@OldSkunk Thanks for the reply! That setup doesn’t look too bad in my opinion. I saw those 85 watt studio bulbs and wondered how they worked. I was skeptical by how cheap they were and wonder if they have the light output they claim.
@dbrn32 no apologies needed! You’ve been a great help! I too have read some Negative things about the t8s. Mainly that they lose about 10% of there initial lumens after a period of time. Oh well. I’ll give them a run and see what we get from them. Again, I’m not overly concerned about the outcome as long as I can get an ounce or 2. It will be educationallowed for all of us haha.
@zachwils95
I also will welcome you to the friendliest forum
I just harvested a WWA a few day ago I used ffof
As well I would just ph water your plant with thatvauti you may not need to feed at all using ffof I would just watch plant and only feed if she shows signs of needing a meal
Ph 6.5-6.6 I found works best with the ffof as well
My wwa actually didn’t like being started in it and I’ll suggest you use a starter soil and transfer about 1-2 weeks in to a 3 gallon soft pot
I found a five gallon was a waste of soil and the ffof isn’t the cheapest so
All I did was feed some bloom booster once she started to flower
I keep the line of ff nutrients wet and dry trio
Your in good hands with the boys and girl here brother all helpful
You’re going to see drop off in performance no matter what you use. Most hid growers will change their hps bulbs on some sort frequency, usually within a couple of grow cycles. Led will usually show about 20% drop in performance over its life if cooled properly. As far as fluorescent goes, I’m not really sure of the numbers. Especially any difference from t5 to t8, but safe to say you would want to plan for bulb changes.
The 85watt CFLs are used a lot in hotels and places where they don’t want the corridors lit brightly with t8s everywhere. That’s why they’re not so expensive. If you’re interested in making your own fixture, you might consider the 125watt CFL. I got mine for $20 but even at $30 bucks they would be reasonable to get 400 true watts out of if you use 4 which would work for 4x2. You might find a cheap reflector to put them in, but they need to be horizontal to be really effective.
A friend of mine has this led that I can get for about $20. Would this be any better than the florescence? I’ve heard many bad things about cheaper LED’s. maybe run the LED and 4 of the florescence? i think i could make it fit.
i just found a review for this light. compared to the mars 300. apparently this unit puts out 800 par at 24" vs 400 at 24" from the mars. i might give it a shot. and add some 2700k florescence to supplement for the missing spectrum in blooming.
Hmm, not sure about those numbers. The manufacturer posts 790ish ųmol at 18".
If that is accurate, it will be way higher than you’ll get with t8’s. How it stacks up against the Mars or any other of the similar lights, I wouldn’t be certain. But for $20, it looks like a deal provided is in good working order.
Seeds were waiting for me when i got home from work today. Got 3 in water now. will have them in peat pods in a day or two. going to buy that LED friday. still gotta get my ffof and some pots. Will the fabric pots really make a big difference? if not, in just gonna go with plastic.
I was going to go with plastic pots on my first grow also but on the recommendations of some experienced growers, I went with 5gl fabrics. They let more air in and help prevent overwatering. I can also feel the bottom of the pot and tell if the soil is still moist at the bottom. They’re not too pricey and I think it was a wise investment for my grow. Just my 2 cents.
@zachwils95
I’m using ffof also and when I transplanted into the 5 gl pots, I mixed in an 8 qt bag of perlite per bag of soil to further aid in drainage. I also added dolomite lime to help balance the ph. That said, this is my first grow also and everything I’ve done had been on recommendations from the fine folks here. If you’re interested, you can check out my journal. It’s a little wordy but I try to be as detailed as possible.
I definitely will! And im having a having a hard time finding dolomite lime locally. Maybe the gardnening center i found the ffof at will have it. The only thing ive seen is just called gardening lime. Maybe its the same thing?
So i ran by these at Walmart in the clearance section for $5, figured it wouldn’t hurt to pick them up. Would these be of any use for veg and flowering? They also had a start one, but i assumed since i will be transplanting them to ffof, they would not need the start mix.
