First serious grow! LEC 315 in a 4x4 tent (Philips elite agro CMH)

[GroErr]

EXCEPT that I just happened to come across this bulb
http://www.greners.com/i/grow-lights/hid-bulbs/wattage/250-watts/Philips_250w_MH_Conversion_Lamp.html

looks pretty sweet! I know conversion bulbs aren't the most efficient, but if you put that inside one of these-
http://growershouse.com/6-cool-tube
with one of these-
http://growershouse.com/phantom-250w-digital-ballast-120-240v

then you have a cmh grow light good for veg and flower for $250 that's 80% the wattage, about 60% the lumens and half the price?

You said it right there, 80% of the wattage and 60% lumens, spectral charts are different and with that efficiency you'd need to deal with some heat, not really comparing apples to apples. They'd certainly grow MJ but get a full run under the Elite Agro and see if you want to change

 

[borbor]

Aw yeah, that actually is pretty inefficient, I was primarily thinking about keeping that setup in mind to suggest to people starting out, but the more I compare it to hps numbers it doesn't add up, even on the 400 watt version I just found. (20,500 lumens on the 250 vs 30,500 on a 250 hps, and 34,000 lumens on the 400 vs 55,000 lumens on a 400 hps)


I just pre-ordered two rw-75s from area 51. Their website says "estimated wait time 3/16/2015," I wonder if that means that's when they expect to have them back in stock or when I should expect them to come to me, definitely no way of knowing that. I'm sure whatever day they show up will be the perfect day for 12/12. been wondering this whole time exactly how I'm gonna arrange them. one on either side of the lec would be nice and even, but assuming the 315 covers about a 3x3 area, and each of these rw75s is supposed to cover a 2x2 area, I can't think of a way to cover the whole tent.

 

[GroErr]

Aw yeah, that actually is pretty inefficient, I was primarily thinking about keeping that setup in mind to suggest to people starting out, but the more I compare it to hps numbers it doesn't add up, even on the 400 watt version I just found. (20,500 lumens on the 250 vs 30,500 on a 250 hps, and 34,000 lumens on the 400 vs 55,000 lumens on a 400 hps)


I just pre-ordered two rw-75s from area 51. Their website says "estimated wait time 3/16/2015," I wonder if that means that's when they expect to have them back in stock or when I should expect them to come to me, definitely no way of knowing that. I'm sure whatever day they show up will be the perfect day for 12/12. been wondering this whole time exactly how I'm gonna arrange them. one on either side of the lec would be nice and even, but assuming the 315 covers about a 3x3 area, and each of these rw75s is supposed to cover a 2x2 area, I can't think of a way to cover the whole tent.

Just put them on the sides, angled a bit and offset so each covers a 2x2 area. I move them around if the edges aren't getting as much coverage, cycle them every few days.

 

[borbor]

haha nice I never even thought of moving them every few days

 

[borbor]

I think I've been keeping the light a little too close to the plants, not raising it much as they grow. just hoisted it up a few inches so we'll see how they respond. They're doing okay, just a few signs of heat stress. The blue kush auto is showing the most problems with it, I think because of her being in a larger, coupled with the start of the stretch, she's higher up than the others.

What distance would some of you lec owners recommend? I've been trying to keep it at about 20 inches, just now before I raised it it was about 16 or 17" above the plant in the middle, starbud, which is a little taller than the others except the auto.

 

[GroErr]

I think I've been keeping the light a little too close to the plants, not raising it much as they grow. just hoisted it up a few inches so we'll see how they respond. They're doing okay, just a few signs of heat stress. The blue kush auto is showing the most problems with it, I think because of her being in a larger, coupled with the start of the stretch, she's higher up than the others.

What distance would some of you lec owners recommend? I've been trying to keep it at about 20 inches, just now before I raised it it was about 16 or 17" above the plant in the middle, starbud, which is a little taller than the others except the auto.

Good idea to keep that a bit higher until the get a bit bigger or until you start floweing. I flower at ~20" which is still pretty intense. For veg you'd be fine to have it 24-30" imo, I could see them getting heat/light stress at anything less than 24".

 

[borbor]

Wow, more than I thought even, I'll bring it up a lil' more to make sure.
My first try at growing was with CFLs, I think through that I taught myself a bad habit (more light! closer to plants! more!!!! closer!!!!)

 

[GroErr]

Wow, more than I thought even, I'll bring it up a lil' more to make sure.
My first try at growing was with CFLs, I think through that I taught myself a bad habit (more light! closer to plants! more!!!! closer!!!!)

Yeah not these, nothing like CFL's When I first ran these I didn't have a lot of reference and tried different heights. At anything below 18-20" I got bleaching/burn on the top canopy leaves in flowering.

 

[greenghost420]

the lec 315 only covers 3x3?

 

[GroErr]

the lec 315 only covers 3x3?

Depends on what you're using it for and your height. In veg you could use it at 32-34" and cover 4x4 easy, maybe a bit more. Not a ton of grows with these but they cover a 3x3 well at 20" in flowering, but you could stretch that to 3.5 x 3.5 easy imo, run it at 22" above. I'll be doing that next round with one to see how far they can stretch and produce tight bud.

 

[greenghost420]

sorry for repeating myself/yourself lol

 

[borbor]

Yeah not these, nothing like CFL's When I first ran these I didn't have a lot of reference and tried different heights. At anything below 18-20" I got bleaching/burn on the top canopy leaves in flowering.

just got home from work and saw the girls, they're responding very well to my raising the light!
maybe this is something to be said about querkle, but that plant, while the smallest and slowest growing, seems to have tolerated my early abuses like a champ. healthiest in the garden, surpassing both starbud and midnight kush. Brazil amazonia's very first leaf set is all yellow like a fan leaf at the end of flower, for a few days I've just figured those two are gonna die but all the new growth looks good.

 

[borbor]

still lookin' good, the blue kush auto is really taking off, still looks heat stressed, raised the light another inch or two.

The others all look good, better than yesterday. Starbud is the tallest, about 9 inches, with 6 nodes. Midnight kush is a little shorter, but with one more node, and she was also trained a little, very lightly.


all this pre-flowering stuff-
Not exactly sure on when the switch is getting flipped to 12/12. the original plan was this tuesday, but they're definitely not ready. So I'm gonna have to pay more money for the electricity (like $15 a week tops, not a big deal).
I've been thinking that I'd flip the lights whenever the two panels from area 51 got here. Seems like it might be a while til they show up, so that could work out perfectly. would be nice to keep the auto under 18/6 with a flowering light t
Wondering about when I should transplant the ladies to their larger pots. Starbud, midnight kush, and maybe querkle depending on space are gonna go in 7 gallon smart pots, the rest of em in 5 gallons. based on my observations, this batch 64 moonshine stuff could use a little more perlite, so I might add about a cup per 5 gallon pot, or 3-4 cups to the whole bag. They're all in one gallon pots now (except the burmese kush in a 2 gallon...oops!)
anybody have any suggestions on when to transplant? I wanted to do it about a week before 12/12, but don't really have a way of telling if they're ready or if all the soil is just gonna break apart. That's one issue I've found with smart pots- in regular pots you can see if roots are showing through the drainage holes and how much.


overall, how we lookin'?

 

[borbor]

group shot

p.s.
woohoo! "well known member"!

 

[GroErr]

group shot

p.s.
woohoo! "well known member"!

Nice, some happy looking plants coming up in there

 

[Ace Yonder]

Very nice! That's a good lookin' group of girls there!

 

[borbor]

thanks!
Just made a rookie mistake though
thought now would be an alright time to transplant the bigger girls. I started with midnight kush and unrolled the pot really carefully. I was already sketched out vs transplanting from plastic pots, but the bottom of the pot really clung onto some roots, I don't think the result is gonna be good. I hope I'm overreacting a little bit and she bounces back quickly, though I don't have high hopes for her when I open the tent tomorrow, really bummed about that since she's been growing so strong so far.
I put her into a 7 gallon. After that I examined the bottom of some of the other plant's pots and saw lots of roots poking out. I'd read about burying smart pots in smart pots online before but just didn't think it would really work. Did it anyway, so starbud is now buried in a 7 gallon and brazil amazonia in a five gallon. I've gotta go to the hydro store for some more stuff but I'll do querkle soon. If it works, then smart pots are really awesome for transplanting, but if not then they should only be used as a final pot right?

 

[GroErr]

If it works, then smart pots are really awesome for transplanting, but if not then they should only be used as a final pot right?

I use them all the way through, plastic party cup to 1 gal fabric, then 3 gal, then 5 or 7 gal. I find the fabric pots much easier to transplant. I wouldn't be too concerned as long as you didn't do a ton of damage they'll bounce back.

 

[Mohican]

I have put smart pots in bigger pots and it works just fine!

Babies are looking good!

 

[borbor]

Cool, thanks guys I'm feeling a little more confident (but not so much as ace yonder's avatar)

It wasn't like the rootball fell apart while transplanting or anything, just scared me that it felt like I was ripping away the bottom of the pot. I think it should have been a little more moist, but thinking back...I've seen some cannabis plants bounce back from much much crazier shit.

Since I already buried two of the pots, and I'm guessing the roots that were showing through the bottom of those are probably already starting to grow, I guess it'll be kind of a side by side for me, at least I might learn about what method I like better. I don't doubt the ability of the roots to grow through the bottom anymore since I've seen it (though I bet it slows em down), What I'm skeptical about it the roots going through the sides, but we'll see by the end of flower I guess.

one thing that kind of seems cool with smart pots is that if burying them does work well, you can make a pot any size and footprint you want, for example, burying a 4 gallon smart pot halfway deep with half the pot sticking above the soil in a 7 gallon would give you a 9 gallon tiered smart pot that takes up the footprint of a 7 gallon. it'd be a little weird to figure out how to water (how much in bottom, how much in top? but I think it sounds cool. I don't see a reason to try it myself until at least a few grows from now, but has this occurred to anyone else?