Ok, old schooler here

…been quite some time since I had my"sea of green" days and apparently, technology has bypassed me at a rapid pace. Autoflowering plants? Feminized seeds?

I mean, there was no Internet back when I was active. At best, back then we waited until the store was empty, snagged the newest copy of High Times for reference material, a pack of 1.5s, and got the hell out of there. I thought I was on the cutting edge when I was sexing my plants, and rolling cuttings in Rootone to start up clones.

Haven’t been a smoker for ages due to random hair tests, but am getting older/closer to retirement age, so it’s time to ease back into things.

Ok, back when I was growing, MH and HPS lights were THE way to go provided you could deal with the heat from the ballast. My workaround was using an industrial multitap 400w HPS for a small closet garden, but I would change out the capacitor to allow for the ballast to be separated a longer distance from the lamp. This minimized heat inside the closet.

A little fabrication, some thin guage sheet metal, and some pop rivets made a great reflector. A timer for the lamp, a rogue bottle of CO2 if available, a solenoid and valve, another timer, and it was on. LOL, y’all wouldn’t want me to describe my potting system, or creative use of dental floss to support the buds!

Fast forward several decades and it’s LED lights, red spectrum vs blue spectrum. …diode quality…drivers? I am sooo f-in lost!!!

Is there a primer for old farts on the newer technology? I still have my old 400w HPS setup, but if LEDs can give me the color and lumens I need with lower current draw/heat, I think I need to start doing my research.

Sorry for the long post, but figured it would be quickest to throw my cards on the table so y’all know my background?

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Again, sorry for the long post and thanks for helping out an old man!

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Hey old timer, welcome to the community. Leds are the way forward here. Loads of info to be had as well :nerd_face:. HLG get great reviews as well. Horticultural lighting group, get on the Google and check them out. Look for “top bin diodes” when making your lighting choice, they’re the go to spec for diodes and before you push the button give the team here a shout and they will guide you through whatever you decide to go for :heart_eyes:

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LOve it. LOts of older farts around here. i speak very highly of retirement. Never grew back then but certainly smoked more than my share. I am having a blast growing now. What size space and how much do you want to spend will zero in the many options. Big spaces - strip lights might be the way to go. More compact areas probably lean toward quantum boards. You sound like you can strip wire and handle a screw driver so maybe a DIY would suit you.
Some common brands thought highly of around hear includes Chilled Tech Growcraft are an example of strip form lights. The most common quantum board is HLG (Horticultural Lighting Group). DIY is endless but I did build a small fixture with the help of @dbrn32, the resident light expert. It was a strip light using Photo Boost strips from Pacific Light Concepts.
There have been a lot of tech advances since I started a mere two years ago. Welcome. Fill is some blanks and there are a lot of members willing to help

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Thanks for the information; much appreciated!!! My grow area would be a small rectangular closet, approximately 3’x5’. I just need enough to keep me content…and make the occasional edible(brownies) for my wife.

Again thanks for the knowledge!!

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Welcome @DeadW8life :wave:
Diggin the name.

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Welcome @DeadW8life lots if us old school people here!! :blush::blush:

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Welcome from one old fart to another. You’ll be surprised at how much the old ways translate to today. No more seeds to deal with. Everything is sensimilla. :exploding_head:

We still battle heat, humidity, pests, and on and on. We have better fertilizer now, fabric pots, grow tents, etc.

1.5(s) are still a thing but not Top or Club anymore. It’s Raw and others. Zig Zag is still around. …but dab rigs and vapes are the thing.

PPFD, PAR, and DLI are the way light is measured now.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing you around. We need some more old farts.

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Welcome to the community. Lot of great folks on here ready to help you out. Been retired for 12 years and enjoy growing for me and my wife.

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I am almost done building a 32"x72" closet. I am a little on the overkill side but I am putting three HLG 260 v2 rspec kits in it.
We can link items found on amazon. It offers some HLG lamps. To get you started here is one to look at.
https://www.amazon.com/Horticulture-Lighting-Group-Quantum-Certified/dp/B08KYNTRWN?th=1

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Hiya welcome to the forum :wave: I learned to grow from the latest edition of high times as well :+1: Still have em :grin: good luck

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Wow, things have gotten very specific!! Appreciate the data, it will definitely help!

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Someone should tell my wife. It is still the paper she prefers which is good because my arthritic hands can’t roll that thin paper. I even bought her a nice Utillian vaporizer. She prefers her smoke rolled

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Welcome to the community. Few old hands Round here.

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Welcome from another old fart that cannot indulge due to work testing, but I can supply my wife and give gifts!!! I started my 1st grow outdoors in 1975, I’m 62 now. Download the ILGM manuals and read them, that helped me get up to speed. I also purchased The Cannabis Grow Bible by Greg Green at Barnes and Noble - this got into info over my head but I read and researched a lot. I got a 4x4x6.5 tent in July and loved it! Now I have a second tent - 4x8x6.5 and am working on setting it up. This forum has been a wealth of info from every aspect, I read at least an hour every day it seems! Grow and enjoy!

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I’ll Smoke a joint just for you right now. Must be difficult not to partake, when your growing your own anyways.

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Welcome! LED is the way to go, hlg, chillLED, and a few others are solid lighting choices.

This is where it starts, but most people expand after awhile. Lol.

Jacks 3-2-1 nutrient line up is the easiest you’ll ever use, and a lot of members are using it. Weigh it out and mix it, and it’s affordable. Same recipe from seed to harvest.
Happy growing!

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Hello and welcome to the forum!

Hid still grows pretty good weed, but if you’re accustomed to performance of a 400 you will probably love what the higher end leds are doing. Chilled tech has x3 330 and hlg has hlg-350r that are both capable of flowering a 3x5 space. You would probably have to go with two fixtures or some other custom arrangement outstanding of those.

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Just wanted to thank everyone for all of the input and responses. I think there’s a limit to the number of posts I could make my first day, so I didn’t get a chance to post up and give everyone a shout.

I see growers are leaning more towards larger plants now? It used to be many small containers and smaller plants. Generally a main stem and induce flowering to have many small containers of big main colas (sea of green method).

Has genetics and autoflowering of the newer strains pushed things back the other way now? Is this method giving more bud per sq. ft?

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six plants (clones) , 1-gallon pots, 2x2 scrog frame


This style in this set up is a blast. Each plant has 3 or 4 colas
I usually grow 4 photos in my 3x3. However, this time I am only doing two - bigger is better???

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