Suntana
Well-Known Member
What rare e ballast interference are you referring to? I've never heard that one.
Themaddabber's Hempy Bucket Bathtub Grow 2017
- Thread starter TheMadDabber
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What rare e ballast interference are you referring to? I've never heard that one.
- Thread starter
- #42
Hey Santana! I guess in very rare circumstances certain electronic ballasts for HID lighting can put off high amounts of radio waves that can interfere and interact with other electronic devices. Again very rare but the cheaper HID lighting I was considering operates at the 50 to 60 mhz (if I remember correctly) which can potentially disrupt cell phone signals, high-speed internet, satellite tv, and my beloved talk radio 
we are in a quadplex like home. And as much as I don't care I didn't want to put up red flags for neighbors (legality aside). Also I read reviews of people having the satellite or internet people show up, as they can pinpoint the location of the interference. This is why the older louder magnetic ballasts are still best for secrecy as well as better more expensive electronic ballasts.
we are in a quadplex like home. And as much as I don't care I didn't want to put up red flags for neighbors (legality aside). Also I read reviews of people having the satellite or internet people show up, as they can pinpoint the location of the interference. This is why the older louder magnetic ballasts are still best for secrecy as well as better more expensive electronic ballasts.- Thread starter
- #43
Hey all! Found a 20 watt 6500k cfl on clearance so I grabbed it to provide a better spectrum until my 45 watt arrives!
Bagseed popped up last night!
Check in later.
-dabber
Bagseed popped up last night!
Check in later.
-dabber
Suntana
Well-Known Member
Hey Santana! I guess in very rare circumstances certain electronic ballasts for HID lighting can put off high amounts of radio waves that can interfere and interact with other electronic devices. Again very rare but the cheaper HID lighting I was considering operates at the 50 to 60 mhz (if I remember correctly) which can potentially disrupt cell phone signals, high-speed internet, satellite tv, and my beloved talk radio
Well I've been lucky .been running them for ever. Thanks for the info .
- Thread starter
- #45
Of course
if your in a house there nothing to worry about I'm just in closer quarters so trying to creep under the radar- Thread starter
- #46
Happy Friday my fellow 420ers!! Good news to report. Since yesterday the girls seem to be doing very very well under the 6500k compared to how they preformed under the 5000k. The 45 watt should be arriving today which is awesome cause originally they said Tuesday. I am still planning to keep the 5000k for spectrum coverage, but each girl will sit primarily under their own 6500k. I will switch them a few times a day since one of the cfls is double the wattage of the other.
Hoping the LED shows up next week I'll update with a shot of the girls this afternoon.
-dabber
Hoping the LED shows up next week
I'll update with a shot of the girls this afternoon. -dabber
- Thread starter
- #47
Light showed up
Looks massive next to the 20 watts. Lol
Ugh I can't seem to get a clear shot of the strawberry kush. Stupid overpriced camera phone can't even focus LOL. The first set of leaves have officially out grown the cotyledons
-dabber
Phototropic
Well-Known Member
(Thoughts of an amateur first time grower)
From what I've read, you should be giving each plant 2-3 45 watt CFLs minimum. Spectrum never seems as important as the total real wattage. 6800k should be best for veg. I'm running 2 6800k, 42watt bulbs per plant plus they are sharing a pair of 2700k, 42 watt bulbs between them. At seedling (first week or two, they sat under just the 2 6800k together.
Also, though this may not be suitable in your grow medium, i used jiffy-pods for germination. Worked great. Scarified them with an emery board (lightly) and soaked for 12 hours then 1/8" into the saturated jiffy pods, and they sprouted in 2-4 days. Jiffy pod went straight into my soil.
Been reading (a little) about the Hempy method in Sue's grow journal (she seems to be pretty devoted to working out good grows) but I'm glad to be finding your journal at such an early stage so i don't have to read 100+ pages to catch up.
Anyways, good luck, love watching grows (new hobby, but I'm in).
From what I've read, you should be giving each plant 2-3 45 watt CFLs minimum. Spectrum never seems as important as the total real wattage. 6800k should be best for veg. I'm running 2 6800k, 42watt bulbs per plant plus they are sharing a pair of 2700k, 42 watt bulbs between them. At seedling (first week or two, they sat under just the 2 6800k together.
Also, though this may not be suitable in your grow medium, i used jiffy-pods for germination. Worked great. Scarified them with an emery board (lightly) and soaked for 12 hours then 1/8" into the saturated jiffy pods, and they sprouted in 2-4 days. Jiffy pod went straight into my soil.
Been reading (a little) about the Hempy method in Sue's grow journal (she seems to be pretty devoted to working out good grows) but I'm glad to be finding your journal at such an early stage so i don't have to read 100+ pages to catch up.
Anyways, good luck, love watching grows (new hobby, but I'm in).
The rooster
Well-Known Member
Stop thinking spectrum and start thinking watts. Not output of potential watts either but actual watts coming from the wall. That will give us a better idea of the size of your grow compared to reading you have this bulb at this spec and that one at that spec.
Be like total CFL in veg =250watts
Total CFL in flower = 400watts
Led in flower =600 higrow if that's what you went with.
Hope this helps man. It will definitely clear up a lot of confusion for all of us that started reading.
Be like total CFL in veg =250watts
Total CFL in flower = 400watts
Led in flower =600 higrow if that's what you went with.
Hope this helps man. It will definitely clear up a lot of confusion for all of us that started reading.
The rooster
Well-Known Member
Lot of pages to read through but I saw somethings about high intensity discharge and interruption of radio waves etc... It appears as though someone's searching for a light. Just a personal opinion if you are looking at hid I would look into ceramic metal halide. 315w
You'll be amazed at how much bud comes from that 315w. I would say it's comparable to a 600w but with the electric savings you can jam 2 instead of 1.
Or you can check out techman on here. He sells the sunplus led pioneer 6 that comes with 6 cree chip on board led's along with an array of your typical diodes. Definitely the one of the best led's I've seen for the price. They sell the timer feature on the light as if it's a big deal but forget that part and just look at the rest of the light and it's still a pretty sick machine.
You'll be amazed at how much bud comes from that 315w. I would say it's comparable to a 600w but with the electric savings you can jam 2 instead of 1.
Or you can check out techman on here. He sells the sunplus led pioneer 6 that comes with 6 cree chip on board led's along with an array of your typical diodes. Definitely the one of the best led's I've seen for the price. They sell the timer feature on the light as if it's a big deal but forget that part and just look at the rest of the light and it's still a pretty sick machine.
- Thread starter
- #51
Thank you both for your input! The truth was I was probably a little hasty in starting the grow but shoot I think we all are when getting started. They 2 are currently sharing 82 watts total of cfl watt output which yes is not ideal for 2 seedlings but will have to do until the higrow arrives next week... I ended up having to choose the "300 watt" which actually pulls 130 watts at the wall but by all comparison competes with the advanced platinum pound for pound.
- Thread starter
- #52
Sorry the actual wattage of the led is much lower just 130 at the wall. I am strongly considering a 400 watt HID that comes with both metal halide as well as a high pressure sodium bulb. Especially when winter comes because I live in Alaska and as they say in GOT winter is coming.... so the added heat from the lights could be a good thing. However again due to financial restraints I have had to make due. Thank you tho and the input is appreciated! Hopefully I can "grow with the flow" and by the end have added enough pieces to the puzzle to make a quality harvest
- Thread starter
- #53
Thanks and great to have you along! Hopefully the LED arrives sooner than later so I can really get growing
The rooster
Well-Known Member
Unfortunately 130 at the wall isn't going to do much and neither will cfls. You really need watts to grow indoors. Light is everything no matter what you use for nutrients light is still the primary thing we rely on as photosynthesis can only be achieved through light. You'll definitely get nug but quantity will be very minimal. Probably in the 14-20 gram range unfortunately.
And a 400w that you are talking about is not the same as a ceramic metal halide. Ceramic metal halide and a metal halide are very different. You can flower under a ceramic metal halide. I wouldn't flower under a typical metal halide. cmh is more like high pressure sodium. But you'll still use less than 400w and achieve better results. You can pick one up for like 250$
Pumping cfls in a grow is actually more expensive than just buying a couple more lights. Pick up a couple Mars hydro 300s to go with the light you bought. They run around 140w I believe but 2 of them would be better than nothing. They cost about 60$ a piece.
But really light is everything. You can start a budget grow if you want and you can try to tweak everything you want for as long as you want but until you dump some money on lights your going to be growing as a hobby and not to save money as yields and 5$ attempts at trying to "dial in" every other week will just add up and up.
Drop 250$ on a ceramic metal halide and just be done with it. Then you can be as new as you want and still pump out big buds. Then all your attempts to dial in will go well received because your plants will have adequate lighting to grow.
More light more light more light
- Thread starter
- #55
I totally agree with you. Sorry didn't see the ceramic in front of the MH lol. The reason I opted against with the mars hydro units your are referring to is they are lower par and more outdated. The unit I purchased is 12 band while I believe the mars is only 7 maybe 9. I did months of research to find the best bang for my buck and hopefully it pays off and 2 just about 2 weeks after the first unit arrives another should be as well. So that puts me up to 260. For a total cost of 160 USD and no need to replace bulbs. Again i totally agree more is better and hopefully after anothe 2 months I'll be in the 600 watt range
and 2 just about 2 weeks after the first unit arrives another should be as well. So that puts me up to 260. For a total cost of 160 USD and no need to replace bulbs. Again i totally agree more is better and hopefully after anothe 2 months I'll be in the 600 watt range
The rooster
Well-Known Member
I totally agree with you. Sorry didn't see the ceramic in front of the MH lol. The reason I opted against with the mars hydro units your are referring to is they are lower par and more outdated. The unit I purchased is 12 band while I believe the mars is only 7 maybe 9. I did months of research to find the best bang for my buck and hopefully it pays off
I opted against Mars too and I went with a light they delete every time I write the name of it because they aren't a sponsor of the site. But I shelled out 550$ for my led.
And there's definitely more to lighting than simply par value. I believe actual watts to still be a more definitive way to identify how strong a grow is. Someone can be like my par value is 620!
But okay? What does that mean because your par value changes as you move the plants closer and further from the light so par value essentially doesn't mean jack in terms of the total POWER of the light.
The rooster
Well-Known Member
Oh and then I needed supplemental lighting and got 2 Mars 300s and they jam just fine man. Lol I have a blue widow nug under one of them the size of your forearm I bet
- Thread starter
- #58
Oh I'm sure they do great but your led, let's call him he who shall not be named 
probably was a very wise and smart investment, and is (after this first grow is complete) What I hope to upgrade to!
probably was a very wise and smart investment, and is (after this first grow is complete) What I hope to upgrade to!- Thread starter
- #59
But that's good to know! What's your opinion on more lower watt panels vs. 1 large more powerful pannel
The rooster
Well-Known Member
Big panel. You can always add cheap lights at a later time versus constantly adding low watt panels.