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[MEGA]Growing advice, tips, tricks and experience: Mark 3

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^ I tested it. There are only 2 switches in my box... 1 of them turns all the electricity off in the house. Don't really know what the other one does, didn't see a change.

Also - So you are saying that 1 600w MH would be fine for that space and 15-20 plants? 2 Ballasts, 1 fore each room is enough? Can I plug 2 HPS into 1 ballast? Don't know the name of the ballast, all I know is that its new and digital, makes no noise...and blue!
 
SpanoonapS said:
^ I tested it. There are only 2 switches in my box... 1 of them turns all the electricity off in the house. Don't really know what the other one does, didn't see a change.
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OK that simplifies things a bit. If all that power is running to two switches, then you probably have very thick lines (read: holds amps and heat well) running into the house, which sounds ideal for your situation. The second switch could be the power for your ac/heater...

Also - So you are saying that 1 600w MH would be fine for that space and 15-20 plants? 2 Ballasts, 1 fore each room is enough? Can I plug 2 HPS into 1 ballast? Don't know the name of the ballast, all I know is that its new and digital, makes no noise...and blue!
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If the light is air cooled and properly extracted, then yes, that is enough space for the 600. As for plugging two lights into one ballast, I have never done that before and it sounds foreign to me, so hopefully someone else will chime in here...
 
I've heard of people utilizing this method to great effect, though I've never done it myself or seen it done first hand, but its worth a read: *sorry, links to a site with dispensary banners*

Generally, its one light per ballast.
 
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That area is suited for a 600-1000 watt. Though, if the room is kept cool and you have the ability to raise and lower the light, a 1000 would work better.

I generally stick to this chart:

(Light output) (Growing area) (Supplemental area, the area the light reaches)
100 watts 2' x 2' 3' x 3'
250 watts 3' x 3' 4' x 4'
400 watts 4' x 4' 6' x 6'
600 watts 6' x 6' 8' x 8'
1000 watts 8' x 8' 12' x 12'

General rule of thumb is 20 watts per square foot at least.
 
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SpanoonapS said:
^ I tested it. There are only 2 switches in my box... 1 of them turns all the electricity off in the house. Don't really know what the other one does, didn't see a change.

Also - So you are saying that 1 600w MH would be fine for that space and 15-20 plants? 2 Ballasts, 1 fore each room is enough? Can I plug 2 HPS into 1 ballast? Don't know the name of the ballast, all I know is that its new and digital, makes no noise...and blue!
Click to expand...

You have 21.8 square feet of floor space. To get 50W/square foot you would need 1090W light, so this means a 1kW lamp would be ideal, or one 600W and one 400W lamp (I would go for a 600W HPS and a 400W MH if you're choosing this option). If you go for the 600W HPS and the 400W MH you can use that same combination for both the vegetative and flowering stages.

50W per square foot is the ideal number to aim for and if it were me, I would just buy the 1kW and be done with it. You can buy one 1kW MH and one 1KW HPS and just swap the lamps round if you have a switchable ballast. Above 50W/sq ft and you are moving into saturation and wasting lumens, which translates into wasted money on electricity.

Any less than 50W/sq ft. and your garden will start to be a lot less productive. I honestly don't think a 600W is big enough for that space! With respect, 20W per square foot is less than half the ideal and you'll definitely get disappointing results in my opinion. If you want to save money on lighting costs then it would be better to just reduce your growing space area rather than spread a smaller light over the same area. The consensus is definitely 50W/square foot, (I can be sure of that)! I think the above poster might have made a typo, not sure, but 20W/square foot is too low. With regular plant rotation I would say at a stretch you could go as low as 30W/sq ft but 20W/sq ft is defo pushing it.

When working out lighting requirements, you first look at the area of your growing space and then go from there. In your space if you were growing 20 plants, that would be one per square foot, which would be a sea of green grow (SOG). SOG grows are more efficient than screen of green (SCROG) grows etc. but obviously the risks are higher since plant numbers are higher.

Having said that, a 600W would definitely be okay for 15-20 plants, however, like I've said, I would be using it in a smaller area than the 56" X 56" (i.e. 21.8 square feet).

edit: and yes, one light per ballast, as said!

w01fg4ng said:
That garden is looking awesome AE
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Thanks wolf. I'm already planning for my indoor garden during the winter. The pattern for me from now on is definitely going to be growing outdoors in summer and indoors in winter to save on electricity bills (they've gone up by 25% in the last year due to the shit happening in the middle east!). Even if I couldn't smoke my own harvest I would still probably grow if I could, since I just love the experience so much (I don't know if anyone can relate to that...).
 
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^ just to be clear, I don't agree with that chart (he did say '20W/sq. ft at least' but it's a bit misleading)! But in theory, yes, they're the same in that respect. For a 600W lamp, I think you would do best with a growing area of 3.5 feet by 3.5 feet (12 square feet).

edit: Here would be my version of the chart:

250W HPS/MH - 2.24' x 2.24'
400W HPS/MH - 2.83' x 2.83'
600W HPS/MH - 3.46' x 3.46'
1000W HPS/MH - 4.47' x 4.47'

(Figures are rounded off).

A 1000W lamp works well in a Secret Jardin DR120 tent and a 600W work well in a Secret Jardin DR100 tent, for simplicity's sake.

I've done these calculations very quickly, so forgive me if I've made any errors. However I think the numbers are right.
 
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question on growing headies outdoors in the northeast

If i decided to try to grow random heady seeds ive collected over the winter outdoors in the woods some where how long would it take from start to finish roughly? some people tell me 2 months some people say more like 3-3 1/2....keep in mind i live in the northeastern climate zone. If i planted them in a week about how long until i would be able to harvest?
 
Artificial Emotion said:
You have 21.8 square feet of floor space. To get 50W/square foot you would need 1090W light, so this means a 1kW lamp would be ideal, or one 600W and one 400W lamp (I would go for a 600W HPS and a 400W MH if you're choosing this option). If you go for the 600W HPS and the 400W MH you can use that same combination for both the vegetative and flowering stages.

50W per square foot is the ideal number to aim for and if it were me, I would just buy the 1kW and be done with it. You can buy one 1kW MH and one 1KW HPS and just swap the lamps round if you have a switchable ballast. Above 50W/sq ft and you are moving into saturation and wasting lumens, which translates into wasted money on electricity.

Any less than 50W/sq ft. and your garden will start to be a lot less efficient. I honestly don't think a 600W is big enough for that space!

When working out lighting requirements, you first look at the area of your growing space and then go from there. In your space if you were growing 20 plants, that would be one per square foot, which would be a sea of green grow (SOG). SOG grows are more efficient than screen of green (SCROG) grows etc. but obviously the risks are higher since plant numbers are higher.
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Indoor isn't my biggest forte (though like I said, I'm content with myself), you should probably listen to this guy. He definitely does know what he(or she?) is talking about, and is very eloquent in describing said methods. Good job AE, and I wasn't trying to compare any dicks earlier, its just funny how people's methods vary so greatly, and seemingly get very different results from grower to grower.
What doesn't work for one, works wonders for another probably in conjunction with other things they're doing to counteract or compensate for things that might be "frowned" upon by others. It's funny how growing marijuana works, I wish I could just share my product with others and not even have to type or use words. :)

I've lived around indoor grows literally my entire life learning as I grew older, but up until about 4 years ago I hadn't had a garden to call my own. I moved into a house in the mountains with my fiancee and I did 16 marvelous indoor cycles, and called it quits. Indoor is great for growing your own personal stash and top quality "club" weed, but I prefer outdoor grown marijuana usually, and its much more lucrative to the point where I don't have to have a formal job and for that I am most grateful. AE, are you well versed with outdoor growing as well, particularly light depo? That is where I feel my true talent is, and where I spend most of my efforts as far as time and learning go.

As AE also said, 20w per sq foot is a pretty low estimation, the more watts you use the bigger the buds.
 
Artificial Emotion said:
Thanks mate, it's all good fun!

That plant looks a picture of health. Is she getting enough light with that fence though? Just out of curiosity, is the fence adjacent to a line drawn from east to west, or perpendicular?

You probably know what you're doing, but I would lay off feeding her for now if you can help it since I can see a just a faint touch of tip burn on a couple of leaves and I would think about attaching her to a cane at some point. She looks really good though!
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Thanks mate :)

I can't give you an answer regarding the fence though, cause to be honest, i have no idea :\ The plant defiantly gets 8ish hours of sun though.

Why do you suggest using a cane? I didn't use one when i grew my previous plants in the pots..Is it because they will get huge when planted in the ground?
 
I think AE mentioned using a cane to stake your girl up agaisnt(incase she gets to lanky)

You could beat this and get more yeild by tying down the main stem though.
 
God it's amazing how little plants can smell outdoors, even in a greenhouse. You'd have to be right inside it to smell anything. In flower it might be a bit worse so I might have to install my carbon filter once the electricity is installed. Either that or an ozone generataor.

StickyChron said:
Indoor isn't my biggest forte (though like I said, I'm content with myself), you should probably listen to this guy. He definitely does know what he(or she?) is talking about, and is very eloquent in describing said methods. Good job AE, and I wasn't trying to compare any dicks earlier, its just funny how people's methods vary so greatly, and seemingly get very different results from grower to grower.
What doesn't work for one, works wonders for another probably in conjunction with other things they're doing to counteract or compensate for things that might be "frowned" upon by others. It's funny how growing marijuana works, I wish I could just share my product with others and not even have to type or use words. :)

I've lived around indoor grows literally my entire life learning as I grew older, but up until about 4 years ago I hadn't had a garden to call my own. I moved into a house in the mountains with my fiancee and I did 16 marvelous indoor #cycles, and called it quits. Indoor is great for growing your own personal stash and top quality "club" weed, but I prefer outdoor grown marijuana usually, and its much more lucrative to the point where I don't have to have a formal job and for that I am most grateful. AE, are you well versed with outdoor growing as well, particularly light depo? That is where I feel my true talent is, and where I spend most of my efforts as far as time and learning go.

As AE also said, 20w per sq foot is a pretty low estimation, the more watts you use the bigger the buds.
Click to expand...

No worries. Sorry if I came across as harsh - it reallly wasn't my intention. We can't agree about everything and you probably can grow plants just fine outdoors as you say, if that's your forté.

I do love growing weed outdoors as well since nothing can beat the sun.

Wise420 said:
I think AE mentioned using a cane to stake your girl up agaisnt(incase she gets to lanky)

You could beat this and get more yeild by tying down the main stem though.
Click to expand...

I would honestly use this method as instead, as a matter of fact, like Wise says. Or top her right about now, to make her bushy. You could aslo FIM her or use any other number of pruning or training methods, all of which should improve yield.

Another simple tip for imcreasing your yield is to use a mulch. This could be bark spread around on the soil or other materials could be used. They seal moisture in and help keep the roots warm at night and can have a big impact on yields.
 
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Artificial Emotion said:
I would honestly use this method as instead, as a matter of fact, like Wise says. Or top her right about now, to make her bushy. You could aslo FIM her or use any other number of pruning or training methods, all of which should improve yield.

Another simple tip for imcreasing your yield is to use a mulch. This could be bark spread around on the soil or other materials could be used. They seal moisture in and help keep the roots warm at night and can have a big impact on yields.
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Ok awesome, thanks AE and Wise :)

Ill keep you guys updated.
 
red stems?

what does it mean when the stems are red on your plant? ive never seen this before....except for that old school arjans haze i believe but theres is no way it could be that, so im confused.
 
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