It's Been Too Long Journal, Critical Kush

[Mike Connor]

Greetings,

Well, its been far too long since I have grown. Almost 20 years to be exact. I can say over that period of time I've greatly missed it. Time and circumstances just wouldn't allow it.

-however-

Things are different now. I now have the time and space to re-engage with one of my favorite hobbies. Growing for me is in my blood, it comes very natural to me. Nothing could be finer than sparking up a nice bit of bud created by ones own hand.

Since I'm a die hard pack rat, over the years I have kept my equipment. I have a small 140 HID/HPS grow box for strain testing and I also have 2 400 Watt HID lights. One MH and the other HPS.

A way back when, my favorite strain was northern lights. Not because it was strong, moreover cause it was a very hardy plant that was very low odor and simple to clone.

And I see things have changed since ive been gone. Feminized seed, auto flowering and led lights to name a few. Time and technology marches on and waits for no one I suppose.

With that in hand, I picked up some Critical Kush from Barney's Farm today. 5 Seeds only. Right now 3 of them are pre soaking in a glass of distilled water. These are supposed to be feminized seeds.

Well at this point I'm all full of excitement. (understatement of the year)

I invite you to follow along and sort me out when I'm wrong.

We shall see together what barneys farm brings us.

Cheers!

 

[BulletTooth]

I'm along for the ride. Knowledge from 20 years ago is about the same now, just glorified and alot more complicated. I would research super soil and organic growing first then diy cob lighting. Trust those two are the best things you will ever do for yourself getting back in. Super soil is water only all the way through and cob lights are super cheap to build yourself, pull very low wattage , and cob lights are proven to out perform hid now with a fraction of the wattage. Good that your back and I hope it's as awesome of an experience as it always has been supersoil and you'll have no problems all the way with a better product at the end

 

[Obi Wan]

Subbed!

 

[Mike Connor]

I'm along for the ride. Knowledge from 20 years ago is about the same now, just glorified and alot more complicated. I would research super soil and organic growing first then diy cob lighting. Trust those two are the best things you will ever do for yourself getting back in. Super soil is water only all the way through and cob lights are super cheap to build yourself, pull very low wattage , and cob lights are proven to out perform hid now with a fraction of the wattage. Good that your back and I hope it's as awesome of an experience as it always has been supersoil and you'll have no problems all the way with a better product at the end

Super Soil - This I accidentally discovered almost 20 years ago. I tried every type of hydro know to man. Sure I got some decent results but the bottom line - I could always beat it with good old fashioned dirt. I bought a small electric concrete mixer for creating my soil. First in, was a good earth mix. Then I added 3% by weight a mix of chicken shit, Guano and composted sheep shit. I left this run in the mixer for a few hours with 4 large baseball sized stones. The stones beat it all up to a nice fine uniform mix. I would then take the stones out and add a little peat, bone / blood meal and a few other things. This got me growing like wildfire. I happy to discover this idea has taken off in a large way. Thanks for mentioning, its good to know I was on the right track a way back when.


COB LED lighting - This interests me. For my first crop I'm just going to run a small lot in my 140 watt HID box for now. This will let me see if I like this strain and it will allow me to take some clones for a large crop. I did some digging and looked at some of these units. Can you recommend a particular light unit I can assemble into an array? I've always wanted to hit the one kilowatt mark. Maybe now is the time to get building while the small box is in play. One of my problems is I live in a fairly remote part of Canada and stuff sometimes isn't easy to get. Its nice when you can walk into the local "Home of De-Pot" and get what you need for lighting.

Thanks Muchly for the words of encouragement and help! Keep it coming!

Cheers!

 

[Mike Connor]

Subbed!

Thanks for the support! I got a feelin' the force will soon be with me!

Cheers!

 

[Sneakygreen]

Welcome back to it and all the best from one sneaky to another

 

[Mike Connor]

Welcome back to it and all the best from one sneaky to another

Thanks for the welcome!

I've never been inspired to travel the world really. However when that bug bites, Australia is the first place I'm heading!

Would love to see Juzzi Smith at the Byron bay market.

Cheers!

 

[BulletTooth]

"You can get up to 49% efficiency if you can find the top bins and run them soft (700mA). You can get 36% efficiency with the mid bin running hard (1400mA). The best commercial LEDs (Area 51, Apache, Onyx) are in the low 30s. Another advantage is the ability to have remote drivers to keep that heat out of your grow space and away from the LED heatsinks.

Everything has changed since COBs became available to us. It is much easier to build a lamp and it turns out that 3000K works just fine on its own, better than HPS even.

For the simplest build the best COBS to use are the Cree CXA3070 and Vero 29. The CXA 3000K has 14% blue and the Vero 3000K 8-10%. They are available on Digikey or if you need a bulk order you can save $ on Arrow.

As far as drivers go, 1.4A is a good compromise between cost and efficiency. They are-available on eBay for $13, 90% efficient and power factor corrected. You can use Mean Well LPC-60-1400 but it is lower efficiency and not power factor corrected. If you want to run at 1050mA you can use Mean Well LPC-60-1050. The one I tested was 88% efficient.

For heatsinks, CPU coolers work great for small grows. The 92mm Arctic 11 Plus is a favorite because it can be found for $10 and uses a fluid dynamic bearing fan, lots of cooling power and not too loud. Amazon and Newegg sometimes offer them for $10. Currently-outletPC has them for $10-with reasonable shipping cost.

If you are building a medium or large lamp, I recommend-HeatsinkUSA 5.88" profile. A 12" length is good for (2) COBs and a 24" length is good for (4) COBs. You can cool it with a single 140mm fan to make a super efficient cooling combo. I recommend the-Prolimatech 140mm $11 from Amazon. It is quiet even at 13V and moves a lot of air.


The Vero is solder free but the Cree requires a COB holder and to go solder free. Both methods require drilling and tapping the heatsink. I don't mind the soldering so rather than drilling, I mount the COB with Prolimatech PK3 thermal paste and then use kapton to tape the COB in place so it cannot slide sideways. The paste makes a very strong vacuum when you press the COB onto the heatsink. It will not come off from gravity or heat. If you try to pry it off it will break. You have to twist it and then slide it sideways to get it off. " .... This is directly from the top cob home builder. And this is current for this year. I would start here

 

[Mike Connor]

"You can get up to 49% efficiency if you can find the top bins and run them soft (700mA). You can get 36% efficiency with the mid bin running hard (1400mA). The best commercial LEDs (Area 51, Apache, Onyx) are in the low 30s. Another advantage is the ability to have remote drivers to keep that heat out of your grow space and away from the LED heatsinks.

Everything has changed since COBs became available to us. It is much easier to build a lamp and it turns out that 3000K works just fine on its own, better than HPS even.

For the simplest build the best COBS to use are the Cree CXA3070 and Vero 29. The CXA 3000K has 14% blue and the Vero 3000K 8-10%. They are available on Digikey or if you need a bulk order you can save $ on Arrow.

As far as drivers go, 1.4A is a good compromise between cost and efficiency. They are-available on eBay for $13, 90% efficient and power factor corrected. You can use Mean Well LPC-60-1400 but it is lower efficiency and not power factor corrected. If you want to run at 1050mA you can use Mean Well LPC-60-1050. The one I tested was 88% efficient.

For heatsinks, CPU coolers work great for small grows. The 92mm Arctic 11 Plus is a favorite because it can be found for $10 and uses a fluid dynamic bearing fan, lots of cooling power and not too loud. Amazon and Newegg sometimes offer them for $10. Currently-outletPC has them for $10-with reasonable shipping cost.

If you are building a medium or large lamp, I recommend-HeatsinkUSA 5.88" profile. A 12" length is good for (2) COBs and a 24" length is good for (4) COBs. You can cool it with a single 140mm fan to make a super efficient cooling combo. I recommend the-Prolimatech 140mm $11 from Amazon. It is quiet even at 13V and moves a lot of air.


The Vero is solder free but the Cree requires a COB holder and to go solder free. Both methods require drilling and tapping the heatsink. I don't mind the soldering so rather than drilling, I mount the COB with Prolimatech PK3 thermal paste and then use kapton to tape the COB in place so it cannot slide sideways. The paste makes a very strong vacuum when you press the COB onto the heatsink. It will not come off from gravity or heat. If you try to pry it off it will break. You have to twist it and then slide it sideways to get it off. " .... This is directly from the top cob home builder. And this is current for this year. I would start here

Bulletooth - Fantastic. Some great info here so I can hit the ground running! Thanks.

Question - What does this all cost? I see off of amazon I can get a pre made 1000 watt cob unit for 300 bucks. OR do I assume these pre made ones cause issues or don't produce the lumens they say... There must be a catch for only 300 bucks.

Cheers!

 

[Mike Connor]

Well,

I feel like a new dad that just had his first child born.

One of my seeds has sprouted and the two other ones look like they are in process too!!

Woohoo!

Yes I'm a sad puppy

Cheers!

 

[Mike Connor]

Ok its update time.

I started with 3 Seeds - Barney's Critical Kush

- Soaked in distilled water for 12 hours.
- Shortest germination time - 22 hours
- Longest germination time - 26 hours
- Planting depth - 3/8ths to 1/2 inch. Lightly covered.

All 3 seeds have now been transferred into one liter pots with my starter seed mix soil and good drainage. All being kept warm and moist.

Of the 3 plants, the strongest one will be reserved for cloning / mother plant, the other two will be moved forward for... ah... sampling! yeah that's it! Sampling.

These will be brought to flower in my home brew 140 HID/HPS grow box. During this time the strain will be evaluated for hardiness of growth, clone-ability, odor during growth and end stage results.

(Did I say WOOHOO! already?)

Cheers

 

[budmaker2112]

I'm in for the ride!

 

[HazePhase]

Subbed - going to follow around.
I am doing my first cycle ever with Clackimus Coots Organic soil, all organic and no chemicals.
Growing with Custom 12 COB Vero29 Array.

Looking forward to following along and feel free to swing by my journal as well, love the company.
Talk soon.

HazePhase's LED Organic No-Till Grow Journal - 2017

 

[BulletTooth]

Awesome . All those prices are current. I would say doing it yourself will save lots of cash as well as give you great working knowledge so you can do your own repairs . You can also buy someone's old led if you can find em cheap and rebuild those into cobs, you'll have drivers and heatsinks as well as a shell and fans. Also if you wanted an even cheaper yet not as efficient way. I would go with 1000w HPS. To expensive? Not at all if you stay away from grow lights. Buy a use high Bay warehouse light that is multitapped. 1000w HPS and a cord. You can take the ballast off the top use the multitap to switch to 110 , and your good too go. Got mine used for 20$. Bought 5 and wired them up with 6$ cords. I sold all of it to a friend who wanted to start and made all my cash back. These lights are perfect if you want a good HPS. To answer your question though, yes 100% build your own. This is the top way to grow now. You can under drive those cobs, get em in close , and your lights will have a 5-6 year use while your power bill won't even notice it's going. I think for 100-150$ you can build a system that will carry you for years. As the systems boast up too 2 grams per watt and steadily produce 1.5 grams a watt

 

[BulletTooth]

You could build a 49watt Cobb(super powerful don't let the watts fool you) for around 50-60$ and out perform what you have now

 

[Mike Connor]

Subbed - going to follow around.
I am doing my first cycle ever with Clackimus Coots Organic soil, all organic and no chemicals.
Growing with Custom 12 COB Vero29 Array.

Looking forward to following along and feel free to swing by my journal as well, love the company.
Talk soon.

HazePhase's LED Organic No-Till Grow Journal - 2017

I did take a tour of your journal indeed. You got control of those babies! Good, they were starting to bolt.

Seedlings are touchy when it comes to light. Too much and you can kill em, too little and they bolt.

However it looks like you have it all in hand. Keep going!

Cheers

 

[Mike Connor]

Awesome . All those prices are current. I would say doing it yourself will save lots of cash as well as give you great working knowledge so you can do your own repairs . You can also buy someone's old led if you can find em cheap and rebuild those into cobs, you'll have drivers and heatsinks as well as a shell and fans. Also if you wanted an even cheaper yet not as efficient way. I would go with 1000w HPS. To expensive? Not at all if you stay away from grow lights. Buy a use high Bay warehouse light that is multitapped. 1000w HPS and a cord. You can take the ballast off the top use the multitap to switch to 110 , and your good too go. Got mine used for 20$. Bought 5 and wired them up with 6$ cords. I sold all of it to a friend who wanted to start and made all my cash back. These lights are perfect if you want a good HPS. To answer your question though, yes 100% build your own. This is the top way to grow now. You can under drive those cobs, get em in close , and your lights will have a 5-6 year use while your power bill won't even notice it's going. I think for 100-150$ you can build a system that will carry you for years. As the systems boast up too 2 grams per watt and steadily produce 1.5 grams a watt

Ok. gotcha. I cant get to this project right now but I feel a 1 to 1.2kw build coming on. Expect a pm from me in the weeks ahead. For now I will use my HID's and convert to cob prolly at the start of summer.

Thanks Muchly

 

[Mike Connor]

Captains Log - Update Supplemental

Equipment failure - Ugh.

I guess I should have predicted this. One of my ballasts went down last night in my 140 HID / HPS grow box. The box has two 70 watt HPS fixtures in it. So one died. Of old age I suppose. Too many super happy fun hours on it I suppose. And the fact its 25 years old likely didn't help. Being out here in the remote bush makes things hard to get... and often expensive. So as you might imagine, with 3 new baby girls to look after, I was bent outta shape about it.

But in a stroke of luck, I found a local guy with two brand new in sealed boxes 150 watt HPS fixtures with bulbs for sale at a bargain basement price. When I say local, I mean he was an hours drive away.

So I made the trip. Once I arrived, he led me into his garage. Not only did he have the two 150 watt units but he also had two 70 watt units as well.

I know I should be switching to COB LEDs, but I got all 4 of these bad boys for $120.00 bucks. I couldn't resist. I was weak. And I needed one of the ballast right away.

All my grow equipment I build. So I will rob the sockets, ballasts and bulbs from these fixtures to keep me going awhile and maybe expand operations in the short term.

So all is well again. My 140 watt box is back up and I got spares in case the other one decides its had enough fun.

Now with two 150 watters sitting here, I think I feel a 300 watt grow box build coming on......

Cheers

 

[Mike Connor]

Captain's Log - Star Date - Day 4


All 3 seeds have risen above the soil and are growing like gang busters.


-However-

There are issues. I will identify them by their numbers. They are numbered one to three, in the order they germinated. One being first to germinate and so on. So heres a list of whats going on so far.

1) Germinated normal and is developing normally.

2) Germinated normal. However the seedlings cotyledon were pointed down and an odd colour developed at the neck slowing it from rotating. The tiny set of second leaves are skewed to one side. Plant is growing and developing at a normal pace and in a healthy environment.

3) Germinated normal. However the seedlings cotyledon were two different sizes! And it was no small difference either. Plant is growing and developing at a normal pace and in a healthy environment.

I find this odd. In the past I have germinated all kinds of seed. Great and poor. A poor strain or a weak seed fails to germinate, dies or fails to thrive.

These plants are thriving. To me these look like genetic issues. I strongly suspect its from being sprayed with Colloidal Silver to feminize them. There is literature out there suggesting feminized seeds are genetically touchy and don't take well to any kind of stress.

So at this point, plant one will obviously be moved ahead for cloning since its the only one outta the chute in a normal fashion.

There is something to be said for good old fashion seeds and sexing your plants the hard way.

I would be interested in hearing from anyone else who has had similar issues or alternate theories. Fyi its not the soil or lighting.

Cheers

 

[Mike Connor]

Some photos to ponder...


Plant #2 showing abnormally curved second leaf grow...

Plant #3 showing dissimilar cotyledon leaves.

Cheers