Ceramic Metal Halide (CMH)

[JohnnyToke]

these were B52 clones that were gifted from a friend. the rooted clones were vegged for 10 days. after 10 days of veg under cmh, they were 12"-14" tall then were flipped to 12/12. I flowered for 63 days. so 73 days total.

power bill wasnt bad. to run them 12/12 for a month, its about $35. my veg cab, water chiller, fans and air pumps prob run another $15 a month.

im interested to see what the dry weight is compared to my last 1000w hps grow on 4 plants.

we will know in a couple weeks.

regards,
JT

 

[jdubz206]

Damn Johnny, looking real nice. What was the finished height of the plants? I just picked up another 400 watt hps ballast and reflector today, I'm planning on throwing another CMH bulb in there as well. 2 400 watt CMH bulb's seem to do the trick.

 

[JohnnyToke]

they finished out about 48". tripled size in flowering however I left the floranova grow in the reservoir when I switched to 12/12 and just started topping off the reservoir from there with floranova bloom the entire flowering period. I was using the lucas formula.

regards,
JT

 

[simba]

JT looking Real Nice..

someone said to let them veg longer under CMH vs hps..
you want to veg less than if its under hps.. and veg shorter anyways to prevent to many side colas

 

[Guest]

JT

Nice job! I would expect some nice quality there. So, if I understand correctly you used to run a 1k HPS in the same set-up? Were you running the same genetics? I hope you are pleased with the results.

 

[Hu$tle Tree$]

Great Thread Guys!!!

A couple of questions for the lighting gurus out there. Im building a new mother/clone area and I'm thinking about giving these CMH bulbs a go. I already have a 400 watt MH ballast thats collecting dust at the moment, is it possible for me to simply add an igniter to the existing ballast in order to convert it to HPS?? I'm pretty familiar with wiring a ballast just not sure if it would allow me to run one of those Philips retro fit bulbs, or if there is another bulb that is a better option.

Also I notice there has been some discussion regarding using a 10k bulb in the last few weeks to increase UV levels. I was thinking about using a 150 watt double ended HQI bulb to supplement my HPS flowering room. The HQI bulbs are commonly used in the aquarium trade and are essentially MH bulbs without the outer protective glass. Normally you are supposed to use them in a reflector with a UV shield however for our purposes we want all of that extra UV. Here is a link to the bulb

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~idProduct~MB2463.html

I was wondering if using the bulb without the shield would give off TOO MUCH UV?? I really don't want to fry my plants. For those who have used a 10k supplement does it noticeably increase resin production and potency? I also wanted to know when is the best time to supplement with 10k?? Throughout flowering or just during the last 3 weeks. I plan to build a DIY reflector and use a light mover for the HQI bulb over my 1800 watt flower room. Here is a link to a DIY 70 watt HQI light for about $70

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/39586-70-diy-70w-hqi-metal-halide.html

Thanks!!!

 

[simba]

Hu$

as far as your MH ballast.and another bulb. there is a CMH for MH ballasts but there for MHP (Pulsed Start) since your mh ballast doesnt have an ignitor there is no other bulb option.

nah its not worth wiring up a ballast with other parts to make it into something else

as far as the 10k Bulbs
i like them cause they increse the Blue to red ratio to Naturaly tell the plant to hurry up Death is coming Soon.. IE autumn/winter

those bulbs are one of the better brands for aqua.. i dont know how much uv they block..
But they DO REQUIRE Enclosed Fixture... /

PS.
I love this ballast

 

[Microwido]

I ended up purchasing:

(HTGsupply)
400 watt HPS ballast Kit $54.95 x 2
Maxwing Reflector $39.95 x 2

(Advancetechlighting)
400 w CMH Horizontal $53.00 x 2


Total = $335 Shipped for 2 x CMH 400w lights.

This should be enough lighting for 12 plants. I will supplement with 6 CFL's also, but not until there big.

Cheers for all the info.

-T

 

[Poker_Toker]

I ended up purchasing:

(HTGsupply)
400 watt HPS ballast Kit $54.95 x 2
Maxwing Reflector $39.95 x 2

(Advancetechlighting)
400 w CMH Horizontal $53.00 x 2


Total = $335 Shipped for 2 x CMH 400w lights.

This should be enough lighting for 12 plants. I will supplement with 6 CFL's also, but not until there big.

Cheers for all the info.

-T

CHA CHING!! charge it lol
I cant get a 400w hps ballast in canada for under 100 bucks, well best i can do is an advanced ballast kit for 85 but shipping is alot from the states (40 bucks) Wish i could pick up those 55 dollar 400s from htg

 

[JohnnyToke]

JT

Nice job! I would expect some nice quality there. So, if I understand correctly you used to run a 1k HPS in the same set-up? Were you running the same genetics? I hope you are pleased with the results.

yes, I use to run 1000w in the same setup but not the same genetics so the final dry weight wont be apple to apple.

all in all, the tops of the plant colas looked bigger, thicker & longer than the last hps grow but i'm not sure if that was due to cmh or genetics. the lower shoots didnt fair quite as well as under the 1000 due to less penetration but that is to be expected.

I need to work out some additional lower side lighting to get better light penetration under the canopy so i dont have as much waste. I would like to add some wall mounted cmh 250s. not sure if that is doable. maybe have to add some T5's down there. I have a month or so to make some changes & improvements before my next set of clones will be ready.

we will see what happens.

regards,
JT

 

[Guest]

I have learned to keep my plants short over the years. Even before I used the CMH bulbs I had little height to play with. On average plant height went down and side branching increased with the CMH. Are you going to veg under it? That tends to be the first step in growing the tighest monsters. Not suggesting that yours wasn't on par! Looks like skill and a good set-up to me.

I am playing with Johnny Blaze (DJsBlueberry male x NevillesHaze), I have a very haze leaning pheno in flower right now that is as stretchy as anything. Better than under an HPS, but still a long legged chick.LOL

 

[Microwido]

If you are growing tall at all, I recommend augmenting your grow with CFL at the side/bottom of the plants. This is a cheap and effective method. (granted it will get cluttered in a larger grow)

Reguarding height, why do so many people grow so short? I have about 8 feet to work with and plan on growing them about 5-6 feet tall before budding. Plus I plan on grooming so its a fat 6 feet. If I do not see the light is penetrating, I will go pay 10$ for a 25w 6500K with a reflector and add it as needed.

 

[Guest]

Microwido -

I agree that your thoughts/ideas/methods in regards to side lighting esp. with full spectrum light works. If you have a high density of photons (blue especially) in an area then tight bud/node growth is a given. However a lot of us start with 6' - 7.5' head room and then have pots/gear that gets us up a foot or more to start, then you figure light hoods and hanging/heat space. Adds up quick. I am a big believer that 68F-75F is the optimum canopy temp so height is allways important.

 

[Guest]

Just thinkng? 5-6' before 12/12? Most of my strains are 2-3x stretchers in the real world. What are you growing? LUI? some heavy indica I suppose.

 

[Jebus11]

When i start growing i plan on using a 400 watt CMH

Im not sure if 1 400watt with 2 x 2ft t5 flouros 24w on each side for side lighting(so 4 2ft flouros together) will do for a wardrobe of this size
71 3/4 In. high x 48 In. wide x 20 1/2 In. deep
I will be growing 4-5 plants in there, probably hydro.

If not I will have to do 2 400watts

PS: i posted this in the 400watt club also, sorry for the double post, but seems i might get a quicker reply here, this thread is very active.

 

[Microwido]

Jebus11-

That will be more than enough light for that area. You will need to wear shades just to open the door! If anything I think that might be alittle overkill, but you can never have to much (unless burning the plants or over heating the room).

 

[Jebus11]

Im really glad to hear 1 400watt and the 4x t5 2ft's will be good for a cab of that size, the cab just seemed so big to me. I don't think heat will be an issue, ill have the stanley 256 CFM blower suckign air out and pushing it into a carbon filter.

Thanks for the info microwido

 

[hurricane]

Jebus11-

You will be just fine. Plenty of growers using the mills pride cabinets have 400's, and those cab's are very similar to your dimensions. I've done a cab like that in the past w/ 400HPS. Ran avg 6 plants for 6-9oz per run. Other people have yielded much more.

Hurricane

 

[jdubz206]

i'm really starting to doubt the quality of these bulbs. Last Tuesday I bought a Phillips CMH MasterColor 4k bulb. On Thursday, the bulb stopped working. On Friday, I returned the bulb and got another. The bulb has been on ever since then. Today, I was constructing my GR and took down everything and shut the light off. Now I try to turn the bulb back on and the exact same thing that was happening on Thursday is happening again. The arc tube has what looks like a bolt of lightning jumping around in it and it seems like it will fire up, but it never does. I've had this happen on 2 seperate ballasts with 2 "new' bulbs. Maybe it's the source that is the problem, but the source has been mentioned in this thread and has been noted to be reputable. I'll switch this out again, but if the bulb breaks again I'm done - back to Hortilux. I can't be running to the shop every other day to get a new bulb. It's fucking ridiculous.The color looks awesome and the plants love it, I won't doubt that. It seems like a lot of people have issues with these bulbs in this forum alone and we are a very, very small percentage of people\companies who buy this bulb. Any suggestions?

 

[Jebus11]

i'm really starting to doubt the quality of these bulbs. Last Tuesday I bought a Phillips CMH MasterColor 4k bulb. On Thursday, the bulb stopped working. On Friday, I returned the bulb and got another. The bulb has been on ever since then. Today, I was constructing my GR and took down everything and shut the light off. Now I try to turn the bulb back on and the exact same thing that was happening on Thursday is happening again. The arc tube has what looks like a bolt of lightning jumping around in it and it seems like it will fire up, but it never does. I've had this happen on 2 seperate ballasts with 2 "new' bulbs. Maybe it's the source that is the problem, but the source has been mentioned in this thread and has been noted to be reputable. I'll switch this out again, but if the bulb breaks again I'm done - back to Hortilux. I can't be running to the shop every other day to get a new bulb. It's fucking ridiculous.The color looks awesome and the plants love it, I won't doubt that. It seems like a lot of people have issues with these bulbs in this forum alone and we are a very, very small percentage of people\companies who buy this bulb. Any suggestions?

Hmm im not an expert, so the only thing i can think of is, are you using a magnetic HPS ballast?