Setup Advice

[politoed]

Hey gang, a few questions here but I will try to keep it brief. I did some indoor grows way back when and journaled them on planetskunk.com

I am looking to run a dual tent setup (2x4 mother tent with a 4 bulb t5, and a 4x4 flower tent with ???).

My first question is, for the 4x4 tent, would you all recommend a solid 1000w HPS, or a high end 1000w equivalent LED? (a friend recommended horticultural lighting group's hlg550) I am a bit paranoid about LED as I did a grow with them when they first came out about 15 years ago and was super underwhelmed, but they seem to have improved and the less heat/less power thing seems attractive. My #1 priority here is quality and yield.

I am going to run 9 autos in the 4x4 tent just to be productive while I can veg out and select a mother for the real project, which is 0 veg SOG. Which brings me to my second question.. Could you all recommend a strain that would be great for SOG? My favorite all time strain is OG Kush. I love skunky chunky indicas. But a good creative cerebral hybrid is awesome, as I do stand up comedy and love the stimulation hybrids and sativas can provide. Ultimately I'm looking for 2 strains that would do well as 0 veg, lollipop style, single cola clones. Ideally high yielders that finish in 8ish weeks.

For my interim auto project, I've chosen fastbuds OG Kush, Grapefruit, and Cream Cookies (cause some lucky bastardo/a snatched up the blackberry before I could check out ). I am probably going to do them in 3 gallon hempy buckets and journal this whole thang.

Also, lastly, and this is a LONGGGG shot, but does anyone remember from the planet skunk days in like 06-08, a strain/breeder called Celtic Stone? Does anything like that still exist anywhere?

Your help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Apoc]

Go with LED's, the thing about LED's is ignore the equivalent watts. The important thing on LED's is from the wall wattage. 1000w equivalent normally pulls 150-200w wall (it varies).

In a 4x4 you'd need 500+ watts from the wall LED.

Budget LED makes a 250w for $329 after 420MAG discount code. High end lights, Samsung Diodes with meanwell drivers. If budget is an issue Mars Hydro ts2000 would work less expensive.

9 autos is a lot for a 4x4, chances are you'd lose yield with overcrowding. I sometimes run two in a 3x3 and it's a crowded cluster fluck. Five would be more realistic. If you're using small planters 9 might make sense.

Here's a 3x3 tent with one auto so you can see what I mean, 7 gal soil smart pot, yield 6oz.

 

[politoed]

Go with LED's, the thing about LED's is ignore the equivalent watts. The important thing on LED's is from the wall wattage. 1000w equivalent normally pulls 150-200w wall (it varies).

In a 4x4 you'd need 500+ watts from the wall LED.

Budget LED makes a 250w for $329 after 420MAG discount code. High end lights, Samsung Diodes with meanwell drivers. If budget is an issue Mars Hydro ts2000 would work less expensive.

9 autos is a lot for a 4x4, chances are you'd lose yield with overcrowding. I sometimes run two in a 3x3 and it's a crowded cluster fluck. Five would be more realistic. If you're using small planters 9 might make sense.

Here's a 3x3 tent with one auto so you can see what I mean, 7 gal soil smart pot, yield 6oz.

thanks for the reply. i will look into the budget LED thing.. I dont mind dropping money on a good light. an extra 200 bucks now will more than pay for itself even on the first harvest.

it is my understanding the plants will basically get as big as the root ball/container allows. wouldnt it stand to reason that yours is so big because its in a 7 gallon container? if i was planting in 2/3 gallon buckets, wouldnt that result in a much smaller plant? especially if i avoid the LST (and possible topping that happened here)?

maybe 6 would be more realistic, 3 rows of 2?

have you grown with HPS as well? whats the bud density comparison on led/hid?

 

[East Coast Marley420]

I have a 4x8 tent, Mars Hydro tsw2000 on one side and a 1000w hps super grow on the other side, give you a example what each one does,
Front left to right, Northern Lights and Gorilla Glue, back 2 are Rockstar, little crowed so I had to trim off the bottoms and concentrate on tops, after this harvest I am growing only one under this light for the summer.

3 Cinderella 99 under the hps,

Im also thinking about doing a sea of green at some point.
If you are thinking about a LED the tsw3000 would be a better fit for a 4x4, I plan to replace it someday but this one is working good for me for now.

 

[Marzbadrock]

I'm a 15 year 1000w hps guy. Still using it but after trying a 320w qb with r-spec I can confidently say I will be gradually switching over to led. Check out budget led!

 

[politoed]

you guys have convinced me pretty quickly. im thinking 2 of the 250w budget LEDS would be better than the 1 500W unit, as if im going to perpetual SOG, or grow a stout indica next to a medium hybrid, having adjustable lights on both sides will be nice.

plus, the HPS light with a nice reflector and cooling wouldve cost me about $400 shipped. These will be about $650, but will save me the $250 in electricity on the first run alone (or damn near close).

i wholeheartedly appreciate the detailed responses.

it also seems like me trying to put more than 4 of these autos in this 4x4 space would be a bad idea. maybe giving them more space to breathe and a slightly larger bucket to grow roots will prove beneficial. maybe 5 plants in an X pattern max would make the most sense right now.

i still would love some strain recs for some skunky, single cola indicas that like to be SOGed .. if anyone can help with that

 

[Marzbadrock]

The lights will also pay for themselves in the amount of bulbs you will not be replacing for 1000 hps.

 

[politoed]

The lights will also pay for themselves in the amount of bulbs you will not be replacing for 1000 hps.

I did not even think of this. checked out your factory. holy cow! i also dig how your veg tent has other plants in it.

i actually ended up here from starting my own vegetable garden this year. my progression has been:

im going to do a vegetable garden..
maybe ill sneak a weed plant in..
id like to have a starting room inside..
definitely should sneak a weed plant in there..
at this point ill be surprised if i see one carrot

 

[Marzbadrock]

I had a 2 ft orange tree that was producing well, I had it on a bench n it fell off n broke right at the soil....almost cried! The other plants are rosemary, jades, begonia, a bonsai juniper n a couple succulents. It's nice having plants that have a life cycle more than a few months.
We have a great community here! Start a journal, stick around.

 

[politoed]

I had a 2 ft orange tree that was producing well, I had it on a bench n it fell off n broke right at the soil....almost cried! The other plants are rosemary, jades, begonia, a bonsai juniper n a couple succulents. It's nice having plants that have a life cycle more than a few months.
We have a great community here! Start a journal, stick around.

i definitely plan on journaling and sticking around.. ill need the help and dont shut up. i also like to take pictures.

super sorry to hear about your oranges i hope you give it another go!

i am super excited for the veggies too honestly. im looking forward to knocking on my neighbors doors with bags full of tomato, carrots, peas, and a little surprise nuggets. they say that with companion planting, carrots that grow next to tomatoes take on a really nice rich flavor. i wonder how og kush carrots taste.

 

[Marzbadrock]

I tried growing veggies indoors with no success. I believe they need longer periods of light and they outgrew my veg room. Perhaps you will have better luck with extended hours with the autos.

 

[politoed]

I tried growing veggies indoors with no success. I believe they need longer periods of light and they outgrew my veg room. Perhaps you will have better luck with extended hours with the autos.

we shall see. i will probably do veggies outside, magic inside to be honest.

i think i have decided on TH Seeds' Chocolate Chunk, and Sin City Seeds' Platinum Purple Sinmint. Do you know anything about either of these two strains?

 

[East Coast Marley420]

The lights will also pay for themselves in the amount of bulbs you will not be replacing for 1000 hps.

I got lucky with my hps bulb, buddy sold it to me for 80 bucks, realized he made the mistake as he was ringing it in, still gave it to me for 80, reg 150 lol

 

[East Coast Marley420]

I had a 2 ft orange tree that was producing well, I had it on a bench n it fell off n broke right at the soil....almost cried! The other plants are rosemary, jades, begonia, a bonsai juniper n a couple succulents. It's nice having plants that have a life cycle more than a few months.
We have a great community here! Start a journal, stick around.

I like the thought of growing rosemary around my plants, I'll try it, I use rosemary essential oil in my garden, it's a great preventive measure. Spider mites stay away from rosemary, I also use peppermint, cedarwood, 10 or 20 drops of each in a spray bottle with water and a drop of dish soap for the oils to mix into. I don't soak my plants but I spray around the pots, floor, in front of the fans on occasion and around the vents and doors, so far so good, I grow in a tent in my basement, woodstove, firewood, and the bugs that come with it. I haven't found any pest in my tent yet, other than my cat that takes the odd leaf tip lol
If you goggle essential oils for spider mites, rosemary will be one of them.

 

[East Coast Marley420]

Hey gang, a few questions here but I will try to keep it brief. I did some indoor grows way back when and journaled them on planetskunk.com

I am looking to run a dual tent setup (2x4 mother tent with a 4 bulb t5, and a 4x4 flower tent with ???).

My first question is, for the 4x4 tent, would you all recommend a solid 1000w HPS, or a high end 1000w equivalent LED? (a friend recommended horticultural lighting group's hlg550) I am a bit paranoid about LED as I did a grow with them when they first came out about 15 years ago and was super underwhelmed, but they seem to have improved and the less heat/less power thing seems attractive. My #1 priority here is quality and yield.

I am going to run 9 autos in the 4x4 tent just to be productive while I can veg out and select a mother for the real project, which is 0 veg SOG. Which brings me to my second question.. Could you all recommend a strain that would be great for SOG? My favorite all time strain is OG Kush. I love skunky chunky indicas. But a good creative cerebral hybrid is awesome, as I do stand up comedy and love the stimulation hybrids and sativas can provide. Ultimately I'm looking for 2 strains that would do well as 0 veg, lollipop style, single cola clones. Ideally high yielders that finish in 8ish weeks.

For my interim auto project, I've chosen fastbuds OG Kush, Grapefruit, and Cream Cookies (cause some lucky bastardo/a snatched up the blackberry before I could check out ). I am probably going to do them in 3 gallon hempy buckets and journal this whole thang.

Also, lastly, and this is a LONGGGG shot, but does anyone remember from the planet skunk days in like 06-08, a strain/breeder called Celtic Stone? Does anything like that still exist anywhere?

Your help is greatly appreciated!

You also ask about a good sog strain,

I haven't tried it in sog yet but I plan to, I didn't have enough ready so I have a mixed batch for now lol
I have clones of this so I'll be ready next time.
Another awesome idea I learned on here, Quadling, I did it on the Northern Lights and Gorilla Glue, I couldn't let them grow out like they could have because I don't have the room, but one plant under your light Quadlined would be a nice yield, I'll send the link for the Quadling thread.
The Quadsquad Thread, A Community For Quadlining

 

[politoed]

You also ask about a good sog strain,

I haven't tried it in sog yet but I plan to, I didn't have enough ready so I have a mixed batch for now lol
I have clones of this so I'll be ready next time.
Another awesome idea I learned on here, Quadling, I did it on the Northern Lights and Gorilla Glue, I couldn't let them grow out like they could have because I don't have the room, but one plant under your light Quadlined would be a nice yield, I'll send the link for the Quadling thread.
The Quadsquad Thread, A Community For Quadlining

oooo looks fancy! will read up on quadlining tomorrow. when i hopped out of the game, everyone was scrogging and topping and a few were LSTing, boy have things changed.

you know when you think of someone and then later that day they call or text you? today, i was thinking of all the strains i longed to grow back in the day but never had the time or space. chocolate chunk and sensi star were the two. i didnt see anything about sensi star anywhere on the site i ordered from. and then you post this strain that has it, which also happens to be a little bit purple, and i wanted to complement the chocolate chunk with something purple. the medical effects are exactly what i need to boot (minus the insomnia luckily). thanks for the rec

 

[East Coast Marley420]

oooo looks fancy! will read up on quadlining tomorrow. when i hopped out of the game, everyone was scrogging and topping and a few were LSTing, boy have things changed.

you know when you think of someone and then later that day they call or text you? today, i was thinking of all the strains i longed to grow back in the day but never had the time or space. chocolate chunk and sensi star were the two. i didnt see anything about sensi star anywhere on the site i ordered from. and then you post this strain that has it, which also happens to be a little bit purple, and i wanted to complement the chocolate chunk with something purple. the medical effects are exactly what i need to boot (minus the insomnia luckily). thanks for the rec

That Quadlining got me excited, especially after I tried it, works awesome. This Rockstar is getting me excited too lol, 4 more weeks.
I didn't learn about Quadlining till after they were growing, I did some LST training on them.

 

[Marzbadrock]

I got lucky with my hps bulb, buddy sold it to me for 80 bucks, realized he made the mistake as he was ringing it in, still gave it to me for 80, reg 150 lol

You can get new (make sure they not used) 1000w hortilux on the zon for 60 a piece. I replace mine every 4 months so they add up quick buying 5 at a time

 

[politoed]

alright, so i went to bed decided on 2 250w LEDS based on your recs. then i got to thinking.

would it make more sense to do 2 separate 3x3 flower tents, with a 250w in each, rather than a single 4x4 with 2 250w lights? square footage jumps up to 18 and would allow for different strains/grow styles in each tent and a more even canopy. plus easier for perpetual if i just have to fill one tent with clones every 5 weeks or so. plus the inline fan/carbon filter system i have is rated for 200 CFM so I am still welllllll within my ventilation needs

is a single 250w budget LED strong enough for the 3x3?

 

[bobrown14]

I'm a 15 year 1000w hps guy. Still using it but after trying a 320w qb with r-spec I can confidently say I will be gradually switching over to led. Check out budget led!

I run QB boards the 550 r spec wood be the one I would go with. R spec is with red far red spectrum and will be as close to your 1000w lamp without the heat and 1/2 the electric cost.

Someone mentioned the 320 r
spec QB boards you wood need 2 for a 4x4. That wood be what I'd run. The 550 will work too. Look to your wallet for best choice.

There are Alibaba options as well for less. Basically Quantum board knock offs for 1/2 price.

Also there are COB led lamps as well.

Led gonna replace the hid lamps due to efficiency and run cost.

Also Gavita owned by Monsanto/Scott's <spit> they the best hid makers and now making led lamps. Try and avoid.