First Grow CFL Noob Grower

[denots]

Havent been able to get much done on the room but hitting it extra hard tomorrow.

gotta get it done becuase i walked in my closet today and it was 98 degrees.... i mean they have constant wind so it should be okay im thinking.... the wind helps surface heat from building up. The rest of the area outside of the immediate area of the light is about 83-84.

I have a pic of me holding a sharpie for size comparison is this too close for a 400w hps?

Also transferred the two bigger plants into 5 gal buckets. The ugly duckling is about to be choped as soon as I see amber it hasnt grown any in a month but trichs are completly cloudy so I may get 2gs of smoke but it is covered in trichs so well see how she smokes, plus gives me practice on trimming drying and curing before the good stuffs ready... win win in my book

heres the project spent hours just moving my stuff to be able to do it. The area on the right is going to be the "room" the area on the right with the plyboard is going to be a half bath

 

[KingJohnC]

hang a thermometer or its probe at the height you have the top of your plants at to get a better idea if its too warm, if you do not have a thermometer to use hold your hand under the lights and find where its comfortable to hold your hand without heat.

 

[denots]

I dont have a thermometer with the probe yet, its on my list of things to get.. but i rearranged my fans to have the big fan blowing right under the light and the small fan blowing cold air in the room at the door, and temps are around 85 now which is good.. and I can stick my hand under around 8" and its not bad and they are around 12" so I think im good Now.... Hopefully lol

Thanks king...

Watching pot cops on tv and man its killing me watching those massive beauties being cut down and wasted.....

 

[denots]

Also you can see where my thermometer sits almost near the top Buds.

and going to practice on the ugly duckling tomorrow, Going to harvest and hang to dry. I just wanna make sure if i mess up my first harvest its under 4gs at the max and not my 1/2-2 oz (estimated ) Harvest in a couple weeks(hopefully not longer).

 

[denots]

So the walls are up In the new room but ran into electrical problems old outlets had bad connections and neutrals were burnt up lucky i didnt have a fire! But got that fixed and have enough amps to hold 1700w roughly.

Bout to eat and smoke then will harvest the ugly duckling after. Will post pics and what lil weight.. Other plants are swelling nicely though, one is starting to pale hopefully its just working its way to yellowing..

 

[denots]

Just finished triming. got a whopping total of 7 grams wet. lol didnt expect much anyways im not sure what happend with that plant. But its drying in a cardboard box in the grow room its got two holes to allow for circilation(spelling?). heres some pics I think I trimmed right...

 

[mcloadie]

You say you plan on moving at some point not so far in the future, keep that in mind when purchasing any new equipment, and try to get things that will work in any space.....just a suggestion

 

[denots]

You say you plan on moving at some point not so far in the future, keep that in mind when purchasing any new equipment, and try to get things that will work in any space.....just a suggestion

Yea Ive been trying my best not to overlook things like that, the biggest question i have on equipment is the intake fans do I necessarily need a 6 in inline fan? I mean technically its only around 250-300cf but do I need a fan thats going to put that many cfm? I guess im wondering if I had 4" fan that would take approximately 2 mins to recirculate air if it would be sufficient.

One other question.. did I trim right? Ill def get surgical scissors next time I know that for sure.

 

[mcloadie]

Yea Ive been trying my best not to overlook things like that, the biggest question i have on equipment is the intake fans do I necessarily need a 6 in inline fan? I mean technically its only around 250-300cf but do I need a fan thats going to put that many cfm? I guess im wondering if I had 4" fan that would take approximately 2 mins to recirculate air if it would be sufficient.

One other question.. did I trim right? Ill def get surgical scissors next time I know that for sure.

2 minutes to replace the air in there is good! Your trim job is fine, it's allota personal preference, especially if you're gonna consume the product. My patints get a medical trim.....the best I can do.....for myself, I leave the sugar leaves on. My patients always get the best of everything I produce, the leftovers are incredible enough. You'll get more practice as you go......+ reps bro! Don't get too pointy of cutters, fiskars makes a good model that are more ergonomic, and be careful not to cut yourself....oh yeah.....I've seen it done, I hate blood onmy bud....LOL!

 

[denots]

Yea no beuno blood on buds! I got a family member thats a paramedic, they have the best scissors that are easily cleanable, So ill probably go check out thier selection.
Thanks for the reps mcloadie couldnt of done it this good without ya!

Ladies love that hps and dont mind the higher temps. They both have swelled so much. Im optimistic about my final weights now maybe even 2 oz which woul be 2 months meds at only 1/4 the cost

 

[denots]

so I like to use math in evverything I Do. I figured if plants are roughly 80-85% water and if you want 10 percent water at the end then you should End up with 23.5 -28% final weight, well I just checked the buds drying and the stems snapped(I did split the stems) and they weighed 1.6 which is 22.8 percent. Did I do something wrong or is it because It wasnt alot and fluffy ?

I put it in a airtighht jar in a dark place for now will burp regularly...

Sorry if that was too many numbers and not enough equations written out,I swear ill buy a keyboard for this tablet someday

 

[denots]

Yea my biggest worry is that it only took 30 hours to dry To that point humidity is about 25% in the room 85°or so, and goods circulation but not direct.

 

[KingJohnC]

sounds like you are drying too fast for a good cure.

 

[mcloadie]

e

so I like to use math in evverything I Do. I figured if plants are roughly 80-85% water and if you want 10 percent water at the end then you should End up with 23.5 -28% final weight, well I just checked the buds drying and the stems snapped(I did split the stems) and they weighed 1.6 which is 22.8 percent. Did I do something wrong or is it because It wasnt alot and fluffy ?

I put it in a airtighht jar in a dark place for now will burp regularly...



Sorry if that was too many numbers and not enough equations written out,I swear ill buy a keyboard for this tablet someday

That's a pretty darn good estimate bro, it may vary slightly by strain and method, but you're on the money. Slow is good with drying, I suggest 50% Rh, which means that when your Rh equalizes between ambient Rh and Rh of the bud, it can only be equal to the ambient Rh. 10% Rh in my buds is Bone dry to me, I like it more moist, it will dry out fast enough here with single digit Rh being common.

 

[Mainebud]

Looking good! Just a thought on smaller plant, if one is much smaller or lower growing I would prop it up on something. In attempt to get it closer to the light. My thought process is to get all plant tops to equal distance from light source. That way they all get max light. Enjoy the bud they look great!

 

[denots]

That's a pretty darn good estimate bro, it may vary slightly by strain and method, but you're on the money. Slow is good with drying, I suggest 50% Rh, which means that when your Rh equalizes between ambient Rh and Rh of the bud, it can only be equal to the ambient Rh. 10% Rh in my buds is Bone dry to me, I like it more moist, it will dry out fast enough here with single digit Rh being common.

I do aswell like mine moist, this was one reason i chose to harvest this plant so early.....

I now know that the 25% rh was too low. Ive found a spot with 45% rh most of the time throughout the day, so I may harvest the 4-5 ripe buds on one plant tonight and test out the new spot. I really dont want to ruin a whole crop, and want to be able to really understand the aging of trichs. To me the best way to learn from experience, and hands-on Approach.

I tried raising her up but with the limited space i had and her top being 3 ft shorter then my sativa gal. Balance became My biggest problem trying to get height and staying stable.

Smells kinda odd this is normal correct? Once sugars start forming is where smell and taste form right?

Burping three times a day.. too much?


Thanks again fellas

 

[mcloadie]

I do aswell like mine moist, this was one reason i chose to harvest this plant so early.....

I now know that the 25% rh was too low. Ive found a spot with 45% rh most of the time throughout the day, so I may harvest the 4-5 ripe buds on one plant tonight and test out the new spot. I really dont want to ruin a whole crop, and want to be able to really understand the aging of trichs. To me the best way to learn from experience, and hands-on Approach.

I tried raising her up but with the limited space i had and her top being 3 ft shorter then my sativa gal. Balance became My biggest problem trying to get height and staying stable.

Smells kinda odd this is normal correct? Once sugars start forming is where smell and taste form right?

Burping three times a day.. too much?


Thanks again fellas

You can't burp too much, as a matter of fact this will give you a more intimate understanding of the process, the cannabis will change fragrances every time you open the jar, some weed is greaaat with 0 cure, what I like about the cure is the shrinkage of the plant material, the trichs don't seem to shrink.......less plant material....more trichs.....little sugar balls!

 

[Hiker]

Also is there anything special I Need to know about hps lights? I know about how hot they get and about not touvhing the bulbs with your hands, But anything else?

Don't restart them hot. Allow 10-20 minutes for the bulbs to cool.

Keep the bulbs clean. Not touching them is part of this, but you should also clean them at least every harvest.
If you have vented hoods with a piece of glass, make sure to clean that as well. When you vent the lights, you pull in a lot of dust, and it ends up on the inside of the hood. It has a much larger effect than you would think on the amount of light your getting to the plants.

LOL...noob......you know more than you know you know....LOL....GET NEW BULBS! If you get new bulbs you will KNOW that they are good, and you will eliminate any thought out of your mind that they're not as strong as they should be....IMHO. If ya touch one by accident you can clean the trace oils off with alcohol. BTW....I think you made a good purchase if everything works, even if you do replace the bulbs!

This is good advice.

I honestly dont see much improvement in the amount of light, my cfls seemed to be brighter. But hopefully a new bulb will make it brighter. I guess it is much more of a red color though

One key difference between CFLs and HIDs is penetration. The HIDs will produce good light further away from the bulb. This difference decreases though for smaller HIDs vs larger CFLs. The smaller HIDs still throw light further, but they are hotter, so you can't put them as close to the plants. I'm not sure where the break even point is. Perhaps you've found it, but I still like HIDs. I used to use a lot of 600's then moved on to 1000's, but I had a buddy that used 400s. He grew some gorgeous nugs. His plants were smaller than mine, but the 400s still made nice dense frosty buds.

Yea Ive been trying my best not to overlook things like that, the biggest question i have on equipment is the intake fans do I necessarily need a 6 in inline fan? I mean technically its only around 250-300cf but do I need a fan thats going to put that many cfm? I guess im wondering if I had 4" fan that would take approximately 2 mins to recirculate air if it would be sufficient.

One other question.. did I trim right? Ill def get surgical scissors next time I know that for sure.

If you buy a bigger fan, you may be able to use it when you expand.

I also highly recommend the Fiskars brand. The most beneficial feature IMHO, is a spring release, ie the scissors open on their own. You don't want the style with holes for your fingers. You WILL hurt using that style of scissors. Get the spring loaded kind, so all you have to do is squeeze.

Your trim job looks fine. Like McL said, it's a personal preference thing.

2 minutes to replace the air in there is good! Your trim job is fine, it's allota personal preference, especially if you're gonna consume the product. My patints get a medical trim.....the best I can do.....for myself, I leave the sugar leaves on. My patients always get the best of everything I produce, the leftovers are incredible enough. You'll get more practice as you go......+ reps bro! Don't get too pointy of cutters, fiskars makes a good model that are more ergonomic, and be careful not to cut yourself....oh yeah.....I've seen it done, I hate blood onmy bud....LOL!

I always try to harvest/trim/cure my buds the way I want MY smoke treated. I won't let anyone else smoke anything I won't smoke. Hell I smoke the crap nobody else would want! (like the premature WW hermie) haha

so I like to use math in evverything I Do. I figured if plants are roughly 80-85% water and if you want 10 percent water at the end then you should End up with 23.5 -28% final weight, well I just checked the buds drying and the stems snapped(I did split the stems) and they weighed 1.6 which is 22.8 percent. Did I do something wrong or is it because It wasnt alot and fluffy ?

I put it in a airtighht jar in a dark place for now will burp regularly...

Sorry if that was too many numbers and not enough equations written out,I swear ill buy a keyboard for this tablet someday

I use the 25% guideline, so your numbers sounds close enough to me. That sounds like a great plan for curing.

Yea my biggest worry is that it only took 30 hours to dry To that point humidity is about 25% in the room 85°or so, and goods circulation but not direct.

Those conditions sound a little too warm and dry. 30 hours is real fast. I typically hang buds for about a week, then put them in jars. In this new basement, I think my rh is a little lower, so it's closer to 5-6 days. In general, slower cure is better.

I do aswell like mine moist, this was one reason i chose to harvest this plant so early.....

I now know that the 25% rh was too low. Ive found a spot with 45% rh most of the time throughout the day, so I may harvest the 4-5 ripe buds on one plant tonight and test out the new spot. I really dont want to ruin a whole crop, and want to be able to really understand the aging of trichs. To me the best way to learn from experience, and hands-on Approach.

I tried raising her up but with the limited space i had and her top being 3 ft shorter then my sativa gal. Balance became My biggest problem trying to get height and staying stable.

Smells kinda odd this is normal correct? Once sugars start forming is where smell and taste form right?

Burping three times a day.. too much?

Thanks again fellas

I want to agree with McL that you can't burp too much, but I suppose you could. At the beginning, you can't burp too much, but the interval between burps should keep increasing. Each time you vent off some of that moisture, it takes that much longer for the same amount of moisture to migrate it's way to the outside of the plant. I think of it as I'm waiting for all the buds in the jar to reach equilibrium, so all the parts of the plant have the same level of moisture content. How much moisture is in the plant will depend on how much is in the air inside the jar. Each time you vent, in theory, you're lowering the rh a little more. If your rh is real low though, you could possibly burp too much at the beginning. If your hung buds dried in 30 hours, you might wanna keep a close eye on how fast they are drying in the jars as well.

Google Boveda. They will keep the buds at exactly 62% rh. I'm planning to get some of these myself soon.

 

[denots]

just a quick pic update will update properly in just a few 9g wet weight from lstd plant took some top buds 5% amber, but all the lower popcorn buds will hopefully explode with all the light now, gonna give 1 more week for next harvest and maybe 2 weeks from today take the popcorn buds if they are still going strong after 1 week.

3.5g wet weight from Crystal shes only 1% amber 55% cloudy 44% clear or so so prob 3 weeks only took two small buds.

 

[mcloadie]

Nice, this is when I harvest, when I see 1 amber trich....just my preference, and I aint heard a complaint yet!