HedoneSpirit's First Pre To Post Indoor Grow Journal: 600W & Veg Bulb

[Phalangeal_Worrior]

Got the full set up now!

Bud box 4x4 pro white

Northstar reflector

Exoulex 600+ ballast

MH bulb and a duel spectrum bulbs

4 oxypot

150 eco extraction fan RK +controller

Shogun nutes and friends

Plus grow tools and extra

 

[Phalangeal_Worrior]

Started to birth the seeds 24 hours ago with the wet towel trick. I will go and check them now.

Growing 4, however I think I've started 5

2 critical Kush
2 pinapple Kush
1 Chocolate mint OG

Won't show pick but seed have just started to crack. I'll give them a wee bit of water

 

[Phalangeal_Worrior]

Joke of the week

A smart ass kid sits in their science class. To the his dim witted friend he says, "I'm going to drink some H2O".
His dim witted friend turns to him with a smile and says, " I'm going to drink some H2O too!" He drinks it and dies.

 

[Phalangeal_Worrior]

Yee old plate trick

 

[Phalangeal_Worrior]

So, two weeks in. Tried germinating 5 but only two and a half were successful. This was probably due to me drowning some of them. The half is one I gave up on, it was the chocolate mint OG. Instead of growing three different plants I stuck with two high yeilding choices, the critical Kush and the pineapple Kush

This means I have two spare oxypots for my next perpetual grow. I'll keep growing two at a time until my experience increases ten fold.

Any way here's a pic. First it's the CK and then it's the PK

Both look decent, the PK may of steched too much

 

[Phalangeal_Worrior]

Having a problem with my humidity being too low. I think it's the strong extraction but not much air from outside. The humidity I my area is 80 but in my grow it's 40. Hhhmmm. I think an intake leading from the window would help but I am now on a student budget and can't efford rice. All I can do is add a tray of water to the room.

 

[BluePhoric]

Having a problem with my humidity being too low. I think it's the strong extraction but not much air from outside. The humidity I my area is 80 but in my grow it's 40. Hhhmmm. I think an intake leading from the window would help but I am now on a student budget and can't efford rice. All I can do is add a tray of water to the room.

If your grow tent intakes air from the surrounding room, and the room is too dry, you can suspend wet clothes after doing your laundry ;-)

 

[Phalangeal_Worrior]

So here is some feeding information

Rock wool - ph'd to 5.5-6
8cf of formlex.
(Not to self: use microbes for speed and root support)

Dwc - water ph'd to 5.7 (room to raise)
10cf of 50ml of Shogun veg a&b, 10ml of calmg and sumo boost and 20ml of formlex.
(Note to self use seedling designed products for convenience)

Finally, Silver bullet for sterilisation.

 

[Phalangeal_Worrior]

I need to make up my mind. What wattage to fix my light on!?
I keep flicking between 250 and 400 watts. I just don't think these small plants need 400w

Should I just adjust my light closer on a lower wattage? Now I'm thinking give the plants light at a closer range will not encourage them to stay perky.

This is a topic hard to find a fixed answer on. Exerting my common sense I think these small plants don't need or want more than 250.
There are plenty of people out there putting there light on full blast the whole way... In my case 600w... Seems wasteful to me

I'm quite happy with the heights I adjust to but one worry is that I can put my hand inches away from the light with out discomfort, probably due to my chef hands. I think I'll always keep it further away... Well until the plants are big enough to take the heat and give me a warning.

 

[Phalangeal_Worrior]

Whoever thinks I'm taking to myself is right! I don't mind, it's as much as a personal journal as a shared journal. Comments and criticism welcome....

 

[BluePhoric]

I need to make up my mind. What wattage to fix my light on!?
I keep flicking between 250 and 400 watts. I just don't think these small plants need 400w

Should I just adjust my light closer on a lower wattage? Now I'm thinking give the plants light at a closer range will not encourage them to stay perky.

This is a topic hard to find a fixed answer on. Exerting my common sense I think these small plants don't need or want more than 250.
There are plenty of people out there putting there light on full blast the whole way... In my case 600w... Seems wasteful to me

I'm quite happy with the heights I adjust to but one worry is that I can put my hand inches away from the light with out discomfort, probably due to my chef hands. I think I'll always keep it further away... Well until the plants are big enough to take the heat and give me a warning.

Hey. I'd use the least amount of power to do the job. But since you have versatility, why not TEST different settings ?

Lumens :
Lets suppose that at 30cm, the 250W will produce as many lumens as 400w at 45cm, as many as 600w at 55cm.
So all these power settings "could" give the same LUMENS at the canopy level, depending on distance.

Distance and coverage : You get less area coverage if the reflector is lower, more coverage if higher.
If your 2 plants fit in a 2.5 to 3 feet square, the 250w setting should be enough.

You might want to install a light-sensor app on your phone and check :
- At 250/400/600 watts, how many Lumens (or Lux or Foot-candle) and how good is the coverage (Lumens intensity) on top of the 2 plants, relative to distance of reflector.
- For the same Lumens intensity (250/400/600), what's the temperature at the canopy level (you'll need a temp sensor for that).

I use this light meter : Light Meter

One other thing to consider... If you are worried the plant may suddenly grow too close to the lamp, it is more likely to happen with a close 250w than a distant 600w ;-)

 

[Phalangeal_Worrior]

Thanks blue! You really put it in to terms that I can understand why to adjust, not just what I should do. Light meter app is news to me, another thing I am in you debt for. Peace x

 

[Skullman420]

Months and months of planning has lead me to only having a near choice of how I will grow. Starting from scratch is tuff, choice is crippling!

I must thank the 420 community. Not for helping me choose, but for opening my eyes to the unlimited combinations. Seeing experienced and inexperienced gardens was a kick start to my veg education.

So I will inform this journey what I have chosen to buy or thinking about buying. Reminder that I will not spend a penny until my student loan come in. Start date late September 2017

I'm in a weird position to start a journal, due to not even knowing what I'm going to grow or how, but I think it may make it more exciting


I have a Feminised Chocolate OG seed which I'll grow. Which leaves space for four more plants. I'm thinking critical+ (due to high yeild and good smoking experience) and/or super silver haze (due to good reviews)

Is it Indica, Sativa or Hybrid? I want to focus on hybrids.

Is it in Veg or Flower stage? Once I get my seeds in to flower I would like to start a perpetual grow and nearly always be in both states
The timing of flower I want shorter but veg I don't mind a longer period, to give me time to dry the harvest in the tent

Size of tent = bud box 1.2 X 1.2 X 2


If soil... what is in your mix? Coco and perlite (maybe another?)
If soil... What size pot? Smart pots appropriate sizes
Size of light? Bay6 600w HID (Northstar reflector),, a digital ballast and a veg light (undecided)
Is it aircooled? Yes, with a eco 6" extraction kir
Temp of Room/cab? Not sure, will be in spare room. I can use house heating to warm it up but cooling it down would be tricky
RH of Room/cab? I'll try my best to control this
PH of media or res?N/A. Meter will be present
Any Pests ? Not invited
How often are you watering? I plan on watering once a day with disired nutes any extra will be with out nutes.
Type and strength of ferts used? Advice on this would be helpful. All the essentials and more

I plan to spend a fair start up amount to get a return (I hope)
If a GPW is good, I'd be over the moon to get 300g back from my 600w.
Quick question. if I'm veging with a lower wattage light would I expect to be loosing out of yeild? Would it be avoided if I just vegged for a longer amount of time?

I'm hoping you grand people will tune and chime in. It may be a slow start and there may not be a finish but there will be motion.

P.S. any advice on cost cutting would be a blessing.

Thank you community. HS x

No. You can vegg them under any light you desire. It's how you train them and the amount of light they get during flowering that are the most important factors if you grow for high yields.

The amount of light during vegg will affect how fast they grow. And if you give them too little light they will stretch and that you want to avoid

 

[BluePhoric]

Thanks blue! You really put it in to terms that I can understand why to adjust, not just what I should do. Light meter app is news to me, another thing I am in you debt for. Peace x

My pleasure.

I wouldn't trust the light meter apps to give accurate readings in absolute terms, but its ok for comparing different settings relative to each other.

 

[Skullman420]

e) Strains : Mostly sativa hybrids like s.s.Haze (75% sativa) may grow quite tall. Others, mostly-indica, may grow small and more bushy. Having a single space with a single light, maybe focus on similar strains height-wise ? Also take into consideration the height of the plants from the floor + height of the plants in flowering + clearance for the light...

It is possible to grow a short sativa, with a short veg period as they will stretch a lot when put in flowering. Some plants could double or even triple in height after veg when put into flowering. Having different strains with very different final heights could be a p.i.t.a.

Yep. It's a pita. It can be a real headache but it's so tempting because we all want to have many strains. Been through that headache many times over the years.

I am going more and more away from growing multiple strains together. Yields are better when they all are the same height.

 

[Skullman420]

Re: HedoneSpirit's First Pre To Post Indoor Grow Journal - 600W & Veg Bulb

Now I'm considering The whole different selection of lights. Should I get a 1200 watt LED >£300 which uses less electric than a 600w HID it's rated well but there are complains about its use in the flowering stage. Hmm. Maybe I'll just use LED for veg since it has low energy costs.

My aim is to have the equipment to be able to attain the .5pg and my skills to follow.

If you go for LED, choose a serious company that will list the true wattage.
For example most so called 1000 watters on amazon are in reality more like 135 watts or so.

420 mag have some good sponsors you could check out. Personally I am using the Mars hydro pro series. They are high quality lights but perhaps starting to become a little yesterday. The future seem to be COB

Anyway. Mars hydro are great if you run into problems. They do their best to get your light up and running again. They offer multiple options for solutions and I'm very happy with them.

I can only recommend what i know works and these have worked great for me. They also released a COB recently which i am testing right now. That one i really like.

 

[Skullman420]

The time draws nearer, my plan becomes more whole.

A new plan.

I'll will be growing hydroponically in a bubbler. This will save effort and mess. I've been told that it's not as easy to grasp as grow mediums but I don't see why.

My strains have been ordered.
- Kush (BP recommendation)
- critical +
They have similar growing times, climate and hight. I've never tried pineapple but is well reviewed

I've also added a 400+w T5 for seedling and young growth. This'll means I can start the next batch in the last month of flowering saving a wee bit of time.

After my first grow I want to create a veg area using LED as my energy source. Any recommendations of VEG lighting would be appreciated.

You'll get better yields in hydro so that is a good plan

 

[Skullman420]

Having a problem with my humidity being too low. I think it's the strong extraction but not much air from outside. The humidity I my area is 80 but in my grow it's 40. Hhhmmm. I think an intake leading from the window would help but I am now on a student budget and can't efford rice. All I can do is add a tray of water to the room.

In a few weeks you'll have the opposite problem. It's amazing how much a few plants can raise humidity in a room.

 

[Phalangeal_Worrior]

In a few weeks you'll have the opposite problem. It's amazing how much a few plants can raise humidity in a room.

Yeah that's what I hoped. Manage to get it to increase by ten RH by lowering the extraction and now hanging washing in there. Now saving electric from tumble dryer, win/win. I'm surprised it's not higher due to having DWC and an outside humidity of 80. Oh well I assume my plants are getting enough water, having 25liter underneath its roots.

 

[Phalangeal_Worrior]

My pleasure.

I wouldn't trust the light meter apps to give accurate readings in absolute terms, but its ok for comparing different settings relative to each other.

Good point, suddenly it seems straight forward. Although.Is it better to direct the camera towards the light source, or direct the camera on to said subject? Since I'm comparing this may not matter.