Khyber's Cannabis Cave

[KhyberKitsune42]

I have just finished creating my little grow closet, so I will be posting all pictures/video concerning its /construction/operation and the things that grow in there!



Phase I - Determine height for my reflective material (kinda useless below the pot, ne?) and hang it up. (Those big boxes you see are my lights!) Also, add the fan for airflow/temp control.



Phase II - Measure/cut/hang rope for hanging/adjusting the lights.



Phase III - Hang the lights and adjust height. The one tilted up at an angle is my bloom-spectrum setup, so it won't go into use until blooming time. There's not enough space for both to hang at the same level and just one of those lights pushes 20,000 lumens with a 95 photosynthetic active radiation rating, so it's good for growing. Just FYI, I'm using a 4-foot 4-bulb 216-watt T5 fluorescent setup from HTGSupply. One has bloom bulbs, one has grow bulbs.



Phase IV - Test lighting and timer!

Now, all that remains is to get some seeds going and it's party time!

[KhyberKitsune42]

Okay, got some seeds germinating. These seeds are from some stuff a friend got in Jamaica, so let's hope they sprout!



Starter pots (3-inch) each with half a teaspoon of Blood Meal added to the soil - this will serve as gentle initial nutes after germination.



Seeds planted in the soil (less chance of transplant shock from paper towel to soil) and watered, soil covered with cling film to prevent water from escaping while seeds germinate. (This is a common failing point for beginner growers, planting the seed and not keeping it moist by all means, so it fails to properly germinate.)

Will update when there's activity, if there's activity. The seeds weren't your tiger-striped ones, these were the uniform mature gray seeds, which means this is likely an unrefined strain of pot - likely grown and harvested wild in Jamaica. This raises hopes for it being a pure strain for genetic stock, if not an interesting experiment to say the least!

[slunt]

How are you planning on using those lights and how high are you planning on growing the plants to before harvest? Floro's do not put out a whole lot of Lumens and are not optimal if the plant grows to large.

[KhyberKitsune42]

Originally Posted by slunt

How are you planning on using those lights and how high are you planning on growing the plants to before harvest? Floro's do not put out a whole lot of Lumens and are not optimal if the plant grows to large.

You don't look for lumens with fluorescents, you look for PAR (photosynthetically-Active Radiation) and I'm not using your run of the mill fluorescents - I'm using T5 fluoros which compete with Metal Halide lamps. Just one of these 216 watt setups could easily light my entire house if the walls were made from glass.

And the light setup is simple - the grow light hangs down a foot from the tops of the plants while the bloom light is angled up. When its's time to bud, I just pull one rope to raise the grow light up and then let the bloom light down.

Also, I plan on experimenting with these plants, I'm not doing a dedicated grow. I may scrog one plant and tie down another, and maybe spray one with gibbrellins to see if I can't force it to either grow faster or bud larger.

Basically, this is my laboratory, not my grow room. There are other plants in there right now as well (mint, and a recovering Japanese Maple that got way too much water and sunburned from the harsh California sun) but they'll be gone once the pot starts to get going.

As for height, who knows? I used to bonsai pot, keeping it only about a foot tall, made tiny buds the size of the last joint on my pinky finger. I may do that as well, or I may just let these guys blow out.

In other words - keep your eyes peeled on this thread. The mad doctor is at play.

[farmergiles]

Go for it Khyber, I think you`ll do better with bonsai pot with the fluoros but feel free to prove me wrong.

[slunt]

Originally Posted by KhyberKitsune42

You don't look for lumens with fluorescents, you look for PAR (photosynthetically-Active Radiation) and I'm not using your run of the mill fluorescents - I'm using T5 fluoros which compete with Metal Halide lamps.

I understand PAR, but I was pointing out that Floro's don't push the Radiation or light energy very far. Since you may scrog or bonsai all should be fairly well. I've heard good things about the T5's, especially that they target more accurately the spectrums needed for proper growing. Are they a cool light or do they throw moderate heat?

[-lotus-]

I am watching your progress with immense interest and a lot of note taking!

[KhyberKitsune42]

Originally Posted by slunt

I understand PAR, but I was pointing out that Floro's don't push the Radiation or light energy very far. Since you may scrog or bonsai all should be fairly well. I've heard good things about the T5's, especially that they target more accurately the spectrums needed for proper growing. Are they a cool light or do they throw moderate heat?

Light projection? I've never really tested that, but I *DO* happen to have a light meter! Let me get it, and take some pics of the light exposure at certain heights. These are the same type of fluoros I've seen used in warehouses, and they're hung up like 40 feet in the air, and they still get great lighting from that distance.

Anyways, let me get the light meter, and I'll report back ASAP!


Got it! First picture, the light is 21 inches from the floor.



Second picture, the light is 27 inches from the floor.



Third picture, the light is a full three feet above the floor.



As you see, the light projection DOES drop a little, and I do not have any lower data since 21 inches was the default height for my light setup. However, given how little the meter drops over fifteen inches of movement, I think it's safe to say that you do not really need to worry much about light penetration or projection. Three feet would be the highest I'd bother taking these plants (I'd save higher for more pure sativa strains) so I firmly believe that there's no cause for concern as far as lighting goes.

Now, to address the question of heat emission from these T5 bulbs - since the ballast is contained within the same structure as the bulbs, yes, there will be some heat emission, but not nearly anywhere near as much as from high pressure bulbs and large magnetic ballasts. You can touch the bulbs and they're about as warm as you are, maybe a few degrees warmer. Same with the back of the lighting unit. Overall it won't raise temps too badly since I do have decent air circulation and some flow. I'm more worried about keeping them supplied with enough CO2 in the higher temps since their respiration will increase as a result of higher temperatures.

[KhyberKitsune42]

So the first batch of seeds died, or rather they were eaten by worms in the soil.

I've rectified this mistake by sterilizing the soil in the oven at 450 for three hours. I germinated some other seeds I had, all have roots, two have their starter leaves going.



What I've done is covered the pots with Press N Seal wrap. This creates their own little micro environment for their starting growth. After a couple of days, the seedlings that are already developing their first leaves will be hitting the top and I'll drop in a stick to use as a tent pole and raise the cling wrap. For the first couple of weeks, I'm going to keep them in their little separate greenhouses, and every day I'll just blow out a breath that's been held really long under each 'tent' and seal it back up so they have 'fresh air.'

These seeds are again just random dank bagseed. Don't know about strain.

[koshiva]

Hi Kyber - I think your lights will work very well. Just be sure to keep the height of the plants low, and the lights close so that the intensity of the light remains high over the entire surface area of the plants rather than just having the 'tops' in optimum light which is a common mistake beginners make. At a 'guess' I'd 'suggest' you aim to keep your plants no taller than two feet max, ie short squat bushs. By doing that you should be able to grow some top quality bud as good as anything under hps - the key really is keeping those plants short...though you know that already....just driving that point home.

SCROG is unecessary. You can easily 'prune, bend, tie, and train' plants to maintain them at what ever height you wish without the need for a 'screen' which just gets in the way.

Chains make for much better means of adjusting lights, or more specialised actuation mechanisms made for such purpose on what ever cord/rope you wish to use. Be careful with knots because they can come loose if done poorly causeing much damage to plants and lights in the event of knot failure.

The seeds you put down prior are unlikely to have been killed/eaten by bugs - the humble canna grows so quickly it is rare that bugs would kill them before they got settled and began to grow faster than a bugs appetite. I would 'suggest' that your first batchs of seeds/seedlings died because of simple 'dehydration', ie 'you' let the soil dry out completely. Looking at the first pics of those small seedlings it appears the soil is 'exceedingly dry'. When you germ seeds directly in soil(which is by far the best way) make sure to water the soil well(soaking then draining) 'prior' to placement of seeds - then keep it well moist for the first couple of weeks at least...but never soppy wet.

With the new seeds/seedlings - there really is 'no need' for the supplimentary humidity tent you have created. Excess humidity may even be deleterious for young seedlings since transpiration will be slowed and photosynthetic activity reduced as a result. Generally a good herb likes dry conditions in terms of atmosphere/air.

Seeds will germinate just fine without that cling film/humidity tent as long as the soil is kept moist at all times. It is especially important to maintain soil moisture during germination and seedling development. As long as you do that, your seeds/seedlings will pump without the plastic cling film. And your light/s can be placed as close as you can get them to the tops of the young seedlings as long as the temperature is not too high. They will love bright light but wither under intense 'heat'.

Speaking of which - 'dehydration'; your last batch(I presume) were also 'probably'(I also assume them were not contained under your humidity tents) decimated by your fan. Your fan appears very large and even on the lowest setting should 'not' be directed at young tender seedlings. Only when you have reasonably established larger 'plants' should you direct that fan straight at and through your plants, because the fan will act like a hair drier and strip moisture away from tender seedlings quickly leading to stress and/or death.

At this stage you probably do not even need that fan as long as heat is not a problem. If you must use the fan at this stage, direct it at your light to cool that, and make sure any turbulence created by it does not unecessarily stress the seedlings below.

Good luck.

[Captain Cannabis]

keep us posted on the experimenting. always good to see some creativity