D.I.Y. CFL Haning Rig: Working better than expected.

Had an extra girl to experiment with so i threw her under the CFL's (the rig cost about $28 to make) and the results are pretty impressive.
Pepper AK indoor soil 24 days into flowering

yeah looking pretty sweet metalmatt

growth update 3 days later

+rep -

Metalmatt: You certainly seem to have a great grow going. I couldn't help but notice that what you built is similar to what SeeMoreBuds has in his book, "Marijuana Buds For Less." Was your design original or influenced by him? Considering your success, would you mind answering a few questions for those of us who would like to follow your lead?
1. What size grow pot are you using? 1,2,3,5 gallon?
2. What fertilizers, nutes, are you using?
3. How often are you feeding and watering?
4. What brand of soil/growing medium are you using?
5. What strain are you growing and how tall is it? It's hard to tell from the pictures.
6. Have you considered surrounding the base of your experiment with Mylar covered aimed reflectors to recycle the light back up to the lower portions of your plant that are generally shaded? I had good luck with that in my Aerogardens.
Please keep us posted on your progress. I think you really have something going here. Thanks, HSA

Ooo how many actual watts? Curious because I've got something similar. + Rep for ya :]

Just for future reference, these are $4 - http://www.lightingdirect.com/index.cfm?f359=true&page=search:browse&bathroom-lighting-fixtures=c1742&categoryid=1742&s=price_low

Hold 4 bulbs or 8 with Y splitters. You can of course get then in 6 bulb, 8 bulb, all the way to twenty bulbs for really cheap. Not to bash your DIY, these just seem safer and cheaper.



For $15 (including bulbs) you can easily run 184w of CFL

Your plants look great though! Keep it up!

Gastanker said:

Just for future reference, these are $4 -

http://www.lightingdirect.com/index.cfm?f359=true&page=search:browse&bathroom-lighting-fixtures=c1742&categoryid=1742&s=price_low

Hold 4 bulbs or 8 with Y splitters. You can of course get then in 6 bulb, 8 bulb, all the way to twenty bulbs for really cheap. Not to bash your DIY, these just seem safer and cheaper.

For $15 (including bulbs) you can easily run 184w of CFL

Your plants look great though! Keep it up!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, I'm building another box and this would definitely help. Also I assure you the hanging design is completely safe, wiring and connections done by a professional haha. But I enjoy this design because the Angles of the arms allows you to flood the lower buds with light.

3gal. Pot, fox farms soil, gh 3 part mix. My growing techniques may be a bit different than others so I'm not gonna go fully into it. Let's just say I've been giving the plant what it needs when it tells me it needs it. I'm also running a 1000w indoor and comparing progress between the two. I've held off from using Mylar or any reflective material from this experiment to ensure all light received was from the cfls directly.

On the side arms I'm running 2x 14w 500k & 1x 15w 2700k with 2x 30w 3500 on top. 143w of luv hahaha. Like I said its a personal experiment I'm running soley to determine if CFL's the new way to go, and so far I'm convinced. I haven't put too much into this one and it's paying off very nicely haha.
Thanks for the info and feed back, it's a fun experiment so any idea's are definitely welcome!

P.S. subject believed to be a PEPPER A.K. That was rescued from another garden