9 Big Bud Grow 2 x 600Watt HIDS

[WyldeChylde]

Yeah you should definitely be good to go with at least 1 of your 600 MH's just keep an eye on your temps I believe heat stress causes leaf curl so keep an eye out for that. At the moment all your plants are in a small area so 1 light should be more than adequate.

 

[mrbubbles87]

Hi Mr bubbles, Thanks for the detailed reply. I'll be honest I have not ran both HIDS in the tent yet but it is quite cold in the tent at the moment so I'm hoping that they actually will heat the tent up a bit so in respect to heat I can't imagine it would rise much more than 5 degrees centigrade?? I always have 3, 8 inch oscillating fans also in the tent for cooling. Should be satisfactory I hope. Lol I was also going to use scrog idea also as I have seen it to increase yield by a lot. Which is always good. In regards to the fan/carbon filter. You may be correct about the size but it moves 260 metres squared an hour? Thanks for the advice everything helps and just nice to get any advice as I'm completely new to it

Sorry I'm in the US so all measurements are in standard vs metric.

The HID's can increase heat tremendously. Unfortunately that's something I had to learn the hard way. I used to run a 600 in a 2x4' tent. It would increase temps from 70 up to 90! It's a lot more manageable in my 4x8.

Guessing you have cooler temps now due to winter. What I struggle with in wintertime is actually keeping temps high enough. I close the furnace vents in the grow room in order to help keep it cool enough when the lights on. Then when the lights off I need to readjust the vents manually otherwise it will get too cold. In the summer it's the opposite problem. I exhaust in the house during winter to recycle heat and then outside during summertime to save on cooling costs.

My understanding is ideal temp is 77 Fahrenheit with lights on and a minimum of 68 for lights off. I've read that you don't want a difference of more than 10 degrees between the two.

I've experienced severely slow veg growth and seedling growth trying to battle with cold temps. Mine can range from 82 down to 65 which is not ideal.

Minimum air exchange should recycle all of the air in your tent every 5mins. I shoot for every minute myself. For example a 4'x8'x7 grow tent has 224 cubic feet so I would go for an inline exhaust fan that pushes a min of 224 cubic feet per minute. My philosophy is you can always turn the fan down but you can't turn it up.

The oscillating fans will work well for circulating air inside the tent but you will need to actively exhaust and could probably do with a passive intake.

 

[PerthPiper]

When I converted 77F to degrees Celsius there I expected it to be higher, I think I have been keeping my plants a little warm during the day. Mr Bubbles you said you have experienced slow growth before because of low temps, did your plants show any warning signs? Just wondering so I can check mine, my night temps can fall to about 5-6C (40F). Great post, would +rep if I could

 

[mrbubbles87]

When I converted 77F to degrees Celsius there I expected it to be higher, I think I have been keeping my plants a little warm during the day. Mr Bubbles you said you have experienced slow growth before because of low temps, did your plants show any warning signs? Just wondering so I can check mine, my night temps can fall to about 5-6C (40F). Great post, would +rep if I could

The plants just seem cold and wet. Very slow growth and yellowing/like green leaves. Your soil should be soggy at this stage. A small amount of water goes a long ways. Try using a fork and tilling your soil. It will help dry it out.

40F is def way to low. You will need to get temps to a minimum of 65F during lights out. I've ran veg tents on 24hr lights just to keep the temps warm. Otherwise you could get a heat mat or a cheap space heater with a thermostat.

Glad I can help!

 

[ItsTimmyMan]

Looks like I'm going to have to join in on this one! Good luck!

 

[alexcnd]

Looks like I'm going to have to join in on this one! Good luck!

Thanks man yeah keep an eye out I'll upload some more photos soon

 

[alexcnd]

Latest photo guys and I've just switched the lights to metal halide this evening

 

[alexcnd]

Hi everyone hope everyone is good!!

I have changed the lights to metal halide now but noticed the temps have shot up to about 84 degrees but still have to add another metal halide in one week so I have ordered a new in line fan kit that extracts more than 120% more air air so that should help. Are there any other ideas in regards to cooling that won't cost to much more money?

Also does anyone know are hps bulbs hotter than metal halide?

Thanks guys

 

[GeorgeFoster]

looking good in there, and I do believe HPS does run a little hotter than MH

 

[mrbubbles87]

Hi everyone hope everyone is good!! I have changed the lights to metal halide now but noticed the temps have shot up to about 84 degrees but still have to add another metal halide in one week so I have ordered a new in line fan kit that extracts more than 120% more air air so that should help. Are there any other ideas in regards to cooling that won't cost to much more money? Also does anyone know are hps bulbs hotter than metal halide? Thanks guys

I had a pretty big temp jump when I went from metal halide to HPS. I think the inline fan will def help.

You may want to consider buying a few cooltubes. Usually pretty cheap online. That's really your next best bet at lowering temps. Otherwise you could do an active cold air intake and if your temps outside are cold enough that would help. It would only be a temporary fix and depending on your weather there it could make it more difficult to keep consistent temps.

I would try the inline first. It may be able to keep it cool enough. Eventually you'll definitely want to get air cooled hoods though.

 

[alexcnd]

I had a pretty big temp jump when I went from metal halide to HPS. I think the inline fan will def help.

You may want to consider buying a few cooltubes. Usually pretty cheap online. That's really your next best bet at lowering temps. Otherwise you could do an active cold air intake and if your temps outside are cold enough that would help. It would only be a temporary fix and depending on your weather there it could make it more difficult to keep consistent temps.

I would try the inline first. It may be able to keep it cool enough. Eventually you'll definitely want to get air cooled hoods though.

Hey mate,

Yeah I didn't realise myself that it would be as hot as that to be honest being new and all. Lol the new in line fan and carbon filter is much better so it will help and I'm going use the old inline fan to do exactly what you suggested pull cold air from outside as it's freezing outside so that should help the heat as you suggested.

I hear you on the cool tubes but can I connect them to a euro reflector?? If you look at the my first photos there's a photo of the shade I'm using?

 

[WyldeChylde]

I would have to agree with getting a cooltube. You can pump the outside cold air through it and not have it mess with your internal ambient temps. You can also lower the light closer to your plants for better penetration. It's a win/win all around for you. You'll need some ducting for it though and an inline fan or something to pull air through.

The active air intake is a temporary fix at best imho. What happens when the temp changes outside?

Regards,


Wylde

 

[alexcnd]

looking good in there, and I do believe HPS does run a little hotter than MH

Thanks man I thought it might but didn't know so I'll have to make sure I some cool tubes especially before HPS lights go in.

 

[WyldeChylde]

looking at your first pics I see you're using a wing reflector which is also what I have. You should be able to unscrew the mount from the wing and maybe drill 2-3 holes and mount it in the cooltube unless the tube comes with pre-matched holes already. It's not rocket science or brain surgery

 

[alexcnd]

I would have to agree with getting a cooltube. You can pump the outside cold air through it and not have it mess with your internal ambient temps. You can also lower the light closer to your plants for better penetration. It's a win/win all around for you. You'll need some ducting for it though and an inline fan or something to pull air through.

The active air intake is a temporary fix at best imho. What happens when the temp changes outside?

Regards,


Wylde

Hi Wylde,

Yeah I think it will be the best to get these cool tubes cause soon as that other light goes on the temp will go through the roof. Yeah I have we all of that just waiting for my new inline fan and carbon filter to arrive.

I'll be honest I haven't thought that far ahead but I will only do two harvests a year and do it during winter months I think. 18 plants should last me a year!!

Regards,
Alex

 

[mrbubbles87]

Hey mate, Yeah I didn't realise myself that it would be as hot as that to be honest being new and all. Lol the new in line fan and carbon filter is much better so it will help and I'm going use the old inline fan to do exactly what you suggested pull cold air from outside as it's freezing outside so that should help the heat as you suggested. I hear you on the cool tubes but can I connect them to a euro reflector?? If you look at the my first photos there's a photo of the shade I'm using?

It's a mistake I'm sure we've all made. I tried running a 600hps in 2x4' tent with a duct fan for exhaust. Temps would sometimes hit 95! Lol

A few things on the cold air intake. Make sure the cold air isn't hitting plants directly and keep an eye on the weather. Even my basement temps can fluctuate so much that I still make daily adjusts like fan speed, light height, and furnace vents. When it's really cold outside it will also give you low humidity so you may want to look at a cheap cool mist humidifier.

The cool tube usually comes with a fixture installed already so you'd just switch your bulbs and put those reflectors away for a rainy day

 

[mrbubbles87]

And sorry to say but pretty sure 18 plants a year won't be enough. The most addicting part isn't smoking it. It's growing it Plus if your anything like me your usage will increase a ton when it's free. I went from a half oz to 4oz per mo. Some of that's sharing of course but still important to consider. When I first started 6 plants in a 2x4 I thought i would have weed for months. It barely lasted a month. I can never grow enough lol

 

[alexcnd]

And sorry to say but pretty sure 18 plants a year won't be enough. The most addicting part isn't smoking it. It's growing it Plus if your anything like me your usage will increase a ton when it's free. I went from a half oz to 4oz per mo. Some of that's sharing of course but still important to consider. When I first started 6 plants in a 2x4 I thought i would have weed for months. It barely lasted a month. I can never grow enough lol

Hahaha..

I hear you on all of that I can imagine that my intake will go up loads and I already smoke about 2 oz a month lol.
I actually can see that the growing aspect is more addictive for two reasons really you get free weed and of course second being that's weed is not addictive anyway lol

 

[alexcnd]

It's a mistake I'm sure we've all made. I tried running a 600hps in 2x4' tent with a duct fan for exhaust. Temps would sometimes hit 95! Lol

A few things on the cold air intake. Make sure the cold air isn't hitting plants directly and keep an eye on the weather. Even my basement temps can fluctuate so much that I still make daily adjusts like fan speed, light height, and furnace vents. When it's really cold outside it will also give you low humidity so you may want to look at a cheap cool mist humidifier.

The cool tube usually comes with a fixture installed already so you'd just switch your bulbs and put those reflectors away for a rainy day

Yeah I just didn't think the heat would increase so much silly mistake by a rookie lol.
Also I will make sure it's no where near the plants and keep and eye on temps my thermometer has a min and max for temps and humidity so I can keep an eye what the lowest and highest that it is hitting which is helpful.

Yeah I think I'll just buy the reflectors and change the bulbs.

 

[WyldeChylde]

Yeah it's a good idea and remember, the hardware you buy now will serve you well for years to come. It's called future proofing I don't know if you are familiar with the term. I use it when building my gaming pc's so I know that they are going to be able to handle anything coming out in the next 3-4 years so I'm not wasting money upgrading hardware every 6-12 months. Same concept applies. If you have the money then invest in the equipment that will last and not the equipment that will just "get you by".

Also another thing to think about with all that free smoke is the fact that you'll probably end up selling some for spare cash from time to time.