luckyskindaguy
Active Member
After an extended leave from RIU, I am posting again because I have started using an HPS setup since my last journal. I finally got to the point where I had room to start using HPS and wanted to show my findings.
IF you followed my previous grows, you will know that space and heat control were the main reasons I started with an LED light. I eventually added some CFL floodlights in future grows to give a fuller spectrum as well as more watts to the same space I had already been growing in without adding too much heat. I had decent success that built upon itself to the point where I was yielding a total of .75g roughly per watt of light used.
Using the knowledge I gained from the other grows, I decided I was going to mix it up a bit and try my hand with an HPS setup. I customized a cabinet using mostly stuff from Home Depot. Along with some mylar leftover from making my previous cab, the only thing I had left was an ebb and flow kit and a submersible pump from my local indoor gardening store and a 150w HPS light I bought online. The whole setup was about $200 total.
I ran the setup for 12 weeks total (one strain is a late finisher) and had good results despite a grape juice debacle the final week. I was trying to get a purple coloration in my plants and followed someone's "trusted" method. It did not work. The roots just gummed up with slime and the plant stopped taking in water. Still, I was able to pull a total of 158+g off of 3 plants. This was a better yield per watt than any previous grow I had done with LED and/or CFL combo.
I started this grow cycle on Sunday, October 30th, and will go through another 12 week period. My hope is that this will be a helpful reference for those starting out and want to figure out what type of setup will work best for them.
I am not perfect, I make mistakes here and there. I recommend anyone new to my grows should look at my previous grows and see where I started from and mistakes I have made. I will be looking to update once a week and perhaps dropping in to see if there are any questions between updates. Hope you enjoy!
Let's get to it......
I am using GH FloraMicro and FloraBloom as my main nutes. I also use GH KoolBloom Liquid early and Dry late in the grow. I started using a few supplemental nutes over the last few grows as well. Not sure if they do much good, but they don't hurt any. Those are Botanicare Sweet (original berry), Liquid Karma, and CalMag 5ml per gal each. For the GH nutes, I just follow the recirculating chart they have posted online for the most part.
Here is a pic of the plants:
There are 4 in all. The tallest is just under a foot tall. There are 3 strains: Cameo, Px1, and Px4
All of these plants are from bagseed. Px1 and Px4 are from the seeds of some purple bud we had one time. (Check previous grows for that story)
Here is a picture of the cabinet:
This pretty much shows the whole setup. Res is under the pan. Ebb and flow setup. Mylar on the walls where the plants are. Light is mounted to the ceiling by chains so I can adjust as needed. There was a fixed shelf near the top that I had to cut a hole in to allow the light to drop through. I also cut a passive vent into the top of the cab to draw hot air out. I have a square fan on top drawing air out of the cab throught the passive vent.
If I didn't cover something, feel free to ask a question!
IF you followed my previous grows, you will know that space and heat control were the main reasons I started with an LED light. I eventually added some CFL floodlights in future grows to give a fuller spectrum as well as more watts to the same space I had already been growing in without adding too much heat. I had decent success that built upon itself to the point where I was yielding a total of .75g roughly per watt of light used.
Using the knowledge I gained from the other grows, I decided I was going to mix it up a bit and try my hand with an HPS setup. I customized a cabinet using mostly stuff from Home Depot. Along with some mylar leftover from making my previous cab, the only thing I had left was an ebb and flow kit and a submersible pump from my local indoor gardening store and a 150w HPS light I bought online. The whole setup was about $200 total.
I ran the setup for 12 weeks total (one strain is a late finisher) and had good results despite a grape juice debacle the final week. I was trying to get a purple coloration in my plants and followed someone's "trusted" method. It did not work. The roots just gummed up with slime and the plant stopped taking in water. Still, I was able to pull a total of 158+g off of 3 plants. This was a better yield per watt than any previous grow I had done with LED and/or CFL combo.
I started this grow cycle on Sunday, October 30th, and will go through another 12 week period. My hope is that this will be a helpful reference for those starting out and want to figure out what type of setup will work best for them.
I am not perfect, I make mistakes here and there. I recommend anyone new to my grows should look at my previous grows and see where I started from and mistakes I have made. I will be looking to update once a week and perhaps dropping in to see if there are any questions between updates. Hope you enjoy!
Let's get to it......
I am using GH FloraMicro and FloraBloom as my main nutes. I also use GH KoolBloom Liquid early and Dry late in the grow. I started using a few supplemental nutes over the last few grows as well. Not sure if they do much good, but they don't hurt any. Those are Botanicare Sweet (original berry), Liquid Karma, and CalMag 5ml per gal each. For the GH nutes, I just follow the recirculating chart they have posted online for the most part.
Here is a pic of the plants:
There are 4 in all. The tallest is just under a foot tall. There are 3 strains: Cameo, Px1, and Px4
All of these plants are from bagseed. Px1 and Px4 are from the seeds of some purple bud we had one time. (Check previous grows for that story)
Here is a picture of the cabinet:
This pretty much shows the whole setup. Res is under the pan. Ebb and flow setup. Mylar on the walls where the plants are. Light is mounted to the ceiling by chains so I can adjust as needed. There was a fixed shelf near the top that I had to cut a hole in to allow the light to drop through. I also cut a passive vent into the top of the cab to draw hot air out. I have a square fan on top drawing air out of the cab throught the passive vent.
If I didn't cover something, feel free to ask a question!
