Al B. FAQt

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snipsnip

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al,
so if i do a sog and i keep plants small 18 -30" how many could u really put per square ft without running into mold issues. I am trying to figure out how big of trays to get based on how many per square. i seem to be leaning tword 3x3 keep room smaller and yada yada 1 400 per 3x3 tray.
what do you think all wise one.
your cuttings u take are they kida woody , or are they tender?
also how big of pots do you use...in inches if you could?
thanks again!
snip
 

Al B. Fuct

once had a dog named
al,
so if i do a sog and i keep plants small 18 -30" how many could u really put per square ft without running into mold issues. I am trying to figure out how big of trays to get based on how many per square.
4 per sq ft in 140mm x 140mm pots. Get a sulfur 'burner.'

i seem to be leaning tword 3x3 keep room smaller and yada yada 1 400 per 3x3 tray.
A 400 is just that little bit too small for a 3x3, I'd use a 600 over each or a 1000 over a pair of them.

what do you think all wise one.
I think if I were really all that wise, I wouldn't be growing dope, but thanks anyway. ;)

your cuttings u take are they kida woody , or are they tender?
quite tender, all new growth since the last pass of cuts 14 days or so before.

also how big of pots do you use...in inches if you could?
They're 175mm (6.9") top dia, 130mm bottom, 175mm tall, about 4L capacity.

Learn to love the metric system, it's so much easier to use than feet, inches, gallons, ounces and teaspoons. I mean, can you quote the number of oz in a gallon offhand? If you can, you're unusual.
 

GypsyBush

Well-Known Member
Hey Al...

You have convinced me...

I am going to switch all my little lights for one real one...

How close can I get a 600 watt HPS, in a 6"/15.2cm cool tube, with a 265 cfm fan...? not an in-line booster, a blower fan...

How about a 400 HPS...

Looking online I see...

600 watt bulb, digital ballast, cool tube w/ reflector $250 + s&h
DIGITAL 600 watt HPS COOL TUBE GROW LIGHT 600w ballast - eBay (item 180175343502 end time Sep-25-08 10:44:33 PDT)


same, but with a 400....$ 250 + S&H
DIGITAL 400 watt HPS GROW LIGHT w COOL TUBE REFLECTOR - eBay (item 180196841206 end time Oct-12-08 14:47:15 PDT)


400 with non digital ballast $189 + S&H
400 watt HPS GROW LIGHT GLASS COOL TUBE Reflector 400w - eBay (item 180180080284 end time Oct-08-08 14:25:49 PDT)

waddaya think...?

Gypsy...bongsmilie
 

Al B. Fuct

once had a dog named
Hey Al...

You have convinced me...

I am going to switch all my little lights for one real one...
Smart move, you certainly won't regret it. :)

How close can I get a 600 watt HPS, in a 6"/15.2cm cool tube, with a 265 cfm fan...? not an in-line booster, a blower fan...
The electronic ballast isn't worth doing, get the std type. Cheaper, more durable, same amt of light, only minimal power savings with the electronic (apx 9% in a 600).

A 400 HPS is a good personal smoke op light, a 600 will raise a few more plants.

You can run a 400 in a cooltube about 150-200mm from the nearest leaves, a 600 can be 200-250mm. The internal reflector in these cooltubes is a bit small, you may want to remove it from the cooltube and add a batwing reflector:

 

archie6214

Active Member
Good morning Al. I took my first batch of clones last night about 7 hours ago and come to check on them this morning and noticed about half of them drooping ptetty bad. Below are some pics I included to help diagnose the problem. I'm pretty sure it's not over watering as I weighed each cube to 25 grams when plugging the cuttings in. The temps are at 29 degress celcius. I'm guessing they are not taking up water due too some error on my part :o!! I cut the stem at a 45 degree angle, split it and scraped the bottom inch of the stem. Then, dipped it in some clonex and plugged it into the cubes. As usual Al your expertise is highly appreciated thanks again ;-)!!
 

archie6214

Active Member
Yeah they had about 7 hours dark as I just turned the light on when I got up out of bed this morning. Do you think I should shut the light off. I did leave the front off of the clone box and my 400 watt mh was on about 8 ft away, would this have affected it at all maybe?
 

BigBudBalls

Well-Known Member
It's never a good idea to steal power. Grow small and grow for years.
You should ad that into your sig, like the hide from mom.

I had someone ask me how to steal power in a PM. Someone who I thought was smarter then that.

I've seen a few write ups on getting power from thin air. Concept is you are picking up the stray fields from th mains. Basically just a long wire. An open core transformer sotospeak. With $50 worth of stuff you could just about light an LED. :)

But on a similar vein, I saw a elec generator which would be a great stand-by gen, but used the heat generated to help heat the house. Probably one of the best and practical 'green' items I've seen in a while.

Areas of Denmark, some houses are heated via steam pipes from the elec co/plant.

And so you DO grow in soil! hahah! the cat out of the bag now!

Have you ever been able to get rosemary to grow from seed? I've tried a lot of times with zero results.
 

All4FreeDumb

Active Member
Hey Al, I just picked up one of those sulfur "burners" and there is no directions on how much sulfur to add in the dish, can you help me out?. Also this burner has a way to move the dish closer and further than the heating element, numbered 1-4, how far do you keep the sulfur dish from the heat element? Where do you hang yours, center of room, or does it matter? when the sulfur is being heated up for those 8 min 2 times at night do you have exhaust fans shut down? Thanks again
 

Al B. Fuct

once had a dog named
Yeah they had about 7 hours dark as I just turned the light on when I got up out of bed this morning.
bummer. If they still wilted after a ~6h dark period, I'd be concerned about the sterility of the stem cut. What did you use to sterilise your scalpel blade while you were doing your cuttings? Is there H2O2 in the clone watering soln?

Do you think I should shut the light off. I did leave the front off of the clone box and my 400 watt mh was on about 8 ft away, would this have affected it at all maybe?
I think I might have wanted the door on it. I don't control humidity in my own clonebox, but temporary high humidity in the clonebox will slow down the water transpiration from the leaves until the water uptake via the stem cut starts. If everything's otherwise right, they should catch right on after a 6h dark period post cutting.

Yep, shut off the light for another 6h, see if they don't perk up.

If they don't straighten up and fly right, re-cut the stems with a terile scalpel (take about 5mm off the ends), plug them back in the cubes, put everybody back in the clonebox and leave the light off & door on, check them again in 6h.

Worried about this one, let me know how you go. :?
 

firsttimegroww

Active Member
hey albf i talked to a couple of people and they suggest me instead of putting straight into flower i should veg under t5's for a week or 2 and that should stop my stretching. ( dont know if it would work , but im going to give it a shot)
So if i do veg for a week or 2 should I still just grow the top cola? and cut the bottem 1/3? What do ya think? thanks
 

Al B. Fuct

once had a dog named
ROFLOL!!! Gotta love when someone just straight up tells it like it is... Tons of respect for that!
Well, thanks... but that's really how it is when you're dodging Johnny Law. Aside from growing a bit of mull, my life is very stable and non-chaotic. Getting busted would be chaos I just don't need in my world. If I were truly wise, I'd find a way to get buds that didn't involve risking the next 20 years in the shitcan.

Two things america needs to change is our measurement system, and our legal system.
Start by changing the government. No third term for the neocons!

Between illegal wars and running the economy into the dumper by refusing to regulate the bankers and brokers, the US is now a 2nd tier power in sharp decline. The world is going to start dealing in Euros instead of the greenback, a real problem for the US, particularly with the amount of US debt financed by China etc.

I forgot to attach the pics, here they are.
Ah, I feel a lot better after seeing these. They're not going too badly, give them a bit more darkness and they should get their act together in a day or so. Please keep me apprised, though.

You should ad that into your sig, like the hide from mom.
I would, but since I wrote that sig file, admin has limited the sig to 2 lines. I can't even edit the one I have without taking some stuff out of it.
I had someone ask me how to steal power in a PM. Someone who I thought was smarter then that.
*sigh* yeah... :roll:

I've seen a few write ups on getting power from thin air. Concept is you are picking up the stray fields from th mains. Basically just a long wire. An open core transformer sotospeak. With $50 worth of stuff you could just about light an LED. :)
A common LED needs about 2.5mA of current at about 2.5V. I think it'd take a lot more wire than what you suggest or would have to be in VERY dangerous proximity to an AC distribution leg to induce enough voltage to do anything at all.

But on a similar vein, I saw a elec generator which would be a great stand-by gen, but used the heat generated to help heat the house. Probably one of the best and practical 'green' items I've seen in a while.
Oh yeah, there's many clever little gen systems. The one I like the most is a miniature hydroelectric plant. Good if you have a nearby stream or river you can divert to run the thing. Internal-combustion engine driven gen systems can be hazardous to your stealth, no matter where they dump their heat.

Areas of Denmark, some houses are heated via steam pipes from the elec co/plant.
Iceland has some fantastic geothermal resources, too, just from pumping water down into hot rocks a couple hundred metres down.

And so you DO grow in soil! hahah! the cat out of the bag now!
No, the cat's still in the bag, probably fermenting and composting a little as we speak. Poor, poor kitty! :D

If I could justify the expense of running my veg garden in hydroponics, you can bet I'd have a try. However, I am able to make an 'organic' (sorta) patch work generally well. I don't mind hitting the patch with 'chemical' ferts and insecticides if it gets results, plus I'm not too fooled by the 'organic!!!' sales pitch.

Have you ever been able to get rosemary to grow from seed? I've tried a lot of times with zero results.
Wow, you know, I've never tried. It's just too easy to buy a seedling or nick a fresh growing tip off a good rosemary plant and clone it. I'm not actually having very good luck with the rosemary plant that's in the patch right now.

Hey Al, I just picked up one of those sulfur "burners" and there is no directions on how much sulfur to add in the dish,
Yeah, mine didn't come with any instructions AT ALL. Kinda sucks...

can you help me out?.
Probably. Which way did you come in? :lol:

Also this burner has a way to move the dish closer and further than the heating element, numbered 1-4, how far do you keep the sulfur dish from the heat element?
Mine doesn't have that feature. The sulfur cup sits right on the heating element.

The correct place to put it is where the sulfur is heated only to its melting & evaporation temp yet does not burn. That will vary by the amount of sulfur powder you have in the cup (more will take longer to heat to evap point) as well as the distance from the heating element as can be adjusted in your 'burner' as well as the on-time you have programmed into your timer.

With your unit, I would put about 50g of sulfur in the cup, plug it in and measure the time it takes to melt the sulfur. You'll begin to see S vapour emitted at that point. Mind it for another 5 mins or so and assure that the S is not burning. If it burns, increase the distance from the heating element. Once you have worked out the amt of time to melt the S and are sure it's not going to get hot enough to scorch or burn the S, set your timer to that plus about 5 mins.

Where do you hang yours, center of room, or does it matter?
If you have plenty of circ fans going in the room, it won't really matter where you put it.

If you notice accumulation of sulfur on your circ fans, reduce the programmed runtime. It really doesn't take much S to sort out powdery mildew and overdoing it will cause leaf tip burn.

when the sulfur is being heated up for those 8 min 2 times at night do you have exhaust fans shut down?
I run my 'burner' during lights-off because the exhaust fans are not likely to be running then.

Let me know how you go with your 'burner.'
 

Al B. Fuct

once had a dog named
hey albf i talked to a couple of people and they suggest me instead of putting straight into flower i should veg under t5's for a week or 2 and that should stop my stretching. ( dont know if it would work , but im going to give it a shot)
Bad suggestion. Adding veg time not only will not fix your stretch problem, it'll make it worse.

So if i do veg for a week or 2 should I still just grow the top cola? and cut the bottem 1/3? What do ya think? thanks
If you want to do SoG, they get zero veg time post the clones setting root. Prune off any branching on the lower 1/3 of the plant, once at the end of wk1 and again in wk3.
 

firsttimegroww

Active Member
Bad suggestion. Adding veg time not only will not fix your stretch problem, it'll make it worse.



If you want to do SoG, they get zero veg time post the clones setting root. Prune off any branching on the lower 1/3 of the plant, once at the end of wk1 and again in wk3.
What should i do to stop my stretching then? So far the only solution iv heard is to add veg time. help!
 

Al B. Fuct

once had a dog named
Yep I used denatured alcohol to dip the scalpel in, and added 1.7 ml/L [...] 35% h202.
yeah, that's all correct, of course. The cuts should be sterile.

I actually am a lot less worried now I've seen your pix. Should pick up OK in a day or so. Lemme know if they don't.

What should i do to stop my stretching then? So far the only solution iv heard is to add veg time. help!
Adding veg time will only make your plants taller. It will absolutely not stop them getting taller!

You were running your nutes unusually weak, at 500ppm as you reported on 9/22. What have you done with that?

No matter what you did, it'll take more than 2 days to show any difference and only the new growth will be affected. Old growth will stay as it is- your plants won't shrink!

Low nute strength is not among the more common causes for stretch, which are high temps and low light. You say your temps are 72-78F & you have a 1000HPS, so those should not be the culprits. Raise the nute strength to 1400ppm if you have not already.

Keep in mind that plants will continue a tapering vegetative growth habit for the 1st 4 weeks of flowering. They will slowly stop gaining ht & throwing branches, switching fully over to making bud post wk4. During wk1-4 of flowering, you'll usually see a doubling (or more) in height.
 

SomeGuy

Well-Known Member
Keep in mind that plants will continue a tapering vegetative growth habit for the 1st 4 weeks of flowering. They will slowly stop gaining ht & throwing branches, switching fully over to making bud post wk4. During wk1-4 of flowering, you'll usually see a doubling (or more) in height.
So Al, this made me think of a question. When should lollipoping be done? first into flower or within the first 3weeks? I know you put rooted clones right to flower (so you may not have to lollipop?). I let mine sit a few weeks as I have smaller moms and thus smaller cuttings.
 
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