Clones/ lights

[Guest sabator]

Hi guys and girls.

 

 

I have had two grows now with shit results. I have only managed to muster 2 oz each run off 4 plants under two 400w hps lights.

 

I am convinced that i am useing a pritty shitty strain. I come to this conclusion as i have a decent set up and my plants seem very healthy.

 

Based on this i plan to send off to spc and get myself some clones. The only problem is i have no idea how to plant them once i get them? As i have never been involved with clones b4 only seeds.

so........

 

How far under the light (400w).

What media? (they will b in soil eventually)

What nutes/ hormones?

any other suggestions?

I really have no urge to kill $150 buxs.

 

one last question. Is it worth the money to get one 1000w Hps lamp to put over my 4 plants during budding and perhaps grow?

ie have 2 400w for grow and one 1000w for bud?

just asken cos i have seen a set up were a guy had 4 mjs the size of trees growing under one 1000w light.

 

This guy was a small commerial and i know he was makeing nice money.......he was no beginer i had no interest in growing then so i didnt look in great deatail. Although it was hydro

 

Thanks for any help u can give.

[Guest GrowMad]

hiya sabator...

 

most of the questions u can probably ask stonedas about. I really don't think for 4 plants in a hydro system would really need a 1000w lamp.. I grow 6 under a 400w Sunmaster Deluxe and they grow pretty well. If u are growing 'tree' sized plants u would probably need more light though (it all depends on the size of your room and plants).

 

The distance of the plants under the light will also depend on if u have an air-cooled lamp hood. Usually I just hold my hand under the lamp and if the temp is comfortable then it's okay.

 

I think your clones will come planted in coco/perlite or something like that... U can transfer them in to soil if u wish, but I would probably get the coco and perlite and grow them the same, but this is just a personal choice I don't think it really matters. Just make sure the pH of the soil is around 6.0 to 6.5.

 

There are many things that will effect yield of the plants, and heat is the main problem I have found.

 

I think SPC use Canna nutes (which are meant to be pretty good), which u can get from a lot of hydro shops. They also have a website for Canna.

[pipeman]

hey sabator, I wouldn't go spending more money on lights until you solve your other problems.

 

Under average growing conditions good indoor strains should yield about 0.5g/watt. So if you are only getting 2 ounces under 2no 400watters then something else is your problem, not the lights. Like you say it could be the strain, or something else about your growing conditions.

 

any chance of some pics?

[Guest sabator]

Thanks guys for your help.

 

 

Pics................ Yea i wish!!!! I dont have a digital camara and obviously i dont trust the developer enoth to use film.

 

 

 

Just to let you know my room is always around 25 degrees with humidity at 55-60%. i have one fan constantly pushing in fresh air and another just to get some movement in the air. i have no extraction fan.

 

Any way

 

I think i might have found 2 other possible problems to explain my piss poor yeild.

 

One...

My room is very big........ by that i mean its 12 ft long.... 5 ft wide........ and 6 ft high (enoth room to fit 15 large plants) .. Thus with four plants all about 3ft there is alot of wasted space. Now all my walls are painted in a flat white, even with this i assume that there will be alot of wasted light in the empty space. What do you reacon?

 

 

The second thing that i could be doing wrong is. I go nuts with triming off all the big leafs. Using the logic that the light will go to the buds instead.

 

 

What do you think with both therories??

 

 

Thanks again pipeman and growmad

[Guest Urbanhog]

One...

My room is very big........ by that i mean its 12 ft long.... 5 ft wide........ and 6 ft high (enoth room to fit 15 large plants) .. Thus with four plants all about 3ft there is alot of wasted space. Now all my walls are painted in a flat white, even with this i assume that there will be alot of wasted light in the empty space. What do you reacon?

 

 

The second thing that i could be doing wrong is. I go nuts with triming off all the big leafs. Using the logic that the light will go to the buds instead.

 

 

What do you think with both therories??

 

 

Thanks again pipeman and growmad

This is based on my experience and my opinion......I am no expert, but I guess thats what this site for to suggest ideas, correct, and all that usual stuff....

 

 

[*] I think the room might be too big, the light goes further to the wall to reflect back to the plants so the plants lose the maxium light effect. Try to make a wall around the plants, like a big grow box or cabinet closer to the plants to there is more reflective back to the plants and dont lose much of the light.

 

 

[*]Leaves are very important part of the plant's cycle, specially the vegetaive growth/stage, I never trim my plants until they get into the mid-way of the budding stage when the leave go bit yellow, and trim bit of the bottom of the plants where there isnt much lights at the bottom of the plant's branches. Try this just for "education purpose" - have two plants one trimmed heavily and one not trimmed at all, you will notice a big differences as the plants needs the leaves to collect the engery from the light.

 

This is all based on my experience and my opinon.

 

cheers,

 

Urbanhog http://www.gamers-forums.com/smilies/contrib/sp/chefico.gif

[Tom]

The problem is not the light wattage, I use two 430w Son-T's and my best grow to date using them was 27 ounces from eight clones, with a larger grow room I could get an even better yield. If your globes have been used for more than four grows they need to be replaced, if this is the case replace them with Son-T-Agro globes, they use the 400w HPS ballast.

 

Hydro is faster than soil and usually has a higher yield, don't confuse home grown hydro with the stuff you have been buying, hydro is very clean when it's been grown properly, if you like soil because it seems less complicated then check out the links to my system in my signature, it's like growing in soil, but easier.

 

You will also find heaps of information about nutrients, various medias and strains in the “Mission Overgrow” forums, you will also find links to a couple of world class Australian seed banks there too.

 

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