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Side by side grow. 630 CMH vs 1000HPS

Dirt Bag

Member
I did not bring up the UV issue to start a fight, only to point out a possible enhancement. Is it going to make a night and day difference? Probably not. Attached are picts of several grow bulbs that do not have filters. The only way we will know for sure is if someone does a side by side.

HORTILUX 315 watt

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DIGILAMP SINGLE ENDED CMH 945 Watt

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DIGILAMP Double Ended CMH 945 Watt. They also make a 630 Watt DE Bulb

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HERE IS A NEW ONE NOT OUT YET
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Because we are currently in the process of switching from HPS to CMH I have been researching rather extensively following this thread in the process. So I have, just recently, looked into all of the options you've posted. Here's what I've found FWIW:
The Hortilux bulb only comes in 4200K and is recommended for the vegetative stage.
The Digilamp SE is a conversion bulb, requires a corresponding ballast, and the bulbs cost $200
The DE CMH bulbs are at least $145 and also require a corresponding ballast.
Both of these technologies have approximately 1/3 the lifespan of SE 315 watt bulbs, get hot, and need much more clearance.
The Digilamp and Growers Choice as well as the Nanolux and other brand DE CMH can produce a more intense, better spectrum with higher UV, but are extremely cost prohibitive (except for those 99th percentile commercial operations looking for the slightest edge) and require high ceilings.
After all research, I believe that the Philips 930 gives the best bang for the buck but am sure many other 315 cmh bulbs would work great too. Growers Choice, for example.
 

BlindDate

Active member
Veteran
Hey Dirt Bag (I feel funny saying that)
It looks like you are certainly doing the research. That Philips bulb is the way to go for cost, or like I first suggested, any bulb and remove the cover.
HTH Pool Shock is Chlorine! I get that everyone likes a nice clean rez, but it does come at a cost of killing all the beneficials in your root zone. Honestly, I am sort of on the fence regarding beneficials, teas, Trichoderma, etc. I'm not sure if they really help a plant that only lives for 3 months. People into it will swear by it. I think I might try an anti-bacterial product like you recommend. The problem with chlorine is that it is short lived. The growers that i know are using a product called Physan-20. One teaspoon in a 50 gallon rez is all you need.
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Dirt Bag

Member
Hey Dirt Bag (I feel funny saying that)
It looks like you are certainly doing the research. That Philips bulb is the way to go for cost, or like I first suggested, any bulb and remove the cover.
HTH Pool Shock is Chlorine! I get that everyone likes a nice clean rez, but it does come at a cost of killing all the beneficials in your root zone. Honestly, I am sort of on the fence regarding beneficials, teas, Trichoderma, etc. I'm not sure if they really help a plant that only lives for 3 months. People into it will swear by it. I think I might try an anti-bacterial product like you recommend. The problem with chlorine is that it is short lived. The growers that i know are using a product called Physan-20. One teaspoon in a 50 gallon rez is all you need.
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BD, just add "you" in front of it. Sounds way better.
Our DIY Clear Rez works great. We love it. Have used everything under the sun. Clear Rez (or any of the myriad other same products) is absolutely ideal for our application. We use nothing "organic" and 100% inert media. Chlorine is our friend.
You cannot remove the outer glass on almost every brand of 315W CMH as they contain a failsafe spring. If removed or, (for the springs actual purpose) broken, the circuit is disconnected. Again, it's just not a smart thing to do. It could be catastrophic. Philips agro bulb blows all of the other brands out of the water in every way, cost, spectrum, lifespan, and par output WITH the glass intact. There really isn't anything more that can be said.
 

BlindDate

Active member
Veteran
That little spring on top is not a "fail safe" mechanism. It is just a way to keep the two glasses from hitting each other. It's a separator. Trust me, I removed several UV shields and the bulbs work fine.

OK..I give up! I won't (nor will Hortilux) convince you on the benefits of UV for Marijuana.
 

Dirt Bag

Member
That little spring on top is not a "fail safe" mechanism. It is just a way to keep the two glasses from hitting each other. It's a separator. Trust me, I removed several UV shields and the bulbs work fine.

OK..I give up! I won't (nor will Hortilux) convince you on the benefits of UV for Marijuana.

I believe UV is beneficial. I've never taken apart a bulb. If you claim to have, and they worked, I have no reason to not believe you. I also believe that grow light manufacturers wouldn't purposely use materials or include parts that negatively affect their products performance if they weren't absolutely necessary. If the T9 bulbs were better, why wouldn't Philips say so? They aren't even offered in any horticultural aspect anywhere that I have found. So I would have to believe that you, and you alone, know better than the rest of the horticultural world. Or maybe your recommendation isn't a good idea.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
 

bigtacofarmer

Well-known member
Veteran
Hey Dirt Bag (I feel funny saying that)
It looks like you are certainly doing the research. That Philips bulb is the way to go for cost, or like I first suggested, any bulb and remove the cover.
HTH Pool Shock is Chlorine! I get that everyone likes a nice clean rez, but it does come at a cost of killing all the beneficials in your root zone. Honestly, I am sort of on the fence regarding beneficials, teas, Trichoderma, etc. I'm not sure if they really help a plant that only lives for 3 months. People into it will swear by it. I think I might try an anti-bacterial product like you recommend. The problem with chlorine is that it is short lived. The growers that i know are using a product called Physan-20. One teaspoon in a 50 gallon rez is all you need.
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Read the label on that physan 20. Super nasty stuff.. No way that belongs in reservoir or in any contact with plants. The direction actually go so far as to tell you to throw away clothing that comes in contact with. It was designed to not wash off. So by all means don't use in or near reservoir.

Yuck guys. Some peoples herb. Other peoples garbage. Don't smoke anything you have used that product on or near. You would be knowingly choosing to poison people.
 
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Shalako

Member
I would Never take any advice from a Blind date. Removing glass that don't need to be removed chemicals with a MSDS in a reservoir...wtf
 

BlindDate

Active member
Veteran
Physan-20 is used in all nurseries. I talked to the manufacturer and they recommended one teaspoon per 50 gallons in a hydroponics reservoir. The label sounds dangerous because it is highly concentrated.

OK Shalako...don't remove the glass. Just buy the bulbs without the glass. There you go!

Dirt Bag.....As I said before, the bulbs have double glass because they are made for use in warehouse lighting. NOW that they are starting to be used in horticulture the new bulbs coming out like the Hortilux and all the double ended bulbs do not have a filter. OK I'm finished here.
 

issack

Active member
Veteran
Issack you da man!!! Such an insperation! I love how you share small little details of you day to day routines and howe you give some insight on how you live as a grower. Like your cars and car guy status. I'm a car guy also! I'm a fox body mustang guy with a degree in high performance. But anyway I couldn't remember any of my old account info so I started over and you were a major reason I wanted to become active in this community again. Awesome grow, that is exactly the setup I see myself growing into in a few years. Right now I'm an a 2x4 tent with a 600w. Running coco dtw. I can consistently hit 14-16Oz with auto flowers and I'm now 4 weeks into flower on my first photo period run. Quick question I had a bottle of unopened sm90 sitting around and your thread inspired me to try it at 5ml/gal in my rez. I now have a slime on my power cords for my pumps when before with H2O2 heck even with out it, I never had any slime. Running 6/9 with protekt if it matters. I'm running it in hempy buckets so it worries me if slime is forming in a heavily circulated and airated rez. What's it gonna do sitting in the bottom of my bucket for hours? Do you experience the slime?

Thanks dude. Glad this thread inspired you.!

I would replace that 600hps with a cmh 315 and totally kill it in your tent.

Your car sounds bad ass man. I'm finally getting one of my rods out the shop next week. I have a Lexus sc400 with a bored and stroked LS swap. Procharger and monster t56 trans and twin disk monster clutch. Over 1000hp. Thing is an absolute demon. Lol

As far as sm90. It's gone.. like every place I used to order it from does not have it on their shelves anymore anywhere online. All four hydro shops here on my Island don't have it either. Word is Monsanto bought them out, and is reworking their distributors.? Idk. But I cant get it so I am not using it now. and I do use protekt throughout my whole grow always..temps play a HUGE factor with slime in your res. I keep my res at 63. I can go 10 days till I clean it. I usually clean every 5 days. And I bleach this living piss out of it when I clean..

I just started using this flying skull Z7 product. It's an enzyme and beneficial microbes and helps clean your res and make everything nice and tidy with the roots I guess.. I just started using it so I don't know yet. Kind of bummed about sm-90 I've been loving that product for a long time. This product here is pretty cost-effective though it's only 25 bucks for this little kit and you only use one half a milliliter per gallon..

I was tempted a while back to use bleach in my res but I don't have a problem with my root zone so until I do I won't use bleach in my res LOL.

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bigtacofarmer

Well-known member
Veteran
Physan-20 is used in all nurseries. I talked to the manufacturer and they recommended one teaspoon per 50 gallons in a hydroponics reservoir. The label sounds dangerous because it is highly concentrated.

OK Shalako...don't remove the glass. Just buy the bulbs without the glass. There you go!

Dirt Bag.....As I said before, the bulbs have double glass because they are made for use in warehouse lighting. NOW that they are starting to be used in horticulture the new bulbs coming out like the Hortilux and all the double ended bulbs do not have a filter. OK I'm finished here.

Maybe for ornamental plants. Either way. Now you know it is super freaking poisonous. So do not use it on or near cannabis you plan on sharing with others. Period. Its lame. Stop.


Read the label hanging off the lid!


If this troubles you quit growing. Personally. I take it super serious if someone is poisoning others. Even more so if they know. Like you do now.
 

Shalako

Member
Physan-20 is used in all nurseries. I talked to the manufacturer and they recommended one teaspoon per 50 gallons in a hydroponics reservoir. The label sounds dangerous because it is highly concentrated.

Do you even listen to yourself..."it is used in all nurseries" and what exactly are all people ingesting from nurseries that makes you think it should be ingested with Cannabis use? :laughing:
 

Dirt Bag

Member
Do you even listen to yourself..."it is used in all nurseries" and what exactly are all people ingesting from nurseries that makes you think it should be ingested with Cannabis use? :laughing:

Relax.
When used according to label instructions there are NO human or environmental risks.
It's used in grow rooms and nurseries worldwide. Yes, cannabis grow rooms. Sold everywhere. Hydrofarm, etc. It's legit.
 

issack

Active member
Veteran
Or ... you could just keep your reservoir ice cold and not have to worry about slime or funk. Spend that $$$ on a bad ass chiller.. no need to add any freak show crap.

Go buy beast chillers folks..
 

Dirt Bag

Member
Or ... you could just keep your reservoir ice cold and not have to worry about slime or funk. Spend that $$$ on a bad ass chiller.. no need to add any freak show crap.

Go buy beast chillers folks..

I agree, unfortunately for a lot of people, us included, chillers aren't feasible. We have one. A Penguin brand chiller. But because we aren't able to locate it outside of the grow, it's heat/power consumption and the increase in AC needed made it unfeasible.
Our reservoirs stay between 73° and 74°, which we've found to be perfectly acceptable. I think the largest contributor to reservoir gunk is light. Since ours completely empty and fill every other hour, air bubbles are not necessary, eliminating the heat generated by the air pump and its power consumption. We've managed to seal up our reservoirs and everything is black. This helps a number of ways including insect movement, as well as humidity control. We even go as far as to have screens in the fill/drain. When we add in the (absolutely harmless and actually beneficial) minute amount of Clear Rez combined with how often we change out the nutrient solution, our reservoirs stay squeaky clean. The one and only place we get a small amount of gook is in one pvc fill line that's white as the easy disconnects only come in white. We're thinking about painting it black. I previously wrapped it in black gorilla tape, but that was a mistake as it only got wadded up and covered in sticky gunk. My previous attempts at painting plastic have been mediocre at best.
So, black out everything water related and have everything that light shines on white (or reflective). These are the two biggest things you can do to control unwanted growth of... stuff.
 

bigtacofarmer

Well-known member
Veteran
I agree, unfortunately for a lot of people, us included, chillers aren't feasible. We have one. A Penguin brand chiller. But because we aren't able to locate it outside of the grow, it's heat/power consumption and the increase in AC needed made it unfeasible.
Our reservoirs stay between 73° and 74°, which we've found to be perfectly acceptable. I think the largest contributor to reservoir gunk is light. Since ours completely empty and fill every other hour, air bubbles are not necessary, eliminating the heat generated by the air pump and its power consumption. We've managed to seal up our reservoirs and everything is black. This helps a number of ways including insect movement, as well as humidity control. We even go as far as to have screens in the fill/drain. When we add in the (absolutely harmless and actually beneficial) minute amount of Clear Rez combined with how often we change out the nutrient solution, our reservoirs stay squeaky clean. The one and only place we get a small amount of gook is in one pvc fill line that's white as the easy disconnects only come in white. We're thinking about painting it black. I previously wrapped it in black gorilla tape, but that was a mistake as it only got wadded up and covered in sticky gunk. My previous attempts at painting plastic have been mediocre at best.
So, black out everything water related and have everything that light shines on white (or reflective). These are the two biggest things you can do to control unwanted growth of... stuff.

Do not make excuses. Just say ok. Use products safe for cannabis smoke. At the least quit offering advice. Everyone deserves poison free smoke.
 

bigtacofarmer

Well-known member
Veteran
Sorry about talking down at people in this thread again. I will probably be starting a thread about the ethics of what some people consider ok to use on what other people consume. I will do my best to not detail it again.
 
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issack

Active member
Veteran
I agree, unfortunately for a lot of people, us included, chillers aren't feasible. We have one. A Penguin brand chiller. But because we aren't able to locate it outside of the grow, it's heat/power consumption and the increase in AC needed made it unfeasible.
Our reservoirs stay between 73° and 74°, which we've found to be perfectly acceptable. I think the largest contributor to reservoir gunk is light. Since ours completely empty and fill every other hour, air bubbles are not necessary, eliminating the heat generated by the air pump and its power consumption. We've managed to seal up our reservoirs and everything is black. This helps a number of ways including insect movement, as well as humidity control. We even go as far as to have screens in the fill/drain. When we add in the (absolutely harmless and actually beneficial) minute amount of Clear Rez combined with how often we change out the nutrient solution, our reservoirs stay squeaky clean. The one and only place we get a small amount of gook is in one pvc fill line that's white as the easy disconnects only come in white. We're thinking about painting it black. I previously wrapped it in black gorilla tape, but that was a mistake as it only got wadded up and covered in sticky gunk. My previous attempts at painting plastic have been mediocre at best.
So, black out everything water related and have everything that light shines on white (or reflective). These are the two biggest things you can do to control unwanted growth of... stuff.

That 75 temp works fine with a clear rez. Like what you are doing. I roll with mills atm. I always build a shed outside my rooms and my rez stays outside. As well as my RO storage. I never keep my rez or chillers in the room I grow in. My rez is black. And she gets no sunlight ever.. I keep rez temps at 63.
If I tried that 75 temp with what I'm doing it would smell like a dead body in 24 hours..
 

issack

Active member
Veteran
Sorry about talking down at people in this thread again. I will probably be starting a thread about the ethics of what some people consider ok to use on what other people consume. I will do my best to not detail it again.


Hey bro. I don't give a fuck if you wanna talk down to people in this thread. Its life.. we all have our opinions. If someone gets but hurt that's their gig.. you're not offending me in the slightest man. I actually like to see the discussions take place.. keep on speaking your mind man..its all good. If someone doesn't agree then that's life. Others just might agree. That's what forum life is about. It's all good bro.. keep doing you..
 
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