400w HPS grow low yeilds.. advice?

[Megamanx]

Thank you everyone that posted here to help me!!

It's hard to find help like this in the real world and i truly feel that karma will repay all those that take the time out of their day to help others. I have always believed in helping other even though you KNOW no one is looking out for you, and I feel that all these responses are karma coming back to me... either that or everyone is bored as hell lol.

Peace and Love to all

 

[Closet_Grower]

good luck with your 400w and your space.

I agree it is hard to find good help like this in the real world. Lots of good info here, this site is amazing.

I too struggle with my smaller space and a 400w to achieve the yields I want, but I think im getting it down for myself... KISS method and just trying and learning.

good luck bro,

CG

 

[FreezerBoy]

You have plenty of space and way more light than you need. At 22x29, my footprint is barely larger than yours (4.4sf vs 4.0sf) I've pulled over 4 oz watercured (close to 1/2 lb jar cured) using a 250.

In cabs like ours, single untrained plants are the least effective use of space. SOG or training through LST or ScrOG will greatly increase your yield. Note that LST/ScrOG will take longer to reach harvest but make up for the time through larger individual yields. If you continue with DWC, I would NOT recommend a smaller tub and would strongly recommend a larger one (mines 18 gal versus your 20 L, about 5 gal) The smaller the res, the faster the disaster.

Nute wise, I'd simplify. Keep your A+B and pH down, put everything else away. Invest in an EC meter. Chart EC and pH daily to determine proper feed levels. EC up, pH down is too rich. EC down, pH up is too lean. EC flat, pH flat sounds balanced on paper but should be avoided as no one pH reading allows absorption of all nutes. Thus, flat pH guarantees unbalanced feeding. You want pH to swing between 5.5-6.0, some go as low as 5.2.

 

[Epiphyte]

As most people have said, more plants tends to equal a bigger yield. One can scrog and train all they want, but the greater number of plants yield better 90% of the time... I think sog makes, I dare to say, the best kind of nugs.

But freezer boy is right, your space and light are not very compatible. I only have 18inches of depth with a four hundo. I know that if I had 6 to 8 more inched of depth, then I would yield one to two more ounces without changing anything else. I have a tent that i don't use. If I rocked my four in the tent, my yields would be twice as much. However, circumstances don't permit. If you have to buy a whole new cab, it probably won't cost more than $350 which is going rate for an ounce. Don't think twice about it...better dimensions would increase your yield even with that one plant as it is.

 

[Neo 420]

You want to boost your yield?
Topping, fimming or super-cropping with a nice veg cycle. (try topping, let her heal and top the splits, let her heal then fim all the splits. A lil training, a lil cutting of the lower growth and some bending and you'll have a monster canopy that's filled and even. )

With the headroom you have available, you should definitely go with a strong indica.

ya trust me i hate when i see pics of peoples setup and the light is like 2 ft above their plants. I always keep the light as close as possible?

You try that with a thouwee and you get light bleaching and little crispy ends....

 

[urbanfog]

what a great thread! Especially with me learning more with a 400 ! Great read.

Uf

 

[ThePizzaMan]

Buy a homebox XL seconds from eGay...and upgrade to a 1000w aircooled hood.

Spend the $...and the rest will follow.

I was in your shoes before, and the best move you could do at this point would be to upgrade your room.

you can start with 16 or so 1 gallons if that is the way you want to go...but closets suck ass.

Time for an upgrade.

 

[Epiphyte]

Not everyone can up grade pizzaman...my sockets couldn't take 1000, much less 600 plus fan etc. Size of space, especially by inches, is a logical way to increase yield. Uping the wattage is a given.

I can't even rock a tent even though a perfect one is sitting under my bed. Some situations are all about small steps.

 

[Neo 420]

The OP pointed out he was not ready for any upgrades but was looking for ways to up his yield on his current system.

 

[John LOQUE]

I'm posting in this thread because i've got a 400 W and low yield. The bulb is certainly too old, and the buds grow with a weird shape, they have less hair and more leaves and are more lanky than fat(not the same as before), can it be the bulb ?
Is it too late or not at 4/5 weeks of bloom to change the bulb ?

 

[Neo 420]

Change it now young Skywalker!!!

 

[Serioussmoke]

I'm posting in this thread because i've got a 400 W and low yield. The bulb is certainly too old, and the buds grow with a weird shape, they have less hair and more leaves and are more lanky than fat(not the same as before), can it be the bulb ?
Is it too late or not at 4/5 weeks of bloom to change the bulb ?

Change the damn thing now!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Epiphyte]

If you are running a magnetic ballast, then change the capacitor and bulb

 

[John LOQUE]

I put a CFL 300W for grow not for flo, i've got only one, waiting for the new bulb. Do someone know the spectrum variation when the bulb get old ? I noticed that the little leaves of the buds get bleached even those far from the light. More UV's, more reds ? I guess more reds...

 

[Hippie420]

Buy a homebox XL seconds from eGay...and upgrade to a 1000w aircooled hood.

Spend the $...and the rest will follow.

I was in your shoes before, and the best move you could do at this point would be to upgrade your room.

you can start with 16 or so 1 gallons if that is the way you want to go...but closets suck ass.

Time for an upgrade.

Pretty sure Homebox was discontinued due to off gassing like all the older white tents....you can still buy em but i wouldn't waste the money get a new growlab, hydrohut, or secret jardin sure... not a Homebox... just my 2 cents on that particular subject but i vote scrog with space up grade not being an option.

 

[ErnestHemingway]

ya trust me i hate when i see pics of peoples setup and the light is like 2 ft above their plants. I always keep the light as close as possible, I'm going to do a trainwreck agan after this grow and maybe another one of these. The train wreck gave me nice potent buds and they were actually pretty fat but was still 2oz. Not sure how it got that stretched you think its the strain?

Yeah man Trainwreck is notorious for stretching. I'm growing that strain right now and I was shocked at the amount of stretch, especially at the beginning of flowering. I've noticed on some of the lower branches that stretched toward the top to have upwards of 8" between nodes. Trainwreck stretches like CRAZY, the most stretch I personally have ever experienced in a grow.

This could be a bad thing depending on your grow type, but for me I just LST'd them like mad. They take very well to bending and tying down into a SOG setup.

Also trimming a lot of your fan leaves off will bump up your yeild. There is a sticky thread in this forum that is all about removing fan leaves. From many people's experimentation it has shown to be quite effective. I am currently going to experiment with this during my grow with Trainwreck included in the mix.

From one person's own experiment he went from 5.5oz up to 11.75oz from using the same strain, light, nutes etc. This obviously is a HUGE increase in yield, which is why I have decided to give it a whirl.

Also make sure you keep that light as close to the tops as possible without burning them. Just make sure that the light footprint covers all of your area. You don't want the outside plants to be deprived of light.

One more thing that can increase yield is Co2. If your room is not being ventilated well, or you are not bringing in fresh air through ventilation (just recirculating the same air through your grow area) then Co2 will definitely help your yields. It might be kinda pointless if you are already brining in fresh air (say from outside via a window) because the Co2 that you would be pumping into the room may just go into the box and then straight out your exhaust without getting to where the plants need it and will use it. This is yet another $100+ investment that you would have to make, but given the right circumstances it may turn out to be completely worth the price. I personally do not run Co2 because I vent outside through a window, which hopefully would bring in enough Co2 for the plants to use.

Remember: trim, train, and get that light as close as possible and I think you will see results. Sorry about the long post, I tend to get carried away sometimes lol. But anyway...

Hope this helps and best of luck to you!

 

[Closet_Grower]

i love it when someone asks a question about a 400w regarding yield and some peoples responses are buy a 1000w... what a waste of thread space.

I rock a 400w, want to upgrade obviously but I make the most with what I have, I think thats the OP's point.

 

[green_thumb...]

Here ya go,a 1lb scrog under 400w hps

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=12653&highlight=400w

This threads the most inspirational I've come across and the one that got me bit by the hydro bug.

 

[Megamanx]

Here ya go,a 1lb scrog under 400w hps

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=12653&highlight=400w

This threads the most inspirational I've come across and the one that got me bit by the hydro bug.

That was the thread that made me post my thread hah!

Ok, so i've come up with a pretty good plan here. I'm not going to move away from DWC as I really think that, that's MY system (ya know what I mean?). I am definately going to do a Scrog. After reading the KISS thread and heeding the advice of a couple posters here I'm going to cut back the nutes I'm using cause they probably are useless to a point and not buy them again after I finish them off. Probably would just use BIG Bud, some sort of enzyme product and the botanicare organic pro hydro (the organic one).

But I have a few questions yet.

For my space, would it be possible to do 2 plants ( 3 20l DWV buckets will fit in the space, but 3 may be too many) veg for 4 weeks into a dished scrog; dished because I feel it makes the most use of the light. Or would 2 plants at that length of time completely overtake the area?
*room size is 18" x 32" x 5.5'

About the Botanicare organic hydro stuff, has anyone actually had experience with this product? How well does it work, does it contain all the essential nutes and that? And are there other organic alternatives to Big bud and some enzyme product that I can use to go fully organic ( ya this is the hydro forum, but I bet theres organic hydro lurkers around.. )

Now to me it would seem that common sense would say that when you do a scrog type grow you really would only want one strain growing on the screen so everything kind of reacts and grows at the same pace. But I may not beable to do that.. My little trainwreck clone is started in her bucket now and shes doin alright, establishing her root system and getting geared up for life (then death hah), but not even week 1 of veg yet.. not even close ( i count week 1 when they actually grow like 2 -3 nodes). I probably wouldnt be able to get a second clone ready by the time this one is ready to go into the screen, so would it be alright to grow say 1 trainwreck and 1 acapulco gold in the box together on a screen. The AG finishes probably 10 - 20 days later than the trainwreck does..

Is there a specific or BEST way to route the stems through the screen to ensure that the canopy is completely organized and doesn't turn into a fuck fest week 3 of flower?

Ok, ok.. This one really has nothing to do with any of this but someone has to know something or have pics or experience with this (cause why would i start a new thread for this little question)..

Last but not least has anyone ever tried to grow or has grown Pineapple Chunk from Barneys Farm? How was the high, how did it grow, is it really a 55day flowering strain? Let me know your thoughts on that strain. I got the seed and I keep looking at the pics and I want it, but is it worth it to change strains???

 

[mrwags]

Hello My Friend

Hello My Friend

Well Well Well looks like we have a nice setup thats not living up to expectations?

Might I suggest a way to get 1-2 pounds from the same space every 2 months?




This is BOB my Box Of Bud and he was purchased back in early 2003. He has a little 400 watt bulb and is a 2x4 in size and has always given between 1-2 pounds every run I have had with him. The Homeboxes and imo damn near all the tents are death traps for your girls eventually. It took me 2 years to figure out what was wrong with mine as poor ole BOB sat back in the corner laughing his ass off.

In the space you have you can fit at least 18 pots will your vegging take some cuts b4 you flip that way the cuts are vegging while you are flowering then once you harvest your cuts are ready for veg you simply switch pots take some cuts again and the circle starts all over.

As far as food goes I'm a die hard Biotanicare guy and use PBP LK Cal Mag and the hydroplex in flower BUT you can save yourself a ton of cash in VEG and use PBP and Hygrozyme ONLY and save the rest of the nutes for flower.

Build your room and save your money for more watts or a new bulb would be the best advice. There are enough diy threads around here so that you could do it for penny's on the dollar and you might end up with something like this:





Have A Great Day
Mr.Wags