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GanjaKing420
Concerned Citizen
Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 1
Location: Chi-Town
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 Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 10:44 am Post subject: First-Timer |
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I've never grown in my life before, so I'm definitely a novice at this. I've been researching the subject heavily. I've found mostly answers, but still, some questions arise. It would be very appreciated if you guys could answer them to the best of your knowledge.
1)I know I'm going to need some kind of ballast for a HPS/MH Lamp but do the ballasts come with it or do I have to purchase it separately?
2)What retail store do you recommend for HPS/MH lamps?
3)I'm definitely going to buy nutrients for each of the three stages of growth but when do I begin giving my babies nutrients and how often do I give it to them?
4)Lastly, if one of you who are reading this owns a HPS and/or a MH Lamp-how much did you pay for it and where did you buy it?
-Thanks |
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Joe
Activist
Joined: 26 Jan 2008
Posts: 268
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| Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 4:38 am Post subject: |
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| GanjaKing420 wrote: | I've never grown in my life before, so I'm definitely a novice at this.
I've been researching the subject heavily.
I've found mostly answers, but still, some questions arise.
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Will always have questions in future, just will be different ones, so...Get basics(and stick to them), and you expand from there....
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1)I know I'm going to need some kind of ballast for a HPS/MH Lamp but do the ballasts come with it or do I have to purchase it separately?
2)What retail store do you recommend for HPS/MH lamps?
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If walking into store, will just get a complete unit (or ordering online)..ballast, bulb, reflector/hood, socket assembly, cord, etc.....(Can also mix and match to a degree....could go with a digital (ballast) etc..depends what source your using and what they offer and inventory, etc...)
I always advise to keep equipment as uniform as possible (so can build to larger in future, all compatible, etc.....)...if smaller space, hopefully can go with a 600, because can utilize multiple 6's easily...many do....point being to get things you can easily use to expand and add on to...ie: if you went with 400...then go to 1k's, etc....600's utilized quite a bit, so, could easily add a couple more on in the future and not miss a beat...
Being new, something to keep in mind/be aware of:
Depending on what kind of space, if smaller, you can stick to fluoro's..(fluorescents)
Something lot of new growers have a problem with is veg time/flower.....(ie: lot of people think too small and give them too much veg time and they get unmanageable...)
If little veg time, could go with fluoro's, then to flowering, etc...(MH veg, HPS flower)
Just be aware....give them too much veg time and they can get out of hand in your space..(ie: I have seen people do things 12/12 from seed (0 veg time, flower from seed)and end up with 5 footers....so...careful with veg time and know what your working with...(above example was Shanti's SSH)
Veg time is dependent upon your space and how much headroom you have to work with. (cluttered canopy will mess with your yield and possibility of burning, so, "headroom" is not the ceiling, it's the bottom of reflector/bulb to top of plants...
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3)I'm definitely going to buy nutrients for each of the three stages of growth but when do I begin giving my babies nutrients and how often do I give it to them?
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Depends on your method...soil, hydro, early veg, late veg...
General rule is begin light feedings as soon as cotyledons yellow. (The first set...not true set....they are what it initially feeds from...)...some feed prior lightly, but, as a new grower, I wouldn't suggest it....too easy to burn as it is....
In general, you begin feeding lightly, and, work your way up (they eat more, and more often as they become larger, of course), and, keep feeding veg a week or so into flower then switch off (this is another problem many new growers have,....they switch to flower nutes first day of 12/12 and develop issues...)
Make sure to get pH pen also......pH is the source of most problems people believe are deficiencies...
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4)Lastly, if one of you who are reading this owns a HPS and/or a MH Lamp-how much did you pay for it and where did you buy it?
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Depends on what you want to run and buy....(what hood, ballast, bulb, etc).....can go minimal or can do more....but, when talking such expenses....understand your return is 100 fold....
Note: Remember life on bulbs and they have to be changed every several batches. Most people overlook replacements, etc, and, don't notice until they have already lost their usable life... |
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von
Jerry Garcia
Joined: 25 Jan 2008
Posts: 351
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| Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 11:21 am Post subject: |
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yes, watch the life of the bulb, it will still work, 'on & off' but the bulb itself will lose efficiency. mark the date you first use it. some go 1-year some go longer or less. the package contents will give you the bulb's life in hours.
peace & overgrow |
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Joe
Activist
Joined: 26 Jan 2008
Posts: 268
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| Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 3:00 pm Post subject: |
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Exactly....one should remember not confuse lifespan with effectiveness....
If one finds a chart on life and how effective at certain points, it drops dramatically after a certain period...ie: Specs might state 145,000 initial lumens with lifespan of 24,000 hours...but that doesn't mean your going to be putting out 145k for 24k hours....not even close....
Note: Specs for each and every product from each and every manufacturer of course vary....above just a single example..probably closest to a Hortilux 1k HPS...) 600 might be somewhere around 90k for like, 15k hrs..(just an example, didn't check exact specs..)
Note on procuring: I didn't not address a source as when talking about sources, equipment, seeds, shipping methods, etc.....it's bad form to discuss such in public forums... You can find things here and there, no shortage of places mentioned, but, in general....you don't discuss specifics of such on boards......especially seeds, as lot of vendors change their methods often, etc...
Last edited by Joe on Mon Aug 04, 2008 3:26 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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von
Jerry Garcia
Joined: 25 Jan 2008
Posts: 351
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| Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 3:24 pm Post subject: |
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i think if you can afford a light meter get one, you can never tell how much lumens a bulb loses. there are charts out there on lumens lost for each bulb for hours used as joe pointed out.
gangaking - also you are asking specific questions about where and how, that cant and wont be answered here. sorry.
peace & pot |
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Joe
Activist
Joined: 26 Jan 2008
Posts: 268
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| Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 3:31 pm Post subject: |
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| von wrote: | i think if you can afford a light meter get one, you can never tell how much lumens a bulb loses. there are charts out there on lumens lost for each bulb for hours used as joe pointed out.
peace & pot |
Also of passing interest is the similar charts regarding effectiveness and distance.....which one should review once to be aware of...
Effectiveness goes down dramatically further away from bulb (which is common sense, but, when one see's a chart, they are usually surprised....so, it's a combination of life and distance.....ie: a bulb operating at 65% but 2 feet might away, you might only be utilized a true 45%, etc...which is why can't wait till the end.....you've lost efficiency and power long before that....(which then all feeds into things at the perimeter of the coverage.....and you could be at 25%....)
Light is your yield and density, so.....not the place to skimp (bulbs in themselves not expensive....so, prolonging changing, your probably losing literally 10+ times more than the value....(bulb might be 70, but loss on product might cost 700 if your at the end....)
Looked for a chart, couldn't find it, but, here is a real life example. Note: This is a new bulb, no age, and not the perimeter..
600 watt hps = 90000 initial lumens
90,000/4 =22.500 lumens at 2' from the lamp
90,000/9 =10,000 lumens at 3' from the lamp
So, one can easily see between age and distance, significant loss.....90k to 10k in 3 feet from a new bulb right under it..
Always better to change them out earlier... |
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