Growing on balcony in Thailand - Please Help!

Ok, that makes some sense. I think i'm just gunna give it a go (growing only on the balcony). If it don't produce the right results i will change the setup and start again. But start them off indoors first if possible and then compare my results.

If its possible you can just supplement the sun a little, and put a light on them for 3-4 hours outside before or after dark. If you do start them inside, leave the lights on 18/6 so they will grow faster and bigger before you put them outside to flower.

cheers for the help Noballs, just to clarify do you mean just turn on the balcony light for a few hours when it starts to get dark? Its Just a normal light, nothing special, would that have an effect on the plant or have i misunderstood you?

I think you misunderstood me. A regular light wont help much. You would need to get a grow light. I grow outside so Im not much help in the light dept. Take a look at some of the indoor grows for lighting help. Try searching 12/12. Some people start thier plants at 12/12. It will give you some insight as to how its done. Good luck!

rofl, most of you guys have no idea what it's like in SE asia... The reason people get busted in most of these countries (specifically thailand, cambodia, vietnam, and laos) is because they are smuggling, or they neglected to pay the right people off. What he's proposing is actually quite safe if you know the culture.

I've spent time there, and will be returning in the next few years for another extended stay, and have been thinking through the same issue you raise in your original post. My solution to get longer veg periods will be to simply add some artificial light in to extend the photo-period. It wouldn't take much light at all, since the primary photosynthesis will be sun driven, just enough to disrupt hormone production. I suspect that your balcony light would be enough (I have heard plenty of stories of outdoor lights throwing off flower schedules. Or a 25-100w cfl would probably do the trick.

Thank you very much Gobbly, bang on the money, i'm sure you can understand how frustrated i got when i first started this post and was getting all the warnings. Anyways i'm getting some good info now and i'm gunna start things very soon. I will do a bit of looking around in Bangkok and see what type of lights i can get my hands on so I can use them for a bit in the veg period, like yourself and noballs suggested. Thanks for all your help people, please keep it coming.

Quick update. As advised I done the recommended reading about CFL's and growing under lights for the veg period, then I got stoned and went shopping around Bangkok for my equipment.
I managed to find pretty much everything i need and I'm starting construction on the veg room today. I will start putting up pics and let you guys know how i get on through out this experiment.

I know this is probably the wrong part of the forum to ask this question, but keeping in mind that i want my plant to stay relatively short, how long should i keep my plant on 18/6 for before i change over to flowering only on the balcony?

And my second question is what would be the ideal temperature for the veg room. I have air intake fan and a extractor plus a fan for inside the room, but i think with the Bangkok heat my biggest challenge would be trying to keep the temperature down in the veg room. What would be the maximum temperature, that i wouldn't want the room to go over? Many thanks to all you guys that have helped me, please keep the advice and comments coming.

I would keep them Inside until 2nd/3rd set of leaves. Although, that might be too tall for you. What height is ideal for you?

As for the temps, somewhere from 70-80 degrees would good for the babies. I personally would not want the temps to go over 85. Air conditioners work well, nailing down the temps.

I hope you go through with this, it would be interesting to see.

I'll be peakn in!

-tux-

I am in VN and have grown AK-47, T-44, Durban Poison, & Master Kush succesfully outside (rooftop patio). This is now the best time of year I've found. I have 7 plants going now and though they do stay on the small side this is what you want if you're doing a grow such as this.

dude...i am in the philippines, south east asia as well. the law here is fucked up and they take drugs seriously. well at least if you have the money you can just bribe anybody. i have the same issue as i germinate my seeds like on october short season to veg it, my reason is because my seeds are getting old and i cant gamble to waite a few more months thinking like feb, to germinate it. but so far my jillybean is a foot and a half tall and shes showing few hairs hopefully itl veg again in a couple of months. i have just been residing here for about a year now, and i know it gets pretty hot in the summer, so i am actually giving her time to settle and taste a few rain here and there so when summer starts i wouldnt be worrying to much with birds, and a whopping 100f++ temp. id give it a try

Hi people, apologies for not replying to your posts these last few days. Ive been busy constructing my veg room. My first build and i'm well pleased with it, i am going to put up pics and room specs soon. Been doing loads of reading about cfl's and I'm so pleased with how the veg room is looking that I'm thinking of building another room for the flowing period and scrapping the whole balcony idea or maybe grow 2 plants and when it comes to flowering move one plant outside and keep one plant indoors but on the 12/12 light schedule and then compare the results. Anyway guys i will put a load more info up in the next couple of days so watch this space, and as always any comments and advice is more than welcome. Cheers for you help people, couldn't of done this without you guys.

Sounds like your on track man! I can't wait to see what you've been up to.

Have you decided how long your going to veg before flowering?

-tuxedo-

Nice to hear your on track! Dont forget your plants will REALLY stink up the house. Dont get caught!

Noballs said:

Nice to hear your on track! Dont forget your plants will REALLY stink up the house. Dont get caught!

Click to expand...

Dude alot of people say one plant would stink up a plant to high heavens BUT it all depends on a few things.
Your strain, If you want less smell I used bagseed.
I bought an air purifier.
I own 2 things of 8 oz. ONA odor block. It doesnt just masks the odors its almost as it blends with them. Smells great.
I live with my fiance and 1, 7 yr. old child.

They've both never smelt one single thing, Unless the kid has but she didn't say anything.
Who knows

Hi people. Thanks for the warnings about odor. You must have read my mind cause over the last 2 days ive been doing alot of reading about air filters ect. As i mentioned before in this thread i am going to take every precaution i can in this expiriment. Money is not too much of a problem, i would rather spend a few extra $$$ for the peice of mind. Anyway, from what ive read so far, a carbon filter would seem the best bet. The only trouble is finding one out here, ive looked at making my own but again i think it might be a challange to find the right type of carbon over here. I'm now thinking about finding a company that will ship a pre-made carbon filter to me. Do any of you guys recommend a particular company and filter that ships internationally? My main concern now is that the extractor fan in my room will emit too much odor into the rest of the apartment. If I have a carbon filter in the room, would i need to put some kind of a filter on the extractor fan as well or will the stand alone carbon filter do the trick working along side the extractor? I know i can stick a filter on the extrator but it might miss up my temperatures. I need a really good ventilation system over here to keep the heat down. I'm a bit lost on what to do about this so any advice is welcome. I will post all the specs and pics of the room very soon so you guys have more of an idea as to what Ive got going on. Getting really excited now, as its nearing the time to start this thing off, just need a few more bits of equipment, unbelievably the hardest thing ive yet to find is a thermometer, also I'm searching around to find PH testing and adjusting equipment, once i get my hand on these last bits and pieces and run some tests i will kick off the experiment.
Once again people, thanks so much for your advice, please keep it coming.

Hi, Carlito- I saw a scrog in a trashcan on a guys balcony, up north. It was beautiful and ingenious. He controlled the light, odor, and warded off the cold by just putting the lid on every evening, and removing it in the morning. I was impressed by the health and yield. Something similar might work for you.

Puna Bud- You did time in Bangkok? Is there a journal of that anywhere. Nothing like a survivor.

Peace

This is the first time ive uploaded pics to this site and i'm a bit wasted right now so i dont know if its gunna come out clear enough. Anyway if it does i will describe whats going in in the pic and want i intend to do.

Cool that worked. here are some more pics then.

View attachment 1316248

Room Specs:

5 CFL’s Toshiba 6500K (daylight) 30 Watt Per light (true wattage not the incandescent value) (For veg period)

5 CFL’s Toshiba 2700K (warm white) 30 Watt per light to replace the 6500K lights when I change to flowering period.

+ 1 extra light if I can get away with the temperature.

1 Panasonic air intake fan

1 Panasonic air exhaust fan (same as the intake just turned the opposite way round)

{Air System Specs}
ความถี่ (เฮิรตซ&#3660 50 (ดูดออ&#3585This is the power of the exhaust i think
กำลังไฟฟ้า (วัตต&#3660 8.1 this is the wattage
รอบ / นาที 1,463 this is the rotation speed
ปริมาตรลม ลบ.ม./ชม.(ลบ.ฟุต/นาท&#3637 210(124) (This i think is the refresh rate)
ระดับเสียง (เดซิเบ&#3621 This is the noise level
น้ำหนัก (กก.) 0.9 this is the weight

This is the link to the fans that i got set up: http://www.panasonic.co.th/web/pid/2558/Spec

please note i got one of these is blowing air in and the other is sucking it out. I just got erm turned in different directions. Should one be more powerful than the other?




1 Digital timer

Room Dimensions:
Height 28inch
Width 28inch
Depth 20inch

Seed verities:
White Dwarf (Feminised) - Buddha Seeds
Short Rider (Feminised) - Nirvana
AK-48 (regular) - Nirvana
Automatic (Feminised) - Big Buddha

I still need to find two types of odor control, I thinking Carbon scrubber and some other type of odor remover. The reason I want two different types is in case the scrubber breaks down or there is a power cut (it does happen from time to time here) the odor will still be controlled. Hope that makes sense.

I also need to buy a small fan that I will place inside the room and another fan outside the room that I’m gunna point to the direction of the Air intake fan. Hopefully this will cool the room down some more.

I still can’t find a place that sells thermometers here so I can run any test as yet. But hope to get that resolved soon.

Gunna order online for a ph testing kit (digital). And the correctors.

Also gunna get a fire extinguisher – better to have to hand just in case.

I am going to try and find some where I can get the reflective material from as I think the one I have in place now is not that good. I Want to find Mylar, if poss.

Ok that’s about enough info I can think of right now, if anything’s unclear or you got any question please ask.

(Been doing a lot of reading over the last few days and most of my setup design was inspired by the book BUDS for less -See More Buds).
I’m still deciding on building another room only for flowing, will keep you posted.
Cheers guys.