iLLperception
Member
simba, yes that is higromite, trying it for the first time! so far so good
PurplePotion
Member
Digital & switchable HPS ballasts will not work. The correct type is a magnetic core ballast.
MoleMcHenry
Member
Hey MPL - Thanks for the compliment. This Kalichakra is from seed, and she's in Fox Farm Ocean Forest mixed with a little bit of light warrior in a 2 gallon grow bag. I think she's about 2 feet, but I haven't measured. She's been fed low concentrations of GH Floranova grow and bloom, molasses, and alg-a-mic sparingly. You can read all about her and my other plants in the top link in my signature.
simba
Sleeping Dragon
Ill, ya higro Rocks.. One thing i have found i like it more for Ebbflow, top or bottom feed (cycling threw wet dry) i found in net pot keep water level at diff levels depending on Enviro..
I Crush it down to several size increments.. from coarse sand to the chunks that come in the bag..depending on if im starting seeds/clones direct or just adding some extra to Bcuzz Bounce Coco, the 2 together is a Great combo..benis of coco and the extra water/nute..
another thing with higro when first hydration.. mix up PH'ed and Nuted water.. otherwise the Higro IMPO doesnt take it in as well later..(first time around gets in in the middle where it is last to dry out.. IE your daily watering wont allow it to ever dry and resuck that nute water in.. )
depending on your room temps you may want to just give those buckets a bit of panda just flapping over it and down the sides.. (only if water temps get above 65 otherwise not needed)
i like the white on the pvc great way to reequip some of that light from going to the ground only ..
All Magnetic core (heavy) ballasts.. rated s50 for the 250 watt retros and s51 for the 400 watt retros. will run CMH.. (philips HPS retro white CMH, in my sig)
in short the electronic and digis are what we want to stay away from... especialy from the horticulture industry..
if you are going to stay with HPS ONLY get a advance or another Commercial Industry Ballast Manufacture..never a horti marketed one..
I Crush it down to several size increments.. from coarse sand to the chunks that come in the bag..depending on if im starting seeds/clones direct or just adding some extra to Bcuzz Bounce Coco, the 2 together is a Great combo..benis of coco and the extra water/nute..
another thing with higro when first hydration.. mix up PH'ed and Nuted water.. otherwise the Higro IMPO doesnt take it in as well later..(first time around gets in in the middle where it is last to dry out.. IE your daily watering wont allow it to ever dry and resuck that nute water in.. )
depending on your room temps you may want to just give those buckets a bit of panda just flapping over it and down the sides.. (only if water temps get above 65 otherwise not needed)
i like the white on the pvc great way to reequip some of that light from going to the ground only ..
All Magnetic core (heavy) ballasts.. rated s50 for the 250 watt retros and s51 for the 400 watt retros. will run CMH.. (philips HPS retro white CMH, in my sig)
in short the electronic and digis are what we want to stay away from... especialy from the horticulture industry..
if you are going to stay with HPS ONLY get a advance or another Commercial Industry Ballast Manufacture..never a horti marketed one..
Last edited:
am I missing something?
am I missing something?
So I've read through the whole thread and my mind is mush right now but I dont think I'm understanding the whole ballast thing. I realize that you cannot use an electronic ballast but from what I've read is it kind of hit or miss with a switchable ballast? it seems some people are fine with them then some run into probs. I recently got a switchable magnetic ballast is this not going to be able to run a CMH? that would totally blow just so you guys know lol. If simba could reply it would be much appreciated because you seem to understand it all a lot better than anyone else *not knocking anyone else*
I was really looking forward to running the CMH on my switchable ballast too.... think I should just return it to be safe? idk if the hydro store had a plain jane magnetic HPS ballast.
am I missing something?
So I've read through the whole thread and my mind is mush right now but I dont think I'm understanding the whole ballast thing. I realize that you cannot use an electronic ballast but from what I've read is it kind of hit or miss with a switchable ballast? it seems some people are fine with them then some run into probs. I recently got a switchable magnetic ballast is this not going to be able to run a CMH? that would totally blow just so you guys know lol. If simba could reply it would be much appreciated because you seem to understand it all a lot better than anyone else *not knocking anyone else*
I was really looking forward to running the CMH on my switchable ballast too.... think I should just return it to be safe? idk if the hydro store had a plain jane magnetic HPS ballast.
simba
Sleeping Dragon
guinn,
ya the ballast thing needs clearing up on page 1 and on adv tech site..
the philips CMH 250,400 Watt HPS Ballastable,
will run on the standard HPS Magnetic Core ballasts (sometimes called electro-magnet, that just means magnetic core just a fancy way to say it for marketing)
as far as switchable few have had issues vs the many being used on switchable., but u have 3 options. 1. see if it works on the hps side, 2.Remove the Switch itself, 3. return for Basic HPS ballast.. (id prefer 3rd only cause never need hps or mh again with cmh)
as far as Electronic and digital ballasts for the 250-400 watters..
Only the GE CMH Ultramax, Advance Digi (Not released yet, and advance is part of philips)
ya the ballast thing needs clearing up on page 1 and on adv tech site..
the philips CMH 250,400 Watt HPS Ballastable,
will run on the standard HPS Magnetic Core ballasts (sometimes called electro-magnet, that just means magnetic core just a fancy way to say it for marketing)
as far as switchable few have had issues vs the many being used on switchable., but u have 3 options. 1. see if it works on the hps side, 2.Remove the Switch itself, 3. return for Basic HPS ballast.. (id prefer 3rd only cause never need hps or mh again with cmh)
as far as Electronic and digital ballasts for the 250-400 watters..
Only the GE CMH Ultramax, Advance Digi (Not released yet, and advance is part of philips)
Last edited by a moderator:
iLLperception
Member
simba, water temps have been a prob, right now at about 74, am hoping to get at least down under 70. I have an A/C unit that will be pumping a little of the air into the res, I hope that helps. Also, I took your advice and covered the whole surface with panda, maybe that will help with the temps a bit.
I will have to remember that about hirgromite, and do the pre-soak, I just washed them in tap water the first time, but then they dried for about 3 weeks. Then they were put into 7.0 ph tap water again, and then ph'd down to under 6 with nutes, but only after they had already touched the 7.0.
I will have to remember that about hirgromite, and do the pre-soak, I just washed them in tap water the first time, but then they dried for about 3 weeks. Then they were put into 7.0 ph tap water again, and then ph'd down to under 6 with nutes, but only after they had already touched the 7.0.
Help me! I'm really scared!
This night i was sleeping chilly chilly, when i found out that there's been a 5 minutes black out in my neighborhood. I immediately runt to my grow room (which isn't in the same house where i sleep) and i found that my cmh was attempting to refire.
I was really scared since i know that black out are really bad for CMH, so i was there with my fire extinguisher in order to prevent any mayor problem.
Having a GFCI, do i have to worry about what happened? I noticed that usually, when it's cool, my bulb take 5 seconds to fire up, but this time it took a lot longer, and i was REALLY scared, since the power was on and the ballast was working (when it's attempting to fire a bulb, it makes a strange noise like: trrrrrrrr....) but it toke like 2 fucking long minutes before any light was seen.
I can't know for sure if there are many blackout, but sometimes there are black out...
sigh... i'm really scared my bulb will explode...
This night i was sleeping chilly chilly, when i found out that there's been a 5 minutes black out in my neighborhood. I immediately runt to my grow room (which isn't in the same house where i sleep) and i found that my cmh was attempting to refire.
I was really scared since i know that black out are really bad for CMH, so i was there with my fire extinguisher in order to prevent any mayor problem.
Having a GFCI, do i have to worry about what happened? I noticed that usually, when it's cool, my bulb take 5 seconds to fire up, but this time it took a lot longer, and i was REALLY scared, since the power was on and the ballast was working (when it's attempting to fire a bulb, it makes a strange noise like: trrrrrrrr....) but it toke like 2 fucking long minutes before any light was seen.
I can't know for sure if there are many blackout, but sometimes there are black out...
sigh... i'm really scared my bulb will explode...
one more thing: will high temps damage the bulb? how much high temps can it stands?
simba
Sleeping Dragon
Gamsci, ITS OK>> NO WORRIES>>
ya they dont like blackout's.. (HOT-restrike)
but with that said
YOU DONT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT EXPLODING BULB. (they are Open fixture rated)if it does fail the outer jacket will contain all partials.. YA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
if that happens again and a power outage for 5 minutes itll be ok. let it fire back on its own..
our concern is people turning them off moreso and on and yes then the blackout
Temps
Max. Permissible Bulb Temp. 400ºC (752ºF)
Max. Permissible Base Temp. 210ºC (410ºF)
ya they dont like blackout's.. (HOT-restrike)
but with that said
YOU DONT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT EXPLODING BULB. (they are Open fixture rated)if it does fail the outer jacket will contain all partials.. YA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
if that happens again and a power outage for 5 minutes itll be ok. let it fire back on its own..
our concern is people turning them off moreso and on and yes then the blackout
Temps
Max. Permissible Bulb Temp. 400ºC (752ºF)
Max. Permissible Base Temp. 210ºC (410ºF)
thank you!!!
greenisgold
Member
I’m going to post some pics of my grow using a 250 and 400 watt cmh bulbs in one hood. The main strain is nirvana supergirl with a few sensi star girls as well. The mom’s were vegged under an eye blue. The first pic is of some of the clones 4 days after I planted them in 1 gal bags. They were vegged for 13 days and then flowered. The next pics you see are of them at 2 weeks of flowering no flowering ferts added just yet. First pic is looking down on a mix of super girls and sensi star. 3rd pic is a side ways shot of them. 4th pic is of the super girl mom that is flowering. 5th is the sensi star mom flowering. 6th is looking at the super girl mom from the side with the sensi mom in the back. Both moms are in 3.5 gal pots and are root bound. I wasn't going to flower them but had to due to space-last minute deal.
A few of the girls have only been flowering for 1 week as they were runts and I had to place them in the bags a little later. I will update every week.
A few of the girls have only been flowering for 1 week as they were runts and I had to place them in the bags a little later. I will update every week.
Last edited:
MoleMcHenry
Member
Hey Simba - Your recent post where you mentioned that Advanced Lighting needs to update their site with new information got me thinking... Since a large percentage of posts in this thread is people asking the same questions over and over again, why don't you edit your first post in this thread so it's like an FAQ for CMH bulbs?
That would keep this part of the thread more for CMH users and people asking very specific, informed questions, and we (including you) wouldn't have to keep getting the repeat questions.
I hope I don't seem bossy, I just like this thread a lot and hate seeing you repeating yourself and wasting your valuable time.
Cheers,
Mole
That would keep this part of the thread more for CMH users and people asking very specific, informed questions, and we (including you) wouldn't have to keep getting the repeat questions.
I hope I don't seem bossy, I just like this thread a lot and hate seeing you repeating yourself and wasting your valuable time.
Cheers,
Mole
nightcrawler
Member
leMarcel said:
OR maybe have a seprate room for 250w, 400w, 600w, 1000w. And to even short it make it so its MH/HPS or CMH or CFL or T-5(flours)
It would be easier to find a set up a person has room for and a view on what they can expect.
just my 2cents
iLLperception
Member
I don't know if any of you spend hours just sitting in your room, but I do 
. I ahve seen this happen twice and was wondering if anyone else has. Just now all of a sudden the whole room faded to a pink color, stayed that way for about 5 seconds, then faded back to white. I have seen that happen on both my 400w CMH setups. Wondering if maybe the power just spiked a bit or if that is a natural thing that these bulbs do. Anyone else seen the pink room effect?
It startled me at first but have to admit it was kinda cool lol
I should add that the pinking in question did not occur during startup, the bulb has been running for at least a week, but it is the same pink color that flashes during bulb warmup.
. I ahve seen this happen twice and was wondering if anyone else has. Just now all of a sudden the whole room faded to a pink color, stayed that way for about 5 seconds, then faded back to white. I have seen that happen on both my 400w CMH setups. Wondering if maybe the power just spiked a bit or if that is a natural thing that these bulbs do. Anyone else seen the pink room effect? It startled me at first but have to admit it was kinda cool lol
I should add that the pinking in question did not occur during startup, the bulb has been running for at least a week, but it is the same pink color that flashes during bulb warmup.
Last edited:
slohemian
Member
Yo simba, my flower chamber is 24" wide and 22" deep, I havent determined the height yet because i want to know what would work best w/ a CMH light. First off, what wattage should i go for? This flower chamber is only for clones, and ive already stated the dimensions. So if you factor in the best wattage light, how high should this chamber's ceiling be? Thx 
simba
Sleeping Dragon
Sloh,
Depends on what region ya in or whats the ambient temp. (makes big dif)
and how much cooling your going to do..
(both make a big dif, especially when the two above are combined)
for 2x2
if air cooling the Hood/bulb id say 250 Horizontal. (cdm25s50/hor/4k/alto)
as you then keep the lamp a at max height threw the whole grow.
(allowing allot better cooling effect, Nice straight air paths)
if height Air cooling bulb or ambient temp or grow area cooling is a prob then 150 watt (MHC150/U/MP/4K/ALTO)
General height id say if you can 3' to give room for Medium/containers - Some room above the light.
also using mylar will Increase the grow areas ambient temp.. use Panda film (white Polly)
here is Murphy's cab 400 cmh 30" deep, 36"wide and 46" high
Temps are Reasonable.... he has them detailed and im not sure his region..
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=83730
If others could keep posting there Pics and Info it'ed be great..
Depends on what region ya in or whats the ambient temp. (makes big dif)
and how much cooling your going to do..
(both make a big dif, especially when the two above are combined)
for 2x2
if air cooling the Hood/bulb id say 250 Horizontal. (cdm25s50/hor/4k/alto)
as you then keep the lamp a at max height threw the whole grow.
(allowing allot better cooling effect, Nice straight air paths)
if height Air cooling bulb or ambient temp or grow area cooling is a prob then 150 watt (MHC150/U/MP/4K/ALTO)
General height id say if you can 3' to give room for Medium/containers - Some room above the light.
also using mylar will Increase the grow areas ambient temp.. use Panda film (white Polly)
here is Murphy's cab 400 cmh 30" deep, 36"wide and 46" high
Temps are Reasonable.... he has them detailed and im not sure his region..
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=83730
If others could keep posting there Pics and Info it'ed be great..
Last edited:
