250w HPS users....

[guanito]

Hi Everyone.
Been wanting to join this club for a long time.
I was worried that my cab couldn't handle it but I am convinced it can and I have ordered a CMH and ballast assembly from AT. Made a couple of minor modifications to my cab. Raised the lamp a few inches. Started sucking air out of the ballast & utilities chamber first, instead of the flower chamber first. Need to ventilate that mag ballast good! I'll be looking forward to larger yields.

cheers!

 

[de Toke-ville]

Nice grow Limey. looks like you got some pretty big 250 colas. Wish that flowering pic was bigger!

three of some, are you growing 12/12 light cycle from newly-rooted clones or 12/12 from seed? Folks around here will be happy to help but need much more info about your grow.

So, for those following along, I switched from my CMH to the HPS at day 18 and just switched back at 6 weeks. had a nute mishap around week 4 and it really affected one of the girls. the others, however were affected only a little. Just from appearances, 4 of the these 6 CH9s have potential keeper qualities.

CH9 mixed females Day 44:

-dTv

 

[three of some]

de Toke-ville, What I do is veg (from seed) with fluorescent tubes, then when ther are 35-40cm I take them up to the flower stage 12/12.
I am going to try to do a scrog in half the space of flowering to see how it turns and maybe then turn everyhting to scrog.

 

[limey]

0.7 grams per watt is impressive, especially for 250w setup. Congrats on your harvest limey, the buds look delicious indeed.

keep growing
-AP KUSH

thanks mate

am taking a break from growing at present but hope to get back to it later in the year.. probably when I start panicking about my stash running low!

 

[limey]

that quite a bit 0.7gr per watt!!! I hope to improve my crop cauze I am only getting 40 -50gr per plant (wet) it is not enough for me.
For doing a scrog, how long do I have to vegetate the plants? 2-3 weeks under W250hps?
Do you know where I can find more info on how to build a scrog?

Hi, three

I don't think timing decisions with grows should be calendar driven - you should see how the plants develop and work from there.

If you are scrogging, this usually means vegging until about two-thirds of the scrog screen is filled with plant, then switching to flowering, continuing (during the fist weeks of 12/12) to weave the branches into the screen until the screen is full. You then let it all grow upwards.

plenty of info elsewhere on the site about setting up a scrog grow. It's not hard to do but you want to be sure you are using a suitable strain (usually - not always - a branchy pheno of a mostly indica/pure indica strain)

Your fairly low yields suggest that you need to address some basics so I hope you don't mind me suggesting:
try a no frills, straight up, traditional grow (i.e. dont try scrogging or SOG or FIM or SLT or any of the other myriad ways of growing. Plant some seeds or some clones and grow them "naturally")
Plants - start by buying some good seeds from a reputable company or getting some clones that you are 100% sure are healthy, productive and free of pests. Veg until your plants are at least six inches tall (unless you have a very small cab) and flower them until you are really sure they are ripe
Lamp - make sure you have a new(ish) bulb. a 250w HPS only has a 2 or 3 harvests before it needs to be changed. And make sure you have a good reflector
Water - make sure you pH is in the correct range (pH5.8-6.3 ideally) - buy an electronic meter, they aren't expensive. Check it often!
Nutrients - again, it's best if you meter your nutrient solution (if hydro) or run off (not hydro) but if you dont want to splash out on a meter, I recommend you try using your chosen nutrients at about half the concentration recommended by the manufacturers. Check your nutes often and use good nutes.
Air - make sure you have some ventilation so you keep you cab temps between 20 and 28 degrees centigrade, and a small fan to keep the air moving around
Cab - for most plants that (vegging to 6 inches) will mean you need at least tow and a half feet (75cm) between the top of your pot and the top of the plant (at harvest) PLUS at least a foot between the top of the plant and the lamp. That means (for example) 1 foot/30cm for the pots/hydro (more if your pots/rig is bigger), two and half feet/75cm for your plants, 1ft/30cm hot space and 1ft/30cm to hang the reflector i.e. you will need a space 5.5ft/165cm tall. And use some mylar or similar so your cab walls are reflective and help with the grow

hope that helps

 

[limey]

Nice grow Limey. looks like you got some pretty big 250 colas. Wish that flowering pic was bigger!

three of some, are you growing 12/12 light cycle from newly-rooted clones or 12/12 from seed? Folks around here will be happy to help but need much more info about your grow.

So, for those following along, I switched from my CMH to the HPS at day 18 and just switched back at 6 weeks. had a nute mishap around week 4 and it really affected one of the girls. the others, however were affected only a little. Just from appearances, 4 of the these 6 CH9s have potential keeper qualities.

Mate, I love your plants! What a nice, tidy set up you have! And thanks for your props

Flowering pic - I had problems with the file size when uploading. The pics I took are huge but I had to shrink them. if you know any ways of getting the file size down and keeping the picture big, PM me and let me know? thanks

Reckon you are going to get a good harvest there!

 

[K.J]

Lamp - make sure you have a new(ish) bulb. a 250w HPS only has a 2 or 3 harvests before it needs to be changed.

Actually, that should read 2-3 years worth of harvests. A lamp running 24 hours a day for a full year has been running for 8,760 hours. Most HPS lamps are rated much higher than that, more like 20k hours.

Please don't waste your money (and harm the environment) by chucking perfectly good bulbs after less than 10k hours worth of work.

 

[kenned]

loooks nice

 

[limey]

Actually, that should read 2-3 years worth of harvests. A lamp running 24 hours a day for a full year has been running for 8,760 hours. Most HPS lamps are rated much higher than that, more like 20k hours.

Please don't waste your money (and harm the environment) by chucking perfectly good bulbs after less than 10k hours worth of work.

Thanks, KJ. I concur with your desire to be environmentally friendly (but)

While I agree that lamps are rated for a longer life, I am a bit cynical about the ratings on lamp life offered by the manufacturers.

One reason for this is that I understand they calculate their lamp life in terms of mean lumens over the period given. So, for a start, it's safe to say that the last third-to-a-quarter of the lamp's life, it is performing significantly less well than the mean.

Secondly, I understand that the calculation is based (as you indicate) on continuous running. For about two thirds of the grow cycle, the lamp will be running 12/12 (and most people run veg at 18/6 though in my case I am using a different lamp so that's not really relevant for me). Anyway, the switching on and off of the lamp (ok, strictly, the turning on of the lamp) is what produces the most wear (hence most bulbs blowing when you turn them on). So a lamp with a daily on-off cycle will suffer a sharper decline in performance than one left on continuously.

I will admit to being pessimistic about this and so maybe my 2-3 harvest lamp life recommendation should be more like 4-5 harvests but I would caution that one should change a lamp within 2 years to get the best out of it.

Happy to be corrected by the more scientific amongst us!

Anyway, have had a look at your thread and I look forward to hearing about your "Spice". Mr Nice's Spice looks very tempting. I have grown a bunch of Hawaiian strains and am always interested to hear about others. That Hawaiian gear has always impressed me.

best wishes for your grow

 

[K.J]

Thanks, KJ. I concur with your desire to be environmentally friendly (but)

While I agree that lamps are rated for a longer life, I am a bit cynical about the ratings on lamp life offered by the manufacturers.

One reason for this is that I understand they calculate their lamp life in terms of mean lumens over the period given. So, for a start, it's safe to say that the last third-to-a-quarter of the lamp's life, it is performing significantly less well than the mean.

Secondly, I understand that the calculation is based (as you indicate) on continuous running. For about two thirds of the grow cycle, the lamp will be running 12/12 (and most people run veg at 18/6 though in my case I am using a different lamp so that's not really relevant for me). Anyway, the switching on and off of the lamp (ok, strictly, the turning on of the lamp) is what produces the most wear (hence most bulbs blowing when you turn them on). So a lamp with a daily on-off cycle will suffer a sharper decline in performance than one left on continuously.

I will admit to being pessimistic about this and so maybe my 2-3 harvest lamp life recommendation should be more like 4-5 harvests but I would caution that one should change a lamp within 2 years to get the best out of it.

Happy to be corrected by the more scientific amongst us!

Lots of good points you make. I agree that one probably isn't getting the most out of their bulb well before the rated life expectancy, but I would say that point is closer to 18k hours than it is to 8k. Appreciate the insight.

Anyway, have had a look at your thread and I look forward to hearing about your "Spice". Mr Nice's Spice looks very tempting. I have grown a bunch of Hawaiian strains and am always interested to hear about others. That Hawaiian gear has always impressed me.

best wishes for your grow

Hey, thanks for stopping by for a gander and for the well wishes. Unfortunately we're no longer doing the Spice this time around; we couldn't get them to germ. So right now it's The Pure and Blue Mystic. We hope to run the Spice next time though, as we still have about 6 beans and we hope to get them to pop with a new method (manual popping of the bean using tweezers if they don't pop within 24 hours).

 

[de Toke-ville]

Thx for the props Limey.

three of some--Wow, that's some single cola madness considering how long you vegged. Scrog or LST is the way to go with a 250, IMO.

Okay, so I took that bud pictured above early @ day 48 as it was a little more mature than the rest of the plant--and I couldn't wait. The rest of the plant will come down on day 52-53, Tues or Weds.

oops won't upload photos right now...I'll post 'em up later

-dTv

 

[Ickis]

Hey fellow 250w users. It was the 150w thread and the 250w threads on IC that helped get me interested in growing inside. I started off with a 250w and even though I have other lights such as 400w, 600w, 750w and 100w my 250w Lumatek with a Cool Tube is still my favorite.

This grow I was trying to see if I could get a pound from a 250w. I figured the key was a long veg and then scrog to keep the distance from bud top to the screen at 10 inches or less and keep the light as close as possible. There is a distance on the light charts where there is 10" of 1000w power if you keep the light close enough.

I got a PowerGrower because it is bigger than a WaterFarm. It has a 3.5 gallon grow chamber and bigger rez. I was thinking since I am vegging a long while it will need more space.

I used some shelves from Wal-Mart. They are like baker's racks. I have the PowerGrower on the bottom rack and then the upper racks is my screen. I let my plant grow through the screen and then painstakingly tied it down to the rack as it grew. When it was 60% full after 8 weeks I then switched out the T5 light rack and put in the 250w MH light and did a 2 week transitional phase. Then after that I used the 270w HPS and switched over to 12/12.

This grow has exceeded my wildest dreams. I don't know if I will ever duplicate this. This strain is the white and is kinda known as a low yielder. I don't know if I am getting a pound but I am giving it a push.

The buds are dense too. Now some of the under ones are not as dense but they ain't popcorn either. Here are some pics from today which is day 49 a full 7 weeks. 1 more week of feeding and then a flush to harvest around week 9.

I pushed the light to the side for pics. It is on chains on 2 clothes rods in a closet so I can move it either way. I am a human light mover. I put it right middle for a bit then left middle for a bit and then center for a bit. I do that all day every day. This has been a labor of love.

I will put some pics up of early on if people are interested.

 

[mrjim5000]

Thanks, KJ. I concur with your desire to be environmentally friendly (but)

While I agree that lamps are rated for a longer life, I am a bit cynical about the ratings on lamp life offered by the manufacturers.

One reason for this is that I understand they calculate their lamp life in terms of mean lumens over the period given. So, for a start, it's safe to say that the last third-to-a-quarter of the lamp's life, it is performing significantly less well than the mean.

Secondly, I understand that the calculation is based (as you indicate) on continuous running. For about two thirds of the grow cycle, the lamp will be running 12/12 (and most people run veg at 18/6 though in my case I am using a different lamp so that's not really relevant for me). Anyway, the switching on and off of the lamp (ok, strictly, the turning on of the lamp) is what produces the most wear (hence most bulbs blowing when you turn them on). So a lamp with a daily on-off cycle will suffer a sharper decline in performance than one left on continuously.

I will admit to being pessimistic about this and so maybe my 2-3 harvest lamp life recommendation should be more like 4-5 harvests but I would caution that one should change a lamp within 2 years to get the best out of it.

Happy to be corrected by the more scientific amongst us!

Anyway, have had a look at your thread and I look forward to hearing about your "Spice". Mr Nice's Spice looks very tempting. I have grown a bunch of Hawaiian strains and am always interested to hear about others. That Hawaiian gear has always impressed me.

best wishes for your grow

One thing I would say is that both opionions are purely that, and not measured in any way (by the posters). I'm not saying that either is right or wrong, but that possibly neither are right and they are both just opionions (based on some scientific thinking each of them).

Seeing as my first 250w bulb is coming up on its third harvest I would be interested if anyone did have any concrete evidence of performance\lifetime of a HPS bulb.

Edit: Um, I started reading the thread from the beginning tonight. Anyone know if this has been answered in the 47 pages you had so far

 

[smokeymacpot]

Hey fellow 250w users. It was the 150w thread and the 250w threads on IC that helped get me interested in growing inside. I started off with a 250w and even though I have other lights such as 400w, 600w, 750w and 100w my 250w Lumatek with a Cool Tube is still my favorite.

This grow I was trying to see if I could get a pound from a 250w. I figured the key was a long veg and then scrog to keep the distance from bud top to the screen at 10 inches or less and keep the light as close as possible. There is a distance on the light charts where there is 10" of 1000w power if you keep the light close enough.

I got a PowerGrower because it is bigger than a WaterFarm. It has a 3.5 gallon grow chamber and bigger rez. I was thinking since I am vegging a long while it will need more space.

I used some shelves from Wal-Mart. They are like baker's racks. I have the PowerGrower on the bottom rack and then the upper racks is my screen. I let my plant grow through the screen and then painstakingly tied it down to the rack as it grew. When it was 60% full after 8 weeks I then switched out the T5 light rack and put in the 250w MH light and did a 2 week transitional phase. Then after that I used the 270w HPS and switched over to 12/12.

This grow has exceeded my wildest dreams. I don't know if I will ever duplicate this. This strain is the white and is kinda known as a low yielder. I don't know if I am getting a pound but I am giving it a push.

The buds are dense too. Now some of the under ones are not as dense but they ain't popcorn either. Here are some pics from today which is day 49 a full 7 weeks. 1 more week of feeding and then a flush to harvest around week 9.

I pushed the light to the side for pics. It is on chains on 2 clothes rods in a closet so I can move it either way. I am a human light mover. I put it right middle for a bit then left middle for a bit and then center for a bit. I do that all day every day. This has been a labor of love.

I will put some pics up of early on if people are interested.

looks very nice, be sure to post your results

 

[KUSHEATER1]

looks nice big girl...

 

[de Toke-ville]

Go Ickis!

You might break the 250w record. How much floor space you growing in there?

Here's some of my latest:

CH9 mixed fems d52:

Plant "B":

Plant "E"

Au revior, 250 peeps,

-dTv

 

[Ickis]

de Toke your grow is super. Those are some nice buds, I have seen a few good examples of CHP stuff. There has to be a keeper there.

The closet is 33" wide. The shelf I have as the scrog screen was 24" x 18". I figured that was a perfect 250w size. But even after stretch it grew some and goes wall to wall and I would say is 30" deep. The closet is 8' long and 32" wide and has 8' ceiling. You enter on 1 end on the 8' side. There is an attic door to the left and the closet runs to the right. There is an outside window on the side opposite the door. It is a perfect workable closet that I have not even begun to maximize. I could do 3 scrogs just like this all under 250's. I might just go dual 400w lights though. I am adding a/c soon.

I saw somebody on here get 9 ounces with a 250w. My goal was to see if a pound was anywhere near possible and I used a long veg and scrog as my method. I see a pound if nothing shrank but we know that isn't happening. If I get 300 grams I think I might be the first to see the 300s from a 250 ballast. However, the 9 ounce grower's scrog looked to have bigger colas than mine at this point but not as many. I think he had multiple plants scrogged too. This is 1 plant. It has a huge trunk.

 

[de Toke-ville]

Right on, dude that's killer. I think 300g looks possible in there and would be a great achievement. My space is 33 wide too, but am getting max 19" depth, if I'm lucky. My ultimate goal is to get a 15-plant SOG going and yield 225g every 8-10wk cycle.

This run I'll have to make due with somewhere between 120-150g I'm guessing.

Good luck in your attempt to set a world record (as far as we know)

-dTv

 

[three of some]

in the back and from left to right: Silver Pearl, Megaton, Skunk #1.
at front: lemon skunk, white rhino, 2 shiva shanti clones.

I will turn it 12/12 on monday (16/3/09), I think they look pretty good, especially the white rhino.
I hope to hear some opinions. How much should I expect for this grow??

 

[Deft]