growing for dumies

shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Shop deals on ebay
AC Infinity
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
N.E.wguy

N.E.wguy

Product of my environment
Joined
May 18, 2013
Messages
1,670
Reaction score
342
Location
Ma
Me being the dummy ;)

This is my first attempt at growing. Any and all input is appreciated

So i built 2 boxes. Both are 2'x2'x4'h so not sure what each is supposed to have for lumes.?

Next is lights this is a next to no money build being such I went with CFLs from Lowes. 5600 for veg and 2700 for flower with a 3000k and a led red panel have to see what that was and lunes etc for other bulbs but will post all that later.

So they were going to be flower/veg and from a day of reading thru threads myself I see we all know they are both flower now and a 3rd cabinet has taken the veg spot being 2x4x2'h

Air is 4 inline 160cfms from online also a 6" carbon filter and co3 ozone

Nutrs are not so hoy just mg tomato and super bloom from Lowes. Soil was mixtures of vermiculite peat sand mg moisture control and rocks

Have one plant at 6 weeks was a random bag seed as are all the rest unfortunately but I'm open to donations ;)

So plant one had a hard life fromntje get go. Snapped the stalk and it managed to live another same stain snapped also in LST.

Then plant 3,4,5 are another strain making it a bit more challenging and a third was introduced before I realized that was a teribble thin to try and learn by doing...
 
Lumen wise you need 12,000 lumens per box for veg and 20,000 per box for flower. You will need to utilize some training on them with spaces that small. I used to flower in a 2x4 tent and it was challenging.
 
don;t understand why some people are talking about lumens ???? which really means nothing to growing but what a human eye can see
 
N.E.I'm growing with cfls aswell as doing a poormans grow.My box is 2x3 I'm using 65 watt 2 55 watt 1 23 watt.I forgat the exact numbers the 55 65 watt wich is 200 watt eq of incandecent is over 12,000 lumens the bulbs are like 13 dollars but worth it.I'm growing autos and so far my babies seem to be doing fine.
 
N.E.wguy said:
Thanks for the input I have done some severve pruning, training and topping on plants 6,7,8,9 not sexed just flipped as few days ago so far 5/5 female on random bag and wet towel process deep root stem starts in water bottles under a random light

As well as LST and minor lollipoping on plant 3 the beast.


As far as lumes I can post what I have running and the air info in a few
Click to expand...

If you have 5 for 5 females, keep a very close eye out for hermies. With that kind of ratio, it is almost certain that the plant the seeds came from selfed.

Figuring lighting by lumens is the common way to do it. I am not sure what method Dr Fever uses, but figuring lighting by lumens per sq ft is the way that every grower I know figures his lighting. It is not that we hate CFLs--it is that they are the most expensive to run of all the bulbs we use to grow and produce the least. They also run hotter than HIDs when you get as many of them as you need.
 
sounds like a great start...mojo for the grow..

:48:
 
Thanks for that 4u2. Pretty happy to have found a great supportive forum
 
So I think I got pics now or not.. We working on it little confused how to link them ad a pic an not a link

Why is my [ img ] option off? Can't figure it out so hard on a phone zzz
 
DrFever said:
don;t understand why some people are talking about lumens ???? which really means nothing to growing but what a human eye can see
Click to expand...

Some people? Lol, you mean me? Since I was the only one to mention lumens I will assume you mean me. Enlighten us oh wise one, what do you use? Please don't say watts per square foot, because I might pull a muscle in my abs from laughing so hard. Lumens per sqr foot is the way most growers do it. Watts per sqr foot is an old method and does not take into account just how efficient or inefficient the bulb is at turning watts into lumens.
 
Ya I kind of thought maybe he just grows out doors so maybe he has no idea some people learn from strange approaches. But as far as watts goes it seems that term maybe used to figure the lumes of most hps lights. I am learning maybe I missed some thing will get more pics up soon lilbusy atm
 
So I have to figure out what to do with the little lights I do have. Is a full spectrum of cfl better or add should I still just load cabinet 1 with all 2700 for now and use the 5700 on the plants that are just beginning the 12/12


Also switched the plants around 1,2,3,4 are all in cab one and rest are in cab2 with a newly installed screen over them to try to keep them manageable unlike the monster thing is looking nice just a little to much for what I have to use for space. Buy I am glad I was able to find this issue before having tried running 6 of those I'd of been eating weed salads for weeks by now. So back to my question having the 3 most advanced plants in cabinet one do I just use strictly 2700 bulbs and try to hit the 12k or should I add a few 5700 to try to get more max lumens and a wider spectrum if color? Still trying to get info for led panel this phone sucks can't surf eBay well at all
 
Your plants are nice and green and showing nice trich development. When you are able to upgrade your lights, you will see a world of difference. But in the meantime, I would go ahead and use mixed spectrum bulbs if that is what you have. Try to get as much light in there as you can to get as close to 20,000 lumens as you can. Do you have any exhaust? Are you running an oscillating fan in your space?
 
Not osculating but a 6" floor fan at an angle up was on top facing down but after today mo vimg #3 back into cab one it had to come down. As for exhaust, I currently have 3 160cfm in lines run one directly pulling through the 6" charcoal then passes thru a flush mount male fitting out the top of box one directly into inline fan #2 then outlets to a 12' flex6" to the 3rd inline exhausting into a oil furnace exhausting 3 story'sup at least 35' also a 4" air purifier in cab 2 on the floor under screen

Box 2 is negative flow thru 2x 4-1/2 " holes In middle wall one top one bottom and cold air intake is drawn thru negative flow in cab 2 floor level with a HEPA filter and dehumidifier running outside of the boxes.

Also cold air is drawn from room with water heater and oil furnace so I think the produce co2? For the negative intake?
 
Pics thaT appear to of not uploaded abouve
 
So I just eliminated any foil hood with lining the top of cab 1 with aluminum heat resistantduct tape the shiny face dull adhesive side, with 45degree corners and boxed out the filter a bit to reduce wasted lumens. Currently am running 5x 2700, 1x 3000, 1x 5700 = TBD lumens will add a few mote if I can buy heat and rh are close to an issue already with current light fml
 
OK so my high guy math says currently 11650 lumens in cab 1 leaving @ - 8350 lumens so 4x 3k wouldbgeg me close as and I'm sure the led panel would hit over the 20k total
 
I have found the higher watt bulbs at lowes 150 eq the highest found there. Walmart is were I got my 200 eq, and Ive seen 300 watt eq at ace.. I hope this helps some.They were sold singly not in multi packs.
 
The Hemp Goddess said:
If you have 5 for 5 females, keep a very close eye out for hermies. With that kind of ratio, it is almost certain that the plant the seeds came from selfed.

Figuring lighting by lumens is the common way to do it. I am not sure what method Dr Fever uses, but figuring lighting by lumens per sq ft is the way that every grower I know figures his lighting. It is not that we hate CFLs--it is that they are the most expensive to run of all the bulbs we use to grow and produce the least. They also run hotter than HIDs when you get as many of them as you need.
Click to expand...
Lumens have absolutely NOTHING to do with plant lighting or plant growth. It is about photons........ Lumens is a measure of light photons in a range that the human eye is sensitive and not what should be considered when evaluating a light source
what you really need to look at is Photons that bulb produces
A high lumens lamp only indicates that it probably has lots of light around 550 nm where the human eye is most sensitive.


Plants always do best under a full spectrum. Photosynthesis is driven by photon count, so a lamp with a higher photon output will produce a better yield. Quantity is one, quality is two. So while HPS still is the absolute winner when it comes to producing photons per watt, the quality of the spectrum is of influence too and will define the quality of the crop.
 
Good info thank you both. I do remember the led panel having that nm info I believe really gotta find out the others thanks for the mini mission
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Flower
Jacks Nutrients
2 3
Replies
57
Views
2K
Jan Borrego
Jan Borrego
Africanna
Blue Sky Grow
2
Replies
34
Views
1K
WeedHopper
WeedHopper
C
White Widow (2nd Grow)
2
Replies
26
Views
2K
BobHasBurgers
BobHasBurgers
R
Hi from Coastal NC, 2nd year growing.
2
Replies
28
Views
1K
Jan Borrego
Jan Borrego
Slab
Slabs Sphagnum Wicking grow - fall 2022
2 3
Replies
45
Views
3K
WeedHopper
WeedHopper

Latest posts

Back
Top