Introduction, and 100 Watt HPS Cabinet Grow

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swelchjohn

New Member
MJ Crescendo said:
O boy, they look very healthy! Mad respect on the small grow and getting your plants to a admirable size in veg. This is the key to us small growers! Honestly, as far as I can see, each of those will cola up pretty nice and I'd estimate around 20 grams dry a plant. Of course, you have a full flower period before any real estimates can be made. Get them on 12/12 and watch as they stretch out and fill out with pistils. I have come to think that there is no point in having these upward 600w hps lights for a personal grow. I know my 150w hps (cost $20 + ship) has yielded me almost 20 grams of headies over the past few mini grows. If you put your mind to it and train the girls (veg big) a 150w hps can yield pretty well.

You seem to know exactly what you are doing, but just a note: keep that light as close as possible, I heard that 150w hps only has 6'' of penetration into a canopy, so gotta utilize that as much as possible. Also keep a close eye on pH as that seems to be the #1 problem I have seen from growers. I personally use fox farm ocean forest soil which has some pH buffers to keep it in the 6.5 range and everytime I check the runoff, of course 6.5. All n all lookin good brotha and I can't wait to see them flower. Best o luck!
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Thank you very much for the notations and I will keep the advice in mind. You're right, more healthy foliage = more buds in the end. I hope to break 1gram/watt so let hope your estimate is off lol. I've never handled such small space before, and it is VERY surprising how these ladies thrive. PH isn't as much of an issue as one might think; cannabis is a PH tolerant plant. Sure there are certain elements that get used MORE efficiently at certain PH levels, but PH is definately nothing to worry about if the plants are healthy as can be. I have used nothing but municipal water straight from the tap or hose whether indoors or out OH NO, and never ran into all these wicked PH problems folks rant about. It's a scape goat more than anything, if you ask me(not trying to start an argument, so please don't jump at it). TRUE, light penetration for lower wattage HPS systems is not nearly as effective as their larger cousins but I have my air exhanged around 7 times a minute so I am able to keep my lamp between 3-6" from the plants at all times. Also with this cabinet, the higher the light goes, the closer the plants can be to it. It cools off more the closer is gets to exhaust. I went nuts with the reflective material. There isn't a square mm left in this thing that won't reflect light. That has loads to do with my light penetration. If I had gone with a lesser material, or none at all, I bet my girls would not be NEARLY as bushy. Stay tuned. Going 12/12 soon.
 
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swelchjohn

New Member
hardroc said:
Hey man,
Nice grow so far.
Where'd you get the Bannana Kush?
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Thank you! They are both clones from a local dispensary. I've got access to the seeds of both as well. I was thinking about adding both to the next grow, as I already have Master Kush seeds. All Kush grow? MM MM.
 
gumball

gumball

Well-Known Member
what did you use for reflective material? it almost looks like overlapping HVAC duct tape. looks reflective though!
 
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swelchjohn

New Member
gumball said:
what did you use for reflective material? it almost looks like overlapping HVAC duct tape. looks reflective though!
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I used a heat-resistant type of tape that's about 4" wide, 3M makes it. It wasn't ducting specific, but you could use it as such.Extremely reflective and very durable. It was what I had on hand when I constructed this cabinet so that was what I used. It does the job as well as or better than mylar.
 
gumball

gumball

Well-Known Member
yeah, i used the sheet insulation with the foil on one side, and it is very reflective, and dimpled in a weird way which appears to reflect very well. you gotta use what you got.
 
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swelchjohn

New Member
The humidity is only getting worse, as it is spring time on the coast. I've stated before this small of a grow is unfamiliar so finding a solution for my humidity problem in such a small space has had me searching and pondering for the best solution.That and I've never grown coastal and boy I gotta say this is the first time I've really had issues with humidity. I thought about amping up my big ol 14,000 btu dehumidifier from the grow room at my old place, but that is too much for the small space. I don't want to dehumidify my whole house either, it's comfortable. I spent some cash on a mini dehumidifier and it's a complete piece of shit. It does not work nearly as well as it should for the noise it makes and is pretty much only good to prevent mold in closets and bathrooms. I got it at a local department store but here's a link of the same one : http://www.amazon.com/Bionaire-BDQ01-UC-Mini-Dehumidifier/dp/B002BWSKTS . I looked at a few others, and it seemed the best buy for what it was. With a RH of no lower than 65% and as high as 75% I risk flowering going to hell so something needs to be done quickly. I came up with a much more simple solution and I hope it works. First, I'm going to have my exhaust venting entirely outdoors. It's going into another room now so maybe venting out will help. Second, I'm going to pick up a couple buckets of desiccant and just set them inside the cabinet. I've used big 900 gram silica gel boxes for moisture control on the floor of large closets that I dried in and have one in my gun safe right now to prevent moisture corrosion. I factored in the possibility of the desiccant not even working because they're ment for normal rooms that don't have the air being exchaned 7-8 times per minute. I'm going to go a bit overkill with it to start and dial down until I've got the right amount, if it even works. If this solution doesn't work, I guess I'll just hook up my dehumidfier in the house and pretend I live in the mountains again.
 
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swelchjohn

New Member
Bump bump. Anyone have a few thoughts? Better yet are there any cabinet growers on the south coast of California with humidity issues and viable solutions?
 
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swelchjohn

New Member
It's about fucking time for an update. Solved my humidity issue with some desiccant boxes outside of my intakes, completely venting exhaust outside and running my fans 24/7. They're so cramped in the cabinet that I want as much air moving in there as possible at all times..We're approaching summer so lights off temps aren't too cold for them at all. Banana Kush started showing mild signs of P deficiency at the end of 1 week flowering so I just moved both of them up to bloom nutrients. I usually stay with vegetative nutrients for the first week or maybe two of flower and add a couple points of pure P to round it off, but Banana needed full flowering nutrients so that's what happened. Otherwise things are going well. Here are photos I snapped while they were in the bathroom for a thorough neem oil spraying.
Bubba Kush


Banana Kush


That two main stalk thing with the Banana is still interesting. It seems most of the bud growth is going to be concentrated on two main tops with much fewer small bud sites. Bubba is going to make me drool after harvest, I know it. She's got 7 large tops forming with one more that's not too far behind and lots of inner foliage going on as well.
 
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