Light height for a 400? photos included - advice?

[ontariogrow]

hey all - running a 400watt HPS on electronic ballast and about 8 inches (maybe not even) above my plant tops - have them flowering for 8-9 days now and wondering safe height to keep them over the plants? Don't want to burn but want them to penetrate down far enough..

LST'd all the plants this week to try to get bushes instead of pine trees

Anyone offer some advice on height?

 

[Lurch Farmer]

what kind of reflector you using
if using wing 18" is aveage .
I go 15 with fan blowing directly at light.
Put your hand on canapy directly under light, if it gets hot in 30 seconds the light is too close

 

[ontariogrow]

wow - i think i have the light way too close - maybe im burning them

 

[Lurch Farmer]

How long they been that close
what is room temp
I
The heat in my house went out < temps got down to36f)I was able to have light at 7"

 

[ontariogrow]

their entire lives - i've had the lights really close - all through veg and now in flower for 9 days or so never noticed any burning - but some curling all the time - could that have been from heat?

 

[Lurch Farmer]

Now that I look closer the umbrella loking leaves is the plant saying to hot
what kind of reflector you got on light?

 

[ontariogrow]

its just a wing - well hopefully they will thrive with a cool down

 

[Lurch Farmer]

I usually just leave at 18" it is much easy er to just pull out a measuring tape then to wast a day recovering burn.

 

[ontariogrow]

i vegged them like that for about 75 days ( from seed) and theyve been in 12/12 now for about 9-10 days and seem to like the light reduction - so i am sure i always had it too low - damn!

 

[Lurch Farmer]

You veged for 75 days?
you do realize you is gonna run out of space fast.
those ladies could go as far as triple in size
gonna be fun

 

[ontariogrow]

You veged for 75 days?
you do realize you is gonna run out of space fast.
those ladies could go as far as triple in size
gonna be fun

This is my first run I had no idea what size to veg them to so I just concentrated on keeping them healthy. They were 2 feet when i put them into flower - they've grown a few inches since and I'm tying them down as you can see. I hope that they won't get crazy - i have a total room height of just over 7 feet - so hopefully if I keep them tied I'll be ok - but I know my 400 watt light is not likely to push light down that far - just going to hope for a decent finish at this point - and some living clones by the end of the week.

Any idea what kind of dry weight I could expect for yield on 5 plants of this size? Love to have an expectation of what i am going to end up with - anyone have thoughts?

 

[Lurch Farmer]

turn the light so parallel to sides.
get a piece of fencing, some thing sturdy, make u shape over plants
place pots as close as possable in center.gently force the the tops to even canopy
you is in for over crowding probs (bugs)
if you could remove 1 plant it would free up some space, throw in closet with 4-6 25w cfls veg till the others are done then flower for almost the same yield
Just my 2 cents

 

[ontariogrow]

turn the light so parallel to sides.
get a piece of fencing, some thing sturdy, make u shape over plants
place pots as close as possable in center.gently force the the tops to even canopy
you is in for over crowding probs (bugs)
if you could remove 1 plant it would free up some space, throw in closet with 4-6 25w cfls veg till the others are done then flower for almost the same yield
Just my 2 cents

This all sounds like a great idea - i need a little more help though :

When you say turn the light paralellel to sides - you lost me it currently hanging over the plants and i am trying to LST the canopy to be at the same (roughly) height - would you suggest putting the fencing structure right on the canopy and then puling all new growth into it? (ie : flattening anything new that grows into the fence and keeping the lights at the same height above?

I have a baby closet on the side that I have my clones in right now - i think these girls are too big to put in there now even one would be a little too big - damn.

BUGS?!! why am I going to get bugs? where are they going to come from? the room is pretty clean, and i keep it clean every day - i had one spider in there once - he must have come in through the passive intake - but never had any other issue yet in 80(ish) days... my humidity is about 30-35% tops - what problems should i be looking for from overcrowding?

here is a shot of the room and baby closet : (note this is before I LST'd the plants last week)

 

[Lurch Farmer]

thats abetter perspectiveof you space
the over crowding will not let any air under the plants
no wind no movement, perfect for mites, and thripes ,
and just a suggestion,you might want to flip your table over so the slats are on the top of cross support, will you be removing the table to add vert space?
turn the light 45 degrees so it points out, this will take advantage of the reflective sides of closet. better reflction = more light to area
You is gonna have a lot of fun.

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

I keep my own 400w hps between 12 & 18 inch from plant growing tips on average.


With an air cooled hood/reflector ya more likely be able to get away with 6 to 10 inch from plant growing tips.

 

[ontariogrow]

Ive adjusted them now so that I am further and already in a night the leaves look healthier - amazing how fast they show you change! Sometimes we have to be UBER-patient and sometimes they talk to you in hours...

I have a circulation fan pushing cooler air up and into the light area and through the plants from the bottom - hoping that i can keep this up but if the table has to go - could be an issue - i'll keep the fan in there but it's ideal now for air flow and temperature control.

I hope they don't take forever to flower - they will get too big! I am in day 10 now and barely seeing anything but tiny tiny signs of bud life - is there a point when they just take off and start budding? should i be on the lookout for a sign?

thanks everyone!

 

[Lurch Farmer]

Nope
One night when the lights come on ,BAM in ya face growth
Some people ,Me included,call the first week of 12/12 transiton. as not much happens
you gonna run out of space. fast ,to late to change that.
the size they were before the flip will double if not triple in the next 15 days. I shit you not
If you see female parts your buds are starting .
the smell will pick up and the ladies will be fighting for space

do a pic drive by through my journals notice I updated about once a week.

 

[ontariogrow]

thanks i will look at yours today - early harvest is pointless right? i'll have to just chop as i go

 

[Lurch Farmer]

Nothing to be sad about with som masive trimin and continued lst/scrog
you could pull some amazing stuff.
cruze alot of the people that liked my journals. alot of education to be had from these guys.

 

[ontariogrow]

since you keep writing back I'm going to keep picking your brain

I have no idea how to trim them! They are still growing and though i have tied down the main large stems - obviusly then they just work it out and push up more growth. I am afraid to trim anything that is going to turn into a bud - how can i trim safely? I don't mind doing the work I just have no idea WHAT and WHERE to trim?

Any good guides on that one? or tips?