Interested In Growing!

[FutureGrower]

This is definitely a you get what you pay for situation. Will that setup work for you...yes. Will it be durable and produce quality results....doubtful. Cheap hoods may not disperse light in an even spread. Cheap bulbs will not have as full a spectrum, and will need to be replaced sooner than quality bulbs. I have read that a digital ballasts that use an internal fan is more prone to failure that one that does not. Also, cheap ballasts will produce a lot of radio interference. Which may interfere with your neighbors sound system if they are close enough. I realize that $190 for everything is appealing. But I believe that out of everything I purchased for my grow, the light is the one item I didn't want to cheap out on.

I was under the impression that hps lights are very close in relation and that more or less they’d make overall for a similar yield just with different shelf life’s? The ballast thing makes a lot of sense, but couldn’t I play around with, bend, even cut the ballast and reshape it if the light was spread too unevenly? Just seems like a little tinkering would cure a lot of the issues. Also tbh I thought it was a Black Friday sale since they said it was 300+ dollars off haha.

I really just want to jump in without spending 3 grand. I’m also very under educated on a cheaper setup versus more expensive setups yield potentials, or harvest quality.

 

[Enforcer]

I was under the impression that hps lights are very close in relation and that more or less they’d make overall for a similar yield just with different shelf life’s? The ballast thing makes a lot of sense, but couldn’t I play around with, bend, even cut the ballast and reshape it if the light was spread too unevenly? Just seems like a little tinkering would cure a lot of the issues. Also tbh I thought it was a Black Friday sale since they said it was 300+ dollars off haha.

I really just want to jump in without spending 3 grand. I’m also very under educated on a cheaper setup versus more expensive setups yield potentials, or harvest quality.

I was the same way. It was always "for $50 more you can get this" and I didn't want to spend a ton of money before I was sure I liked growing. That's why I read everything I could about growing, watch YouTube videos on various aspects of the equipment used. Then I made decisions based on my current tent size, and future expandability.

The lumens (brightness) of various HPS bulbs is comparable. However, the PAR (Photo Active Radiation) and the color spectrum are very different. The ballast is what powers the light. The hood is what holds the bulb. The reflective material is lower quality in cheaper units. This may lead to hot spots under the light (Areas where the light is too focused. This will cause light burn on your plants, but only in small areas and it could be difficult to diagnose if you have other things going on. My assertion is its best to eliminate known problems early.

Also, as you're new to the game. I wouldn't recommend a 1000w light. That's like just getting your drivers license and hopping in a NASCAR drivers seat. I would recommend a 400w light. Not just because that's what I got, but I feel it's the most versatile beginner light. You get the most well understood (gold standard) of lighting systems, and it's better suited for smaller grow spaces (2x4, 3x3). Then if you find you really like it, you will want to set up a perpetual grow. Then you can simply use you smaller tent and 400w MH light for veg, and outfit a 4x4 or 5x5 tent with a 600w HPS for flower. Then you're running a two tent operation for the same amount of electricity you would have used for only one. And there is less heat to boot. I would avoid 1000w lights unless you have a full size room with high ceilings.

 

[FutureGrower]

I was the same way. It was always "for $50 more you can get this" and I didn't want to spend a ton of money before I was sure I liked growing. That's why I read everything I could about growing, watch YouTube videos on various aspects of the equipment used. Then I made decisions based on my current tent size, and future expandability.

The lumens (brightness) of various HPS bulbs is comparable. However, the PAR (Photo Active Radiation) and the color spectrum are very different. The ballast is what powers the light. The hood is what holds the bulb. The reflective material is lower quality in cheaper units. This may lead to hot spots under the light (Areas where the light is too focused. This will cause light burn on your plants, but only in small areas and it could be difficult to diagnose if you have other things going on. My assertion is its best to eliminate known problems early.

Also, as you're new to the game. I wouldn't recommend a 1000w light. That's like just getting your drivers license and hopping in a NASCAR drivers seat. I would recommend a 400w light. Not just because that's what I got, but I feel it's the most versatile beginner light. You get the most well understood (gold standard) of lighting systems, and it's better suited for smaller grow spaces (2x4, 3x3). Then if you find you really like it, you will want to set up a perpetual grow. Then you can simply use you smaller tent and 400w MH light for veg, and outfit a 4x4 or 5x5 tent with a 600w HPS for flower. Then you're running a two tent operation for the same amount of electricity you would have used for only one. And there is less heat to boot. I would avoid 1000w lights unless you have a full size room with high ceilings.

For now I’m skipping the grow tent, I’ll have my dining room setup which isn’t huge but definitely isn’t a 3x3 lol. I do understand what you mean though. Also you hit the nail on the head when you mentioned the $50 upgrades haha.

Thank you again for the reply man, I’m gonna read up and see what I can find in the lighting department, still not 100% sold on spending that much for something I may throw away in 6 months but maybe I’ll find a killer deal lol

 

[Enforcer]

For now I’m skipping the grow tent, I’ll have my dining room setup which isn’t huge but definitely isn’t a 3x3 lol. I do understand what you mean though. Also you hit the nail on the head when you mentioned the $50 upgrades haha.

Thank you again for the reply man, I’m gonna read up and see what I can find in the lighting department, still not 100% sold on spending that much for something I may throw away in 6 months but maybe I’ll find a killer deal lol

No problem bro. Education is the key to understanding exactly what you want out of your grow. It’s the only way to make a truly informed decision. Plus, if you don’t throw it away in 6 months, you don’t want to go the other way and say to yourself “shit, I should have bought (insert face palm here)”. :)

Happy researching!

 

[Rcubed]

Hey you can get this 315 cmh lighting rig for $254
The fixture is $169 and the Phillips bulb is $85
I bought 3 of them and they kick ass
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071JHPK43/ref=ox_sc_mini_detail?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A25ZV2L4HCTAZ6
https://www.amazon.com/Philips-9015...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=VQ4NGAX1W6GST7G391XE

 

[Enforcer]

Thanks for the reply! As far as lightning and generally everything I’d like to invest the smallest amount and still make everything functional. The biggest fear I have is that I’ll get frustrated and call it quits so I don’t really wanna spend 4 or 500 on lights. I was thinking something along the lines of this as a starter:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009GU4RM...t=&hvlocphy=9033176&hvtargid=pla-307335020097


I’m gonna buy some dyna pro as soon as I get out of work for sure man. I was doing research on 2 and 3 part nutrients and I could totally see messing something up lol

I was reading over your thread again and I must have missed this one. I have this same exact light in my propagation cabinet. I use it for clones and seedlings. Would be pretty underpowered for a healthy plant in flower though, and it’s the wrong light spectrum for flower. However, it would get you there. Plenty of growers use T5’s throughout the plants life. They will usually swap out the bulbs to a bloom spectrum T5 for flower. However, I don’t run T5’s as my primary light. So I’m not familiar with every aspect involved in running them the entire time. I’m sure someone that is will post up soon.

BTW, I’m in Oregon too.

 

[chemistry]

I'd go the 400 HPS route too. Then wait until you see some one growing with better results, and then buy the same lights they have to upgrade.

 

[FutureGrower]

Hey you can get this 315 cmh lighting rig for 4
The fixture is 9 and the Phillips bulb is
I bought 3 of them and they kick ass

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071JHPK43/ref=ox_sc_mini_detail?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A25ZV2L4HCTAZ6

I haven’t done any research on a cmh lighting setup, everything I read really consists of hps with my lights to switch cycles. I’ll read up in them before I makeup my mind. I have seeds shipping from Canada so I’m assuming I have a little bit of time to make me decisions with (hopefully lol)
https://www.amazon.com/Philips-9015...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=VQ4NGAX1W6GST7G391XE

 

[FutureGrower]

I was reading over your thread again and I must have missed this one. I have this same exact light in my propagation cabinet. I use it for clones and seedlings. Would be pretty underpowered for a healthy plant in flower though, and it’s the wrong light spectrum for flower. However, it would get you there. Plenty of growers use T5’s throughout the plants life. They will usually swap out the bulbs to a bloom spectrum T5 for flower. However, I don’t run T5’s as my primary light. So I’m not familiar with every aspect involved in running them the entire time. I’m sure someone that is will post up soon.

BTW, I’m in Oregon too.

Yeah I’m still heavily considering the t5’s but I’m looking at a few hps setups on the cheaper side like a yield lab setup. They have tons of reviews, I’m wondering if anyone here is using their stuff? Reading reviews between yield lab and higher quality setups they seem to have relatively similar reviews. No decision yet, But soon!

Also where at in Oregon? I’m in the bend area, but only moved here a couple years ago from California, I still haven’t adapted to nicer people in two years, not sure if that says something about me lmao.

 

[FutureGrower]

I'd go the 400 HPS route too. Then wait until you see some one growing with better results, and then buy the same lights they have to upgrade.

I’m leaning more towards the 400 and 600 watt setups, most likely I will end on a 400 watt setup that will hopefully take me through 2-3 grows of learning (preferably with success lmao) before upgrading into a cabinet setup

 

[Rcubed]

I haven’t done any research on a cmh lighting setup, everything I read really consists of hps with my lights to switch cycles. I’ll read up in them before I makeup my mind. I have seeds shipping from Canada so I’m assuming I have a little bit of time to make me decisions with (hopefully lol)

Cmh is great. It can be used alone or in combination with hps. Cmh is super efficient and produces very little heat in comparison to hps.

 

[FutureGrower]

Can anyone with auto flowering give me a little soil info? I keep reading that autos don't need food for 1-3 weeks but is this with a nutrient rich soil or could you even do a coco mix and not feed them in the first week (aside from water and light)

 

[FutureGrower]

Cmh is great. It can be used alone or in combination with hps. Cmh is super efficient and produces very little heat in comparison to hps.

Thanks! I'm reading some stuff now on them. So much stuff to learn, I feel like I'm relearning math for the first time or something haha

 

[FutureGrower]

Also for anyone interested this is the space I'm most likely going to be working with (down the line I can move a car out of the garage and put cabinets in its space maybe I can do a veg indoors and flower garage or something

I'm sorry for the mess I'm in the process of cleaning my carpets and have 3 rooms full of junk in my dining room lmao

 

[Enforcer]

Can anyone with auto flowering give me a little soil info? I keep reading that autos don't need food for 1-3 weeks but is this with a nutrient rich soil or could you even do a coco mix and not feed them in the first week (aside from water and light)

Not familiar with autos but I am familiar with coco. You can blend organic ingredients with coco and not feed for a few weeks. If you do that, just be sure to water it like soil. I made the mistake of watering FoxFarms CocoLoco (a blended coco product with nutrients and ph buffers already in it) like it was raw coco and had all kinds of problems. Inert mediums need to be feed daily, anything with nutes you can wait until the plant starts to show deficiencies.

 

[Enforcer]

Yeah I’m still heavily considering the t5’s but I’m looking at a few hps setups on the cheaper side like a yield lab setup. They have tons of reviews, I’m wondering if anyone here is using their stuff? Reading reviews between yield lab and higher quality setups they seem to have relatively similar reviews. No decision yet, But soon!

Also where at in Oregon? I’m in the bend area, but only moved here a couple years ago from California, I still haven’t adapted to nicer people in two years, not sure if that says something about me lmao.

Salem area. Came up from Cali when I was 10. Been here 30 years now, not sure if the people are really nicer or they just want you to think that. Pretty much just keep to myself anymore.

 

[FutureGrower]

Not familiar with autos but I am familiar with coco. You can blend organic ingredients with coco and not feed for a few weeks. If you do that, just be sure to water it like soil. I made the mistake of watering FoxFarms CocoLoco (a blended coco product with nutrients and ph buffers already in it) like it was raw coco and had all kinds of problems. Inert mediums need to be feed daily, anything with nutes you can wait until the plant starts to show deficiencies.

Thank you man I’ve been looking everywhere for that answer, I assumed it was the case I just needed somebody to confirm for piece of mind lol

 

[FutureGrower]

Salem area. Came up from Cali when I was 10. Been here 30 years now, not sure if the people are really nicer or they just want you to think that. Pretty much just keep to myself anymore.

Very cool I have ended up making a few trips out to Portland every year So far (mostly just because of the nightlife and food options) I lived 30 minutes from San Francisco for probably 20 years so I’m kinda used to a more populated area that people hate to even achknowledge you exist lol.

It does seem like Oregon culture is way different though harder to meet people in bars or wherever you are compared to California, so you may be right on that (Oregonians not being nicer lol)

 

[FutureGrower]

Cmh is great. It can be used alone or in combination with hps. Cmh is super efficient and produces very little heat in comparison to hps.

0

Cmh is great. It can be used alone or in combination with hps. Cmh is super efficient and produces very little heat in comparison to hps.

So doing some research on cmh it seems like it uses a little less energy (I cannot find how much less) and runs a little cooler while having a better overall PAR. But creates a lot less flowers because of the lack of the red spectrum light, initial costs go up a bit, and they still run a little hot.

For now atleast I’m gonna stick to hps, if I see a obsurd energy cost increase I’ll look at cmh’s in the future. My mind is just kinda on overload so I’d like to stick with more common s tips fork now.

But man I greatly appreciate the time you and everyone has spent helping me so far! I really expected to sign up without even 10% of the help that’s already been given to me. Ty all for helping me thus far nothing but respect to you guys for taking the time out of your day to help me

 

[chemistry]

0



So doing some research on cmh it seems like it uses a little less energy (I cannot find how much less) and runs a little cooler while having a better overall PAR. But creates a lot less flowers because of the lack of the red spectrum light, initial costs go up a bit, and they still run a little hot.

For now atleast I’m gonna stick to hps, if I see a obsurd energy cost increase I’ll look at cmh’s in the future. My mind is just kinda on overload so I’d like to stick with more common s tips fork now.

But man I greatly appreciate the time you and everyone has spent helping me so far! I really expected to sign up without even 10% of the help that’s already been given to me. Ty all for helping me thus far nothing but respect to you guys for taking the time out of your day to help me

You will not got wrong with HPS, and there is some thing about working in the sunshine, even if it is man made.