Holefillers 64w CFL Micro-grow - 0.65g per watt!

babygro

Well-Known Member
Holefillers 64w CFL Micro-grow
Yield 42g per 64w = 0.65g per watt

I'm 'championing' this micro-grow as an excellent example of what can be achieved by knowledge, determination and limited resources. I like the way this guy goes about things, he's read up on all the information he needs to know and he's used it very effectively in designing a system to produce a pretty decent gram per watt of lighting ratio.

This is an example an awful lot of new growers will learn from.

There's two things you'll notice in this 'grow-log'. Firstly, that his 'growing methodology' is little different from anyone elses grow methodology - it's just on a smaller scale. Secondly it might appear that he's made some 'basic errors', like feeding his plants too early. He hasn't, he's simply modified his grow technique to fit in with his circumstances, because he understands what those basic grow processes are.

If you're growing in 3 inch pots, you'll have to watch three things very carefully - your watering frequency and amount, your nutrient feeding frequency and your salt buildup and flushing. Each one of these problems he's understood and dealt with. His watering he took the guesswork out of and used an 'active wick' system. His nutrient feeding he realised that 3 inch pots cannot hold a lot of nutrients and therefore nutrient fed much earlier than you would in a larger pot and at higher doses. He also understood that feeding at that nutrient level with chemical based fertilisers would build up a high salt level in a fairly short period of time and therefore flushed every 3 weeks with plain water to rid those excess salts so he could continue feeding at the higher nutrient doseage levels.

I suspect from reading his notes that he over-fertilised towards the end of harvest and perhaps needed to reduce down his nutrient feeding and grow versus bloom balance and also needed to water with plain water for longer than 7 days to remove all those residual chemical salts from the soil and the plant. This is probably the reason for the poor burning buds - it's an easy mistake to make and an easy one to remedy.

His results speak for themselves 0.65g per watt of light, proving categorically that not only can CFL grows produce decent yields in small spaces but also be cheap and economic to run at the same time.

0.65g per watt would put a lot of those HID system yields to shame!

I've edited Holefillers posts slightly to compress the necessary information into a smaller area, the words and story however are very much Holefillers.

Many thanks go to him for allowing me to edit his posts and for allowing his grow to be highlighted like this.
 

babygro

Well-Known Member
Holefillers 64w CFL Micro-grow

Yield 42g per 64w = 0.65g per watt




This is the perfect setup for a first time grower because it is cheap to construct and is almost idiot proof due to the wick method. All items can be bought for under a hundred dollars and will give you enough to do many crops, probably 2 or 3 years worth.

The Grow Box
I used a stereo box for my grow room, measuring 3 ft high 18 inches wide and 18 inches deep. It fits in the closet but doesnt use up all the space. If you are stealthy enough and run wires correctly no one will even be able to tell that its anything but a box. I put my lights on a ballast and hung them from the inside of my box. I put the ballast on a rope so I could lower and raise the lights as necessary. I covered the inside of the box in white stickers to reflect the light. I am sure paint could be used or even mylar but i used stickers and it seemed to work fine for me. Occasionally some of the stickers would yellow, I just put new ones over the yellowing ones and problem solved.

The lights
Buy the lights at walmart because if they happen to go out they will exchange them for free. Keep the package the bulbs come in to make it easier to exchange. I used "light of america" brand "white" energy savers the twisted ones that use 32 watts and put out as much light as a 150 watt bulb. I am uncertain of the color "soft white or what color" [probably 'soft white' 2,700k - bg] but they are at walmart and you cant miss them. the packaging is yellow and blue. Any of the higher watt bulbs would suffice, but make sure they put out at least 2000 lumens, more would be preferable but could make the grow space far to hot. These lights cost between 6 and 7 dollars each at Wallmart. Keep lights no more than 5 inches away from top of plants but no less than 2 inches to assure good plant growth and prevent burning.

The soil and 'wick' watering system
For soil I used equal parts miracle grow potting soil, perlite, and vermculite "use caution when handling vermiculite". I used small 3 inch pots and took a 3/8 diameter rope about ten to 12 inches long, tied a knot in the middle of the rope and dropped the knot end into an empty pot making sure that the rope goes through the hole in the bottom of the pot to hang into the nutrient solution. The knot keeps the rope inside of the pot without slipping out of it, then I fill my pot with soil mix as stated above and I fill slowly curling the remaining rope around and up the pot so it keeps as much of the soil moist as possible.

The nutrients
I used Standard Peters 20 20 20 for vegging and Peters Super Bloom 10 50 20 for flowering. The first week I used half strength for vegging, second week full strength. When switching to bloom formula flush the soil so the plant can go to bloom. Dont be afraid to use both ferts at a half and half ratio for a few weeks into flowering. It helps with nitrogen loss, then the same for blooming, one week half strength then full strength up until one week till harvest when I used plain water and I didnt taste much chemical at all in the final product.

As far as the reservoir - I used the glad disposable tupperware, they have blue lids. I cut a hole in the lid just big enough to fit about 1 inch of the pot into it and be stable. Do not forget to flush soil every 3 weeks.Then immediately back to nutes, this washes the excess salts from the soil but will cause no deficiencies because you immediately go back to nutes. Cover the reservoir with something so light can not penetrate it because this will cause algae growth, then just top up the reservoirs as needed.

Ventilation
Use fans to pull air in and out of box. Pull air out of the top of the box to remove hot air and a fan low in the box to pull in cool air. Make sure the plants get hit by the air of the fan so that the stalks thicken and help keep the plant strong enough to hold the buds that will eventually weigh down your plant and could cause stem breakage. The fan size was 4 or 5 inches, you can get them at Walmart for no more than ten dollars.

Temperature was a bit of a problem as sealing the box with the lights on could send it well into the upper 90's but with the fan pulling air out of the top of the box and another fan pulling air into the bottom of the box it became easier to control temperature. I learned quickly to use lights at night for flowering instead of during the day, that allowed the box to stay between 75 and 85 degrees. Humidity wasnt nearly as much of a problem since i was using the wick method i didnt lose that much water to evaporation. My RH was almost always between 30 and 50 percent.

Temperature can be a problem, these lights heat up and can easily kill your crop if you do not pay attention. Another way to help with the heat is to take a 1 liter bottle and freeze it, let it sit in the grow box while the lights are on and when they come off you can refreeze it. Oh one more thing, make sure that during the dark period that all holes are sealed. You cannot have any light going in the box, take your time and you will be rewarded.

Co2 supplementation
I used the fermentation co2 method, by putting a small tupperware bowl filled with sugar, water, "purple jk" and yeast in the box in between plants 4 and 5. I noticed a small change in leaf color but I am uncertain if it did anything extra, my feeling was "better to have it than to not have it." I refilled with a half cup of sugar every 5 or 6 days and went with new ingredients every 3 weeks since the alcohol probably killed my yeast by the 3 week period.

Odour control
Was done with a lot of febreeze. I did not have a lot of money and it could be smelled but I found it effective enough, besides it was only five plants sealed inside of a box for the dark period so it wasnt overpowering. Odor will be a problem, especially deep into flowering but the alcohol scent from the co2 helps a little bit but not enough. The lingering scent of skunk will permeate through the room. lots of febreeze worked for me but it never eliminated the smell.

The method
For the first three or four weeks I just gathered clones. I put my lights on 24/0 for a week to get my clones healthy. Starting with roughly 4 inch clones the one week only gave me an additional inch or two. I then went to flowering which took about 9 weeks to reach perfection. Covered in crystals and smelled very skunky. Plants finished at between 12 and 18 inches tall.

Do not veg for more than 3 weeks because you will run out of room in your box and the roots will be to large for the pot. this is only effective if you go two weeks veg to stabilize the clones then straight to 12/12 for flowering. Run lights at night to help with temp and use the days for your dark period. If possible leave door to the box open so it stays even cooler but only when lights are on.

The strain was probably from bag seed but i am uncertain. The flower to leaf ratio wasn't as good as I would have liked. I received a clone but i would assume it was an indica sativa mix due to leaf traits and the high produced. My plants were set in the box like this -

1 2
-3-
4 5

Plant #3 was my biggest producer with roughly 14 grams, the other 4 each produced about 7 grams each. Lights were hung so plants 1 and 4 got one light and plants 2 and 5 got one light. this meant 3 was lit from both sides which is why it produced the most. It was also my tallest and highest quality bud, all were good but 3 was exceptional.

Conclusion
The few complaints I do have was that the buds were very airy. A quarter once was almost 3 fingers across a ziplock baggie, I am sure that was due to not enough light. It made for good bag appeal especially because it was covered in crystals but I would have prefered more dense buds.

The other problem was that the finished pot wouldn't stay lit, so i couldnt roll it, I'm pretty sure this was from too much K or to little, I read that somewhere. If anyone knows what I may have done wrong I would like any tips you may have on how to fix the problem. [It's actually from excess levels of N in the finished bud, think about lowering N levels towards harvest more and flush for longer than 7 days - bg]

I didn't really have an issue with stretching but I kept the lights no more than 4 inches away from the top of the tallest plants. This is a very effective method to use for a cheap box to use. I am sure that you could add your own ideas and make a better box but I found it good enough to get a decent result. Odor was a small problem, using a filter would be a good addition, but for the size used "hell i could still use my closet and you could have came in opened up my closet and probably wouldnt have thought twice about the box in there or that I had five beauty's in it" it was well worth it - good stealth grow.

42 grams from 64 watts of light says you were pretty successful Holefiller!
 

holefiller

Active Member
I swear by this method. Take the other suggestions noted about flushing for more than a week before harvest or you'll end up with bud that wont stay lit. The other thing about feeding nutes so early is that with a 3 inch pot with soil divided 3 ways "equal parts potting soil, perlite and vermeculite" is that the potting soil has very little nutrients when you consider the amount of soil actually in the pot. That is why you go with nutes right away. I by no means am an expert but as Babygro said the results speak for themselves.
 

babygro

Well-Known Member
I swear by this method. Take the other suggestions noted about flushing for more than a week before harvest or you'll end up with bud that wont stay lit. The other thing about feeding nutes so early is that with a 3 inch pot with soil divided 3 ways "equal parts potting soil, perlite and vermeculite" is that the potting soil has very little nutrients when you consider the amount of soil actually in the pot. That is why you go with nutes right away. I by no means am an expert but as Babygro said the results speak for themselves.
Holefiller

What you achieved from your grow and how you achieved it should become a 'benchmark' for every single newbie coming on here asking how to 'grow' stealthily and on a budget. It's an excellent setup for a budget stealth grow and newbies would do well to emulate it.

Thanks for contributing it.
 

midgradeindasouth

Well-Known Member
I swear by this method. Take the other suggestions noted about flushing for more than a week before harvest or you'll end up with bud that wont stay lit. The other thing about feeding nutes so early is that with a 3 inch pot with soil divided 3 ways "equal parts potting soil, perlite and vermeculite" is that the potting soil has very little nutrients when you consider the amount of soil actually in the pot. That is why you go with nutes right away. I by no means am an expert but as Babygro said the results speak for themselves.
Is the bud sticky or wet?
I am curious what you did about curring?

Sounds like you really got the most for you wattage.

Hell if babygro is publicist you should go far..

Welcome to the site holefiller
Happy growing
midgrade
 

holefiller

Active Member
finished weight was dry. buds were sticky but not super glue. probably due to the strain. if i had better stock i am sure i could have gotten better results. i feel like i did well with what i had. electric bills were never to high. as far as curing i was able to use the box i had grown in to hang the plants when they were done. i let them dry for about a week then went to paper bags. i wont lie i was in a rush to smoke them but i cured them for about a week. since the bud was so airy it dried quickly. taste was good not to much green taste.

I WOULD LIKE TO THANK BABYGRO FOR POSTING THIS FOR NEWBIES. I STILL CONSIDER MYSELF A NEWBIE. I HOPE WHAT I HAVE DONE HELPS OTHERS WITH A SMALL SCALE CHEAP EFFECTIVE WAY TO FREE OURSELVES FROM HIGH STREET PRICES. NOT TO MENTION THAT YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT PEOPLE PUT IN BUDS. THIS ALLOWS YOU TO CONTROL THE WHOLE PROCESS. YOU KNOW WHAT GOES IN SO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU GET OUT. I WILL SAY THAT THE BEST PART OF THE WHOLE PROCESS WAS WATCHING THE PLANT GROW. SMOKING IT WAS GREAT BUT GROWING IS BETTER. GROWING IS AN ADDICTION OF ITS OWN.
 

holefiller

Active Member
i used nylon. worked great. really cheap. i dont know if it matters but i would suggest nylon. i am positive it works. you can get a hundred ft or more for under 5 bucks at walmart.
 

Bobogard

Well-Known Member
Great post. Do you have any pictures or could you get some of the setup? I think that would be great.

Peace
 
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