Hello guys would love to hear about what kind of setups you all used before the 90s and specifically modern HID, CFL, and LEDs… indoors of course. Any photos would be really nice to see and compare with our easy ass grow tents and sometimes automated systems. I’ve got some Jorge Cervantes books showing a few but that’s ab it, thanks
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I wasnt growing yet but remember hearing about people stealing streetlights for their growlights. Think a lot of people were rocking the sea of green method back then as well.
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Ha nice gotta do what you gotta do
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Yes that was common but the light sensor had to be taped over and they would put out so much heat it was truly insane , I saw a set up in a basement like this with exhaust into the main house and it heated the hole house in the winter…
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What about some of those '70s incandescents that I see in a lot of old music videos? I know they are inefficient as hell but might get the job done haha
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Here is some footage:
1988 indoor in Nl
Also 1980s but i guess in Canada:
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Killing 2 birds with 1 stone, not sure when those air cooled lights came out but had to be sometime around late 80s early 90s im guessing. Thats around the time hydro started poppin off as well.
Cool man haven’t seen those before
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Funny enough they already used hydroponic / drip irrigation in second video 
Analog metal halide, mercury vapor, and basic florescents. High pressure sodium hit the scene in late 80’s early 90’s and was a game changer. They all got really hot except for the florescents. You needed lots of ventilation and/or AC. The bulbs were huge
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I grew my first plant, outside, in 1972, but it didnt make it to finish. My mother found it growing in the backyard, and pulled it. It was a killer Oaxacan strain, and probably wouldnt have finished anyway.
Around 1977-78, High Times started advertising a 1000wwww Halide bulb for sale. It was the same bulb, used on the Navy Subs. They would grow veggies, as the often didnt have any outside contact, for months and months.
The bulb was very fragile, and they wouldnt guarantee, it would make it through the mail, in working order.
Not long after that. Maybe 6 months, they came out with a more rugged 1000w Halide, and would guarantee it would make it through the mail, in working order.
This bulb, was called the Supernova.
They also came out with a Hydro Unit, called the Octagarden. It had 9 - 5 gallon containers. 8 for plants, and one, as a reservoir.
Been growing on, and off, ever since.
I myself, still prefer HID.
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Great story man and I love using HID in the cooler months along with blurple to supplement. There’s something about flowers grown under HPS just different level
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I started growing in the spring of 1970. I groped and flailed and failed in trying to get long sativas to finish outdoors in the NE. High Times was published in 1974, and led me to Ed Rosenthall and Mel Frank and their book in 1974 – Marijuana Growers’ Indoor/Outdoor Guide, by Level Press, San Francisco.
Then this book by Jorge Cervantes (1983) helped me refine and improve my technique indoors and out, as I moved to SoFla in 1980 in order to grow outdoors year round (also fish).
I used floros in the 1970’s and switched to MH and then HPS in the early ‘80s.
The advent of the availability of much shorter finishing hybrids and indica seeds sealed the deal on my love of growing indoors by the mid ‘80s.
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Love hearing that man I bet it was an exciting time
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Not many people were growing back then. It was all a “how much weight can I buy/sell” and make money off of thing then for most people. >However< you were involved…everything was connected to “who you knew”. Everything.
Pictures from that era are hard to come by. Talk about paranoia. To have pictures meant you had enough balls (or stupid) to send that roll of 35mm film off to be developed and possibly create a trail back to your grow/etc.
Everything was just harder to come by then. OK…other than the aforementioned paranoia. It was everywhere. The was no internet and no easy “how to” info. Those grow books were it…and again…you had to find a bookstore that carried em and then have the balls to walk up and buy one.
“Shop lights” were common in early grows for many. Easily purchased/no red flags/etc. As you saw in the vids…HID was around and was used by serious growers/those who could acquire them discreetly. “Grow stores” were few and far between. I remember going to RMLH in Denver for the first time in '91 or '92. It was in an industrial park and I would have my wife drop me off elsewhere and would walk to the store through other stores/etc. “to be safe”. I guess it worked. LOL It was amazing to see the lights/tables/etc all set up in rooms with tropical plants/etc rather than weed. For me it was the first time I saw how advanced it was over my attempts and what “State of the Art” was @ the time. I only went there >when necessary<. It was truly a mindfuck.
Because it was so sketchy to go there…I sourced a lot of products via the nursery/greenhouse industry. Pots…“topsoil”…perlite…and depending where you went…some bigger nurseries would have basic amendments/jiffy plugs/etc. (No Rapid Rooters yet) Whatever you needed to grow “tomatoes” with. You were still noided cus you were always noided…but it was most in yer head in those kinda places.
No tents in those days. Closets…under the stairs…crawlspace/attic/etc. Someone dedicating an entire bedroom mean they were very serious about it all. There were no charcoal filters either. Folks exhausted into their house and hoped it didn’t leak out. “Ionizers” were on the shelves early on but never worked. Ozone generators were a phase in there as well. Seems like it was mid-to-late 90’s before the first charcoal filters showed up.
Miracle Grow was commonly used because there were no cannabis-specific nutrients/bottles/etc. Fish emulsion was also a go-to for many. If you knew of a garden store.nursery that had ANY choices you were doing very well.
Parabolic hoods were the norm if you were in warp speed and had an HID. You can see that type of hood in the second vid where they show the hydro shop from window. Just look for the HUGE 1000 watt basketball lamp hanging down a foot under it…like @Chara pictured. The “Diamond” ballasts/most ballasts were big/heavy/grey/squarish metal boxes. I hear rumor that Diamond went on to become Sunlight Supply and there were other early-on folks who now run big corps. There was also the “Phototron”…LOL.
and so much more
Challenging but very profitable times for many.
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Hahaha… Polaroids only, and I sure wish I still had my box of them.
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Exactly what has already been said. Not many were taking pictures and if they were, they were Polaroids and those are pretty faded by now. The old books, pamphlets, and whatnot from back then are probably your best bets.
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Ten characters
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Cool stuff man and always love seeing the old MH indoor setups from the old days. I use a MH/HPS 400 watt dimmable light in the few cool months we get down south but always supplement with blurple LED to enhance the spectrum when flowering. CMH has become a little bit popular in recent times and there’s just something about the quality of the bud grown under those old hot ass lamps… Maybe takes me back to turn of the century when most of what we smoked came from those kind of setups.
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Pretty sure it’s Steve Murphy not Murphy Steven’s
Does he go by Murphy Steven’s in the book , if so must say thats a super slick name change 
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