neerGreen #2: Let's try soilless

SirGreenThumb

SirGreenThumb

Well-Known Member
Check out the catnip in my growroom. :lol:
I topped it to make it where it would get bushy. Was growing on the window seal and I moved it into the tent to try and
force flower it.
SDC10023.jpgSDC10024.jpg
 
cannabineer

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
Nice, SGT!
However, if that were weed, I would say the leaf curl is indicative of an overwatered or rootbound condition. I don't know if the analogy is sound, but a quick image search of "catnip, hydroponic" yielded flat leaves sticking jauntily out. Fwiw. Think it's due for a repotting/root pruning?

SirGreenThumb said:
Looking good, nice thick stalk. Any plans to train them or anything? Or you just going to let them grow straight up?
Click to expand...
I've topped them to induce branching. I hope to LST the branches down and out for a "screenless ScrOG" effect. It worked last year. cn
 
SirGreenThumb

SirGreenThumb

Well-Known Member
cannabineer said:
Nice, SGT!
However, if that were weed, I would say the leaf curl is indicative of an overwatered or rootbound condition. I don't know if the analogy is sound, but a quick image search of "catnip, hydroponic" yielded flat leaves sticking jauntily out. Fwiw. Think it's due for a repotting/root pruning?



I've topped them to induce branching. I hope to LST the branches down and out for a "screenless ScrOG" effect. It worked last year. cn
Click to expand...
I would say it would be a little bit of both. When I transplanted it into the larger vase it was really root bound, I know the topping didn't make it any better. :lol:
I love topping and lst it works great, I had a plant give me 6oz for it. I don't have any final pics, but here she was.
I believe this was around 2 week flower, if I remember correctly.
SDC12159.jpg
Yea that's right, look at all them tops. MMMMMMM. She rewarded me well. RIP Miss Papaya.
 
cannabineer

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
Despite my aching back, I did manage to get the tent set up today. It no longer stinks like a new vinyl pool, but like ... linseed oil.

I also fabricated a redneck-primitive mount for my plasma lamp. After making that, I could hang the fixture from a chain. Here it is before "first light". If my [bad word] back weren't in profanity mode, I'd have ripped some stiffeners for that slat of plywood. But it is, and I didn't. No crackling sounds yet.
camdump 12nov24 001.jpg
Here it is within a minute of power-up. Weird and cool ... for a few seconds the teenytiny light capsule does nothing ... then sparks up and goes through some very cool blue/violet emissions before getting brighter and whiter.
camdump 12nov24 002.jpg
After a few minutes ... stable light that looks to be a dead ringer for sunlight. Note snorkel drawing off the heat from the fixture. This goes into a filter that I taped snugly to the fan's output side.
camdump 12nov24 003.jpg
Here are the four kids basking under the Secret Sunlet. I did notice that the fixture got quite hot ... the radial heat sink around the light capsule feels boiling-hot, and the white heat sinks in back are running maybe sixty degrees C. Maybe that's a problem with this technology: very efficient light source but a fair amount of loss in the energizing circuitry.
camdump 12nov24 004.jpg
I also discovered today that #4 (right rear) hadn't been topped quite right. I had to nip off a big healthy growth tip. It always feels so wrong to injure a plant like that.

But it's nice to get them out of the Emergency Improvised Closet and into their own room.
cn
 
SirGreenThumb

SirGreenThumb

Well-Known Member
My tent is all small and what not. Even my cool tube is almost too big for the tent. It's only 3 feet wide by 2 feet deep. It has some decent height but as for the workable space it is just small. I'm cheap. :lol:

Edit: your plants are looking great.
 
cannabineer

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
Thank you, SGT!

Today I saw that the lamp mount wasn't faring as well as I'd liked. The bend got sharper, both in overall extent and in concentration ... it went from a C-shape to a V. This meant that it would fail, probably sooner than later.
My fix was to box the slat of plywood with a pair of "fences" made from 1/8" ply. A bit of sawing, gluing and drilling later, the test of the new, improved redneck plasma bracket is good.
I did note with some clenching of varied cheeks that when I bent the slat straight, it crackled a bit. But now it's protected against further weakening.
camdump 12nov25 001.jpg
I did adjust the chain hooks for evenness after I took this pic.
camdump 12nov25 002.jpg
It no longer has that almost blacklight purple on startup! I guess the lamp is breaking in.
camdump 12nov25 003.jpg
Here are the honeys back under the Secret Sunlet. They're a bit droopy today. I fed'em last evening ... and gave the Gimp a somewhat more aggressive water flush before adding the nute. They might be droopy from mild shock ... I checked root balls last evening as well. Time to pot up soon! cn
camdump 12nov25 004.jpg
 
bubbles6302

bubbles6302

Well-Known Member
Just subscribed and i will be back in time from my brief read of ur post u seem well educated with hydro. I will be doing a dwc soon and i wana get really anal ( anally retentive) with it . Im off to sleep now college 2morrow and its now 3am:wall:
 
cannabineer

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
bubbles6302 said:
Just subscribed and i will be back in time from my brief read of ur post u seem well educated with hydro. I will be doing a dwc soon and i wana get really anal ( anally retentive) with it . Im off to sleep now college 2morrow and its now 3am:wall:
Click to expand...
No worries, Bubbles ... this thread is a safe haven for folks who like anal. :joint::bigjoint:

I must say however that I am a bit worried about the plasma light. Since I've been using it, the plants haven't exactly done well. Here they are in some winter sunlight ... they're all droopy. I have been feeding and watering them. The only change is the light.

They were doing great under my T5 panel. So I've pulled the plasma light and set the T5 into the tent. It's a 2-foot 4-bulb unit with 96 total watts of bulb. If the plants perk up, I'll give the plasma light another go. I would expect it to do well, since the plasma's spectrum approaches that of noontime sunlight.
Here are all four.
camdump 12nov26 001.jpg
Here they are two by two. The Gimp is in the foreground, and one of the "healthies" in back. Notice the folding of the new growth, and the downcurl on the more mature leaves.
camdump 12nov26 002.jpg
The Half-gimp (#1, which shows traces of Gimpiness) is in the foreground here.
camdump 12nov26 003.jpg
I checked the plants for pests with a 20x magnifier ... so far so good. I've never had a bug problem.
... If the light turns out unsuitable, I will be bummed. It cost a lot. cn
 
cannabineer

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
Dr. Greenhorn said:
this is the closest you gonna get to an ouch smilie :shock: lol

I heard so much good things about the plasma lights but never seen it in action. are you gonna use it this grow?
Click to expand...
I began to, but my plants seem to have fallen a bit ill. I've sent the plasma to the bench and sent in the T5 panel. The plants liked that. Since that was the major change just before my plants lost that healthy glow, I have to check and see if the light is the cause. cn
 
Dr. Greenhorn

Dr. Greenhorn

Well-Known Member
cannabineer said:
I began to, but my plants seem to have fallen a bit ill. I've sent the plasma to the bench and sent in the T5 panel. The plants liked that. Since that was the major change just before my plants lost that healthy glow, I have to check and see if the light is the cause. cn
Click to expand...
cool.... you think you might use it during flowering? sorry for all the questions but I'd like to see that light in action. it's not everyday I come across someone using a plasma light. :D
 
cannabineer

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
I was hoping to use it as a veg light. i have the 600HPS for flower. I have a 600 MH conversion bulb, which I might have to use after all. But since my marginal rate per kWh is high, I'm intrigued by more efficient light tech. So far, I've discovered two bad things:
1) the efficiency is low. I found "120 lumens per microwave watt; 75 lumens per total watt". That means the energizing circuitry is peeing away 3/8 of my power! Dang. And it explains why the whole fixture gets quite hot.
2) I'm not finding proper plasma grow reviews online. Maybe I found out the hard way that there is something systematically bad about plasma light for growing. Oooo I hope not, but the empirical spirit demands I keep that in mind as a big possibility. So now, I test with a known good light ... and then i can give the plasma another shake. cn
 
SirGreenThumb

SirGreenThumb

Well-Known Member
I found some info on some grows on the plasma, but I don't know if it's what you're looking for. One person said that their plant didn't like it at first and I'm guessing that is the same issue you were running into. If it was me and I had the resources to cool everything properly I would use both hps and plasma especially during the flowering cycle. I would say use your t5 and the plasma at the same time and wing your plants off the t5.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top