African Lighting

Hey folks

I'm growing indoor and outdoor. I live near the equator in africa, although i can't grow year round. bit of altitude - 2000m above sea level. So in Winter...it can go sub-zero at night. Thus I can't grow year round - despite the fact that i have roughly 11-13/ 12-12 year round.

So to keep my tired yet faithful and hard working lungs working year round, I regretfully have to grow year indoor year round. So I've started two crops. Both started indoor. But quickly planted most of them out to take advantage of the season. The indoor ones are experimental - starting to get my teeth into it.

However, getting my hands on the lights and other equipment is a mission. Nothing really available.

But here is what I do have :

5 x 20w 4300 k Compact Flouro Bulbs.

1 x 175 w mercury vapour light (hot hot hot)

1 x 400w HPS

1 x 1000w Thorn EMI haline light. (really old - found it in the storeroom) HOT HOT HOT.

And bearing in mind that my average daily temp is 25 Centigrade. So heat is an issue.

I have 5 plants in mind. What do I use?

(I started 20 plants indoors - sativa strain bag seed (keeping the fancy stuff for when i'm more settled into the growing - I moved 11 outdoors. The outdoor ones are twice the size after I moved them outdoors. - currently the plants have the five CF bulbs in a line - 1.5 inches above the plants. Above this I have the 175 w mercury vapour light. Growth is slow).

Here some pics of current setup. It will be completely sealed into a cupboard within the next few days.

My questions :

What to do to improve and how those babies looking?

What lightning to use? A these 4300 k CF 20W - are they worth it?

Plants were just transplanted - so looking a little tired.

Thanks folks.

Deffinately place the 400W HPS light in there at a safe distance away and gradually move it closer. Until you can place your hand over your plants and the light is at a comfortable heat temp. Also place a fan on blowing directly at the HPS. A 400W is good for a 3 by 3 area and your 9 indoor plants will love this light esp during flowering.
Good luck happy growing

Hey

Thanks for that - the 1000 w haline - no good? it's a halogen light?

why not try a greenhouse???

stick a heater in there and you're golden all year!

fletchafrica said:

Hey

Thanks for that - the 1000 w haline - no good? it's a halogen light?

Click to expand...

Halogen is no good. I would not use it, especially if it's hot. I'd just stick to the HPS and Flouros, as Flouros are cool and the HPS will be hot enough. I've never heard of Mercury Vapour lights, so I can't comment on their efficacy.
However, I can suggest something. Switch out the Flouros you have for something that's a higher wattage with more lumens. If you're using standard sockets, they can handle the increase in power without worry. Go as close as you can to 60 watts, and your plants will thank you. They'll put out a tremendous amount of light.

Have you thought about moving your indoor plants outside to take advantage of the sunlight when the weather is warm, and then moving them back inside before the temperature drops? The sun is THE best light source, bar none. You'd see a tremendous difference in your plants if you did this. Tighter nodes, bushier growth, and in flowering... Well, nothing beats the sun in bringing out those trichomes.

Good luck! I'll be watching this thread. I have a few friends from Tanzania, Sudan and Eritrea who are/were stoners, and it's nice to see an African around.

~Ethno

africa.....my friggin most favorite place on this earth....welcome....and good luck...you will get some very good and experienced advice from a bunch of wonderful people! cheers. I'll keep checking in to see how things are going.

Thnaks folks. Think I'll move out that MV light... they are used for attracting insects at night actually. They apparently replicate the sun well.

I'll put the HPS in - but heat will be a real problem. When the inside temp of a room is 26 C already.... then you add the HPS - I won't get away with much better than 30 C on a hot day....

And thanks for the welcome's! Real friendly. It's appreciated...

merc vapor suck balls

yeah the only two lights you have that are used for growing would be the cfl's and the hps

If you are going to take your plants outside everyday watch for insects...im sure you have tons there and there prob bigger then your avatar pic lol

OK...gonna talk sweeet to the MV and get a ball sucking, and install the HPS. Will follow up with lights.

build a secure shed with sky light. maybe....?

good luck man. your plants look healthy enough.

Yeah... although I live in one of the most isolated places in the world, and ideal for growing...the laws here are bad news. You don't wanna get into a problem with police. We have a saying here..the bush has eyes. There is nothing you can do without being seen.

So a green house... too risky...

I'll post some pics now of my outdoor...

Here's the outdoor... It's tucked away at the top of this little tropical rock outcrop in my garden. I used a mix of strong dark compost, mixed with a sandy loam soil which occurs here. I mixed in 23-14-18 compound fertiliser a week before transplanting out. Each plant has also just been given 4 gram AN fertiliser a hand space from the base and 4 inches down.

I worry about sun...I had to sacrifice the sun for the hidden value of the spot. The sun rises as shown in the picture, directly in front of me, and sets behind me. It misses the early sun, but gets dappled sunlight until about four in the afternoon. So it gets sunlight for around 8 hours of the day.

What do you all think?

side view of the plants..bit stringy I thought? Maybe from reaching for light?

shit strict there cant they like cut ur legs of or somthing if they find a joint on u. police coruption ect. get locked in a steamy disese infested cespool for taking a toke until u pay them $$

The cops here are all about bribes... but simply putting yourself in the position where you have to pay makes for a very very bad day at the office...Kinda crazy as everyone smokes as part of the culture. There is only one tribe in the country, for whom it is legal to smoke. They are the batonka people who live along the Zambezi river. The true batonka (of whom there are very few left) are three toed. A genetic trait amongst the tribe. When the whites arrived and began banning cannabis..they found the batonka people started falling apart. They realised that the ganja was a part of their work culture. It's incredibly hot in the Zambezi Valley - and the batonka daily ritual...before they would start working their fields, would smoke a big fat water pipe of weed...and then work in the heat for hours. When the ganja was taken away, they stopped working! So to this day..the law here still states that batonka can smoke...although very few are left...

So there you go...not many people know about the three toed smokers of the zambezi valley.

Anyone got opinions on the outdoor grow spot? Enough Sun?