Light

[Aidsteen]

Could I use a regular desk lamp to grow, with a normal (60 watt) to grow a single plant?

I just wanna give it a try once, and I don't wanna go out and spend $60 on a flourescent lamp that won't get any use after I finish growing.

[Weedguru Cusmar]

hahaha in short the answer is no. And if you got one nice harvest then why would you wanna stop growing?, why not start another plant?

[Aidsteen]

If I did then yeah, I'd continue, but right now I'm trying to keep it under wraps from some people, and they'd notice if I went out and bought a flourescent light.

[Weedguru Cusmar]

It's damn near impossible to disguise growing cannabis from people you live with.

[Aidsteen]

Yeah.. I know.. I was also trying to save cash.. but whatever, necessary evil. Thanks for the response.

[Weedguru Higher]

Could I use a regular desk lamp to grow, with a normal (60 watt) to grow a single plant?

I just wanna give it a try once, and I don't wanna go out and spend $60 on a flourescent lamp that won't get any use after I finish growing.

Don't bother, it'll be a total waste of your time. Grow properly, or not at all.

To start you need proper lighting system, watts and lumens, types etc..

Lighting

Light is needed by a plant for using nutrients and manufacturing food. It has a great influence on chlorophyll production, growth rate, leaf size, and flower and seed production. Light will be one of the most important aspects of your grow operation. For the purposes of growing marijuana there are two basic types of lights; Fluorescent's (HID High Intensity Discharge - including MV (mercury vapor), MH (metal halide), and HPS (High Pressure Sodium)

HID vs. FLUORESCENT'S
The main difference is that fluorescent's create light by passing electricity through a gas vapor under low pressure and HID creates light by passing electricity through a gas vapor under high pressure. HID lights are MUCH brighter and while initially more expensive, are more cost efficient to operate and will grow a much nicer crop. Therefore, they are the light of choice for most indoor growers.

FLUORESCENTS

Fluorescents come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. There are compacts, twist bulbs and circle bulbs. They all work the same way. They have a starter and ballast which help provide a steady and regulated amount of electricity to the light. Before HID lights were available indoor growers used fluorescent lights. While fluorescents can be used for an entire grow from seedling to harvest, it is generally not advised to use them in this way. To grow effectively with fluorescent's, think small. These lights are better suited for starting seedlings, rooting clones and small plants, maintaining moms for cloning purposes, and providing sidelight for the undergrowth. These situations do not require a high intensity of light to run their course. The light emitted by fluorescents is gentler and more diffuse, it doesn't release a lot of heat, and doesn't make the plant work as hard. For this reason they can be kept closer to the plant. One or two inches is sufficient, but this also means that the lights must be adjusted almost daily to accommodate growth which can be troublesome.

High Intensity Discharge

There are basically 3 types of HID lights. MV (Mercury vapor), MH (Metal Halide), and HPS (High Pressure Sodium). These lights also require a starter and a ballast.

MV - Mercury Vapor is the type of lights that were used for streetlights many years ago. Not very good for growing because it doesn't provide enough of the right kind of light spectrum. While they do provide a littleof the blue spectrum, MV also produces too much heat to get very close to a plant, and are very inefficient to operate.

MH - The Metal Halide is a very good source of the white/blue spectrum of light that is ideal for vegetative growth. Many growers use MH during the vegetative phase. MH is bright and cost efficient to operate, but not as efficient as HPS lights. Most commonly used sizes are 400 watt and 1000 watt. Works best when used in combination with HPS lights.

HPS - The best light available today for growing Marijuana. High Pressure Sodium lights are very bright and very efficient. This light has a red/orange spectrum that is ideal for the flowering phase. With enough of these kind of lights you too can grow those centerfold buds. HPS comes in a wide variety of wattages from 70 watts up to 1000 watts.

LIGHTING FORMULAS
To correctly determine the best lighting for your space there are several things that you have to know. At this point, a couple of definitions are in order. Lumens - one lumen is equal to the amount of light emitted by one candle that falls on one square foot of surface one foot away.
Watts - A measure of the amount of electricity flowing through a wire. Watt hours measure the amount of watts used in one hour. A kilowatt/hour (KWH) is 1000 watt/hours.

To determine the cost of operating your light:
Find your KWH charge on your electric bill. Assume you have a 1000 watt light and your KWH charge is $.05/hour. A kilowatt equals 1000 watts, therefore it will cost you .05 cents per hour to run that light. Here's another example. Say you have a 400 watt light and your KWH charge is $.03. Since 400 watts is not a kilowatt, you must divide 400 by 1000 = .4 kilowatts x .03 (KWH rate from electric bill) = $0.012 cents per hour to run.

To determine how many lumens per square foot you have: Find out the square footage of your space. Width x Depth = Square feet. Divide the lumens available by your square footage. This will give you lumens per square foot. Example: Say your space is 3 feet deep by 4 feet wide, 12 square feet. The total lumens available from your light(s) is 45000 lumens. 45000/12 = 3750 lumens per square foot.

Now for the big question. How much light do I need? Technology has advanced so much in the last 15 years that we are constantly refining the process and updating what we know works best for growing. Current theory holds that the minimum amount of lighting needed to sustain growth is around 2000 lumens per square foot. Mid range is around 5000 lumens per square foot. Optimal is 7000-7500, or higher, lumens per square foot.

What if you want to determine how much light you need in watts? The general rule of thumb for providing light for an area is a minimum of 30 watts per square foot. 50 watts per square foot is optimal. You can determine the proper lighting for your area by using this formula: 30 watts (or 50) x ?(your) square feet. Example: You have an area of 10 sq. ft. - 30w x 10 s.f. = 300watts/sq.ft minimum or 50 watts x 10 s.f. = 500 watts/sq. ft. (optimal). Also, remember that fluorescent's are weaker and emit less light than an HID. This means you will need 5 times the amount of wattage to equal the output of an HID. So, 30 watts of HID would equal 150 watts of fluorescent's. This is why it is advised to provide a minimum of 30 watts per square foot for HID lights and a minimum of 150 watts per square foot for fluorescent's.
This is all important because the light intensity will directly affect the quality and yield of your crop. If you have less than optimal lighting your yield and potency will be reduced and buds will not develop as dense. This point can not be stressed enough. You must have the right amount of light for your space to grow high quality bud. The question is often asked, "can I have too MUCH light?". The basic answer is no. According to the law of diminishing returns, you could theoretically reach a point when your plants just couldn't absorb any more light but it would be impossible to have that many lights in your space. Heat from the lights would become a problem long before you ever reached that point. So use as many lights as you want, just control the heat.

Experimentation is the only sure method to determine the best solution for each plant. If plants are not receiving enough light, they begin to grow tall and spindly as if stretching for the light and foliage becomes pale green. Or, if they need to be moved closer to the light, or given a longer light exposure period. Too much light may lead to bleaching of leaves and flowers, browning and shriveling. Leaves would become overly compact and curl under at the edges.

PHOTOPERIOD
Your plants should be started and taken through vegetative growth with a 24/7 or 18/6 light regimen. The reason for an 18/6 regimen is to give the plants a short dark period to breathe and to reduce your electric bill a little bit. Most plants thrive with at least 16 hours of light a day. Adjustments should be made according to individual plant requirements. For flowering 12/12 is the norm. Again, adjustments may need to be made. A minimum of 12 hours of darkness is required to trigger the flowering process.

LIGHTING NO-NO'S
Don't burn your plants by getting them to close to the light(s). Fluorescent's do not put out much heat and can be as close as one or two inches. HID lights get much hotter and will need to be farther away. A good test is to put your hand between the light and the plant. If your hand gets too hot for comfort, the light is too close.

There are some common lights that may induce a seed to come up, but are worthless for growing purposes. These lights include; Any incandescent (regular) light bulb, halogen lights, black lights and heat lamps. Don't waste your time trying to grow with these lights, you will only be disappointed.

When you are done learning about the lighting let me know, and I'll tell you the next steaps you have to cover.

[Aidsteen]

Alright, read through that, clairified the questions I had (for now).

What should I do next? Like I said, I'm going for like one or two plants tops, and I'm going to grow them in my closet.

[Weedguru Higher]

Are you growing from seeds ? Are they bag seed or seeds from a seedbank?

Or do you have a clone you got from a friend or something?

[Aidsteen]

They're seeds I've been getting from a friend of mine.. I'm not looking to grow for selling purposes.. I'm mostly looking to do it as a hobby

[Weedguru Higher]

Ok.

Well, the next step you must consider in the construction of the grow closet would be the ventilation.

I just posted a piece about that in this thread

viewtopic.php?t=15149

When you get done reading that I'll tell ya about carbon filters and odor control

[Aidsteen]

Alright, read through it.. I think I can manage the ventilation easily enough.

I appreciate all the help you've given me so far

[Weedguru Higher]

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Courtesy of Ryko


Security is important to marijuana growers, and odors can lead the police straight to your grow room. There are a number of 'odor solutions' out there, but they can be quite costly. Here is a simple method you can use to build your own carbon filter. It will take you about half an hour to construct it, and it will cost $20 to $30 dollars.

Aside from its main advantage of being ultra cheap, this method is also very versatile. It utilizes the exact same activated carbon filters that are used in professional air cleaners, without paying the huge prices. It can be adapted to practically any ventilation system. You do not need any crazy tools to build this - anyone can do it.

For supplies, everything is easily available at a store like Home Depot. You will need the following:

1 activated carbon filter - ( found near humidifiers, air, and hepa filters )
1 small roll of aluminum screen
1 four inch ventilation end-cap
1 four inch duct connector piece
1 roll of duct tape



No tools are required. A pair of scissors and a measuring tape are all you need.



The carbon filter I purchased is a 'universal' replacement filter for HoneyWell air purifiers. Since I didn't pay the hefty price for a professional unit, I will cut this to size. It was originally 16" high and about 48" long, so I cut it right down the middle. When the first filter is expired, I will have a replacement ready to go.



The next step is to cut your aluminum screen to size. I chose aluminum because it will be strong, and will still allow good air-flow. You could substitute chicken mesh or something similar. Since my (cut) carbon filter is 8" high, the aluminum will be cut to 12". The carbon filter will go in the middle 8" of this screen, with 2" coming out of each end to connect to the duct pieces.



Now we will attach the aluminum screen to the duct pieces, with duct tape. (This might be the first time you have actually used duct tape on ducts!) Do your best to keep it straight as possible.



It will seem a bit flimsy at the beginning. Continue to wrap the aluminum screen around and around, taping it every few inches. You want it to hold firm.



After a few wraps it will be fairly sturdy, and able to hold its own weight. However, don't drive your truck over it! Treat her nice and gentle like a Christian schoolgirl.



The ends of your screen may have little strands of metal poking out, threatening to impale you. Add some more duct tape to cover this up and to finalize the DIY carbon filter. Soon it will be done.



Now it is time to wrap the activated carbon filter onto our device. Conveniently, the filter I bought came with a couple of velcro straps, so I used them to hold it on. This will be convenient to replace when the activated carbon is expired.



After she's all sealed up, throw on a bit more duct tape around the edges of the carbon filter, to seal up any gaps. Only tape over the edges, because you want the air to flow as easily as possible. Air does not flow through duct tape. Here is the finished product.



Time to hook her up to the grow room exhaust! In this case, it is being hooked to a 4" square duct. (That is why I used a 4" round to 4" square connector piece. You may need a different piece to suit your ventilation setup, but a million sizes are available.) Just slide her onto the vent, and tape it down nice and sturdy. Duct tape is your reliable grey friend.



After she is attached and fire up, things are looking good. It is working nice, hooked to a 60 CFM fan, and you can feel the air flowing out of it lightly. The fan was not slowed down too much, but obviously a carbon filter will add some back-pressure to your vents. I haven't tried this with a slower blower (under 60 CFM), but 60 CFM is not a lot.

I just hooked this up today, so I don't know how often I will have to replace the carbon filter. The box the filter came in says to replace every two or three months. It does seem to make a difference though. Outside the grow room does not stink like a skunk anymore. There is almost no smell at all, except the faint odor of duct tape adhesive. I'm sure that will go away after a few hours.

Using this method, everyone can now build their own activated carbon filter. Its quite easy, and you can build it any size you need, to fit any grow room and any type of duct. Could it get any better than that?

[Aidsteen]

Very interesting.. how necessary is it for odor control though? For one or two plants, it wouldn't get that bad would it?

[Weedguru Higher]

Well, yes it could depending on the strain you have and whether or not your exhaust vents into the room/elsewhere in house or outdoor.

I picked this strain odor rating thingy off a reliable weed site

Afghani, 10, 7, 5
AK-47, 6, 7, 7, 10
Angel Food, 9
Apollo11g4, 6
Bagseed, 4-5, 3.75-5, 1, 10, 2 (*)
Big Bud Indica, 8
Blue Moonshine (2nd gen), 8
Blue Mystic, 9-10, 9, 8, 10+
Blue Rhino, 8-9
Blueberry, 8, 9, 7, 9, 8, 5, 9, 9, 8
Bouddica, 8.5+
Bubblegum, 6, 8, 6, 8-9+, 9
Bubblegum (THseeds), 6
Buddah's Sister a.k.a. Skunk V+, 8
California Orange, 8, 8+
Citral (Nirvana), 5
Columbian Gold, 10
Chronic, 5, 7
Durban Poison (Hempcy), 2-3, 0.5
Durga Mata, (Shiva - Paradise Seeds), 10
Dutch Skunk, 4
Dynamite, 7+
Early Girl, 6
F2, 6
Four Ways, 9
Freebie Skunk #1, 5-6+, 6, 4
Freezeland, 8+
G13 x NL5, 5
Golden Skush, 5
Haze, 7
Heavy Duty Fruity, 10
Hindu Kush x Shiva, 7.5-8
Isis, 3
Jack Herrer, 6, 5
Jack Herer x White Widow, 5
Jamaican, 3.5, 10+
K2, 1, 5-6, 8, 8
Kali Mist, 8
Kali Orange, 5.3
Kevorkian, 3-3.5
Kush x Citral, 10
Masterkush, 8
Mazar, 9, 7, 2
Mendocino Madness, 5
MightyMite, 8
Nirvana (WW), 9
NL Shiva, 5
Northern Berry, 8, 8
Northern Lights, 2, 2, 2
Northern Lights (GWN), 4
Northern Lights x OG Haze 7.5
Oasis, 5
Oasis (DP), 4
Orange Bud, 9
Papaya (Nirvana), 5
Power Plant, 5, 8.5
Purple Haze, 10, 10
Rhino x Bubblegum, 9
Rhino x Sk1, 7
Skunk #1 (SD), 3, 5-6, 6, 5, 6, 7, 7
Skunk Red Hair (Homegrow Fantaseeds), 3
Skunk x Durban, 6
Soma Rock Bud, 7
Soma Rock Bud x Durban Poison, 8
StrawberryCough (2nd gen), 8
Super Skunk, 10
Super Silver Haze, 2
Thai-tanic, 1
Top 44, 3
White Gold, 7
White KC, 4
White Rhino, 7, 5, 8
White Russian (SS), 9
White Widow, feminised (DP), 6
White Widow, 7, 3, 5, 8
White Widow x Early Girl, 4

Numbers separated by commas indicate multiple assessments.

(*) This will vary widely, of course

I highlighted my personal two favorites. Freezland is good for outdoors and adpats extremely well in my climate. Northern Light on the other hand is better for interior (wrong outdoor climate) and it's extremely low odor, I know that myself from experience

When in flowering even two plants it can stink up the place something awful. I'm assuming you are doing this in your bedroom closet in your parents house? Correct me if I'm wrong.

If they don't know about it, then you are gonna have an awful time with odor for sure..they will smell it surely unless you have a filter or at the very least and exhaust and ducting that blows outdoors. But then you gotta worry bout the neighbours smelling it.

Growing pot is risky business as its illegal, and the punishment can be quite severe depending where you live. I would advise you to go about this correctly or not at all. Odor control in my book is a must regardless of quantity.

Remember also if you get caught growing inside your parents house that they can be held liable for your actions? They can go to jail and have their house seized.

If you're growing in your own house or something then I can ramble on about other stuff lol. Like construction lol

[Aidsteen]

Yeah, its my parents house.. Thats one of my main concerns, as my mom (funny story actually..) got caught growing in our windows a few years ago.. She didn't know that it was weed (which I find really hard to believe, being my dad's a huge stoner), and someone saw it and called it in, and we had 6 cops come for 3 plants..

So.. yeah.. I'm not sure what I can do about odor, though my room smells pretty bad anyway, haha... I'm gonna have to think about it some more though.. I didn't take the smell into account.