Radogast's Hi-Brix Basement Grow - New Location - New Soil - New Experiences

[Radogast]

I've been studying your drawing for a few minutes and think it is a good plan for the shape of the space and the number of lights you have. I am concerned that there might be a couple of places between the lights at the sides of the room that won't be lit well. I wonder if doing a mock up of the spacing with zip ties, string, or whatever to suspend the lights would confirm that the spacing is right before cutting the frame pieces.

Good suggestion. rather than hang the lights I decided to do the test using eggs.



8 eggs in rows of 3-2-3: Note the space where the shag carpeting below the eggs shows through the gap.

9 eggs in rectilinear rows of 3-3-3: Note the spaces between eggs are much larger. The overall shape went from rectangular to square.

9 eggs in staggered rows of 3-3-3: Note the shape is now more rectangular and the spaces are small again.

One conclusion to be drawn is that staggered lines of circles provide more even coverage than rectilinear lines of circles. You will never get a true tesselation using circles, there will always be gaps. The young man pointed out that hexagons give full coverage, and they are pretty close to a circular shape.

I decided to skip a smashed egg hexagon test


A second conclusion to be drawn is that adding 2 lights, one at each end, would change the end lighting from an "inny" to an "outie" which might be more useful since I tend to grow plants more in an 'outie" circular shape than an "innie" bowed in shape on one end.


- -

In the egg layouts there is a fixed distance between the centers of each egg. I had assumed in my drawing that there was 16" between each light center and that the centers of the lights formed equilateral triangles (creating equal distances between all lights.) This was bad geometry. Equilateral triangles form 3 dimensional triangular pyramids and hexagons.


In the layout I have drawn each light was supposed to be 16" away from each other light, but they can't be because of the whole hexagon thing, the distance between lights at the short end of the grid should be the same as on a hexagon with one point in between - so x times the square root of 3 - about 28" between centers, 32" overall. That is a foot more than my posted plan.

- - -

I'll go back and do some careful measurements and recalculate


- - -

The cat closely observed me setting out the eggs for the photos. After I removed the semi-spherical egg toys, he decided to stretch out on the sheepskin (not really shag carpeting )

 

[Tead]

Hmmmmm... do cats like sheepskin?

I decided to skip a smashed egg hexagon test

I was waiting for a hard boiled under the lights test.

 

[Radogast]

Hmmmmm... do cats like sheepskin?



I was waiting for a hard boiled under the lights test.

I like sleeping on sheepskin, especially in the cold. It's a lot like sleeping on top of comforters. I prefer the short haired New Zealand double sheepskins like they use in automative sheepskin covers. Compared to long haired sheepskins, short haired sheepskins don't collect as much debris, almost never need combing, and aren't as heavy in the washing machine.

This sheepskin is about 20 years old. When I travelled for work, I took this sheepskin with me to even out the quality of hotel mattresses. When I played hand drums (tabla), I folded this sheepskin double to sit cross legged on the floor.

Most cats like sheepskin. Cats who are kneaders usually knead sheepskin.

 

[MrGreene]

I know the cat has the most comfortable seat in the house. Sheepskin is great. I've out some in a couple of my cars and always enjoyed the extra cushion and not getting my legs burned from the leather on hot summer days.

I was waiting for the pic of the cat eating the broken egg.

If the innie doesn't work out to be ideal/perfect, then we can talk about making it an outie. I have enough supplies sitting here to do that.

I've been tempted to go ahead and order some low profile heat sinks and a hood to experiment with. I think it would make a great package as long as I can find a big hood.

 

[Radogast]

My first AK47 this year went 51 days from flip to harvest at fully cloudy.
My second AK47 (her clone) is at flip +53.
Half clear on top, full clear on bottom, and one dark amber trichome on top every 300-500 trichomes.


The only things that really changed is my night time temps are in the 70s instead of the 60s (The difference between March and June.) Also this is second run HiBrix soil instead of first run.

(A third possibility - maybe the fact that I hadn't had home grown bud in 9 months affected my vision )


I'm hoping the extra time gives her a bit more yummy flavor



Getting used to growing HiBrix has led me to choose better documentation. It's nice to be able to know what a girl did last time

 

[SweetSue]

Documentation is good. I'm beginning to see patterns now. Makes me feel like I'm growing up.

 

[Radogast]

Documentation is good. I'm beginning to see patterns now. Makes me feel like I'm growing up.

Caught me on the same post in two differnt threads and commented on the difference - clever lady

 

[bobrown14]

Oh dude... you hit that nail directly on the head. This is even the first words I've heard about the idea of following a chief around after the storm. Not gonna dig up the episodes, but thanks for the insight.

You can totally walk with tons of them all day long on many occasions around NOLA. Hell... you can even go BBQ with them underneath the highway.
The Iko Iko song is about Indians. The groups of Indians used to roam the city and fight... actually physical battles.... very ganglike. They had individuals that served various rolls in the groups.

There were spotters/ambassadors wearing green that went out and found other groups....
"See that guy all dressed in green? I-KO, I-KO, un-day.
He's not a man, he's a lov-in' ma-chine"

Fighters wore red....
"Look at my king all dressed in red I-ko, I-ko, un-day.
I bet-cha five dol-lars he'll kill you dead, jock-a-mo fee na-né"

There's just a ton of interesting history to be had with the Indians. Then, you can go walk with them. Reasons I stay.....

Right on Brother Tead.... I like to listen to the music not so much the in-fighting among the different clans. Been to NOLA several times, seen n herd the music and the costumes and the dancing. Love that .... very spiritual for me. Also been down the SW LA - Lafayette.... and Breaux Bridge et all, down in the swamps, dancing and digging the local music... Keith Frank one of my favorites for Zydeco...

In the spring time at the State Capital at lunch time the politicians come outside and play Cajun music for the the state employees while they are on lunch break. Many of the elected politicians are elected based on their musical talents. Very old school... the way it should be. At least they have some talent in something that's actually entertaining.... then head down to the swamp for some Zydeco.

Rado - Congrats on your haul there on the ACE mix.. not too shabby. Like that freshie buzz.. save some for a cure... it should get even better, no?

 

[bobrown14]

Nice on the new COBs there RAD! Can I ask what COB chips you are running??

It's my experience that running them close to MAX current is the most efficient... going from the spec sheets on the VERO's I run. I think it's the same for the CREE chips as well.

I run mine in a line array - 3 or 4 chips in a line and mounted to ceiling 4 line arrays in a row .... that way I can adjust each array height wise and/or spread wise in case I have a plant that gets bigger or taller or uneven canopy etc....

Many folks mount them in a square or rectangle frame but with that set up FOR ME its not as flexible as I like. I'd rather move lights around than have to mess with moving/training plants.... but that's just me!

Also another benefit to a line array .... they can be moved to another location.. say you wanna get some COB light in the VEG tent, then move those VEG plants to the flower room. Can move the light along with and just turn up the intensity (if you have a potentiometer and dimmable PSU). I've been having excellent result doing that. Same with running a round of AUTOs on a different light schedule or in the VEG room...... point = more options.

Rad you're going to like the COBs... they are not as intense as a 1000w Gavita... not yet, but they are getting closer. They are more efficient tho, more light output with less heat .... but not the same output as a 1K HID. I don't need sunglasses ... with HID they are VERY bright.

 

[Tead]

Right on Brother Tead.... I like to listen to the music not so much the in-fighting among the different clans. Been to NOLA several times, seen n herd the music and the costumes and the dancing. Love that .... very spiritual for me. Also been down the SW LA - Lafayette.... and Breaux Bridge et all, down in the swamps, dancing and digging the local music... Keith Frank one of my favorites for Zydeco...

In the spring time at the State Capital at lunch time the politicians come outside and play Cajun music for the the state employees while they are on lunch break. Many of the elected politicians are elected based on their musical talents. Very old school... the way it should be. At least they have some talent in something that's actually entertaining.... then head down to the swamp for some Zydeco.

Breaux Bridge is the closest place I can pick up Posce... at a gas station of course... down here much good food can be found in such establishments.
Check out Eunice and the Cajun Grand Ole Opry a the movie house in the middle of this one-blinking-stop-sign town. Every weekend. Huge. Done mostly in french cajun. Everyone dances. Such a cool scene that few tourists ever find.
Tourists rarely have transportation to get out to the coolness and wouldn't know about it if they did. I always take the back roads when I head down Lafayette way and take every opportunity to poke around on my way.

Keith Frank ehhhhh? Dunno him.... will tho. Check out Rosie Ledet... straight up squeeze box sexiness.

 

[Radogast]

In the spring time at the State Capital at lunch time the politicians come outside and play Cajun music for the the state employees while they are on lunch break. Many of the elected politicians are elected based on their musical talents. Very old school... the way it should be. At least they have some talent in something that's actually entertaining.... then head down to the swamp for some Zydeco.

Interesting bit of political storytelling. I'm going to chat up my selectman, see if he can get this idea to take off locally Blues not Zydeco

Rado - Congrats on your haul there on the ACE mix.. not too shabby. Like that freshie buzz.. save some for a cure... it should get even better, no?

Not my department. I'm in production. The wife handles storage and consumption!

 

[Tead]

Interesting bit of political storytelling. I'm going to chat up my selectman, see if he can get this idea to take off locally Blues not Zydeco

All da locals got da music in dem baby. You can't throw a rock without hitting one. 3 of my neighbors are musicians... and those are just the ones I know of. So very nice.

 

[Radogast]

Nice on the new COBs there RAD! Can I ask what COB chips you are running??

It's my experience that running them close to MAX current is the most efficient... going from the spec sheets on the VERO's I run. I think it's the same for the CREE chips as well.

I run mine in a line array - 3 or 4 chips in a line and mounted to ceiling 4 line arrays in a row .... that way I can adjust each array height wise and/or spread wise in case I have a plant that gets bigger or taller or uneven canopy etc....

Many folks mount them in a square or rectangle frame but with that set up FOR ME its not as flexible as I like. I'd rather move lights around than have to mess with moving/training plants.... but that's just me!

Also another benefit to a line array .... they can be moved to another location.. say you wanna get some COB light in the VEG tent, then move those VEG plants to the flower room. Can move the light along with and just turn up the intensity (if you have a potentiometer and dimmable PSU). I've been having excellent result doing that. Same with running a round of AUTOs on a different light schedule or in the VEG room...... point = more options.

Rad you're going to like the COBs... they are not as intense as a 1000w Gavita... not yet, but they are getting closer. They are more efficient tho, more light output with less heat .... but not the same output as a 1K HID. I don't need sunglasses ... with HID they are VERY bright.

I had heard the Cree COB are most efficient at 60-70% - don't really know much about them. I was starting to study up when these lights fell in my lap.

I considered hanging each one individually, but knowing me I'd be getting my hair caught in the cooling fans/fins and flailing around. I might still hang them one by one to start, but I'm not keen on drilling holes in my basement ceiling/living room floor underlayment.

I get your point about flexibility but I'm in not planning to be flexible with them. These will be used in half of a small flowering area that is currently a bit overlit. I plan to hang them side by side with a 600W HPS and wait for magic to happen. I like the simplicity of raising and lowering the lights as a unit.

- - - -

I was considering moving girls from the HPS to the COBs for the final weeks of flowering as space is available. It might be a better plan to start out flowering a pair of girls start to finiah. What do you think?

 

[Radogast]

All da locals got da music in dem baby. You can't throw a rock without hitting one. 3 of my neighbors are musicians... and those are just the ones I know of. So very nice.

Yesterday, we had a teenager playing guitar in our living room, while the girl was drawing and the wife and I were playing solitaire and puzzles games. When the house was built, it was a drawing room and the room would have been used this way.


My selectman also plays guitar - but I've only heard him play social protest songs - I don't know his range. Heck, if I had a better memory, I would have been a professional musician.

 

[ShiggityFlip]

Riveting will be the most secure corner fastening system. It makes my 42 x 42" frame rock solid.

To truly see the magic of high efficiency white light I would flower some girls start to finish under the cobs.

 

[MrGreene]

Nice on the new COBs there RAD! Can I ask what COB chips you are running??

They are the cheap square cobs from ebay/china. They are all 3000k although he has a couple 6000k just in case he wants to change the spectrum. 6 of them are 50 watt cobs and 2 are 100 watt cobs. They are all being driven at about 30 watts each.

 

[Radogast]

They are the cheap square cobs from ebay/china. They are all 3000k although he has a couple 6000k just in case he wants to change the spectrum. 6 of them are 50 watt cobs and 2 are 100 watt cobs. They are all being driven at about 30 watts each.

Thabjs I was hoping you'd chime in

 

[Radogast]

Garden Update


Carnival clone is ready to transplant, but I won't have soil for her until July 13

In the meantime, Carnival is getting lots of pot immersion soaks.

Bubba's Gift reveg is finally showing new leaves

Delicatessen Lilly, 18" high with a 21x16" canopy, graduated into the flower room today.

AK47 XTRM, flip +55 days, 30" tall, will be harvested tomorrow.

Borderliner, flip +42 days, 30" tall - I think these are my best tichomes this year.

I couple of weeks ago, decided to try the bud backbuilding technique on two of the taller tops, there is an obvious difference.

Unmodified buds:

Backbuilt buds - they look like I snipped off a large tip - It wasn't much, but it was too much this time.

You can see the two snipped buds in this left of this photo.

Carnival, flip +49 days, grew from 18 to 44" tall, she looks more than 2 weeks from harvest

She has long pistils

This Carnival has 3 main colas (top buds)

A final look at Carnival

CBD Critical Cure, flip +25, 100 days total, She has gone from 20" to 48" and is still growing

Her buds are just setting. She had her first cat drench yesterday.

CBD Critical Cure has nice, fat indica leaves, a rarity in my garden this year.

Thanks for watching. I hope you enjoyed today's show.

If not, ask for a refund as you exit the building

 

[MrGreene]

The garden is looking great Rad. How much is just right and how much is too much for the back building?

 

[Blazinjones]

The garden is looking great Rad. How much is just right and how much is too much for the back building?

From when i did back building a couple times i noticed it worked best wen u take the top few hairs off like literally only a quarter inch or so i only snipped the top three hairs that have alil tip like point and snip off it went lol hope that helps alil im not a professional by any means but just my in put from what ive experienced