Putting the flower room into overdrive. 1110 Watts quantum boards + 2000 Watts HPS

[jonnynobody]

I finally finished all of the electrical work in my flower room, painted the walls, and installed proper light proofing material between the joists. Installed a new door, because I trashed the last one and it would no longer close properly. Revamped my HVAC and cleaned everything up nicely. Lined the floor with 6 MIL plastic sheeting. I would opt for a heavy duty tarp next time. The plastic sheeting tears easier than I thought and was a poor choice as a floor covering. I've never torn a hole in my grow room tarps before, so back to tarps. They are twice the cost, but clearly worth it.

I moved 19 or 20 plants into the flower room under a 660w quantum boad I got from Alibaba with LM301b chips and Mean Well drivers and a 450w quantum board (spider farmer brand). They'll start the 12/12 flower cycle tomorrow and I will then fire up my two 1000W HPS hortilux lamps for a combined total power of 3110 Watts. This is my first time flowering with an LED light. So far I am impressed with the vegetative growth. The nodes are much tighter than what I'm use to seeing in vegetative growth under my T5.

Here are the pics of the 2 lights up and running. The Alibaba unit is significantly more intense than the spider farmer. I plan to add a co2 burner with PPM controller after the next harvest. I estimate that upgrade will cost about $500, but I hear you can increase production by 40%. Hopefully that's true.

 

[Ebenezer Kong]

Looking good! Is the room sealed?

 

[jonnynobody]

Looking good! Is the room sealed?

No co2 until the next flower cycle. I could buy the burner now, but adding on a $200 controller puts me over budget presently. Just a lot of air circulation for now.

 

[JoeBlow5823]

You gonna top those girls?

 

[jonnynobody]

You gonna top those girls?

I've been so busy processing the last harvest and remodeling that I haven't done anything to them for the most part. I have to strip the under growth on all of them tomorrow and take clones of the maui waui. Instead of topping them I'll bend over the tops and spread the branches apart with stakes and garden ties. Think of what a plant would like like if she were laid out spread eagle. I'll take pics tomorrow to show what they look like after I have my way with them The canopy is a bit of an uneven mess currently. I'll fix that tomorrow and post pics

 

[JoeBlow5823]

I've been so busy processing the last harvest and remodeling that I haven't done anything to them for the most part. I have to strip the under growth on all of them tomorrow and take clones of the maui waui. Instead of topping them I'll bend over the tops and spread the branches apart with stakes and garden ties. Think of what a plant would like like if she were laid out spread eagle. I'll take pics tomorrow to show what they look like after I have my way with them The canopy is a bit of an uneven mess currently. I'll fix that tomorrow and post pics

O yeah you know what your doing. Carry on soldier.

 

[Ebenezer Kong]

No co2 until the next flower cycle. I could buy the burner now, but adding on a $200 controller puts me over budget presently. Just a lot of air circulation for now.

Gotcha! I was more asking if the room was sealed already if if that was still on the to do list. I saw the window in the background and was wondering if you had tackled all that already.

 

[jonnynobody]

Gotcha! I was more asking if the room was sealed already if if that was still on the to do list. I saw the window in the background and was wondering if you had tackled all that already.

Oh I gotchya. Yes. I used this foam paneling called Foamular at home depot. 4'x8'x1/2" thick for $12.97 each panel. I drive a compact car. Had to buy a $10 husky insulation knife. I laid it out in front of the store and cut it up into more managable pieces. I got more than a few chuckles from the fellas walking by me who clearly knew the problem I was facing as they all hopped into their pickup trucks. I can't say enough good things about this material. Thick, cheap, and oh so easy to work witg. I'm lining my whole grow room floor with these panels before wenter when my next flower cycle ends. It will very nicely insulate the floor and for under $50 to cover the whole room. Love this foamular.

 

[Ebenezer Kong]

I'm lining my whole grow room floor with these panels before wenter when my next flower cycle ends.

Ah yes anyone who’s grown had probably had to do a little parking lot modification to get the gear home haha! Nice.
I was using 3/4 in rubber horse stall mats under my tents when I was growing in those. Since I’ve switched to raised tables I built for tray mobility.

 

[jonnynobody]

Ah yes anyone who’s grown had probably had to do a little parking lot modification to get the gear home haha! Nice.
I was using 3/4 in rubber horse stall mats under my tents when I was growing in those. Since I’ve switched to raised tables I built for tray mobility.

Raised tables sound very nice. Less bending over.

I kicked on the two 1000W HPS lamps last night. Temps stable at 79. Today the plants all responded beautifully. The leaves are all praying to the light. I was a little concerned it would be too much, but they appear to be enjoying the combination of HPS and LED spectrum of light. I have the AC set to kick on if temps climb past 81, but so far I haven't seen temps exceed 79. It's very bright.


I installed a split at my RO unit output and ran 1/4" PEX to a float valve on my 32 gallon reservoir in the flower room. I added a shut off valve, so I can disconnect the reservoir for cleaning after each water cycle. Then I return it, reconnect, and open the valve. The reservoir then auto fills for me. Much easier. Cheap too. Under $30 in supplies. Already had the float valve.

I cut clones today too. I'll snap pics tomorrow. Ran outta time today. Tomorrow is training and stripping day. Not looking forward to it, but it has to be done. I'll snap some pics when it's all done.

 

[jonnynobody]

Finally clipped 24 clones of maui waui and they're rooting in the cloner now. Due to the heat wave I had to dial my two 1000's and the spider farmer down to 50%. The other LED is further away from the two 1000's, so I did not have to dial that unit down. 3 maui's experienced minor light burn on a couple of fan leaves. I suspected the canopy temperature was much higher than where I had my temp gauge located. Based on that concern I relocated the hygrometer to directly under the two 1000's zip tied to a stake to ensure an accurate reading. Within 10 minutes the temperature shot up to 86 which is when I reduced lighting power. I also discovered a leak at my AC exhaust. The screw in connector at the unit was off track dumping hot air into the room. Fixed. After seeing the forecast I thought I better beef up my air circulation in the room so I added a very high powered fan to the corner of my room directly above the AC. Temps stable at 81. After the heat wave ends by next week I will crank up the volume again. At this point there are no flowers, and no reason to over do it with light intensity. After week 3 is when I like to max out light intensity through the end. I sure do miss taking summers off. This has been a through and through pain in the dick. Even with AC heat waves still make everything more difficult. I was ready for winter last month. Tomorrow I will take a few more clones to clean up below the canopy and post some more pics.

24 maui waui's



Baby maui's



New commercial electric branded fan suspended from the ceiling above the AC unit


Relocated hygrometer in the center of the canopy.

 

[GrOwThMoNgeR]

You're using the white stones to reflect light up to the bottom branches? I'm really interested to see this grow and the effect of hps/led as I am currently using led but adding an hps as well. Your room looks great, the green bulb for off-cycle too. Nice!

 

[jonnynobody]

You're using the white stones to reflect light up to the bottom branches? I'm really interested to see this grow and the effect of hps/led as I am currently using led but adding an hps as well. Your room looks great, the green bulb for off-cycle too. Nice!

#4 mother earth chunky perlite is my preferred medium. Sterile, inert, lightweight, and reasonably priced. Perfect for hydro and easy to haul in and out of the garden. Any light reflection is minimal and doesn't affect flower production. It's just the right product to grow in hydroponically. I have since switched to hydroton clay pebbles due to a shortage of #4 recently. Much heavier material, but it works great and was available. Thanks for the kind words. It took a lot of work over a couple of years to get the garden where it is now. Keeps me busy and motivated. Extra cheddar is always nice too. We all love our cheese

 

[jonnynobody]

Just gave them all a haircut today. They were overdue by a week. Filled 3 five gallon buckets of scraggly lower branches and leaves that were blocking flower sites. The canopy is even and beautiful now. All growth beneath the canopy has been removed. All plants that were too small to reach the canopy have been placed on 5 gallon buckets to raise them into the canopy. This is my first time running this many plants in my flower room. I feel like I've got it setup for success as best I can. I need to buy another batch of stakes. The maui waui's are very leggy and almost all of the branches require support. It pays off in the end. It's the heaviest yielding strain I've grown.

The following strains are in the flower room currently:
Maui waui, black widow, and hash plant. I'm very excited to see the results on the black widow. I've never grown a widow strain before, and so far it's shaping up nicely with a unique aroma.




And a shit ton of maui waui clones. I am eliminating hash plant after this cycle. It's a terrible yielding strain. The bud is good, but it's just not a producer. GG#4 hit 3 pounds with only 9 plants under 2k HPS. I put 2 clones in each container, so technically you could say it was 18 plants. I ran 12 hash plants under the same lights and hit 2.25. Strain selection is very important. In the nursery I have Jager, Girl Scout Cookies, Moonshine Haze #1 X ghost train haze #1, critical mass, black widow, and maui waui. I have blue dream seeds on standby from seedsman that I will germinate 2 of tomorrow. I am being much more selective and careful of my strain selections moving forward.

 

[HydroKid239]

I finally finished all of the electrical work in my flower room, painted the walls, and installed proper light proofing material between the joists. Installed a new door, because I trashed the last one and it would no longer close properly. Revamped my HVAC and cleaned everything up nicely. Lined the floor with 6 MIL plastic sheeting. I would opt for a heavy duty tarp next time. The plastic sheeting tears easier than I thought and was a poor choice as a floor covering. I've never torn a hole in my grow room tarps before, so back to tarps. They are twice the cost, but clearly worth it.

I moved 19 or 20 plants into the flower room under a 660w quantum boad I got from Alibaba with LM301b chips and Mean Well drivers and a 450w quantum board (spider farmer brand). They'll start the 12/12 flower cycle tomorrow and I will then fire up my two 1000W HPS hortilux lamps for a combined total power of 3110 Watts. This is my first time flowering with an LED light. So far I am impressed with the vegetative growth. The nodes are much tighter than what I'm use to seeing in vegetative growth under my T5.

Here are the pics of the 2 lights up and running. The Alibaba unit is significantly more intense than the spider farmer. I plan to add a co2 burner with PPM controller after the next harvest. I estimate that upgrade will cost about $500, but I hear you can increase production by 40%. Hopefully that's true.

View attachment 4645615

View attachment 4645617

View attachment 4645619

That's a sexy pack of misfits ya got there.

 

[GrOwThMoNgeR]

I noticed you staked them so early, does this help reduce the shock when they bend about during flower? I've been staking just one and tying the branches to the main stake that I tie to the main stem. Would you say this technique yields higher? Widow genetics have done me well but the effect is a bit paranoia so I've discontinued.

 

[jonnynobody]

I noticed you staked them so early, does this help reduce the shock when they bend about during flower? I've been staking just one and tying the branches to the main stake that I tie to the main stem. Would you say this technique yields higher? Widow genetics have done me well but the effect is a bit paranoia so I've discontinued.

Each strain is staked for different reasons. The maui waui's are sativa dominant and grow long leggy branches that cannot support themselves. This is a common trait in sativa and sativa dominant strains. I manipulate the branches to spread out the flower sites and even the canopy of the plant while also supporting those leggy branches with the stakes. This prevents the plant from growing in a christmas tree shape maximizing yield by allowing light to reach more flower sites on more branches. Now the hash plant is staked off because it's a pure indica and the branches grow in tight clusters with lots of leaves. I spread those tight clusters apart exposing the flower sites at the nodes to more light which leads to higher yields. It's all about exposing as many flower sites to prime canopy lighting as possible. The black widow did not require staking at all due to it's growth pattern. It's got leggy long branching like the maui waui's, but the branches are very strong and self supporting. I just stripped up the bottoms and interior foliage and that was that. Some strains are like that. Super easy to grow and manage. Maui and hash plant both required heavy management. Hash plant produced heavy interior foliage with very tight branching that had to be spread apart. Maui had extremely heavy interior growth and leggy long branches that couldn't support themselves. I used over 50 garden stakes yesterday and I need more. Not one went into a black widow. BW is a very easy strain to grow. Hopefully she produces quality pot.

 

[jonnynobody]

Baby nursery growing for the next flower cycle. All freshly topped today which will making topping #3.

Pineapple express. I actually got this cut from a neighbor. Never met before and got to talking while working in the yard. Before I knew it we were discussing our grow rooms and trading strains. Slow growing, but I have high hopes for this one. I up potted too soon before the roots were properly established. I'm skipping a water cycle to let the roots grow and reach for the water table. Reach they will.



Critical mass. I'm told by a friend who is a commercial grower that this was his highest yielding strain so far. Judging by the branching and bush like structure the plant is taking on I don't doubt his claims. I'm looking forward to seeing the results.




I have 3 girl scout cookies in the nursery. They all look the same.



Tomorrow I will separate the plants. 6 will stay in this tent. 6 will go into another tent of the same size. The branches will be tied down on all sides to create a bush. They will be topped 2-3 more times. The jager plants are taking over the tent. Fucking monsters they are going to be.

 

[jonnynobody]

All freshly topped today. I will be tying the branches down to the sides tomorrow to create a bush growth pattern as I continue to top.

Moonshine haze #1 x Ghost train haze #1. This is my most priced possession in the nursery presently. I ordered a 6 pack of feminized seeds. Germinated 3 and sent 3 to a friend in another state. 2 of mine were duds. This here is the sole survivor. If this one hadn't grown I would have spent $70 for 6 seeds for nothing. Note to self: make sure you have a viable mother before you give the last of your seeds away


Jager. Very leggy. Huge leaves

 

[jonnynobody]

Time to grow some Blue Dream. I ordered from Garden of Green, because I ordered seeds from humboldt seed organization that grew into something that was not even slightly reminiscent of BD. I'm looking forward to better results with GOG's version. It is the best strain I have ever grown or smoked. I hope this batch of seeds recreates that magic.



3 seeds germinating



And my 6" vent screens arrived from the vent store. Very nice. They are designed to insert into a 6" hole. The end of a Vortex power fan is designed slightly smaller than 6" to receive 6" flexible ducting without requiring an additional connector. As a result this screen slips over rather than inside. It works great as you can see. It wasn't tight and it wasn't loose. Just right. Secured with gorilla tape and done. I vent my 2000W of HPS outside my house, and if I were to attach a carbon filter it would significantly reduce cooling of the lights due to the added resistance and reduced air flow. I think I paid something like $12 for 2 of these units. I have a couple of locations where I need these to protect my inline fans from sucking something in causing either a fire, a failed piece of equipment, fried heat stressed plants, or all of the above. I ordered a plastic unit from Amazon that restricted air flow significantly. I had to take it out of service as a result. This unit has zero reduction in air flow due to the large mesh metal design.





My new nozzles arrived for my clone tote 2.0 redesign. I can't recommend Drip Depot more highly. Look at the threads on the nozzles. There are a lot of threads to ensure the nozzles secure to the PVC manifold nicely. Almost every option I could find on Amazon or Ebay were those garbage nozzles that have 2 or 3 threads on them that are total junk. I got 50 high quality nozzles from DD for under $20 delivered. I ordered a mix of 180 degree spray nozzles and 360 degree spray nozzles for the manifold redesign. I'll post pics of the clone tote 2.0 when it's complete in a day or two.