Need help with cool tube height adjustment.

[marinemansf]

I would like to start by saying that I am very new to growing, that being said I have done all the research but have been having trouble finding anything about how far away to position cool tubes and during which phase. If I could get some feedback on this topic I would greatly appreciate it. Also my ladies are about 3 inches tall at the moment and being grown in bio buckets that are a close approximations to bigtokes.

 

[tokersmoke]

at three inches tall i would be looking at least 18 inches depending on the wattage of the light.if youre rockin a 1000w hid you wanna be further till the plants adjust.

That being said i use air cooled hoods and can get within 6 inches of the plant with 600w lights,Once the plants get used to it.some strains tolerate the light closer then others.It seems like the closer the light is the faster growth i get. With the light being so close you dont get as much coverage,so try to find a happy medium and use your forearm under the light it should give you a good indication.

What type of fan are you running in the cool tube?

 

[marinemansf]

Thanks for the info friend. Right now it's a 600 watt, non ducted and without a fan. Wasn't sure how to go about it.

 

[tokersmoke]

without a fan your looking at 18 inches away with seedlings at a minimum definately need to get a fan and ducting!!

 

[marinemansf]

What kind would you recomend? Fan that is.

 

[tokersmoke]

ive got a hurricane 6 inch fan.Its a great fan but a little pricey.ive seen great reviews of fan filter combos on amazon for less then i spent on the name brand.do a little searching and read reviews.Im gonna buy an intake an exhaust fan myself.im gonna pull cold air in from under my house and blow it in under the plants.And put an exhaust fan in the ceiling routed out through the roof.Air exchange is one of the most important factors.I also have two oscillating fans so it kinda sounds like overkill to add more fans but the plants love the extra co2 and fresh air.

Ive had to get my equiptment one piece at a time.But it always pays off. cheers thanks for the convesations!

 

[marinemansf]

thank you so much for your help man, I'm going to post some pictures in the layout of my system here in the next hour. And I'll post a link to it in this thread so everyone can better understand what I'm working with. And thank you for the help so far tokersmoker.

 

[tokersmoke]

great cant wait to see the setup.

Im currently looking for my camera to share my ladies and start a late journal.ive got 7 ladies flowering under 2 600w hps and 1 600w metal halide.I have all the ballast turned down to 75% to get within 6 inches of the plants!

So again not really going for yield per watt im only expectin an lb if that.But the plus side is since the lights are so close and the plants arent as bunched together im getting faster results!

Ideally i could fit alot more ladies under three 600w lights and get a pound per light.I just dont have the room i have no other place to grow.I could maybe fit 7 more in the room comfortably but it would be a chore to water them and move in my closet.I have not measured but the closet is probobly 7x4!!so alot of light and heat in a small area but i have gotten it to where the temp is 80f. Sorry for my rant!

 

[marinemansf]

Ok homie i got most of the new thread on my new grow posted.

Here is the link to it brother,

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=6201098#post6201098

 

[St3ve]

always error on the side of safety. Start off much far.. slowly bring it in.

for 3" tiny plants I would be way high with a 600w to start. Probably two feet at least. If the plants keep their color (and don't fade from the light) then lower it a few inches every couple of days. I still wouldn't get closer than 16-18" even in flower.

 

[tokersmoke]

Even with a cooltube?with exhaust?

 

[St3ve]

yes.. its not just about the heat. To much light pounding them will also cause stress and bleaching. Its best to make adjustments small. With nutes or light.

Usually, if you have a 3" plant, that means it either is a clone or seedling. In either case it was probably under weaker light to not dry out the substrate. Therefore you need to slowly bring the plant up to full light and nutes.

 

[tokersmoke]

Yeah i got that i was referring to when you said even in flowering.not trying to be combative just asking.

 

[St3ve]

I didn't take it that way mang, sorry if I came off that way too? I was just trying to be informative.

and yes.. even in flower with good exhaust you really don't need any closer than 18". Any closer and the light spread is too bad compared to any advantage you'd get from more light to just the tops. Makes for a very uneven crop of buds. You *could* do it safely, but I wouldn't. There is a sweet spot for getting nice buds and having a nice spread.

 

[tokersmoke]

thanks for the info steve.I do see your point about light spread.In my personal experience with my equiptment i get alot closer with the light.Just works for me.

I dont know how to get the chart on here but it says at 18 inches away with a 600 you are only getting 13000 lumens.a 600 puts out 92000 lumens so you are losing alot of the light.I know lumens have nothing to do with plant growth and that par numbers are more important.

I run air cooled hoods and get 6-8 inches away which comes out around 85000 lumens,I get good results without bleaching or burn.I have also heard the glass on an air cooled hood lowers the lumen output.Running the lights so close makes the smaller buds on the bottom bigger too.Its kinda a double edged sword,beacause you definately loose the spread of the light.

Great thread and conversation.

 

[St3ve]

I hear what you are saying and I know the chart you are talking about well.. but don't get too caught up in the numbers my friend. They are numbers from one dude (Krusty) and I have seen them all too. I am not saying they don't have merit, I am just saying that it doesn't share info on the big picture. Just one tiny piece.

I have also personally run the full on big money air-cooled setups to be able to do the same thing you are trying for now. And.. after all that time money and effort, I ditched everything to run wing style reflectors at a nice distance. I have found that lower wattage with over lapping light brings me better over all quality and yield than higher wattage. I have found that the buds the get direct like tend to be much nicer than those that don't. The buds that are directly under the bulb (getting far more lumens) are just as good as the buds getting direct light further away on the edges. (getting what the list would call too little). I have verified this with my light meter as well.

I have also stopped running 1k's.. (because of my plant size, I am not saying that a 1k isn't right for large plants). Running 3x600 (1800w) produces much better than 2x1k (2000w) which also flys against that graph. But that is my tried and true experience.

I would encourage you to experiment and gather knowledge from your own experiences.. you don't need to listen to people like me or Krusty.. everyone will always share different opinions. What will work best in your garden is for you do figure out along the way.

Good luck and happy growing

 

[tokersmoke]

Good point about the 1ks im sure they have their uses but the 600 is the most efficient setup.I have 3 air cooled hoods i couldnt ever imagine going back the other way with batwings.never..But each space and need is different.thanks