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

[jonnynobody]

Final weight from previous harvest: 3.76#
A significant improvement over last cycle which was 2.75#. Still not where I want it to be though. I was shooting for 4#. What caused the failure to meet goal? Strain selection and plants of different sizes lacking uniformity in the garden. Some plants were very small that weren't intended to be flowered, but I was so disappointed with hash plant that I decided to say fuck it and just flowered out some clones that were intended to be vegged for the following flower cycle. Hash plant was a poor choice to run. I had 8 or 9 in the garden if I remember correctly. No matter how well you grow the strain it just doesn't perform the way maui or black widow does when it comes to weight of the flowers. For instance on my drying net I removed 2 tiers to equal approximately 224 grams of dry flower with hash plant. 1 tier of black widow weighted 172 grams. 2 tiers of dry net would have been 344 grams, but I only had 1 BW in the garden. If I had run more BW 2 tiers would have weighed 344 grams approximately 120 grams more than 2 tiers of dry hash plant. That's a big fucking difference right? The strains we choose to run is one of the most important decisions we will make in our gardens. I ran HP 3 cycles in a row before I conceded that it was a shit strain and flowered out the mother. I realized HP was a shit strain on my last 2 cycles and had every intention of making this flower cycle her last act. I have many more fantastic strains in the flower room this cycle, and moving forward I will be much more careful with strain selection. While I'm still happy with a 1# increase over last cycle I can't help but think if I ran an entire room of black widow I would have hit nearly 5#. Food for thought.

 

[jonnynobody]

Update. 5 more days to go on the veg cycle before the 12/12 flip. All is looking well. Snipped 35 clones today. Mostly girl scout cookies and black widow. Of course I took 5 or 6 moonshine haze x ghost train haze cuts. Also took 2 critical mass and 2 jager cuttings. I only took 1 clone of maui. I want to try some new strains, but I definitely don't want to get rid of it. She's a great producer. Flower room is getting tight. Still have 5 more to put in there. Where? I don't fucking know

 

[hybridway2]

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

All you need is x2 tanks a regulatory & a 15 min timer. For co2. Not big enough for a burner imo.

 

[jonnynobody]

All you need is x2 tanks a regulatory & a 15 min timer. For co2. Not big enough for a burner imo.

I have no desire or time to haul tanks. I'm a little jealous of those that do. I'll be installing a 2 burner natural gaa co2 generator which is sufficient for the flower room.

 

[hybridway2]

Unfortunately I'm sure it's mites. In the past I have never actually seen a mite on a leaf. 5 years ago I found out when I had webs on my buds on what I thought was a routine morning plant inspection. It was the single most horrifying thing I have ever seen in my garden. This time I pulled off 2 leaves that showed the most damage. Lots of eggs on one leaf and then an ugly fucking mite chilling all cozy like sucking the life out of my once lush foliage. The infestation seemed to be localized to one small section, but I sprayed the whole garden to be safe. I assume if I see 1 egg or 1 mite there are a thousands that I didn't see. Here are some pics. Cleaned up the drip tray area and tidied things up a bit. All 3 HID ballasts are operating at the super lumen setting which is a 15% increase in output. The 1000's are operating at 1150 watts and the 600 is operating at 690 watts for a total of 2990 HPS watts. The quantum board is operating at full power at 660 watts. Total wattage over the garden presently is 3650 watts. Maintaining temperatures have been much easier lately since the heat wave has ended. Smooth sailing until next summer.

Hash plant showing some nice flower development.
View attachment 4671452

Venerate. Used this last night full strength @ 5tbsp/gallon. The little bottle of Forbid 4F was purchased on ebay for about $30. I will be using this moving forward for all plants entering the flower room prior to the 12/12 flip. No more mite problems moving forward. I will use the Venerate at 2.5tbsp/gallon every 7 days until harvest in about 30 days.

View attachment 4671456

I buy the sample size 1 oz of Forbid 4F because an 8oz bottle of the stuff is over $200. The maximum application rate is .3ML/gallon. It's incredibly strong and only requires one application. I don't think I have ever even used half of the 1 gallon the .3ML made up. Great value for the $ with incredible knock down power. I can't emphasize this enough: Do not use this if you are already in flower. This is only to be used for plants in veg or plants that are just about to enter the flowering phase. It has a 6 week half life before it metabolizes out of the plant tissue. This is as nasty as you can get for pesticides. Respirator and goggles required.

View attachment 4671459

Blue dream babies moving right along.

View attachment 4671462

Maui waui chunking up. She produces small flowers, but they are rock hard and extremely heavy. They weigh twice as much as a flower of the same size in hash plant. Great for commercial interests. Hash plant sucks donkey dick. Big buds that grow fast, but they do not have the rock hard density or heavy weight of maui.

View attachment 4671463

The canopy.

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Tidied up below the canopy around the drip trays and such.

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Nice grow! You put your work in for sure. Mites love the radiant heat under the hps's n usually why they climb upward. I once made the mistake of using a systematic preventative to prevent pm along with bugs. Puke-Ass, never again. No need to go Nuclear on mites unless fully infested in veg & even then, nothing systematic.
Simple oils do the job. If you would like a recommendation I would suggest Organicide 3-1 at 15ml/gal. Can buy at HomeDepot or anywhere. Kills eggs first shot too & a wide array of buddies. Smells like fish guts but the smell goes away in a few days. I would use up to wk 3. If in flower from week 3-5 I'd use Apocalypse now know as
"Mite N Mildew Washout" . Its just Neem mixed with a saturant & does not separate nearly as bad after mixed. Thats really all you need & is the least offensive alternative i know & would use other then home remedy oils you see online to make. Never did that myself.
Key thing about Mites/bugs is to ALWAYS change into your grow clothes & shoes before entering. NO ANIMALS w/i the facitidy.
Those preventatives that are systemic will catch up to you quickly.

I tried Organicides other bottle that is "SAFE" systemic & it worked. Worked like a bastard to but did not take long for my cuts to get weird. Safe my asss.
Maybe to this day I'm wrong but I swear it caused mutations, clones that won't root & a drippy stem, like drippy dick std. Had to start all over with new genetics.
Just saying, x2 applications of a neem product is all you need to kill the mites, then 3 days later the hatching eggs. Done. Between grows, pump-spray the whole area down with bleach water n clean everything. I also like to run an ozone generator for 24hrs in the sealed room after its clean. Then its ready for plants for me.
Good luck, looking sweet. Loving the original old school strain selection u got there! Peace!

 

[jonnynobody]

A touch of LED light burn on a couple Jager leaves. A couple minor drooping leaves on the new growth. Only the foliage directly under the light was affected. All of the branches that are spread out away from the light have no signs of issues. Reduced power on the 660w board to approximately 40%. When I flower in 5 days I will increase power incrementally over 7 days to 100%. Same as I do for my HID's to orevent shock.


Jager is the only plant that did this. She likes a little lower light intensity. Here's a picture of the whole canopy after staking this morning.

 

[hybridway2]

I have no desire or time to haul tanks. I'm a little jealous of those that do. I'll be installing a 2 burner natural gaa co2 generator which is sufficient for the flower room.

You're right. They do make small ones & what's better then those right? Just plug into any natural gas source n go to town. Would be nice if I didn't have to fill x3 tanks every grow. $15 a tank, no biggie but when they're out of aluminum tanks it's a bit hard in my old age to lug the steel. Haha! I feel ya!
I never even bought the sensor. Just set the gauge, then on a 15 min. Timer. Keeps the room between 1000-1500ppm.
Leds mixed with hps is a good way to go. Best of both worlds & manage to save a little on electricity.
I just grabbed CMH's & am comparing them to my leds now in flower. Might be the combo in the end, right now it's a side by side for lab tests & to see if 900w of led can replace x4 CMH's or will it remain replacing the single 1200w DE fixture? We'll see.
Nice work!

 

[jonnynobody]

Nice grow! You put your work in for sure. Mites love the radiant heat under the hps's n usually why they climb upward. I once made the mistake of using a systematic preventative to prevent pm along with bugs. Puke-Ass, never again. No need to go Nuclear on mites unless fully infested in veg & even then, nothing systematic.
Simple oils do the job. If you would like a recommendation I would suggest Organicide 3-1 at 15ml/gal. Can buy at HomeDepot or anywhere. Kills eggs first shot too & a wide array of buddies. Smells like fish guts but the smell goes away in a few days. I would use up to wk 3. If in flower from week 3-5 I'd use Apocalypse now know as
"Mite N Mildew Washout" . Its just Neem mixed with a saturant & does not separate nearly as bad after mixed. Thats really all you need & is the least offensive alternative i know & would use other then home remedy oils you see online to make. Never did that myself.
Key thing about Mites/bugs is to ALWAYS change into your grow clothes & shoes before entering. NO ANIMALS w/i the facitidy.
Those preventatives that are systemic will catch up to you quickly.

I tried Organicides other bottle that is "SAFE" systemic & it worked. Worked like a bastard to but did not take long for my cuts to get weird. Safe my asss.
Maybe to this day I'm wrong but I swear it caused mutations, clones that won't root & a drippy stem, like drippy dick std. Had to start all over with new genetics.
Just saying, x2 applications of a neem product is all you need to kill the mites, then 3 days later the hatching eggs. Done. Between grows, pump-spray the whole area down with bleach water n clean everything. I also like to run an ozone generator for 24hrs in the sealed room after its clean. Then its ready for plants for me.
Good luck, looking sweet. Loving the original old school strain selection u got there! Peace!

Thanks for the kind words hybridway2 It's definitely a labor of love. I really enjoy watching a plant turn into something out of nothing. It's like watching god work a miracle right in front of your eyes. It never gets old. I might give that Mite N Mildew Washout a whirl. I had some good success with the Venerate CG and Grandevo CG. The stuff is just kinda pricey. It does seem to go a long way though. I have had good luck with neem products in the past such as Azamax. Once tried straight neem oil. Killed all my plants within 3 days. Lesson learned. I don't think the water was hot enough and I should have used a wetting agent. Operator error I'm sure, but it scared me enough to never touch the stuff again. Azamax is a neem product, but it doesn't separate. Great stuff. Cheap too.

 

[jonnynobody]

You're right. They do make small ones & what's better then those right? Just plug into any natural gas source n go to town. Would be nice if I didn't have to fill x3 tanks every grow. $15 a tank, no biggie but when they're out of aluminum tanks it's a bit hard in my old age to lug the steel. Haha! I feel ya!
I never even bought the sensor. Just set the gauge, then on a 15 min. Timer. Keeps the room between 1000-1500ppm.
Leds mixed with hps is a good way to go. Best of both worlds & manage to save a little on electricity.
I just grabbed CMH's & am comparing them to my leds now in flower. Might be the combo in the end, right now it's a side by side for lab tests & to see if 900w of led can replace x4 CMH's or will it remain replacing the single 1200w DE fixture? We'll see.
Nice work!

I've never used a CMH fixture before. I need to buy a new light for my 5'x5'x6.5' nursery tent. Think CMH would be a good fit?

 

[jonnynobody]

You're right. They do make small ones & what's better then those right? Just plug into any natural gas source n go to town. Would be nice if I didn't have to fill x3 tanks every grow. $15 a tank, no biggie but when they're out of aluminum tanks it's a bit hard in my old age to lug the steel. Haha! I feel ya!
I never even bought the sensor. Just set the gauge, then on a 15 min. Timer. Keeps the room between 1000-1500ppm.
Leds mixed with hps is a good way to go. Best of both worlds & manage to save a little on electricity.
I just grabbed CMH's & am comparing them to my leds now in flower. Might be the combo in the end, right now it's a side by side for lab tests & to see if 900w of led can replace x4 CMH's or will it remain replacing the single 1200w DE fixture? We'll see.
Nice work!

I have a bad back that gets worse every month. It's really the only reason I'm not doing soil. Back can't take hauling the dirt

 

[hybridway2]

Thanks for the kind words hybridway2 It's definitely a labor of love. I really enjoy watching a plant turn into something out of nothing. It's like watching god work a miracle right in front of your eyes. It never gets old. I might give that Mite N Mildew Washout a whirl. I had some good success with the Venerate CG and Grandevo CG. The stuff is just kinda pricey. It does seem to go a long way though. I have had good luck with neem products in the past such as Azamax. Once tried straight neem oil. Killed all my plants within 3 days. Lesson learned. I don't think the water was hot enough and I should have used a wetting agent. Operator error I'm sure, but it scared me enough to never touch the stuff again. Azamax is a neem product, but it doesn't separate. Great stuff. Cheap too.

Here you go. The first grow store to open in my state invented this stuff. Been my go to for 7 yrs.

Home

Welcome to Mites & Mildew Washout! Mites & Mildew Washout has been termed, by one of our customers as, “Next Generation Neem”. All the amazing properties of organic cold pressed neem

mitesnmildewwashout.com

 

[jonnynobody]

Here you go. The first grow store to open in my state invented this stuff. Been my go to for 7 yrs.

Home

Welcome to Mites & Mildew Washout! Mites & Mildew Washout has been termed, by one of our customers as, “Next Generation Neem”. All the amazing properties of organic cold pressed neem

mitesnmildewwashout.com

What kind of light bar is that in your sig? Looks sweet! I really dig those bar style setups. Much better method for spreading those chips out versus a quantum board where they're all jam packed into a tight overpowered footprint. I see HLG is spreading the boards out over a spaced out frame to increase light spread. Their solution is $1300 if I remember correctly. Great design, but vastly overpriced. The best way to use quantum boards in my experience is to use more low powered boards spread out through the grow room versus 4 or 6 big 660w units. Less likelihood of light burn and a much better spread of the light being generated.

 

[hybridway2]

I've never used a CMH fixture before. I need to buy a new light for my 5'x5'x6.5' nursery tent. Think CMH would be a good fit?

They cover 3.5x3.5' in flower but have 3x3 x 4x4 footprint hoods as well. I have x4 covering 5'8"x7', x2 plants.
Those are going against this led Bar Light covering the same space with equal, x2 plants from same mom.
Won't let me load the pic I wanted.
X2 , makes a good fit for a 3.5'x7'.
Or perfect for your 5x5 with an led strip on either side! 6.5' is short ceiling but manageable for sure. Especially if you use vertically hung bulbs like another had suggested to avoid hot spotting.

 

[hybridway2]

What kind of light bar is that in your sig? Looks sweet! I really dig those bar style setups. Much better method for spreading those chips out versus a quantum board where they're all jam packed into a tight overpowered footprint. I see HLG is spreading the boards out over a spaced out frame to increase light spread. Their solution is $1300 if I remember correctly. Great design, but vastly overpriced. The best way to use quantum boards in my experience is to use more low powered boards spread out through the grow room versus 4 or 6 big 660w units. Less likelihood of light burn and a much better spread of the light being generated.

Thats the Amare Bar-8 , Canna-Spec. Thnx! Literally the nicest peice of grow equipment I've ever used. Changed everything by having bars.
Here's the new Bar-6 vs the 650R Diablo.

 

[jonnynobody]

Thats the Amare Bar-8 , Canna-Spec. Thnx! Literally the nicest peice of grow equipment I've ever used. Changed everything by having bars.
Here's the new Bar-6 vs the 650R Diablo. View attachment 4716678View attachment 4716678

Dammit that's some sexy looking equipment right there! I'd be interested to know how things shake out in that comparison. I can't tell you which I like more. Very nice arsenal of equipment you're amassing there soldier. Yeah the 6.5' limitation is tight for the nurseries. I've got about 8' of head space in the flower room. I'd kill for higher ceilings I'm thinking of buying 2 of these with 5000k IR & UV for my 5'x5' nursery tent: https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Samsung-Quantum-LED-Grow-Light-Full_62526867178.html?spm=a2700.wholesale.deiletai6.29.4273c7aeC2Z36F for about $179 shipped. Each board is 120W for a total of 240W which should work great. I had to dial down a 450W quantum board to 50% to 225W in the nursery last veg cycle, so it makes sense to use about the same wattage of 225W. Instead of buying 1 big board I think 2 smaller boards separated will spread the light much nicer. I was almost about to pull the trigger on another T5, but I'm growing more apprehensive by the day. It was $168 back in April. $212 now. At over $200 it's time to start considering LED. I bought a 660w board from Shenzhen Yixiou Technology Co. a few months back that's a beast. I just completed my first flower cycle with it and the flowers underneath were spectacular. I could tell no difference between the quality of flowers under the quantum board versus plants that were flowered under the HID's.

 

[hybridway2]

Dammit that's some sexy looking equipment right there! I'd be interested to know how things shake out in that comparison. I can't tell you which I like more. Very nice arsenal of equipment you're amassing there soldier. Yeah the 6.5' limitation is tight for the nurseries. I've got about 8' of head space in the flower room. I'd kill for higher ceilings I'm thinking of buying 2 of these with 5000k IR & UV for my 5'x5' nursery tent: https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Samsung-Quantum-LED-Grow-Light-Full_62526867178.html?spm=a2700.wholesale.deiletai6.29.4273c7aeC2Z36F for about $179 shipped. Each board is 120W for a total of 240W which should work great. I had to dial down a 450W quantum board to 50% to 225W in the nursery last veg cycle, so it makes sense to use about the same wattage of 225W. Instead of buying 1 big board I think 2 smaller boards separated will spread the light much nicer. I was almost about to pull the trigger on another T5, but I'm growing more apprehensive by the day. It was $168 back in April. $212 now. At over $200 it's time to start considering LED. I bought a 660w board from Shenzhen Yixiou Technology Co. a few months back that's a beast. I just completed my first flower cycle with it and the flowers underneath were spectacular. I could tell no difference between the quality of flowers under the quantum board versus plants that were flowered under the HID's.

Thanks man! Allot of different fixtures because I'm hooked on comparing the tech I guess. Spectrum is my big thing I like to study.
That looks like a good deal but you dunno what you're really getting most times i hear. Hey, results are what matter right? Few other things to & is why some Pay the big bucks. They can all do the same thing a few times or more. Nurserie, meaning veg?
Sounds like a good spectrum for veg.
Nice! Definitely would never purchase a T-5 Again,. Personally. That's for the past 5yrs.
What leds do to a t-5 in early veg (month 1 for me) is just remarkable. 100w of 58k strips 4' long (10-12w strip instead of 58w HO bulb). Par readings lined up & plants are super healthy. Can't go back for me.
Seeing things like this on Alibaba is tempting too. But 4' long. Or higher quality even. Cuz my suspect diodes burnt on my strip lights. Replacing them with some new Broadbands soon.

This product is no longer available.

This product is no longer available.

m.alibaba.com

 

[jonnynobody]

Nice! Definitely would never purchase a T-5 Again, n that's for the past 4-5yrs.
What leds do to a t-5 in early veg (month 1 for me) is just remarkable. 100w of 58k strips 4' long (10-12w strip instead of 58w HO bulb). Par readings lined up & plants are super healthy. Can't go back for me.
Seeing things like this on Alibaba is tempting too.

This product is no longer available.

This product is no longer available.

m.alibaba.com

I think you just convinced me to take a pass on the T5. LED is difficult to outperform these days.

 

[jonnynobody]

Today I was determined to take a day off as I prepare to transition into my next flower cycle. That didn't happen. Started watching full metal jacket. Got me all fired up. Decided to do some electrical work. I installed a dedicated 15 amp GFCI 14/2 circuit for nursery A and B. On that circuit I installed 3 double duplex receptacles. 1 in front of each nursery tent. The 3rd was mounted in a utility area near my sewer drain that desperately was in need of a receptacle so I can plug in my pump to drain waste water as well as a plug in location for my inline fan that provides ventilation for both nurseries. I left the pigtail of wire at the panel. It was such a filthy cocksucker of a job that by the time I made all my connections and cleaned up all the wood debris from spading through joists I had no more fight left in me. It's all of a 15 minute job tomorrow. Just gotta kill juice to the panel, yank off the cover, install my new breaker, and connect my pigtail that feeds the circuit. Everything is essentially done. It's just waiting to go hot.

Here's some pics of the work I did. I am no electrician, but I believe everything is up to code.

 

[OneHitDone]

I think you just convinced me to take a pass on the T5. LED is difficult to outperform these days.

Let me know if you find an led that actually grows the same as T5's

 

[hybridway2]

Let me know if you find an led that actually grows the same as T5's

Here is half the answer. Applying to HO led anyways. Getting these for my cobs.