Severely height/space restricted 250/600w grow plan.Help/advice needed!

cues

cues

Well-Known Member
Ok guys and girls, here goes the story.
I've recently moved into a converted loft apartment and the only available safe space is a built in cabinet measuring 3x4x3H (ft). I plan on doing a Violator Kush scrog with a hydrogarden dual-flow set in flood and drain with hydroton and a 6", 420m3/h RVK fan with filter and can vent in/out from the eaves. Also have a 250w security lamp with changeable MH/HPS bulbs and a removable tempered glass front and a seperate 600w Lumatec ballast and HPS with a powerplant heat-shield and an oscillating fan for inside the cab. I've used all this set-up (and strain) before but in a larger area.
I want to cut a hole in the top of the cab to match the security lamp, veg with the 250 MH, switch to the 250 HPS for the 1st 4/5 weeks of flowering, then remove it, leaving the tempered glass over the hole and switch to the 600w HPS to finish. I've worked out i can keep the bulbs about 16" away from the screen and change the air in the cab about 5x a minute after losses.
Reason for the 250w for 4 weeks of flowering is my electric is on a coin meter which the landlord empties monthly so want to split the 600w usage between 2 months so it's less noticeable
Anyone think this is possible?
 
dankus

dankus

Member
If you have a good ventilation system it sounds like it'd work, you've clearly thought it through quite alot. You mentioned you've grown Violator before, is strain a nice smoke? Reasonable Yeilds? Also have u looked into what Nutes your gonna use yet?


I look forward to following your grow (if u keep a diary up on this) good luck mate
 
cues

cues

Well-Known Member
I liked the VK but it's definately not as it claims. It's not a couchlock but more of a cerebral high. I could smoke it all day and still go to work, but very happy! I made some BHO out of the last lot and my mate said he had never been so wrecked without going to sleep first!
 
cues

cues

Well-Known Member
Sorry, should have added more to that. Yields are good but you have to bear in mind that each plant will only cover a 2ftx2ft max area, even under a scrog, and veg time is long (5 weeks from strong rooted cuttings in my case). I would suggest 4 plants under a 4x4 scrog with a 600w HPS. I got about 18oz dry, good bud, 2oz of airy buds and a marble sized lump of oil (half of which I smoked with my mate on what must have been our most stoned weekend ever!)
I used the canna hydro flores range with mollasses (tate and lyle black treacle) during flowering as a chelating agent. It's probably not needed as the hydroton has such a good CEC (cation exchange capacity) anyway. I'm not really into bud-boosters etc as i'm a head greenkeeper by trade. My final dissertation at Uni was on nutrients and I am well aware of how unnecessarly boosting one nutrient can affect the uptake of others. i.e. an excess of Pottassium (K) reduces uptake of magnesium (Mg), which probably explains why people using these products have signs of Mg deficiencies. They then try and compensate by adding Mg (or Epsom salts if they have any sense) without realising that the problem isn't down to a shortage, but due to the inability of the plant to absorb it due to the excessive K.
Hope that makes sense.
 
Scrogreen

Scrogreen

Active Member
cues said:
Sorry, should have added more to that. Yields are good but you have to bear in mind that each plant will only cover a 2ftx2ft max area, even under a scrog, and veg time is long (5 weeks from strong rooted cuttings in my case). I would suggest 4 plants under a 4x4 scrog with a 600w HPS. I got about 18oz dry, good bud, 2oz of airy buds and a marble sized lump of oil (half of which I smoked with my mate on what must have been our most stoned weekend ever!)
I used the canna hydro flores range with mollasses (tate and lyle black treacle) during flowering as a chelating agent. It's probably not needed as the hydroton has such a good CEC (cation exchange capacity) anyway. I'm not really into bud-boosters etc as i'm a head greenkeeper by trade. My final dissertation at Uni was on nutrients and I am well aware of how unnecessarly boosting one nutrient can affect the uptake of others. i.e. an excess of Pottassium (K) reduces uptake of magnesium (Mg), which probably explains why people using these products have signs of Mg deficiencies. They then try and compensate by adding Mg (or Epsom salts if they have any sense) without realising that the problem isn't down to a shortage, but due to the inability of the plant to absorb it due to the excessive K.
Hope that makes sense.
Click to expand...

Thats a good point! I have read alot on the problems boosters make. Seem to do more bad then good. More and more are starting to use more basic nukes but better base nukes.
 
cues

cues

Well-Known Member
Yup, if more of everything is good, just up the EC surely! Slight differences in Nutes may make slight differences in yield but I think it will be VERY minor compared to how much basics are followed. i.e. Light, temperature, EC. Next important is Co2, air exchange etc. Voodoo juices come way down the line, especially at the prices they want for what they are and bearing in mind 99% of growers don't actually know what they are doing with them but are just following the instructions on the bottle! I feel sure I could actually utilise these products but, unfortunately, I do not have either a laboratory for tissue sampling (don't think my lab would be too chuffed if I sent them in some weed to test!) or the time or inclination to do this for the tiny increase in production.
 
Scrogreen

Scrogreen

Active Member
True story. I cant play dumb and act like i dont do the same thing. I would love to go to college for some hard facts about how plants grow. Ive been looking into classes for growin. I am one of those guys who likes to know they why behing everything. Why r we putting mag, or n e thing else for that matter, in the plants.
 
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