Buds for Less - CFL BOOK

VictorVIcious said:

so you thought this book that sells for $16.95 should have been an encyclopedia. Its a grow book, explaining how to do this.

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(Emphasis added)

And that's the problem, it doesn't explain HOW, it just shows you what they did.

VictorVIcious said:

And of course we all live in the same state and can visit the same stores...

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I'm not aware of any state that doesn't have a Target, Home Depot, Lowes, or Walmart. It took me a few hours but if I found lights at almost all of those places. If I were writing a book for newbies I would have added that simple information and saved hundreds of man-hours. And that's my point. If you are writing a book for newbies you NEED to include this information. The book sells itself as a complete resource and it isn't.

VictorVIcious said:

...maybe he should have just gotten everything together for you and delivered it with the book.

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Ah, I see you're not interested in an adult conversation but please do refrain from being rude.

VictorVIcious said:

They may have even looked at a book on electric wiring instead of expecting one book to have every bit of information they could ever use as a newbie.

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Again you are letting your emotions rule you. I've found that it's better to let your ideas get you attention than your behaviour. 'Nuff said.

The point I was making is that if they forgot to tell you something as simple as connecting the wires what ELSE have they forgotten to tell us?

VictorVIcious said:

Constructive critism usually includes ad idea of what you would do to improve, and writting a 6000 page book is not an option here. VV

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You're right; I assumed since these were very simple complaints merely pointing out these faults would be sufficient.

So to clarify:
1) If you include instructions make sure they are complete.
2) Include common sources for materials used.
3) Include more information on HOW to do what your book purports to teach. More than 8 pages in an 80 page book.

That being said I thank you for your reply and I look forward to anything else you might be able to add to the dialog. You are clearly an experienced grower and I hope to learn from that experience.

fabricsoftener said:

In your second picture, it kind of looks like a male plant but I can't tell because the pictures are blurry. You will have to look at the nodes to see if a round green ball is forming (male pre-flower) or pistil (female).

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i am pretty sure that it is a female i had 4 plants then 2 of them had balls on them and these don't

Hi.
I bought this book and I think it is awesome

Which light spectrum was used for this grow?

All I could find in the book is 42 watt, 2700 lumens. Was one spectrum used throughout the entire grow or was it switched from veg to flowering?

I'd prefer to only have to buy one set of bulbs. Which K rating would be the best from start to finish?

Thanks.

EMDrummer said:

So how do you wire the light fixtures? I know how to do it, but which half of the wire from the extension cord goes to which screw on the light fixture?

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Anyone? I really need to know which side of the extension cord goes to which screw.

EMDrummer said:

Anyone? I really need to know which side of the extension cord goes to which screw.

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I don't think it matters, but you can Google around for more information.

I found this: Wiring a Light Socket

EMDrummer said:

Anyone? I really need to know which side of the extension cord goes to which screw.

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just don't have it plugged in when you wire it it really doesn't matter i got it right on my first try. just wire one at a time and then plugg it into the wall to see if the light comes on.

EMDrummer said:

Anyone? I really need to know which side of the extension cord goes to which screw.

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Its as simple as 1,2,3, Black(Hot Wire) Gold screw. White (nuetralWire) Silver Screw. Green (Grounding Wire) GreenScrew. Screw colors on a recepticle are the same as the plug. VV

There are only two wires when you cut the end off of an extension cord and only two lugs on the light fixtures for this project.

noober said:

There are only two wires when you cut the end off of an extension cord and only two lugs on the light fixtures for this project.

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It doesnt matter which side goes to which, just connect both and your good.

You do what you want to. In a grow area with water all around I want grounded plugs. Safety is first. VV

dantheman1188 said:

It doesnt matter which side goes to which, just connect both and your good.

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Yep, what he said. It's AC (Alternating Current) so it doesn't matter but technically your white wire should go to the silver contact and black should go to the brass contact.

My confusion came from my own misunderstanding. I assumed they were using one power cord for all of the light fixtures but after looking over the pictures again I saw my mistake, they were using one cord for each bulb fixture. My mistake completely.

Luckily I have a tiny, tiny bit of electrical experience (about 3 years) so know I can safely wire my fixtures in parallel using a single cord using 12 gauge wire and a heavy duty cord. They are basically wiring everything in parallel too but they're probably using a bunch of extension cords which might not be as safe.

I should also say I've spent some more time perusing the book in the main library (aka "The Toilet") and it is a lot better than I first gave it credit for so I will withdraw my initial criticism. I was wrong, I should have spent more time reading before I started posting my displeasure, so I apologize for being hasty.

At the risk of letting your emotions rule, that is still the adult thing to do. No blood, no gore. Peace. VV

ok so what lights would ya'll use for flowering i am using a bunch of cfls and my room is stank of weed is that normal but no buds yet?

Hm... well, it could mean they're getting too hot with the lights, make sure they're not touching them. Are they in flowering now?

Kludge said:

Hopefully this post is taken as constructive criticism.

I just got finished looking through this book and I hate to say it but it's not that good. It's really just a photo journal with about 8 pages of actual information on HOW to grow.

Worst of all it's missing vital newbie information like sourcing of materials and the instructions on building the light fixture are incomplete. For instance it tells you to cut the extension cord and attach wires to light sockets but never actually tells you to connect the extension cord to those wires much less how. I can only guess what other information is missing.

There's a lot of filler like quotes and info copied from wikipedia (credit is given) but there's just not a lot of good info for a beginner like myself.

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very interesting coming from a guy with 6 posts... lol...
and when you posted your criticism you only had 1 post...

c'mon? what gives...? what's your angle?


I appreciate your criticism..

I would also like to point out that your criticism is the strength of the BOOK..

It is SIMPLE... s i m p l e..

The book is the exact book that many people need to assist them through a grow.. it is easy to follow and it takes "YOU" step by step t hrough everything you need to KNOW... for a successful grow...

I still use the book.. When I have a plant in question, I reference Buds For Less... I really like being able to look at any day of the flowering process and compare it to my current garden sssssssssssss...

Yes, all the information you need is on the internet.. you can even get a wife or a baby on the internet.. you can get anything on the internet...

I like having a book that I can reference... more so than the internet....

to each his own...

regarding the lighting rig... i think there may be better lighting set ups.. and I did not even inlcude the design or any instructions for the rig in my first copy of the book.. BUT the editor insisted...

I am not a qualified electrician... i have no electrical wiring experience.. I just made that light set up because I saw it in my minds eye...

iloveyou

Hi Garden Knowm.
For the CFL grow in your book did you use the same set of bulbs from start to finish? If so, which Kelvin rating did you use?

Btw, I am a total noob and I can follow the book without any issues (other than my Kelvin question). I can clearly see how to build the light rig and how to connect the power cords to the light fixtures. I can use Google to figure out which lug the polarized side of the cord goes to so no problems there.

It's a great read and very informative
Thanks.

i'v just got a 300w cfl its about the size of a cat. will this light pump out the right lumens to flower 5 4in plants? oh yeah and how far in to flowering do i sex the plants

I just got the book yesterday, and im really happy with it, thanks Garden Knowm.

Just one question, it said in the book that you are using 42 watt CFL's, 2700 lumens. But theres no mention of which spectrum was used from start to finish. Have you a mix of spectrums like 4 Blue & 4 Red or did you switch them? and in my local shop the best i could see was 35 watt CFL's 6400k, would these be suitable?

Thanks.

I'd like clarification on this as well please.

I know 6500K is for veg and 2700k is for flowering but what did you use in the book?
Thank you.

I'm not even sure 42w CFLs with a 6500k color spectrum exist. I'm mostly seeing 2700k, so I imagine that's what he used.