I was digging through some pictures yesterday and found some old polaroids of my grow back in the mid 80's. When I looked at them I gave my young self a little more respect, but then I just wanted to reach out and slap me and tell myself to go trim them f'ing leaves! Lol, if I only knew then what I know now I would have been dangerous. Thought some of you might get a kick out of them.
The set up:
-Regular bedroom, probably 10' x 12', with the closet being used as cloning/seed starting room on top section with lights on 24/7. The bottom of the closet was used for vegetation. When they got big enough it was out to the main flower room. I guess you can see the influence of this type of grow on my current set up.
-Some items were hard to get or expensive like mylar. Look at that awful aluminum foil on the wall. At least it was the dull side out.
-I used cheap, plastic bathroom garbage cans with holes drilled in the bottom for drainage. My medium was 50/50 pearlite/vermiculite. I used peter's 20-20-20 for nutrients. Never knew anything about ph'ing the water or anything like that. I just water and feed as needed. No different nutrients for flowering either.
-Seeds were from bagseed at first, then I began to breed my own. It was not safe to order seeds in those days as the DEA could come knock on your door about it. I can smell or taste these same old strains in some of the plants I have grown today. Seems they were easier to grow back then though.
-Pretty sure that is a 50lb co2 tank that was hooked up to a regulator that turned it on every 10 minutes for like 1 minute. The tubing around the room had holes and is where the co2 would drop from. It was not fun lugging that thing to the local welding supply place for a refill, but it would last around 3-4 months.
-1000 watt Metal Halide. The Ballast was the size of a pc and had this constant hum. The light was in an enclosed hood that was attached to a 5' long track. The track had a motor and that moved it back and forth. This allowed more plants with one light. As you can see it was effective but I am sure there was some size trade off.
About the only information you could get was through High Times or a sketchy grow book. Lots of trial and error. I had to tear it down when the company I had ordered some equipment from had their customer list seized by the DEA. A new tactic in the War on Drugs. They were using the lists of customers from many companies to get warrants and do full blown raids on houses. Problem was, some people were just growing tomatoes and veggies. That got stopped pretty quick, but it was enough for me. I was done until three years ago. Still have a lot of paranoia in me that keeps it real. The No Smell, No Sell, No Tell mantra is the key.
Thanks for sharing an old hippies memories.
The set up:
-Regular bedroom, probably 10' x 12', with the closet being used as cloning/seed starting room on top section with lights on 24/7. The bottom of the closet was used for vegetation. When they got big enough it was out to the main flower room. I guess you can see the influence of this type of grow on my current set up.
-Some items were hard to get or expensive like mylar. Look at that awful aluminum foil on the wall. At least it was the dull side out.
-I used cheap, plastic bathroom garbage cans with holes drilled in the bottom for drainage. My medium was 50/50 pearlite/vermiculite. I used peter's 20-20-20 for nutrients. Never knew anything about ph'ing the water or anything like that. I just water and feed as needed. No different nutrients for flowering either.
-Seeds were from bagseed at first, then I began to breed my own. It was not safe to order seeds in those days as the DEA could come knock on your door about it. I can smell or taste these same old strains in some of the plants I have grown today. Seems they were easier to grow back then though.
-Pretty sure that is a 50lb co2 tank that was hooked up to a regulator that turned it on every 10 minutes for like 1 minute. The tubing around the room had holes and is where the co2 would drop from. It was not fun lugging that thing to the local welding supply place for a refill, but it would last around 3-4 months.
-1000 watt Metal Halide. The Ballast was the size of a pc and had this constant hum. The light was in an enclosed hood that was attached to a 5' long track. The track had a motor and that moved it back and forth. This allowed more plants with one light. As you can see it was effective but I am sure there was some size trade off.
About the only information you could get was through High Times or a sketchy grow book. Lots of trial and error. I had to tear it down when the company I had ordered some equipment from had their customer list seized by the DEA. A new tactic in the War on Drugs. They were using the lists of customers from many companies to get warrants and do full blown raids on houses. Problem was, some people were just growing tomatoes and veggies. That got stopped pretty quick, but it was enough for me. I was done until three years ago. Still have a lot of paranoia in me that keeps it real. The No Smell, No Sell, No Tell mantra is the key.
Thanks for sharing an old hippies memories.
Comment