Ceramic Metal Halide (CMH)

[coloradoe]

PAR meter

PAR meter

I read the leaves lol. I'm using the 860 bare vert, and have to be 16" away Not that great for a 5x5 tent. Does anyone have a link to a descent light meter? Every time I look for one they're around $300...ugh.

yeah even at the $300 range they are not totally accurate. heres the one i use.

https://www.sunlightsupply.com/shop/bycategory/timers-and-instruments/par-meter-with-integrated-or-remote-sensor

 

[coloradoe]

The crop is in. Numbers are on par with what I grew the same plants out at under LEDs and w/~250w of HO T5s. However, the buds are a much better quality - pretty dense IMO . I will be getting these two strains lab tested and I have lab results from both available from previous grows for comparison - I'll post that up once the lab results are in, which will be at the end of cure which will be another 3 weeks anyways. These lights are going to be my primary lights going forward. I do plan to add 2 LEDs as they are setting on my shelf, so why not.

Harvest is complete and jarred. The only plant I can really compare to the last grow is the CBD Snow Goddess. She produced about the same under these lights as under the LEDs, but the nugs are frostier this time and more dense IMO. Which is cool because I really like the "sunlight" feel from the bulb.



I trimmed differently this this time also - only kept tops, the rest are destined for the tincture bottle. But even so, I would say it grew even on weight. I'm a noob grower and made plenty of mistakes.....

1,342g wet weight buds
~134g dry cured buds = 5 oz
1,261g wet weight high quality trim (no fan leaves, only lower buds, popcorn buds and sugar leaf)

looks great

 

[coloradoe]

$240 for a ballast, bulb and socket 315w CDM

$640 for an allbright complete unit from cycloptics.

So $400 for a reflector????

I love the reflector but that is a serious barrier!

Any opinions/thoughts if a cheap batwing or medium adjustawing would be worth it?

Looking good jorgeblen!

if you can go 240 these are very cost effective.
https://sunlightsupply.com/shop/bycategory/new-lighting-technology/sun-system-lec-315-light-emitting-ceramic-fixture

 

[redclover]

Anyone try the Philips 315s on a light mover?

 

[coloradoe]

Anyone try the Philips 315s on a light mover?

both of mine are on one lightmover

 

[Pangea]

if you can go 240 these are very cost effective.
https://sunlightsupply.com/shop/bycategory/new-lighting-technology/sun-system-lec-315-light-emitting-ceramic-fixture

Thats $70 cheaper, but still $330 for a reflector, and it looks like a slightly modified sun star, where the cycloptics reflector is designed impeccably and specifically.

 

[habeeb]

$240 for a ballast, bulb and socket 315w CDM

$640 for an allbright complete unit from cycloptics.

So $400 for a reflector????

I love the reflector but that is a serious barrier!

Any opinions/thoughts if a cheap batwing or medium adjustawing would be worth it?

Looking good jorgeblen!

there's the xtrasun batwing here

 

[habeeb]

I've run everywhere from 2+ feet to 3".

haha, I've run 2 foot to touching.. burn baby burn

don't worry they were hitting.. i had to cut tops everyday...lesson learned, don't under estimate jumpy strains...

 

[coloradoe]

Thats $70 cheaper, but still $330 for a reflector, and it looks like a slightly modified sun star, where the cycloptics reflector is designed impeccably and specifically.

ok so you get a low frequency ballast the 3100k lamp and a fixture engineered around the the lamp . with 97% refelctive material . I have personally tested all of these fixtures. you pay for what you get . if you want to buy chinese polished refective material (70-80 % reflective )then thats is definetly your choice. just know that your par out put will be drastically be diminished by trying to save money . the 3100k is higher in red . the 4100k is higher in blue . your getting an almost plasma spectrum were it matters for half the price. I agree that cycloptics looks pretty cool but the reflective material is a beeded extruded aluminum and is probably around 80 % refelctive. and price point is higher. althogh their data info is steller.
im getting 1700 mm on my canopy. Let me give you and example. 1000 watt parabolic would only give you 700-800 mm 2 feet off your canopy.
Now with that being said . any light with higher reds will read higher on a par meter. it takes less energy to power red photons. to the human eye these lamps seem blue . Yes that would be the lumen scale. Which plants don’t see! That’s why people who dim their light sometimes get great readings with meters because the under power of their light gives off allot of red. You will get nice flowers but low oil productions. As the plants response to uvA and UvB is better intermodal growth and oil production. The 3100k has allot of uv A and some Uv B . Gram per watt should be exceptional. Heres another lighting 101 advise. The most efficient delivery off any lamp is a vertical hang. Vertical hang allows the best delivery of light on target. When you hang a lamp horizontally it has to reflect and pass through the lamp glass twice. This lamp developed by Phillips also has a oval arc tube. Which allows a superior combustion of chemicals. cylinder arc tubes aren’t as efficient. The jacket of this lamp also is made of quartz. (Never air cool quartz jackets directly) all of the other fixtures I have found in the market were engineered for either high bay lighting or are an old design reflector retrofitted to use this lamp. I mean have you seen that bolder fixture it looks like an old diamond lighting fixture from the 1995. If you’ve been growing as long as I have then you know that’s old man. I find it funny when growers go cheap on their gear but then go spend money allot of money on something like food or drinks that their going shoot down a toilet bowl later or the next day. Your gear is what keeps giving. This reflector looks nothing like a sunstar.

 

[Pangea]

I'm saying neither are worth it, that is a ridiculous amount for either reflector.

Perhaps just a cheap vertical parabolic, maybe the shorter bulb will not extend past the sides of them?

Then we'd be talking $250 total for multiple units, almost good enough for people larger than tents...

Or those medium avenger adjust a wings are fairly cheap with 97% reflective, though horizontal...

 

[habeeb]

"any light with higher reds will read higher on a par meter."

don't think that's true, as you would first have to take into account the par meter, and how off or not it is in a certain area / region as no par meter is 100% accurate, but the LI-cor is what all "scientists" use, and is the most accurate picture.

in one definition of your statement, yes a more wattage bulb is going to read higher par, but I think you were meaning red counts for more on a par meter then the other colors, and that's not true.

If I were to give you a par reading of 2000, and asked if it was a good light, what would you say? now what if I told you it was a all green led... any range from ( I'm simplifying here as meters are not accurate ) 400 - 700 get's counted the same on the meter, that's why a par reading is worthless as I mentioned above, but really only useful to use as a basis to say, ok that's the PAR number and this is the plant growth I'm seeing, or to see what different areas of the canopy are getting.

a high par number doesn't mean squat, without a spectrum chart / spectrophotometer reading. PAR has got way too hyped up since it's take over from lumens, but people need to understand it's one part of thee picture, not the whole picture.. and even then what you can do with a par meter, you can do with any meter, as all your after is a base line to go off of.. but it's not as cool to say 8000 lumen vs. saying I have 1000 par....

 

[iuredbud]

Pangea - cycloptics reflector was specifically designed to use the Philips 315w cmh in a vertical position and they told me the price is lowering cause of volume.

 

[redclover]

Or you guys can get the 860

 

[rives]

Or you guys can get the 860

Oh, I don't know. I'm pretty happy with the 315s.

Day 50, about 3 weeks to go -

 

[Bubbagineer]

@Rives. Nice bro. Is that still with just the one 315 in the 4x4?

I'm about 1/3 of the way through that blumat thread. I ordered that float valve you use, that things cool.

 

[rives]

@Rives. Nice bro. Is that still with just the one 315 in the 4x4?

I'm about 1/3 of the way through that blumat thread. I ordered that float valve you use, that things cool.

Yes, still the single 315.

Lot's of information in the blumat thread. That float switch is a neat piece of engineering, isn't it? I've gotten away from it now that I'm running a nutrient mix in the reservoir instead of straight water. It never screwed up in the whole time that I used it.

 

[Bubbagineer]

Yes, still the single 315.

Lot's of information in the blumat thread. That float switch is a neat piece of engineering, isn't it? I've gotten away from it now that I'm running a nutrient mix in the reservoir instead of straight water. It never screwed up in the whole time that I used it.

Yes. I've picked up a few nuggets so far. The loop feed system is one - are you still sold on this?

The second is whether to use droppers or just the hose end.

Also, since you aren't using that float valve thingy anymore, how do you maintain the head pressure? You just top up every day? Or is a constant head not that big of deal?

 

[rives]

Yes, I still use a loop feed, elevate the mid-point into a T and set a valve there to purge off the air bubbles. What I found with the valve tied into my water supply was that air bubbles were killing me - our water system comes from very high elevation and apparently picks up a great deal of entrained air. My mom cab just has a small, manually topped reservoir that never had a problem. Running out of reservoirs also enabled me to go to chem nutes.

I've used both the open hose and drippers. As you might expect, the drippers give you a more consistent moisture distribution but are more finicky about plugging. I've gone back to just the hoses - I didn't see any difference in the plants with either method, so it didn't justify the added complexity to me.

The constant head pressure is a big deal indeed. Further along into the thread you should start running into systems that have a large reservoir at ground level, with a small reservoir up high to feed the blumats. I run a 3/4" feed line from the pump in the big rez up to the small one (mainly for the vertical column rigidity, not because it needs that much flow), and then a 1-1/4" overflow line so there is no chance of overrunning the return. The feed pump kicks on a couple of times a day for a few minutes, topping of the upper rez, and any excess just runs back down to the primary reservoir so there is no need for level/float switches. Check out my "Misc" album for some pictures of how my systems are plumbed.

If you've got any questions, just tag them onto the Blumat thread. I monitor it, and you will probably get some good input from other people too.

 

[Pangea]

Pangea - cycloptics reflector was specifically designed to use the Philips 315w cmh in a vertical position and they told me the price is lowering cause of volume.

I know and I would prefer to use them. I remember years ago hearing about their reflector design and how its only a few pieces and how simple it was to mfg. Thats why im disappointed that I cannot purchase it standalone at a reasonable price, not $300 - $400!

If they want to actually sell their product they need to price the complete unit @ $300 MSRP and $250 bulk. It would fly off the shelf non stop.

 

[Bubbagineer]

Thanks Rives. I'll post any other questions in that thread. More reading to do. But the weir type system makes sense to me..


Hey, how's about giving us a lookee at the whole footprint of dat 4x4 315w experiment? Looks like you just took a pic of the colas right under the bulb j/k bro, but I would like to see how they're doing on the perimeter if you get a chance.