of the unit which is producing a mild breeze inside to move the plants around which strenghtens the plants as they mature. The feeder also has an oxygen ring, which when I move these plants from their current 3/4 gallon pot to the phototrons built in 5 gallon base I will place it in the bottom. This sends oxygen up through the soil for the plants..

[PuffPuffPass]

Originally Posted by DankCloset

remember adding more light bulbs, doesnt increase your lumens, alot of wasted energy and light, as i see it, it will stretch the piss out of your plant, to the point where it wont beable to hold itself up on its own, specially without those top bulbs. wait till flowering lol....

The unit has a 5000 lumen top bulb assembly, and 12 BIAX bulbs for 36000 lumens.. Total 41000 lumens, drawing about 12 amps according to my amp meter.

More infomation about the phototron series can be found HERE.

The unit comes with step by step instructions for germination through harvest, with growth charts, and what to watch for as far as problems with your plants, and how to prune and pinch your plants as they grow to ensure maximum yield.

[PuffPuffPass]

For those interested in exactly what I am using, here it is..

1. The unit itself can be viewed HERE. I got the 9 series.

2. The automatic feeder and resevoir tank can be viewed HERE. I got
the Feed-A-Tron Series II, and the ventalation panel, and the 10
gallon water tank.

3. The overhead light can be seen HERE. I got the SL18 with the twin
bulbs.

All of this runs under a single 20 amp circuit, which when I used my friends amp meter (he's an electrician) was drawing about 12.2 amps @ 110 Volts. So low power consumption, high light output, low heat, and with the autofeeder and tank, self sustaining for up to 3 weeks. Mine is actually permenant as I tapped into the water for my toilet in the bathroom, running a line to the tank and placing a bobble shutoff which basically keeps the tank full at all times. The sensor from the feeder waters the plants when they need it. All I have to do is twiddle my thumbs and wait at this point.

The directions from pyraponics on growing teach you how to receive the maximum yield from your plants. If followed exactly, they claim up to 1000 budding sites per plant are possible. This claim seems a bit unrealistic to me, but I am following the bouncing bud in the instructions to the letter and we will see what we will see. As always, I will keep uploading weekly photo updates. I am also considering getting a second unit going.

Currently (I figure some of you might cringe at this point) I am using a miracle grow potting soil for the first few weeks. I have found in the past that the plants really like it in the early weeks. When I transplant it to it's permenant pot, it will be in regular high grade soil and the nutriants will be added manually so that I can stop using them in the last weeks before harvest.

[PuffPuffPass]

Originally Posted by Purpose420

does anyone know if this thing can be spotted from the sky, and how much electricty does it use?

This unit can not be seen from the sky when indoors as it generates very little heat.. It uses about 12 amps.

[DankCloset]

at 14 days soil, my plants are more developed, it might be strain characteristic, but something doesnt look right, i dunno, maybe its the concept, just something sounds outta wack, almost to good to be true. know what i mean? i prefer old fashioned lol, as yet again technologies advances without me :D~

[Urdedpal]

They should introduce LEDS to the phototron. There is alot of wasted light in there but that has to do with what the plants could see and use. With a LED setup, less light is wasted.
I have been checking out the new LED grow technoligy and I gotta sy that I am pretty impressed with them so far.

[420AM&PM]

This is gunna be and awesome grow .... Cant wait for the buds ..

[blowin.endo]

Originally Posted by 420AM&PM

This is gunna be and awesome grow .... Cant wait for the buds ..

^i agree

[ECUsBestBud]

any updates?

would love some pics

[gren]

wheres the pics.....