150W CMH supersilent hidden Growbox

[NE1]

indoor/outdoor...
You only watched the pic, huh ...if you read again, you see this ain't my plants. They're from a friend. I only shared the pic to show what can possibly be done with 150W CMH if things work out very well.
Mine can be seen in post #34. The Pures (Grapefruits) are 14 days from seed, so i guess they might be going for at least 8 weeks, more possible 9-10 from now.
I really like The Pure so far...fast growing, healthy...lets se how they'll do in long term on strictly 12/12-from-seed, compensating my beginner-"skills".
NE1

 

[stihgnobevoli]

im lost, why do you need another light? you know that a CMH is basically a MH and HPS bulb in one right? i wanted a CMH but instead settled for adding a MH beside my HPS lamp. full spectrum light is better than a mh or hps on its own.

 

[NE1]

maybe my posts was a little misleading... I'm absolutely in love with my CMH (happy that i chose it instead of HPS). It' such a nice all in one light with plenty of power for the watts. Only thing i was wondering about was, IF i decide to tweak things up a little in the future to maybe support flowering with some more watts in the (far) red spectrum (LED, T5, PLL). But thats only because of the little man in my head telling me that there's always work to do (fix it till it's broke) . Praxis hasn't proven yet, but i'm actually quite confident that 150W CMH is a good choice for 4 sqft with restricted heigth.
So i'm laid back and wait how things work out first... gonna be fine with a little help of my (IC-) friends
NE1

 

[Hermanthegerman]

Hello NE1, good luck for your run!

 

[NE1]

Hi Herman, good to see you. Danke ...thanks a lot!... You're possibly my neighbour ...

@ ratrix (contacted me via PM) Maybe you'll visit this thread again. I wasn't sure, if you'll recieve my answer, as you have limited status and can only store one message total at a time (sent/recieved) and you obviously sent one . So if your wondering abhout the missing answer...your mailbox is full. I'd reconmend you to open a thread on building your box anyway. It's easier to cumunicate and share ideas that way (i would make some things a little different, if i build the box again). Me and i'm sure many others will try to answer every question left.

NE1

 

[NE1]

Hi everybody,
things have changed a little, so it's time for a mini-update...
The pictures in this post are from two days ago.

2012-05-06
- Day 15 for TP&GF-12/12ers --- Day 29 for BS-12/12ers --- 35th day of flower for UBS-01​

The Pures have shown their sex. From the remaining three two are boys (german: Jungs) and one is a girl (german: Mädel). This is what they looked like on saturday (Day 15):


This was BS-12/12-02 (Day 29) (BS-12/12-01 can be seen on the pic above in the front left corner):


And this UBS-01 on her 35th day of bloom (i split stems by tieing her down... HST ...had to reinforce with wire..hope it's gonna be ok):


Meanwhile everyone has grown a little further. I put the Pure and Grapefruit ladys in 4 liter pots. Regarding that the little girls barely rooted through the Airpots, 4l might be a little large. Although those pots take up quite some space. Im thinking of using 2l drink-containers (squared 9x9x22cm, like for milk, but larger) or other smaller pots. That way i could fit more plants in. But first i'll see how big the girls (roots) get this time.

Important question:
I'd like to make some seeds by pollinating some little buds with the Pure Polen (one boy is very vigorous). I'll have to remove them from the box in a few days. The box is running from 10pm to 10am. So there would be a huge timeshift when i put them in my wintergarden/balcony plus there will be more than 12 hours light.
Is there a chance to let the males flower outdoors till the pollen is ripe? I could put them in a cardboardbox to reduce lighthours as they are not that big. What would you suggest?

Thanx for watching/advise
have a nice day everyone...

 

[NE_GROWER_978]

Wad up NE1! Nice log u got goin on and that cab is sweet and super stealthy. Now as far as the pollinating and what to do with ur males. U can put ur males OD to keep them flowering but make sure tempz dont drop to freezing temps. Once the flowers start to open then it will be time to collect.

IMPORTIAN!!

Make sure that when u collect pollen dont got back to ur flowering cab cause the pollen will stick to ur cloths and hands. Change ur cloths and wash ur hands when u get done. WATER STERILIZES MALE POLLEN. Once u have collected ur pollen for the father..... now the FUCKING begins

Take whatever female ur going to use and pull her out of the cab in a windless and breezeless area to avoid getting a fully seeded plant. Use a Q-Tip and dip it in the pollen the brush the Q-Tip on the lower budsites of the female. Once pollinated put like a plastic bag or something over the pollinated budsite and put her off somewere for 24hrs(closet or somewerw dark) to let the pollen inseminate the female.
You will notice that some of the pistils will be red and wilted after the 24hr period. Spray down the bud site with a mist of water to sterilize the male pollen! VOLIA! U made F2 gens! Place her back into the flowering area. In 6-9 weeks u will have seeds.
TO STORE POLLEN keep it in a Fridge in a dark container.

 

[NE1]

^^ thanks a lot, thats how i'll do... hope the males don't reveg

TP&GF @ 19 days --- BS12/12ers @ 33 days --- prevegded UBS-01 @ 38 days



NE1

 

[lilzooty]

GE ConstantColor™ CMH
Precise™ MR16 20 & 35W any idea if they will work like the hps retro 250 & 400 watt version from advance lighting? i would rather string smaller bulbs to get better light distribution.less heat.overall just a better layout and less electricity.more bud when your plant has light hitting it from every angle!versus 400 watt on top and cfl on sides!pointless.i serioulsy would like to know what you guys think about these bulbs i will be calling them 2morr to see whats up.

 

[NE1]

ooops, double post...time to present my grandmas

 

[NE1]

Hi lilzooty,
sorry, i cant help you on that question, maybe the guys in the CMH-Thread in the growroom lighting section can, or it's allready written in there. Otherwise try to find datasheets and calculate yourself. Be aware of usefull spectrums.

Edit: second search result on google is their datasheet, where everything is explained. So i've taken a look.
the 35W 930 version is quite good, but i wouldn't use any of this lamps due to the poor lightbeam angles - these are spotlights.
The CMH35/MR16/UVC/930/GX10/WF has 42°, the others only 12°/25°. I'd go for sth. with at least 90°, as you go close to the plants with those low-watters you want a wide angle.

Here is a link to a german thread where someone uses 35W Powerball HCI (basically CMH) to grow a vertScrog...this might show how 35W can do...pictures speak.

Personally i wouldn't use under 70W per bulb to have better penetration and power (to watt ratio).
If you do a SCROG its ok to use lower watt bulbs - look out for bulbs with G12-, GX12, or RX7 sockets...with good reflectors you can provide light in a large angle. Remember to better use safety glass, if the manufactuer says so... some CMHs can explode (good effekt of glass shielding: better cooling possible by venting lights area seperately)

If i was you, i would go with maybe a 150/250W CMH/HPS plus some 35/70W CMHs or some PLLs. To get better advise you should open a cab building- / growreport...lights allways depend on the space you want/can use...i'll be looking for it.

best wishes NE1

BTW: can anybody tell me how to post large pics directly in my thread. Think that would be better for reading than always open in a new tab...look picture...change tab...read info...change tab.....

 

[lilzooty]

yea i was wanting to use use multiple bulbs instead of 1 400 watt.the dimensions are the same 3'wide 2'deep6.5' tall split bottom for veg about 2'.maybe 3 or 4 75 watt cmh bulbs?4 would give me 300 watts and sum to spare plus i would get more lighting in all the areas than just with a 400 watt buds would be bigger as well cuz i can get closer to the plant.but i know i could have used the smaller cmh bulbs i could have strung more than enough for that area.but the smaller bulbs have angle issues.4k is the preferred spectrum..like the hps retro cmh bulb.but they only come in 250 and 400 watt veg will have simple flourescents small plants dont need alot of power and since i run lower wattage and more lights my bill wont be as high as me and i still get close to or over a qp every 2 weeks....so my only question now is..is it better to flower using a 3k or 4200k cmh bulb?

 

[stihgnobevoli]

dude, you can't just buy a bunch of smaller bulbs that equal 400 and run em on a 400w ballast. thats not how it works. each bulb needs a ballast rated for that bulb.

 

[NE1]

@ lilzooty
Not sure if i understand everything you wrote right.
For me it looks like you wanna go some kind of Dr Bud style micro SOG (Harvest every 2 weeks). You can use larger bulbs for that to. BTW: lower your expectations, 125g dry every two weeks for me seems a bit much.
My tipp for you is, hang the 250W version in there and you are set. Cause as stihgnobevoli ^^ said, you would need ballasts for every small CMH, which is cost again. The 250 has decent penetration and afaik even runs on cheapo magnetic ballasts.
On the colorspectrum some say so some say so... i prefer 3000k (it got a little more red and less blue - buds might get less leafy and bigger)
NE1
Edit: For the next time i would suggest you to ask via PM or to open a thread bout your box construction, so this thread doesn't get to full with side discussions.

 

[lilzooty]

i dont know how to start my own post and im just getting info as of now..but the box dimension is another topic..and to stigbevoli i can get the light with a bulb and ballast deal for about 60 bucks a light money isnt the issue as i want it to be the way i want it.just llike you did your grows.so more lights better light distribution less electricity usage cause of low wattage 3k 70/75 watt cmh it is i need 4 of emm now all i need to know is the difference between the classic carbon scrubber or the new reusable Organic Air Charcoal Fiber Filters or the Organic Air Greenhouse HEPA Filters..thanks for all your opinions...

 

[NE1]

for the filter/scrubber: go classic (i'd do, if i'd choose again)
for the thread: go to the section u wanna post in (for example: micro grows) and then above the list of threads, in the top left corner, there is a blue button that says "create a new thread"
NE1

 

[NE1]

Update time...
Plants are labeled in the pics
Everyone besides UBS-01 is growing in selfmade growmix fed with plain water plus stimulants. UBS-01 is growing in (under- wrong nuted light mix)
So this is it today:


some details of BS1212-01 (@ 40 days)


NE1

 

[NE1]

Hi everybody ,
good news first: no plant died and i think i learned a bit more about growing (time will tell )

The babys had a hard time recently. I made a mistake at initially calculating the Ph. I only made one test that time and even got the results wrong
Didn't think much about Ph, cause i thought my tapwater was 7,2 and that the powdered limestone will buffer anyway.
But then the plants started to show (lock out related) deficencies and i tested the Ph of the soil. Result: Ph 8-8,5
Seeking the source of that trouble, i tested the tapwater again and it was 8-8,5. Think thats way to high. Now i adjust the Ph of my water/nutrientsolution to ~6,5.
Did this the first time last watering and the plants seem to recover. Also sprayed them with Ph adjusted water + Algamic, think that helped to. Few days ago they were looking even worse.

Also planted thre new ones 1x The Pure and 2x Diesel Haze 3 days ago...hope i can take better care of them

NEway, it's not that bad. See yourself :

without the labeling:

One with the lights off:

The Pure in the front (seems she doesn't stretch, maybe overnuted or Ph trouble...said to be 75% sativa) and Grapefruit @ 34 days from seed (and the new ones - Pure and Diesel Haze):

BS1212-01 I snapped her stem and she had Ph trouble for a longer time as you see...Can I do anything for her??

NE1

 

[roofwayne]

Hey NE1, Sorry the water company screwed you!! If you have your PH under control, time will tell! You could top feed, put on the top of your coco, some Marine Cusine by fox farms or some like it and some bat guano! water threw it!! The snapping is fine!! Good luck!! I check in a few!!...rw

 

[Grow_engineer]

Hey NE, nice set up!
I love ist when someone tells 150W ist enough for ones smoke

I´ll start over in my new Flat with a box that may use 150 Hci, 2x70W Hci or at least 5x24W or 5x14W T5.. we will see

Thank you for sharing your experience with CMH/Hci...