Flourescent Sunrise: A CFL / HPS Adventure

dertmagert

dertmagert

Well-Known Member
Welcome ..

what you are about to witness is one mans journey into a world known well by its dwellers. at times you may need to look away, as graphic scenes may disturb the experienced cannabis enthusiast.. ( there MAY or MAY NOT be blatant misuse of nutrients, un PH balanced water, low wattage lamps, outrageous temperatures,.. oh and a washing machine too )

this journal will serve a dual purpose. it will allow me to document my endeavor so i can use it as a reference for what NOT to do as well as pass the information along to the next man..

For the most part it will just be a compilation of my previous posts up to this point. I am nearing the flowering stage and should be experiencing some rapid growth here shortly.

Thanks for your interest.. all comments, suggestions, or just bullshit is welcome:blsmoke:
 
dertmagert

dertmagert

Well-Known Member
1/04/08

Ok.. so i decided to start the new year with a bang... Big Bang Feminised to be exact.. i got my order from the doc a couple weeks ago and was holding off to get myself a good light / cabinet set up before i germinated.. But i got impatient and threw them in some water a couple days before New Years eve..
Then i started to gather my set up, figuring that i would start them off with a couple CFLs and then get a 400 hps.. Well as luck would have it, when i woke up on New Years eve and checked my seeds i noticed that 4 of the 5 i germinated had cracked and began to sprout. So i promptly went out and bought a 4 light bath fixture, 4 y splitters, and 8 CFLs.. I made the DIY reflector then went on a search to house all of this.
I didnt even make it out of my drive way when i saw a washing machine being thrown away.. I took it, stripped out all the insides, and hung my light... This thing looks pretty cool!!!! .. anyway, proud of my new addition to the basement i went to my buddies house and was talking to him about it (new years night). and another break of luck --- He had a 430w HPS with a hortilux enhanced spectrum lamp that he wasnt using and GAVE it to me!! oh wow.. So now im on a mission to find a junk refrigerator to house the HPS for my flowering chamber. . . now i will be posting pics as soon as i have some veg growth to show off but first thing first. I need some help with ventilation..my plan is to use the hole that is already present in the back at the bottom( for 3 inch hose ) as an intake with a CPU fan sucking air in and i cut a 4 inch hole in the back at the top for exhaust.. i also have a 6" desk fan in the for circulation. . WILL THIS BE ENOUGH?

this grow has GOT to work out.. everything is falling right into place so far.. the best thing is that the seeds were placed into their pots on january 1st so it will be easy to track age..

scratch that.. the best thing is that i got a fuckin hps for free ... haha..




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1/11/08

the set up is workin... a little hot tho.. . 2 of the seedlings are monsters.. way bigger than the other 2.. my temp is at 87 degrees man.. i made a ghetto ventilation system thats definately sucking air out and i have a fan blowin across the lights/seedlings.. all 8 bulbs stay cool enough that i can touch them with no discomfort.. but the garage they are in is probably about 85 degrees itself.. is it possible to cool an enclosure to a temp lower than the room it is in with just the use of fans?

also, ive scrapped the fridge idea due to size restrictions.. im going to be using a much bigger room.. ((i built a recording booth in my garage for my music that i have not been using much)) i didnt want to part with it at first but who knows,,,, maybe recording in a room full of plants is mutually beneficial to the plant and artist. lol..:joint:
the room is 7 feet tall, 4 feet wide, and 5 feet long.. is this too much room for a 400 watt hps? im also thinking about using 10 gallon rubbermaid storage bins as pots!! is this over kill or will i be able to fill out my 4 babies alot better using this size pot?



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1/12/08

just checked the heat and im up at 97 degrees.. i need help with this... if anybody has any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.. i will post pics of the whole set up if you need.. im not in panic mode as of yet, because im working on the flower chamber which im sure will have a much better environment, but i dont want these babies to suffer all the way to the good life..

the 2 larger plants are doing well, but are growing in a very odd manor.. they look to be performing a number from the village people ( Y M C A )...
their leaves are large and healthy looking but they are curling into themselves and standing erect.. two sets!** ..

**i just picked up a bottle of superthrive yesterday and applied it lastnight.. got home from work and another set of leaves formed.. they look like they have been there from the start.. very impressing results..
 
dertmagert

dertmagert

Well-Known Member

ok guys.. took a couple pics of the veg chamber.. next time i will take pics of the flowering room.. as you can see i lowered the plants a little ( about 3 inches )// they were alot closer to the light but im worried that they might be getting too much heat.. . they are now about 13 days old ( from the first crack in the seed)//

i noticed the temp was at 100 this morning so i opened the garage door and put a fan in the door way blowing air toward the washing machine/veg chamber... i took off the front panel and repositioned the fan as shown and the temp dropped 20 degrees in just a couple mins.. im now at 80 but im worried about this as it is just a temporary fix.. would it be beneficial to the plants if i was able to do this every day after work for a couple hours or would the temp fluctuations stress the plant?

---------------------------------------------------------
who wants to do a load of laundry?




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Tag inside lid says "MACHINE WASH HEMP PRODUCTS ONLY"




--------------

moved em away from the heat..




-----------------------


growing nicely but why so curled?

 
dertmagert

dertmagert

Well-Known Member
just got back from work, checked on the lil guys.. they are all reaching straight up now.. . curling their leaves together.. the stalk is not stretching so i dont think its because i moved them from the lights, or is it? before it was just the 2 bigger ones but now all of them.. the temp is back to 100 again though.. so maybe heats doin it??.. i need to get this thing squared out or there gonna fry up huh? i will be putting some pics up in a hour or so..
______________
 
dertmagert

dertmagert

Well-Known Member
- i am going to the hydro store to pick up some General Hydroponics flora micro and flora bloom and use them according to the Lucas formula
N-P-K-Mg ppm ml/US Gallon GH Flora Est [email protected] Est Cost/ResGal 122-99-171-68 7.5M-15B-0G 1251 $0.15
*** ive never applied nutes to soil before so if anyone could tell me how often i use the nutes that would be great...

- they dont seem to be growing very rapidly.. they're 20 days old and cant be any more than 4 inches.. but their sets of leaves are very close together and well formed...

- the temp problem is a little better.. now im in the 84 - 90 range.. i just modified the ventilation a little bit and it seems to be helping... heres some pics of the babies..












----

and now the 2 bag seed....


bad picture.. but trust me.. your not missing much.. i topped it just cuz its always been the class clown type.. always makin me scratch my head and wonder what im doing wrong when its just this jerk off being stubborn..


and then theres this guy::

all of its leaves are round and compact.. it looks like cabbage.. and if u ask me i dont like to think of Cabbage when im talkin about bud... just the WORD cabbage puts a sour taste in my mouth.. anyway .. this lil lady got some junk in her round trunk.. shes a pip sqweek but who knows? maybe under that HPS she will blow up.. heres a ass shot of her
 
dertmagert

dertmagert

Well-Known Member
ok// i added nutes to the regular watering schedule on monday.. and wow! tuesday they really shot up.. and when i got home today they were even bigger... im very happy right now:hump:

pics coming stay tuned
 
dertmagert

dertmagert

Well-Known Member
ok first off i made a couple additions to the grow chamber.. i painted the walls white (this made a huge difference appearance wise) cleaned it up a bit and bought some toys.. got the nutes, as well as measuring devices and a digital humidty gauge/thermometer.. oh and some cloning powder/superthrive











------------------
Big Bang... 23 days old... but i feel like they were just born (they JUST started to really show some growth when i added nutes)
------------------

















and now.. the bag seeds.... first off let me show u what happened to that knuckle head that i topped... its hard to capture with a camera but where i made the cut there are 4 tiny five fingered leaves developing...


and heres "cabbage patch girl" ... starting to look a lil nicer

 
dertmagert

dertmagert

Well-Known Member
1/26/08

so after topping it i started the plants on nutes the next day.. then this thing proceeded to show vigorous new growth ( the bagseed knucklehead ) .. im a bit confused as to why this new growth appears to be bud.. there are no hairs and no pollen sacks but it seems to me to look like bud? maybe im just high.. this IS my first go around indoors.. ive grown lots of plants outdoors with much success ( didnt really pay too much attention to them up close like this so it may be a normal thing that i just didnt notice before) but none of the other plants in the chamber have growth like this.. anyway.. if anyone has comments please leave them..






 
dertmagert

dertmagert

Well-Known Member
1/31/08

ok well i got the whole temp thing worked out.. i cut a large hole in the back ( the size of a fan i have .. about 6 inches ) and i put the fan directly in the hole and duct taped it... its workin great.. the temps in the chamber are now a steady 85 with the lights on... ((pics below))

yesterday when i checked them they all looked very thirsty and i noticed that the leaves on a couple were really yellow and had dull spots on them.. looks like i might have spilled some water with nutes on them during feeding.. i fed them yesterday and today they look a lot better, besides the yellowing... anybody have suggestions or possible reasons for the yellowing??\\


i also took a clone to give it a whirl.. i cut it on saturday using the rooting powder and have been misting it 4 - 5 times a day (whenever i see it looks dry in there ).. i covered it with a soda bottle to keep in humidity.. is this any good? i also used green plastic to maybe aid in filtering the light a bit ( i had some seedlings just curl up...


oh and my buddy gave me a couple seeds that were out of this crypto he had.. it was killer smoke.. dont know the strain but ill take free dank seeds anyday.. he gave me 9 ... 5 of which i germinated and 2 cracked the same day.. theres a pic of one of them coming out to play ( with his helmet head on )...


note: im 30 days in and they cant be any taller than 10 inches.. im wondering if they are stunted?


anyway heres the pics.. please leave comments..











see the fan in the back????





Will this "humidity dome" work?






Sittin' Sidewaayzz




























See the spot in the middle of the middle finger? and see the yellow? whats up with that?






 
dertmagert

dertmagert

Well-Known Member
2/03/08
day 34


alls lookin well... i have topped/cloned a second plant.. this came about as an accident.. i was LSTing my babies and one of them snapped... so i made an emergency incision at 45 degrees, scarred the stem, soaked in water, coated in rooting powder, then placed it in a starter cup... the clone i cut last weekend is losing a bit of its dark green color.. ive read that this is normal as the plant is focusing its energy on developing roots// we'll see.... after these first two clones im going to see how they come out.. if they dont root im going to try a different method...




2/03/08


So today i started ripping out the interior of my future flowering chamber (previously my vocal recording booth) .. I am going to installing all the hardware that i have picked up for it but i need a little help with the reflector..
i was given this 430 watt hps for free .. but the reflector it comes with has no ventilation system.. how would i modify this so that i could pull air from a filter, to the light, then to the fan and out...
i would imagine i would have to seal the light with glass somehow.. and then cut holes in either end to hook duct adapters to.. but im a major pot head and when i start thinking about it my mind just gets all fizzy and starts to cramp and then i get a weird craving for hot dogs and chocolate chip cookies.. oh yeah i was saying, if anybody has done something like this or has come across a DIY post it would be greatly appreciated if u could lend a hand..
pics -



---- "the booth"


as you can see i removed all of the sound proofing paneling but theres still some insulation to rip out.. this booth is constructed out of 2 x 4 frame and drywall.. it stands freely with its own four walls ( not connected to any structural walls ) .it is also on a 6" base raising it off of the cold cement floor... interior dimensions are about 7' high.. 4.5' deep.. 3' wide.. (havent measured but will)..
i plan on putting 2 10 gallon rubbermaid containers that have 2 fabricated dividers in them to create 3 - 3.33 gal sections to house one plant each giving a total of 6 plants under a 430watt hps




------- the lamp

heres the lamp.. any help with venting this would be great

 
dertmagert

dertmagert

Well-Known Member
2/07/08


ok... its been a little over a month.. the yellowing has gotten a whole lot better.. all i did was feed them more often.. twice a week got them fillin out nicely.. got some pics for yall.. let me know how they're doin...




Oh yeah.. i found out today by accident how well my cloninig method worked.... while i was adjusting something in the veg chamber i knocked over the first clone i took.. i took it a little over a week ago.. it was in one of them blue cups.. well the soil was pretty dry and when it fell upside down it was all over the floor.. i thought i'd definately lost that plant.. but to my amazement when i turned it upright, just about an inch of dry soil on the top poured out and the rest of it was held tightly together by a huge root mass... the whole cup was filled with roots in about ten days.. i immediately transplanted it and in 8 hours after a thorough watering it looks to be liking its new home.. theres pics below..




heres the next one,. should be ready in about 5 more days





here's how they are doin at 38? days...
(check out the lst
)


uhh.. lil blurry.. sorry







































look at that S in the stem... bbbbbeautiful..














man.. i think they're ready to hit the flowering room.. a couple more clones and ill choose a mother..
 
dertmagert

dertmagert

Well-Known Member
ok.. today i finally went and got a PH tester.. I checked the PH of my tap water that i let sit for a little over 48 hours.. it is 7.0.. Im thinking i need to lower this slightly. But i have a question before i adjust anything. Does the addition of nutes ( General Hydroponics Flora Micro, Flora Bloom ) raise or lower the PH?

-----

I will be flushing the plants tomorrow. The much dreaded yellowing of the leaves has seemed to slow up on its recovery. I think i actually see a couple leaves yellowing that were fine before.

heres some pics.. .

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group photo





43 days old
(sorry pics are a little blurry. i was in a hurry.. wait a minute that rhymed, hey sweet... the next batch will be in freakin HD )







My first ever clone... its been about 10 days since i repotted it and it has shot up to be as tall as its mother! wowwww... thank you SuperThrive!


another shot of the clone


ok thats it for todays update.. not much happening today.. tomorrow i will be back with better photos and details on my flush. I will also be taking clones in a couple days (to fill up my new diy clone chamber ) as i am nearing the flowering stage.

I might take a video of my cloning process to post as well.. it might not be the most professional approach but what can i say.. it works..

until next time
 
dertmagert

dertmagert

Well-Known Member
Note: As Per RIU's Journal Contest Entry rules, i will be making changes to the format of my updates starting now.
I will also be updating with only quality pics and detailed descriptions.


Todays Overview
  • A. NUTRIENTS USED - None today
  • B. PH - 7.0
  • C. MEDIUM - Soilless mix
  • D. TEMPERATURE - 82
  • E. LIGHT CYCLE - VEG (24/7)
  • F. WATERING - Still Moist... will check tommorrow.
  • G. GROWTH NOTES - my first clone has grown incredibly. i am now without a doubt sure that growing from clones is the way to go. I am happy with the results of my LST.. These short bushes have many tops that im sure will produce fat nugs.
Pictures ( these are same day as the pics in previous post today. Just better quality )


My First Clone. Reaching For The Stars







i just pulled down one of the tops ( it was outgrowing its peers ) notice it is facing toward the bottom right









Ok.. now a view from above


 
dertmagert

dertmagert

Well-Known Member
raeman1990 said:
NICE!!! 85 is little on the high side, it might help to lower the temps a little
Click to expand...
thank you.. i know its a bit high but this is the best ive done so far without bringing in an air conditioner.. The room that the enclosure is in is at 80 degrees.. so im only really getting 5 degrees hotter.. the plants dont seem to mind it much.. i will try to get it down some but ive yet to figure a way other than AC
 
Your Grandfather

Your Grandfather

Well-Known Member
I've found that a measured 1/4 teaspoon of white vinegar moves the ph of water right around .5 points. If you want, try 1/4 teaspoon and see if you don't get to 6.5 :)

Also, the purple on the stems might be the signal of a lack of 'P'. 1/8 teaspoon of 0-12-1 guano mixed into the soil would help.
 
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