Prepping for my next grow-need advice

[hatenme]

yeah ebay is the way to goo
always has good deals
have you every tried craigslist?

hatenme Reviewed by hatenme on 12-07-2007. Prepping for my next grow-need advice my current grow is now entering the last month of flowering, and i have begun to plan my next grow that will begin the day of this harvest, or within the week at latest. i will have plenty of seeds from my current grow, plus 4 amsterdam seeds that a friend says are "awsome", as well as a single feminized sacra fresca seed (amazing sativa) I currently have an underpowered 6-bulb 150w cfl grow (25*6) which produced underwhelming results for 4 plants, needless to say. i therefore have Rating: 5

[klondike_bar]

looked about, but it was about the same cost as ebay (same sets actually) for 400watters. the 1000w bulbs were good deals tho...

i wanted 600w, and i found the best price and package on ebay. its got a backup bulb too, so im good for a while w/ it

how much ventilation am i gonna need? i got an entire room in the basement so it wont heat up easily, but i rarely vent into the rest of the house, and not outdoors.

[stinkyattic]

With HPS bulbs, you get what you pay for.
Be sure that the bulb is designed to be used in your type of reflector (vert-burning vs. horizontal), and produced for agricultural use. Can you get a HPS1000 bulb for $30 if you look hard enough? Probably. Will it be efficient for cultivation? Nope.
Zandor used to remind people: You go cheap, you grow cheap.

[klondike_bar]

true, i agree, but at the same time the difference in cost vs. output on a 600w thats gonna be doing crops of 10 seedlings (clones once i get mothers) is not my concern.

its a horizontal bulb id hope seeing as its a horizontal (ceiling hung) reflector. i could get the EYE bulbs, but im not looking for ideal crops now, just for some good experience in my path of upgrading.


my general plan for the next grow starting soon:

1 week germination to seedling
2-3 weeks under 6cfl lights @ 20/4 veg
1-2 weeks vegging under hps or hps/cfl combo

entire flowering period will then take place using the hps on a 12/12 or 13/11 cycle

about 1 month before harvest, the next set of seeds/ seedlings will be planted.

[klondike_bar]

new lamps are in. i set them up in the big room and put the cfls in the smaller room for my new cloning and seedling zone.

the reflector needs some minor adjusting since its slightly off-shaped.

whats the regular start-up on a bulb btw? mine took about 3 seconds from plug in to go bright blue, then over about 2 minutes went to a blinding orange light.

EDIT: for whatever reason, i cant see my pics properly, but there are 4 links if you move the mouse around in the attachments area.

[cwesto]

loks good so far, is that a conversion ballast??

[klondike_bar]

i believe so. it is a digital at least, i believe that means the same thing??

any tips for the reflector? as you can see, its a huge room that is completely lit by the bulb practically. (it would be about a foot lower next time, since these are on stands ANd stretched from vegging under weak cfl light.

when vegging my next set, im thinking of putting em under the hps for the 12/12 sessions and then back under the somewhat under powered cfls at night for the extra 8 hours so they will gets lotsa light. or will the orange bulbs offset the lumen amounts in veg?

[Mr. Clandestine]

i believe so. it is a digital at least, i believe that means the same thing??

It doesn't, chief. A conversion ballast would allow you to run a MH and an HPS bulb in the same socket without having to use a separate compatible ballast for each of them. Digital ballasts are nice, though. I received my 1000w digital (and switchable) system about a month ago, and can really tell a difference in heat from that ballast, and my old one. Plus, they're reported to be quite the energy savers, as well. Although, naturally, I haven't had enough time to see any noticeable difference. If the power consumption is significant enough, though, I plan on adding an extra 600w HPS that I have lying around to my grow room during flowering. I'm really excited about the potential there'll be with that much extra light. Guess I'll be looking into a light mover pretty soon, too.

But, on a lighter note, you can find MH conversion bulbs that you can use with your HPS system. And they work just as well as a switchable system, itself. Also, there's a significant difference in heat output between the fluros that you've been using, and your new HPS. You're really going to need to set up a proper ventilation system when you have that thing burning full-blast. Just something to keep in mind between now and then.

Lastly, I'd recommend trying to set the fixture up in a corner of the room you're using, as opposed to right in the middle. With at least two walls surrounding the grow area, you'll be able to cordon off the area much better...thereby preventing so much light from escaping. You can build artificial walls out of plywood, or even stiff cardboard lined with mylar...which will help keep the light directed where you're wanting it to go. As opposed to being scattered all throughout the room. Good luck with it. And be prepared to see some dramatic differences between CFL yields, and HID yields!

[cwesto]

Clandestine is right, i like the conversion ballasts. I have one and i use the MH for veg then switch over to the HPS for bloom.

[klondike_bar]

presumably itll run both. the ebay auction said mh and hps in the title....i dont have an mh bulb anyways tho...