To give some background, I'm medicating for trauma/military related PTSD. I live in the Northeast in a Medically Marijuana Legal state. So stealth not necessary. My grow room is approximately 10' x 14'. I started out with two fluorescent lights (4 tube bulbs 32w each). I've kept them very low and close to the seedlings. Yesterday I added my work light that takes two up to 500 watt bulbs. That light is keeping the temp more favorable for growing. Where I live it often gets to -20 F and I heat with wood, so I'm afraid it may get too dry. I'm also a bit concerned about the fire risk as this new light puts out some MAJOR heat. Also, any ideas for increasing the humidity up in my grow room? Should I keep the door shut or open during the day ? I'm trying to find some strong toggle bolts that would allow me to mount this unit to the ceiling or wall, and keep it aimed down instead of hitting my 5 wk old Canna~ Tsu plant from the side. Forgot to mention plants are on 24 hr lights. As these are top shelf strains from a dispensary, I want to keep them vegetating for another month or two to get my biggest possible yield. So plan is to switch to 12\\12 light cycle in April. The seeds weren't feminized, but they're in vegetation stage no signs yet of being male or female yet. One mistake I made early was planting the germinated seeds in Miracle grow. They seem to be vegetating quite well for now, so I plan on flushing the soil and transplanting into 5 gallon buckets (with holes drilled in bottoms) ASAP. I've got a box fan gently blowing the leaves too. I'm an experienced gardner (indoor and outdoor flowers, succulents, various veggies, herbs, etc.) but just never grew weed before. I'm a quick learner but hope joining this forum will help me meet more like minded friends that I can learn from, and subsequently share this with other medicinal growers. Maine is well poised to be the next legal Recreational Marijuana state in the US, and it would be a dream to earn a livable wage from personally grown top shelf weed. I plan on keeping my top shelf plants inside to avoid cross pollination (as lots of locals grow weed during the outdoor season). I have a 6' fence around about a half acre in my backyard, so I'll probably grow something outside in the spring/early summer. I have some homemade compost in the yard, but it's currently frozen. Good stuff in this mixture too (crushed crab and lobster shells), vegetation from weeding gardens, grass clippings, and some house food garbage tossed in for good measure. Ideas and suggestions welcome please!
Welcome......too much to read in the AM haha...if you heat with wood them put a big pot of water on the stove....no stove....throw the end of a towel in a bucket of water and hang in front of a fan...dehumidifier. ...i think the fireplace is gonna be your biggest fire hazard. Bike hooks hold a lot of weight...just gotta find a stud I wouldnt keep the door open at night because it needs 12 hours of perfect dark.
Ok thanks greenthumbs. I know it's a lot for a first post but wanted to be sure and share the vital info. A pic of the grow with lights.
My bad.....haha...youre rìght..too busy to re read posts right now....ran out of coffee chasing paperwork around the house....bring on the sucky day!!!
I always keep a big pot of water on the stove. I'll try out the wet towel in front of the fan in the grow room. Thanks so much for the advice!
Do folks think I have enough light for the whole length of the grow? Using two fluorescent lights (4/32w 4' bulbs for mostly vegetation) and my construction light unit that takes two 500w bulbs that I will be hanging from the ceiling facing down once I get some decent sized hooks. Anyone used one of these for a decent harvest?
I have those for painting and plumbing and auto work but not for growing......those are halogen and do not produce a good product for a huge electric cost....if you have to use those you need to get some blue from somewhere
I believe sir those are the worse lights to use. No offense but if you run those your paying shit load electricity. And yield to cost you won't win ... Better off running a 1000w hps/mh for what u will pAy for useing those lights for ur grow. Is there another way u can find better efficient lights for growing Grassachusetts!
Is it primarily a cost vs. yield issue? Please forgive me if I look like an idiot for using it I'm here to learn so thanks for the input. My plants seem to be LOVING it at the moment. It's also easy to disassemble so I can just hang the.lamps and not the whole rack. I'll look into the unit you mentioned thanks.
Q: Do halogen bulbs have a good spectral output for plant growth? A: No, the spectral plot output of various halogen bulb types is by far the worst. Q: Are they efficient at generating useful light for plant growth? A: No, the best floro/hps/mh lighting each being approx 5X more efficient at plant growth than halogen. A good way to measure plant growth efficiency of different types of lighting is PAReff. PAR stands for Photosynthetic Active Radiation: the wavelength range of light between 400 and 700 nm that can be absorbed by leafs for plant photosynthesis. PAReff is the PAR/Watt efficiency ratio over a certain area. Some examples: Philips Advantage Fluorescent, 5000K: 1.44 PAReff Philips High Pressure Sodium deluxe: 1.38 PAReff Philips Dense-Line Emitter Metal Halide, 4100K: 1.38 PAReff Philips Spot Halogen Masterline, 2950K: 0.263 PAReff People usually choose halogen for the "low startup" costs of a halogen light. The real costs of halogens result from its low efficiency. 500 Watt halogen lighting produces about 0.08 Watt/s/nm in the green-yellow spectral region which is about the same as 80 watts of cfl's. A 500w halogen grow will cost approx $63 for electricity, whereas a more efficient light source generates the same par value for around $10 (depending on your local prices).
Ok understood thanks mate. I'll pull it today. Thanks so much for breaking it down for me. I have so much to learn I know. I'll spend the rest of the morning figuring out what the rest of the products you mentioned are.
Ill just tell ya real quick....the one i use is underlined...the bulb is 60 bucks but cant beat it....they go up go 200 a bulb. You want the highest PAR number......this is the range the plant can use effectively So basically you use 500 watts out of your wall and the plant uses bout 100 of that with a halogen