Put your shades on! CFL journal

[sicknasty]

Hello,

After seeing the tremendous success Humbolt had on his CFL grow I thought I would try my hand at it.

LIGHTS:

For vegetation I have
8 x 26 watt 6500k cfls
2 x 26 watt 2700k cfls
total 17,500 lumens

For flowering I am adding 8 42 watt warm lights so
8 x 42 watt 2700k cfls
total 22,400 lumens

Overall lumens for flowering 39,900 lumens
Total Wattage 596

HID get more lumens to watt I know I'm an idiot. These are close lumens though and I have enough to cover almost every square inch of 4 plants.

I will be implementing a 275 watt UV bulb made for tanning when trichomes first start to appear. This is to stimulate trich production and will be used sparingly because I can feel the UV heat off of it from across the room.

SOIL :

For starting the seeds I used jiffymix. I am watering with h202 and superthrive. A splash of h2o2 and a drop of super per gallon.
Soil will be standard potting mix amended with bloodmeal. I will be using a high phoshporus mix for blooming.

SEEDS:

I acquired two "purple" seeds from a friend, I am mostly growing them for cosmetics. I germinated these in a paper towell and cup.
I finally found my seven bag seeds I had been looking for all over. They went straight into peat cups with jiffymix and no outside germination.
I monitored all things with the purples, low phosphorous, low temp, high humidity, low light hours to hopefully get two females. The bag seed was the dankest stuff I have ever used, two rips and I had a crazy body high, it's probably an indica. The bag seed should grow well as I had five seeds before and every single one of those germinated I just never planted them.

Not too excited about the purple my friend did not do well with her and had only one finish to maturity. I checked his set up and he had no flowing air and I could see temps going from 26 to below zero and back again with lights on. Cannabis is proabably the only tropical plant that could survive sub freezing temps. I didn't get to smoke any but he left the nutes on too long and it was disgusting I guess.

Goals:

I would like to be able to grow 4 ounces with four plants and hopefully make some hash.
Hopefully I will be able to show great results so anyone will realize that CFL's do work besides me just overkilling everything.

Reasoning:

I believe CFL can be a great growing technique it just hinges around keeping your plants from burning and getting the CFL too close.

Questions:

Do the fox farm nutes make that big of a difference?
Any experienced growers... do you think I would have a better yeild if I get more than 4 females to just grow any more or scrap em for cannabutter?

ANY AND ALL COMMENTS WELCOME!
Pictures will be uploaded with the grow show.

 

[sicknasty]

I know these aren't much but it gives you an idea.

These are the 10 lights I will be running for veg.
And my babies one purple poked its back through today. Running at 26 degrees celcius which is about 80 for the rest of you.

I have put a fan in but I can't get a good picture of it and also an exhaust. My cell takes awesome pictures so when I get a cable for it which should be in the next week I will upload some clear ones.

 

[sicknasty]

Just to add, I get about 67 lumens per watt when a "PRO" (200 watt) light gets around 47. With the 8 bulbs I get a hell of alot more flexibility too. If its not a N-light I wouldn't waste my money as N-lights have a more usable spectrum per watt.

In contrast a 1000 watt HPS gets 130,000 lumens which is 130 lumens per watt.

POINT: go HID, if you can't then buy small bulbs. A 200 watt large bulb or n-lights to the states is just as expensive as getting HID once you buy all the things you need. I actually decided last minute to not use 4 100 watt bulbs I bought because they are less efficient.

Sorry about all the over-analyzing and figuring I'm a nerd. haha

 

[DWR]

So u going Hid ?

or 100 watt cfl ?

 

[sicknasty]

Im sticking with the original plan 10-26 watters and 8-42 watters.

If I could go back I would drop the dough on a 250 watt hps probably or at least a 400.

 

[DWR]

aha.... yeah how much money did u have ?

 

[zedragon]

good luck mate! i`ll be watching!

 

[sicknasty]

DWR:

Id say so far I have spent around 120 total for lighting not including the 4-100watt lights which I will return for alot. I've seen cheap HPS for around 160 I believe.

My total budget is around 300, you gave me a good idea I will record prices for everything I buy. Ill work on a list of already purchased Items.

Drag:

Thanks hope to see you here again but you'll probably just be watching my avatar. lol

 

[zedragon]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmm i dnt think anyone can stop looking at it!!!!! lol

happy growing!!!!!

 

[sicknasty]

Lights:


8 – 26watt 6500k 32.00
8 – 42watt 2700k 49.70 (from powersavercfl.com great deal)
10 – 26watt 2700k 20.00 (cheaper so I bought a bunch to replace lighting in my domicile)
1 – 275watt UVB bulb (thrift) 02.00


1- 4 light fixture (thrift) 02.00
1- 3 light fixture (thrift) 03.00 (figure that one out)
1- 1 light fixture (thrift) 01.00


4 light sockets 04.00
7 Y adapter sockets 11.90
4 Electrical Plugs 02.00
1 25foot extension cord 11.00 (Cut it up and used it for individual sockets)


2 Timers 16.00


Electrical Tape 02.00
Wire Screws 02.00


1 Multi socket ext cord free already had it


Total for lights 154.60


Soil:


Jiffymix potting soil 12.00
Miracle Grow organic nitrogen 11.00


H2O2 free already had
Superthrive enough for 2k gallons 11.00


Sprayer 02.00
Duct tape to cover pots 02.00


Plastic buckets free had from brewing


Need to buy
Potting Soil 30.00
Blooming Nutes 15.00


Maybe some Neem oil 10.00 ?


Total for Soil 93.00


Seeds were free 2 actual seeds and 7 bag seeds, I may add some CO2 by brewing but thats a maybe and it will probably super saturate the area also fermentation usually only lasts 4 days max. Might brew 1 gallon batches and refrig the other 4 gallons of the batch untill the first is done fermenting, but then I'll have to drink it flat bottling sucks and I have no kegs. Ok I'm thinking while typing I must stop that.

Ps this was nicely formated in word but it died upon arrival.

but there yah go man.

 

[sicknasty]

Big question...

It is on a scale of 1-10 cold where I live. It has stayed below 0 celsius all last week.
Do I need to worry about mites? How the hell do they propogate, and infest a home?

 

[Everready]

Do you already have mites? Or are you worried about getting them? If you already have them search around this forum...they seem hard to get rid of...
Good Luck!

 

[FilthyFletch]

Hmm You can make the grow better next time and get that goal 4 plant 4 oz as is is gonna be a stretch but might be able to happen.A goo digital 400 watt switcahble light is $99 or a full on 400 watt setup bulbs and all is about $145 new.The soil you wanna use miracle grow moisture control the other miracle grow soils arent worth ashit to be honest.You wont need any nutes with MH moisture control til you flower then just something light like fox farm tiger bloom and big bloom.Gunao is good too.The jiffy soil suck big time just doesnt perform well,When using the h2o2 make sure its commercial grade like grotek and not just the kind you use for cvuts at home as they are different percentages and the home stuff has additives that are not so good for the plant.Good luck and hope you get something your proud of

 

[xbravoz]

Im sticking with the original plan 10-26 watters and 8-42 watters.

How much heat are all these CFL lights putting out....have you ever been around a 250w or 400w hps that was running....I'm realy interested about the comparison of heat output...CFL's compared to HPS

 

[sicknasty]

Everready Thanks mate I don't have any mitage right now but I wanted to know the risk because ITS COLD -16 yesterday.

Filthyfletch
Thanks for the input
Yah I shoulda just bought a HPS but alas.
I might just have to mix my own, but thanks for the heads up on miracle grow moisture control I'll see if I can find any. I need to go to the greenhouse store tommorow, haven't even been yet.

xbravoz
Well regardless my space is big enough for a HPS so heat is not a problem.
However I could see 18 bulbs getting very toasty, I am just going to use a small 5inch squirrel cage for exhaust, and rig up a system to run it through carbon. All I have is a 20mm case fan right now.
I might just open up the roof of my box to allow all of my closet to get air circulation. Natural air currents will bring in cool air from below and hot air will go out the top, just need to assist a little.

Small space you may have to use CFL's they still get pretty hot.

 

[scias]

hey man, why not get a 600w hps MH kit for 270 at HTGSupply.com? youve got guaranteed coverage for 4 plants that way, and know what the results will be. kit includes reflector and all. also, i advise staying away from miracle gro. it will work, but if you invest a little more, you can get products specifically designed for cannabis, including: Fox Farm, Canna, and Advanced Nutrients.

 

[COD4]

I know these aren't much but it gives you an idea.

These are the 10 lights I will be running for veg.
And my babies one purple poked its back through today. Running at 26 degrees celcius which is about 80 for the rest of you.

I have put a fan in but I can't get a good picture of it and also an exhaust. My cell takes awesome pictures so when I get a cable for it which should be in the next week I will upload some clear ones.

What kind of hood/fixture is that?!?!
Where did you get it???? Link/URL???
Dammit man, I need a better hood. If you guys saw mine you would laugh

 

[sicknasty]

Call of duty:

Its just a 99 cent cassarole dish lining.

I sandwhiched it between a peice of particle board and the 4 light fixture.
I then put 4 Y splitters in the fixture.

Here is a picture purple out and about. I am running a 16 hour cycle right now untill they get a little older to try to increase females.

 

[DWR]

at first i thought that pic u posted above my post.... was a drain.. lol..

But then i click'd it and what i see ? A sprout ^^

Good job... and have fun with it

Hey im doing 12/12 and they havnt sprouted out of the earth... <--- lets see how this works out

 

[sicknasty]

I considered 12/12 right off, so I would be ready for 4/20

but I want more yeild so I am vegging for 3 weeks. I will just harvest some of my bagseeds early. They still havent come up yet. how long have yours been in the soil, myn are going on 4 days.