First Grow Indica Under CFLs 2012

[growrook]

wow Christmas in may,,lucky you , that light will be fun to play with ,, does he know how old the bulb is ? . 400's aren't to bad on price..

Its about 4 years old used once then sat for 3 years. Ya it does feel like Christmas, now that you mention it maybe this year Ill ask the wife for a 1000 watt grow light wrap all nicely bows and all, see what she says LOL!

 

[growrook]

Looking good man. When are you gonna switch it over? Yeah, apparently the BPN is some crazy stuff, definitely my next nutrient purchase as well.

Not sure yet, Im still cloning for me plus some friends for an outside grow then ill switch them over.

 

[donpaul.p]

i just purchased my hps and it gives the bulb life in terms of hours, now off the top of my head i think it was something like 24,000 between changes, so it depends how long the bulb has been used for,
im still following all journals mate, just had problems with my fone line but im back on now so trying my best to catch up,
i wouldnt worry about the ballast to much as they should last a long time, its just the bulb, but if it hasnt been used much then it will be ok,
now for the reflector you would be better of trying to buy one, you would need something metal as they get very hot, mine came with a double arch type reflector made out of hammered metal to prevent hot spots, you could probably make one if you had a look at a few on line but you would need some sort of thin aluminum or tin type metal, but buying one would give you the best chance of reflecting all the light back onto the plant.

 

[growrook]

Heres the new 400 watt MH sun master grow light, keep my CFL in the grow, figure the more the better. total lumens 70 000. lumens per square foot is 5833.

 

[growrook]

i just purchased my hps and it gives the bulb life in terms of hours, now off the top of my head i think it was something like 24,000 between changes, so it depends how long the bulb has been used for,
im still following all journals mate, just had problems with my fone line but im back on now so trying my best to catch up,
i wouldnt worry about the ballast to much as they should last a long time, its just the bulb, but if it hasnt been used much then it will be ok,
now for the reflector you would be better of trying to buy one, you would need something metal as they get very hot, mine came with a double arch type reflector made out of hammered metal to prevent hot spots, you could probably make one if you had a look at a few on line but you would need some sort of thin aluminum or tin type metal, but buying one would give you the best chance of reflecting all the light back onto the plant.

Hey don take a look at the new pics, Do you think I need a reflector.

 

[donpaul.p]

you would be better off with one, you would increase light by anything upto about 50%, but the problem i can see you have got is that the cfls are creating a shadow below so that the mh lights is not actualy shining on the plants, ive got my 400watt hps about 12 to 14 inches away from my plants and the one 400watt bulb is enough to light my whole 3x3 grow room up a lot more than all the cfls i had, so you could try lowering it, and try and get the bulb so its in the middle of both lots of plants and sort of move the cfls out a bit and angle the cfls so their diagonally shining onto the plants, that way you have got the light from the mh shining on the plants but then your suplimenting it with the cfls shining from the sides, at the minute it looks like your mainly using the cfls and suplimenting it with the mh.

your plants would grow a lot quicker and healthier if their main light was the mh, and then try and push the cfls out towards the edges so their shining on the plants still from above but on a slight angle so you can clearly see the mh shining on all the plants.

what you could do is move the cfls and just have the mh light switched on, then try and adjust the height so its shining on all the plants, then try and position your cfls so your suplimenting the mh with the cfls, doing this will show you exactly where the mh is shining and you can then see exactly where it shines on the plants or not, if you just turned the cfls off now where they are and see where the mh shines and check if its shining on the plants or if the plants are in the shade due to the cfl been in the way,

you need to consider the heat as well, so you will need some sort of fan blowing towards the bulb moving the heat up and away from the plants, id say you would benefit loads from a reflector, the best i have seen for them bulbs is sort of an 8 sided round thing, it gives off an even light, if you watch some grow dvds or just donwload them then jorge cervantes gives a guide on the type of reflector,

so try and get one if you can, the light will benefit you loads if you can get the height dialed in properly, it took me a few days to get the right height, basically i used the back of my hand under the light, when it got hot i knew it was far enough away but when it got to hot i knew it was to close so i got it about 1 ft away now and its more than enough to light a 3ft by 3ft room, its all im using in my flower room, but been as your bulb hangs the way it does its putting most of the light out to the sides, and not much shining down from the ends, so you will benefit loads from having a reflector, i dont think until you have got one that its worth messing about with the height and cfls because as soon as you get a reflector you will need to adjust it again, but you and your plants will benefit loads from a reflector

this is the kind you need
Sun King Parabolic Reflectors: Basement Lighting Hydroponics and Plant Grow Lights

here is a guide to make your own but be very carefull what you use as you dont want a fire risk
Making a Parabolic Reflector Out of a Flat Sheet

here is a selection on the auction site, but you would need to check the site for your country though mate, you want the round parabolic reflector, you can make your own, but dont use tinfoil to reflect the light as it creates hot spots, either use flat white paint or mylar or something like that, but you need to make sure that if you make one that it dont get hot where the reflector is mounted to the bulb holder, so if you did make one id keep an eye on it for a while till you know for sure its safe to leave. you could also pop down to your nearest hydro store and they may have some they can sell you cheap, customer returns or even slightly damaged ones say with a crack in it, it would be easy to fix with some strong tape,
parabolic reflector | eBay
but once you have one of these the light on the plants will increase loads and growth rate will increase as well, at the moment the bulb is putting most the light out the sides and not so much shining down without a reflector, so it is worth getting one

 

[growrook]

Heres my DIY reflector

 

[donpaul.p]

perfect mate, just keep an eye on the temps, your plants should be getting loads more light now as you was losing most as it was shining outwards from the bulb and not down, did you use the guide i posted or did you find your own, keep an eye on the temps on the reflector as well, or even poke some holes in at the part nearest the bulb mount just to let the hot air raise, also doing this will keep it away from the plants due to the heat rising so all you should have then is the light shining on the plants and the heat going up through the reflector and away from the plants.

but looks like you done a top job on the reflector, exactly what it needed, now your getting the most from the bulb so the running costs work out better now your getting nearly all the light on the plants, just keep checking the temp and the highest part of the plants and make sure the reflector is not going to go up in flames, but i think you have got it sorted by the looks of it, didnt take long either, and saved you a load of money for basically the same thing,you can see just by looking at the pics that your getting more light on the plants.

what i do now i have got my 400watt dual hps in their is rotate the plants 180 degrees because my bulb dont hang down like your min goes across and i found that directly below the bulb it was less bright and the brightest part was by the edges of the reflector so i turn my plants around and move them about every day so that they are all getting even light, so if you can get into your parts then just give them a quater or half a turn each day, this will then give them even light distribution.

but looking good mate, you saved some money, i was looking at the prices of the reflectors and for a crappy plastic one they was charging sky high prices and you can make yourself one for next to nothing, so reps for making your own mate, its well worth the effort and im sure you can tell the difference yourself, plus you wont be blinded now each time you go near the plants.

but make sure you keep an eye on the temps and check the leaves for signs of over heating, the edges of the leaves will curl up if they are to hot so keep a look out for this, also keep an eye on the temps at plant level, plus when its hotter outside then its going to be hotter under the light, but as long as you got the heat moving with a fan you should be ok,

 

[wranglerpx]

be careful that bulb doesnt light the material you used for your reflector on fire, they get hot! Lookin good tho. You can make a good reflector out of a metal dryer vent too for real cheap and it would be safe.

 

[donpaul.p]

i just looked at the pic again and noticed you had vent holes where the bulb is, this will keep heat off the plants and reflector, but check the temps around the reflector them bulbs get hot and if you get a hot spot it could go up n flames. check the temp often for a day and make sure nothing is melting or getting to hot, not sure how you got the mylar on their but some glues are extremely flamable

 

[growrook]

Yes I did use the guide you posted for me, has to make it only with 6 sides if you look at the top of my light fixture were the hood mounts you can see theres only 6 spots where the old reflector was, I was worried about the hot spots from the tin foil but the guide says to use a thin layer of glue to attach the tin foil so there is no wrinkles, which was a vary good idea THANK YOU MAN!

 

[growrook]

i just looked at the pic again and noticed you had vent holes where the bulb is, this will keep heat off the plants and reflector, but check the temps around the reflector them bulbs get hot and if you get a hot spot it could go up n flames. check the temp often for a day and make sure nothing is melting or getting to hot, not sure how you got the mylar on their but some glues are extremely flamable

Im getting about 80-82 degrees at the top of the plants the light is about 14in away , I used tin foil I heard its more heat resistant, and the glue is just kids with glue vary tin layer just enough to hold the foil on.

 

[donpaul.p]

its no problem mate, as for the tin foil this tends to cause hot spots, my hps is about the same distance away and i get 80 at the most at the top of the plants but ive got 2 12v computer fans blowing directly over the top of the plants from the front of grow room to the back so this takes all the heat away before it hits the plant, it keeps my grow room an even temp between 75 and 80, but my fans run all the times the lights on it it barely moves the plants the fan is blowing above and over the top of the plants and this has helped me get the light closer and keep the heat down, i dont think id be able to do this with a bigger fan though as it would be blowing the plants as well, unless i had a fan on the floor blowing upwards towards the top of the grow room helping the heat rise.

with tin foil its a poor reflector of light and it reflects the heat thats why people use it behind heaters to reflect the heat from the wall in the homes and back into the room, now believe it or not the dull side of the tin foil is the best side to reflect the light, the really shiny side is not good at reflecting light at all, now flat white emulsion is better at reflecting light than any tin foil you can buy, mylar is better at reflecting light than white paint, mylar is expensive to buy in a roll but if you go on the auction sites and the other well know rain forest sounding site and look for mylar rescue blankets then these are mega cheap to buy i got 5 for less than £5 and its the same mylar you buy in a roll just a bit thinner but still has the reflecting properties of mylar on the roll, so chances are you would be better off covering it with something that you could paint with white emulsion or the foil might be ok with the dull side reflecting the light and not the shiny side, but foil reflects the heat so can cause heat issues so bare that in mind.

now your getting 80 to 82 deg, well that should be ok as long as the humidity is good, have you got a way of checking the humidity at all, keep the plants watered as often as you do, i water mine every 3 or 4 days or when the pots are really light, my humidity stays around 50% mark so my plants are ok with that, as long as the leaves are not curling up your plants should be ok, id think 80 is ok for the plants and they will be ok with that temp, if you could get the temps down to about 75 to 80 then even better but if not then dont worry to much as long as the plants are not showing to much signs of stress, it would just mean rasing the light slightly to drop the temp

 

[growrook]

Its going on about week 8, today I moved the plants closer to the floor, this is where there gonna stay to flower. I transplanted into larger pots, I ve been saving up my water jugs from my machine, I kept the tops cause I think i might try a hempy grow with the jugs for my next grow. there are alot bigger then a 2l pop bottle, any body think it will work the same?

 

[donpaul.p]

real nice mate, looks like the new light is working wonders for you mate, you really did double the light on the plants by making the reflector,

 

[growrook]

Last night I added a heat mat to my clone tray, this morning I had roots on 4 clones, So I guess in the next few days I ll be seeing tones of roots. I would say I should of used a heat mat from the start they work really well.

 

[sfw88]

yes ,warmth helps a lot, I sit my clones on top of a 4 foot fluorescent fixture, on the ballast end, I start my seeds this way also , seeds pop in 3 days..

 

[growrook]

yes ,warmth helps a lot, I sit my clones on top of a 4 foot fluorescent fixture, on the ballast end, I start my seeds this way also , seeds pop in 3 days..

Good Idea

 

[donpaul.p]

i stick my seeds in a plastic tub with kitchen roll in, then i leave a small gap in the lid and place them in the canopy on my fish tank, sort of in bit the bulb is housed but i light my tanks from the bottom so dont use the light in the top, so i have a gap between the top cover of the tank and the top of the bulb housing, about 5 inches gap and it keeps nice and warm in their, its where i lift up to feed the fish and clean the pump when it needs cleaning, so with the tank heated and water in tank warm it keeps the seeds at a constant temp and keeps the humidity right up near 100%

 

[dude1970]

Looking very good there growrook! Have you harvested anything yet? I Start my first harvest today!!! Got to love autoflowers!