I'm baaack :) Couple of Q's

[hickens]

Hi everyone,

So a few months back I was going to start a grow, but then I found out I had no money (our roomate ditched us without notice and I suddenly had to pay the other half of rent lol). Anyway, so i'm finally having money again......so my questions are (they are kind of story questions lol I'm so sorry but I really would appreciate the help!):

1) The weed is primarily for my boyfriend, but he smokes quite a bit.....well, an ounce a week or so (that may not be a lot to you guys lol). I've seen him smoke an ounce in 3 days though. Would 3 plants suffice? Or should I do more than that?

2) My first grow will be with some seeds he's collected from stuff he's bought....but if I were to buy online, for example that White Widow stuff, would it be worth my money? Or would I be just as well off buying the cheaper stuff?

3) In our area we have the whole thing where cops go in helicopters and hunt plants down, and supposedly do the whole heat thing (I read that was illegal now because of privacy, but I've heard from pretty much everyone here that they do it here). If I were to set this all up in my basement as opposed to the first floor, would it lessen my chances of being caught that way?

4) (Last question ) If 3 plants were enough, would a 250 watt hps be ok? Or is that too much or too little?


Thanks in advance!!!!

[Stylez1877]

Ok...Since its your first grow,(i think?) I would say you'd get about an ounce per plant. And your BF needs to cut down..28 grams a day is a hella lotta pot to smoke

Since its your first grow also, I would just go with bag seed, stuff he got from his prior weed, rather then buying good seeds and failing your first grow, i.e waisted money.

I dont think a helicopter would detect 3 plants growing under a 250 watt hPS indoors..but i'd think it would be safer in the basement...really no big deal either way though.

And a 250 watt HPS would do good, if you had a 400watt i'd go with it, but if not 250 watts will work fine.

[hickens]

Thanks for the reply!!! I *really* appreciate it lol

I know he has to cut down, but he's in denial lol He just keeps smoking and smoking till he's out, which is the whole reason I've decided to grow him his own because it's freakin' expensivvvvve

Oh, and I'm definately growing with the seeds he's collected first, I was just asking about the White Widow stuff because he's seen pictures and he's in complete awe of it. So, I didn't want to buy it later on to grow it, and then have him be dissapointed with it if it actually weren't all that much better than anything else

[hickens]

Okay, one more question

My boyfriend got this stuff once and it was good bud, but the thing i lovvvved about it was that it was so soft. Is there a certain way to get it like that? I'm not entirely sure if buds are supposed to be 100% dry or whatever, but most of the stuff he gets is way too dry....So, that soft stuff, was it simply not hung up to dry as long? Is there any particular way to have the end product be that way? Because I want my buds to be soft when I harvest

If anyone knows, any help would be appreciated Thank you!

[tetrahydrocanna]

Hi

stylez thought your b/f was smoking 28g aday....lol......it was a week....thats what i and lots of people smoke a week.......

i know what you mean about the softer bud and yes your thinking is right it hasnt been dried out as much BUT trying to get it that way when your learning isnt a good thing.....if you dont dry your buds out enough you will end up with mould in your buds thats not good infact if you dont catch it that bud is going in the bin......so if i was you i would dry it right out then cure it...once you get the hang of it then i would try for that not so bone dry bud.......make sence.....

buy the way you will need alot moore than 3 plants to keep your b/f in bud....work it out 1 plant = 1 oz,plants take min of 3 months growth=your 3 months worth of work/growing will be up in smoke in 3 weeks........lol


laters.

[hickens]

oHHhH see, if I had paid attention in school, I would have caught that lol I leave all that measuring stuff to the b/f anyways, and he only knows because he smokes lol He would smoke more if he could afford it, he just denies it. You all need to slow down!!! :P

I guess i'll do 5 then......and then start 4 in veg so they overlap. Is that a lot to be caught with? lol My boyfriend's paranoia is starting to show on me. So, I should do a 400 watt then for sure, right? Do they sell the ballast and all that at Home Depot or Lowes? I really don't want to pay for shipping and then have to wait weeks and weeks to get my light. Our town is itty bitty and pretty much 2-3 weeks for everyone else means 5-6 weeks for us. (Unless someone knows a website that ships fast and has reasonable prices )

[420 Shade]

dont for get to read up on guides.. that willl get u started...

[tetrahydrocanna]

hickens you live in the states right....first thing realy think about what your about to do...if you get caught theres all sorta shit to get through......

if you decided to still grow this is my advice to you.....do as shade seid read some guides so you get an idea what to expect......i would look on ebay for a hps light to start failing that theres online shops and hydro shops........i would go for a hydro grow its fast,clean and reasonbly easy.........theres a sticky on how to make your hydro BBs and a thread there of how i made my hydro tank...all worth a read.......with hydro its a little more expensive to start but once you have bought it youve got it.....all you have to do is take reading and adjust accordingly (ph up/down) and change your solution regurly .......

ill leave you to think about it... let us know what you decide....laters

[The Pink Taco]

If you try to find anything related to the size of light that you want, a hardware store isn't going to have it. They don't carry commercial type lighting that big. You can do like I did, find your self all the electric fixture supply companies(the people who sell nothing but lighting and fixtures used in all types of construction) in your area and start making some phone calls. I found aplace in my town where I got a 400W Metal Halide Multi-Tap ballast for $61 including tax. I tried to buy a sockket from them but they were out when I talked to them on the phone. When I got there they had found one but it wasn't in their computer so the guy just gave it to me for free - BONUS!!! While you are there make sure you get yourself a couple of the high temp ceramic wire nuts.

Once you locate your ballast then you go to the hardware store and buy yourself a heavy gauge non-terminated extension cord. I think I went with a 15' 12G wire(was like $10). What you are looking for looks just like a really heavy duty ext cord without the plug ends. then get yourself a universal appliance cord. This doesn't need to be as heavy duty, a normal 14G or 16G cord will work. You are looking for a cord that has a plug on one end and bare wires on the other. You should also get a couple feet of chain to hang the bulb and socket with, and get a metal recessel lighting fixture, looks kinds like a metal dish with a couple of screws mounted to it.I also bought a heavy duty SPST(Sing Pole Single Throw) switch to wire up. You might also want to try and find a small board to mount your ballast to while you are at the hardware store.

Now once you have all of this stuff we can start putting it together. Lets start with hooking up the ballast itself. There is going to be a bunch of wires but don't feel intimidated, it is EASY to wire up correctly and safely without risk of harming yourself, anybody else, or your property.

One the ballast you want to find 2 wires labeled com or common, a wired labeled 110V or 120V(somewhere around that number), and there will also be a wire coming off of the capacitor. Now you want to go ahead and use the included mounting kit from the ballast to mount that sucker to your board. Once you mounted it lets hook up the power cord that comes from the wall. There will be 3 wires, a black one(hot wire), white oneNeutral wire), and a green one(hround wire). You want to hook up the black wire to one side of your switch, then on the other side of the switch hook up the wire coming from the ballast labeled 110V/120V. Next take the white wire and one of the common wires from the ballast(doesn't matter which one) and twist them together with one of the wire nuts. Next take the green wire and stick it behind one of the mounting screws between the ballast and the mounting bracket so it is held in there when you tighten the screw. You will have to strip back quite a bit of the wire to allow the green to reach the ballast and keep the other ones short. If you don't do this then you will have a mess of excess wire hanging around. You also DO NOT want to cut any length of wire off the ballast side AT ALL.

Now you can mount the metal ring to the socket and attatch some chain with the screws on the plate. This is how you hang your bulb. Lets move on to hooking up the light socket. Take your long heavy cord and strip it back the same as on the plug side, long enough so you can join the green wire in this cord with the other on between the ballast and mounting bracket. Now take the white wire in here and twist it in a wire nut with the other common wire. Take the black one and connect it to the wire coming out of the capacitor. You have now successfully wired up a complete light setup with remote ballast. Tie up all the wires nicely so they are not hanging loose and in risk of getting pulled on or something.

There are many other things that you can do to improve this setup. I recently picked up some metal ducting from the hardware store to make an air cooled horizontal reflector for my bulb. I'm sure even a round aluminum dust will act as a better reflector than just letting the bulb hang in the open. Plus using the duck I can connect some tubing to either end and force fresh cool air across the bulb and then vent it right out of the room again with an inline fan. I really think that this will help keep temps lower in the room as well as focus the light better.

Hope that my whole thing here helps you(or somebody else) out. I didn't intend on typing this much but I started ranting on thanks to my stoney condition right now, but I knew it was good information that somebody can use, so I didn't want to ruin the thought.

Good luck with your grow, hope your boyfriend apprecitates it. My G/F spend just as much time working in the room as I do. Gotta love the pothead honeys.

[hickens]

I just finished reading like my 5th guide lol I read a bunch a few months ago, just needed some refreshers. Anyways........I went ahead and took your advice and called around for my light and i couldn't find annnnnnnnnyone anywhere near me that even knew what I was talking about. So, I had to call a place 3 hours away lol Anyway, they had a 400w HPS system for $179 I don't know if that's a super great deal, but at least I don't have to pay shipping.....Plus the guy said that HID's are what they specialize in and he seemed to really know what he was talking about too (he went on a rant for like 20 minutes about why refuse to sell grow lights that are made in china and all sorts of things lmao).

Thanks for the replies everyone I don't think I'm immune to getting caught or anything, but I'm seriously taking even the silliest precaution. We wont tell anyone (because, well....DUH hehe), our basement has a seperate room w/ a door that has a closet, so no one will see it, and even then I am putting a seperate lock on the door.....I figured this would be the best time to start because our electric bill skyrocketed during the months of novemeber, december and january because of heating. So just in case there would be a noticible difference in my electric bill because of my light, they wouldn't notice it now. Also, I am a freak about my house stinking even now without plants (I have cats) lol I wont start until I've done everything to make sure you wont be able to smell it Speaking off, anyone got any cost effective ways of controlling the odor? I read this thing once where they detailed how to make your own carbon ionizer (i think that was the term) but it was confusing as HELL lol

[Splifster]

Too tired to read this all now, but did read enough to get the gist of it...

um.. hickens, will you be my girlfriend

Originally Posted by hickens

He just keeps smoking and smoking till he's out, which is the whole reason I've decided to grow him his own

That right there just made me fall in love with you, lucky man you have

[tetrahydrocanna]

HI hickens.

thats not a bad price for that light....if you can afford it i would go for the 600watter but no worries if you dont...

yep carbon filters/scrubbers are the best.....some strains smell moore than others..ive a got strain growing at the mo that smells like cat piss when its close to harvest...lol....all i need to cover that smell is a plug in air freshner.....sorry its a unknown strain so i cant tell you what it is....

you wont noitice much of elec increase with just one 400 w light anyway....

laters.

[hickens]

lol Yeah, my boyfriend is spoiled, and he wont admit it. He's been a crab lately because we have 2 cats, and they are both suddenly in heat, and he doesnt want kittens, but doesnt want to shell out 50 bucks to get one of them fixed either (because that 50 could be spent on weed, he says, lol). Anyway, then he remembered I was growing him plants when I was lugging a can of white paint downstairs for the grow room, and when I came back upstairs he was doing the dishes lol You guys are so easy :P

And tetrahydrocanna, cat piss? That is so nasty lol Stealthy, but nasty.

Does anyone know how long it takes GrassCity to ship seeds? I want some for a later grow, but if it is going to take a while to receive them I want to order them now so I don't have to wait later on.....but if they're fast on shipping times I'll go ahead and wait.

[tetrahydrocanna]

a couple of weeks but sj wont send them to the states.....laters.