Okay here's what im working with at the moment. I have a 3'(W)x3'(L)x6'(H) tent with 3 diff indica strains each in a 5 gal DWC. I have a 600w cooltube but i found out last night it went all day without light due to the ballast took a shit(and last week the light cycle was interrupted for 4 hrs because of a transformer blew). I just ordered a 600w pahntom ballast but for the mean time until it arrives i have 6 cfl's going. I have no experience with cfl's and was curious about what the hell is "watt equivalent". The box says "100 watt equivalent. 23 actual watts. 1600 lumens" Should i not even be worrying about the watts and just look at the lumen output? Again this is temporary until later next week if theres anything im missing or something better i should do please let me know. Mostly worried about the light cycles being interrupted and thinking it should go into flower then back to veg, creating a hermi. Thank you RIU communtiy!
ballast blew, is this a good backup?
- Thread starter tkc8182
- Start date
smoke and coke
Well-Known Member
for now dont worry about the dreaded hermie, just keep your light on schedule from now on. your still in veg. and 1 day without light should be ok. 6 of the 23 w cfl's are fine unless you can fit a few more in there. with cfl's, the more the better.
are they the daylight cfl's around 65k?
are they the daylight cfl's around 65k?
polyarcturus
Well-Known Member
sorry to say i disagre with above DO WORRY about the hermi! a 4 hour interupt and an 8 hour interupt is not big deal but a week or 2 of reduced lumen after spending weeks in the high brightness light could be an issue. just keep your eyes open for sack pick em off as they grow. if you can bring the brightness up to the level of the 600w you wont have nothing to worry about. you should DIY a magnetic ballast from a high bay light(from warhouse usually 400w) as a back up in case your digital fail or any light for that matter. 40$ to know youll always have a backup light is worth it.
i would say x2 23w cfls per plant if they are coming from a 600w of light till the new 600w shows up.
i would say x2 23w cfls per plant if they are coming from a 600w of light till the new 600w shows up.
smoke and coke
Well-Known Member
hmm hermie a plant while in veg. i dont think i have ever heard of that.
No they are soft white. Are the daylights better?
polyarcturus
Well-Known Member
hmm im must of missed that lol.. my bad yeah fuck you dont need no 2 cfls im trippen folks dont smoke weed lol. just get som light in there till you get a replacement. a 400w highbay ligh isnt a bad idea though... yeah you DO NOT need to worry about herms my bad...
i must have misread his book there...
Definatly going to keep my eyes open for those dreaded sacks and looking into a backup ballast
polyarcturus
Well-Known Member
daylight CFLs will be better. yeah always keep an eye open but you dont need to worry yourself to death over it i thought they where like week 6 flower. and also just as a tip. just cause you see ball sacks just pull them aways it could just be a hermie and if you keep pulling away the sack you can them to flower as normal. same thing for "males" often beleived males are just hermies, so when you see a sack to freak, just start by trying to revert especially if its not a major risk of pollinating others, like plants in early flower or vegging plants.
Right on and thank you for the tip!
smoke and coke
Well-Known Member
you know i have been thinking about this. and i wonder if a plant in veg. can herm. its hard enough to see when looking for preflowers, maybe it can show both. even when i have male preflowers, i still dont accept it until i go to 12/12 and am 100% sure.
polyarcturus
Well-Known Member
yep plants in veg can herm.