taking reflector off -ok??

[timbuck3]

its getting pretty warm over here. im using a closet with 250HID and one NL Fem in soil. the plant is growing quick. 4 weeks now and into the 12/12.
the reflector makes things pretty hot...can I take it off? its a straight up ( bulb....not horizontal.

Thanks!

[TheGanjaKing420]

What are your temps running? I think it might be better to improve your ventilation system than to take your reflector off. The reflector helps direct the light at your plant more and makes your bulb more efficient by getting more lumens to your plant. If its the only option you have, go ahead, but I'm guessing its not going to help with the excess heat issue.

[timbuck3]

around 30deg. give or take a deg.....

[TheGanjaKing420]

Thats around 86 F. Thats not horrible but it could be lower. What are you doing for ventilation?

[evertking]

Im not sure taking the refelctor off would help anything.. maybe check you cubic feet(LxWxH) and then look at the cfm rating on your fan.
Your fan should be able to move the volume of your closet every 3~4 mins.
Also run your lights in the coolest part of the day.

[mikeo14]

ganja king, i love tool man, but that picture on yer avatar is creeping me out

[TheGanjaKing420]

ganja king, i love tool man, but that picture on yer avatar is creeping me out

I think it fits me and that song quite well. ;)

[Al B. Fuct]

What are your temps running? I think it might be better to improve your ventilation system than to take your reflector off. The reflector helps direct the light at your plant more and makes your bulb more efficient by getting more lumens to your plant. If its the only option you have, go ahead, but I'm guessing its not going to help with the excess heat issue.

Well said!


Im not sure taking the refelctor off would help anything.. maybe check you cubic feet(LxWxH) and then look at the cfm rating on your fan.
Your fan should be able to move the volume of your closet every 3~4 mins.
Also run your lights in the coolest part of the day.

Just as well said!

I'm an old Overgrow refugee. Been bouncing around cannabis forums looking for a good one since the untimely 2006 demise of OG. Can't tell you how refreshing it is to see a board with intelligent comments from ppl who really know their beans. :)

[Al B. Fuct]

its a straight up ( bulb....not horizontal.



Horizontal reflectors are better at shedding heat than the vertical 'china hat' type and also make the light pattern better fit rectangular spaces. The hat types do trap a lot of heat under the reflector... and they run the tube socket fairly hot as well compared to other types.

You can make your own horizontal batwing reflector (http://www.rollitup.org/view.php?pg=faq&cmd=article&id=674) if you're crafty in the workshop.

[timbuck3]

thanks for that.....then would it be a bad idea to take the reflector off?
its running at around 28-30deg and I turn the lights on at night during the cooler period. its in a small cupboard btw...
perhaps give it a try and see if the plant is affected?

[Al B. Fuct]

thanks for that.....then would it be a bad idea to take the reflector off?
its running at around 28-30deg and I turn the lights on at night during the cooler period. its in a small cupboard btw...
perhaps give it a try and see if the plant is affected?

If you removed the reflector, with the tube hanging vertically, the vast majority of the light would spray at the walls, not the plants. You still need the reflector.

Increase the airflow through the room to reduce the temps, but consider replacing the reflector with a horizontal type.

28-30 will give you stretchy plants with thin, spongy buds. The buds will 'bolt' or 'run,' giving you thin strands of bud material where you should have a nice dense top cola. You're looking to keep temps around 24-26.5, 27max.

[atsar]

If you removed the reflector, with the tube hanging vertically, the vast majority of the light would spray at the walls, not the plants. You still need the reflector.

Increase the airflow through the room to reduce the temps, but consider replacing the reflector with a horizontal type.

28-30 will give you stretchy plants with thin, spongy buds. The buds will 'bolt' or 'run,' giving you thin strands of bud material where you should have a nice dense top cola. You're looking to keep temps around 24-26.5, 27max.


i would just like to point out,the 2 plants in the pics were both grown in ridiculous temperatures,at best they were 85 and at worst they regularly reached 110,no stretchy buds or thin strands there,though there was a fan blowing over them at all times with an open window next to the wardrobe they grow in,

in my opinion the temperature isn't too important providing you have a good supply of cool clean fresh air blowing over your plants,but that's just my opinion,i'm sure others will disagree

i'm on my 4th grow now and temps aint really much better,but i'm not about to stop growing because of it,fuck i'm averaging 4 oz per plant,i'm sure i could do better but i've seen a lot worse

[Al B. Fuct]

in my opinion the temperature isn't too important providing you have a good supply of cool clean fresh air blowing over your plants,

If you have a good supply of cool clean fresh air blowing over your plants, you don't have a temp problem! :thumbsup:

[Al B. Fuct]

BTW, nice job on the plants... but could you see it in your heart to rotate the pix? Bout broke my neck lookin' at those. :D

[atsar]

well i say cool,it's as cool as the weather is from day to day,hence the huge fluxuations in temps,but it's fresh

[timbuck3]

I have the door half open and a big circulation fan blowing on the plant. thats the best I could do. if I knew how to upload a pic I would. when I try with my digi cam card it says the info is too large. I dont know how to downsize it!

btw nice plants atsar....man if I could get 4 ounces of quality bud off mine I would be very happy.....im not a heavy smoker and that would last me quite a while.....

[BobBong]

It's not the reflector making the area warm, it's the bulb.

The reflector is going to directionalize the light downward toward the plant. Kind like a lamp shade...

I say keep the reflector in there and figure out a way to remove the heat, not just recirculate it.

Cheers,
Bob.

[timbuck3]

perhaps a much stronger extraction fan?

[big beano]

hi there the reflector is to reflect the light and does not have anything to do with the heat the best bet would be to use CFL in a closet grwow CFL is compact flourescent lighting and produces next to no heat

[atsar]

I have the door half open and a big circulation fan blowing on the plant. thats the best I could do. if I knew how to upload a pic I would. when I try with my digi cam card it says the info is too large. I dont know how to downsize it!

btw nice plants atsar....man if I could get 4 ounces of quality bud off mine I would be very happy.....im not a heavy smoker and that would last me quite a while.....

i might be wrong but i'm sure i read somewhere recently that you need 50 posts before you can post pics,might be wrong though

and thanks man,albfuct too,i feel 4oz a plant is respectable,especially as i only veg for 4 weeks and flower for 8ish,seed to weed in 3 months,and i always find my homegrown to be way better than anything i buy

[Al B. Fuct]

i might be wrong but i'm sure i read somewhere recently that you need 50 posts before you can post pics,might be wrong though

50 posts and a member for more than 2 weeks.



and thanks man,albfuct too,i feel 4oz a plant is respectable,especially as i only veg for 4 weeks and flower for 8ish,seed to weed in 3 months,and i always find my homegrown to be way better than anything i buyYou're quite welcome. 4oz per plant IS respectable. :)

However, growing methods like SoG can quite intentionally give you a relatively small per-plant yield, but improve the avg quality of the buds and speed things up a bit. Takes 8 wks to go from clone to bud around here.

Your homegrown will indeed usually be better than what you buy for a couple of reasons, mainly the care you can take in drying and proper storage conditions, something that 'commercial' growers don't always do ('cept for me, of course. :) ). THC can break down into non-psychoactive cannabinoids if buds are stored above 29C or exposed to light after drying.

[Al B. Fuct]

hi there the reflector is to reflect the light and does not have anything to do with the heat the best bet would be to use CFL in a closet grwow CFL is compact flourescent lighting and produces next to no heat

Beg to differ in this case. The vertical reflector is part of the problem here. A mass of hot air is being trapped under the vertical type reflector. Air mass temps under the reflector will get fairly high, betting 60C. This high heat will be transferred to the remaining airmass due to this op's other problem, insufficient air motion through the op. The grow in question needs an improvement in air through-flow to better cope with the vertical reflector. Swapping to a horizontal type reflector would reduce temps a little, but the real solution is to move more air through the grow.

CFLs produce less heat (mind,they still make some heat)but also make nowhere near the light intensity of HPS. CFLs are great for seedlings and clones and slow-vegging some mums, but in flowering are a serious compromise. You can flower with CFLs but you're trading off yield and bud density. If there's absolutely no way ventilate a space to keep temps down, CFLs might make the difference between growing a little poor to ordinary quality dope or none at all.

There are small HPS lights out there (60, 75, 100, 150, 250w) that make less heat than the big 400-600-1000W mothers and would be a much better choice than CFLs, even in a closet grow with limited ventilation ability. The little HPS lights still make high-intensity discharge light, like their larger cousins, but can't effectively light as much area owing to their lower output. However, they might be small but they're still HPS lights. Due to their high-intensity output, they will still make respectable bud density.

Still, consideration number one in setting up a grow op is ventilation. If you can't ventilate a space effectively, you'll have recurring problems related to heat and humidity. Pick a better space.