Re: Gators' Cage
1st round went to my cat. He chewed up one of them when I wasn't looking.
I called him a tifling booger, and turned an intact side to the light.
He isn't deterred by that bright bulb in his face. Such an idiot!
Of course you'd never beat your cat. For one thing, you are a decent human being. For another... That just doesn't work with them. They don't associate pain punishment like other animals. But, aside from preventing possible future damage to your plants, cats like heat and do not seem to be afraid of (captive) fire/light. It is within the realm of possibility that el cato might one day brush up against your bulb if it finds its way into your cage - or swat at a moth that's near the bulb and end up pawing the thing. That would cause a great deal of pain to kitty. And while cat's paws are routinely dry... They
have been known to spit in times of pain and anger. If kitty spits on that bulb, will it explode? If 354°F glass suddenly finds itself stuck in your walls, will your home burn down? So...
Put a small amount of white vinegar in a spray bottle and fill it with water. Spray feline
when you catch him in the grow (cat's attention spans are like 2.5 seconds unless they're having fun or stalking). Cats' sense of smell is, like most hunting animals, well-developed. And while they seem to enjoy the smell of rotten tuna, stinky cat treats, and their own assholes, they do NOT enjoy the smell of vinegar, lol. Being sprayed (from a bottle or a squirt gun, not a hose) with a mild vinegar/water solution does
not hurt them - but it annoys them to their last whisker. So much so that two or three times of being shot with the mix - remember, it only works if it is done as you catch them in the act - you can then place a few drops of pure white vinegar around your grow and they (generally) will smell it, associate the smell with the squirt (and the taste of it as they clean their fur), and vamoose. And as their sense of smell is better than ours, you don't need to develop a fondness for the smell yourself; just refresh it once a week or so.
If it helps, in addition to potentially saving the cat from being burned or becoming homeless (along with his 'Gator)... Consuming vinegar is actually a healthy thing - even for cats.
I know that this is off topic and will probably be moderated, but I have to say this. Tom Waits is a jerk. I almost got my skull busted [a lot of others did that night] by LA Sheriff because of a little tantrum that he threw at a private party [at the Troubadour of all places] for some punk rockers that I knew. He climbed on stage and assaulted the guitarist for "The Bags" during their set.
I read on the "Trashing of the Troubadour" page at AliceBag that he'd pissed Alice's boyfriend (Nickey Beat) off at an earlier point and that when The Bags played there, Nickey, who was playing drums, called Tom an asshole - over the mic, lol - just before they played. Also that after the show (and the bedlam) the bouncers wouldn't let the Bags leave until Tom and Nickey fought.
IDK, but it was interesting to read.
Trashing of the Troubadour
b, I've run side by side HPS v CMH 250s. The heat for either was in the ballast. If you run it in a hood, that's where you'll find more heat. I run bare bulb vertical, and I believe that I get more usable light with less waste heat.
That light set from Phillips sounds good, but their retrofit CMH is my fave. I am now setting up a 400w vertical CMH, the biggest they make. I'll use HPS when I can grow bigger. New 400w magnetic ballast, cord/socket set and HPS bulb is $120. CMH bulb is $52.
Irishboy, that plasma looks like a trick rig, but a lot of money. I had thought that a point source light would find its' best use in a vertical configuration, but they've mounted it for flat. 280w for $1080? I think my 250 CMH puts out more than 15k lumens, and in excellent spectrum. $170, and discard the extra HPS bulb.
I've wondered why they don't make CMH bulbs in higher wattages. Don't they use anything over 400-watt in "regular" industrial lighting situations? I know they make HID ballasts in much higher wattage (like... 1500-4000 watts?).
I've also wondered, in a start-to-finish grow between a 400-watt CMH setup and a 430-watt enhanced (with 430-watt ballast) setup, which would win. I've not used a CMH but I've (obviously) seen them in grow journals and the results were nice. Some time ago I used 430-watt HPS setups (cannot remember if it was a Planta-T or a Son Agro, been over 10 years and at the time I was pretty much... well, I was lucky to have not burned the house down - I did set it on fire, but that had nothing to do with growing lmao) and the difference between those and regular 400-watt HPS setups was, well, a lot - much tighter internodes, "stouter" plants, stems that were trunks, and better yields (a lot better than just having 30 extra watts would lead one to expect). So, while I don't even have a guess as to which setup would win, I would think it would be an interesting contest. They both, of course, would leave the standard 400-watt HPS in the dust.
I've got to say that your grow looks great (as usual).
