Scarfinger68 - Aurora Indica - Soil - 600W Dimmable HPS - Indoor Closet Grow

[TheRoach]

Nice flowering. I love how the AI looks!

 

[MassMedMan]

That space is perfect for a P600.... looks good. nice canopy...

 

[Scarfinger68]

Looking great there Scarfinger. Those buds are filling out nicely

Nice flowering. I love how the AI looks!

That space is perfect for a P600.... looks good. nice canopy...

Thanks guys.

I did order a 400w bulb. at 75% the 600w looses some spectrum so I want to try running a 400w. I believe a 400w bulb will be enough light and better temps. The Quantum ballast at 75% is suppose to push 410w and I have read that people are using 400w bulbs with no problem. I will find out in a couple of days.

Later.

 

[Kriaze]

Hey Scarfinger sounds like a great idea getting a 400w if you're losing spectrum. I'd never realised that was the case when running at partial power. One thing I just noticed though is that your ballast is close to the plants too, is there anywhere that you could move it so that it's outside the room, or even maybe make a tiny air cooled partition for it? I say this because I made the mistake of leaving my ballast in my tent when I first set up, gave my friend a great laugh when I was complaining about the 40 degrees celsius temps when he came to help me out. I'm not sure how yours is but mine used to get really hot so if not outside the room then at least some form of wind tunnel will help

 

[Scarfinger68]

Hey Scarfinger sounds like a great idea getting a 400w if you're losing spectrum. I'd never realised that was the case when running at partial power. One thing I just noticed though is that your ballast is close to the plants too, is there anywhere that you could move it so that it's outside the room, or even maybe make a tiny air cooled partition for it? I say this because I made the mistake of leaving my ballast in my tent when I first set up, gave my friend a great laugh when I was complaining about the 40 degrees celsius temps when he came to help me out. I'm not sure how yours is but mine used to get really hot so if not outside the room then at least some form of wind tunnel will help

I have 3 options. In the stairwell and then... No stealth
In the attic next to the roof where it gets ungodly hot, which I think will decrease its life span faster.

Or in the flower room. I have it as high as I can get it (top left) and it is next to the filter which exhaust the air.
I agree it would help to have it outside the room. But, I feel it is the best I can do with the options I have.

 

[Kriaze]

I understand that your options are limited Scarfinger, at least you have it up high near the exhaust . Let me get my engineer's eye on the matter and if I have a brainwave I'll post the idea at a later date if that's ok? Otherwise I'll keep my nose out and let you do what's best lol. I just keep envisioning a little wind tunnel pulling the air out through the exhaust, maybe a little PC fan and a Y connector right at the end of the vent that leads outside. All the best and I'm sure you'll have it sorted, damn I'd have struggled to even manage temps at all with a 600w HPS in there

 

[Scarfinger68]

Hey now. Slow down...

That's ok buddy. You can make all the suggestions you like. Even if I don't seem to appreciate them, because I tend to resist change, I really don't mind them at all. It forces me to think... why did I do it that way??

My room is next to the attic and roof. Someone suggested insulating with styrofoam boards, which even though it would be a lot of work, I keep revisiting it in my mind. Also someone suggested pointing a fan at it to help cool it.

I will revisit the ballast heat issue some too

Thanks for the advice

 

[Kriaze]

Styrofoam may well work, not sure if it would trap heat inside first though, although I guess you're going to vent out through it to the outside? I'd love to see how that goes, plenty of pictures too but please, none of the sound that stuff makes All the best

 

[closetorganic]

I did order a 400w bulb. at 75% the 600w looses some spectrum so I want to try running a 400w. I believe a 400w bulb will be enough light and better temps. The Quantum ballast at 75% is suppose to push 410w and I have read that people are using 400w bulbs with no problem. I will find out in a couple of days.

Later.

I hope this experiment works well for you Scar
I was wondering how your grow space is closed up.
I remember you saying opening a door and smelling your plants, I guess how much air is your fan moving added to what we cant see in the photos may be a better question?
Im thinking of how my flower space can be cooler a couple degrees closed then open to the closet. My space is about 30" x 47" x 60" tall inside a closet about 47" x 8' x 8'tall. I am lucky for central air and having a vent in the closet but I have to have that closet door open to the bathroom its from and keep the bathroom door open with lights on at night for my best temps low 80's now
Those fans can move alot of air and the smaller the space is better I think for heat and smells but we can only break even at the air temp coming in.
Anyways your plants are looking great not showing any heat stress to me.I tried matching flower times to your CFL AI '13 grow with 27 and this last 29 days flower shots.They are so far ahead and much bigger
now.
There was a huge swell up in buds you had then in the second half of flower


I feel it coming again and hitting your goals and recovering your upgrade investments easy

 

[Scarfinger68]

I hope this experiment works well for you Scar
I was wondering how your grow space is closed up.
I remember you saying opening a door and smelling your plants, I guess how much air is your fan moving added to what we cant see in the photos may be a better question?
Im thinking of how my flower space can be cooler a couple degrees closed then open to the closet. My space is about 30" x 47" x 60" tall inside a closet about 47" x 8' x 8'tall. I am lucky for central air and having a vent in the closet but I have to have that closet door open to the bathroom its from and keep the bathroom door open with lights on at night for my best temps low 80's now
Those fans can move alot of air and the smaller the space is better I think for heat and smells but we can only break even at the air temp coming in.
Anyways your plants are looking great not showing any heat stress to me.I tried matching flower times to your CFL AI '13 grow with 27 and this last 29 days flower shots.They are so far ahead and much bigger
now.
There was a huge swell up in buds you had then in the second half of flower


I feel it coming again and hitting your goals and recovering your upgrade investments easy

That is such a good point. CFL pics vs. HPS pics

Day 26 HPS: Look how full the bud structure is compared to the CFL

Day 27 CFL: More like little popcorn buds vs. the HPS above

Now I have at least one idea of why the CFL didn't do so well. My CFL's are fixed at the top of the flower box. To do CFL better I would have needed to have adjustable lights to incase the plant in light vs. only having it at the top.

It does show me that HPS makes bigger buds easier with less effort. You just raise or lower the light.
HPS has a higher par so I am getting (600w) 90K lux at 18 inches vs. 30k to 45K lux at around 3 inches from the CFL. And all my CFL grows probably had more like 10k Lux maybe because the distance to the light was around 6 to 8 inches. I can't find the exact CFL numbers but those numbers should be very close.

Ever since I started growing I have dreamed about an HPS set up. Now I have it and it is working. I may be a little late because now LED is becoming more and more popular. I don't honestly have a great desire to do LED. But, one day I will most definitely give it a try.

Thanks for suggesting the comparison.

 

[Scarfinger68]

6/18 (F day 31) Watered with 1.5 tsp/gal Big Bloom, 1 tsp/gal Grow Big, 1.0 tsp/gal Tiger Bloom, 0.5 tsp/gal Cal/Mag, 1 tsp Tomato Thrive (6.8 PH) (just a splash each, approx. ½ gallon total)
Changed out 600w bulb for a 400w bulb.

Only 60K lux at center and 25K to 30K at the edges. I am a little bit conflicted now after comparing my 2013 CFL AI grow vs. this HPS AI grow. I am getting better temps with the 400w, but less light. 18 inches from canopy: 60K lux on center vs. the 600w getting 90K and 25k/30k on edge vs. 600w 45K at edges.

The comparison makes me want to put the 600w back in.

Under 400w: 6/22 (F day 35) Plain water with run off. Topped off with PH 6.5 of ½ tsp/gal each of Big Bloom, Grow Big, Tiger Bloom

for flushing/run off

I am considering defoliation one more time.

 

[TheRoach]

Scar I hope my plants some day look as good as yours! I had to go back to 75% power because of temps. You are really doing a good job here brother! I also want to go back to 600w, temps being the deterrent. Hope all goes well. Reps+

 

[Scarfinger68]

We have a week of lower temps so I put the 600w back in:

6/24 Changed bulb back to 600w
6/24 (F day 37) Watered with 1.5 tsp/gal Big Bloom, 0.5 tsp/gal Grow Big, 1.0 tsp/gal Tiger Bloom, 0.5 tsp/gal Cal/Mag, 1 tsp Tomato Thrive (6.8 PH)

Heavy Defoliation today:
Before defoliation:

After defoliation

More top down

Side by side:

Line up:

I tried defoliation one other time but it was a bit later in flower. I don't think it did much. This time I am trying it earlier, giving them some more time to adjust to the shock and recover.

 

[HunterHunt]

Subbed and looking good! I just realized that you already had an HPS. I replied to your LED vs HPS thread as I thought u were trying to upgrade to one or the other. Oh well! Im sure you can see the results you are getting from your HPS. Keep up the great work!

Edit to add.. I still have to read over your journal but i noticed you said you had temp issues so you took your 600 out? How is your setup? You should be venting into another room or outside and pulling fresh cool air into your room. My little 2x4 closets only raise the temps 5 degrees in this 110 degree weather! Is this the reason you are thinking of going to LED?

 

[Scarfinger68]

Subbed and looking good! I just realized that you already had an HPS. I replied to your LED vs HPS thread as I thought u were trying to upgrade to one or the other. Oh well! Im sure you can see the results you are getting from your HPS. Keep up the great work!

Edit to add.. I still have to read over your journal but i noticed you said you had temp issues so you took your 600 out? How is your setup? You should be venting into another room or outside and pulling fresh cool air into your room. My little 2x4 closets only raise the temps 5 degrees in this 110 degree weather! Is this the reason you are thinking of going to LED?

6 inch intake with 4 inch fan (120 cfm) pulling cool air in from adjacent room. 6 inch exhaust (400 cfu) fan pulling air out through a 450 CFU rated filter exhausted out roof.

Temps would be main reason for me to upgrade to LED. But... I just purchased all my HPS lights/equipment so I will be doing a few grows under HPS.

I don't have a burning desire to go LED even though it seems to be the thing to do right now. I have just been trying to justify it to myself if I ever do go LED.

I have never been one to just jump into something new without dissecting it inside and out

Thanks for stopping by.

 

[HunterHunt]

Wow nice setup! Im kinda confused how you are having temp issues! You do have a cool tube right? You see my small rooms and my temp rise is only around 5-8 degrees. Are you getting temp readings from directly under the light or off to the side? I always test off to the side as directly under the lights it could raise a little more. I like to get readings from the actual room temp. I have a fan blowing over my colas and other than small heat stress on my leaves from the 600 watt being 12 inches from the colas thats the only issues i have.

If heat is the only reason for you to switch I would do a little more research. Especially if you are going to put a big wattage LED in your room. They raise the temps more than a HPS cooltube IMO. Theres a few well known LED growers here that have to keep there tent open during lights on because the temps are so high...

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Scarfinger68]

Wow nice setup! Im kinda confused how you are having temp issues! You do have a cool tube right? You see my small rooms and my temp rise is only around 5-8 degrees. Are you getting temp readings from directly under the light or off to the side? I always test off to the side as directly under the lights it could raise a little more. I like to get readings from the actual room temp. I have a fan blowing over my colas and other than small heat stress on my leaves from the 600 watt being 12 inches from the colas thats the only issues i have.

If heat is the only reason for you to switch I would do a little more research. Especially if you are going to put a big wattage LED in your room. They raise the temps more than a HPS cooltube IMO. Theres a few well known LED growers here that have to keep there tent open during lights on because the temps are so high...
Good luck and keep us posted!

I have noticed the same thing with some LED grows and YES I have an air cooled hood.

The main problem with my room is location. The ceiling is actually right under the roof of the house witch makes the temps harder to control. The right side of the room is next to the attic which gets hot. But it is the best most secure stealthy location for me with the ability to vent out the roof.

I was hitting 93°F at times on hot days. I would be ok with 90 or lower but I felt 93 was starting to push it.

I actually put the 600w back in because I have at least a week with temps around the 80's. For example, Temp above the light will be approx. 80 and temp under and just to the left will be 88. I have 3 fans in the room pushing air around. I have not had outside temps in the 90's that much this year so far. July and August will be the tougher times with heat. At worst I will just run the 400w HPS.

It is what it is. I am making the best of imperfect conditions. Heat is my only limiting factor at times. I deal with it the best that I can. I still make some nice buds . And I am definitely liking the HPS over my old CFL set up.

Keep it green

 

[TheRoach]

Hey Scar, those ladies look awesome after defoliation. I hope you get fat nuggets from those! If it works as promised I will be doing it in my grows from now on. You have teached me a lot with your grows!
Reps+ for your good job (haha I can at last give a decent amount of reps!!!)

 

[Scarfinger68]

Hey Scar, those ladies look awesome after defoliation. I hope you get fat nuggets from those! If it works as promised I will be doing it in my grows from now on. You have teached me a lot with your grows!
Reps+ for your good job (haha I can at last give a decent amount of reps!!!)

Thanks! And you are more valuable than just reps... Everyone pitches in and we all learn together.

This is a 420 article on defoliation:
Increasing yield with defoliation indoors - What's it mean? How to do it?

 

[TheRoach]

That thread is awesome bro, they really know what they are talking about! I have to definitely give it a try!!!