Light ???

RM3 said:

Never, I start with seedlings and run it thru out

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Ah... I got it backwards.
Any concerns about UV degrading THC? Could be a myth. Dunno.
If we are trying to mimic mother nature, UV levels steadily decrease and are much lower in September/October when plants finish naturally.

Chunky Stool said:

Ah... I got it backwards.
Any concerns about UV degrading THC? Could be a myth. Dunno.
If we are trying to mimic mother nature, UV levels steadily decrease and are much lower in September/October when plants finish naturally.

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IMO it's more like it alters it a tad

RM3 said:

I just use Wal-Mart Special Kitty, 25 lbs for under $4 but you can also use turface

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I didn't look back very far in this thread but I noticed talk of kitty litter. You have be careful because most clay litter is sodium bentonite. I forget what the good kind is, probably calcium or potassium bentonite. There's potassium, sodium, calcium and aluminum bentonites. What happens is that when mixed with soil or medium and nutes added, it reacts and releases its sodium. I totally ruined a whole crop with it. I figured, hey, this is clay, clay is good for soil, Ill just mix this in. Plants burned to hell and stunted. Completely worthless. No potency at all either. Horrendous stuff. Leave it to the kitties, unless you know it's not sodium bentonite, which it usually is.

BobCajun said:

I didn't look back very far in this thread but I noticed talk of kitty litter. You have be careful because most clay litter is sodium bentonite. I forget what the good kind is, probably calcium or potassium bentonite. There's potassium, sodium, calcium and aluminum bentonites. What happens is that when mixed with soil or medium and nutes added, it reacts and releases its sodium. I totally ruined a whole crop with it. I figured, hey, this is clay, clay is good for soil, Ill just mix this in. Plants burned to hell and stunted. Completely worthless. No potency at all either. Horrendous stuff. Leave it to the kitties, unless you know it's not sodium bentonite, which it usually is.

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Been usin it for years with zero issues, know lots of growers usin it

BobCajun said:

I didn't look back very far in this thread but I noticed talk of kitty litter. You have be careful because most clay litter is sodium bentonite. I forget what the good kind is, probably calcium or potassium bentonite. There's potassium, sodium, calcium and aluminum bentonites. What happens is that when mixed with soil or medium and nutes added, it reacts and releases its sodium. I totally ruined a whole crop with it. I figured, hey, this is clay, clay is good for soil, Ill just mix this in. Plants burned to hell and stunted. Completely worthless. No potency at all either. Horrendous stuff. Leave it to the kitties, unless you know it's not sodium bentonite, which it usually is.

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Calcined clay has the texture of ground up clay bricks. It does NOT clump.
On the bright side, bentonite kitty litter makes great nozzles for homemade rockets! I was into homemade pyrotechnics back in the early 90s. Now it's taboo, thanks to asshole terrorists.

you really know some chemistry Chunky. The fun kind too!!!

Chunky Stool said:

Calcined clay has the texture of ground up clay bricks. It does NOT clump.
On the bright side, bentonite kitty litter makes great nozzles for homemade rockets! I was into homemade pyrotechnics back in the early 90s. Now it's taboo, thanks to asshole terrorists.

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Oh, calcined. What I used wasn't calcined. It turned into clay when moistened. That's the kind I mean. When baked it would probably be like pottery and unreactive. I still may have saved somebody out there from poisoning their plants with uncalcined sodium bentonite clay.

RM3 said:

Been usin it for years with zero issues, know lots of growers usin it

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Must be either baked or another form of bentonite. Or conceivably I did something else that killed the plants. Pretty sure it was the kitty litter though.

Actually I just found a page that said American cat litter is usually montmorillonite, about which wikipedia says "Chemically, it is hydrated sodium calcium aluminium magnesium silicate hydroxide (Na,Ca)0.33(Al,Mg)2(Si4O10)(OH)2·nH2O. Potassium, iron, and other cations are common substitutes, and the exact ratio of cations varies with source." What I had really was sodium bentonite. It said on the package or I looked it up or something.

Now I looked up bentonite on wiki and it said;

"Bentonite is an absorbent aluminium phyllosilicate clay consisting mostly of montmorillonite. It was named by Wilbur C. Knight in 1898 after the Cretaceous Benton Shale near Rock River, Wyoming.[1][2]

The different types of bentonite are each named after the respective dominant element, such as potassium (K), sodium (Na), calcium (Ca), and aluminium (Al). Experts debate a number of nomenclatorial problems with the classification of bentonite clays. Bentonite usually forms from weathering of volcanic ash, most often in the presence of water. However, the term bentonite, as well as a similar clay called tonstein, has been used to describe clay beds of uncertain origin. For industrial purposes, two main classes of bentonite exist: sodium and calcium bentonite. In stratigraphy and tephrochronology, completely devitrified (weathered volcanic glass) ash-fall beds are commonly referred to as K-bentonites when the dominant clay species is illite. Other common clay species that are sometimes dominant are montmorillonite and kaolinite. Kaolinite-dominated clays are commonly referred to as tonsteins and are typically associated with coal."

I don't know. I just know I personally won't be using kitty litter in a medium.

MichiganMedGrower said:

you really know some chemistry Chunky. The fun kind too!!!

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Meh, I'm an amatuer. I used the first edition of a book called "Introductory Practical Pyrotechnics" by Tom Perigrin.

At least you didn't say the Anarchy Gude Book.

We had a creative "chemist" in high school that made a pipe bomb from the cleaning closet supplies and blew a hole in our school.

He did it to an empty classroom at least. While we were taking our senior exams.

testiclees said:

I went from having purple petioles on every plant to having bright green petioles on every plant. Not sure why and curious about others theories.

never considered the leaf petiole length. I get wildly long petioles.

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My thought on it is it can be anything from a plant problem, genetics, temps, certain amendments can all do it.

I generally don't worry about it unless the plant is sickly looking. I'm seeing it more and more in newer crosses and strains.

whitebb2727 said:

My thought on it is it can be anything from a plant problem, genetics, temps, certain amendments can all do it.

I generally don't worry about it unless the plant is sickly looking. I'm seeing it more and more in newer crosses and strains.

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Thanks.

Ya i agree it's extremely hard to pinpoint and you cant really say for sure that it is a sign of an improvement oppty.

MichiganMedGrower said:

We had a creative "chemist" in high school that made a pipe bomb from the cleaning closet supplies and blew a hole in our school.

He did it to an empty classroom at least. While we were taking our senior exams.

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LOL im so fucking old

when i was in highschool (religious school) an upperclass men stuffed one of the bathroom drain pipes with a super reactive sodium compound. It blasted the fuck out of the place just as dude who had used sink walked out the door

I grow by several different methods and for my personal stash it is t5 from start to finish. Mixed spectrum including UV is the way to go.

This is a 18+ inch cola. Yea I know they can be bigger. Its an auto. My point being it was rock hard and the lowers were to.

I think it possible with 1000 watts of t5 and filled the room with many single cola plants. Sog style and I could give hid a run for its money.

Very very nice. But T-5 is only one way to go. They all work if they are radiating PAR.

Both you and RM3 are running enough watts to get the results. T-5 is close to HPS in efficiency so 1000 watts is 1000 watts. I wish my computer didn't get too old before I transferred files because I had nasa and university links to show that with primarily blue or primarily red light would have the same results with the same watts.

I wish we could pass information and learn rather than make blanket statements and argue about them.

I want to know if my knowledge needs improving. But I hate reading 30 pages of arguing just to find an experienced knowledgeable answer.

All factors of our grow are important in balance to make the happiest plants.

And the pipe bomb went off in 1986. I'm only just getting old. Too bad I am still immature.

MichiganMedGrower said:

Very very nice. But T-5 is only one way to go. They all work if they are radiating PAR.

Both you and RM3 are running enough watts to get the results. T-5 is close to HPS in efficiency so 1000 watts is 1000 watts. I wish my computer didn't get too old before I transferred files because I had nasa and university links to show that with primarily blue or primarily red light would have the same results with the same watts.

I wish we could pass information and learn rather than make blanket statements and argue about them.

I want to know if my knowledge needs improving. But I hate reading 30 pages of arguing just to find an experienced knowledgeable answer.

All factors of our grow are important in balance to make the happiest plants.

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432 watts. I have a grow going now and when the plants are taller, I'm going vertical and will have over 700 watts in a 2x4 cab.


As I have stated, I prefer mixed spectrum bud over single spectrum.

I also prefer organic. Those are my tastes. Its what I like.

I'm not making a blanket statement. I'm making a personal statement.

In my opinion and observations mixed spectrum is better.

The whole growing the same amount under blue or red, I don't really believe that.

Through a number of grows using all blue or all red led to different outcomes. Generally growing under all blue will give a better product with smaller yields.

Does this hold true for every strain out there? No.

It progressed over time. All blue, all red, 50/50, then to horticulture bulbs. I run pure par and 10,000k+uva.

Well said.

What attributes are you finding so different with the light. Organic or not is another discussion I think.

All the studies seem to end up recommending 3 to 1 red to blue. Or it may apply to HPS and MH.

MichiganMedGrower said:

Well said.

What attributes are you finding so different with the light. Organic or not is another discussion I think.

All the studies seem to end up recommending 3 to 1 red to blue. Or it may apply to HPS and MH.

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For just a red blue mix I like a 50/50 all the way through.

I get more resin and tricomes with blue and UV.

They all around seem to grow and respond better the more spectrum I add.

I have noticed with blue and UV greatly reduces and can even treat pm.

Lists of little things I've noticed with a mixed spectrum.