Interesting read. Thanks for taking the time to document this. For me the allure of HPS and CMH is that bulbs and parts are available locally if you have an issue. The local hydro guy has been trying to talk me into a 630 CMH system for my 4x4. Cost is a heck of a lot less than a quality led system. I am totally not convinced that you use less electricity with led.
I'm trying out CMH
- Thread starter HayStack
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- cmh indoor ultraviolence
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- #42
HayStack
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Update:
On Monday night I switched the lights on my tent . It was on from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. Now it's on from 9:00 pm to 9:00 am.
On Monday night I switched the lights on my tent . It was on from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. Now it's on from 9:00 pm to 9:00 am.
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- #43
HayStack
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2.5 weeks into flower and so far so good. There is a good 6"-10" of stretch on each top. Hopefully they will stretch a few more inches in the next week. If I'm lucky, I'll get about 100 8"-12" tops!
Haystack when you’re in the room have you felt like the lights are especially bright- as in dangerous for your eyes?
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- #46
HayStack
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They are a little on the bright side. But I only have two 315 watt lights in the tent. I don;t think it's bright enough to cause any eye damage. I have some sunglasses that I also wear if I'm going to be in there for long periods of time too.
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- #47
HayStack
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Today completes the third week of flower. So far so good. I was hoping to see a little more growth in the buds, but I'm not complaining. I've been feeding once a week with the Advanced Nutrients Connoisseur Bloom A and B, and once a week with Recharge. The rest of the time I just use plain tap water. It seems to be working well so far. I really like Recharge. IT seems to control the salts in the soil so I don't get nutrient burn. Tonight I'm going to start adding a bit of Advanced Nutrients Big Bud as well. Hopefully this helps increase the size of the buds. We'll see.
The node spacing seems to be very good. It's about 1"-2" per top. The only strange thing is that the two plants in the back of the tent seem to have stretched out a few more inches than the two in the front. But all in all it's growing pretty good and as long as I don't mess things up, this should turn out to be very good.
In a few weeks the buds will start getting pretty heavy. I'm not sure if I'll put my trellis back in or just use some stakes and garden tape to hold things together.
I started using my 1000 Watt LED to help keep the temps up. I Earlier this week, I switched the light cycle from daytime to night time. I did that for two reasons. One is to control the temps in the tent during the day. And the other is to try to save a few bucks on my electricity bill. PG&E charges a premium for using too much electricity during the peak daytime hours. So daytime for the plants is now 9:00 PM to 9:00 AM. The only problem is that the the tent was getting down to about 75 degrees when the lights are on. Now it's pretty steady at about 82 degrees. Hopefully I'll be able to keep the tent below that temperature below that when the lights are out. I've never done this before and I;m not sure what the plants will do if their night time temp gets above their daytime temp. I guess I'll find out once the days start warming up a bit. If anyone has ever had a problem with this. please let me know.
OK, one last paragraph and I'll stop blabbering. I didn't do any trimming this week. Mostly because the vegetative growth is slowing down and budding is increasing. I also sprayed them with neem oil, hopefully for the last time this morning. The little bugs that were in there seem to have gone away. I think if they come back. I'll try using fly paper instead of spraying again. But if I have to spray I will. It's just neem oil and the bud washing I tried after my last grow seemed to remove any unwanted stuff from the buds including some neem oil and some powdery mildew.
The node spacing seems to be very good. It's about 1"-2" per top. The only strange thing is that the two plants in the back of the tent seem to have stretched out a few more inches than the two in the front. But all in all it's growing pretty good and as long as I don't mess things up, this should turn out to be very good.
In a few weeks the buds will start getting pretty heavy. I'm not sure if I'll put my trellis back in or just use some stakes and garden tape to hold things together.
I started using my 1000 Watt LED to help keep the temps up. I Earlier this week, I switched the light cycle from daytime to night time. I did that for two reasons. One is to control the temps in the tent during the day. And the other is to try to save a few bucks on my electricity bill. PG&E charges a premium for using too much electricity during the peak daytime hours. So daytime for the plants is now 9:00 PM to 9:00 AM. The only problem is that the the tent was getting down to about 75 degrees when the lights are on. Now it's pretty steady at about 82 degrees. Hopefully I'll be able to keep the tent below that temperature below that when the lights are out. I've never done this before and I;m not sure what the plants will do if their night time temp gets above their daytime temp. I guess I'll find out once the days start warming up a bit. If anyone has ever had a problem with this. please let me know.
OK, one last paragraph and I'll stop blabbering. I didn't do any trimming this week. Mostly because the vegetative growth is slowing down and budding is increasing. I also sprayed them with neem oil, hopefully for the last time this morning. The little bugs that were in there seem to have gone away. I think if they come back. I'll try using fly paper instead of spraying again. But if I have to spray I will. It's just neem oil and the bud washing I tried after my last grow seemed to remove any unwanted stuff from the buds including some neem oil and some powdery mildew.
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- #48
HayStack
Well-Known Member
I'm pretty happy with the CMH lights. They are doing a great job. I decided to go with two 315 watt lights because I thought a single light would not quite give me the coverage I was looking for with just one light. I also grow in a 4x4 and its hard to cover that big of a space with just one light. Just my personal opinion though.
I may end up getting a couple COB LED's though. Mostly because I just like to see what different lights do for a grow. I'm not addicted to smoking weed that much, but I have to say that I'm getting pretty addicted to growing it. Hahahahahaha! So far I've tried CFL's, but high wattage CFL's. LED's and now CMH's. I'm not sure how it will go. But from what I've learned so far, I might use CFL's for sprouting and cloning. LED's for early to late vegging and CMH's for flowering. this is only my third indoor grow and so far that seems like it might work out the best.
Slinks
Well-Known Member
Growing is the real addiction for sure 
That bud growth looks very good to me for three weeks flowering.
I also need heat. I draw fresh air from directly outside and it’s cool here year round- not very cold in winter but can dip to minus ten or so. Haystack what is the temp of the air you are drawing in- when you say it’s only 75 degrees with lights on?
I also need heat. I draw fresh air from directly outside and it’s cool here year round- not very cold in winter but can dip to minus ten or so. Haystack what is the temp of the air you are drawing in- when you say it’s only 75 degrees with lights on?
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- #51
HayStack
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Just a little update. I just took a few pics in the dark. I;m just a few days shy of the end of week 4. The buds are coming along fine. A little smaller than my last grow at this time. Probably because I did that major trim just after the first week of flower. But I'm sure they will catch up. They sure are getting frosty though
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- #52
HayStack
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That bud growth looks very good to me for three weeks flowering.
I also need heat. I draw fresh air from directly outside and it’s cool here year round- not very cold in winter but can dip to minus ten or so. Haystack what is the temp of the air you are drawing in- when you say it’s only 75 degrees with lights on?
The temp of the air I'm drawing in is probably about 65 degrees. That's in the middle of the night. But now that I added the extra LED and the nights are getting shorter and a little warmer. I'm pretty much in the low to mid 80's in the tent. During the day when the lights are off, it's usually in the mid 70's. Hopefully that will be fine till the end. If I find that it gets up to the 80's during the day, I might add another light just to keep it warmer at night when the lights are on.
Wow. So it sounds like they put out almost no heat
CraZysWeeD
Well-Known Member
Looking good. Looks like they still pull away towards the light, good. Those buds are looking like their going to explode for ya in a few weeks!
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- #57
HayStack
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Last night I gave them a full dose of Advanced Nutrients Connoisseur Part A and B as well as a full dose of Big Bud. We'll see what that does for them over the next week.
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- #58
HayStack
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The lights are great. And I love seeing daylight instead of blurple when I open the tent.
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- #59
HayStack
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Im half way through week 5 of flower now. Time seems to be flying by now and I forgot to update over the weekend. But things are going great and the buds are really filling out and getting super frosty. The first pics are from tonight right after the lights went on. The second set is from yesterday morning shortly after the lights went out.
The only problem I'm having is that the plant in the front right of the tent is getting yellow leaves a lot faster than the other three. I think it has a slight nitrogen deficiency. I have only been using nutrients once a week, but I think I'm going to up it to twice a week now since the buds seem to be growing so fast.
Tonight's pics
Yesterday morning's pics
The only problem I'm having is that the plant in the front right of the tent is getting yellow leaves a lot faster than the other three. I think it has a slight nitrogen deficiency. I have only been using nutrients once a week, but I think I'm going to up it to twice a week now since the buds seem to be growing so fast.
Tonight's pics
Yesterday morning's pics
CraZysWeeD
Well-Known Member
OMG how beautiful... 