what do you think of this setup?

[Zandor]

A few ideas for you:

A 400 w light is not enough to cover 4' long with that type of hood.

Second when the roots start to show out the bottom of the net pots they will die and affect the plant's growth. You can use pond liner to cover them from the light.

Third you may want to rotate your plants in place and in their location so they can have a better chance of sharing quality light or the ones on the far end will grow toward the light and block the others.

Zandor Reviewed by Zandor on 08-28-2006. what do you think of this setup? 400w HPS w/ metal hailide conversion bulb 2'4' tray 24 gal rubbermaid walmart resivoirs x2 (linked together notice hose) Rating: 5

[deftdrummer]

thanks Zandor. I believe the pH is fuxed up too, soon there will be a cover over the root resivoir and pH down was purchased today (it was at 8.6) I know I know its too high.

[deftdrummer]

Ok here is the update! I have removed two plants, put reflective material down under the plants and sealed off the root chamber from all light 100%. In addition, the pH meter came pH is a steady 6.5-7 for the last two days. Check it out

[misk]

looks much nicer
ur next grow should be quite alot better

[deftdrummer]

sorry for that crappy pic, hopefully this time it will work. Anyways, nutes are at 6.5 just changed the res, water temp is at 76F, no light is hitting the roots and we offed two of them making a total of 8. Also raised the light about 3/4 of a foot. I know there is a little yellowing but we are hoping the conditions are right now. You guys see any reason they shouldn't take off?

[GunBarrel]

Looks like you have it all under control now, so very good luck.. :rasta:

I see you say that there is no light hitting the roots?
Is there light getting to the water?

Only asking because i couldnt see it explained, so :-
Water + light = algae. If you already know this then im sorry, but you only mentioned the roots getting no light.

Hope all works out and blows you away! :dance:

[hienuff]

put reflective material around the whole thing to maximize light usage....not under the plants....though thats probably not gonna harm them unless it concentrates too much light on the bottom of a few leaves....the idea is to get as much of the lights on the top of the leaves like the sun does...this is why they turn to follow the sun in nature... this will improve your yeilds immensly

[hienuff]

mylar is best reflector you can get but anything is better than nothing.....even tin foil will do something

[deftdrummer]

ya mylar is planned in the future but just waiting to see where this 1st grow goes. Here are some pics from this morning. Since then we have added one 5 minute water cycle during the night. Wow what a difference from last night. Oh and to answer your question, the res. are two side-by-side see thru bins that have the same reflective material on the tops that are exposed to the light. For the most part it is under the tray. You can see the reflector in some of the pics on the right.

[stinkyattic]

I like your lightproofing around the pots- insulation or car windshield sun thing, it will work fine.
Thos eplants have potential.
They may have been stressed in the past but you work with what cha got...
Good luck.