Interested In Growing!

[Enforcer]

With a 400w MH/HPS light and all the fans, pumps, air pumps, heaters, etc my PGE bill went up about $80. Lower when I switch to flower (18/6 to 12/12 light is on less).

 

[FutureGrower]

With a 400w MH/HPS light and all the fans, pumps, air pumps, heaters, etc my PGE bill went up about $80. Lower when I switch to flower (18/6 to 12/12 light is on less).

I spend way more than that at dispensaries right now, probably closer to 40/50 each week I also leave my ac/heater on 247. Granted whenever I want top shelf I’ll still probably visit the dispensary til I figure everything out lol

 

[Rcubed]

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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 won't go wrong with a hps. I used metal halide and hps before I went to cmh or (LEC) Nothing comes close to cmh in grams per watt in my experience. If you have time check this video out. Dude compares a 315 watt cmh to a 1000 watt hps. The Hps barely out performs the cmh at triple the watts

 

[Enforcer]

You won't go wrong with a hps. I used metal halide and hps before I went to cmh or (LEC) Nothing comes close to cmh in grams per watt in my experience. If you have time check this video out. Dude compares a 315 watt cmh to a 1000 watt hps. The Hps barely out performs the cmh at triple the watts

Very cool video, thanks for posting it up. For the large multi-light growers I can see the appeal. Almost the same end weight for half the energy cost. However, the HPS did yield more. For small hobbyist with only one or two lights, that benefit quickly becomes negligible. Personally, I would rather have the bigger yield.

 

[FutureGrower]

You won't go wrong with a hps. I used metal halide and hps before I went to cmh or (LEC) Nothing comes close to cmh in grams per watt in my experience. If you have time check this video out. Dude compares a 315 watt cmh to a 1000 watt hps. The Hps barely out performs the cmh at triple the watts

That’s pretty interesting. I watched that video and another one from the same guy, ty for sharing!

I do have questions on it though, would a open ballast work in a 2x2 or 3x3 setup?

Also the guy did say he had some bad batches on the lec side, but didn’t he run hps’s during veg also? I’m sure that would hurt the grow a bit...

Also saving money even in a small scale is a great thing. The price difference from the setup I’m considering and yours is pretty close.

Also what’s the grow difference between the 400 watt hps vs 315 lec? I do know 600ish watts is optimal and you loose lumens per watt, since they compare the 315 watt lec’s to 600 watt hps units. I guess this is actually I should be researching myself rather than asking though, sorry, just typing while rambling in my head haha

 

[FutureGrower]

Btw the 2x2 or 3x3 would be my most likely setups for future that’s why I asked, the open setups would all work fine for me currently, just thinking about down the line.

 

[Rcubed]

That’s pretty interesting. I watched that video and another one from the same guy, ty for sharing!

I do have questions on it though, would a open ballast work in a 2x2 or 3x3 setup?

Also the guy did say he had some bad batches

That’s pretty interesting. I watched that video and another one from the same guy, ty for sharing!

I do have questions on it though, would a open ballast work in a 2x2 or 3x3 setup?

Also the guy did say he had some bad batches on the lec side, but didn’t he run hps’s during veg also? I’m sure that would hurt the grow a bit...

Also saving money even in a small scale is a great thing. The price difference from the setup I’m considering and yours is pretty close.

Also what’s the grow difference between the 400 watt hps vs 315 lec? I do know 600ish watts is optimal and you loose lumens per watt, since they compare the 315 watt lec’s to 600 watt hps units. I guess this is actually I should be researching myself rather than asking though, sorry, just typing while rambling in my head haha

I'm not sure what an open ballast is but all the 315 fixtures I've seen have an internal ballast and are still very low heat. HPS can work for veg and flower. Personally, I used MH for veg and HPS for flower. One 315 would be all you need for a 2X2 or 3X3. As far as bad batches, I think he just meant he had only one set of plants on each side that he would compare because he had some sativas on the lec side which were lighter plants and all indicas on the hps side. He had 3 plants of the same type in the front under both lights that he compared. He had the side with the hps under 4000 watts, and the LEC side under 1250 watts. As far as a 400w hps vs. a 315w cmh there's no comparison. A 315 cmh blows the 400 hps out of the water. One positive about buying a hps is that you can buy fixtures that run MH and HPS that come with both bulbs for much less than a cmh because cmh is the new technology, but if heat is an issue you'll have a lot more trouble with MH and HPS than LEC

 

[Rcubed]

Very cool video, thanks for posting it up. For the large multi-light growers I can see the appeal. Almost the same end weight for half the energy cost. However, the HPS did yield more. For small hobbyist with only one or two lights, that benefit quickly becomes negligible. Personally, I would rather have the bigger yield.

I agree with that, but that bigger yield came with a 1000w hps not a 400w which he was thinking of using. I don't think he'd get a bigger yield with a 400w hps do you? At least I could never get a bigger yield with one!

 

[brazel]

An open ballast has no case, Everything is exposed. Back in the day we would buy ballast replacement kits from the electrical supply house cause they were cheaper.

 

[brazel]

Have you decided on nutes yet? Growing medium?

Another thing to consider is No-Till living organic soil. No PH testing, no flushing, no mixing nutes... You can use just plain water! Plus you can use it multiple times! You just top dress with some amendments in between cycles

 

[brazel]

No reason to worry about throwing anything away, you can give it to me!
Surely there's nothing wrong with gifting;)
Ha

 

[Enforcer]

I agree with that, but that bigger yield came with a 1000w hps not a 400w which he was thinking of using. I don't think he'd get a bigger yield with a 400w hps do you? At least I could never get a bigger yield with one!

Yes, you’re correct. Missed that part, I blame weed.

 

[brazel]

That was a horrible comparison on that video different strains, indica, sativas...I didn't watch it all so there might be more stuff.

The winner was the LEC

It took the LEC .887 watts to produce 1 gram.
It took the HPS 2.28 watts to produce 1 gram.

 

[FutureGrower]

Oops I meant a open reflector I head hua(head up a..) syndrome when I was typing that I guess lol

The question was supposed to be do I have to use an air cooled reflector with the 315 watt light in a 2x2 or 3x3 cabinet? The reason I ask is because the air cooled setups look closer to the 500 range, plus whatever the fans and venting cost

 

[Rcubed]

Oops I meant a open reflector I head hua(head up a..) syndrome when I was typing that I guess lol

The question was supposed to be do I have to use an air cooled reflector with the 315 watt light in a 2x2 or 3x3 cabinet? The reason I ask is because the air cooled setups look closer to the 500 range, plus whatever the fans and venting cost

That depends on your outside temps. If you move a decent amount of air with your inline fan you won't have to use an air cooled reflector unless your outside temps are high. Those lights run really cool. In fact during the winter my buddy adds an HPS to heat his tent when the temps get too cold.

 

[FutureGrower]

That depends on your outside temps. If you move a decent amount of air with your inline fan you won't have to use an air cooled reflector unless your outside temps are high. Those lights run really cool. In fact during the winter my buddy adds an HPS to heat his tent when the temps get too cold.

Thanks man. I’m gonna spend maybe a day or 2 depending on when I have time to read in depth and make a couple choices. Knowing me I’ll end up spending more for the better product, but I’m still having internal struggles with that lmao!

But with the time I’ve already invested in just reading I really can’t see myself stopping growing. The more I read the more excited I get haha.

 

[FutureGrower]

Have you decided on nutes yet? Growing medium?

Another thing to consider is No-Till living organic soil. No PH testing, no flushing, no mixing nutes... You can use just plain water! Plus you can use it multiple times! You just top dress with some amendments in between cycles

Hey man I’m sorry I completely didn’t see your comment. As far as soil goes I’m looking heavily at fox farms ocean forest blend, mostly because I watched two people with auto flowers using it with good success (somewhere in the hours of YouTube and reading).

I’m having difficulty finding auto flowers specific topics but what I do gather from a lot of people is that nutrients in soil appear to be way more gentle on plants than added nutes from a bottle.

As far as nutes, to be honest I’m probably taking another trip to Lowe’s and just picking up anything I’ve seen others using that’s a 2 stage system for a little bit easier measurements for me. I keep reading that generally speaking nutes are mostly similar as long as they have a veg and bloom and aren’t slow release (whatever you call it)

Edit:whatever soil I use I’m planning on either setting rocks or broken pots on the bottom layer, and 20-30% perlite

 

[FutureGrower]

That depends on your outside temps. If you move a decent amount of air with your inline fan you won't have to use an air cooled reflector unless your outside temps are high. Those lights run really cool. In fact during the winter my buddy adds an HPS to heat his tent when the temps get too cold.

I you don’t mind me asking, what is a hot outside temp? I run my ac 24/7 with very little exceptions, and I set it for right around 72-73 degrees throughout summer and 68-72 in winter.

 

[brazel]

Hey man I’m sorry I completely didn’t see your comment. As far as soil goes I’m looking heavily at fox farms ocean forest blend, mostly because I watched two people with auto flowers using it with good success (somewhere in the hours of YouTube and reading).

I’m having difficulty finding auto flowers specific topics but what I do gather from a lot of people is that nutrients in soil appear to be way more gentle on plants than added nutes from a bottle.

As far as nutes, to be honest I’m probably taking another trip to Lowe’s and just picking up anything I’ve seen others using that’s a 2 stage system for a little bit easier measurements for me. I keep reading that generally speaking nutes are mostly similar as long as they have a veg and bloom and aren’t slow release (whatever you call it)

If you wanna see real success hit the Google machine for grow journals by bluejay, Clackamas coot, agnesdawgz, seandogg, jerry, lumperdawgz, mountainorganics, mofo, microbeman, and others i can't think of atm.
The best cannabis Competition in the world is The Emerald cup and they only allow organic and not that bullshit bottle that says organic on it. FFOF is shit I don't care if they grew a purple Twinkie out of it... it doesn't make it good!

Take a second to think about it... what do you want your inputs to be? Do you buy fresh pressed Apple juice or Apple juice from concentrate with High fructose corn syrup?

I'm not smoking your herb so it doesn't really matter to me but i dislike the way companies take advantage of people!

Do you remember this is great medicine and why it was touted as great medicine is because it was natural And obviously its healing properties but how could you get away from synthetic medicine by growing the new natural medicine with synthetic...
Well shit they got you again

 

[brazel]

Hey man I’m sorry I completely didn’t see your comment. As far as soil goes I’m looking heavily at fox farms ocean forest blend, mostly because I watched two people with auto flowers using it with good success (somewhere in the hours of YouTube and reading).

I’m having difficulty finding auto flowers specific topics but what I do gather from a lot of people is that nutrients in soil appear to be way more gentle on plants than added nutes from a bottle.

As far as nutes, to be honest I’m probably taking another trip to Lowe’s and just picking up anything I’ve seen others using that’s a 2 stage system for a little bit easier measurements for me. I keep reading that generally speaking nutes are mostly similar as long as they have a veg and bloom and aren’t slow release (whatever you call it)

Edit:whatever soil I use I’m planning on either setting rocks or broken pots on the bottom layer, and 20-30% perlite

Rocks on bottom or no rocks on bottom... no difference, bluejay aka mofo aka mountain organics and a couple other aka tested this. If you wanna learn REAL shit follow them if not well I heard high times is magical.
Perlite is another thing to skip... use pumice or lava rock they give trace minerals rice hulls are good to