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After deciding to get rid of my one bar light I ventured onto building my own. Material: U-Connect steel frame 25mm + corner angles cut to 1.2m a piece. 10 * 31mm UChannels cut to equal sizes (even though i didnt at times) 20 * Bridge lux eb series gen 2 strips (you can go for more efficient lm301b strips or other samsung strips, these were dirt ship 8$ a strip) their lengths are 1.1m, you can opt for different strips or smaller lengths. 2 * LRS drivers 350 Watts 36v (I plan to change to HLG at some point, to bring them in line with the other HLG 600's I run). 1 * 25m Thermal adhesive tape. Cost cant really remember as i needed a few things like tools, strips and power supplies + customs came to around 4k (free shipping) UChannels were cut, and sprayed with hi resistant heat spray paint (you don't have to do this, I did it for fun, and to try hide the horrible scratches on the channel, I have no noticed any reduction in thermal conductivity), connect it bars were setup into a square shape as depicted below. JB Weld was used to secure the channels to the frame, I tried pratley rubbish and it did not work, this was allowed to cure and set for 24-36 hours. The strips were laid with the double sided adhesive thermal tape After curing, frame was resprayed with the high heat spray paint, I was going to sand down the joints on the epoxy but i got lazy, I was also going to grind down the edges, but decided one day... (most likely never). A strip was run on the test bench. Strips were laid on the frame. Test run of strips Another test run In its new home, running at 150 watts per side, total of 300+- in all, potential running of 700 (true wall watts) I still need to get some 3.4mm bolts and securely hold strips to the channels as I got some dirt underneath a few and noticed the adhesive coming loose.

With lights there is always a play off, unless you are able to afford some decent grow lights once off. I personally feel it is worth finding the cash to get good quality LED grow lights. Will save you a lot of money in the long run! Not just because you do not need to purchase better lights later on, but you will be saving on electricity too!

At 750W, (500w flower 12hrs/day, 250w veg 18hrs/day?) you'll end up spending a lot more in the long run with cheapies. 12*0.5 = 6 kWh 18*0.25 = 4.5 kWh 10.5 units * 30 days = 315 units/month That'll put you in a residential bracket, so at minimum, R1.90/unit. Or about R600/month. Migro measured the efficacy of two ebay AC COBs to be 0.29 ppfd/watt for the purple, and 0.65 ppfd/watt for the warm white. So let's say 0.45 as an average. So 750w of 0.45 ppfd/watt AC COBs are equivalent to 168W of a decent 2 ppfd/watt light. At the same 2/3 division of 12/18 hours/day, you'd spend 12*0.111=1.34 units 18*0.056=1 unit 2.34 units * 30 days = 70.2 units Or, R133.38/ month on electricity. So if the efficient, expensive light costs R3500, for example, and the DIY AC COBs cost R350, for example, 3500+133x=350+600x x= 6.74 months So that's how long you can use it (assuming they last that long) until it starts costing R467/month more to run the DIY setup. Anyway that's my party pooping 2c.

Dont lose faith. That's the way the cookie crumbles, I've had 100% germ rates and as low as 50% Tried paper towels, cotton and soil. Mother nature is awesome. But she can be a fickle mistress[emoji49] Puff puff pass... Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

Yeah man, I use epoxy that go over the terminals as part of the final touches. Also, my DIY lights are always grounded. *safety first*. Good bud is useless if I'm not around to smoke it Sent from my CLT-L29 using Tapatalk

This light builds are what we need on this forum. It just highlights that you don't need to spend R10000 on a 300w LED's light. Thank you for this post. It inspired me. Sent from my VTR-L09 using Tapatalk

THC Stays in your blood for long. Especially when you are a regular consumer. I tested positive after a 2 mnth cold turkey. This will be interesting.

So seems the pollen took for the Daquari Lime as there are some orange / brown / burnt pistils on the plants. I am starting to wonder whether the Charlottes Angel seed were mixed up and that I received some photoperiod seeds as opposed to autoflower seeds as the plants are 2 months old and still no signs of sex, let alone any signs of flowering. I may take some cuttings and see what happens, I would not mind at all if they were photoperiod instead, I'd actually prefer it!

I see you're using Tapatalk... Tapatalk doesn't support clubs very well but will start receiving feeds from the clubs once you join the club. You'll need to logon to the site on a PC or your phones browser(not tapatalk) to find and join the Outdoor Growoff Club. The club has been active for a long time

Math is pretty sound And 6 months is not a long time... It's just that initial outlay that most okes can't reach.... It's either get the cheap DIY setup... And GROW!!! Or save for 6 months, and not grow for 6 months... Most peeps with throw alil waste money toward extra elec, than be unable to grow for that length of time. Such a tough one bru.

AS promised, here are the pics of the plants i moved outside. Some were stunted at first, but they all seem to be adjusting now.

So some pics, below is the plant last night after spreading some pollen on her: Then this morning I hosed the plant down to try get rid of any lose pollen, no change in colour yet on the pistils / stigma. Will see tonight, I believe it happens within 24 hours. I moved the plant back into my grow area after hosing her down.

So upon further inspection, I noticed that some pollen sacs had cracked open... inside my veg area which is where I am keeping my auto's. I did not have time to move them to the new tent yet, so fuck it. Took them both outside, picked off a few other cracked pollen sacs and sprinkled the pollen onto the pistils of my female plant and wiped down my grow area a bit as best as I could. Both plants will sleep outside tonight, tomorrow morning I want to try hose down the pollinated plant and leave her outside to dry and then she can go back inside the flowering area. I did get my new lights up and running, have them in my veg area and have taken the QB out - so that is ready for the new tent at least. I really hope no pollen has gotten and is going to get onto my flowering plants, an indoor grow with seeds is extremely annoying! Such a waste. The next STS spray will be on Wednesday evening, although I may give it a skip until I start seeing pistils on the Charlottes Angel.

Are you gonna let the male have its way with one of the ladies??? How far have you come prepping wise in the greenhouse??? I moved the bonsai around and found that I can do 6 beasts the season and 3 or 4 x 15 L pots roundabout beginning January Sent from my FIG-LX1 using Tapatalk

Evening 420sa Our funky pheno yielded 48gr dried and trimmed. Some really dank fruity mango buds. Taste testing exceeded expectations. Lekker.... Sent from my SM-A500F using Tapatalk

Good day 420sa Got the lady pregnant. Going to experiment with a bit of breeding. The leaf to bud ratio seems good, the developing buds and main cola are dense with good resin production. The scent of mangoes in the morning are awesome. The possibilities are too tempting. Sent from my SM-A500F using Tapatalk