Philips 315w CDM Elite (CMH)

[Jhhnn]

It's not that I dislike large reflectors but rather that I wanted to maximize headspace.

The airpots act like fabric pots in that they prevent root circling. They're easy to transplant from, as well, just by removing the screw & unwrapping from the rootball. Some people just move the whole thing into a large pot & let the roots grow out thru the holes & the base. Dunno how well that would work w/ blumats. I like 'em even though they're overpriced, prohibitively so in larger sizes. I use the ones w/ the orange bottom. At transplant, roots fill the soil if not densely. I get low stress transplanting- they don't even droop. I trim away the lower most branches after a coupla days to limit larf & that's it.

I'm not good at holding to scheduled chores like mixing & applying nutes or any of that stuff. Not even watering, to tell the truth. It's a PITA. I do better when I can make it more free form, periods of work w/ time off entirely in between. With current methods, I don't *do* much of anything other than observe during flowering which suits me just fine. I also like to see the natural structure of different strains so I don't scrog or trim to any particular shape. It's more work than I want, anyway. I don't keep mothers or clone for the same sort of reasons. Growing from seed suits my headset. What I have are not fems or I'd try just starting in the 5 gal pots.

Philosophically, I like larger pots. There's just more of what plants want available & they send out roots as needed to find it. If they don't pack the pot w/ roots it's because they didn't need to. I get good root fill in 5 gal fabric pots & not a hint of deficiencies with this mix. It has exquisite tilth & an open structure that roots penetrate w/ ease.

CDM lighting & air cooling rather than A/C keep the electric bill more where I want it to be.

 

[Hammerhead]

I use Hercules pots. They work the same as air or fabric post do. There much easier to clean then fabric and easier to locate then air. My local store doesn't carry air pots.

 

[blueberrydrumz]

i saved myself a bit of money and just bought the fabric and together with my girl over 2 days sowed around 60, 40 Liter pots... dead easy.. takes you about 10min per pot once you get the hang of it.. and you can make them the size you need...
ended up beeing way to big though.. some plants didnt fill up the space they had
a good thing is though you can ruffle up the fabric and tie it around the stem to keep Fungus Gnats etc out...
great for outdoors too

 

[Avinash.miles]

y'all seen the new sunsystem setup, called "the beast" or something like that...
it's ONE hood, with a DE HPS in the center and 2 vertically aligned CMH 315w fixtures on either side. comes with CMH bulbs and ballast, you have to purchase the DE ballast and bulb separately.... msrp around 1100 or 1200....
got my attention.

originally my concern was the distance from bulb to canopy, but i think the vertically aligned CMH are better to be kept farther from plants than horizontal bulbs in fixture, is that accurate? DE's are 2ft from bulb to canopy, if vertically mounted 315 CMH is similar these big hoods with 3 bulbs in them could be a nice setup, the 315's and DE HPS have separate power supply via ballast so they can be set on different timers... could veg with just the CMH and kick the DE on to bloom,
options are nice

 

[TerpeneDream]

I saw on DJ shorts instagram that Nanolux is in the CMH game now…

He's using them.

Anyway,

just wanted to share my experiences with Sunlight.


My growstore practically dropped Sunlight bc there customer service is so bad.


I had to return 2 out of the 3 LEC units I bought.


The 630 is noisy as fuck.

The 315's are nice when they work, but one (which got returned to the shop and came back with the same GD problem) will turn off with the slightest bump or even just by itself. Not good.

Oh and the female power plug on the unit it practically breaking out of both 315's I have. Straight pieces of shit.


Fuck Sunlight.



Looking forward to Nanolux and other brands to get into CMH.

I do like the low heat, low profile, and low energy consumption...

 

[Hammerhead]

I use a LEC 630. Mine is very quite it has a slight hum you don't notice it at all. I have to get right next to it to hear it. I couldn't be more happy with mine.

 

[McKush]

y'all seen the new sunsystem setup, called "the beast" or something like that...
it's ONE hood, with a DE HPS in the center and 2 vertically aligned CMH 315w fixtures on either side. comes with CMH bulbs and ballast, you have to purchase the DE ballast and bulb separately.... msrp around 1100 or 1200....
got my attention.

originally my concern was the distance from bulb to canopy, but i think the vertically aligned CMH are better to be kept farther from plants than horizontal bulbs in fixture, is that accurate? DE's are 2ft from bulb to canopy, if vertically mounted 315 CMH is similar these big hoods with 3 bulbs in them could be a nice setup, the 315's and DE HPS have separate power supply via ballast so they can be set on different timers... could veg with just the CMH and kick the DE on to bloom,
options are nice

Heya Avinish, I've looked at them and have seen them mentioned in this or some other thread. I have zero first hand experience with it but many have panned it for one reason or the other but mostly I think because the light sources are all fixed. Whether or not you can or want to run a DE 2' from the plant is another matter and I think the crux of the issue. Correct distance for CMH may not be the correct distance for DE. It is not possible to move the light sources in a way that would make sense for most gardeners rooms imo.

That said, i have been mulling over adding two more single GB units to flank my epap in flower. with separate units i'll be able to adjust the heights independently and locate them with the room in consideration. i'm hoping a more efficient manner for my room.

Before dropping that change on more lights though I need to verify whether adding the 315w to a DE is advantageous. Improving the light spectrum and a slight increase in intensity without adding another 1000 watter HPS is what I would like to achieve.

Being able to dim the epap along with two 315s providing their spectrum would give me a wide range of lighting options and intensities.

I could be full of shit too so factor that in!

 

[Hammerhead]

I would agree with that. The DE part of it requires it to be 36" from the canopy. No idea if the CMH part would help in anyway..

I have noticed some of my Cultivars get what looks like heat stress from the LEC 630 being 2' from the canopy. I have to move those farther away, very odd.

 

[TerpeneDream]

Damn, wish that was my case. I can hear mine buzzing from the downstairs of my house. I sent that motherfucker back twice and it came back exactly the same.

Seems to be a QC thing… Cheap parts maybe..

Onward and upward!

 

[McKush]

I would agree with that. The DE part of it requires it to be 36" from the canopy. No idea if the CMH part would help in anyway..

I have noticed some of my Cultivars get what looks like heat stress from the LEC 630 being 2' from the canopy. I have to move those farther away, very odd.

Yah true dat. I was thinkig using 942s on each side of a DE but i dont think 3 feet is the perfect distance for them. Before i blow my wad i want to research it more and find someone doing this. Would love to see a pic of a grow room configured with alternating 315 and DE down a row. Absence of such pic may be be my best source of info.....

Spectrum wise im only imagining that 942 + DE is a better choice in flower over each alone separatly. Im not savy enough atm to really know for sure.

 

[Hammerhead]

It doesn't come with a ballast for the DE part so you would need to factor in that cost.. I'm sure the spectrum will help but I like them separate So all can be raised/Lowered if needed..

 

[psyphish]

I used both 942 ja Agro bulbs last round and the stuff near the Agro was frostier and denser, I'm not completely sure, but I feel as though the Agro did a better job in veg as well.

I'm definitely going to run all Agro from now on.

 

[Hammerhead]

942 are a veg light 930 are for flower more red. I seriously doubt there would be any difference for veg. It's just a personal preference. both bulbs cost the same. I use all 942 in veg they work just fine..

 

[Horselover Fat]

Hi!

I'm thinking of getting two dimmable 315w lights for my 120x62cm (2x4) tent. I'm doing a scrog and two lights would make light distribution easy.

I currently have a 600w dimmable hps, which I've previously used in similar space, but not with a scrog. The light never really lit the sides, but I could move the plants around and that's obviously not possible with a scrog. Using two dimmable lights seems like a good way to spread the light around and possibly getting good results even without using 600 watts of light (that would be a + in my books).

The Dimlux system seems very good to me. I could get dpapillons locally, but the singles are not dimmable and the double dpapillon would have similar coverage problems as hps. The cost is somewhat high, but manageable.

Should I go for CDMs, LEDs or perhaps just use the 600w light in a large reflector? Larger grow space would be nice, but at the moment it is not possible.

 

[Intimea]

IMHO 120*62 is almost the optimum for 1*600wHPS, and I'll never suggest to use a large reflector...smaller is the way to go.

This is the footprint of a single E-pap 600W

A large reflector means that the light must cover a larger distance before to hit and being reflected (losing energy).

 

[Horselover Fat]

IMHO 120*62 is almost the optimum for 1*600wHPS,

Yes, I do believe you are right, but I've been using a cooltube and it can't be placed sideways, as the space is not deep enough. It throws out loads of light, but mostly sideways and not towards the ends, just like the Dpapillon you showed.

 

[McKush]

Hi!

I'm thinking of getting two dimmable 315w lights for my 120x62cm (2x4) tent. I'm doing a scrog and two lights would make light distribution easy.

I currently have a 600w dimmable hps, which I've previously used in similar space, but not with a scrog. The light never really lit the sides, but I could move the plants around and that's obviously not possible with a scrog. Using two dimmable lights seems like a good way to spread the light around and possibly getting good results even without using 600 watts of light (that would be a + in my books).

The Dimlux system seems very good to me. I could get dpapillons locally, but the singles are not dimmable and the double dpapillon would have similar coverage problems as hps. The cost is somewhat high, but manageable.

Should I go for CDMs, LEDs or perhaps just use the 600w light in a large reflector? Larger grow space would be nice, but at the moment it is not possible.

Imho 2 315s would be the best combo. I think some ballasts may dim but i wouldn't think that a real necessity for you. Youll have some hotspots w 2 possibly depending on which model you choose so factor that.

 

[Jhhnn]

From my limited real world experience, I have to say that two 315's in a 2'x4' space is total overkill & may have unintended negative consequences. A single 315 will more than suffice. It's plenty of power, leaving light distribution as the only issue.

I went from a single 1000w to twin 315's in the same space & increased my yield this first time through. The space is slightly larger than 16 sq ft. The 1000w was basically industry standard lighting, slightly over 60w/ sq ft. I did better with slightly less than 40w/ sq ft of CDM.

 

[Horselover Fat]

From my limited real world experience, I have to say that two 315's in a 2'x4' space is total overkill & may have unintended negative consequences. A single 315 will more than suffice. It's plenty of power, leaving light distribution as the only issue.

Dimmable fixture, like the Dimlux, would solve that problem. I could just set them at a lower wattage and still have better coverage. The Dimluxes can even dim themselves if grow room temp rises too much (and they offer a sunrise/sunset of up to 300 minutes which would be cool). The investment for two Dimluxes and their controller would be around 1200€ which is a lot to throw out for some cool features and better light spread.

The single dpap would be around 500€. The dpap is not dimmable, but it's only 36 cm in length which might be enough to have it sideways in the tent (there would be 13cm / 5 inches from the ends of the fixture to the sides of the tent, which seems very little to me, but perhaps possible?). The footprint would then cover the 4 feet length pretty well.

Makes me wish I could just get all the units to do tests =D

 

[Intimea]

If you do the test, please post it here.

For my experience, 1 single Dpap would fit perfectly in 60*120

Great light spread.