Sweetsue's First Grow - Stealthy Trio of Autos Under CFLs

[ClosedCircuit]

Hey HH. That bubbling pitcher was actually nothing more than water and malted barley grain, the first step to my favorite enzyme tea. The Ful-Power, kelp meal and aloe vera juice aren't added until I'm ready to drench. The barley just bubbles like mad. I like to think its because it's brimming with marvelous stuff to feed my soil, just dancing to get to work.

I believe its the restructuring of proteins that causes it to bubble. Think whisking egg into a meringue.

 

[PlanetJ]

No doubt T5's can achieve. The bulbs last a while, but pretty soon after you have had to change your first set of bulbs then you pretty much have paid for mars 3wattx100 or 96x3watt. I'm still very much considering getting one, but I have my concerns RE buying future proof items.

I think my favorite cfl grows (other than yours ) is this one I found some time ago. I think there are 8 installments...its addictive!

...how is 800+W in CFL's a sensible investment ?? I count 36 CFL's in just this fixture ... that would be around the price of a good LED, not counting the fixtures and cables, etc.

CFL's have a quite sharp drop in luminosity with age .. you will have to replace them faster then a LED panel in most cases, unless you go expensive CFL's, in which case you can buy 2 LED panels for the cost of just the CFL's.

This, to me, is just nuts and wasting perfectly good money and resources.

(Edit: Here is why: https://www.designrecycleinc.com/led comp chart.html )

 

[SweetSue]

PlanetJ, I'll check out the link later, but I had the same thought when I saw that picture on the link.

I chose CFLs because I could afford to begin small and add on. All along the way the intent was to add an LED and supplement with CFLs, but being able to add more lights as we came into more money worked well in our case.

CFLs also create a different lighting dynamic than LED and some growers are more comfortable with that.

Many growers are still waiting for the LED manufacturers to work through the development stage before investing that kind of money in one unit. The quality of the units keeps improving dramatically with every new model issued.

For a serious DIY individual, wiring one of these up is a joy and a source of pride.

It's cheaper to replace the CFL bulbs than it is to get the LED panel repaired when or if it goes wrong. The bulbs are easier to source and if one goes you have all the rest still performing. If your LED panel goes nuts and must be repaired you're screwed until it's been repaired.

If you keep good records you will be rotating the bulbs out before they begin to degrade. That's just being smart. The bulbs themselves will need to be replaced every three to four grows, so keeping track makes sense.

Those were just the things that tumbled through my brain in answer to your query. I'm sure there are more.

 

[SweetSue]

Here's what happens when your growing instinct begins to go into hyper drive.

Last night I moved the drying rack into the bedroom. While Dale is in the rehab nursing home (I'm learning to hate that place, but that's a rant for another time) this room is nice and dark, with good air flow. It also has a window that faces east. Upon waking I realized that this meant the sun would be streaming in every morning (optimist - it's February into March - our dreariest months). Lying there and contemplating it I suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

I've been thinking for the past year about tobacco barns. They are dark and airy and open. How could I replicate that in our home? In the early waking moments I remembered I had those rolls of weed blocker cloth that I found at 90% off years ago. I jumped out of bed, grabbed the cloth and my scissors and threw this together.

Problem solved. Easy access, dark but not pitch dark, open and airy.

Good instincts girl.

 

[ClosedCircuit]

...how is 800+W in CFL's a sensible investment ?? I count 36 CFL's in just this fixture ... that would be around the price of a good LED, not counting the fixtures and cables, etc.

CFL's have a quite sharp drop in luminosity with age .. you will have to replace them faster then a LED panel in most cases, unless you go expensive CFL's, in which case you can buy 2 LED panels for the cost of just the CFL's.

This, to me, is just nuts and wasting perfectly good money and resources.

(Edit: Here is why: Compare: LED Lights vs CFL vs Incandescent Lighting Chart )

He has 6 plants total. The amount of money he would need to cover them all in LEDs would far outstrip the costs of CFLs. Granted he has spaced out his plants in the least light efficient manner possible. He could have instead run two HPS lights if all the plants were centralized and saved time and money. I shared the video because his results are impressive, even if the method is overkill.

 

[PlanetJ]

I'm not saying he can buy enough LED panels to cover the same area .. but like you said, they could have been spaced better. I love the DIY level of the fixture, I love the fixture .. but it makes no sense if you calculate cost.

Replacing a LED is easy Sue .. go to your local radio repair shop and have them do it if you do not dare to yourself. The diodes are cheap, there is no magic in a LED .. just a bunch of LED's in parallel.

Why is it not cheaper to build one then ? Because I need only 25 of these, 30 of those, and a bunch of this type .. and wont buy them per 500 on a strip .. where they get 2 dollars each .. vs 5 for me

 

[newoldguy]

on the drying rack, Sue

 

[SweetSue]

Daily Update: THC Bomb Auto, Day 84

Can you all believe she's 84 days old? That makes her 19 days beyond breeder prediction, which I've noticed is fairly standard. I can tell you she's getting close. Smells so sweet it's driving me nuts!!!

I gave her a 1/4 turn under the lights, topped off the reservoir with a quart of water and got real close to check the trichomes. She's still comfortably on the side of cloudy. I'm watching the white pistils here for the moment when they've gone rust colored and begun to pull back.

Taking a closer look around the beauty it looks like these are intricately detailed sugar flowers, doesn't it?

Look! Necrotic leaves!

Those two, in addition to the one on the other side, make a total of three necrotic leaves over 84 days. What a happy soil community and plant.

The scissors found there way to a popcorn bud. I don't know how that happened!

One of the reasons I weighed Buddha yesterday was to keep me from any further "sampling".

There are an over abundance of gnats in the harvested pot. Time for stronger measures. Sprinkle some mosquito dunks over the surfaces and water it all in. It might be time to finally order some sticky traps. Over time the scheduled maintenance of these pots will cause them to become so healthy that even fungus gnats will vanish. In the meantime it's obvious they are no threat to my plants.

When I get home this evening I will have a choice - Buddha, or the Bomb?

I have crystals strung and hanging in the windows that catch the sunrise and sunset. In the morning our bedroom and living room fill with rainbows, lending a delightful air of joy to the morning.

Life, with all it's madness and chaos, is certainly sweet.

 

[COorganics]

Sue, congrats again!
Those top two photos on your last post would be great POTM candidates! Don't forget to mention you did all that without bottled nutes and with CFL's. Freakin' amazing!

How's your worm bin doing? Have you harvested castings yet? I can't remember.

 

[Graytail]

Awesome flowers, Sweetsue!

And despite the notoriety you're earning for producing such fine results under CFLs, yes, the truth is that it's your soil.

Simply amazing!

 

[Doc Bud]

Awesome flowers, Sweetsue!

And despite the notoriety you're earning for producing such fine results under CFLs, yes, the truth is that it's your soil.

Simply amazing!

Undoubtedly the soil.

speaking of which, the gnats will leave when you get the mineral balance up a bit. Here's a general rule of thumb:

non-mineralized soil will host all kinds of bugs and disease
mineralized soil with low pH will host gnats/thripes/mites
mineralized soil with high pH will host mold/botyritis/PM

Organic matter lowers soil pH as it breaks down. This can be buffered with CaCo3----high calcium limestone. I think if you put perhaps 2 tblspn of limestone in that soil and watered it in you might kill some of the gnats.

I always had gnats until I got the minerals up where they need to be....I haven't seen one in years and the very few mites and thripes that show up now and then are always sick looking and never do any damage to the plant.

 

[akisunni]

Wow, you should ponder growing medically for friends. Maybe rent a studio aprt in the building if possible. If I could get my meds grown by you, vs buying them at the dispensary or honestly growing them myself, I would. And I love to grow, as is obvious...

Disclosure: to be clear, I am not asking to buy from SweetSue, but giving her a pat on the back for amazing plants...

 

[SweetSue]

I live for the day when cannabis is completely legal and all this madness passes. If PA ever gets up to snuff on this issue I will be one of the first people in my area to set up a small co-op. I see a real market for the artisanal grower, both for medicinal and recreational. I could do that. What a gift to offer the community.

 

[SweetSue]

Undoubtedly the soil.

speaking of which, the gnats will leave when you get the mineral balance up a bit. Here's a general rule of thumb:

non-mineralized soil will host all kinds of bugs and disease
mineralized soil with low pH will host gnats/thripes/mites
mineralized soil with high pH will host mold/botyritis/PM

Organic matter lowers soil pH as it breaks down. This can be buffered with CaCo3----high calcium limestone. I think if you put perhaps 2 tblspn of limestone in that soil and watered it in you might kill some of the gnats.

I always had gnats until I got the minerals up where they need to be....I haven't seen one in years and the very few mites and thripes that show up now and then are always sick looking and never do any damage to the plant.

I'm ordering some today Doc. Thanks for kicking me twice about that. I almost forgot.

 

[Subnoise]

Hey Sue Max told me I needed to get over here and check your grow out. Great last update I'm expecting my thc bomb seed to arrive any time now. Im super impressed by your auto can't wait to see what the photo will do. Subbed for the rest of your beautiful grow. May your garden continue to flourish.

 

[SweetSue]

Welcome, Subnoise. There's still more excitement ahead. One of these days the Bomb will be ready and we get another round of harvesting.

Enjoy. green_heart:.

 

[nivek]

cool drawing on the wall

 

[SweetSue]

cool drawing on the wall

I knew that would catch your eye nivek. It was done by a friend of mine when we were university students. She was Fine Arts and I was Art Minor. She needed a nude model and I was the only one of her friends brave enough to sit for her. I bought it from her at the spring sale that year. I just loved the green tones , the lively strokes and the linear quality of the peacock feather. Those feathers were from peacocks that guarded the governor's mansion in Oklahoma when her uncle was the sitting governor. Good times. It's one of the few things I have left over from those heady days as a young collegiate. Most of what I've hung on to are works of art, now gracing the walls throughout our home. Just an aging hippy here.

 

[Ranger275]

Hey Sweetsue,
Congrats! I bet somebody's got a bad case of sticky-scissors. Yay!
I'm so glad you didn't listen to my advice a while ago. Your plants just looked so good, I couldn't resist. Do me a favor, would you? I'll be harvesting in about a month, counsel me as you were counselled. Don't let me reap early! You may have to use stern words or beat me w/a stick, but I'll eventually recognize.

 

[SweetSue]

I can do that Ranger.