I'm spending a fortune trying to save money growing weed

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jonnynobody

Well-Known Member
MICHI-CAN said:
HPS, MH, CFL, SMD and CREE COBS all in my collection. LED blows incandescent out of the water. And the top bin lights are expensive. Only marginally better than several knock offs. Being a personal use non profit grower I saved and finally ordered 2 350W V3 quantum boards. I am certain my plants will grow better. And worth the cost in energy savings and no heat issues.
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What are your thoughts on COB units? I have seen them around and they are considerably more costly than quantum boards. I'm wondering if they perform better than a quantum board or they simply cost more to manufacture? I will say they look very cool.
 
Oakiey

Oakiey

Well-Known Member
Air cooled hoods... Yeah after cooling the buld and what you loose going through the glass of course a little lower out put led might come close to a hid

Unless you doing a micro grow you should have enough AC to cool your lights
 
C

ComfortCreator

Well-Known Member
You are going to kill this thread with the nonstop explanations of HPS technology and its inherent advantages. Honestly its not news that theres HPS out there! We know!
 
J

jonnynobody

Well-Known Member
IrkinBollikans said:
@jonnynobody. Love your room. Just think if you had spread that wattage out using less populated boards or strips
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Thanks man. It was a lot of hard work between all of the electrical, paint, HVAC, floor lining, and moving the plants. Hanging the LED lights was no fun. Very awkward and I had to ask for the wife's assistance. That's a very good point to make and very insightful regarding how intense the light output is on these units. I would agree. You would indeed get better coverage spread over a larger area by using smaller boards maximizing your dollars, output, and production. I have not yet powered on my two 1000W HPS lights. They go live tonight. I'm a bit concerned about how this is going to play out with temps and light intensity. I have to wear sunglasses to walk in or work in the room with just the LED's on. I can't even imagine what it's going to look like with another 2000W of HPS poured on top of that. I'll take some pictures and report back later tonight after lights on. I have the portable AC in there if needed, but I only turn it on if temps exceed 82.
 
MICHI-CAN

MICHI-CAN

Well-Known Member
jonnynobody said:
What are your thoughts on COB units? I have seen them around and they are considerably more costly than quantum boards. I'm wondering if they perform better than a quantum board or they simply cost more to manufacture? I will say they look very cool.
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I have knock offs. But they are 3500K with IR. Not giant builders. But heavy dense buds with good penetration. My only complaint is heat. Far exceeded my expectations. About 30% more yield than my 600MH and 100HPS ever produced in a 4x4. Still waiting on the QB's. Won't have an answer for you for sometime. Have all I can smoke for a year in the garden now. And the Cree haul from my last indoor will still be here as well. Might just take the winter off.
 
J

jonnynobody

Well-Known Member
MICHI-CAN said:
I have knock offs. But they are 3500K with IR. Not giant builders. But heavy dense buds with good penetration. My only complaint is heat. Far exceeded my expectations. About 30% more yield than my 600MH and 100HPS ever produced in a 4x4. Still waiting on the QB's. Won't have an answer for you for sometime. Have all I can smoke for a year in the garden now. And the Cree haul from my last indoor will still be here as well. Might just take the winter off.
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Man I remember those good ole days. I'd get a 13-15 ounce harvest outta my secret jardin with a 600W HPS then take 4 months off from growing. Start again. The break was very nice. Nowadays I have a perpetual going with 2 large nursery tents, a clone / mother tent, and a flower room. The work never ends. When I see some of the larger grows people have on here it just boggles my mind how they manage it. I even have to enlist the wife for help from time to time and at every harvest for trimming assistance. If I grew any bigger I would have to hire help. I prefer working alone :)

30% more yield is significant. After growing with those COB's would you still recommend them with initial costs and heat output considered?
 
MICHI-CAN

MICHI-CAN

Well-Known Member
jonnynobody said:
Man I remember those good ole days. I'd get a 13-15 ounce harvest outta my secret jardin with a 600W HPS then take 4 months off from growing. Start again. The break was very nice. Nowadays I have a perpetual going with 2 large nursery tents, a clone / mother tent, and a flower room. The work never ends. When I see some of the larger grows people have on here it just boggles my mind how they manage it. I even have to enlist the wife for help from time to time and at every harvest for trimming assistance. If I grew any bigger I would have to hire help. I prefer working alone :)
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I have a cluster F in my garden. Covid kept adoptive parents from picking up their kids. Had to take them. Got finish Bodhi girls. Been interesting. But I'll be recruting some med users come harvest. I just give them fresh cut to reduce my workload and get legal on possession007.jpg.
 
J

jonnynobody

Well-Known Member
MICHI-CAN said:
I have a cluster F in my garden. Covid kept adoptive parents from picking up their kids. Had to take them. Got finish Bodhi girls. Been interesting. But I'll be recruting some med users come harvest. I just give them fresh cut to reduce my workload and get legal on possessionView attachment 4646127.
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Man I wish I could do that in my yard. I live in the city though. Gorgeous looking ladies. When do you harvest outdoor where you live?
 
.Smoke

.Smoke

Well-Known Member
Shape Shifter said:
Not bad for me. My grow room is in the basement. It's connected to the main furnace / AC. The hottest my tent gets is 78F in the summer. The humidity is perfect at 50-60% in the summer. It gets drier and colder in the winter.
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I'm in about the exact same setup. Basement/temps/etc.
Still didn't save me from dropping over $3k.
20200517_050246.jpg
The only saving grace is one of those plants produced enough to pay for it all :)
And let's not forget there's nothing quite like getting up naked as a Jay bird @ 2 a.m., walking to the stash cabinet and grabbing another "handful" to fill the bong.
Screw those "I gotta make a call" days. bongsmilie
 
C

ComfortCreator

Well-Known Member
.Smoke said:
I'm in about the exact same setup. Basement/temps/etc.
Still didn't save me from dropping over $3k.
View attachment 4646138
The only saving grace is one of those plants produced enough to pay for it all :)
And let's not forget there's nothing quite like getting up naked as a Jay bird @ 2 a.m., walking to the stash cabinet and grabbing another "handful" to fill the bong.
Screw those "I gotta make a call" days. bongsmilie
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Or feel like its a privilege to overpay at a store!
 
MICHI-CAN

MICHI-CAN

Well-Known Member
jonnynobody said:
Man I wish I could do that in my yard. I live in the city though. Gorgeous looking ladies. When do you harvest outdoor where you live?
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Usually October. But only if I can keep them dry and warm. Made it into November last. But the answer is as late as nature allows or finished. 20'x10' dollhouse being shipped here now. I'm pushing the visibility rules. Otherwise all legal until dried. Just give away what I have to while it is still wet. Loophole in the law. Keeps everyone legal and happy.

Health to all. I'm out.
 
J

jonnynobody

Well-Known Member
.Smoke said:
I'm in about the exact same setup. Basement/temps/etc.
Still didn't save me from dropping over $3k.
View attachment 4646138
The only saving grace is one of those plants produced enough to pay for it all :)
And let's not forget there's nothing quite like getting up naked as a Jay bird @ 2 a.m., walking to the stash cabinet and grabbing another "handful" to fill the bong.
Screw those "I gotta make a call" days. bongsmilie
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That's a beautiful clean setup there .Smoke. I might have missed it, but if you don't mind my asking what kind of lighting equipment are you running? Are those hempy buckets? I love the spread out space you have there. If I had that kind of spread space in my basement I'd mount a hammock between those 2 poles, pop a TV in front of me, and have a cold drink sitting next to me on a little table. I made a custom urinal in my basement already to decrease my upstairs trips while working. Totally redneck, but dammit it works. I installed a Y pipe on the sewer pipe my laundry machine dumps waste water into. Works beautifully. It was really an effort to avoid the wife while working and it is effective. Haven't solved the number 2 problem yet. Gonna have to bite the bullet and install a crapper down the road directly underneath my 1st floor bathroom. All the plumbing is right there, so it won't take a lot of leg work. Gotta bust up the concrete a bit, and I'm in no hurry for that shit :)

.Smoke disregard the equipment question. I'm cruising through your journal in my leisure today. It's great to see another grower on RIU rocking hempy buckets. Cheap and effective.
 
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Wattzzup

Wattzzup

Well-Known Member
jonnynobody said:
I run two 1000W HPS hortilux lamps in my flower room and just added 2 quantum boards to beef things up. 1 board is 660W and the other is 450W. The 660W model I got off of Alibaba for $504 delivered. The other I got off Amazon from spider farmer for $625. The Alibaba unit is significantly more powerful and spreads over a much larger footprint for a lot less. The spider farmer unit is impressive, but lower wattage with less output. I first installed them in my 2 nursery tents. The 660W unit went into a 5'x5'x6.5' tent. The 450W unit went into a 3'x3'x6.5' clone tent. I ran them for about 2 weeks in those tents. I was unable to run the units at full power without burning the plants. These things are the real deal, and their output should not be underestimated. I had to dial them down to 50% to keep the plants happy. After that they took off nicely. The nodes are much tighter than what I'm use to seeing occur under the T5's I normally run in my nurseries. I never planned to keep them as nursery lights, but I couldn't resist the temptation to try them out while I completed my flower room remodel. In my opinion both lights are vastly over powered for a tent of any size. I would say a 300W quantum board is more than sufficient for a 5'x5'x6.5' for veg or flower. Anything more and you're just wasting your money for power you won't be able to use.

I wouldn't go so far as to say HPS is antiquated, but it's getting close. I have to buy a $170 quality inline fan for every 1000W hood I have running which is something nobody ever seems to factor into their costs when comparing the initial costs for an HID setup versus LED. My 1000W phantom digital ballast ran me $212 on sale. The hood was $110. The 6" Vortex inline fan was $160. Not to mention $85 for the hortilux lamp. All in I spent right around $567+ sales tax for 1 single 1000W light setup. For this reason when I went shopping for 2 new lights I had to try the latest LED technology in an effort to run a more efficient garden as I expand. I have not completed a flower cycle yet, so I cannot speak to the results these units will produce as of yet. I feel the 660W unit adequately replaces a 1000W light. I spent $504 for that unit including sales tax. That's $63 cheaper than if I had gone with HID not counting the sales tax I would have to pay on the $567 I did not factor into the equation. With sales tax factored in I saved nearly $100 versus purchasing an additional HID light. I anticipate performance will equal or surpass my 1000W hortilux lamps while consuming significantly less power with zero maintenance costs (i.e. lamp replacement fan replacement / cleaning). I'm looking forward to seeing the results, and sharing them with y'all.

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Nice setup. Just more proof you don’t need your lights 10” from your canopy. Can I ask what distance you usually stick with? Light to plant canopy?
 
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