My First Time Growing

[PeeJay]

Ok, onto the CFL's. I've mentioned a couple of times that when you calculate the watts pulled out of the socket that are turned into light the watts per square foot of growing space in the tent and in the bookcase are roughly equal ~ 48 watts a square foot. That single working CFL you have easy access to draws 50 watts from the wall and turns it into plant growing light. It's like having another of the small LED panels.

Even if you just put the single one on the lower shelf of the bookcase you can keep the cup plants there and start the rectangular training on the bigger plants on the top shelf under the LEDs sooner.

 

[Smokeater]

Hmmm. I see what you mean about the Minnie Me pot. It would be dumb to put that in one gallon. Minnie is fine where she/he lives. The biggest plant in the bookcase should always end up in a 3 gallon pot shortly after the biggest plant in the bookcase moves into the flower tent.

In this case, Jordan is the biggest plant in the bookcase and should go into 3 gallons RIGHT NOW! THIS VERY MINUTE! You know I'm just joking about the right now part.

I expect if you measured the volume of the pot Minnie is in, it is close to 1 gallon. The nursery pot is just wider and shorter. Minnie will be fine in the container it's in for another ten days or so. Pot up Jordan, but not Minnie. Jordan has been in the pop bottle for what? Five days? We'll give Jordan like another week in three gallons and then move her into flower. When Jordan goes to flower, then Minnie get's moved into 3 gallons for 10-15 days.

Truthband should go into 1 gallon when Jordan goes into flower. We'll thrash a bit at first but we're zeroing in on a rhythm.

It was hard to gauge the size of the pots Jordan was in and Minnie is in now. The one gallon and 3 gallon nursery pots I understand because I use 'em myself.

What we're doing is an assembly line thing. Small plants in cups on the right in the pictures. Medium plant in 1 gallon in the middle. Biggest in 3 gallons on the far left. When the big one goes into flower the rest of the plants in the bookcase will shift left.

OK, I almost have Jordan transferred now (Just kidding too), But I will do it tomorrow probably as long as I'm feeling up to it, the weather here is going up and down by 30-40 degrees difference each day and that ALWAYS hurts my back. I understand what you mean about the assembly line concept, That would be the only way to get to a perpetual grow if I understand it right (and since you taught me, I'm sure I do ), BTW, Thanks again for everything PJ, Your helping this dog way more than I have a right to ask.

I agree when I look back at the pic's, Minnie's pot is probably right about a gallon but just different dimension-ally. I will blog your post so I remember the time frame roughly for these ones.

 

[Smokeater]

Ok, onto the CFL's. I've mentioned a couple of times that when you calculate the watts pulled out of the socket that are turned into light the watts per square foot of growing space in the tent and in the bookcase are roughly equal ~ 48 watts a square foot. That single working CFL you have easy access draws 50 watts from the wall and turns it into plant growing light. It's like having another of the small LED panels.

Even if you just put the single one on the lower shelf of the bookcase you can keep the cup plants there and start the rectangular training on the bigger plants on the top shelf under the LEDs sooner.

That sounds good, I still need some help with finding the clamp on reflectors for the one light even, But my son just came down to ask me a favor and I mentioned I still needed help to find some things and he said he'll do it tomorrow. So I'm gonna try and get that set up asap, I don't remember if I mentioned it to you or not, Do you think I should just paint the bookcase white? I'm out of Mylar (that was my last rescue blanket) for now until I can ask one of the guys to grab me some more for my "first aid kit". But someone had suggested just painting the bookcase white and I wondered what's your opinion on that.

 

[PeeJay]

Oh yeah. White paint reflects almost as good as mylar so long is it's flat white, not semi-gloss or glossy. I know that sounds counter intuitive but it's true. You can google it.

As far as the reflectors go, i'm not sure you want to use them. There is no rush. If you think about it you want the CFL's sticking out horizontally. Hmmm. Let me look for a picture.

 

[Smokeater]

Oh yeah. White paint reflects almost as good as mylar so long is it's flat white, not semi-gloss or glossy. I know that sounds counter intuitive but it's true. You can google it.

As far as the reflectors go, i'm not sure you want to use them. There is no rush. If you think about it you want the CFL's sticking out horizontally. Hmmm. Let me look for a picture.

Good, because I think we have a gallon of flat white ceiling paint in the laundry room left from the previous owners when they were getting the house looking good to sell it. I can remove the reflectors from the clamp (I'm 90% sure they just screw off) and just put a couple long screws in the side to hook the reflector-less clamp for the light to them, I really want to avoid wiring a light socket into the bookcase if I can help it so that the light isn't just all the way to one side. And when I do have the second one I could do the same thing from the other side just a little higher or lower if necessary so they both are close to the middle but still partially on the side they are clamped too. Don't go out of your way looking for a picture, I understand what you mean. Horizontal will spread the light more evenly over the plants.

 

[PeeJay]

Those are pictures of an old veg box I used to use. Notice when I shut the lid that there was reflective material above the lights. That thing is like 48" wide. Those CFLs are normal size - you can replace the incandescent bulb in a ceiling lamp with one.

You have this:

No way I'm gonna replace the bulb in my kitchen ceiling light with one of those bad boys!

The reflectors are just in the way. If you dangle one of those 8.5" inchers vertically imagine how it will cut into the vertical space? If it had an erect posture it would be much more effective.

Errrm... This journal is bursting with sexual innuendo tonight...

 

[PeeJay]

Yeah, you get it, Smoke. This is not an urgent thing at all. There is always something to tinker with. It's part of the fun.

 

[PeeJay]

 

[Smokeater]

Those are pictures of an old veg box I used to use. Notice when I shut the lid that there was reflective material above the lights. That thing is like 48" wide. Those CFLs are normal size - you can replace the incandescent bulb in a ceiling lamp with one.

You have this:

No way I'm gonna replace the bulb in my kitchen ceiling light with one of those bad boys!

The reflectors are just in the way. If you dangle one of those 8.5" inchers vertically imagine how it will cut into the vertical space? If it had an erect posture it would be much more effective.

Errrm... This journal is bursting with sexual innuendo tonight...

I've noticed, but as long as no one is getting offended it doesn't bother me,You should hear the way we talked at work, There was NO innuendo's, we just came right out and said it But I understand the concept. That would work much better. I can't tell from the picture but what are the things they are plugged into? That looks like it would be a lot easier than wiring in a light socket.

 

[PeeJay]

oh... you can buy those parts for like $0.98 each at Home De-Pot.

 

[Smokeater]

oh... you can buy those parts for like $0.98 each at Home De-Pot.

Excellent! That is the kind of price I can afford, do you know what they are called by any chance? If not I can just look in the lighting aisle. I think after the next post, I'm going to sleep, I took my sleep meds at 12:30 and they are starting to kick in.

 

[PeeJay]

Hey, if you can strip the reflector off one of the fixtures you have and just look at it, you'll get some good ideas. The queen of DIY is present as well. I've gotta get some sleep. I look forward to having more of these late night discussions when we can both

 

[Smokeater]

Hey, if you can strip the reflector off one of the fixtures you have and just look at it, you'll get some good ideas. The queen of DIY is present as well. I've gotta get some sleep. I look forward to having more of these late night discussions when we can both

I like it too, this is a great way to "talk" on this site. And I can't wait to at the same time! Who else is online? I don't know how to check that yet, Hello, Hello, Is anybody out there?

 

[Smokeater]

Oh well, Since Pink Floyd didn't get a response, I think I'm going to sleep.

 

[Smokeater]

I don't know if your still here PJ, but thanks for all the help tonight! I don't know what I would do without my mentor!
Night! "See" ya tomorrow.

 

[Lady Cannafan]

Smokey, at home depot you will find something called an Outlet to Socket adapter, those plug the bulb right into a power strip.

Also, there are twin socket adapters that you can put two bulbs in, like the pictures in the grow box PeeJay showed you.

Similar to these. Shop around for different brand names if they have them, you can get them quite cheap.

Local hardware stores might even have them, but will probably cost more.

 

[Lady Cannafan]

Also, on determining who's online, go to the top of the page on the left and click on "Forums", then on "Who's Online" toward the bottom of the drop down list.

You will see every member logged in. Now keep in mind, just because you see them logged in that doesn't mean they are available. A lot of people (including me) will just leave the site up and running and go to bed or go about other business. You can also see where their most recent activity is on the site, again it doesn't mean they are still hanging around there. The system seems to be on some kind of time schedule for updating location, like every 5 or 10 minutes or something.

I use it more to see who isn't online so I know I can't reach them right away.

While you're there, notice above the list on the left, where it says how many members online as opposed to how many "guests". I always find it fascinating how many people are perusing through this site that aren't members. April 20th (420) is the biggest day of the year for guests and members alike.

Hope that helps and I wish you and all a wonderful morning.

 

[Dennise]

You have a star shower... I wanted one so bad... My house is so tiny I knew it would cover the whole thing... Did you love it or hate it... My fella told me I had lost my mind so I didn't buy it... Then I got to thinking... Dah... I know I've lost my mind and what does that have to do with it but it took me a while to come to that conclusion and Christmas was over...... Apparently the box is handy...::....

 

[Smokeater]

Also, on determining who's online, go to the top of the page on the left and click on "Forums", then on "Who's Online" toward the bottom of the drop down list.

You will see every member logged in. Now keep in mind, just because you see them logged in that doesn't mean they are available. A lot of people (including me) will just leave the site up and running and go to bed or go about other business. You can also see where their most recent activity is on the site, again it doesn't mean they are still hanging around there. The system seems to be on some kind of time schedule for updating location, like every 5 or 10 minutes or something.

I use it more to see who isn't online so I know I can't reach them right away.

While you're there, notice above the list on the left, where it says how many members online as opposed to how many "guests". I always find it fascinating how many people are perusing through this site that aren't members. April 20th (420) is the biggest day of the year for guests and members alike.

Hope that helps and I wish you and all a wonderful morning.

O.K., THAT is a cool function (Who's online?), It is amazing to be able to see where everyone is. All I knew how to do before that was to highlight a users name on the left side of a post and it see if they were or weren't online. Very cool! I knew that just because it said "online" they might not be right at their computer because I have a tendency to do the same thing. I will be reading something and have to get up for something or I might be watching TV and not paying attention to the PC and suddenly I have 4-5 new posts as soon as I hit refresh. Thank you for showing that to me, Granted, it's a little like having big brother around, but still way cool! And a good morning right back at ya!

 

[Dennise]

Oh make no mistake... Behind the scenes there are no secrets here... If you truly want something to stay between you and someone else... send private emails not onsite pm's... I personally don't care if they read every thing I write and usually I just post things public cause I know they can and do read the pm's if they feel the need for some reason... I doubt they sit there and go into our pm's just for zhit's and giggles but if they feel the need they most certainly can and do... the pm IMO is just for passing info that shouldn't be posted publicly not for privacy... Big brother is watching here just like in most other parts of our lives... Sadly we are so desensitized to it we rarly even notice... No.. I'm not a conspiracy nut......