400watt apollo grow light, introduction to grow?

Baker12356 · May 14, 2015

Hey guys just wondering, but my 400watt apollo light comes in tommorrow and i.was wondering if im right that i need to keep the light three feet away from plants starting off for a week then lower the lights by 2 inches a day till its 12 inches away from Plant? Or can i just put it 12 inches away from plant right aaway? Im using obly a couple cfls right now
Thanks!

smowstack · May 14, 2015

Baker12356 said:
Hey guys just wondering, but my 400watt apollo light comes in tommorrow and i.was wondering if im right that i need to keep the light three feet away from plants starting off for a week then lower the lights by 2 inches a day till its 12 inches away from Plant? Or can i just put it 12 inches away from plant right aaway? Im using obly a couple cfls right now
Thanks!

the height depends on the footprint you are trying to cover. The more your footprint the higher the light. This is the same with all lights, hid, cfl or led.

with a 400w mh, the test is the heat test. Put your hand under the light at about 12 inches and check the heat. Most consider a 400w to cover 4 square feet for veg and less for flower.

good for you for buying that 400w Apollo. that's the best going deal on the internet at this time

if possible, set a thermometer on the soil and then you will be able to adjust the ambient temp and your light temp

but no, a mh will not burn a plant if too close, but the temp from a mh can burn

bicit · May 14, 2015

Baker12356 said:
Hey guys just wondering, but my 400watt apollo light comes in tommorrow and i.was wondering if im right that i need to keep the light three feet away from plants starting off for a week then lower the lights by 2 inches a day till its 12 inches away from Plant? Or can i just put it 12 inches away from plant right aaway? Im using obly a couple cfls right now
Thanks!

18" away should suffice

smowstack · May 14, 2015

bicit said:
18" away should suffice

I started my new veg room in a cold winter closet and was amazed how much heat my 200w cfl generated. Everybody told me you could put a cfl right next to your plants, but when I set the thermometer up on the soil I saw that 18 inches was about 80 degrees, even on a cold day, and that is getting close to baking.

phil k · May 14, 2015

bicit said:
18" away should suffice

he knows what he's talking about in regards to LED listen to him

skunkwreck · May 14, 2015

Baker12356 said:
Hey guys just wondering, but my 400watt apollo light comes in tommorrow and i.was wondering if im right that i need to keep the light three feet away from plants starting off for a week then lower the lights by 2 inches a day till its 12 inches away from Plant? Or can i just put it 12 inches away from plant right aaway? Im using obly a couple cfls right now
Thanks!

I keep my 400 at 18" from the canopy...btw I have the Apollo 400 MH/ HPS

skunkwreck · May 14, 2015

Or you talking about led's ? My bad lol

KarmaPaymentPlan · May 14, 2015

smowstack said:
I started my new veg room in a cold winter closet and was amazed how much heat my 200w cfl generated. Everybody told me you could put a cfl right next to your plants, but when I set the thermometer up on the soil I saw that 18 inches was about 80 degrees, even on a cold day, and that is getting close to baking.

do you have any air circulation on the light? like a fan

bicit · May 14, 2015

phil k said:
he knows what he's talking about in regards to LED listen to him

Well I was assuming he had a MH/HPS. 18-24" is usually pretty good for most HID setups. I've run as close as 6" with an air cooled 600w, though not by choice.

Though now that you mention it, the 400w setup comes with a batwing, in which case it should be about 24"

skunkwreck · May 14, 2015

bicit said:
Well I was assuming he had a MH/HPS. 18-24" is usually pretty good for most HID setups. I've run as close as 6" with an air cooled 600w, though not by choice.

Though now that you mention it, the 400w setup comes with a batwing, in which case it should be about 24"

Yeah it does...I have fan that blows directly across the bulb .

Baker12356 · May 14, 2015

Well the one i ordered is just mh and hps two bulbs not any leds, woould it be a good idea to use less with the mh and hps bulbs? And no i do not but i will buy one of those fans if it gets to hot, or add more fans to my existing room?

Baker12356 · May 14, 2015

Oh and just wondering should i start the light at 100 percent,75,50,or 25 pecent?

skunkwreck · May 14, 2015

I veg under cfl's when I switch to HPS I go 50% for a week , 75% for 3 or 4 days then 100% .
I don't really use my MH much .

phil k · May 14, 2015

skunkwreck said:
Or you talking about led's ? My bad lol

he was talking about HPS i fucked up how i worded my message i meant to say listen to him he knows what he's talking about with lighting especially when it comes to LED ... that was my bad

phil k · May 14, 2015

skunkwreck said:
I veg under cfl's when I switch to HPS I go 50% for a week , 75% for 3 or 4 days then 100% .
I don't really use my MH much .

yeah i use t5 ... but sometimes MH in veg is just a pain .. high heat makes younger plants stretch sometimes.. i prefer t5 or something like that for veg personally but just don't put them directly under the new fresh bulb .. place them off to the side and work them into the center day by day

churchhaze · May 14, 2015

T5 is less efficient than MH, so you will have to produce more heat to get the same amount of light.

bicit · May 14, 2015

churchhaze said:
T5 is less efficient than MH, so you will have to produce more heat to get the same amount of light.

Realistically though, you don't need 400w for early veg. 100w metal halides are rather nice though.

phil k · May 14, 2015

huh? explain that a bit better a regular 4ft bulb is 54watts and 5,000 lumens.... so 8 bulb 4ft t5 system produces 432 watts and 45,000 lumens and has a bit better par rating than halides... if i remember right.. the same lumen count as 400 hailed.. which is between 30,00-43,000 lumens. depending on brand ... BUT T5 lights (if you know what your doing) have the ability to be pushed from 54W... to 79watts per bulb with SPECIFIc ballasts designed to do that.. so technically i can make a 8 bulb setup push 632 watts... what a 400 halide pushes PLUS add an extra 200 watts if i really wanted.. we used to push t5 bulbs over their limits with ICE CAP ballasts when we ran saltwater tanks .. t5 lights were the coolest (temp wise) way to efficiently light the tank without having the light degrade over water depth...

phil k · May 14, 2015

churchhaze said:
T5 is less efficient than MH, so you will have to produce more heat to get the same amount of light.

the above was for u sorry i meant to quote u

alesh · May 15, 2015

phil k said:
huh? explain that a bit better a regular 4ft bulb is 54watts and 5,000 lumens.... so 8 bulb 4ft t5 system produces 432 watts and 45,000 lumens and has a bit better par rating than halides... if i remember right.. the same lumen count as 400 hailed.. which is between 30,00-43,000 lumens. depending on brand ... BUT T5 lights (if you know what your doing) have the ability to be pushed from 54W... to 79watts per bulb with SPECIFIc ballasts designed to do that.. so technically i can make a 8 bulb setup push 632 watts... what a 400 halide pushes PLUS add an extra 200 watts if i really wanted.. we used to push t5 bulbs over their limits with ICE CAP ballasts when we ran saltwater tanks .. t5 lights were the coolest (temp wise) way to efficiently light the tank without having the light degrade over water depth...

churchhaze said:
T5 is less efficient than MH, so you will have to produce more heat to get the same amount of light.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efficiency

less efficient = less light per energy conumed

400watt apollo grow light, introduction to grow?

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