150 Watt Club - Purple Diesel

[Taedon83]

I've seen this style of thread before and didn't know if one still existed for THCfarmer. I started in this tent and have since moved on to different sized operations. Now I'm back in the tent and wanted to share my latest micro grow and invite anyone to share their 150 watt grows and hopefully talk about that gram to watt ratio!

150 Watt HPS ballast. 60 Grow lab tent(2x2x5) 7 Gallon bucket. Roots 707 soil.
Compost Teas. Purple Diesel from MO @HHCOAK. Maybe big bud and overdrive but hopefully not(there just sitting around) also I'll be training with a scrog from HD. There 5$ and I'm fast becoming a fan.

Pics later tonight.

 

[Dodge]

Hell yeah! I'm all about the micro. I'm runnin a couple hundred watts of t5. The plants look healthy, it's a decent start. I feel like like micros are for everyone and recommend any who is on the fence about growing to grab some beans and cheap lights and start a micro. The knowledge gained from these micro grows carries straight over to the big leagues. If you can teach yourself to LST, flower, harvest, and cure a single plant then you can do twenty. We can overgrow the world with a bunch of people growing a few plants, instead of a few people growing a bunch of plants. If I could, I would have big time setup, but it's not in the cards at this point. Anyway, I look forward to following you grow. Hopefully we'll get a few more to looking to maximize their micro.

 

[Tobor the 8th Man]

There are growers out there that can really push the limits of a 150w HPS and have surprisingly good grows. I have and use a 1000w now because I wanted to maximize my yield for my space. But I still use my other small lights I started with because they are in smaller spaces that a 1000w will not go. I small space where a 150w can fit will produce more weed than that same space with some shoeboxes full of junk in it. Plus... and maybe the biggest reason is that I just love growing under small lights of different types and wattages. I think it is because I grew up in the 60's mostly when things that were getting smaller were cooler. Things like transistor radios, cameras and cars. Smaller was high tech and the latest fad. The movie Fantastic Voyage where they shrunk a spacecraft looking thing and the crew and injected them into a human to fix his brain. Miniaturization was the new things. In the movie those lucky guys got to rip blood platelets off of Raquel Welches incredible breasts and body too.

There is a motto some people use that I took to like a duck to water. NEVER GET RID OF EQUIPMENT!!! You can always find a space to use stuff and you might have to temporarily replace stuff you are using now to keep a grow on track.

I love all kinds of lights to grow with. CFLs, T5 HO, 150w HPS, LED and HID.

What kind of 150w HPS are you using? The reason I ask is because there was one light I won't use anymore and that was a 150w security light I bought at Lowes/Home Depot. It was my first grow light. I was all proud because I did a simple remote ballasting rewire on it. I loved that light. Then I found out that the ballast actually drew 350w to run the 150w bulb. That was a real bad exchange rate and was just foolish to keep doing. If you have a security light check the wattage on the ballast label. If you actually bought a newer 150w from a grow shop it is probably not like that but check it anyways.

It will be fun watching your grows.

 

[Taedon83]

Sorry for the lag

Had computer issues and fell off again. Uploading pics now. I'm so glad you guys posted and thank you for following along. Tobor I always stop to read what you post as its always valuable, accurate insight. I too have bigger lights and am involved in 30x 1k productions. I prefer the hobby level and love being in touch with one plant or under 100 I should say. I'm all about efficiency and cost of nutrients and electricity, I think I might be trying an LED soon. How are your LEDs working for you Tobor?

As for the light its a 150 W magnetic ballast from HTGsupply.com. I just got a new bulb from home depot for $22 which is always convenient. Updated pics in a few

T

 

[Taedon83]

Training and Tent pictures

Heres the GrowLab80 I use 150w

Heres a few days before flip begging LST of the triple head that came from topping this purple diesel

 

[Taedon83]

Having trouble uploading.

Heres a picture of the cured flower shot of this purple diesel strain. Been working with it for almost a year. Its a great day time smoke its got fantastic bag appeal and candy fruity grape smell. The heartiness is great, responds well to supercropping, easy growing, decent finish (8-9 weeks) hard to fry.

 

[Taedon83]

About a week after the training the plant recovered well. Its a few days into flower....

A few days later...

This is day 10 of flower after lifting the skirt

I've been feeding the soil (Roots 707 Formula) dechlorinated water and compost tea I've done 1 bacterial based tea foliar and partial drench a few days before :
1 gallon water (dechlorinated)
1 tbs molasses
1 tbs HappyFrog All purpose fert
1 tbs liquid fish
1 cup worm castings

did a flower based tea on day 12 of flower in a heavy drench

1 gallon water (dechlorinated)
1 tbs molasses
1 tbs HF AP fert
1 tbs liquid seaweed
1 tbs high phos bat guano
1/4 tbs soft rock phosphate
1 cup worm castings

For this second tea I bought a 50w aquarium heater as it is cold here, sometimes freezing. It made a huge difference IMO. Great foaming and just much happier having a heater in there.

Raw organics in compost tea and nice soil for the win. Its all Genetics and environmental control at that point.

T

 

[Taedon83]

Day 16 of Flower

Response to the flowering tea looks fantastic. I love compost tea. I use it on everything its cheap its easy it works. My next attempt will be a fungal dominant tea that sits around and gets fuzzy before brewed. The bacterial and bacterial/fungal teas work great. I've used a ton of packaged products and the only one I really use anymore is Great White (which I'm sure I'll find a cheaper replacement when its gone ((any suggestions?)) ) and einstein oil.

Thinking about using the 16 " diameter groThru from home depot. I have a digital sentinel I'm considering using but know it might be over kill.. I'll be mounting air filteration outside of the tent in the form of a standing 6 inch canfan with phat filter 24".

 

[Taedon83]

Extended light cycle

I forgot to mention that starting week 2 i switched my timer to be 13/11 then go back to 12/12 last 2weeks. I've done this before and had great results, it could be the key to yielding more off smaller lights.... give it a try

 

[jeffadies]

There is a motto some people use that I took to like a duck to water. NEVER GET RID OF EQUIPMENT!!! You can always find a space to use stuff and you might have to temporarily replace stuff you are using now to keep a grow on track.

I love all kinds of lights to grow with. CFLs, T5 HO, 150w HPS, LED and HID.

So true. those extra cfls or whatever can save your ass if you have a bulb go down on ya and cant afford a new one.

 

[Taedon83]

So true. those extra cfls or whatever can save your ass if you have a bulb go down on ya and cant afford a new one.

It happened on day 5 -7 with this grow actually. luckily and ol y split parabolic reflector CFL setup saved the day til bulb replacement.

 

[dorjewright]

I'm right behind you. Got my clones from Harborside and they have been very slow to get up and go. I think its the pk genetics. Had the same trouble last year with the purple kush. After 2 weeks in 4" coco pots they are about 4" high and finally looking healthy. This weekend I'll transplant to 3 gal smart pots and top.
I have a diary under my signature.

 

[Taedon83]

Day 24

So I did a 2 gallon 6.0 ph plain water drench and leafed. I haven't watered since my last 2 gallon guano drench 9 days ago. It's amazing how much moisture the 707 blend holds. I dont mind it but I could see how gardeners would ruin or fry with this type of soil.

T

 

[mikeb437]

Nice thread,, the buds on that look sweet! I'm gonna follow this and see own it goes compared to my t5 grown buds and then make a choice on wether to switch or not.

 

[Taedon83]

Day 27

Well finally I got a problem and fortunately not that bad. I had my light too close approx. 10-11 inches which did this:

Overall the plant looks great.

 

[BrianDirt]

Did all the plant tops get a little burnt or just a few, I wonder if it was a hot spot. But yeah they look healthy

 

[Taedon83]

Day 34

So its been 9 days since I've watered 2 gallons into my 7 gallon bucket. Formula 707 obviously isn't a fast medium with zero amendment especially perlite. But things are super healthy and look great. Except for the burnt tip(so annoyed)

This leaf to me is just ideal. Tells me everything is great.

 

[Taedon83]

Did all the plant tops get a little burnt or just a few, I wonder if it was a hot spot. But yeah they look healthy

Yeah I think your right it was a hot spot. Cause temps aren't really a problem and my canopy was even. Would you enlighten me more on hot spots? I assume it has to do with concentration of light from my hood or bulb. but what does it do to the plant? The tip looks like its getting worse.. Not to mention I gave it a trim. should I snip it off? lol

 

[BrianDirt]

A spot of reflection is ackting like a magnifiying glass on the plant and burning it, maybe the tent or you light shield could be doing it. Everything else looks great good job.

 

[dorjewright]

Mine have been topped twice and are about 10". How much stretch should I plan for on the flip. There are 5 (+1 atomic northern .lights) in a 3.5x2' tray. I'll be putting down the screen today.