[FrayedKnott]

I have a DarkRoom Dr150, 4'11"X4'11"X6'5". I built a 4' diameter lazy susan to be able to spin and work the plants in a vertical scrog. I'm going to use 5 gallon pots that are 12" wide. I figured I'd put the screen mesh at the edge of the pots. So I have 36" inches to the center. I'm using a 1000w hps light and from the charts I've seen here, the plants branches, buds shouldn't be 10" or closer. That leaves 26" for buds.

I've seen some discussion about using a cool tube where there is a loss of lumens (not sure how thou) and if you don't use a cool tube but a fan to blow up on the bulb to a vent to exhaust the heat that the plants could get wind burned.

Should I use a cool tube or just blow a fan up on the bulb and exhaust the heat?

Should my vertical screen be further away from the pots to give more support to the buds?

I'm going to try this with white widow and satori. This is my 1st vertical grow after 3 flat grows. Any help or pointers will be greatly appreciated. I've been reading many of the posts here about vertical grows and learning much.

Thanks!

[aligee]

IMHO cooltubes help to contain heat with the glass as a shield if you know what I mean !Vertical so far for me has exceeded my expectations by far no doubt the wind burn is there but doesn't effect buds as far as I've seen I say fans leaves were put in place just for that ! I've just added another 600w lumetech just waiting on a 600mh conversion lamp yields are amazing! with just 1000w youl get nice results !go vertical and the rest is history~>alig<~

[medmaker420]

Most suggest the cooltube, I am wanting to test both overtime and the effects on the buds and overall growth as well. Odds are plenty of have done these comparisons BUT sure do love testing stuff myself.

Wind burn is possible for sure, if you know the effects the burn has been on buds then odds are go with the cool tube.

With my custom cabs I will be building however I will build them to be ran with cooltubes just so I can test both BUT odds are will end up cool tubing due to the many who say COOL TUBE IT ASSHOLE lol.

I do like pretty plants and any burn bugs my eyes SO if it is a big deal I would rather NOT deal with it.

1k would crank them out, I am going to be playing with 2 600's in the custom cabs, I was only going to do 600's in the tents I have BUT might as well build vert cabs to really optimize the area.

[oregon_guy]

I used a bare bulb (400 watt hps) and tried to vent out the heat from above. After installing a cool tube, it dropped the tempetaure down 10+ degrees. I am not sure about the lumen drop from using the CT. What about trying out a different AC hood that has more of a flat surface to get better canopy coverage?

[Spanishwilly]

Hi,
I've been researching my upcoming vertical grow for quite a while, both here and at Verti(al Green. (hope I don't get in shit for that) This thread is the first time I've come across the term "wind burn" in this context.
All, well, lots of the guru types that I've been learning from are adamant that cooltubes do cut down lumens significantly. As for how, it's because glass is not totally transparent. Then there's the refraction stuff.
Lots of folks still use cooltubes, and every application is different. You definitely can get a lot closer to cooltubes than bare bulbs.
Cardinal

[FrayedKnott]

Thanks All for your input. I wanted to go without a cool tube, but now I'm leaning towards it because it is a tight space, a 1000w bulb, and the tent is made of plastic material . Don't want to have to tell the firechief why my house burned down.

I guess with the 1000 watts there will be more lumens than the 600w bare even with the cool tube.

[Dr happy]

hello all
i hope the answer will be simple
for vertical grow u need canopy space...
if u put the plant to close to the light u will reduce the canopy space
u need to put plants at the maximum distance from the light & still make it bright enough for the plants!
so ... if the distance from the light is corect and ventilation is corect there is no chance of wind burn

dont worry be happy

[noone88]

I use a vented cooltube for safety reasons.

Exposed bulb + water = danger

[Grow+Positive]

hey guys what about just running an 8" duct right up to the base of the light without a cool tube? you could run the power cable for the light thru the duct so it can hang right in the middle

anyone have real info on how much light is lost from a cool tube?

[Imparo]

Originally Posted by FrayedKnott

Should I use a cool tube or just blow a fan up on the bulb and exhaust the heat?


Thanks!

Depends if you have temperature issues or not The naked bulb it's better for what concerns lumens, but since I'm in a small grow, i NEED the tube