150w HPS Club and Resource Guide......

[growMEDS]

You are going to need some BIG holes if you only plan on using two or three for the intake...


The Surface area of a 4" diamter hole is the equivelent to the surface area of NINE 1-1/2" holes, or FOUR 2" holes... Remember to always calculate the surface area of a hole and drill by those calculations! And also remember to make your intake equall to or greater than your exhaust...Shoot for a 1.5x larger intake if possible.

Hey I grow in a Big Black cabinet! That the one you speaking of?

Hey man! Thanks for the info.

I'm thinking I could do a rectangle with some kind of shading for light. It is my veg cab so I'm not too worried about super light concealing. 2"x10" or so?

What do you think about the PC fan though?

Very nice cab and pics!

I was thinking more of a big entertainment system type black box you could put a tv on top of. But it's a big rectangle. More short and wide though.

 

[piosh]

awesome - I really like this picture...
New 150er on board - Ive quit my 400W to use 2 x 150 - I think it works better in my box.

 

[growMEDS]

Hey all!

They've all sprouted and looking pretty good.
Plants on plate:
1*2
*3*

4/11/09 - 8a.m.

4/12/09 - 8.am.

 

[growMEDS]

I have (2) 26w CFL's on them now about 4" away... cool?

And watering...when? haha
I'll mainly base it off of weight of the cup..?

 

[hoosierdaddy]

If you are asking...yes, 2 26w cfl is plenty of light to veg with.

Water only when the cups are near dry, they will feel light to lift. When that particular 16oz cup is light, give them 5-6 ounces of water. Wait till the cup feels light again. Now, once the plant has 4-6 nodes, it will be taking in more water per day. Continue to wait until the cup is light, but add 8 ounces each fill. You will be watering them every other day or so.

Punch some holes in the bottom of those cups, and put them inside of another intact cup. This will catch any overwatering you do. and will give the roots a place to go.

 

[catman]

Bulénath - Great pics. We can tell you missed us too!

With such small cups I highly recommend watering from the bottom up. You need holes in the bottoms of the cups no matter and additionally you may want to put a few around the outside of the cup (say, about 1/2-1inch above the bottom.) Let the soil "wick" up the water and you'll NEVER over water!

I took some lower buds off one plant at day 57 from 12/12 flip. I will be lettering them flower out a little longer because they where not fully mature entering flower and I'm hoping for a little couch lock as this stuff has close to none. I can not wait to puff on this once it has been properly flushed, dried, and cured.

I did a 2 day speed cure on the top of my monitor. Buds and trim where placed on tin foil.

I have no idea how to describe the trichs. What % Cloud/Milk would you guys say?

 

[growMEDS]

If you are asking...yes, 2 26w cfl is plenty of light to veg with.

Water only when the cups are near dry, they will feel light to lift. When that particular 16oz cup is light, give them 5-6 ounces of water. Wait till the cup feels light again. Now, once the plant has 4-6 nodes, it will be taking in more water per day. Continue to wait until the cup is light, but add 8 ounces each fill. You will be watering them every other day or so.

Punch some holes in the bottom of those cups, and put them inside of another intact cup. This will catch any overwatering you do. and will give the roots a place to go.

I mean are those lights okay being that close for seedlings?

One they get a little bigger I'll be using a 150w CFL. When does everybody think I should switch that on instead of the 2-26w?

Cool. 5-6 oz sounds good till they get bigger. I'll measure out and judge.

I haven't watered since planting.

#1 & 2 have been 3 days in dirt and #3 has been 2 days. Water now?

 

[Jaxom]

I think this is where I differe form others. I prefer to keep seedlings and clones moist constantly. I never let them get dry. But then again I also like using those expandable "jiffy 7" cubes that expand when you add water to them. Once those are wet I bottom water and use a dome to keep everying moist but they don't mold.

 

[Jaxom]

Now that I've got the grow box particulars pretty much settled, I've got a question about scroggin'. Before I continue, keep in mind before you reply, I'm not looking to be selling alot of this yield off. At best to a close friend or three.

Since "up high" type stains are easily found where I live, there's no sense in growing the same thing. Also of note I would really like to make my own hash. I haven't had any good hash for years, and my other half has NEVER tried any.

So my strain requirements are quite specific. I want a pure indica, preferably one that is both high yielding and and could be classed as a "couch lock" strain. In as much as I want to have yields large enough to so I can have stash for every day use but able to put aside a ounce or two per grow stricktly for tumbling. Now, I've gone though every one of Seeds Botique's online catalog, and picked out several strains that looked promising. Then tonight I went through the strainbase and read the grow reports. This helped elminate some confusions and is making my decision all the more easy.

Because I eventually plan on building a second box for holding mother's and fathers for a breeding progam, which ever strains I select must also be stable as well. All that's left to do is figure which of the trains I've selected are best suited for scroggin'.
So far on my list I have

Sensi: Big Bud and Black Domnia
Mandala: Hashberry
Greenhouse: K-train
Flying Dutchman: Afghanica

On hand I still have Nirvana's Snow white, Citral and Aurora Indica. But these are old and I'm not sure how viable or if that will affect the yield or potency by using old seeds will be.

Design notes. This will greatly effect which stain(s) I buy as well. Rough guestimates I'll have 4sq feet of hortizonal grow space. Height wise the chamber is roughly 14.64' cubed. If you first subtract the space required for the dwc of 5" and another 7" for the screen framing. Then subtract another say 12" for space around the light so I don't fry the tops of the buds. That gives me space 4sq feet and 16" high for buds to fully mature.

The question therefore becomes should I use one or two plants to fill the screen in time enough that I can get the maxium amount of yield from which ever strain(s) I grow? While I have never grown before using the scrog meathod, everything I've read so far leads me to believe the best method is to have the lights on 24/0 till the screen is 1/4 full. Then switch to 18/6 until the screen is 3/4 full. After that switch to 12/12 until finnished.

Of course this will need to be tweaked as I learn the whole process. I figure it's going to take me at least 3 full scog grows to work the kinks out and get the maixium yield I can expect from the strains I've selected.

I'd like to hear back from any other 150w club scroggers. I've seen plenty of larger scrogs, now I would like to see some smaller ones as I'm learning, smaller grows have their own unique problems and advantages.

Thanks
Jax

 

[hoosierdaddy]

I wouldn't switch to the 150w cfl if it were me.
Better to go out and get 6500K 26watters to replace what you have, unless they are already 6500k bulbs. And yes, you can get them right up close to the plants. 2-3 inches is usually fine depending on the ambient temp.
They will tell you real fast if they are too close, by little brown heat stains. I don't know why, but heat stress can show on leaves that are not the closest to the heat...

 

[vintner]

I think this is where I differe form others. I prefer to keep seedlings and clones moist constantly. I never let them get dry. But then again I also like using those expandable "jiffy 7" cubes that expand when you add water to them. Once those are wet I bottom water and use a dome to keep everying moist but they don't mold.

I do the same, but I use a mix of organic soil, pearlite, and fine peat (seedling potting soil) for both seeds and clones. I also bottom water w/water I've boiled. I add a 1/4 teaspoon of peroxide/gal, and keep everything warm and moist under tube fluoros for at least the first 2 weeks.
Jaxom: I don't know much about those strains, but what are you currently using for lighting?

 

[growMEDS]

I wouldn't switch to the 150w cfl if it were me.
Better to go out and get 6500K 26watters to replace what you have, unless they are already 6500k bulbs. And yes, you can get them right up close to the plants. 2-3 inches is usually fine depending on the ambient temp.
They will tell you real fast if they are too close, by little brown heat stains. I don't know why, but heat stress can show on leaves that are not the closest to the heat...

They are both 6500k.

I'll be using the 150w cfl when they get bigger.

 

[BubbaKushKrushr]

THANK YOU SO MUCH PIPE DREAM. AS YOU CAN IMAGINE BEFORE I HAD TWO OF THOSE BULKY LIGHTS IN MY 3FT CABINET, AND NOW THANKS TO YOUR DIAGRAM I HAVE SO MUCH MORE ROOM!!! CHECK IT OUT AND THANKS AGAIN....

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=2274204#post2274204

 

[Jaxom]

Right now, I'm not using any lighting! Once I've got my cabinet built and such, I need to get out and buys some parts for my hps ballast. After reading what results on getting their lamps closer to their crops by using a cool tube set-up, I've decided to build one into my lighting as well.

 

[growMEDS]

So I got my ventilation hooked up a little while ago.
Whacha all think?

Fan in top right and intake on bottom left.
I also got a 1200rpm @ 68cfm.
Gotta get a filter for the intake asap.

 

[Pipedream]

Perfect as long as the doors stay open all of the time. LOL

 

[growMEDS]

Perfect as long as the doors stay open all of the time. LOL

Why is that?

Doors have been shut for 2 days now. I turned the circulation fan off and get perfect temps, 75-78.

Edit... This is my veg cab for cfl.

I've built about 3/4 of my flower cab that will hold the 150 HPS.

 

[jasonk]

I think what Pipedream is saying is that it doesn't look like there's much room for air to move from the intake and passed the shelf. Depending on your doors, its hard to tell if there's a gap or not. When doors closed there should still be at least 30in² to maximize the size of the intake you have.

Is there much light leaking onto your back wall?

 

[growMEDS]

Oh possibly that too. There's decent gap between the shelves and walls. Atleast 1"x24" possibly 1.5"x24" max.

I put some filtrete filter to cover the hole. Little bit of light goes through. This is just a veg cab. Isn't that okay?

The temps were 70-77 today.

Here is what my 150 hps will go into.

 

[Pipedream]

MY BAD. The pic or my monitor was too dark and I didn't see the fan at the top, just the little one standing on the shelf. I also thought the doors closed toward the inside and rested on the front edge of the shelf. I stand corrected.