MrHowardMarks' experienced grower journal.

[SlikWiLL13]

The cheap bulbs you can get at Home Depot, like the Phillips, aren't argricultural bulbs, they put of a different spectrum, yes, they'll work... But not nearly as well. I'd spend the extra money on the right bulb.

ill second this....i started with one of those phillips bulbs but when i switched to the solarmax there was notable difference.

 

[MrHowardMarks]

So, I was running around like a madman on monday... I went down to the growroom, and one of my lights was out...

I did some troubleshooting, and found it was the fuse in the ballast... On the digital ones, it's on the ballast under where you plug in the power cord, inside a little plastic cover.

The blown fuse was a 10A-250V 5x20mm fuse, which apparently is quite rare... Wtf?

So, I went fucking everywhere looking for a fuse, three different Radio-Shacks, WalMart, Lowe's, HomeDepot, Best Buy, HH Greg, Auto Zone, and none of them had a 10A-250V 5x20mm fuse... My lights come on at 4, so all the electrical supply specialty stores were closed.

Yesterday, I went to the electric supply warehouse, I was sure they'd have the correct fuse... They didn't.

But.

They had a 10A-125V 5x20mm fuse, and the guy there said that there's no difference between the 250v or 125v, the amperage is what matters... I agreed, but asked why on the fuse plate it said "use only 250v fuse"

He said what's it from, so I told him the truth, "it's from a 600W digital HPS ballast, for outdoor lighting."

He shrugged and said "yeah it should work fine"

So...

I head to another Radio Shack to see if they have the correct fuses, and they don't, but I ask the nerdy asian guy working there if there was any difference between the 125v and 250v, and he said the same thing, "nope, it should work."

So I go home and test it out...

As soon as the plug hits the surge protector "POP" the sound of a electronic ballast blowing up, sounds the same as a car amplifier...

So, I'm down a ballast... I'm gonna head over to a buddie's tonight, I think he may have an extra magnetic ballast lying around that he'll loan me...

 

[MrHowardMarks]

Also....


My biggest super skunk that happend to be a male is in the middle of flowering, a few clusters of pollen sacs have opened up, so I'm stocked on super skunk sperm...

 

[MrHowardMarks]

I replaced all my bulbs, they were due, and since I had the ballast malfunction...

I'm running 3 SolarMAX bulbs, and 3 SunMaster bulbs... Well only 2 currently...

I moved all the smaller plants, clone to flower, under the one light, so they'll still get adequate lighting.

The bigger ones are filling out and making a really nice canopy.

I'll do my best to do weekly picture uploads of progress, but I have a full time job, and a full time garden... So sometimes things get a little crazy. I have some pics up in a day or two...

 

[SlikWiLL13]

that sucks about the ballast...id be tempted to go kick the guy that first said it was okay in the junk. at least your not out of business, just short on lumens.

are you gonna make some super skunk crosses now? i cant wait to see how my NLxNYC D comes out. i have at least 50 seed maturing as we speak!

 

[twistedentities]

that suks man..i hate when people give bad advise just to sell something...yeah, u should always use the right fuses...sometimes u can use a larger fuse than rec...but dropping down tends to fry things...did u let them know they screwed ur shit up?

 

[MrHowardMarks]

Yeah, I had four people tell me it should work... After I told them, "I don't want this 80 cent fuse to blow up my 250 dollar ballast..."

That's the original plan, to backcross all my strains to super skunk... I picked the largest, fastest growing male to be the stud... So, yeah, I'll have my fair share of skunk genetics, my present strain, silver mango, is skunk related on both its parents... Wanted to backcross it, I also wanted to breed with the blueberry.

 

[SlikWiLL13]

ive heard several different stories....how do you store your pollen?

 

[MrHowardMarks]

Actually, with fuses it's the exact opposite...

You can go lower, not higher.


Amperage is resistance in the line... My ballast runs on 5.5 amps, but when you turn it on it spikes around 6.2 amps...

The fuse has a limit of 10 amps, so, if the ballast tries to pull more than 10 amps the fuse blows...

A fuse limits the amount of amps that a device can draw...

If you need to limit it to 5 amps, you could try to use a 4 amp fuse, but most likely the 4 amp fuse will blow, and it wont work.

If you went higher, like putting a 6 amp in place of a 5, it will allow the device to pull up to 6 amps, and that might be enough to blow it up...

That's why I figured using a 125v would be safe to try, having the correct amperage and all... and I still don't know what's up with the ballast, it's surely broken, it popped and made the electric smoke smell...

I'm going to look into it further, less send the ballast back to be remanufactured.

 

[MrHowardMarks]

Pollen can be stored up to 4 months in the fridge in a airtight container... In the dark.

I just keep it in a glass jar...

 

[twistedentities]

shit, i was told the opposite...what u say makes more sense...

 

[SlikWiLL13]

tell me, which of those bulbs do you like more? i had Ed Rosenthal himself recomend the solarmax to me at last years show. i was at the booth checking them out and he looked over my shoulder and said, "thats the one id go with." i said, "but look at the price tag". he replied, "pennywise is pound stupid." and walked away.

 

[raiderman]

if you are venting out with the vortex fan in your basement , do you think enough air may be pulling in from other smaller areas your not aware of ?

 

[MrHowardMarks]

Sounds like Ed was working for said company no, I don't notice any difference between the two, they both cost 125 bucks each, and have the same lumen output, I can't see any differences with the outcome.

The sunmaster looks like it's a higher quality bulb...

 

[MrHowardMarks]

if you are venting out with the vortex fan in your basement , do you think enough air may be pulling in from other smaller areas your not aware of ?

I'm aware of my ventillation setup, and yes, there is some ambient intake.

I have 1000CFM being sucked out and a 500CFM blowing in fresh air... That leaves 500 CFM of ambient intake.

What happens in my case since the walls are made of panda poly is they want to be sucked in.

I have rebar on the bottom in the corner to hold the poly down, since I can't staple it to the wall (cinderblock)

The entry way is just the corner, and I have weights on the bottom of the plastic walls that aren't stapled down.

I've used 2x4s in the past to hold down the plastic.

The basement is a rather large area, the room is in the back surrounded by walls on 3 sides... The ambient intake is working just fine, when I turn off the intake fan, the walls suck in pretty hard...

Essentially I'm growing in a tent, I didn't realize that until just now... In fact I've pretty much always made a tent now that I think about it, just covering up the walls with panda poly and poly shield...

 

[holmes]

yo mr.m
thanks for the info on scorpion juice, whats your experience with sensizyme, Im currently using hygrozyme and im not yet convinced it does what it says it does.

sorry to hear about the ballast, i would recommend upgrading your fuse box, but if i remember right your looking to buy a house soon, so its not worth it.

happy new year

 

[raiderman]

just thought i'd say, i'm sure you are aware of your vent,lol..

 

[MrHowardMarks]

I've heard different things.

Some say that they are both essentially the same thing, and some say hygrozyme is better some say sensizym is better...

This is the first grow I haven't used it... So I guess I'll find out if it's really worth it...


It supposedly important if you're running organics, because it breaks down otherwise non-soluable nutrients and allows the plant to eat it, aside of decomposing roots.

Basically it really speeds up the decomposition process.

Hygrozyme differs because it says it doesn't use any bacteria in its product, and there isn't bacteria in it... Sensizym however does, beneficial or not I don't know...

Sometimes a bottle of Sensizym will smell absolutely awful, apparently it's okay... But i still return it for one that doesn't stink...

After you've used it, and the bottle has been opened several times, some airborne bacteria or whatever will eventually get in there, and it will start to smell like death.

Gotta love the smell of organics.

 

[SlikWiLL13]

Sounds like Ed was working for said company no, I don't notice any difference between the two, they both cost 125 bucks each, and have the same lumen output, I can't see any differences with the outcome.

The sunmaster looks like it's a higher quality bulb...

arent all those guys working for somebody? lol i was ready for an upgrade so i figured id try it and i saw a difference over the Phillips within days. and i got mine for 90 bucks

 

[MrHowardMarks]

Yeah, the 400Ws are cheaper... But you'll find a huge difference between the industrial lights and the horticulture lights...