Who Cut the Cheese ?

10 Cheese clones arrived today. I was scrambling around trying to get the room ready. I did not expect them for another week. I installed a cleat on the side of the wall to tie off the rope. Sweat is dripping in my eyes as I run an extension cord through the attic. I had to use a different less used circut than that in the room. The clones are outside (eeeks bugs!) in the sun with only 2 hours of light left.
This is a 400w MH using a Lumatek digital ballast. I will be switching to the 1000W MH in about 2 weeks when I have an electrician come out and run a home run for me. And of course a 1000w hps to flower them up.

15 minutes of light left as I hoist the light and bring in the girls. I transplanted them into 1 gal cont. I am using 90% ff of and 10% perlite. 3 standard FF line up for nutes. The dirt got moist from serious rain a couple of days ago. May have to bring the other 3 bags of soil into the garage and let them dry so they don't mold out.

I will be lowering the light a little every day over the next 3 days. Had to run to OSH to pick up some black plastic and velcro strips, pet smart to pick up a ph test kit and swing by to pick up some distilled water. (hopefully neutral ph). tomorrow I will try to bring the ph down a little with a drop of lemon juice. It has been a long day. Much to do tomorrow.

Are those clones huge or what ? Well pull up a chair and enjoy the ride for the next 15 weeks as we turn these fat clones into fat buds.

Clones look good FL which cheese they from?
sub +rep

Yeah, those are some beautiful cuttings and a very nice setup. I don't know if you are experienced at rooting cuttings but I'll throw in my 2 centavos anyway. Roots will show from the nodes first. The more nodes that are buried and treated with a cloning product, the better. RH should be high but not saturated. A light breeze from a fan will help with fungus pressure.

Saucers will be needed as I'm sure you're planning for and you can use a turkey baster to draw off water from the saucers, using the tea to water other indoor plants.

The side reflecting panels are excellent although moveable are better. You can make them out of large furniture cardboard boxes cut to shape or 4X8' sheets of hard foam available at Lowe's. I use 3 coats of Behr Ultra White latex and move the panels in or out according to the footprint. This makes the garden brilliantly white. Keep the panels as close to the plants as you can and don't get two feisty (close) with the lights. Bright indirect light is what you want. Remember, the remaining leaves will be producing carbos for root production, keep them green and turgid.

I use lightweight yard dog chains with hooks on the ends to adjust the height of the hoods. One 25' cut in half (or quarters) and you're good to go.

Good luck....

just wanted to throw in my 2 cents. spare that carpet and throw a section of linoleum over it. cut a few inches larger than the room dimensions, and let the excess curve up the wall. any spillage will sit on the linoleum, just wipe or suck up.you can get end cuts from carpet shops for nothing. all my rooms have 2 layers. it insulates the pots from the concrete foundation.

Thanks for the imput guys. I have had them under the light for 2 days and still have not watered them Pots are still too heavy and no wilting. I Finally made a door to the closet last night using a black plastic sheet secured with velcro. On my next days off I plan on tackling the floor covering.

UB-
Yea I was lucky that the clones were already well rooted. Good advice for when i learn to take clones from a mother and root them.
And further more...whoever said a turkey baster was just for turkeys ?? hehe i like the turkey baster idea :O

FreeLeaf said:

Thanks for the imput guys. I have had them under the light for 2 days and still have not watered them Pots are still too heavy and no wilting. I Finally made a door to the closet last night using a black plastic sheet secured with velcro. On my next days off I plan on tackling the floor covering.

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I cover my carpet with a heavy plastic sheet. No need to refurbish the house. I did paint one stationary wall (used as one side of the garden) ultra white for its reflective properties.

UB-
Yea I was lucky that the clones were already well rooted. Good advice for when i learn to take clones from a mother and root them.
And further more...whoever said a turkey baster was just for turkeys ?? hehe i like the turkey baster idea :O

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Damn, I was wondering about the "no wilting" comment! You did well on that score.

Tio

Day 18 of Veg Cycle.
The girls are doing great. I cropped 8 of the 10 plants a week ago using several different cutting points to judge the outcome. I labeled the containers to identify were they were cut. The 2 larger plants in the foreground were not topped. In the 18 days since I received these clones I still do not have any opposing leaf sets. They are all staggered. I will crop the 2 remaining plants just above the 2nd set of opposing leaf sets if I ever get any. (??) About a week ago I started to have a problem with some white powered mold. Uncle Ben recommended several chemicals to combat the problem. After an extensive search at HD and my local large nursery I was not able to find any fungacide products that contained these chemicals. I ended up using an organic product whose active ingredient is QST 713 strain of bacillus Subtilis. It seems to of worked well.

I had these under a 400w until about 10 days ago when I started using a 100w mh. I had to remove everything off of the 15 amp circuit to accommodate the wattage. It lasted for about 5 days until a floro shop light was turned on and it fried the breaker. I then realized I was maxing out the circuit and started using the 400w again until I can get a 30w home run installed. That should handle the light and all the accessories.
A friend of mine told me to just replace the 15 amp breaker with a 20 amp breaker. I'm not so sure about that idea. It sounds like a good way to start a fire. Anyway here are the girls on day 18...

FreeLeaf said:

A friend of mine told me to just replace the 15 amp breaker with a 20 amp breaker. I'm not so sure about that idea. It sounds like a good way to start a fire. Anyway here are the girls on day 18...

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By code, the wire is sized with the breaker. You risk an internal wall fire by substituting a 20 amp breaker into a system designed for 15 amps. 15 uses 14ga. romex, 20 uses 12. A 400 W HPS will grow your plants well from start to finish.

Daconil is a very common fungicide and can be found in any nursery, Walmart, etc. Consan or Physan 20 are good.

Looking good BTW!

lookin great!

if you cant have new service run for 20 amp, then replace the breaker with another 15 amp(exact). on a 15 amp circuit you should never go more than 1800w. this gives you a safety margin. i think you are well under this, so i recomend swapping the breaker. i know, i know, breakers are not supposed to go bad, but i have seen too many, to believe that. they do go bad.

i cant wait til the next foto update. you have great progress.

A 15 amp breaker is rated for a load of 1,500W. Something doesn't add up.

A 15 amp circuit can carry only a total of 1440 watts,which is 80% of the 1800 watts found by mulitplying the volts times amps,15 x 120 x 80%= 1440w.

100% load would be 1800w. i would carefully inspect wiring, if planning on going over 1500w.

i claim not be be an electrician. i just make all types of repairs to houses 5 days a week for the last 17 years.

i would check the circuit and see if something like the furnace, is on it as well. a furnace will usually need its own circuit.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5005750_replace-amp-circuit-breaker.html

this is how you replace that breaker.

This is day 25 of the Veg cycle and the girls are getting transplanted from 1 gallon containers into 5 gal containers.

Here are the girls on day 30 of veggin all tucked back in their closet. I had to give away 2 of them to a friend for I am running out of room. They are fat and happy and still under the 400w mh. I really want to hook up the 1000w hps before I turn them but I am struggling with running the 20 amp home run. I don't know wether I should get 12/2 or 12/3 romex. I'm not exactly sure how to hook it up to the breaker box as well. From what I have read I get a single post 20 amp breaker of the exact same manufacture if possibe. Then if using 12/2 I connect the bare copper to the ground bar in the box and the black hotwire to the breaker. Not quite sure what to do with the neutral wire or exactly which type of outlet to use. I was going to get a standard heavy duty 20 amp outlet until a friend told me I should get some arc protected outlet whatever the hell that is. I'm sure once I get the outlet I can find a diagram on how to hook it up. Maybe with a little more reading on the electrical threads I can get these questions answered.
Thanks nizz for the link on how to replace the 15 amp breaker.
smoke em if ya gotem

Guess it wouldn't hurt to post the pics...

Uncle Ben said:

A 15 amp breaker is rated for a load of 1,500W. Something doesn't add up.

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Yea I had a few to many things on that circuit. It was probably the 1000w lamp, garage door opener and a couple of outside lights. I really need to get this 20 amp home run set up. I was at HD today and 12/3 was 50% more expensive than 12/2. Once I figure out which wire I need I will try and find some on craigs list

FreeLeaf said:

Yea I had a few to many things on that circuit. It was probably the 1000w lamp, garage door opener and a couple of outside lights. I really need to get this 20 amp home run set up. I was at HD today and 12/3 was 50% more expensive than 12/2. Once I figure out which wire I need I will try and find some on craigs list

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Garage door opener, yep. Don't remember what a 1/2 hp pulls but you have starting current and running. That's probably what broke your circuit's back.

Nice looking plants!

FreeLeaf said:

Yea I had a few to many things on that circuit. It was probably the 1000w lamp, garage door opener and a couple of outside lights. I really need to get this 20 amp home run set up. I was at HD today and 12/3 was 50% more expensive than 12/2. Once I figure out which wire I need I will try and find some on craigs list

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The 12 refers to the size of wire in AWG - American Wire Gauge. 12 gauge wire can legally carry 20 Amps, and would be used if the circuit breaker is 20 A. 14 AWG can carry 15 Amps, used on a 15 A breaker.
The 2 or 3 refers to the number of ungrounded conductors in a cable (such as romex or NM). 12-2 would contain a hot (black) and a neutral (white). 12-3 would contain two hots (black and red), and a neutral (white).
Additionally, these cables are available "with ground", meaning a bare ground wire is added to the cable. So a "12-2 with ground" would actually contain three conductors including the bare ground wire.

A 12-2 with ground cable would be used where you needed to run a single 20 A circuit.

You are allowed to share a ground and neutral when running two circuits if the circuits are on different legs (phases) in the panel. 12-3 is used for this purpose. It can also be used where you need 240 volts (between the black and red) with a neutral (and ground).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGPUhx8Iyuc

hope the video helps. your grow is looking good. if i can add any advice, dont chance anything when it comes to electricity. i see this breaker thing your only hurdle. call an electrician if need be, and play it safe.happy growing