ReikoX's Workshop 2017

[ReikoX]

I've been thinking about doing a couple of upgrades to the storage cabinet. I would like to upgrade the lights and build a no-till bed. I updated the sketch to include these changes.

Here is what I have in mind for the light:
4x Cree CXB3590 3000k @36v
4x 140mm Noctua NF-A14 FLX fans
1x HLG 240H C1750B Meanwell driver
1x 2A switching power supply (for fans)
1x 5.886" x 30" extruded heat sink
Will also need some miscellaneous wires and resistors etc for dimming. This totals around $450 - $500 for the complete light (maybe more depending on shipping). This should be around 280 watts from the wall. It is not a huge difference in wattage, but they should be a much better quality of light.

I'm on the fence about the light, I overpaid for my current lights and they work just fine. I am currently running two BlackStar Chrome 180w. They each pull about 110 watts from the wall. My cabinet is roughly 4.5 square feet (33"x20"), so as is I'm almost exactly 50 watts per square foor. The purple color does bug me though.

The no-till bed is going to require some research, so I will likely just use 5 gallon smart pots for this next round.

What do you all think? Is it worth the time/money for either of these upgrades? Let's face it, there is only a certain amount of product that can be grown in this space, thought I don't think I'm anywhere near that limit yet. Then again, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

 

[blynx]

Do the light upgrade... or you could always build another cab

In a no till bed, do you cut the plants down at soil level leaving the rootball and then digging new holes and putting the next round's plants in?

 

[ReikoX]

Do the light upgrade... or you could always build another cab

In a no till bed, do you cut the plants down at soil level leaving the rootball and then digging new holes and putting the next round's plants in?

That's the theory anyway. I think it may not be very advantageous in a micro setting.

 

[ReikoX]

The Zak Haze in the filing cabinet is still going nuts. I had to do more training and lowered the pot another two inches.

I also cleaned out everything below the tomatoe cage for better airflow and try to slow down her stretch.

A little birdie told me they had some Skywalker OG cuttings available today. I got two Skywalker OG and two Sinmint Cookies, then I took them home and butchered them for my micro cloner.

 

[Tbonegrower]

I love cab upgrades!

What is your anti-infection regimine on new clones?

 

[ReikoX]

I love cab upgrades!

What is your anti-infection regimine on new clones?

I'm still debating the light. In the end, it's only like 50-60 watts more light than I have, though I'm sure they are more efficient.


Let's see... according to the specs, my BlackStar is 2,400 lm and runs at 130 watts, so that's 18 lm/watt. That seems really low, even with both combined at 4,800 lm at 260 watts. A 250 watt HPS is 19,000 - 25,000 lm.

Hmm... the specs for the Cree COBs are 133 lm/watt at 2.4 amps, probably more efficient at the 1.75 amps. So let's see, the 250 watts driver * 133 lm is 33,250 lm.

If I'm reading this right, I think I just convinced myself! Are they really that much more efficient? It even bests the HPS.


Haha, my new clones regiment is to challange Karma.
Honestly though, I used neem and SM-90 as preventative in veg. I thought about scoping them but didn't bother. So far I've gotten three different clones from different places and haven't seen anything except gnats. *knocks of wood*

 

[Tbonegrower]

I think you be surprised by the benefit of the no-till bed. I have found that even re-using a pot for a second round by cutting the old plant off, and planting a new clone a few inches from the old plant. The second plant always yields and is happy, so I figure it must work pretty well.

Take a look at how Avinash.Miles does the kiddie pools. The explaination given makes a lot of sense. Why limit 5 plants to 5 gallons of soil each, when you can give all 5 access to 25 gallons. Seems like a decent plan.

 

[exploziv]

I think you be surprised by the benefit of the no-till bed. I have found that even re-using a pot for a second round by cutting the old plant off, and planting a new clone a few inches from the old plant. The second plant always yields and is happy, so I figure it must work pretty well.

Take a look at how Avinash.Miles does the kiddie pools. The explaination given makes a lot of sense. Why limit 5 plants to 5 gallons of soil each, when you can give all 5 access to 25 gallons. Seems like a decent plan.

This could be expressed in an even easier way. Try to work with nature and like nature, instead of against what nature usually does.

 

[ReikoX]

I think you be surprised by the benefit of the no-till bed. I have found that even re-using a pot for a second round by cutting the old plant off, and planting a new clone a few inches from the old plant. The second plant always yields and is happy, so I figure it must work pretty well.

Take a look at how Avinash.Miles does the kiddie pools. The explaination given makes a lot of sense. Why limit 5 plants to 5 gallons of soil each, when you can give all 5 access to 25 gallons. Seems like a decent plan.

Yeah, I've been watching Avanish.Miles for a while now. I have done "no-till" in 5 gallon with no problem, but the when I tried it with that Bubba Kush S1, I killed it. So, it still needs some tuning.

This could be expressed in an even easier way. Try to work with nature and like nature, instead of against what nature usually does.

While I agree with your philosophy, there is nothing natural about growing cannabis sinsemilla indoors. I strive to emulate it as best as possible though.

Ive been watching.the Weed Nerd and its made me want to mix up a batch of super soil and try water only organics. Right now I feed with homemade FPE. I just setup the next round, so the bed will wait a bit while I finish my research.

Still debating the light. I think I will.start saving and slowly buying the parts I need for it. On paper, it seems like a huge improvement in efficiency!

The totals for the auto flowers are in. After removing the fan leaves and hanging them for a week, they went into paper bags for another week. They were put in jars and weighed. This week I broke it all down and removed the seeds. From the original 154 grams I got:
74 grams of seeds
56 grams of ground up cannabis
8 grams of stems
5 grams of immature seeds
2 grams of kief

I had at least a couple of joints from each one to sample. That should make up for the missing nine grams.

I took the 2 grams of kief and pressed it out into 1 gram of rosin. It's a pretty tasty mix and the multiple varieties make a complex high. It's pretty sedating, but I let them go a bit long to let the seeds mature. I'll be making some bubble hash this weekend with the ground up cannabis. I know there are a few small seeds mixed in there, so I don't want to press the bud directly.

 

[Tbonegrower]

I sort of started out with the water only super soil. I say sort of, because I must have done something wrong (I think I undernuted)... Most everything was a bit deficient. I ended up adding just a little bit of nutes to the mix, and I have been pretty happy ever since. Lately I have been playing with the nute mix a little bit, so that everything plays a little nicer with the pumps and whatnot. Right now I am running like 400ppm of Maxibloom, and about 200ppm of others (SSU, Mammoth P, and Crystal Burst). The rest is handled by the soil. They seem to like it so far.



I would love to add some COBs to the setup as well, and I likely will after we find\move into our house. Apartment life sucks!


Nice pull on the seeds! You have any of the crosses you were looking forward to the most?

 

[ReikoX]

They all had a similar scent and flavor, Cannabis with some fruity undertones. La Diva added a hint of funk to that and was the most potent. I smoked the most joints of this one. So I am the most excited for these.

The Ultraviolet #1 was the most colorful one and was the most NLD leaning. I would like to find a good male from this line and hit up my CBD Juanita in an attempt to make an auto version.

Lots of seeds to be given to the brotherhood for testing.

 

[Tbonegrower]

I am currently hunting for a house. After I am able to move, there will be some serious bean popping. I have aspirations to make an OG x Durban cross, as well as an OG x Zamaldelica cross as well.

Crossing your favs onto to make new stuff is just a good time!

 

[ReikoX]

Double, double tool and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.

Tonight we will be making some bubble hash in the kitchen! I am using a cheap 1-gallon, 4-bag set. I like to use a two gallon bucket with ice to mix in. It's much easier than a one gallon paint can. I am using a brew paddle to stir. The long handle makes stirring easier due to leverage. The source material is 56 grams of ground up auto flowers (deseeded).

Normally I would do a single run, then dry the rest and use it for cooking. I have been reading about Frenchy Cannoli's methods and decided to do multiple gentle runs like he did. Boy was I surprised at how much more hash I got with multiple washes. No wonder my edibles made with the leftovers were so good. First run on the left, 160u on top, 73u in the middle, and 25u on the bottom. Notice I dropped the 73u on the last wash.

Everything was put in the freezer then microplaned over parchment. It is now drying on my screens. The 160u is for cooking. I'm going to make some caramel popcorn for May 4th festivities. The 25u will be pressed into rosin, and the 73u will be hand pressed into French Cannolis. I'm glad I ran the bubble as I found a couple of seeds floating on top.

 

[ReikoX]

From those five autoflower plants i ended up with a total of 7 grams of hash.
2.0 grams kief
0.5 grams 160u
0.8 grams 73u
3.7 grams 25u

Not bad for a seed crop. Tonight I'm going to attempt some caramel popcorn for May 4th.

Zack Haze is at 19 days 12/12 and looking good. Here is a big ole fan leaf!

From the top

And from the side

 

[ReikoX]

Yep, I ordered the parts for the light upgrade. With shipping it was about $525 USD. Here is what they will look like. I still need some wire and a few parts I'll get locally. If parts arive soon enough, I might get this done before moving my next crop in.

Parts list:
CXB3590 3000k 36V - 4@ $54.92 + $8.99 shipping
5.886" x 30" - 1@ $52.20 + $24.71 shipping and handling
HLG 240H C1750B Meanwell driver - 1@ $62.19 + $7.99 shipping
Noctua 140mm NF-A14 FLX - 4@ $21.00
12v 1A power supply - 1@ 5.99
Ideal holder for CXB3590 - 4@ $3.50 + $6.56 shipping

These are US prices and shipping.

 

[blynx]

Very cool!
Are you going to document the build? parts list?

 

[Tbonegrower]

I'm with the B man! That light is gonna be SWEET!!!

 

[ReikoX]

Very cool!
Are you going to document the build? parts list?

Thanks, I'm pretty excited. I will document the build like I do most things in this thread. I am using the same part list I previously posted, but I will add it to the previous post with the drawing for completeness. I have a few ideas what to do with my old lights. Ideally I would like to sell them, but I have another buddy who is looking to start growing. I may gift them to him.

I'm also excited about being able to dim these lights, that should give me more versatility with regards to clones and veg. My PC has the ability to do this, but I never hooked it up. Maybe I'll try it there and throw some seedlings in there.

I just got an email saying my COBs have shipped.

 

[ReikoX]

I made some Hashy Caramel Popcorn for May 4th movie night. Next time I will add some sea salt and some nuts to it. It came out beautifully.

Ingredients

• 1 gram decarboxylated hash
• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 quarts popcorn (1/2 cup kernels)

Directions

• Heat oven to 250° F
• In two shallow baking dishes split the 5 quarts of popcorn and place them in the oven while it's heating.
• In a thick bottomed pan, melt the butter then stir in corn syrup, brown sugar, and salt.
• Bring to boil, stirring constantly.
• Let boil for four minutes without stirring.
• Remove from heat and add the baking soda, vanilla, and hash.
• Pour the caramel over the popcorn to coat.
• Bake in the oven for one hour, stirring every fifteen minutes.

I decided I would pop my Jillybean seeds from TGA. Out of the five, four popped. They got a bit stretchy and were up against the top of the seedling dome. So I took it off. This morning they looked worse for wear, so I transplanted them and put them in the PC. I put a plastic bag over them to give a bit of humidity until I see the first set of real leaves. I will probably veg these in here until I can get clones off of each one. Then I will most likely switch this to 12/12 and sex the seed plants. Depending on how many females I get, I may just leave them in here to flower.

 

[El Tigre]

ReikoX the way you document all cool things you do is a bomb! Growing, buildind, extractions, food!! Very useful and consistent everytime