# Hal's been busy



## NorCalHal (Feb 5, 2012)

I get alot of pm's asking about my grows, so I thought I would throw up a few pics. Currently, I have a couple of rooms that I am servin' up dank in.
Under California law, and the advice from my overpaid lawyer, I stick with around 70-80 plants per room, with multiple Medical Recs hung from my collective members.
I hear alot of conflicting information from lawyers. Some say I only need to have one spot and can grow up to 500 girls, but that really freaks me out. To me, that is an invitation for Federal Law Enforcment. Sure would be nice tho.
From previous court cases and many,many conversations, we have chosen to run seperate scripts in seperate locked facilities. Without going into too much detail, Verbage and Lease agreements are KEY to operating safely under Cali law. We have a great MMJ set of guidlines and operating under those to a T helps me sleep at night.
Better Safe then sorry, I say.

So, on to the show.

Currently, we are getting ready to harvest a strain called Green Ribbon. It is clone only and a very hard one to get. It is fast becoming the new "OG" because of it's high thc content. It tests consistenly at 20-22% thc.The highest I have hit with it was 24.1%.

Great strain. I am never good at  this, but I would guess it's a 50/50 sat/indy. Full sativa "stretch" and general plant structure, but the bud is full Indica. I cannot describe the smell/taste, as it is very unique. 

The other herb that is finishing is called Mr. Nice. 10 years ago, I grew the SAME strain, and it was called "Shaman". blah blah blah. I hate the strain name game. MArketing...gotta luv it.
I remember hating this strain 10 years ago haha. Thin branched,lanky plant. Crazy stretch during flip. Good herb tho. It finishes purple if done right, cool bud structure.

The Green Ribbon is coming down next week, and the Nice not too far after.
We have cooled the room down to 72 the last week or so, and it is finshing up nicely.

There are a couple of shot s of the new Dehumidifier. I got my dream unit. It's a Santa Fe Dual Max Dry. 300 pint per day running only 6 amps. Total Humidity control.


----------



## NorCalHal (Feb 5, 2012)

Room 2 just got flipped 2 days ago. Currently it is running Larry OG, Chem 91' and GDP. 
Long story short, I was running my ballasts in this room afu. Electrical here is 120/208, and I had my ballasts set to 240v. They fired up, but not to full porential. In other words, they were running as 750w in stead of 1000w. So, I had to go over each ballast and change them over to the 208v lead off the transformer. LUMANS. it b rocking now, so I am looking forward to this run.
The veg growth has been crazy fast.
I am running elevated CO2 in this room right now, and have been thry veg.
1500 ppm CO2, 85 degree room temp. Nuit levals around 1300 ppm. Now I have the higher lumans also needed to run CO2 properly. Should be a good run.

I also bought a "Plant Cam". It takes a picture 2 times a day. I mounted it to the wall, so I can get a cool time lapse thoughout the grow. It should be cool to see when it is done.

More pics.


----------



## Grower13 (Feb 5, 2012)

awesome rooms and dank..... thanks for photos


----------



## Lobstah (Feb 5, 2012)

great pics, wicked set up, learned something new just how clean things need to be, in order to have pritty girls,  thanks NCH


----------



## Locked (Feb 5, 2012)

Very nice NCH.......beautiful plants.


----------



## Rosebud (Feb 5, 2012)

Well that was most fun looking at that beautiful grow. Thank you.


----------



## pcduck (Feb 5, 2012)

I guess Hal's been busy. Nice buds and a sweet set up


----------



## HemperFi (Feb 5, 2012)

About what I expected -- very nice -- I may have to move back to Cali 

Excellent well done NCH

Peace


----------



## Time4Plan-B (Feb 5, 2012)

Wow NCH you make me sick
lol
only jesting they all look amazing and how does linking up one aircooled to another to another to another work surely one end gets hotter than the opposite end!!!!
Anyway plant cam thats great you just need a plant-bot like the waffle-bot from harold and kumars xmas 2011 movie and you away.
Great info and pic/plants one day id love yo be able to grow like that.
T4


----------



## PuffinNugs (Feb 5, 2012)

great stuff.

wish i could run that much equipment. maybe some day ill get on your level

keep it 99 and under


----------



## powerplanter (Feb 5, 2012)

Very nice NCH.


----------



## nouvellechef (Feb 5, 2012)

That a Justin Bieber tat on your arm? Hard to tell. Oh and nice girls


----------



## dman1234 (Feb 5, 2012)

LOL, I just look at these pics and laugh my azz off, 

Stellar growth, in a perfectly equiped enviroment, meticulously clean and the pics to proove it.

Nice.


----------



## Wetdog (Feb 5, 2012)

To say that I'm impressed would be a huge understatement.

Beautiful! Plants and set up.

Wet


----------



## Time4Plan-B (Feb 5, 2012)

nouvellechef said:
			
		

> That a Justin Bieber tat on your arm? Hard to tell. Oh and nice girls


Its a 'I LOVE AMERICA' as sung by David Byrne:hubba:
T4


----------



## The Hemp Goddess (Feb 5, 2012)

Just wonderful NCH.


----------



## ozzydiodude (Feb 5, 2012)

Unbelievable NCH great lookin room

Here :48::48:you deserve a break


----------



## Herm (Feb 5, 2012)

As one of the people that sent you the pms I would just like to say thanks.  Now spill the beans on your nutes soil and pot set up


----------



## Roddy (Feb 5, 2012)

Nice as usual, Hal!!

*There are a couple of shot s of the new Dehumidifier. I got my dream unit. It's a Santa Fe Dual Max Dry. 300 pint per day running only 6 amps. Total Humidity control.*

I bet that wasn't cheap, nice!!!


----------



## bho_expertz (Feb 6, 2012)

Impressive. Mad Respect. 
You talk and you have the show. The ones that don't listen to you are stupid and jelous.

For how long do u grow now ?


----------



## NorCalHal (Feb 6, 2012)

Thanks everyone for looking. Full Time job to say the least.
My bad...My Justin Beiber America Tat showed haha.

Been growing a long time.1989 was the year my growing addiction started.

Yes. Must keep the room clean...super clean. My room is sealed, so I don't really get alot of dust coming in, but what dust is floating around, one of the 6 Carbon Scrubbers will pick it up.
Speaking of which, I regularly change the pre-filter on the carbon scrubbers every run. I, well my Wife, goes to the local fabric store and gets "batting" which I use as a pre filter. For the cost of a regular replacement filter, I can change all of them.
Dehumidifier...yes...quite spendy, almost 2k. But, I can't take any chances on mold or high rh. Can't have it.

As far as method, it's pretty simple.

Lets start with the pots. I was usuing "Smart Pots" and even tried the "Air Pots". You know what I found out, they make no difference. All hype, and I got caught up in it too. I am lucky and know quite a few growers and we all tried them. We did side by side runs with Smart Pots and cheap plastic bags.
The cheap plastic bags won.
For me, the cost of the plastic bags ,10 cents apeice, as compared to smart pots at 6-7 bucks a peice was a huge difference also. Now mind you, if I felt the Smart Pots gave me an advantage, I would have stayed with them.
Also, ease of clean up was a huge factor also. Cleaning Smart Pots suck.
So, long story short, I have alot of used smart pots for sale haha.

The medium I am currently usuing is ProMix HP. I love it. No amending it at all. Pot and go. Love it.

As far as nuits, I keep it pretty Simple.
Because Iuse R/O water, I add GH CaliMagic (just switched to this from Cal-Mag Plus) and Pro Silicate.
Those 2 items are a MUST if you use R/O water.
Then regular GH 3 Part.
The only other item I add is Hygrozyme and Superthrive. Alot of hatin' on Superthrive, but I like it.

Thats it. I used alot of different items but all it really did was drain my wallet.

GH 3 part for the win!

Pruning is KEY. If you notice in the pics, I prune up pretty high. I hate trimming, so I am going for FAT nugs, no larf at all. I ain't into hash making so I cut out all the swag at the bottoms.
Remember, never cut out leaves, cut out lowers.

Big Plants...Big Fun! In the pics of the Green Ribbon, the Stakes I used are 6 footers, to give you an idea of how tall the plants are.
Now, I would not try to get them this tall next run, it just worked out this way this time. I would perfer them to be around 4 foot.

Enviroment,enviroment. Get control of your enviroment. This is the best advice I could give anyone. There is no magic nuits that create dank, it is more enviroment. Nuits actually play a small part.

Wet/Dry Cycle. Let those pots dry out a bit. Healthy roots love wet/dry.

Thanks again everyone for taking interest. I love growing and put alot of time and effort into these rooms.


----------



## NorCalHal (Feb 6, 2012)

Another thing I can add is the Circulatory fans. There has been a few threads talking about fan distance and wether or not they should be close to the plants. you can kinda see from the pics that my fans are blowing directly on the girls. All set to high. I beat them up.
Sure, I may lose a few leaves and even hurt a bud or 2, but overall, the benefit outweighs the little that gets damaged. 
I HAVE to get those branches thick in order to produce big nug.


----------



## Roddy (Feb 6, 2012)

*For me, the cost of the plastic bags ,10 cents apeice, as compared to smart pots at 6-7 bucks a peice was a huge difference also. Now mind you, if I felt the Smart Pots gave me an advantage, I would have stayed with them.
Also, ease of clean up was a huge factor also. Cleaning Smart Pots suck.
So, long story short, I have alot of used smart pots for sale haha.*

Yeah, and watering hasn't been fun either...good info here, THANKS!

*The only other item I add is Hygrozyme and Superthrive. Alot of hatin' on Superthrive, but I like it.*

When I started, my buddy from Hawaii gave me a bottle of superthrive and told me it was his secret ingredient for all his grows. The man grew some mean OD weed!

*Dehumidifier...yes...quite spendy, almost 2k. But, I can't take any chances on mold or high rh. Can't have it.*

Yeah, my little 70 pint was around $250 on sale...wish I had another!


----------



## NorCalHal (Feb 6, 2012)

I had to go with the Santa Fe. I was running 2 of the 70 pint a day units, and they still were not keeping up. Along with that, the 70 pint a day units run around 7 amps each, and they pretty much never shut off.
I am maxed out on my electrical, so I had to get a more efficient unit.
The Santa Fe only runs 6 amps, and doesn't run all the time.


----------



## JustAnotherAntMarching (Feb 6, 2012)

W-o-w


----------



## Hushpuppy (Feb 6, 2012)

Seriously nice setup  I know you gotta love your work because that has to be all that you have time to do. My wife doesn't understand why I stay so busy with my little grow and my partner's grow. I told her, you just don't know how much it takes to do this right until you do it yourself. 

One question tho, how tall do you usually veg your girls before the flip?


----------



## Herm (Feb 6, 2012)

Awesome looking plants.  How do you handle all the trimming you do?  When do you do your pruning and how long do you wait to flip after you prune?


----------



## HemperFi (Feb 6, 2012)

Hal, can you give us an estimate on how much it might cost to set up a ten light room? 

Just curious....

Peace


----------



## ston-loc (Feb 6, 2012)

That's just outstanding Hal! Mad props on the stellar work!


----------



## bho_expertz (Feb 6, 2012)

89 ... Jesus. I was eleven . Thanks for all the info. Mad respect.


----------



## Hushpuppy (Feb 6, 2012)

HemperFi said:
			
		

> Hal, can you give us an estimate on how much it might cost to set up a ten light room?
> 
> Just curious....
> 
> Peace


I would be willing to bet there is about 10 grand in materials and labor in that room.


----------



## nouvellechef (Feb 6, 2012)

Yep. 10k per 10x10 for new everything is about spot on. As far as labor. Cant bill for that when your own sweat goes into it. Sweat equity.


----------



## Herm (Feb 6, 2012)

NorCalHal said:
			
		

> Environment,enviroment. Get control of your enviroment. This is the best advice I could give anyone. There is no magic nuits that create dank, it is more environment.




Hey Hal care to elaborate on this?  I see you that you have your non CO2 flower room cooled to 72 right now, what do you usually run it during flower?  What relative humidity do you run your rooms at once they start to bud?


----------



## tcbud (Feb 6, 2012)

Glad to see your killing it there NCH.


----------



## Time4Plan-B (Feb 6, 2012)

I can confirm he is indeed killin it with his dank weed.
T4


----------



## NorCalHal (Feb 6, 2012)

Hushpuppy said:
			
		

> One question tho, how tall do you usually veg your girls before the flip?


 
Man, I never really measure them out and I guess it is a little diffferent each time. My issue is I run a few strains and usually an Indica dominant along with Sativa's, so the Indica's need more veg time usually, so the Sat's end up getting huge.
I would say prob around 2 feet or so on average.
I have 12' ceilings, so I don't trip on plant height.




			
				Herm said:
			
		

> How do you handle all the trimming you do?  When do you do your pruning and how long do you wait to flip after you prune?


 
Lots of close friends. Lifelong. I hate trimming nad would rather pay out my friends then do it myself. I got enough to do. I do help, but I give it up, they do 95% of the trimming. I onluy use 2-3 guys too. Keeps them busy. They love me.

General rule for me trimming is 3 times. Once during Veg, One more at the flip, and once again a week to 10 days into 12/12. Usually by then tho I have most of what I don't want pruned up anyway. I like to keep them pruned up from the get go as it is alot easier to eradicate any bugs, which usually start at the bottoms of the plants. Along with pruning them up early is more airflow under the canopy which prevents mold and helps also beef up the stalks.
Must NEVER have bug issues. MUST never have mold issues. 
I give complete credit to nouvellechef who turned me on to Eagle 20 for pm and Floramite for mites. Thanks bro! Dinner and Herb on me if you ever come to Cali!




			
				HemperFi said:
			
		

> Hal, can you give us an estimate on how much it might cost to set up a ten light room?
> 
> Just curious....


 
NC had it, it is pretty much 1000 bucks per light. That will get you in the ballpark at least. So, 20 lites...20k. Minimum really. The AC alone was close to 5. Electrical gets spendy too.
You can do it cheaper too, but you get what you pay for.....
Labor. Close friends and Big BBQ's, and a nice sack will allways get you labor haha. But yes, mucho work and high stress. Live for it!




			
				Herm said:
			
		

> Hey Hal care to elaborate on this?  I see you that you have your non CO2 flower room cooled to 72 right now, what do you usually run it during flower?  What relative humidity do you run your rooms at once they start to bud?


 
Good question.
Both rooms are CO2 capable. Hmmmmmm how to answer this......

So, both rooms are sealed. I do have exhaust and intake capibilities, but only use them rarely in the winter.

So, because the rooms are sealed, I MUST supplement CO2 at all times. When I am not elevating the levels and running higher temps, I set the CO2 to atmospheric, which is around 400 ppm. If I do not turn on the CO2, the plants will diminish the CO2 in the room in a matter of a few hours.

Temp is something we have been playing with quite a bit. During the first couple of weeks, I run elevated CO2, so my temps are at 85, but when I kill the elevated CO2 and put it back to atmospheric, I set the temp to 75-78, then drop it to 72is the last couple of weeks.

Rh stays at 50-55 during flower. During Veg I let it rise to 60-65rh.

Thanks for the kind words everyone!


----------



## nvthis (Feb 7, 2012)

Cool to see you breaking out and running different things, bro.. That Green Ribbon sounds nice. First time I have seen it in it's pure form...


----------



## Herm (Feb 7, 2012)

Do you run CO2 generators or do you tank it?  Sorry for all the questions but I have a million more I want to ask hahha.


----------



## NorCalHal (Feb 7, 2012)

Thanks Nvthis! I have been seeing and hearing about it for a bit now.
A dispensary in Sac touted it as "exclusive" and told me they were the only ones who had it and I could never get it. So, I had to get it...haha.




			
				Herm said:
			
		

> Do you run CO2 generators or do you tank it?  Sorry for all the questions but I have a million more I want to ask hahha.


 
My room is 25' x 25' x 12', so I use a genny. Tanked would kill me.

All good, ask away. I have to trim today, so I will not be back till tonight.


----------



## umbra (Feb 7, 2012)

Hey Hal, how is the soil /organic(?) compared to your hydro top drip? In regards to yield, ease of use, frequency of watering versus changing reservoir. Obviously you are still rockin, but does the soil produce a better product?


----------



## NorCalHal (Feb 7, 2012)

umbra said:
			
		

> Hey Hal, how is the soil /organic(?) compared to your hydro top drip? In regards to yield, ease of use, frequency of watering versus changing reservoir. Obviously you are still rockin, but does the soil produce a better product?


 
Whats happening Umbra! 
Good Question man. I am usuing ProMix HP for the medium.
I really like the Pro Mix, and would not go back to top drip thru rockwool. I like it better because I make fresh nuits every feeding and can guage from looking at the plants as to what she needs. Top Drip only let me make a res every week and it fed daily, so there was alot of ph flux.
As far as yeild and quality, I would have to say pretty much the same, not better or worse.
I usually water the promix every 3-4 days usuing 7 gal grobags.


----------



## Herm (Feb 7, 2012)

How much do you water a feeding?


----------



## Irish (Feb 7, 2012)

i've always said bags are the way to go in effectiveness. (cost + time).  

are you recycling your soil hal? be a shame not to really with the amount you use. just the save in one grow will be major.  ever think about composting? i've been making my medium for two seasons, and it's so damned easy. i've cut cost by at least 1500 a season from buying organic blends like promix, ff, and ocean forrest and the likes. (thats on around 120-150 plants). three grows like that a season and your looking at a cool five grand back in hals pocket! 

your grow is banging as usual bro. very tight, and crisp clean...peace...


----------



## NorCalHal (Feb 9, 2012)

Herm said:
			
		

> How much do you water a feeding?


 
Around 150 gallons per feding every 4 days or so.


Whats happening Irish! I have thought about composting, but it was a brief minuate. I really don't have anyplace to do it, and the amount I would need is a little crazy.
I used 18 bags of promix for this run. It does suck, but I toss it after the run, and buy new. I know folks that recycle thier mix, but I ain;t with it, 'specially running chem nuits. I do have to give it more thought though.

I went to my room yesterday, and half the lights were off. The Helios 8 light timer went out, bad contactor. I had to replace it, but the girls only suffered a few hours of downtime, not too bad.


----------



## Herm (Feb 9, 2012)

How many plants does 150 gallons cover?  I'm just curious because this is my first grow with 8 gallon pots and it seems like I can water them FOREVER compared to my 5 gallon pots.


----------



## bho_expertz (Feb 10, 2012)

I also have two questions :hubba:

What kinda of music do you play for them ? Thinking in giving them some music for next grow .

And a more serious one ... How do you mix the 3 parts of GH ? I'm not using Grow. Just Micro and Bloom. You said before that you know what they need by the looks. But if you use GH how is your ratio between micro/bloom ?

Thanks man


----------



## NorCalHal (Feb 10, 2012)

Herm, that feeds 82 plants in 7 gallon bags with about 20% runoff.


bho, thanks for looking.  Haha, I havn't really left a fadio on or anything, I have thought about it, but just havn't done it.

GH. In flower, I too use just the Micro and Bloom, for the most part. My Grandaddy strain needs a little more N once in a while, so I add a little just for them.
In general, the for the Micro and Bloom, it is 2-1, with Bloom being more of course. So, somewhere around 5-7 ml per gal on Micro and 10-15 ml on the Bloom. I shoot for around 14-1500 ppm in full bloom.

On another note, I fried another Helios 7 light timer. The timer calls for a 50 amp 2 pole breaker, but internally, the contactor is only 40 amp. So, at 208v I was pushing 39 amps per leg, which would fry the contactor and trip the breaker. It made no sense to me to feed a device with 50 amps but have a 40 amp contactor in it. Killin' me.
I had to get a good old Intermatic T104 and wire up 8 of the lights myself.


----------



## NorCalHal (Feb 10, 2012)

I thought I would add that 400ppm of that is CalMag only. Very important.


----------



## bho_expertz (Feb 10, 2012)

Thanks NCH for the info. I also give Calcium and Mag. 1500 ppm is 2.0 EC . A little high value but your plants love it by the looks. All waterings with feeding ? 
Full Bloom is what ? 4-7 week in a 9 week strain ?

Again thanks for the answers. Respect :aok:


----------



## NorCalHal (Feb 11, 2012)

bho_expertz said:
			
		

> Thanks NCH for the info. I also give Calcium and Mag. 1500 ppm is 2.0 EC . A little high value but your plants love it by the looks. All waterings with feeding ?
> Full Bloom is what ? 4-7 week in a 9 week strain ?
> 
> Again thanks for the answers. Respect :aok:


 
If the plants are uptaking well, then they get nuit feeding all the way thru, until the last 2 weeks. If I see a slowdown in uptake, then I will flush the pots until the runoff is at 700ppm or below, then I feed a light nuit mix until the next feeding.

Yes sir, more like week 2-7 full strength solution.


----------



## trillions of atoms (Feb 12, 2012)

they look great hal...i knew youve been dealing with that legal ****.

i wish i could sleep good at night!! 

great job and welcome back!


----------



## Herm (Feb 14, 2012)

Can't be having this one the 2nd page.  Have you ever grown with Organics Hal and if so why did you switch back to chemical?


----------



## NorCalHal (Feb 14, 2012)

I have never grown "true" organics, just pre made "organic" nuits, not composted soil mix.
I have ran Pure Blend for a few years, but switched back to GH because, for me, it is easier to address and resolve nuit issues if they arise.
Really, any nuit brand will work, if you spend the time with it. Time, and killing a few plants, or burning a few up. It just takes a bit to get a handle on any nuit line.

For me, GH works well for me. I have hit great weight usuing GH and have no nuit issues. Plants stay healthy and really love it.

GH is cheap too.


----------



## Rosebud (Feb 14, 2012)

NCH, I want you to know I cleaned the heck out of my grow areas after seeing your beautiful pristine grow space. I thought of you with every dead leaf I picked up. Thanks for the inspiration in all areas.


----------



## NorCalHal (Feb 15, 2012)

Nice Rosebud! I love having a clean room. I have to give it up tho, my wifey does alot of the work too. For instance, after each click, she will cjange the carbon filters pre-filters. She buys the material at the local fabric store. Another item is she will clean all the fans too each click, you can feel the difference for sure.

Keeping it clean makes it very easy to spot any issues too. They stand out. It sure helps with pest control also.

I try to never have any leaves or any plant material just layin' around.


----------



## docfishwrinkle (Feb 19, 2012)

nice work hal & thanks for sharing your specs & quantities. def a full time job. no bloom enhancers?


----------



## Herm (Feb 19, 2012)

Hal,  How much hygrozyme do you apply and how do you know if you using enough or not?


----------



## powerplanter (Feb 19, 2012)

Looking good Hal.


----------



## Lobstah (Feb 19, 2012)

Hal thanks for all this awesome info, That was the first thing I saw was just how clean your rooms are. Big part in wy the ladies look so good. Again thanks.


----------



## NorCalHal (Feb 19, 2012)

Thanks for loking Doc, yes, I must say I use Liquid KoolBloom and BudCandy. BC has even more MG, which they eat up during bloom.

As far as the Hygrozyme Herm, I use 8 ml per gal, everytime except during flush. I can't really tell if they need more or less, I just pretty much go by the bottle. It is VERY spendy, and if I am close to running out, I might skip the hygro a feeding or 2. I would have to say I use it on 90% of the feedings for sure.

I have to feed this morning, so I will try to take some pics. I have pretty much pruned them to my liking and they have stopped stretching, so it would be a good time to take some more pics.

I have the plant cam rocking still, but it looks like I will have to move it a little higher, to just right at canopy level.


----------



## OGKushman (Feb 19, 2012)

Beautiful! Looks about 5x the size of mine! And I got enough work as it is! 

Keep up the good work brother!


----------



## greenmentat (Feb 19, 2012)

your rooms are beautiful to behold... I see that you have fans blowing right on your girls... I do that too.  I use nine oscilating fans to get a nice breeze on each plant most of the time.  Do you have any tips on the ideal distances the light should be from the plants? Do you use a light meter? I had some bleaching and running at 2 feet with my 600s and now I'm working in a room with 1000s so I'm trying to get a handle on that.  Both rooms have minisplits so getting the temps low isn't the issue. thanks!


----------



## Herm (Feb 19, 2012)

NorCalHal said:
			
		

> As far as the Hygrozyme Herm, I use 8 ml per gal, everytime except during flush. I can't really tell if they need more or less, I just pretty much go by the bottle. It is VERY spendy, and if I am close to running out, I might skip the hygro a feeding or 2. I would have to say I use it on 90% of the feedings for sure.




See I have been wondering about that.  Im running earth juice line using the feeding schedule out of the nute comparison thread.  It says to use 2.5 ml ramping up to 10 ml later in flower.

:confused2:


----------



## NorCalHal (Feb 21, 2012)

greenmentat said:
			
		

> your rooms are beautiful to behold... I see that you have fans blowing right on your girls... I do that too.  I use nine oscilating fans to get a nice breeze on each plant most of the time.  Do you have any tips on the ideal distances the light should be from the plants? Do you use a light meter? I had some bleaching and running at 2 feet with my 600s and now I'm working in a room with 1000s so I'm trying to get a handle on that.  Both rooms have minisplits so getting the temps low isn't the issue. thanks!


 
I try to run the lights as close as I can, usually around 18" i guess, otherwise they tend to light bleach a bit. No on the light meter.  I do tend to move the plants a bit too, to prevent that bleaching, but they get so big at one point, where I will stop moving them.


I took some more pics today also. I just finished up pruning them, right at 2 weeks in. You can really tell what will develop and what won't. I have a high standard of finished herb, so I tend to prune out alot, leaving only the tops of most of the girls.
I have found that the herb is better and my yeild incresed when pruning real hard. Of course, this is really strain dependent, and the trees I pruned were Larry OG and Chem 91', which really take to the pruning.

The other pic is the GDP canopy. Looking good so far.


----------



## ozzydiodude (Feb 21, 2012)

Hal I'll buy a new bong if we can wear it out at your place:laugh:


----------



## Time4Plan-B (Feb 22, 2012)

Hi Hal a couple of questions for ya, what are your average yields per plant and why do you grow them so tall-i suppose they are sativa influenced maybe and have you ever done hempys as i think your set-up is just perfect for hempys and less frequent watering too.
T4


----------



## NorCalHal (Feb 22, 2012)

Bring it on out Ozzy! If you like the herb, you will love the hash we b makin'!

Time, On average, for these strains (Larry OG and Chem 91') I expect an average of 5-8 oz per plant. I grow em tall for a couple of reasons. You cannot expect big yeilds from small plants. Well, let me rephrase that....
I am going for all FAT nug. The type of fat nugs that make lb's look GREAT. This cannot be acheived from smaller plants with alot of the lowers not pruned. With smaller plants, you tend to leave more on the bottoms, but they still produce smaller nug and take longer to develop.
What I have found is if you prune the heck out of the lower and leave just the top 1/3rd, the plant will finish a little faster and all the nug produced will be tighter.
I know alot of folks will disagree, but this is what I have found to be true.

Prob the main reason I let em get big is I have 12' ceilings. I love it!

I guess you can say I did "hempys" before, I really havn't thought about it till you posted this. I had to do a little homework on what a "hempy" was first. I was doing "hempys" in the later 80's early 90's. I grew in nothing the first few years but verm and per to much success.

I perfer the pro mix. I really like the wet/dry cycle with it. Makes strong plants. I also love to water man. It is my Zen. I am not down with letting old juice sit in the bottom of a bucket anymore, I like to feed fresh whenever I feed. As it is right now, in 7 gal bags, I only water every 4-5 daze, but as they get into full flower, it will be every 3-4 days. I can live with that.


----------



## NorCalHal (Feb 22, 2012)

That had me thinking. I never am away from my grow for more then 24 hours, and that is RARE. More like everyday...all day...lol. Ask my wifey. There is allways something to do. I guess I like to feed myself too because it gives me time with each plant. As I water, it gives me a chance to really look over each plant to inspect for bugs or any nuit issues. Keeps me on top of it.


----------



## Roddy (Feb 22, 2012)

:ciao: Hal!! Saturator finally came...we're rocking the house!


----------



## Time4Plan-B (Feb 22, 2012)

Nuff said Hal 5-8 ya not doing anything wrong then and id do exactly the same as you you do if i had the chance.
Im after the golden 5+ from my present grow today being week 5 of 8-9 weeks but if needed will go 10 weeks.
T4


----------



## Roddy (Feb 22, 2012)

lol, here's the difference from a normal grower (myself) and a "super" grower (Hal)...I am happy with my 4oz-6oz average of pretty buds, whereas Hal is after only the best of the best!! Not that I'm not after the best I can do, mind you, but Hal is after perfection!! :aok:

*I am going for all FAT nug. The type of fat nugs that make lb's look GREAT. This cannot be acheived from smaller plants with alot of the lowers not pruned. With smaller plants, you tend to leave more on the bottoms, but they still produce smaller nug and take longer to develop.*

Inspiring!


----------



## ozzydiodude (Feb 22, 2012)

Hal I every make it out your way you will be one of the very few I will visit.


----------



## Time4Plan-B (Feb 23, 2012)

You not gonna visit me then Ozzy
Lol
T4


----------



## ozzydiodude (Feb 23, 2012)

Time4Plan-B said:
			
		

> You not gonna visit me then Ozzy
> Lol
> T4


 
If I come to see you they might not left me back in the US


----------



## NorCalHal (Feb 23, 2012)

Anytime fellas. I'll keep the bowls filled!

Thanks for the props Roddy, but I still have alot to learn. One of the hardest things is to keep an open mind about what others do growing wise.
No one person has the answer. My abilities are the accumulation of many,many different growers knowledge. That and many not so good harvests.
A good grower will allways listen to what others do. Even if what the others are doing is wrong.
What makes a great grower is understanding WHY the information is wrong, and an even greater grower is someone who can educate that person in a polite way that they can understand.

I gotta go clean up today...I made hash yesterday and made a mess. Crazy nice bubble though.


----------



## ozzydiodude (Feb 23, 2012)

It's like this "expand you mind and the rest will follow" The more we learn the less we find out we actually know.


----------



## akhockey (Feb 23, 2012)

NorCalHal said:
			
		

> I gotta go clean up today...I made hash yesterday and made a mess. Crazy nice bubble though.


 
I would love to see some photos of this too!!! If you ever get a chance that is.


----------



## Herm (Mar 3, 2012)

Hey Hal, any chance we might get to see some pictures of how your final buds turn out?


----------



## NorCalHal (Mar 4, 2012)

Ahocky, I will take some pics of the full melt and the Glass we made, gimme a fewdays.
I don't have too many pics of the finished, but I have a few.
So far, the room has been running great. I am in the process of stakeing them up, as they are starting to put weight on.


----------



## ozzydiodude (Mar 4, 2012)

looking great Hal!! Just download me a few samples


----------



## Markers (Mar 4, 2012)

Wow Very nice. I doubt I will ever have the need to grow that volume, but I very much strive to grow that quality.


----------



## Time4Plan-B (Mar 4, 2012)

NorCalHal said:
			
		

> Ahocky, I will take some pics of the full melt and the Glass we made, gimme a fewdays.
> I don't have too many pics of the finished, but I have a few.
> So far, the room has been running great. I am in the process of stakeing them up, as they are starting to put weight on.


WOW HAL THAT SURE LOOKS LIKE QUALITY WEED.#

T4:holysheep::hubba::icon_smile:


----------



## NorCalHal (Mar 5, 2012)

Thank You gentlemen, I put alot of work into these grows.
Today I have to finish stakeing them up. So much work. They are starting to put on weight and are wanting to lean. I bought these new "clips" that attach around the stalk and the stake, super easy.
I just gor a new 110 gal res, as the girls are drinking around 160 gallons every 3 days...sucking it up.
CO2 is off and I am just pulling air right now. Temps are staying around 75-79. If it gets too much warmer, I will have to seal the room back up and let the AC do the cooling work. I hate to do it, as the AC really cranks up the power bill, but I would rather pay the bill then have airy herb.

When I seal the room back up, I set the CO2 to around 400ppm, which is close to atmospheric.

As I am starting week 5, I am starting to think about getting clones going. I know the Larry OG will go the longest, as it doesn'r seem to finish until week 10-11, so I base my clone timing on them.
I can't wait for next run! My fav 3 flavors are on deck. Skywalker OG, "5 star Kush", which is new to my line up, and good old Sour D. I love me some Sour!


----------



## Time4Plan-B (Mar 5, 2012)

I think sour was the one someone i know raved and raved about to me.
Lol
Get some more piccies up hal we all love nice piccies of nice plants.
T4


----------



## Herm (Mar 5, 2012)

Hal,

When you get a new strain do you know ahead of time the flower time or do you check the the trichromes like the rest of us?  If you had to go to attitudes site today and order beans from them what would you pick up?


----------



## NorCalHal (Mar 6, 2012)

Yes sir T4, I will take more pics soon!

Herm..I really just check trichs. no set "timeline". I run some longer strains with shorter ones most of the time, but that helps come trimmin' time. It is a lot easier to trim a tray here and there rather then the whole room.
I am quite lucky, I have access to lots of great clone stock, not to mention my own mom room. I have some crazy nice mother plants right now.
If I was to order beans, it would be from Cali connect, more then likely. DNA/Reserva would be second choice.


----------



## getnasty (Mar 6, 2012)

Can I live in a cot in there? A supply closet? All I need is bread, water, and pot. I'll clean too.  


-nasty


----------



## NorCalHal (Mar 6, 2012)

Haha get! Believe me, I would love to have someone there around harvest time! There is allways some cleaning to do!


----------



## getnasty (Mar 6, 2012)

NorCalHal said:
			
		

> Yes sir T4, I will take more pics soon!
> 
> I am quite lucky, I have access to lots of great clone stock, not to mention my own mom room. I have some crazy nice mother plants right now.


Can we see them next time you post pics?  


-nasty


----------



## Time4Plan-B (Mar 6, 2012)

Hey you those ak's are the slowest growing clones i ever got my hands on like 2 weeks since rooted now and nowt seems to be happening good job i got my back up lemons and crappy blue cheese.
Lol
Laters dude.
T4


----------



## purificationB (Mar 14, 2012)

I've been making my medium for two seasons.


----------



## Hushpuppy (Mar 14, 2012)

NorCalHal said:
			
		

> Herm, that feeds 82 plants in 7 gallon bags with about 20% runoff.
> 
> 
> bho, thanks for looking.  Haha, I havn't really left a fadio on or anything, I have thought about it, but just havn't done it.
> ...


Hey Hal; just checkin out the stables, the girls are lookin good. I know about contactor problems from my days as a forklift technician. I had all electric forklifts and contactors were always weak points until they figured out how to "soft power" them. I would recommend that for what we do but it is tricky to "soft power" AC circuits. The problem with them is when the contacts open or close with the higher voltage and current you get an arcing that occurs and eventually burns the contacts. The only real solution for that is redundancy. Split the power draw in each timer so that it is divided between 2 timers so that they are only carrying half the current. That will slow the burning if not the arcing.


----------



## NorCalHal (Mar 15, 2012)

Thanks Hush....Very interesting.

Busy the next couple daze, I will get some pics soon.


----------



## umbra (Mar 15, 2012)

I still dream about NCH's sour d. The most unique flavor ever. Haven't had anything close since.



			
				multifarious said:
			
		

> Hals "Sour D", California and a few other things in April 09 changed my life forever


----------



## Time4Plan-B (Mar 15, 2012)

Get a room you two.
Lol
T4


----------



## Herm (Mar 16, 2012)

Hey Hal could talk about your CO2 setup?  I am probably going to have to seal my newest room off to control temps.  Its 10 x 13 x 7 if you make any equipment recommendations I would appreciate it.


----------



## NorCalHal (Mar 16, 2012)

I'm glad you guys remember the Sour D! It is still my Fav smoke for sure. I still have the same cuy, it rocks!
I am actually down to my lasy oz or so, and I won't be doing another run of Sour until end of April 

Whats happening Herm. When sealing a room, you have to have 3 things to make it owrk correctly.
AC, Dehumidifier and CO2. Of course, all you lights should be aircooled, unless you have a real good AC, but even then, you don't want your AC to work all the time.
A dehumidifier is a  must also.
As far as the CO2, there is a couple ways to go. First and foremost is a Controller. There is a few different controllers that can do a number of things.
Myself, I use a Sentinal CHHC4. It controls the AC, Dehumidifier and the CO2 genny. Pricey though.
I guess the first question is what type of CO2 do you want to run? Gas bottles or Generator? Gas bottles create no heat while a genny makes heat from the burning of propane to create the CO2. If you go with the Bottled, I would reccomend a controller that has "fuzzy logic".
Alot of what equipment would be best is really dependent on your budget man. It can get pricey quick. Not to worry though, there is a number of ways to run CO2 cheaply also. So, if you can give me a rough estimate of what equip you allready have and what your budget is, I think I can help.


----------



## Roddy (Mar 16, 2012)

:ciao: Hal!


----------



## Herm (Mar 16, 2012)

My new room has its own central air unit and mobile home furnace all to itself.  I have  natural gas right outside the room so I was thinking of going with a burner however the no heat from bottles is something I didn't even think about.  My hoods are 8 inch air cooled pulling air from outside the room and exhausting outside the room.  The room is a box built inside a room that is vented directly outside.

Budget would probably be around 500 up to 1000 if I have to spend that much to do it right.  I also plan on just running atmospheric ppm for the foreseeable future.


----------



## NorCalHal (Mar 24, 2012)

Srry for the delay Herm.
A good CAP controller for CO2 ppm would do the trick for sure. They run about 250.

I took some new pics this morning. The GDP is close, probably going to chop it next week, I have been flushing her for about a week or so.

The Larry and Chem still have 3 weeks to go, they are getting huge. Staking them up for days.

I took some new clones 10 days ago or so, and they are blasting roots. I will need to transplant them tomorrow. They are the new stock that will go in the room when the Larry and Chem are finished.
The New line up next run will be East Coast Sour D, Diablo OG, and Skywalker OG. All heavy hitters.


----------



## Herm (Mar 25, 2012)

Buds are looking killer Hal.   :icon_smile: 

What kind of cloner is that and do you wanna share some of your secrets for amazing roots like that in 10 days?!?


----------



## NorCalHal (Mar 25, 2012)

Whats happening Herm.
that is a Turbocloner.    hXXp://www.turboklone.com/
I have been usuing this the last few cloning times instead of rockwool, simply because it is a little easier to use, well, not easier, but more self sustaining.
It is like a Ronco...set it, and forget it!
I have the Turbo 144, meaning 144 clone sites. I also have a humidity dome that goes with it. The BIG plus is it has a small fan that blows air into the res to help keep water temps cool from the pump running 24/7. It works great.

As far as the "mix", I use Clonex solution and Botanicare Aquashield. PH to 6.0
I use Clonex Gel for the rooting hormone.
I have a 8 lamp T5 over it, but I only burn ONE bulb over the cloner, you don't need much light to clone, and the less light really is better.
I have been having prob 99% sucess rate with this set up.
During the Summer, I ran a water chiller thru it to keep the water temps to around 70.


----------



## Time4Plan-B (Mar 25, 2012)

AAAWWWEEEEeee its not fair your all legal and we are not here in the uk but your set up is spot on hal.
T4


----------



## PUFF MONKEY (Mar 26, 2012)

you're a fraud hal!!!!!a fraud!! lmao..i guess i gotta put up pics of my spot and show off what you've learned me lol..


----------



## cmd420 (May 2, 2012)

wow.. 

It's nice to be back  and peek in on your thread 

I like the time you take with people and their questions..

This isn't the first time you've given me the itch to try CO2, dang you!



"*overkill is underated*".. as someone once said..


----------



## akhockey (May 2, 2012)

NorCalHal said:
			
		

> that is a Turbocloner.    hXXp://www.turboklone.com/
> I have been usuing this the last few cloning times instead of rockwool, simply because it is a little easier to use, well, not easier, but more self sustaining.
> It is like a Ronco...set it, and forget it!
> I have the Turbo 144, meaning 144 clone sites. I also have a humidity dome that goes with it. The BIG plus is it has a small fan that blows air into the res to help keep water temps cool from the pump running 24/7. It works great.
> ...


WOW I havent peeked in here for awhile. I still use your tried and truw RW technique but Im not knocking out that many cuts at a time either. Ive always had damned near 100% success using the NCH RW method


----------



## NorCalHal (May 2, 2012)

How's it going cmd! Good to see u around man. I love my CO2 for sure.

Glad the cloning technique is working for you akhockey!

Well, my bad. I didn't take any harvest pics at all. I just went in there and did it when the time came. It was a long week to say the least.

I managed to get it cut down and out of there in 2 days. I have a seperate drying room, so I was able to clean it all up the day after I cut.
I had new girls waiting. They were already 8-12" tall in 1 gallon pots when I transplanted them into 7 gallon gro bags.

I statrted to gas them right off the bat and only had to veg for 7 days under the 1000MH's and enriched CO2.

I am currently 10 days into 12/12 on my next click.

My next run is Skywalker OG, Diablo OG and Sour Diesel. I'll have to take some pics soon. I have been working on a new canopy training technique that is REALLY working well. It is very hard to control the canopy on these damn Sativa's, but it is working.
Pics to come.


----------



## Hushpuppy (May 2, 2012)

Hal, you are the $h!t brother  You must stay at your grow 18hrs a day. My little grow keeps me busy and its only 20sqft of flowering space. I love the aeroponics cloner. I have one and do exactly as you do and have had nearly 100% success.  I am facing a coming problem...summer heat. I am going to be looking at 85* day time temps soon. I go lights out during the day so they aren't baking in the hottest part of the day, but I know they may approach 90 even during lights out. Ya think they will be able to stand that? would CO2 help with that?


----------



## NorCalHal (May 3, 2012)

Hushpuppy said:
			
		

> Hal, you are the $h!t brother  You must stay at your grow 18hrs a day. My little grow keeps me busy and its only 20sqft of flowering space. I love the aeroponics cloner. I have one and do exactly as you do and have had nearly 100% success.  I am facing a coming problem...summer heat. I am going to be looking at 85* day time temps soon. I go lights out during the day so they aren't baking in the hottest part of the day, but I know they may approach 90 even during lights out. Ya think they will be able to stand that? would CO2 help with that?


 
Naw Hush, I only stay 16 hours a day...haha. I do spend alot of time there for sure. The majority is allways the first 3 weeks or so of flower, as I do alot of bending and staking as they do the stretch.

With the Cloner, I just got a 1/4hp chiller to keep the clone water temps under control.

CO2, would help, but you don't run it during lights out. IMO, it is critical to get that 10 degree swing in temps from day/night. I have adjusted my CO2 a bit also. I run CO2 at 1500 ppm,temps @ 85 for the entire Veg, and 3-4 weeks into 12/12. After that I put the CO2 levals at atmospheric (400 ppm ) and drop temp to 75. The last couple of weeks I drop the temp to 70-72. I also put daylight hours to 10 on, 14 off.


----------



## bho_expertz (May 3, 2012)

NorCalHal said:
			
		

> I also put daylight hours to 10 on, 14 off.


 
In all strains ? Have some SuperSkunks finishing now ... Last two weeks perhaps going to try that ? Finish earlier ?

Love u man  ... So much info you put outside :aok:.


----------



## NorCalHal (May 4, 2012)

I cut the light back on all strains I grow, with no ill effect at all. I guess it does help finish it a little faster, by a few days maybe, but  it sure helps the electric bill a bit too.


----------



## bho_expertz (May 4, 2012)

And hot for me also. Thanks NCH. Going to try that this one. In October days have 10 hours so it makes sense.

Once again thanks :aok:


----------



## PUFF MONKEY (Sep 15, 2012)

nouvellechef said:
			
		

> That a Justin Bieber tat on your arm? Hard to tell. Oh and nice girls


it totally is..


----------

