Big Twinn's PLL Grow Cab Journal: 360 degrees of light

[big twinn]

as you can see, right as i get her health under control i FUCK it all up.....FML! not sure if the indica will make it=(

Heat stressed to the max!

more heat stress, some of the leaf tips browned from light/heat burn=(...luckily the foliage is SO thick on this one that it seemed to protect the soil from over drying and in retrospect this is the least damaged probably for that very reason, the soil was moist compared to the dry soil from the others.

the part that really kills me is that last night i took the light power cord OUT of the timer. the last few days i have been updating the cab for completion along with the indica being underwater. i figured those 6 extra hours would make up for some of this....but since i didnt plug the fan back in, everything took a beating....shoulda had the FAN ON and the timer going....i would say you live and you learn, but this is such an arbitrary mistake.

 

[twrex]

im wondering if i should get another 6400k and have 2 again...or if i should go with the 10,000k...i wish there was an actinic PLL...?

Your wish is granted http://www.current-usa.com/sunpaq.html.
Contact a local aquarium supply store and ask them if they carry them. They have several combinations of phosphors. I personally was eyeballing the 10k/460nm ones... I asked around a bit and couldn't find anyone who'd had any experience using them unfortunately, and since I'm not growing I haven't been able to give them a go.

 

[big twinn]

WOW great link...i wish i could get one of those in my cab!!...wonder how much it would affect it, any ideas of what i'd expect? they dont carry a 55 watt bulb unfortunetly=(...nor, a lesser wattage for the 2g11 base. i only have 1 workworse 8, with a 220watt max.....hmmmm

 

[twrex]

so get the other base, you'll need to get a different plug or just get some terminals. The pins do the exact same function they're just in a different arrangement.

 

[big twinn]

true...and as far as wattage goes...they dont have a 55 watt??...

do you think going with this will show to be better then say the 6400k? (i would think so).

 

[twrex]

Well from your pictures it looks like you're running five or six lights which means you're running 36s or 40s, they have 32s and 40s there.

edit: just looked and realized you only have 4... anyhow, I've become curious after looking at the photos how your ventilation is set up, I see the fan, but I'm not entirely sure where your input is, and have you fixed the carbon filter yet? I haven't seen evidence of it in any of the photos.

 

[big twinn]

ya, no pictures display the carbon filter in place....thats because im yet to be satisfied with my design....the latest worked but i think i can make a better one, which i will be working on this weekend (already have a decent plan). the lights are 55 watt, four of them, which is where the last question arrived from. any insight? (btw, positive rep. coming ur way for all ur help).

the ventilation is as described:
1 120mm delta fan as the exhaust, and the passive intakes are positioned along with the cool tubes. each cool tube leads into a 2 inch hole in which PVC angles are used to light proof the opening. the advantage of this is, that all intake air passes over the bulbs, through each cool tube....thus removing ALOT of the heat....if my fan would have been on last night....NONE of the damage taken place would have happened!

 

[twrex]

have you considered a pig-pen style filter?

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=86726

Also, while it's a bit late for it now, the consensus view is that running the workhorse 8 with 4x55w bulbs invalidates the warranty as this is not one of the configurations listed on their website.

 

[big twinn]

this IS true...but is it of that much concern, do you think? think it will harm the ballast? think they would be able to notice how many lights were being used, IF i had to send it in?...i guess worst case senario i have to buy another...70 isnt TOO TOO bad, though money IS tight!
so now that you know my lights, which bulb shall i go with for replacement?

 

[twrex]

$70?! You got ripped off! https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/2176/BF-WH8120LC.html

I don't know which bulbs you should use. I'd personally be interested in seeing the 10k/460nm fish tank bulbs, but I know they're expensive and would require a little ingenuity to rig up with the square pin arrangement. If you were going to use one of those I'd go for the 40w and let it roll. I've never been able to get a straight answer from anyone about how the workhorse ballasts react to this, but I know it's better to overdrive a 40w to 55w than to put in a 60w and hope it doesn't try to pull more power than the ballast can give and cause troubles. Of course if you want the simpler route just replace what you had with something similar.

 

[big twinn]

very good stuff to think about....ha i guess it was only 37...i was guessing on the price bc my total order from 1000bulbs was in that range....but i ordered from the same site...my bad ha.

so, VERY EXCITED, i received my BOG'S Sour Bubble along with Sam the Skunkman's Thai Haze X Skunk #1, AND Critical +!!! luckily Critical was on my wish list of things to order eventually...I LOVE YOU ALL AT THE BAY...Great work!! received my package a week from ordering it exactly.

So, that 3rd plant i do think is indeed dead...im a murderer=(
i still havent narrowed the problem down, i ran everything like normal last night. i had the fan ON (24/7) and the timer connected, with the lights out at 3am and back on at 9am.

but checking them to day, EACH one looks worse! they all were well watered. do you think it could be from that 3000k bulb, maybe that is running much HOTTER then the others and burning them? or maybe its nute burn....trying to figure it out....ill prob. post something in the infirmerary. it makes me NERVOUS bc i have put all this time and enery in these girls for over a month and now they are going south....with $100 seeds, i DONT want to fuck up!

 

[twrex]

Could be that the full extent of the heat stress took some time to show up all the way. Possibly overwatered/overnuted as well. I couldn't say for sure, but I'd think that I wouldn't give up hope until they're DEAD dead... it's a weed after all. Maybe it won't yield as much or whatever, but don't give up on them until they're 100% dead.

 

[big twinn]

well, my biggest one is doing fine, growth slightly slower on them all. the new growth looks extra bright green compared to the rest of the leaves on the 2 remaining plants....i dont remember this being the case for them before. normal?

the other is growing slow too after this.

THE GOOD NEWS!

The cabinet is COMPLETER ( there is a slight slight light link from the door im working on...just cant close it tighter.) the carbon filter is complete and running! need to pick up a new Hygrometer...LOWES SUCKS theres was faulty and cheap! where is a good place to get one?

temps seem to be doing fine, and all though the fan is blowing less air, the carbon filter is doing well and the cabinet is exhausting fine (atleast for now, need to get that temp. read)...

ALSO, i have 1 Bog's Sour Bubble and 1 Critical + germing right now! both popped...PLEAAAAAASE BE FEMALES!!!

stay tuned, hopefully it keeps getting better and more entertaining as we go.

 

[twrex]

While I don't know about the 'best' I've been considering getting one of these for when I eventually get to a place where I feel comfortable growing.

http://www.bovedadirect.com/products/item_detail.cfm?ITEM_ID=16

Small enough that it can also be used for curing, gives both temp and rh, can be calibrated, and comes with a calibration pack. All of this for $20 seems like a steal to me.

If you don't want to spend that much, any decent tobacco shop in your area should have small analog hygrometers for humidors for <$10. They're tiny, fairly accurate and can be calibrated if necessary.

 

[big twinn]

so wait, is this the same thing (hygrometer) that can be found in all the other cabs on here? Temp, Humidity, etc????? (max temp, and min...ect.)? thanks for the LINK!

 

[twrex]

I don't believe it will give you max/min.

 

[big twinn]

a little update:

so, i have germinated 1 BOG's Sour Bubble and 1 Critical +. Both seeds popped within 24hrs. they now are potted in FFOF with a LIGHT addition of Bone Meal and Blood Meal mixed in. the containers are now being contained in my outdoor humidity dome (simply a clear plastic small storage container flipped upside down, utilizing the lid as the bottom and the container as the dome. Southeastern humididty is SO hot and humid this time of year, it really saves having to use a heating pad. hopefully they will break surface shortly.

more pictures to follow.


also, if anyone has specific questions, suggestions, need clarity or more pictures, just let me know or shoot me a PM

cheers.

 

[big twinn]

So, it appears some of my leaves are being light bleached???

temps are great in the cab and under control. im adding a hot wet towel (microwave heated) to the cab for the night...try and raise humidity a little.

DESCRIPTION:

white lines along vains, not blotchy, but more scaling i guess?
i'll try and post pictures tomorrow...been doing ALOT of research...looks like light bleaching to me...although i have never seen it in pictures quite at veiny as mine...looks alomst like a skeleton of the leaves...any ideas? particularly it appears like its coming from the 3000K bulb....hmmm????

am i running too many lumens?

will it have any ill affects? i assure you i can grab the cool tubes...they are slightly warm but never hot/burning...and i cant "raise" the lights/ move them...only the plants.....i'd love your thoughts!

 

[big twinn]

all seems well and everything dialed in. problems are eliminating, and growth is happening fast! Both Sour Bubble and Critical + have lost there seed shell and currently in the cabinet.

plans are being made for a cheap cloner. probably will make a bubble cloner then transfer into soil until i harvest this batch and make my next larger cab fitted with cloning chamber, veg, and flowering rooms all in one...but in the mean time, it would be nice to conserve some of these genetics b4 i induce flowering.

debating weather to flip the lights in the next week or 2. the 2 plants currently are definitly at maturation. the larger plant is HEAVILY being trained. in some places the stem has "switchback" S shaped formation from all the LST. the container is filled on (hopefully her) while the other is almost full as well.

i may try and continue to train them to fit while the 2 named strains have some time to bush out and LST as well...so debating flipping 12/12 in 1-2 weeks or wait a month or so...thought?

pictures will be updated tomorow! promise! ...LOTS OF THEM.

don't be shy, your comments and encouragement keep me here posting the updates.

 

[twrex]

Still lurking... this is always the slow part, waiting for things to mature... once there's pics of big buds people will start popping in to talk again, especially with the vertical pl-l setup. Thanks for keeping up with updates even though things have been a bit quiet.