150w HPS Cabinet by Quazi

[Quazi]

"It Smells Like Chrismas in Here!" Part II

"It Smells Like Chrismas in Here!" Part II

On to the flowering side of the cabinet:


You might notice a new addition in the flowering side of the cabinet. That's right it's Wilma! Gemma was pulled after showing her balls to me.

Wilma hasn't shown her sex yet -- I'm hoping soon. She's been great for some Nitrogen experiments I've been conducting. Since all of my plants were doing quite well, I wanted to see how much I could push out of Wilma in veg before she went to flower. I did this by feeding her some pretty hot food in addition to the top-fed guano that hadn't all been absorbed from a while ago. This was started a couple of weeks ago. Very interesting results. Here's what it looks like folks:


I only let it go until her bottom leaves were showing. She's obviously not been getting fed like that since. However, you can still see the lush, dark green color that she got before leaving veg. The newer growth is a bit lighter in color. I'm going to leave her in the pot she's in as it's an incremental step between the 5-inchers that I will be SoG testing with and the 2.5 gallon that Dorothy is in. Anyway, here's some more pictures of Wilma:




Now, it's about f$%&ing time I got some budshots in this thread huh? Well, Dorothy is not disappointing. I'll let her speak for herself:






Here's the best closeup for the week:


This cabinet has come a long way in the last couple weeks:


That's it for now.

Good luck in your travels!

-Q

 

[TC84]

Good looking ladies and thread!!

 

[FreezerBoy]

I love that you name your girls. Makes me feel less freaky for doing same.

 

[Quazi]

TC84: thanks! Appreciate you stopping by!

FreezerBoy: yea man. I find it much more interesting than just #1, #2 or just A, B, C. Makes me care about the plants a bit more too. Besides, deep down, we both know they like it when you call them names :wink:

Well, Wilma has got some nubs showing now. Either there will be more nubs or they'll split open and show some pistils so still keeping my fingers crossed on her. I replaced the 4 original air intakes as they've been in there for 2 months or so and they were looking rather nasty:


While inspecting, I noticed a gnat that was caught before getting into the veg chamber and it made every bit of time filtering my intakes worth while:


Noticed a gnat or two about a week ago which came from the soil as best as I can tell. Put up a no-fume, no-bait pest strip and caught one as it was going up. I've killed probably 6 since I first saw them and now the one on the strip. After putting the strip in there a couple of days ago though: no more. Hopefully I caught it early enough and I won't open the cabinet and get swarmed.

Here's a couple bonus pics of Dorothy to brighten up this post:


Expect the regular update on Tuesday (instead of Wednesday -- my bad!) when a girl or two will probably be joining Dorothy in flower if Wilma grows balls on me.

-Q

 

[K.J]

Wow Quazi, another great reminder on why all cab growers should be filtering their intakes! Yuck, those filters are disgusting!

 

[Cozy Amnesia]

Looking good quazi!

For all the naysayers about cloning from flowering plants, requiring growth tips, or even rooting horomone; this is proof that with care and confidence, it can work for you. A clone taken at harvest, from the middle of the stem (no growth tip) that had it's root ripped clean off when it was transported:


to

So you took a branch, chopped a section out of the middle, and treated it like a clone? And it worked? Sweat!

I pulled a couple clones of my flowering plants, but they where only on two weeks from switching to 12/12. It took 3 weeks before they started growing because I guess they had to "re-veg".

 

[Quazi]

K.J: glad you like it man. Those air filters were pretty gross for sure. Cleaning them out was not only good for the filters but I'm assuming good for the passive intake ability of the blower.

Cozy: you got that correct Cozy. The "growth tip" on this particular clone was obviously a ripened, bud. We wanted to harvest the buds so they were clipped. The clone was taken from further down the stem. And well, you see what happened.

-Q

 

[Illadelph]

Quazi: How come everyone names their plants wilma? is there some meaning behind it or something? Did putting that fan between the CFLs really cool down your cab? I talked about doing it and a bunch of people yelled at me saying it wouldn't do any thing. Did you Just plug it in? or did you have to wire it?

 

[Quazi]

It's an AC fan that comes with two stripped wires. Since it's AC already, I just stripped the extension cord wires and attached the fan. Works great!

Yes, it does cool down the veg side a lot. I used to just have the air that was pulling over the lamps up into the electrical area. Once I got the secondary fan installed, I haven't checked my temps for a couple weeks now 'cause I know they are perfectly satisfactory.

-Q

 

[Cannibisology]

Nice Thread!!

 

[Quazi]

That's Not a Wilma... That's a WilMAN, Baby!

That's Not a Wilma... That's a WilMAN, Baby!

cannbisology: thanks! It's been a lot of fun so far. Can't wait until the first harvest from the cab!

Illadelph: I don't know why people pick the name Wilma. Maybe because it's familiar and no one has dated a girl named Wilma? :wink: I really don't know.

Alright. It's Tuesday so time for another update!

As I had predicted, Wilma is a Wilman. So, she was taken out last night. Here's a look at her nuts:


So, I'm not sure what I'm going to put into flower next. I need some help deciding: should I move a couple of the clones over, plant Sprout in a bigger pot and move her over or plant a clone in a bigger pot and move it over? I just don't know.

Anyway, here's another shot of Sprout 'cause an update wouldn't be complete without her:


Veg side of the cabinet is looking great:


Now on over to the flowering side of the cabinet to have a look a Dorothy:


She's really just turned into a beautiful bush with plenty of bud-sites thanks to the training (and care I'd like to think :wink. I held ChapStick in there for scale:




Some bud shots:


...and just because I'm jealous every time FreezerBoy makes an update with his root porn. I bring you root/trunk porn:


Okay, so it's not the same as a giant root ball but look at the trunk and roots coming outta that thing!

Dorothy has started a heavier feeding regiment and seems to be enjoying it. Because of the size of the pot, she's drinking a lot. The last couple times I've watered, I've noticed that Dorothy starts to droop a bit after just a day of watering and she's all dried up. I have watered her two days in a row now to see if I can prevent the droop. Guess she's just hungry!

Anyway, here's one last look before the doors close:


-Q

 

[Quazi]

Well, since no one cared to provide any input I made up my own mind.

Sprout was transported to a pot the same size as Dorothy today where she has also started her training. She'll spend probably another week or so in veg to get used to her new pot and the training and then she's off to flower.

Can't wait to see what comes of her. She's lived a hard little life. Since I won't be harvesting Dorothy for another few weeks, that means the 4 clones will have plenty of time to veg. They should be a nice little 4-plant SoG by the time I have room for them in flower.

Got plenty of new genetics in clone form on the way and some bag-seed from some semi-decent sativa-high type stuff.

Can't wait!

-Q

 

[DocPouceVert]

Really good thread here.

I like the way you train ur baby, I must try this once in my life

Good luck

 

[Cozy Amnesia]

I want to get some root/trunk porn now...

 

[Illadelph]

amnesia, good name, i had that strain in amsterdam and it was one of my fav's

 

[Hydro-Soil]

The cab will be around 1.5-2 feet deep. The flowering chamber will be just around 2 feet (if not a under) wide. That makes for about 3-4 sq ft. Add in the ~50w of CFLs and you're looking at around 45-50w sq ft.

In my experience the optimum mounting of a 150w HPS (when mounting fixed above a scrog screen) was to measure 9 1/2 inches from the end of each element. This measurement would represent the limit of the screen and where a reflective wall had to be.

Because of this my chamber was only 22" deep.

Since you're putting a cooltube on it..... I would seriously look into making your cab about 19" wide by 19" deep. You would be able to put the plants right up against the light, no?

I don't really count the flouros at this point. They will definitely supplement the lighting but I'm not sure how much.

 

[Quazi]

I'm not sure you bothered to finish the thread otherwise you'd see that the HPS is optimally configured in the space that I have with a reflector and cool tube. The plants can grow right up against the lamp as much as they want. It's also vertically adjustable.

In addition, if you had bothered to read the thread: you'd see I am not using CFLs in the flowering chamber.

When you say the "end" of each element, it sounds like you're saying you're measuring from the "end" of the lamp and positioning the lamp so that its ends are aligned in the long way of your cabinet. This is not the correct way to mount a lamp in the space. If anything, you'd want to measure from the sides of the lamp a few inches out on either side as that is where the light spills from, not the tips. If you're trying to worry about getting light spilled from the tip of the lamp then it seems that would be going down the wrong track.

If you mean something else though, please share. Otherwise I would consider checking your configuration rather than telling me to check mine. Besides, you said your cabinet is 22 inches deep and 19 inches wide. Well buddy: that's about the exact same dimensions as my cabinet already. Sheesh.

Commenting without even bothering to read the thread to find out what you were talking about... that's just rude.


I mean, advice to shrink my growing area after it's already completed and there are plants in the space? Pffft. Jog on.

-Q

 

[Bubba_krch]

in your DIY CO2 device whats the ideal amount of ingredients you are using, just wondering i am in the middle of a cab setup i am building in my spare time. I have the plans in my head but will get pics when its complete. Im also using a 150w HPS garden light that i have had for a few years but also considering some extra lighting such as the CFL's. Also I have to somewhat maintain a no smell zone around that area, have you ran in to any problems in that area? I have a pretty decent carbon fan as my exhaust fan.

 

[Quazi]

Well, I scrapped the CO2 project as there was no way for me to properly saturate the area before ventilating because frankly, I can't really afford that.

If you're curious though, it was champagne yeast, sugar, and water. I honestly don't remember the quantities. A large jug mostly full of water, a cup of sugar and close to a tblsp of yeast I think? I dunno.

Champagne yeast works well because it has a high tolerance to the alcohol that is produced as a bi-product meaning that you won't have to change the ingredients as often.

-Q

 

[Quazi]

Trimming and Training

Trimming and Training

All of the clones received a different kind of training than I've used in this thread before. Since they're getting more time to veg (flower chamber is full), I've removed their old training and started anew. I attached 3 rubber-bands together and wrapped them around the pots. From there, I trained the growing tips down with wire and attached them to the rubber-bands.

The clones and Sprout received a nitrogen rich feeding. Hopefully it wasn't too hot for them. They've also received their first dose of molasses. Dorothy is starting to form small colas.

I also gave a good trimming to all the girls involved.

I have some exciting seeds that I'm going to be starting after Dorothy is finished so I can't wait to share them with everyone.

Bedtime now, but update tomorrow.

-Q