When should I use the lights I have.

DrGREENthumb85

DrGREENthumb85

Active Member
I am currently growing 2 White Rhino and 2 master Kush under 3/42 watt CFL's. I have a 150watt HPS (not set up in tent), and a 600watt HPS cool tube currently installed into the ducting of my tent. Should I be running my 600 watt HPS now, or should I only run it when I switch over to 12/12 on my lights?
 
d.c. beard

d.c. beard

Well-Known Member
How old are they now is the question?

A 600 watter can be too much for very young upstarts, but once they are about 6" tall they can handle it fine as long as the lamp is 12-18" above the canopy. Young plants in veg also do just fine with CFL's, but I'd be using T5's at least. HPS bulbs are best for flower, MH bulbs are best for veg. The 150 watter would be perfect prob if you could throw a MH bulb in it.

The more light the sooner, the better though. Give it to em as soon as they can handle it.
 
DrGREENthumb85

DrGREENthumb85

Active Member
d.c. beard said:
How old are they now is the question?

A 600 watter can be too much for very young upstarts, but once they are about 6" tall they can handle it fine as long as the lamp is 12-18" above the canopy. Young plants in veg also do just fine with CFL's, but I'd be using T5's at least. HPS bulbs are best for flower, MH bulbs are best for veg. The 150 watter would be perfect prob if you could throw a MH bulb in it.

The more light the sooner, the better though. Give it to em as soon as they can handle it.
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They are just over two weeks from popping out the soil. I dont have MH capability on my 150watt outlet, but my 600 watt actually can use both MH and HPS in its outlet. I will just buy an MH bulb for my 600 watt cool tube. Thanks for the advice. You still think i should wait til they are 6" tall before kicking on the MH bulb? for pix of my grow op, click here... https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/461371-600-watt-hps-cool-tube.html
 
Bwpz

Bwpz

Well-Known Member
DrGREENthumb85 said:
They are just over two weeks from popping out the soil. I dont have MH capability on my 150watt outlet, but my 600 watt actually can use both MH and HPS in its outlet. I will just buy an MH bulb for my 600 watt cool tube. Thanks for the advice. You still think i should wait til they are 6" tall before kicking on the MH bulb? for pix of my grow op, click here... https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/461371-600-watt-hps-cool-tube.html
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I'm doing MH from the get-go, then HPS for flowering. I'll probably dim the 600w's of MH at first and work it up, but if your ballast doesn't do that then just keep it a lil further away probably.
 
jdmcwestevo

jdmcwestevo

Well-Known Member
d.c. beard said:
How old are they now is the question?

A 600 watter can be too much for very young upstarts, but once they are about 6" tall they can handle it fine as long as the lamp is 12-18" above the canopy. Young plants in veg also do just fine with CFL's, but I'd be using T5's at least. HPS bulbs are best for flower, MH bulbs are best for veg. The 150 watter would be perfect prob if you could throw a MH bulb in it.

The more light the sooner, the better though. Give it to em as soon as they can handle it.
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i disagree i have put clones under 1000w before. what about people putting seedlings outside the sun is more powerful than a 1000w i dont know why people say that all the time
 
Bwpz

Bwpz

Well-Known Member
jdmcwestevo said:
i disagree i have put clones under 1000w before. what about people putting seedlings outside the sun is more powerful than a 1000w i dont know why people say that all the time
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The sun isn't better lighting than a 1000w HPS.
 
jdmcwestevo

jdmcwestevo

Well-Known Member
Bwpz said:
Yeah, I'm serious :P
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not worth it to argue over lol but the sun is a couple million miles away and shit makes it 130+ degrees in some places a 1000w can be cooled in a small glass hood with a fan.....sun>1000w.

it has more power more spectrum and uv light. a HPS bulb is a very narrow spectrum of light. im not talking outdoor vs indoor obviously indoor is better but the power they put out. if you had the power of day light sun with indoor conditions it would blow away any 1000w
 
Bwpz

Bwpz

Well-Known Member
jdmcwestevo said:
not worth it to argue over lol but the sun is a couple million miles away and shit makes it 130+ degrees in some places a 1000w can be cooled in a small glass hood with a fan.....sun>1000w.

it has more power more spectrum and uv light. a HPS bulb is a very narrow spectrum of light. im not talking outdoor vs indoor obviously indoor is better but the power they put out. if you had the power of day light sun with indoor conditions it would blow away any 1000w
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Maybe on a hot summer day at the beach, but not here in the mountains xD
 
d.c. beard

d.c. beard

Well-Known Member
Hey, pretty nice setup ya got there Greenthumb, I use and love tents as well!

As long as you don't put your lamp too close to the seedlings then I'd say they could take 600 watts of MH light by now prob. Just back it off more is you see them leaning away from it. WATCH YOUR TEMPS! Sex is determined in the first 2 weeks of the seedling stage by the environment, and heat is the biggest factor almost. Lower temps = more females. Strive for 72 - 74 degrees during this time.

I would try to straighten out that ducting you have the cooltube hooked up to, the less bends the more airflow and more efficient cooling. Get some ducting elbows for the 90 deg turns if you can. And as soon as possible ditch that 4" ducting for 6" like your cooltube wants and deserves. The more airflow the better.

Otherwise, looking pretty good bro!
 
jpockets420

jpockets420

Well-Known Member
actually in the mountains the sun is closer and stronger..any smart person would know that. That is why indica's are from the mountainous areas, the closer you are to the light...the shorter and stockier the plant is ;)

The sun gives off 6,840,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 lumens

A 1000W HPS gives off 150,000 lumens

Now a plant isnt going to see the full lumens from the sun cause of distance, atmosphere etc. The actual amount a plant sees from the sun on a sunny day is 10,000 lumens per square foot which blows a 1000W HPS out of the water!
 
bigbillyrocka

bigbillyrocka

Well-Known Member
on mine i vegged under CFL for a month then MH for 2 weeks then HPS. which it is under now.
400 watts of each (on CFL 400 watt was/is 120 actual watts). workin pretty good for me.
 
d.c. beard

d.c. beard

Well-Known Member
bigbillyrocka said:
on mine i vegged under CFL for a month then MH for 2 weeks then HPS. which it is under now.
400 watts of each (on CFL 400 watt was/is 120 actual watts). workin pretty good for me.
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The more you veg under a decent amount of CFL lighting the more $$$ you save. Obviously I would never flower under it though.
 
jpockets420

jpockets420

Well-Known Member
I spend less than $15/month on electricity using (1) 150W HPS and (5) 43W cfl's to flower one plant. This includes fans and carbon filter. You really dont start spending good money until you get over 400W HPS but even that only runs about $13/month by itself to run on 12/12 cycle. It also depends the rate you pay but all in all it takes a lot to budge my bill with what I use.
 
bigbillyrocka

bigbillyrocka

Well-Known Member
d.c. beard said:
The more you veg under a decent amount of CFL lighting the more $$$ you save. Obviously I would never flower under it though.
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oh yeah for sure! i look at it like this tho: it takes money to make money :)
go check out my grow thread. putting new pics in about 15 mins or so.
 
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