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Give me yout advise about my lights, please!

R

rastafari80

Hi guys,


in my first three years of growing I "collected" at leat 4 types of lighting and I almost use them all during a complete cycle, anyway I'd like to have some advise ad opinions.


I have a 50watt cob, 150watt MH & HPS, 250watt MH & HPS and, finally, a dimmable 315watt CMH 3000k .


So, the main question is, how would you use them with 4 plants and a veg period of 4/6 weeks?

The last cycle I use the 50watt cob from germination and after a couple weeks I switched to 150watt MH, then 250watt MH and, finally, I used the CMH at 100%: a lot of work and I don't know if it's so good to change lights every 2 weeks.

Now I'm wondering for my next cycle what should I do and if I need one more CFL light for veg...
My plan is to use the 50watt COB for germination and after 10day put them all directly under the 315watt CMH at 50% power and then going up to 100% gradually to flowering.


Maybe I'm lost so any advice is gold.
thank you so much
 
944s2

944s2

Well-known member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Get rid of the low powered lamps but keep the 250w for seedlings and replace the others with 3 or 4 dual spectrum 600w bulbs and watch your baby's turn into huge trees,,
Best of luck,,,,944s2
 
Ibechillin

Ibechillin

Masochist Educator
I would use the 50w COB and probably get some T5s and cfls for germination/cloning/mother plants. Definitely use the 315 CMH for vegging and flowering at full power, not good to dim HID. Ive never had a problem moving seedlings to under 1000w HPS as long as they are kept a good distance away, and they establish strong. Research indicates the initial lighting a seedling is exposed to determines the photosynthetic pigments its produces and will alter its morphology.
 
Last edited:
R

rastafari80

@944s2: well, the question isn't strictly about huge trees but lights I have and the best ways or moment to use them... I prefer CMH over HPS for quality and I'm not going for a hid of 600w or more for energy consumtion and heat dissipation... thank you anyway, honestly I can't afford your approach right now.



@Ibechillin: thank you, it sounds wise. I always start from seeds and I don't want waste energy or give too much light to seedlings, that's why I write about dimming the CMH even if I know the spectrum may vary... but I think it's almost a full spectrum compared to a MH and, in flowering, I can see clearly the difference caused by UVB...
 
R

rastafari80

purplepassion said:
I’d use the 250 and 315 in a 4x4 area
Click to expand...


it's a 3x3, I bought the CMH with a focused reflector because it's just perfect for that size.
thank you for you suggestion.




I have just one more doubt: is a 50watt COB useful at least for the germination stage and the first 10 days?
 
Ibechillin

Ibechillin

Masochist Educator
Yeah a 50w cob is probably fine for germinating seeds, a that stage you really just need a light source to guide them out of the medium when they sprout.
 
Chunkypigs

Chunkypigs

passing the gas
Veteran
rastafari80 said:
Hi guys,


in my first three years of growing I "collected" at leat 4 types of lighting and I almost use them all during a complete cycle, anyway I'd like to have some advise ad opinions.


I have a 50watt cob, 150watt MH & HPS, 250watt MH & HPS and, finally, a dimmable 315watt CMH 3000k .


So, the main question is, how would you use them with 4 plants and a veg period of 4/6 weeks?

The last cycle I use the 50watt cob from germination and after a couple weeks I switched to 150watt MH, then 250watt MH and, finally, I used the CMH at 100%: a lot of work and I don't know if it's so good to change lights every 2 weeks.

Now I'm wondering for my next cycle what should I do and if I need one more CFL light for veg...
My plan is to use the 50watt COB for germination and after 10day put them all directly under the 315watt CMH at 50% power and then going up to 100% gradually to flowering.


Maybe I'm lost so any advice is gold.
thank you so much
Click to expand...

All those will grow weed but the 315 is the only thing worth keeping in the future.

All the tech we use in weed comes directly from lighting freeways, parking lots and stadiums as cheaply as possible. Use the cheapest most efficient source you can afford.

The biggest bang for your buck isn't t5 or CFL in veg it's in led shop and undercounter lights or led floodlights or hi bays for bigger growers.

The weed specific led makers are charging huge premiums per watt compared to everyone else in lighting today.

At the shop light size 1 watt of led is much brighter and efficient than a watt of t5 and it's almost as cheap as a watt of HPS.

4 foot long 20 watt led strips in various kelvin ratings has become a standard of sorts now and everybody is selling the same basic gear in a variety of packaging and quality levels, check the feedback and reviews carefully.

GAvita 1000w DEs are $200 now, 5 watts of powerful light per dollar investment.

Led shop lights are 3-4 watts per dollar if you buy them in multiple packs online now.

I like the 6000K color range 20 watt undercounter lights that come with daisy chain hardware and cord set ups. 8 of them for $50 on Amazon now.

I'm replacing all my floros used in growing and lighting my garage and basement areas with these led fixtures, the bang for the buck is great and the only downside is the waste when they burn out but I'll bet the tech will improve dramatically before I burn them out.
 
f-e

f-e

Well-known member
Mentor
Veteran
I think you have the right idea. A 50w cob can saturate a small space beyond levels a plant can dream of using. Not a big space.. but more than 4 seedlings will occupy. Using more power would just be insane, for your power consumption and thus the planet we live on. The cob will produce around half the light of your 150s, and 150 is a job your 315 can do. So you have your 315 for every light level between 150 and 315, and your cob doing a 75w equivalent (it's a reasonable cob yes, like 150lm/w)

That's everything you need in two lights. You can actually dim that cob 50% for seedlings. You could also have a bigger light than 315 over your 3x3, though a 600w would be too much and a 400 is little better than the 315. I would be tempted by a 400w green power though. You should look up the useful energy off both your 315 and a 400, just to see if that makes sense. I know it won't be 25% more light for your 25% increase in power consumption. Bud is air and light though, with only about 10-15% of the cured material being accounted for by food.

It seems your 150s and 250s are redundant. I keep both myself, but I'm looking for an electronic ballast that can run both. Thinning out the herd. It's heavy stuff. My 70s are destined to join my 80w mercury's in history.
 
wvkindbud38

wvkindbud38

Elite Growers Club
Veteran
944s2 said:
Get rid of the low powered lamps but keep the 250w for seedlings and replace the others with 3 or 4 dual spectrum 600w bulbs and watch your baby's turn into huge trees,,
Best of luck,,,,944s2
Click to expand...


That's some great advice in my opinion....maybe add you a inline fan to offset the extra heat your gonna get if you scrapped it and went with 600s like he suggested.


But I'm figuring you wanna keep the lights you have. Really you need all that light.....I'd use the small one for seeding growth, probably add the CMH to then once there about 2wks from seed or a decent size healthy plant ready to move from the smaller light. About 2wks before 12/12 I'd put the CMH and HPS stuff together and put away the smaller stuff if u already haven't. You could possibly use it for side lighting but as small as it is I wouldn't bother. The more HID the ladies get the fatter yours buds and bigger harvest' potency and everything is gonna be better with more intense light. If it's me I'm using all that HID light for 12/12 CMH, HPS....rotate yours plants around. Yeah it might not be 100% the spectrum u might want but I'll grow more bud using the CMH HPS together than I will not using them. Just my take, not 100% the exact plan you have but I'd definitely consider a 600hps)mh ballast per every 3x3 or as much as u can afford. I always done ok with 40-50w per square foot....I think I'm saying that right.

Good luck:tiphat: hi
.
 
R

rastafari80

thank you so much guys for the precious opinions and advices!


@f-e you completely get the point and it's nice for a lonely top secret grower to know I'm kinda right...
well, my last cycle I really struggled with too many lights and had some problems with hot temperatures in vegging. it's was my first cycle with the 3x3 and the cmh on flowering tand he result looks much more homogeneous than the 250watt hps [I used it before in a 2x2 tent]. definetlely looked a much quality harvest that now it's drying...
Maybe in the future I'll consider the 600watt but I think I'm not greedy to "run", I like to improve step by step and learn hoow to get the max from my equipment. :)
 
R

rastafari80

never consider to use both the 315cmh AND the 250w hps... well, sounds crazy for temperatures in the grow tent... do you think it's possible without a conditioner?
 
wvkindbud38

wvkindbud38

Elite Growers Club
Veteran
rastafari80 said:
never consider to use both the 315cmh AND the 250w hps... well, sounds crazy for temperatures in the grow tent... do you think it's possible without a conditioner?
Click to expand...


Yes it's definitely gonna heat your tent up. Is your hoods air cooled/ sealed glass so u could maybe get you a 6in inline fan and vent that heat outta your tent?? It may be possible this winter and spring depending on were you live/region and if ur growrooms in a basement or not. I think these old basement stay cooler. I'm not a expert on lighting spectrum, but I've been around long enough to know a lil bit. I'd maybe consider it in the future, I'd bet it will be some nice buds if you could keep it cooled with inline fans. They got some cheap inline on Amazon I'm sure u know. Good luck friend, there's alot of smart guys on here that might have a better solution. There's different ways it just depends on what and how you wanna go about it. This winter I figure with those lights in a tent if the hoods are sealed and you had a inline fan blowing that heat outta the hoods, another oscillating fan or so on the garden.
 
f-e

f-e

Well-known member
Mentor
Veteran
Due to the inefficiency of the 250, a 600 would be no hotter than the 250&315 together. The single light source would lend itself to cool-tube type installations better. Allowing you to force air from outside the tent, through the tube, and back out again. Without extracting anything from the tent. Aiding environmental control.

Still.. that's nearing 70w per foot. Many plants won't want it. The one's that do will be high maintenance in them conditions. Your 315 alone gives 35w per foot. That's nice and steady, though nothing amazing. A 400 will give you the ~45w per foot vwkindbud38 likes. That should produce a bar and a half using higher yielding strains. Moving to a 6 will be more problems than it's worth imo.

Why not crack on with your 315, and if temperatures allow, slip in a 150. Then if it's still manageable try the 250. Prove it works, before buying a 6, a tube and another fan.
 
Lost in a SOG

Lost in a SOG

GrassSnakeGenetics
For simplicity i'd use the COB until they're 4" tall then move on to the CMH a good 3' away and reducing the height to around 20-24"..

My main issue with CMH and all HID is that the light spread is generally fairly uneven and difficult to get the best out of in smaller grow spaces where you can't have more lights to make up for this and also in smaller grow spaces the heat they put out is an utter nightmare.
 
R

rastafari80

guys, thank you all... more precious pinions and thoughts !!!


@f-e : well, I have to say I did the choice for a CMH due to a lower wattage consumption than a more powerful hps and, in my experience, the UVB of a CMH does a lot for resin, terpens and thc.
you give me great advices btw. thank you!


@Lost in a SOG: nice. that's a kind answer that helps me A LOT!
I love the fact you're suggesting me the heights and I can feel the same struggle I have... the nightmare of the heat of a hid/cmh lamp!ùù


@wvkindbud38 I can't really understand how some guys can put a 1000w or a 600w in small tent, I can swap the air in the tent with all the air in the world but the radiant heat won't go away... I need very cold temp outside the grow room to do something similar with the problem to have a very cold temperature for the "nights"...
Sometime I just think the grow tent are just for "the best you can do", not for a "controlled growing environment"...
 
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