1,000wHPS with flourexes?

[Buddahbear]

I got an Idea from an outdoor grow I did last summer where plants got only full strength light for 6 hours a day due to foliage blockage. Only from 9-3 did the plants get full strength light becasue before 9AM or after 3PM the leaves of surrounding plants obstructed the light a great deal but the plants came out fine because they got 18 hours of light with 6 hours of intense light.

Can you use an 1,000w HPS and fluorexes together for dual spectrum vegging?

I was thinking about maybe trying this:
X4 100w Flourexes (15$ a pop at home depot, 6500K, I buy the cheapest flourex ballast 20-30$ and then just chop it open so it can fit an 100w flourex and then make a reflector holding 4 flourexes)

and for vegging use 4 Fluorexes 18/6
and then for a four hour period run my 1,000w HPS (just to give the plants extra light)

for flowering run 1,000w HPS 12/12.

Will this produce bad results due to irregularity of light intensity or will plants be OK? I'm trying to cut down on my electricity bill. I don't want to use 18,000 watts a day vegging with an 1,000w HPS running a halide conversion bulb.

With this setup I'd only be using 11,200 watts a day for vegging, and 12,000 watts a day for flowering.

[HighOnPottery]

can you even split a fluorex ballast to run more bulbs off of it? that'd be awesome if you could since those ballast are $40 and bulbs $10 at Home Depot.

[Buddahbear]

I'm going to look around online for a cheap way to power those bulbs, if not I'm willing to spend 100-120$ on getting some ballasts and 40$ one 4 bulbs, shit as long as it will work.

Anybody know if the 4 hours of 1,000wHPS will work/have good results? (trying to speed things up a bit)

[Cornelius]

why don't you just run all the lights 24-0 during veg? The plants would benefit from more light, as long as heat isn't an issue.

[Buddahbear]

Well that would be Ideal but I'm just thinking about conserving energy. I may end up doing 18/6. I guess it'lll only be for two weeks so the electricity bill won't be TOO bad...

[jamstigator]

Does it really conserve energy? I mean, you grow them for 4 weeks at 24/0 and they are X inches tall. If you grow them with 18/6, it might take them 5 or more weeks to reach the same X inches tall. So, you use less electricity per day, but you then have to go more days to reach the same point. All in all, unless you have a reason to slow down the growth (can't handle the heat without the 6-hour cooling down period, flowering rooms/cabs won't be ready for a while, whatever), then using 18/6 seems like sort of a waste of time, literally. On the other hand, as long as you're in no hurry to get to harvest day, it doesn't really matter.

[BlueBear]

I read about a grow where they did something like your talking about, except on a more elaborate level. They used a few 1K's on light movers and rotated them around the garden with all the lights on timers and some would go off for a hour, or a half hour. The goal was to simulate the out door as well. In the out door you have clouds passing over the sun, high points of the suns penetration and other variables. The grow was a success and they had a better, healthier and more productive grow than just hanging lights over the plants for the recommended time. This all being the case, it may work, but I don't see it hurting.
Adieu

[Buddahbear]

Hmm I will definitely give it a go on my young plants to give them extra juice and then boost it up if I think they really need it.

Eventually I'm going to have my own veg room so this is a small trial.

[Buddahbear]

Plants aparently need a dark period to help process nutrients and sugars. It conserves energy and it helps out the plants. I'm not saying you can't do 24 hours of light but it doesn't neccessarily produce better plants.

[jamstigator]

That's a myth, that they need a dark period during the vegetative phase of growth. I've done the experiment to see for myself (which I recommend to anyone so you can see for yourself): two exactly identical veg boxes, with exactly identical lighting and ventilation and in the same room, growing clones from the same plant. After a month of vegging, the 24/0 plants were significantly larger and more lush than the 18/6 plants, which wasn't really surprising since the 24/0 plants were getting a larger dose of energy each day. That's what the Cannabis Grow Bible said would happen, but since I'd seen so many people say 18/6 was better (generally without explaining WHY it's better), I had to see for myself.

Both sets of plants were healthy at the end though, so 18/6 didn't hurt them or anything. They just weren't as big or lush, and it took another week or so to catch them up to the 24/0 plants.

[Buddahbear]

No way I'm running an 1,000w HPS 24 hours a day. That bill would be murder :O I don't care if the plants aren't going to be as big.

[africansunset]

id say use fluoreX for the whole veg stage and then go directly to 12/12 with ur HPS and a fluoreX running from the side.:)