Cycloptics Greenbeams 315w owners thread

[timmur]

I touched up the resulting table again. I arbitrarily set a use point of 30-45 DLI and highlighted in light blue the different combinations that would theoretically yield it.

Before anyone gets their knickers in a stitch - These figures are not meant to be exact and we know they are not. I'm using Timmur's extrapolations from data he received - so from an analysis of multi-fixture GBs in a big room to which I'm applying to a single fixture in a small veg space, the table does not reflect the true numbers in my room (certainly not yours since the calculation involves grow area in sq.ft.) but am just using the table as a rough guide line for my space. There may be other inaccuracies that I'm not aware of also. This is not meant to be literal but hopefully in the "close enough" category for my needs.

This whole exercise has been very useful, thanks a mil Timmur

All distances are in Inches. Measurements are from the bottom of the GB to the plane indicated by distance.

View Image

what I may do is also go to Cycloptics for a room layout and analysis and then I could maybe compare results, but honestly I think that chart is probably in hand grenade territory already.

You're welcome and you nailed it McKush. It's a model to help approximate lighting with Greenbeams. I hope it's useful but you know what they say about models: they're all lies, however useful!

 

[Ez Rider]

Just about finished with the first day of all 6 C/G's in the tent, and I'm a little worried. The plants have put on a spurt of distorted lower growth. The kind of thing I'd normally expect to see on freshly rooted clones when they're first potted up. Granted, the plants have been through a fair amount os stress lately. I topped them all about 10 days ago and the past week has been hot and DRY, with minimal watering and care while I was rebuilding. Then the move from t-5's to the C/G's. The plants look decidedly worse than yesterday, but it is toward the end of the light cycle. My sourbubble always tends to look a little frazzled for the last few hour of an 18/6 day. All I can really do is keep the coco wet, monitor EC and PH, and ride it out at this point.

I do have a few other concerns I'm going to put out there.

#1) Lamp height. The lamps are currently ~40" above the canopy. This seems pretty far considering the lamp size, but according to the model, I should be over 700 umol at this height. Opinions?

#2) I'm moving a lot of air. I'm guessing 2 complete air changes per minute when the tent is closed. The intake come in under the plant trays, so the oscillating fans are the only thing actually "blowing" on the plants. Is the amount of air movement like to cause problems?

#3) Heat. The old system tended to run 80F at the most, and averaged in the mid to high 70'sF. This system seems like it's going to typically run in the high 70'sF, with daily dips into the low 80'sF. Considering I don't run co2, are these increased temps likely to be a problem?

Anyways, i'm keeping my fingers crossed, and hoping the ride smooths out. I'll be back with a picture update by the weekend.

 

[alalliue]

Hello, can somebody tell me what is the difference between the Allbright and the Greenbeam fixture? They seem the same to me.

 

[McKush]

Just about finished with the first day of all 6 C/G's in the tent, and I'm a little worried. The plants have put on a spurt of distorted lower growth. The kind of thing I'd normally expect to see on freshly rooted clones when they're first potted up. Granted, the plants have been through a fair amount os stress lately. I topped them all about 10 days ago and the past week has been hot and DRY, with minimal watering and care while I was rebuilding. Then the move from t-5's to the C/G's. The plants look decidedly worse than yesterday, but it is toward the end of the light cycle. My sourbubble always tends to look a little frazzled for the last few hour of an 18/6 day. All I can really do is keep the coco wet, monitor EC and PH, and ride it out at this point.

I do have a few other concerns I'm going to put out there.

#1) Lamp height. The lamps are currently ~40" above the canopy. This seems pretty far considering the lamp size, but according to the model, I should be over 700 umol at this height. Opinions?

#2) I'm moving a lot of air. I'm guessing 2 complete air changes per minute when the tent is closed. The intake come in under the plant trays, so the oscillating fans are the only thing actually "blowing" on the plants. Is the amount of air movement like to cause problems?

#3) Heat. The old system tended to run 80F at the most, and averaged in the mid to high 70'sF. This system seems like it's going to typically run in the high 70'sF, with daily dips into the low 80'sF. Considering I don't run co2, are these increased temps likely to be a problem?

Anyways, i'm keeping my fingers crossed, and hoping the ride smooths out. I'll be back with a picture update by the weekend.

Hey EZ - do you mean it is currently running in the high 80s with "dips" into the low 80s? or it is running in the high 70s with "peaks" in the low 80s?

I hope you are not running in the high 80's. I auto dim my flower light at 86F and shut off at 95F which is why i ask. normal high 80s temps is probably the culprit but that's just a guess brother. only other idea i could offer is light shock but you should be able to see that damage in the leaves.

 

[McKush]

Hello, can somebody tell me what is the difference between the Allbright and the Greenbeam fixture? They seem the same to me.

looks to me to be just marketing the fixture for grow chambers at institutions. the data all seems the same.

 

[Ez Rider]

Hey EZ - do you mean it is currently running in the high 80s with "dips" into the low 80s? or it is running in the high 70s with "peaks" in the low 80s?

I hope you are not running in the high 80's. I auto dim my flower light at 86F and shut off at 95F which is why i ask. normal high 80s temps is probably the culprit but that's just a guess brother. only other idea i could offer is light shock but you should be able to see that damage in the leaves.

Mid to hi 70's with dips into lo 80's.

 

[LastHurrah]

Just wanted to say hello to everybody. I'm very interested in this technology and have only gotten through the first couple pages. Already know that this is a good place to be. More later!

LH

 

[McKush]

Welcome LH. Check out Timmur's grow thread to follow a new room build n grow with 12 GBs:

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=319438

Or Scrappy's thread

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=299402

 

[Ez Rider]

Just wanted to say that my plants seem to have reconciled to the new situation, and are doing quite well. Starting to get vigorous vegative growth(for sourbubble), and the stalks have visibly thickened in the last few days. I think "lumen shock" and some underwatering were causing me the initial problems. The new set up moves a lot more air and is warmer, and therefore can evaporate off a lot more water. My plants are in airpots too. I've settled into hand watering them 2x a day, ~1pint/plant each time. This gives me ~20% runoff, and keeps the tops of the pots from drying out. I'll be glad when the parts to pressurize my blumats show up...it's a PITA to reach the back row of plants. One unfortunate consequence of the rebuild was that I lost the space for an elevated rez. So, enough of my rambling. Here's the plants @ 1 week under the C/G's. I'm letting them get 16" tall then flipping. Probably 3-4 more days.

 

[timmur]

Thanks for the update Ez. I was just going to ask how the plants were doing. I kinda thought, but didn't say, that maybe the shock from going from T5s to the Greenbeams might be part of the issue. I'm glad that it is resolved.

For my upcoming grow I'm going to start the seedlings under T5 for about a week or less and then switch them to CMH. Hopefully I won't run into a shock issue.

I've been tempted to just skip the T5 and use the Greenbeams right out of the gate. I'm really trying to determine PPFD for seedlings so that I can figure out how many GBs to run at the very beginning. I'm thinking 400 is safe. Thoughts?

 

[Ez Rider]

Thanks for the update Ez. I was just going to ask how the plants were doing. I kinda thought, but didn't say, that maybe the shock from going from T5s to the Greenbeams might be part of the issue. I'm glad that it is resolved.

For my upcoming grow I'm going to start the seedlings under T5 for about a week or less and then switch them to CMH. Hopefully I won't run into a shock issue.

I've been tempted to just skip the T5 and use the Greenbeams right out of the gate. I'm really trying to determine PPFD for seedlings so that I can figure out how many GBs to run at the very beginning. I'm thinking 400 is safe. Thoughts?

For seeds, I'd use the C/G from the start. I'm using clones, which seem to root best under weak light. We'll see what happens for me next time, when I move cuts from t-5's(20w/tray) to the C/G.

 

[timmur]

For seeds, I'd use the C/G from the start. I'm using clones, which seem to root best under weak light. We'll see what happens for me next time, when I move cuts from t-5's(20w/tray) to the C/G.

Cool thanks!

 

[Ez Rider]

My plants are now thriving under the C/G's I should be in flower by the end of the week

 

[timmur]

Lookin good!

 

[LastHurrah]

I auto dim my flower light at 86F and shut off at 95F which is why i ask.

McKush, what controller are you using that allows the auto-dim and high temp shutoff features? I'm shopping them now.

LH

 

[frostqueen]

Just wanted to say that my plants seem to have reconciled to the new situation, and are doing quite well. Starting to get vigorous vegative growth(for sourbubble), and the stalks have visibly thickened in the last few days. I think "lumen shock" and some underwatering were causing me the initial problems. The new set up moves a lot more air and is warmer, and therefore can evaporate off a lot more water. My plants are in airpots too. I've settled into hand watering them 2x a day, ~1pint/plant each time. This gives me ~20% runoff, and keeps the tops of the pots from drying out. I'll be glad when the parts to pressurize my blumats show up...it's a PITA to reach the back row of plants. One unfortunate consequence of the rebuild was that I lost the space for an elevated rez. So, enough of my rambling. Here's the plants @ 1 week under the C/G's. I'm letting them get 16" tall then flipping. Probably 3-4 more days.
View Image

Very sexy! How do you like those pots? Do you go into bigger ones before the flip?

 

[McKush]

McKush, what controller are you using that allows the auto-dim and high temp shutoff features? I'm shopping them now.

LH

Gavita EL2 for the 1000 e-series fixtures. It inly works with a Gavita e series tho so you would need to get the fixture to use it. Gavita EL1 does it too. Sorry if i misled you but i should have explained. I veg under GB CMH and flower under gavita DE.

I dont think i can dim with the GB but you can get a high temp shut off switch for safety and crop protection.

The gavita controllers also do sunrise/sunset too which is a neat feature

 

[Ez Rider]

Very sexy! How do you like those pots? Do you go into bigger ones before the flip?

I love the airpots. I stay in the 4l pot for the entire run. Actually I start in 1" rockwool, then 3" rockwool, then the air pot with ReadyGro. I've grown 3.5oz plants in them, and I have it on good authority that 8oz plants are doable. The sourbubble roots like nothing you've ever seen, so the whole pot is basically a solid rootball by week 2-3 of flower. I've tried bigger pots, but don't see the point anymore.

 

[LastHurrah]

...The gavita controllers also do sunrise/sunset too which is a neat feature

Just what I thought... EL2! I just ordered one, and two e600's for my 4x6 stadium. Still plan on adding 2 315's to the flower room once I finish the initial keeper search. Looks like Gavita is discontinuing the Digistar e-ballasts... very hard to find these days.

LH

 

[McKush]

Cool LH. Youll love DE if you have never used them. Dont position the fixture too close on flip to lesson chance of shocking them. So far with only limited use mine have flipped fine with no noticeable stalling under an epap but i dont expect a different outcome w gavita, same lamp and all.