newbie cfl\hydro experiment - Page 2 - GreenPassion.org - Dedicated to Medicinal Cannabis Cultivation and Education

scott06 · #21 (**permalink**) 05-17-2008, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ISO2BWELL

BTW, I've heard that a 4k spectrum isn't all that good...don'tknow why but the higher kelvin temp lamps are cheap too.
ISO

4k is not as good because most plants most efficently use the light engery at certain wavelengths. Chlorophy activity can be measured to see what wavelengths are best

graphically represented as
How the Sunlight Effects Plant Growth

200 - 280 nmUVC ultraviolet range which is extremely harmful to plants because it is highly toxic.
280 - 315 nmIncludes harmful UVB ultraviolet light which causes plants colors to fade.
315 - 380 nmRange of UVA ultraviolet light which is neither harmful nor beneficial to plant growth.
380 - 400 nm Start of visible light spectrum. Process of chlorophyll absorption begins. UV protected plastics ideally block out any light below this range.
400 - 520 nmThis range includes violet, blue, and green bands. Peak absorption by chlorophyll occurs, and a strong influence on photosynthesis. (promotes vegetative growth)
520 - 610 nmThis range includes the green, yellow, and orange bands and has less absorption by pigments.
610 - 720 nmThis is the red band. Large amount of absorption by chlorophyll occurs, and most significant influence on photosynthesis. (promotes flowering and budding)
720 - 1000 nmThere is little absorption by chlorophyll here. Flowering and germination is influenced. At the high end of the band is infrared, which is heat.
1000+ nmTotally infrared range. All energy absorbed at this point is converted to heat.

justanotherbozo · #22 (**permalink**) 05-17-2008, 04:22 PM

i'm actually using a mix of 6500Kelvin and 2700Kelvin at about a 4 to 1 ratio respectively, watt for watt.

scott06 · #23 (**permalink**) 05-17-2008, 04:34 PM

I think that is a great mix for veg

many people report much better/healthier growth with the mix that is why I switched to the mix also

justanotherbozo · #24 (**permalink**) 05-17-2008, 04:43 PM

the plants need both red and blue light through-out thier lives.
that's one of the things i like so much about CFL's, the ability to really tweak your spectrums, for instance when i flower, i plan on having at least 60 - 80 watts at 1900Kelvin to add some far red light. i hope it adds to my yield, lol

jangel · #25 (**permalink**) 05-17-2008, 05:22 PM

Super! Great work and good goin'! I will check back.

justanotherbozo · #26 (**permalink**) 05-18-2008, 11:21 AM

well, i now have 6 pairs of clones from 6 different donor plants and 4 more pairs that will be ready (i hope) by the middle of the week. once they are firmly rooted and seperated, i wll begin flowering for sex. i can't wait.

1) if you look closely, you can see some of the donor plants in back, if you look really close, you can see how neglected they were (i lost 7 donors through my neglect)
in front and to the right (on top of the beer box) is my cloner (man, i wish i had built one sooner) in full swing (ended up with 17 0f 18 rooted)
to the left of that you see one of the full sized bins being pressed into service as a cloner, thankfully, it seems to be working.

2) another shot of the cloner, i've already transplanted a few

3) in this shot you can see i had to use 2 of the regular sized bins as cloners. you can also see my new airpump (thanks Opie)

4), 5) & 6) are just a few more shots to help you visualize my set-up

justanotherbozo · #27 (**permalink**) 05-19-2008, 10:46 AM

heres a few of the cuttings i'm holding back, they show me top feeding also and, if you look, you can see a piece of my DIY scrubber

pine boy · #28 (**permalink**) 05-19-2008, 03:28 PM

Looks good sir.Healty and happy.Let me know if you find the hydro grow as easy as dirt.( I dont think I can do the dro)

justanotherbozo · #29 (**permalink**) 05-19-2008, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pine boy

Looks good sir.Healty and happy.Let me know if you find the hydro grow as easy as dirt.( I dont think I can do the dro)

this is only my second grow (my first was in dirt last year) so i'm no hydro expert but, i love hydro.

in looking at my thread i'm sure you can see that everything is DIY and that's true because of poverty (that's part of why i want to grow, to save money).
that poverty prevents me from any major purchases so i make do as best i can, which means i have no metering equipment at all other than thermometers and ph strips, i just can't afford to shell out for a decent ph\ec meter.

i just follow the directions on the nute packaging (a little weak though) and change my nutes every 10 day's or so.

lol, which means, i'm sure, that i've been terribly lucky.

truthfully though, even without all that stuff, if you do your research, and i know you do, hydro is easier than dirt, has been for me at least.

scott06 · #30 (**permalink**) 05-19-2008, 05:50 PM

"truthfully though, even without all that stuff, if you do your research, and i know you do, hydro is easier than dirt, has been for me at least."

Its amazing the variety of growing techniques that people enjoy - I would have never thought of hydro as easier....but with reflection it seems its the challange that people set for themselves that makes the grow fun indoor outdoor scog sog and on and on

The DIY is impressive and the plants seem to becoming along great...keep up the good work and cool posts

justanotherbozo · #31 (**permalink**) 05-19-2008, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scott06

"truthfully though, even without all that stuff, if you do your research, and i know you do, hydro is easier than dirt, has been for me at least."

Its amazing the variety of growing techniques that people enjoy - I would have never thought of hydro as easier....but with reflection it seems its the challange that people set for themselves that makes the grow fun indoor outdoor scog sog and on and on

The DIY is impressive and the plants seem to becoming along great...keep up the good work and cool posts

i say 'easier' because it actually has been easier than last years dirt grow

last year i germed 30 seeds that ALL died, then i germed 30 more, of those, 5 survived long enough for me to sex and 4 were fems.
i tried getting a SOG goin' but the yield was just too meager (3 - 4 grams dried per clone, i ended up with a total of about 4oz spread over a few months)
oddly enough, i had a much easier time last year with cloning with 95% success rate in rockwool starter cubes.
this year i couldn't get ANY to root that way, i had moderate success with just putting cuttings in a glass of water (about 75% rooted)
now i've built a cloner and i'm happy as a clam, i think this will be a reliable producer of rooted clones for many moons to come (God willing and the creek don't rise, lol)

anyway, thanks for stoppin' by and toke amongst yourselves

pine boy · #32 (**permalink**) 05-19-2008, 06:17 PM

you know?,I never had any luck with the paper towel method of hatching seeds.I always have to put them in the dirt.works about 75% of the time vs.0% with the wet towel method.
I like hatching seed tho.I cant wait untill I get a good cloning technique and apply.

justanotherbozo · #33 (**permalink**) 05-19-2008, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pine boy

you know?,I never had any luck with the paper towel method of hatching seeds.I always have to put them in the dirt.works about 75% of the time vs.0% with the wet towel method.
I like hatching seed tho.I cant wait untill I get a good cloning technique and apply.

i still start my seed in pre-soaked rockwool cubes, i've had near 100% germ rate

justanotherbozo · #34 (**permalink**) 05-19-2008, 06:49 PM

Talisman asked me a very good question that i decided to answer here just to keep my stuff together (lol, actually, everything i do, including this, i learned from fellow growers just like you all)

the question was in how to handle rooted clones and as the answer is harder to give with just words, i decided to do one and take pictures.

there are several and it'll probably be overkill but what the hell, i want to make this as easy to understand as possoble so here goes

justanotherbozo · #35 (**permalink**) 05-19-2008, 06:55 PM

those first are of the cloner and my hydroton soaking in a tub

justanotherbozo · #36 (**permalink**) 05-19-2008, 06:56 PM

LOL, a picture is worth a thousand words

bake on

jangel · #37 (**permalink**) 05-19-2008, 07:13 PM

Are those rapidrooters? You have me sold Bozo. I really really like your cloner.....THANK YOU FOR SHOWING US!!!

justanotherbozo · #38 (**permalink**) 05-19-2008, 07:22 PM

they're not rapid rooters. all i did was buy a length of pipe wrap insulation (i think it was 6ft long) and cut it into 1 inch pieces.
then i just wrap a piece around the stem of a cutting and jam the insulation wrapped cutting into one of the holes
approx 6 days later, voila, roots, LOL

anyway, that's how it's working NOW, i can't imagine that it won't continue to work as well for a long long time (next to no moving parts to mess up)

that being said, toke amongst yourselves

(lol, do it now and we can buzz together)

justanotherbozo · #39 (**permalink**) 05-20-2008, 04:07 PM

i started that to illustrate a technique and realized how far along some of my clones were so, ...

i have a buddy from a farming family (his father and uncle grew flowers and veggies throughout our lives) who had a stroke about 10 years ago (he's 57 now and strokes run in the family) so doesn't grow like he used to but he still grows about 50 tomato plants every year.
so for the last 3 years he has planted mj seeds and only gotten smokable bud once
now, because i cut down all my donor plants, i have more rooted cuttings than i can use so i potted some in dirt for my bud, this way, once i know the sex, i'll just give him some of my extra fem clones.

whew, now that that background crap is out of the way, i figured i'd show how to deal with rooted clones (from a cloner like mine) if your growing in dirt (you know who you are girl, lol).

again, the pics are pretty much self-explanitory but if you have any questions, remember, the only stupid question is the one you didn't ask!

oh yeah, a tip for newbie growers: when you pot your clones or seedlings, make sure to put enough dirt so it's almost to the tops of the pots, too much space between the level of the dirt and the tops of the pots leaves too much dead air around the base of the plants.

anyway, here's the pic's so if you got 'em, smoke 'em

jangel · #40 (**permalink**) 05-20-2008, 05:00 PM

Thank you Bozo.

"oh yeah, a tip for newbie growers: when you pot your clones or seedlings, make sure to put enough dirt so it's almost to the tops of the pots, too much space between the level of the dirt and the tops of the pots leaves too much dead air around the base of the plants. " Bozo

One thing, there has to be a high surfactant rate in your soil if you put it so close to the top. (soil has to absorb the water readily) Otherwise you have no room to water them and the water will spill out before going into the soil. I know this from experiance! And it makes a big mess and you get dirt and perlite all over the place!

Thank you again, NOW can you give me the time to make this baby? Anyone feel that? I started the day knowing what I WANTED to do, but then all those things that you HAVE to do get in the way! DAMN!!!!

Bozo, you impress the hell out of me. Keep up your good work and encouragement. You are making friends.