This method can be used on anything from cannabis, to tomatoes; and everything in between.
1) Keep a small 4" pot with soil for each cutting within reach
2) small dish with rooting "powder, gel, water" on hand within reach
3) Small bowl with water "suitable enough to water plants with" within reach, and deep enough plants wont touch bottom if dipped.
Dont worry about air bubbles if cut properly, Ive NEVER had this issue so long as its treated and planted within about 30 seconds to 45 seconds.
Cut your cutting on a 30 - 45 degree angle off its host mother "or father if your in to that sort of thing lol"
make sure your cutting has at least 2 leaves "1 set" and a stem at least 1.5" long for best results, however technically 1 leaf and .25" stem is enough, its not recommended.
take the cutting and put it into the plain water, count to 5, place directly from water to rooting material.
Now plant into soil
To prevent soil from drying out the pots can be placed into bowls of water that have the water come 1/4 of the way.
the pots will continually wick the water and stay wet
- method 2 -
Place a pop bottle bottom "cut off the top" over the entire plant pot so the bottle comes over the table. another good reason to keep the planters small 4" types or Styrofoam cups etc.
Ive done both methods to keep dirt wet, both work.
Keep very light air flow to prevent mold.
What to expect:
Wilting, bad wilting. will start anywhere from 5 to 60 mins after the cut occurred.
then if your cutting took, and it should have. within 3 to 24 hours under light it will look healthy again.
Monday 28 February 2011
Saturday 26 February 2011
Perfect guide to finding your CFM Requirement.
This is a formula with 4 variables; A, B, C, and D.
Assign each variable the value based on this guide, then put those numbers into the formula down
at the bottom.
-== A ==-
A is equal to your total Cubic Feet WxDxH for this example we are going to punch in 4x4x6.5
A common dimention to the growing popular grow mylar tents.
4x4x6.5 = 104 Cubic feet Divided by 3
A=104 / "rounded to 35"
If your grow is a TENT, divide A by 3
If your grow is a "Closet or ROOM" divide A by 2
If your grow is a larger then a small bedroom or walk in closet, do not divide A
A = (104 / 3 )
A = 35
With active intake you can move up that formula one step. 2 becomes 3, etc.
Although I would use active intake and not move up a step, its always good to have a bit more.
-== B ==-
For each non-tube/air cooled HID light add 1.10 to 1.15 (250 watt - 1000 watt respectfully)
(Tube cooled lights do NOT heat the room as much so)
For each air cooled/tubed HID add 1.05
for this example we will say a 600 watter, not tubed. going to go the high end of 1.15
for 100-250 i would use 1.10 for 400 up i would just use 1.15, for 1000 you could do 1.17
Add each one up together for your grow room.
We have just the one 600 watter so
B = 1.15
-== C ==-
The value of C starts at C = 1.00
If your using CO2 add .05
If your using a Carbon scrubber add .20
For our example, No CO2 and a carbon scrubber is used, so 1.00+.20
C = C + CO2 + Carbon; "Sorry for the C++ syntax"
C = 1.20
-== D ==-
The value of D is either one of these 3
If your outside temps and humidity is normal for your "plant" then the value is excluded from the formula or use 0
If your temp is higher like California, as example, its value is 1.20
If your temp is high, while being humid. the value is 1.40
This example is normal
D=0
A + (A x B) + (A x C) + (A x D) = Minimum CFM for your room
35 + (35 x 1.15) + (35 x 1.20) + (35 x 0) <--- Yes, 35 x 0 = 0, thats right!
35 + 40.25 + 42 + 0
= 117.25 CFM required for this room "Bare minimum"
In a hot climate with humidity that would be
35 + 40.25 +42 + 49
=166.25 CFM
Remember this is the bare minimum and i suggest you follow this precisely then add 20%
Adding active intake will also boost CFM on the exhaust fan.
Active intake should be directly across on an angle from the exhaust
Exhaust should always be at the top where air in hottest.
This will pull intake up and across your space, through all your plants before being exited again.
Use screens on the rooms venting to prevent bugs.
Post below for comments or suggestions.
Assign each variable the value based on this guide, then put those numbers into the formula down
at the bottom.
-== A ==-
A is equal to your total Cubic Feet WxDxH for this example we are going to punch in 4x4x6.5
A common dimention to the growing popular grow mylar tents.
4x4x6.5 = 104 Cubic feet Divided by 3
A=104 / "rounded to 35"
If your grow is a TENT, divide A by 3
If your grow is a "Closet or ROOM" divide A by 2
If your grow is a larger then a small bedroom or walk in closet, do not divide A
A = (104 / 3 )
A = 35
With active intake you can move up that formula one step. 2 becomes 3, etc.
Although I would use active intake and not move up a step, its always good to have a bit more.
-== B ==-
For each non-tube/air cooled HID light add 1.10 to 1.15 (250 watt - 1000 watt respectfully)
(Tube cooled lights do NOT heat the room as much so)
For each air cooled/tubed HID add 1.05
for this example we will say a 600 watter, not tubed. going to go the high end of 1.15
for 100-250 i would use 1.10 for 400 up i would just use 1.15, for 1000 you could do 1.17
Add each one up together for your grow room.
We have just the one 600 watter so
B = 1.15
-== C ==-
The value of C starts at C = 1.00
If your using CO2 add .05
If your using a Carbon scrubber add .20
For our example, No CO2 and a carbon scrubber is used, so 1.00+.20
C = C + CO2 + Carbon; "Sorry for the C++ syntax"
C = 1.20
-== D ==-
The value of D is either one of these 3
If your outside temps and humidity is normal for your "plant" then the value is excluded from the formula or use 0
If your temp is higher like California, as example, its value is 1.20
If your temp is high, while being humid. the value is 1.40
This example is normal
D=0
A + (A x B) + (A x C) + (A x D) = Minimum CFM for your room
35 + (35 x 1.15) + (35 x 1.20) + (35 x 0) <--- Yes, 35 x 0 = 0, thats right!
35 + 40.25 + 42 + 0
= 117.25 CFM required for this room "Bare minimum"
In a hot climate with humidity that would be
35 + 40.25 +42 + 49
=166.25 CFM
Remember this is the bare minimum and i suggest you follow this precisely then add 20%
Adding active intake will also boost CFM on the exhaust fan.
Active intake should be directly across on an angle from the exhaust
Exhaust should always be at the top where air in hottest.
This will pull intake up and across your space, through all your plants before being exited again.
Use screens on the rooms venting to prevent bugs.
Post below for comments or suggestions.
Friday 25 February 2011
Growing outdoors?
I was emailed this question a few weeks back and thought now is a good a time as any to put it in.
Considering the nature of the topic ive decided it best kept in a point format and questions/suggestions can be
made below, here goes:
1) Dont grow on your own property if not legal to do so.
2) Dont tell anyone your growing at all, let alone where.
3) Dont visit often, keep the path as nature would have it.
4) Avoid patterns of any kind, spread it out.
5) Dont trek around carrying seeds, buds, harvest. its foolish; do it under cover of dark, dont leave the car around.
6) Planting near a water source is better then having to visit in a drought with 20L of water in bottles.
7) The "plants" outdoors dont need constant light directly like indoors, so using tree canopies is a good idea.
8) Refering to point 7, make sure at least 3 hours of direct light, regardless of angle.
9) Dont grow strains outdoors that will reach 3 meters in height, no matter how tempting lulwut ;D
10) Treat the soil as you would indoors, use ferts, manure "not yours...", compost etc BEFORE planting in a way you wont have to feed it at all again.
11) Caught at the site? you stumbled upon someone elses grow. deny everything.
12) Dont go crazy, you gotta take home your harvest. make it small enough to do in ONE trip!
13) If you want to cull males, time your visit so you need to go once, and bury them on site 2 feet or deeper.
Im probably missing a few tips! add them below, the good stuff will get added with credit. Peace+Love
Considering the nature of the topic ive decided it best kept in a point format and questions/suggestions can be
made below, here goes:
1) Dont grow on your own property if not legal to do so.
2) Dont tell anyone your growing at all, let alone where.
3) Dont visit often, keep the path as nature would have it.
4) Avoid patterns of any kind, spread it out.
5) Dont trek around carrying seeds, buds, harvest. its foolish; do it under cover of dark, dont leave the car around.
6) Planting near a water source is better then having to visit in a drought with 20L of water in bottles.
7) The "plants" outdoors dont need constant light directly like indoors, so using tree canopies is a good idea.
8) Refering to point 7, make sure at least 3 hours of direct light, regardless of angle.
9) Dont grow strains outdoors that will reach 3 meters in height, no matter how tempting lulwut ;D
10) Treat the soil as you would indoors, use ferts, manure "not yours...", compost etc BEFORE planting in a way you wont have to feed it at all again.
11) Caught at the site? you stumbled upon someone elses grow. deny everything.
12) Dont go crazy, you gotta take home your harvest. make it small enough to do in ONE trip!
13) If you want to cull males, time your visit so you need to go once, and bury them on site 2 feet or deeper.
Im probably missing a few tips! add them below, the good stuff will get added with credit. Peace+Love
Thursday 24 February 2011
The internals of HID
Sodium Lights
Sodium lights function in a very similar method to fluorescent, mercury vapor, and metal halide lights. The primary difference between sodium lights and fluorescent lights is the absence of coatings in sodium lights. Fluorescent lights produce light by energizing an inner coating on the bulb through the gas, while sodium lights actually energize the sodium gas trapped inside the bulb to produce the light.
Lighting Process
Sodium lights have an element inside the bulb that allows an electrical current to circulate through the light system. This current is carefully controlled by a ballast that reduces the voltages and current cycles to the proper levels. As this electricity passes through the gas, it gives some of its energy to the sodium atoms. The electrons of the atoms rise in energy levels, and as the current cycle passes they drop back again, releasing their excess energy in the form of light photons.
High Pressure and Low Pressure
The primary physical different between high pressure and low pressure sodium lights is the amount of gas used. Since high pressure gas lights contain more sodium gas, they tend to be brighter and produce a brighter, more golden glow. Low pressure lights take longer to start because they have fewer atoms to react to the electrical current, which in turn needs to build for a longer period before being channeled through the bulb.
Advantages
High pressure sodium lights are very energy efficient, especially compared other high intensity discharge lighting options. This allows users to save money if they plan on having the lights on for long periods of time. High pressure sodium lights have low color rendition index, which limits their application to areas where color in lighting is not important.
MH
No High Intensity Discharge Light has a filament. Instead light is created from an electrical discharge between two electrodes in a micro-environment of xenon gas and metal halide salts. The light is emitted by an electrically energized gas -- a plasma discharge-- formed and sustained between the two electrodes. The distinctive blue-white light of MH lamps is great for vegitative growth, and reflects better then HPS. Additionally, the increased light output is designed to illuminate a wider area then non-hid. HID lamps have over three times the lumens per watt of traditional halogen light sources and are more efficient at converting electrical energy into light. They produce at least 70% more light than traditional lamps, and use less power while producing less heat. This gives designers new freedom to explore the frontiers of front end design. By creating more compact headlights to fit smaller spaces, better aerodynamics are possible.
Better on the eyes too!
- This document is not written by me, if its your document please contact me for credit as I cannot find
the original author.
Sodium lights function in a very similar method to fluorescent, mercury vapor, and metal halide lights. The primary difference between sodium lights and fluorescent lights is the absence of coatings in sodium lights. Fluorescent lights produce light by energizing an inner coating on the bulb through the gas, while sodium lights actually energize the sodium gas trapped inside the bulb to produce the light.
Lighting Process
Sodium lights have an element inside the bulb that allows an electrical current to circulate through the light system. This current is carefully controlled by a ballast that reduces the voltages and current cycles to the proper levels. As this electricity passes through the gas, it gives some of its energy to the sodium atoms. The electrons of the atoms rise in energy levels, and as the current cycle passes they drop back again, releasing their excess energy in the form of light photons.
High Pressure and Low Pressure
The primary physical different between high pressure and low pressure sodium lights is the amount of gas used. Since high pressure gas lights contain more sodium gas, they tend to be brighter and produce a brighter, more golden glow. Low pressure lights take longer to start because they have fewer atoms to react to the electrical current, which in turn needs to build for a longer period before being channeled through the bulb.
Advantages
High pressure sodium lights are very energy efficient, especially compared other high intensity discharge lighting options. This allows users to save money if they plan on having the lights on for long periods of time. High pressure sodium lights have low color rendition index, which limits their application to areas where color in lighting is not important.
MH
No High Intensity Discharge Light has a filament. Instead light is created from an electrical discharge between two electrodes in a micro-environment of xenon gas and metal halide salts. The light is emitted by an electrically energized gas -- a plasma discharge-- formed and sustained between the two electrodes. The distinctive blue-white light of MH lamps is great for vegitative growth, and reflects better then HPS. Additionally, the increased light output is designed to illuminate a wider area then non-hid. HID lamps have over three times the lumens per watt of traditional halogen light sources and are more efficient at converting electrical energy into light. They produce at least 70% more light than traditional lamps, and use less power while producing less heat. This gives designers new freedom to explore the frontiers of front end design. By creating more compact headlights to fit smaller spaces, better aerodynamics are possible.
Better on the eyes too!
- This document is not written by me, if its your document please contact me for credit as I cannot find
the original author.
Human urine for fertilizer is top notch!
Its no secret that urine contains everything plants need, its been that way in nature since animals first started
to piss; that being said theres rules to follow.
::: HOW TO USE IT:::
1) The smell of urine is actually ammonia, urine; in a healthy person; is absolutely sterile and clean.
2) The stronger that ammonia smell, the less nutrients are available to plants, and less nitrogen.
- Nitrogen actually binds as it sits with other chemicals to create ammonia -
- After 24 hours, your going to need new urine -
3) Never pee directly on any plant, mix in a solution of water at a ratio of 10:1 or 15:1 water:urine.
4) Do NOT mix with any other bodily fluids, and do not use any other bodily fluids, including stool.
- The reason for this is the human diet -
5) Urine needs to be fresh, re-read post 2.
6) Urine should be applied to the soil, consider it an untreated fertilizer; do NOT foliage feed with it.
7) The nitrogen content is really high, keep that in mind as nitrogen can inhibit flowering of "SOME" types of plants, with that being said; vegetative stages will benefit tremendously from nitrogen.
8) Direct urine can burn and kill plants undiluted; if weeds are a problem, apply undiluted directly to kill weeds, oddly will turn grass yellow, which will recover and turn greener then it was before; weeds don't recover.
9) Urine is the best composting activator you will ever find, anywhere. It will also increase the micro nutrient value of your final compost by 50-100%.
10) Collect directly into the bottle, then mix with water, not the toilet. use as you would any fertilizer and don't overdo it, you can over fertilize plants.
11) For hydroponics about 250ml for 3.5 galons will do it.
:::WARNINGS:::
1) If your sick, have infections "urinary, bladder etc" do not use your urine. Urine is sterile in the bladder all the way to the exit so long as its not introduced through infections.
2) Most drugs/medications wind up in urine, if your on prescription drugs, your urine is probably off limits. The exception to this is birth control, marijuana, 90% pain killers. A study actually suggests that estrogen helps a lot of different flowering plants, Google is your friend here.
3) Do not use the urine of someone else for the first 2 reasons. You just don't know.
4) Don't use pet urine, its probably safe but there could be, and may be things in pet food your unaware of, could be unseen infections, since they cant tell you of discomfort. And some animal; such as cat; urine, is much stronger and could kill plants.
5) Lots of people feel theres a yuk factor involved, just don't tell people about your homemade super crops secret, even if it is safe.
This may vary slightly based on diet, contents based on every 2L of urine
"about your daily total"
Nutrient Levels
Alanine, total ..... 38 mg/day
Arginine, total ..... 32 mg/day
Ascorbic acid ..... 30 mg/day
Allantoin ..... 12 mg/day
Amino acids, total ..... 2.1 g/day
Bicarbonate ..... 140 mg/day
Biotin ..... 35 mg/day
Calcium ..... 23 mg/day
Creatinine ..... 1.4 mg/day
Cystine ..... 120 mg/day
Dopamine ..... 0.40 mg/day
Epinephrine ..... 0.01 mg/day
Folic acid ..... 4 mg/day
Glucose ..... 100 mg/day
Glutamic acid ..... 308 mg/day
Glycine ..... 455 mg/day
Inositol ..... 14 mg/day
Iodine ..... 0.25 mg/day
Iron ..... 0.5 mg/day
Lysine, total ..... 56 mg/day
Magnesium ..... 100 mg/day
Manganese ..... 0.5 mg/day
Methionine, total ..... 10 mg/day
Nitrogen, total ..... 15 g/day
Ornithine ..... 10 mg/day
Pantothenic acid ..... 3 mg/day
Phenylalanine ..... 21 mg/day
Phosphorus, organic ..... 9 mg/day
Potassium ..... 2.5 mg/day
Proteins, total ..... 5 mg/day
Riboflavin ..... 0.9 mg/day
Tryptophan, total ..... 28 mg/day
Tyrosine, total ..... 50 mg/day
Urea ..... 24.5 mg/day
Vitamin B6 ..... 100 mg/day
Vitamin B12 ..... 0.03 mg/day
Zinc ..... 1.4 mg/day
TIPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have gone though an entire grow using urine without any deficiencies, but many feel that during flowering your phosphorus levels are too low. If you desire, a bloom fertilizer may be used in tandem during the flowering phase.
A tea made with the Russian comphry plant (3.6-1-10.6) is an excellent organic bloom fertilizer for those of us who do not wish to use chemicals at any step. Also a tea of bone meal, or bone meal in your soil mix is probably the best way to add Phosphorus.
Your body can only absorb about 10-15% of a multivitamin/mineral pill the rest is flushed out with your urine. Taking a multivitamin/mineral about 3 hours before your urine collection can give you many vital micro nutrients.
PH
The PH value for human urine can range anywhere from 5 and 8.5 but most often is found between 5.5 and 7.5 in healthy individuals with a balanced diet. A value of 6 is average. High protein diets can lower PH (more acidic) and Vegetarian diets raise PH values (more alkaline). Urinary infection will increase PH value. Test your PH and lower it (coffee, lemon juice, or vinegar are great organic PH downs) if any higher that 6, especially if in a hydro system, or increase your protein consumption. If the soil you are using is fairly acidic, like peat moss you will want to make sure you are not dropping it too low with acidic urine; dolomite lime can help you buffer this up, or increase your vegetable intake and lower your protein.
Pro's
It Works
Tried and true. In my (and a few others) opinion it works as good as commercial fertilizers when used properly. A side by side clone to clone test has not yet been done (to my knowledge), but there is no question that urine produces healthy, frosty, dank nugs, as good as anything out there.
Cheap
You can't beat free can you? Not likely. Weather you are growing for pleasure or profit saving money is something that I think we all desire. If you have no problem with spending the money, then go right ahead. Call it ghetto if you want, I call it natures gift, and I intend to make the best of it.
Available
It’s like fertilizer on tap. No hasty visits to the hydro/garden shop. No “I’ll have to do without for a while”. It’s always there when you need it.
Environmentally friendly
Many of us would like to preserve the earth. Well organic fertilizers are the way to go if this is part of your ethos. Chemical fertilizers are produced from petroleum products, natural gas, and coal. Minerals are made more soluble with acids. After the compounds are used by the plant the contaminants left over in the soil can become poisonous and over time can leave the land depleted and ‘dead’. Using organic fertilizers closes a cycle of life that has existed for millennia. We feed the plants and they feed us, much like the oxygen and carbon dioxide cycle.
:::Con's:::
Salt content
Human urine will contain various salts. Depending on diet your urine can contain up a max of 2.2% salt, this is because the human kidney cannot concentrate salts to greater than 2.2%. On average salt content will be about 30g/L Total dissolved solids constitute about 5% of urine volume. As previously stated it will be to your benefit to allow some run off when watering and toss it, this will rid your soil of excess salts.
Imprecise
Urine fertilizing is not an exact science. Exact nutrient levels and concentrations cannot be accurately established without the proper equipment. Notwithstanding some trial and error is necessary in every fertilizer regiment. Certain strains can have differing tolerances, different growing conditions and methods vary in their ability to deliver nutrients reliably.
to piss; that being said theres rules to follow.
::: HOW TO USE IT:::
1) The smell of urine is actually ammonia, urine; in a healthy person; is absolutely sterile and clean.
2) The stronger that ammonia smell, the less nutrients are available to plants, and less nitrogen.
- Nitrogen actually binds as it sits with other chemicals to create ammonia -
- After 24 hours, your going to need new urine -
3) Never pee directly on any plant, mix in a solution of water at a ratio of 10:1 or 15:1 water:urine.
4) Do NOT mix with any other bodily fluids, and do not use any other bodily fluids, including stool.
- The reason for this is the human diet -
5) Urine needs to be fresh, re-read post 2.
6) Urine should be applied to the soil, consider it an untreated fertilizer; do NOT foliage feed with it.
7) The nitrogen content is really high, keep that in mind as nitrogen can inhibit flowering of "SOME" types of plants, with that being said; vegetative stages will benefit tremendously from nitrogen.
8) Direct urine can burn and kill plants undiluted; if weeds are a problem, apply undiluted directly to kill weeds, oddly will turn grass yellow, which will recover and turn greener then it was before; weeds don't recover.
9) Urine is the best composting activator you will ever find, anywhere. It will also increase the micro nutrient value of your final compost by 50-100%.
10) Collect directly into the bottle, then mix with water, not the toilet. use as you would any fertilizer and don't overdo it, you can over fertilize plants.
11) For hydroponics about 250ml for 3.5 galons will do it.
:::WARNINGS:::
1) If your sick, have infections "urinary, bladder etc" do not use your urine. Urine is sterile in the bladder all the way to the exit so long as its not introduced through infections.
2) Most drugs/medications wind up in urine, if your on prescription drugs, your urine is probably off limits. The exception to this is birth control, marijuana, 90% pain killers. A study actually suggests that estrogen helps a lot of different flowering plants, Google is your friend here.
3) Do not use the urine of someone else for the first 2 reasons. You just don't know.
4) Don't use pet urine, its probably safe but there could be, and may be things in pet food your unaware of, could be unseen infections, since they cant tell you of discomfort. And some animal; such as cat; urine, is much stronger and could kill plants.
5) Lots of people feel theres a yuk factor involved, just don't tell people about your homemade super crops secret, even if it is safe.
This may vary slightly based on diet, contents based on every 2L of urine
"about your daily total"
Nutrient Levels
Alanine, total ..... 38 mg/day
Arginine, total ..... 32 mg/day
Ascorbic acid ..... 30 mg/day
Allantoin ..... 12 mg/day
Amino acids, total ..... 2.1 g/day
Bicarbonate ..... 140 mg/day
Biotin ..... 35 mg/day
Calcium ..... 23 mg/day
Creatinine ..... 1.4 mg/day
Cystine ..... 120 mg/day
Dopamine ..... 0.40 mg/day
Epinephrine ..... 0.01 mg/day
Folic acid ..... 4 mg/day
Glucose ..... 100 mg/day
Glutamic acid ..... 308 mg/day
Glycine ..... 455 mg/day
Inositol ..... 14 mg/day
Iodine ..... 0.25 mg/day
Iron ..... 0.5 mg/day
Lysine, total ..... 56 mg/day
Magnesium ..... 100 mg/day
Manganese ..... 0.5 mg/day
Methionine, total ..... 10 mg/day
Nitrogen, total ..... 15 g/day
Ornithine ..... 10 mg/day
Pantothenic acid ..... 3 mg/day
Phenylalanine ..... 21 mg/day
Phosphorus, organic ..... 9 mg/day
Potassium ..... 2.5 mg/day
Proteins, total ..... 5 mg/day
Riboflavin ..... 0.9 mg/day
Tryptophan, total ..... 28 mg/day
Tyrosine, total ..... 50 mg/day
Urea ..... 24.5 mg/day
Vitamin B6 ..... 100 mg/day
Vitamin B12 ..... 0.03 mg/day
Zinc ..... 1.4 mg/day
TIPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have gone though an entire grow using urine without any deficiencies, but many feel that during flowering your phosphorus levels are too low. If you desire, a bloom fertilizer may be used in tandem during the flowering phase.
A tea made with the Russian comphry plant (3.6-1-10.6) is an excellent organic bloom fertilizer for those of us who do not wish to use chemicals at any step. Also a tea of bone meal, or bone meal in your soil mix is probably the best way to add Phosphorus.
Your body can only absorb about 10-15% of a multivitamin/mineral pill the rest is flushed out with your urine. Taking a multivitamin/mineral about 3 hours before your urine collection can give you many vital micro nutrients.
PH
The PH value for human urine can range anywhere from 5 and 8.5 but most often is found between 5.5 and 7.5 in healthy individuals with a balanced diet. A value of 6 is average. High protein diets can lower PH (more acidic) and Vegetarian diets raise PH values (more alkaline). Urinary infection will increase PH value. Test your PH and lower it (coffee, lemon juice, or vinegar are great organic PH downs) if any higher that 6, especially if in a hydro system, or increase your protein consumption. If the soil you are using is fairly acidic, like peat moss you will want to make sure you are not dropping it too low with acidic urine; dolomite lime can help you buffer this up, or increase your vegetable intake and lower your protein.
Pro's
It Works
Tried and true. In my (and a few others) opinion it works as good as commercial fertilizers when used properly. A side by side clone to clone test has not yet been done (to my knowledge), but there is no question that urine produces healthy, frosty, dank nugs, as good as anything out there.
Cheap
You can't beat free can you? Not likely. Weather you are growing for pleasure or profit saving money is something that I think we all desire. If you have no problem with spending the money, then go right ahead. Call it ghetto if you want, I call it natures gift, and I intend to make the best of it.
Available
It’s like fertilizer on tap. No hasty visits to the hydro/garden shop. No “I’ll have to do without for a while”. It’s always there when you need it.
Environmentally friendly
Many of us would like to preserve the earth. Well organic fertilizers are the way to go if this is part of your ethos. Chemical fertilizers are produced from petroleum products, natural gas, and coal. Minerals are made more soluble with acids. After the compounds are used by the plant the contaminants left over in the soil can become poisonous and over time can leave the land depleted and ‘dead’. Using organic fertilizers closes a cycle of life that has existed for millennia. We feed the plants and they feed us, much like the oxygen and carbon dioxide cycle.
:::Con's:::
Salt content
Human urine will contain various salts. Depending on diet your urine can contain up a max of 2.2% salt, this is because the human kidney cannot concentrate salts to greater than 2.2%. On average salt content will be about 30g/L Total dissolved solids constitute about 5% of urine volume. As previously stated it will be to your benefit to allow some run off when watering and toss it, this will rid your soil of excess salts.
Imprecise
Urine fertilizing is not an exact science. Exact nutrient levels and concentrations cannot be accurately established without the proper equipment. Notwithstanding some trial and error is necessary in every fertilizer regiment. Certain strains can have differing tolerances, different growing conditions and methods vary in their ability to deliver nutrients reliably.
Wednesday 23 February 2011
All these lights, whats the difference. Here it is!
There are many types of lights, and Ive used them all, even incandescent; heres the skinny.
Non-HID types:
Incandescent lights
Suitable spectrum and color for growing, however the power use and heat they produce is just
ridiculous. The lumen output is also retarded, but you could start a few seeds under one if you
don't have any florescent. Just don't keep them there too long, they start to stretch right around when
the second set of leads begins "Not counting seed leaf, cotyledons".
Light Emitting Diodes "L.E.D / LED "
Make no mistake, you can grow full plants under these regardless of what the HID die-hards will
let you believe, the problem is unscrupulous manufacturing practice has screwed many people over.
Simply put, you cant grow with just any LED. The most famous BAD panels where the "Gro 45"
they had 90 LEDs so I knew without even further inspection they were trash. 1 LED per watt or
better, simple as that. Beyond that when compared to HID as saying "90 watt is equivalent to 400 HPS"
they are right, but what they aren't telling you is the comparison is to area of coverage without
intensity loss, not growth of the plants. it would take 220watt LED of the right spectrum's to grow like
an HPS. So 4'x4' 90watt LED will cover the same area as a 400watt HPS, but youll see growth like
a 250 HPS. make sense? There will be more on LED later.
Fluorescent Lighting / Compact fluorescent Lighting "CFL / TFL"
Absolute best lighting when it comes to spectrum's, but second when it comes to growth over HID.
Im not including LED in that comparison because there is just too many variables.
These produce less heat, much less; require much less energy for a equal crops, and are lots cheaper.
A single light of 150watt equivalent "42 watt" can do 2 plants, if you do the math on that you are
covering 1/3 more area then HID, using 2/3 less energy, but will have 1/2 the yield. Well thats good and bad.
The good is for the energy your getting the crop size your paying for, alls fair in love and grow.
the BAD is youll need more plants, time or a second crop if you wanna keep up with HID.
Oh, and you can use these in the smallest areas and have great success, doing that with a HID will
burn your house down. Seriously, get some space from those HIDs and any surfaces.
Halogen Lights
Suitable spectrum for "vegetative growth", not much else, however the heat again, pretty intense.
Unless you want to be spending way too much on air conditioning, you better look the other way, and
since theres no spectrum in here for flowering, youll need a whole new light system for that.
Look away !!!
HID Types
Mercury Vapor "MV"
Also a great spectrum, most people aren't even aware the HPS/Pressured sodium systems are based
off the mercury vapor design. However they heat to light output is pretty bad, even though its useful light
you should go for Fluorescent before Vapor. heres the why.
175watt MV lights produce 8000 lumen, but generate heat like 300 watt incandescent.
compared to
150 watt HPS will put out about 15000 lumen, generating the same heat.
Moral of the story? Even though its suitable, id not use this even if given to me free!
High Pressure Sodium / Low Pressure Sodium
LPS is a good option but takes up huge amounts of space, produces the least lumen to watt then the other
HID types, and gets longer and longer the higher the wattage. BUT is closest to sunlight spectrum.
Produces little heat because of the coating of the indium tin oxide coating on the inner glass. Almost
no UV, also blocked my the tin oxide. Can you use it? yes, should you? hells no.
It would cost way too much to get equal results comparing LPS to HPS.
The LPS color is also a nice yellowing orange, like mid day sunlight.
High pressure sodium is the "current" best light if you have the space, and money to run it.
Its also the light you should get if you can only get ONE light, as it will do all phases of plant growth from
seed to harvest. If you will buy one of these absolutly get a DIGITAL ballast! they dont kill the bulbs
give a bit more lumen per watt, dont get hot, make less noise, and will run HALIDE!!! without a second
ballast. they are king "currently" of the indoor grow. "I give 5 more years and it will be LED, maybe less"
Metal Halide "MH"
This is the absoulute best light to have for vegitative growth, and most vegitables/herbs.
Lettuce, onion, chives, celery, all best to just use a MH light. they produce less lumen.
However this is a prime example of spectrum, as it will produce better then 3x t he lumen from a
high pressure sodium on plants not producing any type of flowering hormones.
Costs to run a system of any type can be found here, you just need to know the wattage
of that system, and it helps to know your KWH prices, but 10 is a good guess if you dont.
Go here for costs
Do to heat generated by lights, and the varied amounts of that heat its good to know what height
you should be above the plants, Small wattage systems like 100-250 should be about 2-3 feet
above the tops, 400-700 at about 4, and 1000 about 6.
For CFL/Tubes the height should be about 6-12 inches, use your hand as a guide, if its hot to your skin
move it up a bit, keep them close as you can.
Light duration for Indica should be about 16-24 hours a day, but i recomment never above 18.
For pure sativa, 13 hours a day, youll be shocked, try it.
For flowring Indica should be 12/12, for sativa 11/13 "11 on" to get best results, has never failed.
If your sativa just wont flower, give it another week "up to 4" then try 10/14.
Most hybrids will follow the 18/6 12/12 rule. }
lights the affect plant growth!!!
200-280nm UVC ultraviolet range which is extremely harmful to plants because it is highly toxic.
281-315nm Includes harmful UVB ultraviolet light which causes plants colors to fade.
316-380nm Range of UVA ultraviolet light which is neither harmful nor beneficial to plant growth.
381-400nm Start of visible light spectrum. Process of chlorophyll absorption begins. UV protected
plastics ideally block out any light below this range.
401-520nm This range includes violet, blue, and green bands. Peak absorption by chlorophyll
occurs, and a strong influence on photosynthesis. (promotes vegetative growth)
521-610nm This range includes the green, yellow, and orange bands and has less absorption
by pigments, but still useful as proven, but its still unknown why.
Which is why LEDs are starting to come with a bit of orange "This range".
611-720nm his is the red band. Large amount of absorption by chlorophyll occurs,
and most significant influence on photosynthesis. (promotes flowering and budding)
This range will give you the die hard nugs your looking for. especially around
630 and 660 ranges.
721-1000nm There is little absorption by chlorophyll here. Flowering and germination is influenced.
At the high end of the band is infrared, which is just heat.
Remember you can have lots of cannibinols without it being visible "LED has proven this"
The reason is the plant secrets it as crystals to protect itself against UV ranges and far-red
Then will produce MORE inside of itself again "Increasing potency without increasing yield by
using UV/REDS" Something LED hasnt caught onto yet, but you can get UV LEDs if you wanna make
it yourself.
Quick space coverage facts that I wouldnt bend too much
100 watt HID = 2'x2' area
250 watt HID = 3'x3' area
400 watt HID = 4'x4' area
600 watt HID = 6'x6' area
1000watt HID = 8'x8' area
Remember to VENT your area!
you can double these numbers by using moving / automated lighting.
Non-HID types:
Incandescent lights
Suitable spectrum and color for growing, however the power use and heat they produce is just
ridiculous. The lumen output is also retarded, but you could start a few seeds under one if you
don't have any florescent. Just don't keep them there too long, they start to stretch right around when
the second set of leads begins "Not counting seed leaf, cotyledons".
Light Emitting Diodes "L.E.D / LED "
Make no mistake, you can grow full plants under these regardless of what the HID die-hards will
let you believe, the problem is unscrupulous manufacturing practice has screwed many people over.
Simply put, you cant grow with just any LED. The most famous BAD panels where the "Gro 45"
they had 90 LEDs so I knew without even further inspection they were trash. 1 LED per watt or
better, simple as that. Beyond that when compared to HID as saying "90 watt is equivalent to 400 HPS"
they are right, but what they aren't telling you is the comparison is to area of coverage without
intensity loss, not growth of the plants. it would take 220watt LED of the right spectrum's to grow like
an HPS. So 4'x4' 90watt LED will cover the same area as a 400watt HPS, but youll see growth like
a 250 HPS. make sense? There will be more on LED later.
Fluorescent Lighting / Compact fluorescent Lighting "CFL / TFL"
Absolute best lighting when it comes to spectrum's, but second when it comes to growth over HID.
Im not including LED in that comparison because there is just too many variables.
These produce less heat, much less; require much less energy for a equal crops, and are lots cheaper.
A single light of 150watt equivalent "42 watt" can do 2 plants, if you do the math on that you are
covering 1/3 more area then HID, using 2/3 less energy, but will have 1/2 the yield. Well thats good and bad.
The good is for the energy your getting the crop size your paying for, alls fair in love and grow.
the BAD is youll need more plants, time or a second crop if you wanna keep up with HID.
Oh, and you can use these in the smallest areas and have great success, doing that with a HID will
burn your house down. Seriously, get some space from those HIDs and any surfaces.
Halogen Lights
Suitable spectrum for "vegetative growth", not much else, however the heat again, pretty intense.
Unless you want to be spending way too much on air conditioning, you better look the other way, and
since theres no spectrum in here for flowering, youll need a whole new light system for that.
Look away !!!
HID Types
Mercury Vapor "MV"
Also a great spectrum, most people aren't even aware the HPS/Pressured sodium systems are based
off the mercury vapor design. However they heat to light output is pretty bad, even though its useful light
you should go for Fluorescent before Vapor. heres the why.
175watt MV lights produce 8000 lumen, but generate heat like 300 watt incandescent.
compared to
150 watt HPS will put out about 15000 lumen, generating the same heat.
Moral of the story? Even though its suitable, id not use this even if given to me free!
High Pressure Sodium / Low Pressure Sodium
LPS is a good option but takes up huge amounts of space, produces the least lumen to watt then the other
HID types, and gets longer and longer the higher the wattage. BUT is closest to sunlight spectrum.
Produces little heat because of the coating of the indium tin oxide coating on the inner glass. Almost
no UV, also blocked my the tin oxide. Can you use it? yes, should you? hells no.
It would cost way too much to get equal results comparing LPS to HPS.
The LPS color is also a nice yellowing orange, like mid day sunlight.
High pressure sodium is the "current" best light if you have the space, and money to run it.
Its also the light you should get if you can only get ONE light, as it will do all phases of plant growth from
seed to harvest. If you will buy one of these absolutly get a DIGITAL ballast! they dont kill the bulbs
give a bit more lumen per watt, dont get hot, make less noise, and will run HALIDE!!! without a second
ballast. they are king "currently" of the indoor grow. "I give 5 more years and it will be LED, maybe less"
Metal Halide "MH"
This is the absoulute best light to have for vegitative growth, and most vegitables/herbs.
Lettuce, onion, chives, celery, all best to just use a MH light. they produce less lumen.
However this is a prime example of spectrum, as it will produce better then 3x t he lumen from a
high pressure sodium on plants not producing any type of flowering hormones.
Costs to run a system of any type can be found here, you just need to know the wattage
of that system, and it helps to know your KWH prices, but 10 is a good guess if you dont.
Go here for costs
Do to heat generated by lights, and the varied amounts of that heat its good to know what height
you should be above the plants, Small wattage systems like 100-250 should be about 2-3 feet
above the tops, 400-700 at about 4, and 1000 about 6.
For CFL/Tubes the height should be about 6-12 inches, use your hand as a guide, if its hot to your skin
move it up a bit, keep them close as you can.
Light duration for Indica should be about 16-24 hours a day, but i recomment never above 18.
For pure sativa, 13 hours a day, youll be shocked, try it.
For flowring Indica should be 12/12, for sativa 11/13 "11 on" to get best results, has never failed.
If your sativa just wont flower, give it another week "up to 4" then try 10/14.
Most hybrids will follow the 18/6 12/12 rule. }
lights the affect plant growth!!!
200-280nm UVC ultraviolet range which is extremely harmful to plants because it is highly toxic.
281-315nm Includes harmful UVB ultraviolet light which causes plants colors to fade.
316-380nm Range of UVA ultraviolet light which is neither harmful nor beneficial to plant growth.
381-400nm Start of visible light spectrum. Process of chlorophyll absorption begins. UV protected
plastics ideally block out any light below this range.
401-520nm This range includes violet, blue, and green bands. Peak absorption by chlorophyll
occurs, and a strong influence on photosynthesis. (promotes vegetative growth)
521-610nm This range includes the green, yellow, and orange bands and has less absorption
by pigments, but still useful as proven, but its still unknown why.
Which is why LEDs are starting to come with a bit of orange "This range".
611-720nm his is the red band. Large amount of absorption by chlorophyll occurs,
and most significant influence on photosynthesis. (promotes flowering and budding)
This range will give you the die hard nugs your looking for. especially around
630 and 660 ranges.
721-1000nm There is little absorption by chlorophyll here. Flowering and germination is influenced.
At the high end of the band is infrared, which is just heat.
Remember you can have lots of cannibinols without it being visible "LED has proven this"
The reason is the plant secrets it as crystals to protect itself against UV ranges and far-red
Then will produce MORE inside of itself again "Increasing potency without increasing yield by
using UV/REDS" Something LED hasnt caught onto yet, but you can get UV LEDs if you wanna make
it yourself.
Quick space coverage facts that I wouldnt bend too much
100 watt HID = 2'x2' area
250 watt HID = 3'x3' area
400 watt HID = 4'x4' area
600 watt HID = 6'x6' area
1000watt HID = 8'x8' area
Remember to VENT your area!
you can double these numbers by using moving / automated lighting.
Use googles SSL technology to hide what your looking for! "WINK"
https://encrypted.google.com/
Thats the URL ladies and gents!
This started around May 21 2010; Most people are still unaware of its existence, especially Non-American users.
The reason for this is only the .com version of Google actually uses the SSL. if you have had .ca bookmarked
or set as your homepage, as example, you would never have known.
Well what does this mean? Whats SSL?
SSL is the same secure technology that banks, shops, etc. Use on line to completely protect your
personal information, credit cards, etc from "packet sniffers" and hackers stealing it.
Great ya? well what that means is only you and Google will ever know what your looking for.
Search words like "Ganja grows" will no longer be visible to anyone, including authority, without getting
a warrant for your data and getting it directly from Google.
Making it harder for them is something you wanna be doing, ya feel me?
A few points I have to make though:
1) Only your Google search is actually encrypted, once you click a link, its gone.
2) Some features, like image searches, don't support SSL yet, check the url for " https:// " Note the S <--
3) SSL may slow your searches down a touch, but a small price to pay to be safe.
4) Google still continues to collect all the data it always has, keep that in mind.
Nobody knows for sure if Google collects WHO did a search, and collects data by geographic location.
So you may have no ties to your searches with it. Remember though you still have a browsing history.
Think this is fantastic? Pointless? Discuss.
Thats the URL ladies and gents!
This started around May 21 2010; Most people are still unaware of its existence, especially Non-American users.
The reason for this is only the .com version of Google actually uses the SSL. if you have had .ca bookmarked
or set as your homepage, as example, you would never have known.
Well what does this mean? Whats SSL?
SSL is the same secure technology that banks, shops, etc. Use on line to completely protect your
personal information, credit cards, etc from "packet sniffers" and hackers stealing it.
Great ya? well what that means is only you and Google will ever know what your looking for.
Search words like "Ganja grows" will no longer be visible to anyone, including authority, without getting
a warrant for your data and getting it directly from Google.
Making it harder for them is something you wanna be doing, ya feel me?
A few points I have to make though:
1) Only your Google search is actually encrypted, once you click a link, its gone.
2) Some features, like image searches, don't support SSL yet, check the url for " https:// " Note the S <--
3) SSL may slow your searches down a touch, but a small price to pay to be safe.
4) Google still continues to collect all the data it always has, keep that in mind.
Nobody knows for sure if Google collects WHO did a search, and collects data by geographic location.
So you may have no ties to your searches with it. Remember though you still have a browsing history.
Think this is fantastic? Pointless? Discuss.
Tuesday 22 February 2011
Energy prices on the rise
Its no secret that lately, the cost of energy has been on the rise. Regardless of where you are its gone up, and guess what; its going to go up alot more in the next few years.
So, to help, I figured a good first post would be how to determine what any energy costs will be 'before' you purchase gear, or make changes to you existing setup. Ive included the formula as well as some costs for
common watt systems in both LED, CFL and HID watt ranges.
Before we get started I need to make it very clear, not to buy LED setups without doing some research, the
technology is not the same as CFL or HID; nor is it setup and calculated in the same way.
First, the formula.
Find and add up all the wattages for everything you have running, not just the lights.
Lights, Fans, AC, heating mats, vents, radios "for the true hippie" etc.
Add them together, and place them in the formula as W.
kWh = your cost per kWh
( W / 1000 ) * kWh = Cost to run per hour
From this you can do Result * Hours = Cost per day
and then of course take that result and multiply it by the number of days in a given month to find the cost
for that month.
SOOOO lets do an example, why not ha!
Fan = 25w
Light will be a 600 watt HID "type does not matter, it uses 600 watts"
625watt grow room
Lets say for this example, its 9 cents for kWh " $ 0.09 "
(625 / 1000) * 0.09
.625 * .09
.05625 "Round this to cents .06"
$0.06 / Hour
Not bad right :) 9 cents is a dream though, most people play 15 cents, and ive heard of people paying 40!
Moving on
at 6 cents per hour thats $1.08 for an 18 hour day, costing you $32.40 for the month "30 day month of course".
Here are some "flat line" results based on numbers from hydro costs in my area.
Wattage || KWH || Hourly || Daily || Monthly
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
90 Watt || .10 || .01 || .17 || 4.86
90 Watt || .12 || .01 || .19 || 5.85
180 Watt || .10 || .02 || .33 || 9.72
180 Watt || .12 || .02 || .39 || 11.65
250 Watt || .10 || .03 || .45 || 13.50
250 Watt || .12 || .03 || .54 || 16.20
400 Watt || .10 || .04 || .72 || 21.60
400 Watt || .12 || .05 || .87 || 25.92
600 Watt || .10 || .06 || 1.08 || 32.40
600 Watt || .12 || .07 || 1.30 || 38.88
Based on 18 hour days, 30 day months.
I was going to do fans etc, but i cant do all your homework :D
So, to help, I figured a good first post would be how to determine what any energy costs will be 'before' you purchase gear, or make changes to you existing setup. Ive included the formula as well as some costs for
common watt systems in both LED, CFL and HID watt ranges.
Before we get started I need to make it very clear, not to buy LED setups without doing some research, the
technology is not the same as CFL or HID; nor is it setup and calculated in the same way.
First, the formula.
Find and add up all the wattages for everything you have running, not just the lights.
Lights, Fans, AC, heating mats, vents, radios "for the true hippie" etc.
Add them together, and place them in the formula as W.
kWh = your cost per kWh
( W / 1000 ) * kWh = Cost to run per hour
From this you can do Result * Hours = Cost per day
and then of course take that result and multiply it by the number of days in a given month to find the cost
for that month.
SOOOO lets do an example, why not ha!
Fan = 25w
Light will be a 600 watt HID "type does not matter, it uses 600 watts"
625watt grow room
Lets say for this example, its 9 cents for kWh " $ 0.09 "
(625 / 1000) * 0.09
.625 * .09
.05625 "Round this to cents .06"
$0.06 / Hour
Not bad right :) 9 cents is a dream though, most people play 15 cents, and ive heard of people paying 40!
Moving on
at 6 cents per hour thats $1.08 for an 18 hour day, costing you $32.40 for the month "30 day month of course".
Here are some "flat line" results based on numbers from hydro costs in my area.
Wattage || KWH || Hourly || Daily || Monthly
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
90 Watt || .10 || .01 || .17 || 4.86
90 Watt || .12 || .01 || .19 || 5.85
180 Watt || .10 || .02 || .33 || 9.72
180 Watt || .12 || .02 || .39 || 11.65
250 Watt || .10 || .03 || .45 || 13.50
250 Watt || .12 || .03 || .54 || 16.20
400 Watt || .10 || .04 || .72 || 21.60
400 Watt || .12 || .05 || .87 || 25.92
600 Watt || .10 || .06 || 1.08 || 32.40
600 Watt || .12 || .07 || 1.30 || 38.88
Based on 18 hour days, 30 day months.
I was going to do fans etc, but i cant do all your homework :D