growzilla
- 17
- 3
Alright, this is the second grow diary and my 4th grow in total.
Last time, one Utopia Haze and one Super Lemon Haze gave me a little less than 60 grams out of 150 watts of CFL power. After doing some reading, I found a method that uses 4 36W T8 tubes in a vertical setup, growing 12 or even 15 plants in a vertical SOG. So I tried to copy it, this is my new box.
It uses 1 central tube for which I've modified the socket rail. I sawed off the connecting middle part and glued the ends to wooden struts which are fixed to the floor and ceiling. That gives me about 1m of T8 tube which can shine in all directions around it because there's no more socket in the way.
Around the central tube, three sockets are placed at around 120 degrees of each other. If you look at it from the top, it sort of looks like a mercedes star, if that makes any sense. The four tubes make for a total of 144 watts of power comsumed, so I cut down my power usage a little, which is always nice. The box is made of wood, all the insides, cables and sockets have been painted flat white. I drew the line at painting the pots, but I might actually do that next time.
Right now, my box holds 12 plants, that is 3 per floor and 4 floors in total. Each plant has 3 tubes right next to it, the central one being shared by all plants. I lose a lot of tube length to the pots, but later if the plants get bigger I can move the pots farther away from the central tube and train the lower plants to grow up the middle next to the pots. The good thing with T8 tubes is that the plants can touch the lamp without getting hurt too much, which is what unlocks the full potential of fluorescent lights by offsetting their main disadvantage, which is poor light penetration. So most of my plant matter is really close to the light.
You'll notice that I'm not using 3K lights, the tubes I'm using are Osram Fluora tubes, their spectrum being mostly blue and deep red. I figure these will be more efficient than regular tubes, but internet research gave me nothing conclusive, so I'll try for myself. So far, this light gives my plants tight internode spacing, which is a good start. Check out the spectrum:
So, the plants are around 5 weeks from being beans, growing 12/12 from seed to encourage early flowering. If all goes well, they should show gender in around 2 weeks. Then, I might go down to 11/13 since I'm growing mostly Utopia Haze. What do you think?
Last time, one Utopia Haze and one Super Lemon Haze gave me a little less than 60 grams out of 150 watts of CFL power. After doing some reading, I found a method that uses 4 36W T8 tubes in a vertical setup, growing 12 or even 15 plants in a vertical SOG. So I tried to copy it, this is my new box.
It uses 1 central tube for which I've modified the socket rail. I sawed off the connecting middle part and glued the ends to wooden struts which are fixed to the floor and ceiling. That gives me about 1m of T8 tube which can shine in all directions around it because there's no more socket in the way.
Around the central tube, three sockets are placed at around 120 degrees of each other. If you look at it from the top, it sort of looks like a mercedes star, if that makes any sense. The four tubes make for a total of 144 watts of power comsumed, so I cut down my power usage a little, which is always nice. The box is made of wood, all the insides, cables and sockets have been painted flat white. I drew the line at painting the pots, but I might actually do that next time.
Right now, my box holds 12 plants, that is 3 per floor and 4 floors in total. Each plant has 3 tubes right next to it, the central one being shared by all plants. I lose a lot of tube length to the pots, but later if the plants get bigger I can move the pots farther away from the central tube and train the lower plants to grow up the middle next to the pots. The good thing with T8 tubes is that the plants can touch the lamp without getting hurt too much, which is what unlocks the full potential of fluorescent lights by offsetting their main disadvantage, which is poor light penetration. So most of my plant matter is really close to the light.
You'll notice that I'm not using 3K lights, the tubes I'm using are Osram Fluora tubes, their spectrum being mostly blue and deep red. I figure these will be more efficient than regular tubes, but internet research gave me nothing conclusive, so I'll try for myself. So far, this light gives my plants tight internode spacing, which is a good start. Check out the spectrum:
So, the plants are around 5 weeks from being beans, growing 12/12 from seed to encourage early flowering. If all goes well, they should show gender in around 2 weeks. Then, I might go down to 11/13 since I'm growing mostly Utopia Haze. What do you think?