600 hps + 400 cmh Purp Stadium. Check it out.

[bobblehead]

Thanks guys! (or gals)

Sometimes it's discouraging when I don't get any feedback. I guess I should just take it as I'm doing ok! ha ha...

I'll keep the updates coming.

So here's the other changes I've made:
I've added 2-3mL Silica Blast to my 6/9 mix, following the Rezipe now instead of Head's (they're pretty much the same, but I use Kool Bloom now). Everything gets it. I'm getting much faster growth with the added silica. It seems that it was the limiting factor. Plenty of fertilizer, 0xygen, the right pH, but not enough silica for optimal cell replication.

I considered running the 400cmh and a 400hps actually. I could easily cool the extra 200w. I decided not to because: #1. I have no clue how old my magnetic HPS ballast is. #2. It was time to replace my CMH lamp. #3. The digital ballasts run cooler than my magnetic, and produce more lumens by firing the lamp thousands of times per a second. And I have brand new USHIO lamps.

I posted it somewhere, idk, clearly not here... I went out, bought the 2 new lumatek adjustable wattage 600w ballasts, w/ USHIO lamps. Apparently it's the best lighting available right now. Plugged them in, and my temps soared to 90+F. I decided that rather than drop the AC temp down and jack up my electric bill, I would just run one lamp. Really I was wasting space, because my plants aren't tall enough right now to absorb all the light. You can't see it by the angle of the shot, but I have some plants stacked up behind the shorter plants. Now that I'm updating again I'll get a shot. I have a Sour Bubble that had some surprising stretch, along with my Sugar Cane Kush. I think the Silica really made a huge difference!

My plan for the next round of flowering... ha ha... well I have 12 C99 that have been vegging for about a month, 12 Straw D x ChemD bx1 that have been vegging for a month, and enough cuts of everything else to fill my space 2x. I'm either vegging in solo cups, and then transplanting to 1 gal bags (I would run 2 levels), or keep trying to grow mini trees with my c99 and straw D. I can fit 5 1 gals in front and back, each side. That or 3-4 3 gal bags per side. Personally I prefer larger plants as opposed to several smaller ones. I think I want to let the c99 and Straw D veg longer, so I can get more cuts for the outdoors. I still have a week or two before I start pulling plants out of flower, so I have some time to make up my mind.

Okay, that's all for now, I have homework to do. Thanks for the encouragement! I really try to do the best I can at everything I do. You'll see my garden improve by leaps and bounds. I'm about the go legal, becoming a caregiver.

 

[bobblehead]

I was just reviewing the last pictures I put up... and I love the difference in the size of the plants in the past 6 weeks! Less watts and more buds. Well, that's not true, cause I have to run the AC all the time...

 

[bobblehead]

and as you can see I'm not using the drip lines... There's just too much variation. Everything has to be hand watered.

 

[synchro.surfer]

and as you can see I'm not using the drip lines... There's just too much variation. Everything has to be hand watered.

When you say too much variation ... Would you also say that some of them get overwatered and some end up underwatered ??

I had assumed that by putting them all on the same schedule they'd adapt ??

Either way - you're looking good in my book ... better than my girls hahaha ...

I'm almost starting to think that in order to get the most out of vert you really need to cram them in there , maybe even with a trellis, SOG style to maximize ... dunno for sure though , not enough experience.

Best of luck BH

 

[bobblehead]

Variations as in I have 2 phenos of Straw D, 4 phenos of Grape Skunk, 3 phenos of c99, 3 phenos of Sugar Cane Kush, purp and sour bubble. All the plants are at different sizes and stages. The Straw D's are so big they need water every day. The Grape Skunks only need water e/o day. The c99's are ready for a flush. Sugar Cane Kush and Sour Bubble are only at about 10 days flowering, as opposed to 4-6+ weeks for everything else.

This is a shootout to see what strains are going to stay in my garden. So far, the purp is gone. It's my lowest yielding plant, and I have a Grape Skunk that smells way more grapey than the purp.

Right now I'm running individual screens, and I love it! It gives me the freedom to move the individual plants around however I want. It couldn't be cheaper! 2 bamboo steaks and some poultry netting.

This is what I'm doing. Those 12 Straw D and 12 C99 I mentioned, I'm letting them veg for height. When I take cuts, from now on they'll be from the side branches. I have 2 plants per bag, so I intend to have 2 baseball bat colas. Bushes are nice, but they take a lot of training, and tend to get wider, not just taller. My next round I'll be cramming the plants in next to each other, and letting them stretch straight up. If I don't use all the big plants, I'll be double stacking 1 gal bags. The bags in the back row will be stacked just above the 1 gal in front of it. You'll see in about 3-4 more weeks.

 

[smokesalot420]

Individual screens? This is exactly what I've been thinking about doing but I can't figure out how to do it.... My set-up is similar to yours, I have many different plants at different stages requiring different feedings at different times. Can you show some closer pictures or an example of the screen please?

 

[bobblehead]

It doesn't get much clear than this pic right here. 2 bamboo steaks, and some poultry netting. You just weave the poultry netting over top of the steaks, and ur done. Far from high tech, but very functional. It makes it easy to tuck fan leaves behind the plants, and direct the branches where you want them to go.

 

[bobblehead]

sirsmokesalot420, I've seen your grow, and I like it! I had actually considered doing something similar, but clearly I opted for my setup. How much of a difference would you say that one horizontal lamp makes? If I did that, I would have to put down a flat of clones in the middle. I'm already considering that, putting a tray of clones in the middle but w/o the overhead lamp. That's for my seed projects.

 

[smokesalot420]

My biggest problem is controlling temps (as you eluded too earlier in your thread as well). I went with the 600 horizontal for 2 reasons.

I have a rectangle area so after making several plans I decided that I would get much more light coverage with the 600 in the middle placed horizontally. It gives most of the tent direct light except maybe a foot on each side. The CMH's are cooler (I used to run a 400W horizontal which was upgraded to 600) then the comparative HPS light and I wanted to try and give the plants a more "true" spectrum so to speak so they flank the HPS on both sides to give the edges light. It seems like flowering times are delayed a few days with the CMH's but I think it adds more trichs. I also have people tell me all the time that my Blue Dream or whatever strain looks different then most; I attribute it MOSTLY to the CMH's but I'm not experienced enough to know if that's it. I am constantly tinkering and trying to improve my final product so there are many variables it could be.

I put my smaller plants on the edges (at a higher elevation) and the larger ones in the middle. Because of the 3 lights there is not much in terms of shaded areas in my tent and I pack em in as tight as I can without effecting quality. The horizontal is air-cooled because the tent has holes that I vent out into the ambient air. I could lower my temps if I vented outside but it's too hard to do atm.

Thanks for the picture and solution to one of my problems with lanky plants! Sorry this was such a long-winded response, I blame the Headband!

 

[bobblehead]

No worries about long responses! If you noticed I do the same... I totally agree that the CMH increases trich production. I also noticed the buds were more leafy. CMH is good, and I would still use them if they ran on digital ballasts. Another benefit of my digital ballast, they're completely silent!

 

[redspaghetti]

wow bobble, buds looking superb there m8! great work!

cheers,
red.

 

[bobblehead]

Thanks for stopping by red. Hopefully I'll have enough space one day soon to set up a room like one of yours!

So I had an idea last night... Since I have an extra ballast laying around, I'm going to rearrange my flower room again! I'm going to run one 600w lamp for 6 hours, and another only 1-2 ft away for 6 hours. I've seen a few grows where guys are alternating every other lamp, with good results. Supposedly because the plant can only use 6 hours of light, and still get the other 6 hours of indirect light. See you in a few days after I'm done with my tests (exams for clarification)!

 

[smokesalot420]

I will be interested in your results!

 

[synchro.surfer]

Did you get that "poultry netting" at the depot ??

 

[bobblehead]

Did you get that "poultry netting" at the depot ??

I did. The best part was I got it like %50 off cause the package was damaged. I was going to get chicken wire, but the poultry netting is WAY BETTER for this application. It's easy to trim with scissors, it's plastic so it's pliable and won't rust.

 

[synchro.surfer]

Nice!

I had noticed the orange bucket in your pic so I took a guess

 

[nukkumatti]

Looking good bobblebro!

Is that strawd x chem bx1 your cross? Flowers look alot like chemd Big with long healthy pistils..Yummi! Is it backrossed to wich parent?
Ahh..Nice with the individual netting..I'm going for similar solution this round



Just need to get some practice

Hope you don't mind bro!

Grow on!!!

 

[Texicannibus]

bobble is it not possible to elevate the sides/bulb and have room for a few plants under the bulb as well? Not real familiar with stadium grows so apoligies if I sound ignorant.

 

[csedge]

Looks great Bobble love see others in my area do it good n legal.

 

[Penguin59]

This setup is so cool man, i've always wanted to hang my HPS bulb vertically with no reflector and just let it unleash on the plants haha. Keep up the good work!

Penguin