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Everything posted by Prom
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They are still there.. smokers know 2 (sativa/indica) and growers know 3 (sativa/indica/ruderalis) The ruderalis is just a timer, if we look at it in a simple way. Taking the photo sensitivity out, brings other advantages.. but autos have one big disadvantage.. you can't pheno hunt them over clones. The sativa high is still the sweet sexy uplifting high you can only get from a sativa. And nothing can couch you like a indica but over all, yes, the old rules got changed to what science found out. When you come to my smoking cabinet.. right now I have 18 different jars with 15 different strains, 3 outdoor, rest indoor. Some very little and some quite big jars ^^ I pick and smoke depending how I feel or want to feel. Before lunch time, you will never really see me running around with a late harvest indica, or I plan to go back to bed. The Royal Gorilla is my preferred day smoke beside the early Blue Cheese and Early Blueberry Kush at the moment.. or what the jars provide Afternoon to evening I prefer a not as potent but going relaxing smoke. Late Blue Cheese, Candy Kush. Evening after dinner, Gelato, my Nr1 right now. And when I want to couch or have issues to get asleep.. late Bubblelicious, a passion fruit knockout. Others just got in the cabinet and need curing time, the early Somango and late Critical just going into the cabinet (trade with a friend.. what I can recommend to stock up your selection ^^ 100g swaps). The longest cured weed inside the cabinet is now 8 months in the jar and just this change of taste is hard to believe. A Amnesia Haze.. mouth watering. Harvest is one thing.. curing the other. But there is one main rule.. bad weed doesn't become a good weed with curing. But good weed gets better with curing. You boarded the train to a life long learning and each year new tastes.. will keep you busy and happy to keep up with all the new stuff each year.. growing is never boring
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I just build the lamps for the tent.. CBD Charlottes Web.. Photos ^^ so 4 plants will go in it. 4 x 60 liter pots, wanna see if I can mainline the full area. Have Ruderalis growing too.. those calm me down from the weirdness to grow photos again I put the watt meter on and see if the boards get more hungry by time and heat. When I touch them after 30 mins, they run just hand warm. But sexy input.. I check it out. Thx!!
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To close was mainly a HID issue... foxtailing the result hehehe LED are not as tricky.. still you need good ventilation, if you go that close. I use 8 QBs total.. and I don't go closer as 40cm during flower to the canape (PAR wise).. some buds are closer. If you have just one long main cola, you might wanna go closer.. the part getting to much light, just can't use it and is wasted, if you don't run a CO2 generator. As long as it stays cool, good to go. Is one of the advantages with led. Radiation heat is not as dramatic as with a HID system.
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I said I write a little guide, so here it comes. How much is to much and how do I check it? If you checked into lights to grow indoor, you will run into some fun diagrams of light foot prints. Those help you to put the lights at the right distance. All good lamps provide you with the hanging distances for each stage Germination, Vegetative and Flower. If you build your own lights, you run into the issue, that you are a bit clueless, how to hang your lamps. Best to get that sorted is a Quantum Flux Meter. It measures the PAR (the light relevant to plants) light arriving at the sensor and hang accordingly. I am in the lucky position, that a friend bought one. Expensive toys You have one.. not telling you anything new.. Aim around 250 mmol for germination, around 500 mmol for Veg and 800-1200 mmol on flower. If you do not have a Quantum Flux meter.. I made some tests with normal Lux meters for your phone.. lets call them mixed results. But... Germination and Veg it seems to work. I have issues reproducing my results on different lamp configurations for the high readings. Varies up to 20%, what is to off to get clear results. Strangely, the low reading were spot on.. we talk 2-4% variation. I used Android tablet and phone, had the same readings .. using this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pardel.photometer&hl=en_US&gl=US Put the phone/Tablet horizontal for all readings. 250 mmol should read 20k Lux 500 mmol 40k Lux Everything above that was just going different readings depending on lamp configuration. But as it look rather linear to 500.. you could use that to put your plants at the right light. Yes, the lamps are really that far away during germination ^^ My single QBs and TS3 gave me the 80k Lux at 1000 mmol.. but 2 other lamps gave way weaker readings 60k Lux. And I used 5 different lamps, 3 different diodes. The Germination and Veg results were spot on. Try, let me know if your plants grow bigger now. Now, you want to buy a good lamp.. -> store! You get help to select and a warranty on it, plus the instruction how to use the lamp.. so skip the Quantum Flux Thingy right away. Are those lamps really that good at 30k Rand? Yes, they are that good. Do I need one of those to grow awesome dank? Nope... ^^ Is no rocket science to build a good decent lamp doing the job.. but if you are not in the mood.. buy one from the grow store.. LED!!!! nothing else they wanna sell you. Size of the lamp is given by grow space. Don't go the other way around or you end up with a lamp way to big for your space. Why is that bad? What generates light these days, also generates heat. And as soon as you put a dimmer on.. you are back in the guessing game how far to hang now. Yes, light is way more tricky as fertilizer.. fertilizer come with clear instructions. Lights are more pointing in the right direction. Why LED? For a home grower it is the best choice these days. Very reliable and low heat light source. The times for HID systems are over in the home grower circle. There are still good reasons to go MH/HPS, but not for any new starting person. No Sir, hands off! LED are expensive! Really? I just build myself a 4QB setup for a 1.2mx1.2m tent.. 280$ with shipping. If that is to much.. thank god, you didn't started growing 30 years ago Buy or build.. but stick to LED.. very short section.. nothing to add really. What type of LED lamp? The right selection will make your life way easier. Remember, light produces heat.. and to much heat is not good for your plants. We used a few lamps and come to certain conclusions The no go Zone Those lamps just "gather" the heat below and if you use such a setup in a single tent.. your airflow will suffer one SHITLOAD. I wouldn't go this way.. we have one of those.. and is the worst lamp of all for climate control. Other disadvantage, any uneven canape is very hard to handle. Bar lights Lets bring the disadvantage up, is the same like the lamp before.. if your canape goes very uneven.. will get more work. BUT.. airflow wise, they are awesome. Put the fan over the light and point down to cook up a storm.. cools light and plants and you lose no space to a ground standing fan. If I would have 2-3 sections to grow, the one for the big ones, I would use a bar light and just sort the canape to fit. Those lamps are doing a better light distribution and little resistance to your climate control. Central configuration Still monsters but at least compact and offer not as much airflow resistance like the ones with build in non lighting surface. You lose a lot more light strength to the side and they bring some heat to the center plants. My second last choice. Single QB Build Lets start with the disadvantage, you have to adapt more ratchets.. 4 instead of 2. Advantages are airflow and dynamic handling in regards to canape. The 150mm duct brings the fresh air and the oscillating one is top mounted. The QBs run without any heat sink, 2 per 240watt driver. I used 3mm tread rod to build the hangers. For one grow section, you don't care how the canape grows, you can handle dwarfs and bean stalks. Hope it gave some ideas what to look for and what not to look for. Always remember.. light produces heat and heat needs to get removed. If your lights hinder you, they might be the reason why your plants stay on the smaller side. DIY tips You want to order and build? Read up! You need to read a bit and decide where to go.. and we mean spectrum frequencies ^^ All the LED light producers offer different frequencies for the diodes. For a grow light, my personal suggestion is to go with a 3000k 660nm board or a 3500k 660nm board. I avoid anything having more on it, like UV. The IR you want, that is a sexy wave length for flowering. There are 301B and 301H diodes out. B gets sold as V2 and H as V3.. both work. The difference is the hardening layer on the diode, the rest is the same. H stands for Samsung's Horticulture range, better environmental resistance.. buh hu hehe go for the cheaper one if money is a issue and the expensive if you like to waste it a bit QBs you get around 30-40$.. getting cheaper each year. Driver you can pick up anywhere you find it cheap.. i get mine from digi-key. If you are not in a rush, look for the free world wide express shipping they do from time to time. You build such a lamp system in an hour in very stoned conditions or 30 mins sober Hope it helped somebody.. or I wasted quite a bit of time
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What Equipment/tools do I need (outdoor)?
Prom replied to StonerZN's topic in Starting Your Own Grow
1) As soon as the seeds pop, I put them 1cm deep in FF Premium Classic and water with Root juice. 2) You start your clock when you drop the seed into the glass of water for 12 hours. 3) I try to give nutes on all feedings.. can be to much for some strains. You always have to use your eyes and check the leaves for troubles. If you are unsure, give every third feeding nutes and stick to water otherwise. The feeding amount is per liter you apply to the pots. Your feeding table says: 3 Grow, 2 Bloom and 1 Top Max.. you add that to each liter.. and apply the amount the plant needs for this single feeding. OK.. my beefed up feeding tables for 8 and 10 weeks.. 9 and 11 week plants I just take the lower one.. 8 for 9, 10 for 11. 12 you have from the original table. To make it easy for me: Fish-Mix = F / Grow = G / Bloom = B / Top Max = TM / Rotating each feeding with Fish-Mix or Grow = FG | 4/4/4 = 4ml Grow, 4ml Bloom, 4ml Top Max per liter of feeding liquid. 8 week Table Week 1 4ml Root Juice Week 2 2ml F Week 3 3ml F Week 4 3 ml FG / 2ml B Week 5 3ml FG / 3ml B / 1ml TM Week 6 4ml G / 3ml B / 3ml TM Week 7 4/4/4 Week8 Flush - if 9 weeks 4/4/4 and week 9 is flush 10 week Table Week 1 4ml Root Juice Week 2 2ml F Week 3 3ml F Week 4 3 ml FG / 2ml B Week 5 3ml FG / 3ml B / 1ml TM Week 6 4ml FG / 3ml B / 2ml TM Week 7 4ml G / 4ml B / 3ml TM Week 8 4/4/4 Week 9 4/4/4 Week 10 Flush - If 11 weeks 4/4/4 and week 11 Flush I haven't checked my Ph for over a year ^^ so you can skip that, if you use rain water. If you kill your plants.. don't come running to me. Those tables takes no prisoners and on the 8 week table you might very likely run into yellow tips.. half the feeding amount for 1-2 feedings or give pure water. Then resume with the same dosage. If it comes back, your strain might not need that much.. some strains are very hungry out there, some are not ^^ And 1ml means 1ml.. not 2 not 3 or 4, the 5 is totally out of question be as accurate as you can be and use your common sense. -
No insomnia issues with a 50/50 harvest but if you want to have a productive day.. wrong selection
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I harvest day smoke at 10% amber and my evening relaxers or desert smokes at 50% amber
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You forgot marijuanaseeds.co.za The nirvana sa shop is one of the fastest and most reliable shops i dealt with
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I would suggest a blurple to a newbie before a HID setup. The lamps with cooling build in have one factor to worry less for a new grower. But over all, going LED is rather cheap these days. I even stopped using heat sinks on my new QBs.. just not warm enough to put one on. The heavy part are the drivers.. just check at digi-key from time to time when they have a shipping special.. they fork out free express world wide from time to time. Then you get the drivers very cheap. QBs.. 31$ for 1: 0.6x0.6cm area, 2 for 1.2x0.6, 4 for 1.2x1.2. calculate 120w per board per driver and i wouldn't go more then 2 boards per driver.. so 240w drivers or single lamps 120w. I paid 62$ at the time at digi-key for one driver (240w).. free shipping. The most simple version of a Quantum Board setup for a 1.2x1.2 area will set you back 4 x 31$ (around, just look and you will find) + shipping (express around 50-70$) and 2 x 62$ for the drivers. Lets say 320$.. about 5300 Rand plus customs. Switching the lights on.. will eat 1000 Rand a month. There should also be no panic to build the stuff together.. as long as you are able to understand the difference between + and - ... both written on each device rather clear, you can't ruin your stuff Those are naked QBs.. they will need a little air stream.. but I ignore the heat sink. I use 3000k + 660nm version in my grow setup I have now both versions 301B and H. Also in different light configurations.. Bars, 4 QB closed lamp and single QBs. My health issues kept me from sneaking around on my four.. but I can move again without harsh pains. I want to write a little guide in regards LED light configurations and hanging distance. Depending on grow space, some lamp configurations will make your life easier.. some much harder. And as not many have access to a quantum flux meter, I started to test, if I can translate the results to a normal lux meter free app for your phone.. I do not run apple.. sorry for that in advance. Results will be on android devices. My main issue, I do not publish any numbers, if I can't reproduce them on a totally different setup. Numbers would be useless if they are different. Friend is done with his batch in 1-2 weeks, then I take my numbers over and see if I get about the same readings as on my setups. He uses different tent producer but the same trays, 2 QB configurations, one bar lamp and one 4 QB closed configuration, each for 1.2x1.2, same as my stuff. I think this would help a lot to handle your main cost producer more efficient. Building a lamp, shouldn't scare you at all is rather easy. Time for home HID setups is over (my opinion).. suggesting a new grower a HID lamp.. is a bit questionable. The grow shop seems to "suggest" what they want to get rid off.. putting a HPS in your tent might end in a foxtail party (is not the good kind of party ) You want to go LED.. you really really wanna do that I agree very much with the rest in here
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Keep the youngsters on the wet side. To much would be a standing water swamp... give a few ml a day. Put a moisture dome over to keep humidity high and prevent total dry out of the top soil. Keep it warm.
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In my personal opinion i rate MH for veg and HPS for flower as the best light range. How ever, the amount of heat they emmit and the hanging distance restriction, due to that issue, bring other disadvantages to you. LED wins in the over all home grower benefits cathegory. It creates more light and less heat per kw used. In grower terms, you also have to spend less energy to cool the produced heat down again. If you calculate just how much a light cost, you make a huuuuuge mistake... the light cost get taken over by eskom power cost within a year. Calculate the light cost per year you run it... and you will notice, LEDs are faaaaaar ahead, low consumption, 50000 hours light on average. Then select the light strenght by grow space. 400 to 500 watt LED for 1.2x1.2 meter and 500 to 600 watt on a 1.5x1.5 area... more is wasting energy. If you go big... you might keep starting investment low and go MH and HPS.. but cooling will come back to bite you in your ass. For home growers i recommend to go LED to make your life way easier and keep running cost low. And my preferred ending... so how exactly do you know how to hang your diy lamp??? To much or to little light will hinder your grow results. Is like you build yourself a ac cobra kit car and add no speedometer... you drive around with zero clues how fast.
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As mentioned above, first I would drastically increase the air flow to the tent. Serenade helps to get all clean again.. but if you get PM, you have a environment issue to sort. All running smooth, you shouldn't get PM in the first place.
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That is the stuff i check for a seller in the US and ship to my planet express address. Pool with other parcels and ship further to SA over DHL.
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As long as it didnt reach your buds, your can spray. Best is if you swap between bicarb of soda and apple vinegar, helps also to keep your ph in range, soil wise. The PM doesnt like the swing... i still wouldnt recommend during flower, just final taste wise. You get sorted during veg and keep your humidity under control or taste will suffer.. general it swings to bitter with the stuff you left behind on and in the buds. The bicarb is to wash your weed.. emergency solution.. and only works to a certain degree. I also want to add, beside me, there are 8, very posh smokers, confirming, no side taste at all from serenade treated plants. Just works..
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they have to follow the law. Wrong declaration will never help... friend got his seedsman shipping confiscated a month ago. Stealth sending in mouse mat. It can be pure luck my parcel passed, but custom kept it for 4 weeks, other shipment reached me faster, send by same courier, same location. I declared the seeds because of the wording of the draft. I can have and trade up to 30 seeds, as long as there is no money exchange. The CBD seeds should be legal, as excluded inside the draft. I paid for those. The thc seeds were free and stated as freebees on the bill from the seed bank. Had 4 hoodies with too, 10$ a hoodie, was to cheap to resist. as said, took a bit but got it today from fedex... want to add, parcel value was declared as 70$ and customs charged me close to 900 rand... hefty import tax
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i never had issues with PM before, but since i grow in the Cape region indoor, Serenade saved my ass till now. The main issue is, if you have it, something in your system is wrong! HEPA filters will help, but at the end the solution is more simple in my opinion. My life got a lot easier, as soon as i increased the tent ventilation a lot. Opening the tent and walk inside will bring spores with, if you like it or not. If they hit the wrong climate, nothing will happen. In general, your enemy is the dark time. The drop in temp will lead to a release of moisture. Warmer air can hold more water. Temp drops, water gets released. If you shut down the light, you must increase ventilation or switch on a wall plug heater to compensate. Keep it between 50 to 60% Max humidity and you will never see the white spots again. PM hates fresh air... vent that tent! As good as copper soap keeps it at bay, you cant use it during flower... strict no go! Serenade Graden Disease Control is your best shot, leaves zero taste on the smoke, if used while your plants are green, dont use it on dry buds! If you have a nasty PM issue, spray several times a day to a run off and let them dry down in between. 2 days and your plants are squeaky clean. Hang to dry. Cheap version to wash would be a simple bicarb of soda (every supermarket has it) wash. 2g per liter water and a pure water rinse. If it is in your buds... only serenade will clean it, hard to wash the inside. Get it wet, the bacterias will eat, your job is to get it wet. i never did a serenade wash.. the stuff costs but spray works just fine. Dont worry, open those buds. Only option is the compost heap, you dont want to inhale fungi. Hope it helped sonebody with the issue.. first.. dont look for serenade (import only so far), increase the air flow in and out of your tent! Helps a lot already, then go from there..
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i ordered the Charlottes Web CBD seeds (10) from Canada. They added freebies, 5 pineapple express and 3 weddingcake. I declared the seeds on the shipping manifest. The parcel was for over a month with customs... and got it today... seeds and everything inside the parcel. The THC seeds were free, so not sure this made the change.
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lets also add.. it is worth to look elsewhere, if the trader doesnt offer one of the top three couriers. If i looked for hours and find nobody else, i would even use Fedex.. but really just when there is no other option.
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My goal is always to reach 1000g per square meter. But also try to reduce the wattage used. My personal record stands on 2.45g per watt. Is not one or the other, i measure both to keep track if i move in the right direction. Friend just pulled 200g from a amnesia haze auto in switzerland... hehehe i never reached that.. time to up my game
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Fedex is a total face palm.. you call in for the invoice.. DHL just send me that by them self, containing the EFT information or link for electronic CC payment. Anyhow.. Fedex.. then you call in again as you want to pay by card. As in the payment confirmation was Ref for Fedex, the tracking number. I expected this to be a automated process. I was wrong.. after a complain 4 days after my payment, they decided to say thank you for the payment. Tracker didn't move for another 72 hours.. on a Express Parcel I stick to DHL and UPS.. and in emergencies Aramex.. but Fedex SA is like Post Office OK, not the same same.. but they try very hard to reach that low level.
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I just deleted my BidorBuy and Takealot account as this habit of offering products without local stock gets a bit annoying. I look in general always for local stock, if it is not totally in a hilarious price range. But when I get 2 weeks, or more, delivery time, I started to cancel the orders right away. I can order from China myself. As local stock seems to shrink rather fast.. annoyingly.. I thought I write a few lines to import.. as when you go look outside, you can choose from several options of the same product and not just one they offer in SA. With any order the payment process offers a shipping note to add. To make things way more speedy, add your SA ID and your contact phone number there and add the comment For private use, not retail! Will go through customs rather without hassle and the courier has your direct contact, if the China trader messed that part up. I never ever had any Credit Card issues with a Chinese company/trader.. and I ordered quite a lot from that area. Hobbyking, Alibaba, Aliexpress.. zero troubles, is more complicated to chat with the translated Chinese.. but i always got what I ordered. Don't forget the tell them at the end to please make the customs bill to the % you like it to be.. I take in general 50% to 80% off.. less customs.. they grab shameful amounts charging 50% import tax.. is just asking to get cheated on. That brings me to the list of couriers I can recommend.. but don't get me wrong, they are not perfect but... with the added information in the shipment, those works the smoothest (might swap due to local crew incompetence ^^) Cape Town area I rank em like that: 1 DHL 2 UPS 3 Aramex .. there is a gap.. Fedex is very incompetent handling anything, contacts to payments 4 Fedex another gap.. nothing is even close as bad as post office.. i wouldn't even call that a mail service anymore 5 EMS (Post Office) DHL and UPS have working invoice systems in place for CC payment, great contact and fast. Aramex i put before Fedex as their computer system at least works. Fedex is great till it hits SA.. they don't check for payments or even try to contact you. Additional their phone system is very unstable and you need several calls. They are never over worked (fast response) but your line gets cut in general when they want to forward you. Not one try they succeeded.. I had to call in a few times. So Fedex only if you want to endure the full load. EMS with Post Office termination is not really an option, except you have a lot of time to wait, my record, got a parcel after 8 months of shipping.. and lost quite some parcels too, avoid EMS. The good news.. if you import yourself, you get your stuff the cheapest possible. I always say support local.. but then again.. if you order yourself and not over a SA third person, will be faster and cheaper. If I get my stuff within 5 days.. I take it local.. anything else, cancel, I order myself. BidorBuy account I closed as I made 3 orders, and only growguru.co.za had local stock, rest wanted to let me wait 20+ days. When I went shopping for the same product outside, I got double the amount of the product and on express shipping.. so faster.. 5-7 days (in this case 5m RAW rolling paper, 48 of them ^^, not even a dollar a piece, 730R for the papers, going to my planetexpress storage.. I order more stuff to reduce shipping cost ^^). If you run into products "they" don't send to SA.. you can always get a warehouse or shipping service to work around. You have those issues more in US/Europe.. China/Hong Kong ships to SA ^^ For the USA/Europe www.planetexpress.com works very nice (you can't repack seeds!! keep that in mind) rest, you can collect also parcels for 45 days and ship in one parcel.. less shipping fees, pays back rather fast, if you have a few things to order. This premium service is 50$ a year or you can also just take it for one big batch and take the service just for a month. With the saved shipping fees.. always pays back. Just for one parcel.. is just a little additional cost but you get your stuff shipped to SA, have 2 parcels combined and the fee for planetexpress is paid and you saved some. Just select the warehouse depending where you need it. California for the US and UK for Europe. If people run local stock.. i will always order there first (as mentioned.. if the price is reasonable) but I am not supporting people just doing the order them self and add 100-200% on top.. i hate wasting my money ^^ If you stick a bit to the same courier.. you have the numbers and websites you need bookmarked, importing yourself as a private person isn't as complicated and frustrating as most think. Just think ahead and put the information needed on the shipping yourself. If nobody needs to contact you, you will be amazed how fast it can go. US or China to SA.. DHL or UPS does it in 5 - 7 days and not a month like those order "reheaters" offer for more expensive in general. Support people running local stock.. rest be smart. Hope it helped somebody
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I would go with the QB and add 2 more by time. Agree with @CreX nice offers price wise!
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What Equipment/tools do I need (outdoor)?
Prom replied to StonerZN's topic in Starting Your Own Grow
Look for fish mix, if you want to use just one of both. Then get a bottle of melasses too from your grow shop and mix your own Grow... 750ml fish mix and 250ml melasses... and you have Biobizz Grow. Stick to the light mix table, not the FF table... that one demands to use bio heaven or you run into troubles. I can send you a beefed up feeding table for your 10 weeks sour diesel, put those out second week Nov. Use the 12 week table, standard, on the ww3, beginning Nov (easy week calculation, 1. Nov). I use 10 liter pots for autos, i let the 10 week bubbles go into week 15, very late harvest. Autos dont go as root crazy... also means they handle less good wind. I am always amazed how small the root work is when you empty the pots. Pulled one out gentle... that is a 10 liter pot and a 14 week old auto -
You need to Ph Coco.. no way around.. FF Premium with BioBizz range will do for outdoor. Should be a smooth cruise.. you want to start in November.. depending on strain time, early Nov for 12 week plants, mid Nov for Fast ones, 8 to 10 week strains. Would be my input..