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

[hoosierdaddy]

You need to use different water for sure.
I assume you are renting and this isn't your softener. If it were yours, you would surely known about it. Is it actually under your care? If it is, don't put any more salt in it and your water may be fine. it may have a bypass...if so use it.

2.5gal containers of distilled water from the grocery works great. Just check the pH of the first batch and it will normally always be the same if you stay with the same brand.
Store brands are best to use.
If the water softener is actually being maintained, then you need to get your water elsewhere.

 

[blwd67]

Its complicated, but basically I can do whatever I want to anything in this house. I would say the softener has not been maintained in upwards of a year, the family member who installed it just happened to mention this when I commented on the general hardness.

I'll get some pics up when I can, but basically both plants are displaying slightly burnt tips along with yellowing of the leaf margins on fan leaves. The Ice is actually showing pretty severe necrosis between the veins on fan leaves, I would say all but the newest will for sure die. From myreading I am gathering a pretty severe K issue, caused by one or more issues with the water. I thought I was ^so lucky to have well water....

On another note, I bought the ducting and booster fans for my cool tube, just need to get the actual tube now and something to use for brackets and other random things. Hoosier thanks for all the guidance, I watered heavily with distilled water last night, I'll just use that exclusively from now on. It sucks not having a legit tap water supply. Does a Pur or Britta filter do anything worthwhile?

 

[blwd67]

Hey where did everyone go? I flipped my lights last night, didn't do any sort of 36h dark period or what have you. Still working on the vertical 150, actually working on the money to work on the 150. It's not a bad life being a poor student type, except when it is.

 

[Bueno Time]

Unfortunately both my Belladonnas that I vegged for 5 weeks and the two clones from each of them were all males. I kept the biggest clone I had going for pollen collection and killed the other 5. What a shame...but it is the game...

On a positive note I am looking at harvesting two of my autos in 1-2 weeks max and another in 2-3 weeks max. Also germinating my last two White Dwarfs and ordered 2 Blue Himalaya Diesels 1 Snowryder and 1 Auto AK47 and got two freebies the Dinafem Roadrunner and Haze all 6 beans are autos. After my second adventure here with autos I think I will be doing some regular photoperiod strains again. Just sucks that I tried DWC and got root rot two grows in a row and then two males this time. Only successful grow since I last grew 5 years ago or so will be the harvest coming up in a couple weeks. I have one of my White Skunk seeds going already it is working on its 3rd set of leaves and about 4 days old. We will have to wait and see if it turns out to be a male or female. All my autos are feminised so not much worry of males there which is good I guess.

 

[callemann]

First grow! 150whps DR40

First grow! 150whps DR40

D

 

[hoosierdaddy]

Looks good.
I would suggest just taking the fan leaves with the heavy necrosis off the plant. They aren't going to transmit much health in their condition and they are blocking light from healthy leaves.
I notice you have a couple that have stretched up past the others. I would think about tying them down (or suppercropping if you are real brave) so that the canopy of buds is near equal height. You could then lower the light and help to fatten up the rest of the buds. Larger lights may well allow the lower ones to get fat, but with a small lamp they need every bit of light you can give them.
I sure wouldn't worry about slamming them with extra nutes or anything to increase buds, they are what they are and will do what they do. You could screw them up if you overfeed them now. Maybe just stick with what you are doing, and at about two weeks before they finish cut off all nutes and just feed clean water.
If you just remain patient you will have your first successful grow.

 

[blwd67]

I think they look real good, man. That cab is money.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Hi everybody.

I started my first grow a few weeks ago, and now that the time is getting closer and closer to harvest, I have a few questions.

First of all, I do not know exactly how many days the two girls have been flowering at 12/12. Both due to sloppyness and because I only vegged for a week at 20/4 so I didnt think it would be any use to count. I also do not have a pocket microscope, so i do not know the trichome colors.

My setup is a 150w hps with a digital ballast(completely silent and cool) in a dark room 40(40cm x 40cm x 120cm) with a carbon filter and a 170cfm inline fan. It all resides in my closet and is quite stealth. The girls are magus genetics warlock(left) and motavation(right). Even though it doest show in the picture, none of the pistill hars has started to be come red/brown.


the dr with closet opened.


door open


carbon filter


Closer look on the girls


main cola left



close up on flowering tops(branches)


lower canopy


some of the lowest fan leaves(and smaller leaves) as well as two of to higher fan leaves(which were touching the sides) have started to wilt and brown. Had to remove a few during the grow.

So my question to you, the experts, are: How does everything look?

Do you know of any immediate improvements i could do?

Nice hardware and plants. I know you've got the tip burn/wilt going on but that can be fixed. The other poster is right, tying down those tall stalks and lowering the lamp will increase yield. Looks like you've got a smaller than typical footprint but light intensity will be better as a result. Heat will increase but that honkin' fan ought to take care of temps.

Do you think I need more/less fertilizer?(i use canna terra flores every other watering)

If you're (plain) watering between feedings, I'd imagine you're not overfeeding. Check Canna's web-site for strength charts if you don't have an EC meter. You can always back off and feed every third watering and see what happens. If the problem doesn't get any better, I'd suspect a micro def due to low pH. Measuring the runoff pH will help determine if your soil is too hot. If you didn't lime your (soil mix?) prior to growing, IMO it's a pH issue.

Heat could be causing some of the curl but there's not enough to really suspect heat at this point. If lowering the lamp makes things worse, heat could be a factor. A pc fan blowing between the canopy and the bulb will help temps.

Does anything look wrong?

Other than the lamp being to high for a 150, no. The tip burn could progress and affect yield or it might subside. IMO, it's limited to excessive heat (doubtful) or it's pH related. It is interesting that leaves touching the tent are affected but it might be coinkydink.

How long do you think it will be before harvest?

Check with the breeders for estimated flower times and subtract the few weeks they've already spent in flower. Pistils will wither and die, often a sign that finish is near. Trich color is the indicator and I'm glad to see you'll have a scope at the ready.

And one of my main concern is that all my buds seem a bit small(so far), so do you think they will swell up some more? and is it anything I can do to help the process?

How much is strain and environmentally dependent. If you get the condition fixed or minimized, I think you'll have some fine looking buds when you get the lamp lowered. If you've only been flowering a few weeks, you might have two months or more to finish. That's lots of time for buds to swell.

Bigger buds need bigger roots. Minimal veg times and too small a pot can leave you with less than acceptable harvests. Check the root ball when harvested. Some strains will root sufficiently in flower, despite minimal or no vegging. It's just a matter of having a sufficient dirt to canopy ratio. For example, I usually consider one ounce of dry bud per gallon of dirt as acceptable. Some strains will do this with 2 weeks veg and some might need a month. If you're sogging, plant numbers and proximity reduce the need to veg longer as you're harvesting mainly top colas. Fewer plant numbers might need additional veg time to get peripheral buds to swell. You've got a nice canopy going on, wouldn't be surprised to see an impressive harvest. Especially the first grow.

How many grams would you guess this would become?

That's a tough one. Lowering the light and barring any further health issues, I wouldn't be surprised if you get 2 to 2.5 ounces. That's just a guess.

What do you think is the cause of the wilting/browning leaves?

I'm guessing incorrect pH. If you're growing in soil, I find that 6.5 to 6.8 pH works well. Your numbers might vary but I'd guess your mix is a little too hot or your water quality might be suspect.

That was alot of questions, but it's my first grow and I really don't know what I'm doing here. I'm planning on getting a trichome spotter for the harvest at least. What I really need to know is what i need to start doing, and what I need to stop doing, and what I need to change. It's a learning experience and you guys seem to be the most experienced guys out there.
Thanks alot!

I'd just feed until ~2 weeks before chop and go with plain water after that. A little molasses the first week of plain waterings might help reduce salts while feeding a bit of sugars, that's up to you. Keep it up, you'll prolly have some good bud when its done.

EDIT: In case I forgot to mention, runoff is beneficial when top watering. Ten to fifteen percent runoff helps to reduce buildup. Of course it makes a mess but if you can corral the runoff, you'll like the results.

 

[callemann]

D

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

I like to run the fan 24/7 but it's your call. Maybe you'll get the chance to compare and see what you like best. If temps are no problem, a speed controller will lower the noise as well as some air flow. IMO, 50% humidity is fine. If I did the math right, you've got better than 90 watts of HID per square foot. IMO, that's hard core already and you're fortunate to be trouble-free regarding temps. If you've got space to hang it and can still deal with temps, give it a try but keep a close eye on everything. I'm not sure if there's such a thing as too much light, plant distance and whether your hardware can handle it prolly matter at least as much.

 

[Bueno Time]

The White Skunk is a week old today looking pretty good. The two White Dwarf Fems both sprouted today so thats day 1 for the younger dwarf ladies and day 46/42 for the three older White Dwarfs.

I think I am going to be graduating from the 150 club already sadly. I have yet to complete a full grow in my 150 cab and I already know its just not big enough for me. It is roughly 2 sq ft in size and the pvc intakes take up a good third of the floor space in there so Im left with only 15x15" square of floorspace in my cab thats only got 2.16 sq ft of space already. I can fit two decent sized plants in there flowering or maybe 4 autos if Im lucky.

My Homebox showed up yesterday finally but it is smaller than what the guy said it was and it is the Homebox S 32"x32"x63" (he said Homebox L 39.5"x39.5"x78.75"). Now I am just waiting on my 600w aircooled light setup to show up (its the purple Lumatek 600w ballast, 600w HPS bulb, and a 6" aircooled reflector).

Still should be pretty damn nice rockin about 3.3x the amount of floor space and almost 3-4x the amount of light depending on if I run at 600w or 400w! I will finally be able to have the quantity and variety that I want/need. I am severely limited on my space right now so at best I could run 2 different strains now. With the tent I should be able to run 4 strains easily if not more and not to mention harvest a shitload more.

But I do intent to keep my 150 cab going even if it is being used as a veg chamber in the future because the 150 HPS really is an amazing little light and 150 cabs are super fun to set up and run and also super stealth if done right. Thats one huge thing thats keeping me from putting the tent up is that its just not stealth and I will just have to deal with that...

Best wishes 150ers! You guys rock!

 

[StoneElemental]

I'm still eager to jump back into growing again, never have I had felt more peace in my life. I also still want to try out this 150w idea I keep daydreaming and plotting hahaha. Things haven't been going very well for me to start back up but you better believe I'm still going to be lurking and working to get back to my favorite hobby. Take care everyone and happy growing!

-S.E.

 

[blwd67]

I am in just over 1sqft but almost three feet of head space. I decided to put the 150 back on top for the time being. I just switched to 12/12 three days ago and cfls were not cutting it.. Plants have had their fair share of newbie issues, and look as such; still, I think that what bud I get and the knowledge I gained was worth the effort and risk.

I have the light mounted on top as before, but this time I placed a glass pain underneath as a heat barrier. Temps were like ridiculous before so we see if this helps. D

Does anyone know how the glass/thickness effects lumens/ spectrum? The glass is about 3/8" thick.

 

[BC Chronic]

Hey everyone!!
My cab is running great now which is a good thing for sure...with the scrubber(and the ballast still inside) temps are a steady 79 and humidity is 39-40%
the TW is coming along nicely and I even got 2 clones so far!!

another week(what do you all think??) and it should be a good time to flip...the Fimming was a faliure too..I did something wrong but thats okay...
Take care everyone

 

[callemann]

D

 

[Bueno Time]

Basically the light loses intensity as it travels further from the lamp. It also loses alot of energy/intensity each time it bounces off walls and whatnot.

Having a light enclosed in a small space definitely helps get the most out of the light but by the time it bouces off the walls and reaches the lower parts of the plants it has lost most of its intensity.

I keep my 150 bulb without a cooltube roughly 3-4 inches from my buds and they love it just gotta make sure the air is flowing well with fans. I have two 80mm pc fans zip tied together so they blow across the bulb towards the exhaust and a 120mm pc fan blowing over the bulb from tip to base.

If you have a hard time believing that the light loses a massive amount of intensity as it bounces off walls then look at the side of your plant that is below the well lit canopy. You can see it easily so its getting good light right? Some areas might be shaded out by other leaves so some spots might be darker right...? Now put a CFL on the side of your plant and holy cow thats alot more light intensity there since it is directly shining at the side of your plant now it doesnt need to bounce off walls to get there.

I am not good at explaining things and I am high so I might some completely retarded or I might make sense but I hope I helped!

 

[Bueno Time]

O yeah and another thing you can try thats easy to do in a few seconds. Put your hand so the back of it is facing the light. Raise and lower your hand toward and away from the light and notice how intense or bright the light looks on your hand. The closer you get to the bulb the more intense that energy is that is being emitted.

You could almost think of it (the light) as being diluted by open air as it travels distance from the bulb. Kinda like 1 cup of something per gallon. Now with the same amount (1 cup) added to more gallons it loses its concentration or intensity even though it is still the same amount you started with.

Now im getting pretty out there and I hope I didnt scare anyone LOL

 

[hoosierdaddy]

In all reality, your box walls could be painted pitch black, and you wouldn't see any diminished returns. Or you could have the best of mylar, and not see one bit of improvement.
A 150 just does not have the intensity of a high wattage lamp, and when it bounces off of anything it is pretty much useless.
Also going through thick glass will kill it's intensity.

 

[callemann]

D

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Hey everyone!!
My cab is running great now which is a good thing for sure...with the scrubber(and the ballast still inside) temps are a steady 79 and humidity is 39-40%
the TW is coming along nicely and I even got 2 clones so far!!

another week(what do you all think??) and it should be a good time to flip...the Fimming was a faliure too..I did something wrong but thats okay...
Take care everyone

The plant looks good. Hard to tell how long it'll take when scrogging basically puts the brakes on aggressive growth. We want it to grow out but the plant(s) want to grow up.

Basically, if you need lateral growth, keep the terminal nodes tied low. Keeping lateral growth tied down will encourage the terminal nodes to become aggressive again. Alternating at the right places helps keep the canopy flat. Unfortunately it takes the plant longer to fill the screen as opposed to tying down a big plant (which isn't always easy to do either.)

My first and only scrog had too many nodes. Fewer nodes would have helped light penetration and bud swelling.

I look forward to more pics.