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

Bulénath

Member
2009!

First post of the New Year! (wow I am still drunk from last night, and it's noon!)

It is remarkable to witness the sheer will power of life, especially when growing plants. A plants desire to survive is a great testimony for all life in general. Amazing how close to death plants can get, seemingly unreviveale, yet they continue to thrive with any hope....
 

Bulénath

Member
Howzum bra....

Fuck I didnt water for two days straight now!!!

Ahhh it will be nearly 72 hours when they finnaly get a dose of H20..


That is bad, becasue it can theoretically cause your PPM & EC to rise super quick. But, I think similar situations (not watering for 2-3 days) have never really affected my plants due to the potting medium & perhaps the fertilizer and its excellent qualities.


And that would be 1/3 each: Perlite, Black Golds Organic mix, and Black Golds wormcastings.

Fertilizer is Pure Blend Pro.


Can't let your plants slip like that when doing Hydroponics. But soil is sooo much more natural, like this red wine that has been keeping happy this New Year... :rasta:
 
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Bulénath

Member
DiscoBiscuit said:
huh? who, me?

A porous brick lying in a pan of water acts like a wick and will transfer water to potted roots. Place a pot without the saucer directly on the wet brick. Works for me.

I was not aware of that. Thank you friend, you are a gentleman and a scholar. Happy new years! :joint:
 
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Doel

New member
Hello everyone, just thought I would get a post in on the 150 club. I have been waiting about a month for my account to get activated. Anyway, I am currently running a DWC with 4-26watt cfl's for veg and a sunsystems 150 hps for flower. I will get some pics up of my set up as soon as I can post pictures. I wanted to thank everyone on this forum for all the useful information. It has been really helpful in getting me started.
 

catman

half cat half man half baked
Veteran
Welcome to the club Doel!

I would love to see some pictures and information about your grow.
 

Bulénath

Member
Welcome Doel!

Here is some interesting stuff...

During the first three weeks of flower, I didn't run the Air Condition, so the temerpatures and humidity ran pretty wild.
The fact is, the bigger difference between day and night temperatures, the more cannabis will strech.

But in this case, the streching caused the plants to allow more light penetration to the lower parts. These plants are all the exact same clones, but the plants turn out very different when grown in different enviroments, as you will see...

Day 55 flower.

Notice how lush and green all the leaves are!




Check out the length of each trichome stalk. They seem really tall!









For some reason, theY keep fattening up yet don't seem like they want to be harvested on day 60. This time around, she isn't purpling much, unlike the clones before her, even though the temperatures have been much cooler toward the last three weeks of this grow!
Maybe the genetics are maturing in general....
Maybe the streching during this grow allowed more light penetration and over all space, which is allowing her to ripen to new levels? Either way, I can only speculate...








So this is last grow, and these are the exact same clones, grown in the exact same everthing. In these pictures, they are roughly 5 days older than the clones in the pictures above...So about day 60.








 
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Bulénath

Member
Heres my third attempt at Scrog day 7 flower, and she is looking really happy. Probably because the glass shield is gone, and she is getting her normal dose of Veg Formula as scheduled, unlike my last sad attempt.





Here are my clones. I took about 22 cuttings, used the Perlite-Tiki-Torch-Wick-clone method as usual. They all rooted, and I lazily left them with roots, in perlite and water, for about month. They all took about a month to root aswell, so they stayed in the clone-container for two months from the time they got clipped from the Mama. By the time I removed the clones, they all root-balled into eachother! There were more roots than foliage!

But I can only keep three of them, legally. So I took eight pots and choose the best looking clones. And of those, the best three will be kept. The others, of course, will vanish into thin air.. Here they are at day 7 veg...





Mama is about 10 weeks Veg, but genetically, she is about a year old I think.
 
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C

Cozy Amnesia

Bulénath said:
Can't let your plants slip like that when doing Hydroponics. But soil is sooo much more natural, like this red wine that has been keeping happy this New Year... :rasta:

you just inspired me to go to the liquor store... :friends:
 

DiscoBiscuit

weed fiend
Veteran
Nice buds Bulenath! You never let us down.

Welcome Doel! May your grows be safe and fruitful.



I did a search and didn't find many pictures of old school bamboo rippers. Here's one I slapped together in my spare time. I'll bet Pipedream smoked out of these a time or two. I used to make these in the 1970s before I had a car to drive to the head shop. Now I'm a glass on glass fan but you can't beat the nostalgia of bamboo.



Here's a how to thread in case you want to check it out.

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=2063733#post2063733
 
Hey guys, was wondering if you thought using 2 gallon grow bags was too much for a 150watt grow? The plan is to start 10 plants non-feminized and throw out the males. I plan to veg for 2-3 weeks and the strains I am thinking about growing are mandala's satori and ganesh (an indica).

Another question I had was whether you thought I should stick with indica strains to get a good yield and how long do you think I should veg? I dont want too tall plants (under 2ft).
 

Bulénath

Member
2 gallon individual pots for each plant is decent to flower with.

This is Sugabears OB1 strain I grew in those white 88cent Wal-Mart plastic pots, that seem about 2 gallons each....















10 seedlings should give you a few females. Try to use as much soil as possible in any case. Indicas are good because they flower relatively quick compared to sativas. But it all depends on your tastes, and if you just like to get high in general, or have Medical problems which require certain strains.
Commercial strains are usually very indica so the product can be flipped every 60 days or less.
Sativas, in my opinion, seem more suited to connoisseurs taste, or people with a strain they don't mind spending 3+ months flowering...

As for vegging out seedlings before flowering with the 150, three weeks is about right.

One more thing, try not to Veg under the HPS. The first two weeks of a seedlings life may very well determine its eventual sex. For example, in a sub-standard enviroment, a plant would be more prone to producing male flowers, so its pollen can get away from the bad area. Sweetspots are reserved for females, casue they just sit there and drop the genes in the best spot.
HID lights kill the humidity more than CFL's, and CFL's can be found in an aray of spectrums perfect for vegging seedlings. Remember you want about 40-60% humidity for seedlings and vegging plants, and 20-40% for flowering.
 
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DiscoBiscuit

weed fiend
Veteran
Light question

Light question

I got my light schedule on at 7am and off at 7 pm, 16 days into flower. Day temps are fine. The night temps are a little chilly ~ 55/60 degrees and I don't have a heat source with a thermostat.



My ph is wacked, I think from the cool temps. I've got what looks like a potassium deficiency, (bottom center) and I don't know what going on, (middle right.) The yellow leaf on the lower left has a reddish hue that is similar to end of flower cycles in late fall. I've also got a nitrogen/magnesium def pretty much throughout. I have a calibrated ph meter and lime in the soil. I water and feed (gh flora/calmag+) 6.5~6.8ph, ~750ppm. The runoff is slightly higher ph, (I guess due to the lime) but no more than 1 to 1.5 points. Oh yea, I'm feeding every other water.

I'm thinking about switching the lights to come on at 7pm. If I understand correctly, I just extend the dark period 12 hours. Does anyone agree? Any additional input is appreciated.

I also thought about turning the exhaust fan off at night to preserve a little heat. I could leave the circ fan going or turn it off as well. Any thoughts?

Can I use gh flora micro and/or Calmag+ as a foliar?
 
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Bulénath

Member
Don't turn off the main ventilation, ever. It is the very heart of your grow, litterally.


55-60 isn't TOO bad, and after all you are growing in soil. however, YES, make the plant's day cycle your nightime. My lights go on between 8pm-8am when it is coolest. That large swing in Day-Night temps is Not Ideal.
But that brings up another thing, what type of soil mix are you using?

If you wana switch the hours, you can go either way, lights on or off, it won't hurt them just this once...



It is hard to say what is going on beacsue I don't know your soil mix, and have no experience with your fertilizer.
Though they look kinda young into flower...Did you remember to hit them with Veg (Nitrogen rich) formula for the first two weeks of flower to support the strech?

If not, it seems like they are deprived of N....Like they wana strech but don't have enough N.


I never used a PH meter or PPM/EC meter when growing in organic soil, while using Pure Blend Pro (boarderline organic, but practically organic). It is not neccessary with an organic soil mix and organic fertilizers, as long as you have the dolomite lime. (strangely I have never used dolomite lime in my Mix!
And correct me if I am wrong but I believe Pure Belnd Pro regulates the PH to an extent?)

6.5PH seems about right for soil. Are your really getting readings above 7.5-8.0 in your runoff?


Pure Blend Pro is a very, very good fertilizer.

You can use strictly PBP for hydro, soil-less, semi-soiless, or straight up soil. That is all I have ever used, along with a potting medium of 1/3 each Perlite/wormcastings/Black Golds Organic Soil-(found at Wal Mart) for flowering plants. Vegging plants I sub the Black Golds soil for some verm. Simple.
 
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DiscoBiscuit

weed fiend
Veteran
Bulenath, thank you for the quick response. I'll leave all fans going and switch the lights. These were my primary concerns and I probably rambled about the ph issues. I could send this problem to the infirmary with a completed report but I'm relatively sure it's the temps.

My mix is pretty basic. I've got ~30% Scott's Top Soil, (no additives) 30%Black Kow composted cow manure, 30% perlite, 10% peat and about 2.5 tsp dolomite lime/gallon. (The peat is actually seedling mix with perlite, vermiculite and a low dose of lime.) The peat was an experiment and I guess I got burned, pun intended. I did well last time without the peat and may ditch it in future grows. I wasn't aware that although early seedlings/cuttings do well in peat, they tend to freak when roots begin to establish. I might also consider keeping the peat and upping the lime a half tsp/gallon or so.

GH Flora Grow 2-1-6, Micro 5-0-1 and trace, Bloom 0-5-4. I also add Calmag 1/2 tsp per gallon every other water. While I did use the grow for 10 to 14 days in flower, now I'm doing Lucas (no grow, just Micro/ Bloom with Calmag+.)

I use town water 15 ppm (chlorine evaporated) and water from an underground spring 0.00ppm. This spring water beats any drinking water I've ever tasted. One of my problems is that the spring water is 6.5ph regularly because it's affected by the acid rains we have here. Although 6.5 is good for soil grows, by the time I add any nutrients it lowers to as little as 4.9 with only 750 ppm. Today I had to add a tsp of ph up to a half gallon of feed just to achieve 6.8ph. This pushed my strength above 1000ppm and I had to dilute with spring water and readjust the ph. Town water has swung from ~8ph to 6.5 recently, either due to excessive rain and/or new water technician. When the town water was ~8ph I could mix nutes without adding ph up.

I grew this unknown strain the previous grow and the stretch was 4x. It didn't happen until the third to fourth week so I'm hoping to see stretch soon. I'm considering adding some N but want to see if I've got any lockout/salt buildup first. I've never done organic, not much local variety, chems are cheaper to ship. I have no experience with Pure Blend Pro.

The runoff reading I got today is ~7.05ph so that's only about .015 to .020 upswing. I just hope I've got enough lime to last through flush. The last grow (without peat) and 3 tsp/gallon of lime) I could throw 5.8 to 5.9 ph water/feed in, runoff was as high as 7.5 with no visible problems. Why I fixed something that wasn't broke is a mistake I'm unfortunately familiar with.

I'll consider using Pure Blend Pro in the future, I don't think our local Wally has this stuff in stock now but I'll check. Thanks again for your input. The previous rep I gave you prevents me from doing more right now. I'll keep you on the radar and get you back system permitting. Peace.
 
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Bulénath

Member
Pure Blend Pro isn't at Wal Mart, but Black Golds Organic Soil and Perlite is. And you can find Black Golds Worm Castings near by for sure, if Walmart doesn't already have it with all the Black Gold brand stuff.

PBP is on Ebay for cheap.

Either way, you should really look into worm castings and possibly making/buying a small wormbin for all your kitchen scraps and old newspapers.
They never stink if you take care of them properly, and you will reduce majority of the organic waste you would normally throw out, when normally it would go to a landfill where instead of composting, it will just turn into methane and cause global warming too...

Worm castings are really the best plant food on earth! They are super rich in Nitrogen and Bacteria and are basically what plants love. My seedlings and clones do perfectly in just wormcastings, perlite and vermiculite (33% ea). In that mix, they don't need any fertilizers for the first 14-18 days. After that, just a little PBP and tap water.


In short: The reason why you are having all of these issues with your PH is becasue of the chemicals...That is if I am interpeting your last post correctly and the Ferts you are using are indeed Chemical-based.
I'm sure you already know this, how plants need the micro-culture of bacteria that surrounds the roots. These bacteria convert the all organic material into nutrients the plant can uptake.
When you use Chemicals, you are essentially killing off the Micro-heard of bacteria, and actually force-feeding the plants, like they do to people who paralyzed, and they become dependant on these chemicals to survive. So with chemicals everything has to be just perfect. And from what it seems, it is causing you more trouble than it is worth!-


Did you know that majority of American aggriculture-soil is fucked because of decades of chemical fertilizers?

Certain types of bacteria also found in orgainc soil are said to help children develop certain positive aspects of a healthy immune system.

Going organic is ideal, and your plants and the enviroment and your wallet will thank you.

As for acid rain in the city, it is somehing I have not experienced.
There are good Reverse Osmosis machines if your local tap water is that bad.
Thankfully, the water around here is some of the cleanest in the world.
 
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Bulénath

Member
Foliar feeding is something that confuses me, becasue plants cannot uptake nutrients through thier leaves...

If you spray the leaves with plain water, it helps to prevent transpiration, and so it allows the soil to remain a little more moist, a little longer...
 
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DiscoBiscuit

weed fiend
Veteran
Bulénath said:
In short: The reason why you are having all of these issues with your PH is becasue of the chemicals...That is if I am interpeting your last post correctly and the Ferts you are using are indeed Chemical-based.

You are correct. If I am correct the problem is more closely ph related due to cold temps and a hard to soft (ph) water swing of ~1.5 points

Bulénath said:
I'm sure you already know this, how plants need the micro-culture of bacteria that surrounds the roots. These bacteria convert the all organic material into nutrients the plant can uptake.
When you use Chemicals, you are essentially killing off the Micro-heard of bacteria, and actually force-feeding the plants, like they do to people who paralyzed, and they become dependant on these chemicals to survive. So with chemicals everything has to be just perfect.

You are correct again. Part of accepting chems as a nute regiment involve following the feeding instructions on the bottle. Expert growers would have noticed the symptoms sooner than I did but I think I'll get it fixed with the light switch and the water issue. I could buy distilled water but it's ~6.5 ph as well.

Bulénath said:
And from what it seems, it is causing you more trouble than it is worth!-

Gee thanks, didn't think it looked that bad, lol. I've been pretty successful with the last few grows using GH and I'm fairly confident this one will be no different. I think I've caught it in time thanks in part to your input.

Bulénath said:
Did you know that majority of American aggriculture-soil is fucked because of decades of chemical fertilizers?

You're correct and batting 1000. Chemical abuse is indeed responsible for ag waste. I only mix what I'm ready to use. On the rare occasion I dump a batch, I use it on stuff around the yard, even the runoff. Discarded soil has been flushed during grows so even this is made less of a problem when it's literally put to pasture. I'm all for organic, I just made an all bamboo one hit wonder. Even the glue is organic, horses hoofs I think?.

Bulénath said:
Certain types of bacteria also found in orgainc soil are said to help children develop certain positive aspects of a healthy immune system.

I think I ate some dirt when I was 3. I hope it was organic!

Bulénath said:
Going organic is ideal, and your plants and the enviroment and your wallet will thank you.

With my small grows, I estimate the cost for chemicals to be less than $5 per grow. I'm going to try organic soil some time in the distant future. But first I'm gonna do the dwc thing, with....you guessed it.....chemicals.

Bulénath said:
As for acid rain in the city, it is somehing I have not experienced.
There are good Reverse Osmosis machines if your local tap water is that bad.
Thankfully, the water around here is some of the cleanest in the world.

I'm in the country, about 2800' elevation. We get acid rains from industrial areas to our west. The town water here is pretty good considering it has a whiff of chlorine from the tap. Unanticipated ph swings, (getting lazy with the meter) and cold night temps are what got me in this mess.

I'm glad you have clean water, it's something too many of us take for granted. I've read the old technology coal plants in China and Pacific rim countries contribute to the acid rains we experience here in the states. I guess in your case, living in a rain forest actually dilutes the acid considerably. Some of the lakes in our area suffer in late summer due to drought conditions.

Thanks for taking the time to give me some organic tips, very interesting! When I'm comfortable taking on a new grow method I'll certainly give organic soil mixes and supplements a consideration. Peace
 

SeatleHomegrown

New member
New ICmag Member, fellow 150w grower

New ICmag Member, fellow 150w grower

Hey guys i am on my first grow and i am using the vapor tight from e-conolight, same old story lol, but they work even though its SUPER HOT lol.

here are some pics of my setup and plants


fire bagseed







150w hps

Northern Lights at one week


sweet dreams at one week



It's great to be here guys!!
 
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