COCO DTW Multi-Feed White Widow GH Maxi CFL

If I look at this graph...

And go with 430W and what seems a middle of the road value... 14,375 foot-candles

Converted in Lux, its like 150K !!! Confusing.

1544211386204.png
 
Ok 50k is 925 ppfd
60k is 1100 ppfd
40k is 725
50k to 60k lux would be ideal without co2, 40k would be acceptable to me on the edges.

Thanks PW...

I'll try to put the light higher, and it's possible that the 40K in the corners wont drop (higher lamp = better dispersion).

I'll be back
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Those units of measure have nothing to do with PAR, which is the light that is available to the plants to use for photosynthesis. Lux and lumens are used to determine how bright a light is to the human eye.
 
I know... but I need to start with a reference... see how it goes, then adjust if necessary...

I put the light almost the highest I could. Now at 21 inches from glass, 24-25 inches from bulb.

Better Lux reading on the sides (better dispersion).
Now at 85-90K in the middle, 45-50K on the sides.

I tried to put the ballast @ 60%. Was a bit weak, and less good on the sides.

I'm surprised because websites say a 400W should be at 12-19" and 600W at 14-24".
450W should be just a bit stronger than 400W, but then again... maybe there is the exponential thing going on.

-Maybe the Ushio bulb is very bright.
-Maybe the ballast at 75% is really more like 90%...
-Maybe my phone is non-linear and gives me a too high reading.

I'll leave it at 50K-90K for now and see tomorrow if leaves show any light stress...

Thanks !
BP
 
I used a white acrylic shower curtain, cut in a few pieces, and made some king of tent...

The light is less everywhere in the room, and a little better reflection on the plant.

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Temperature in the room is 25C (77F) and at the canopy 27.5C (80.6F)... Is 80-81 too hot ?

RH in the low 40's.
 
Oh, yes... I'm seeing a bit of Potassium def in the lower leaves.

I was PH'ing a bit too low recently... Will try to keep at 5.8-6.0 for a while...
Supposedly Potassium is absorbed better in the 6.0-7.0 range

BP
 
Is there a way to know if the light is too high ?

Aaaah, pretty sure its ok.

I measured my CFL bulb to make sure of what the LUX measurement was... and it is 40K Lux at 1 inch.
And my plants grew pretty well under those cfls.

So with 50K on the edges and more than 90K at the center, pretty confident my HPS is close enough, even though the lamp is at like 24" and people say they put them at 14"...

I have to say I'm using a pretty good reflector and a pretty good bulb.

BP
 
Day 65, 30 from flip... About 30 days LEFT !

Some nice cola...

WW_Day_65.JPG


Canopy...

WW_Day_65b.JPG



I'm beginning to see very minor tip-burn. Leaves are Dark-blueish-luster-green. Some random spotting appeared today.

PH was pretty low yesterday, and the CalMag dose was weak.

I have some minor adjustments to do (higher PH, more CalMag, little less nutes maybe...).

BP
 
Day 65, 30 from flip... About 30 days LEFT !

Some nice cola...

WW_Day_65.JPG


Canopy...

WW_Day_65b.JPG



I'm beginning to see very minor tip-burn. Leaves are Dark-blueish-luster-green. Some random spotting appeared today.

PH was pretty low yesterday, and the CalMag dose was weak.

I have some minor adjustments to do (higher PH, more CalMag, little less nutes maybe...).

BP
Week 5 is when I'm feeding at about 1.7-1.8 EC. I'm at week 3 now and doing 1.5 ec. I use a nutrient brand, which has the required amount of cal-mag in it. Made for growing in coco !!
 
Week 5 is when I'm feeding at about 1.7-1.8 EC. I'm at week 3 now and doing 1.5 ec. I use a nutrient brand, which has the required amount of cal-mag in it. Made for growing in coco !!

My General Hydro feed chart says I should back offf nutes a little at week 5.
My plant says the same, because I noticed it uses less nutes (runoff EC is higher than before).

Also, with 4 weeks to go, I'm slowly tapering off the nutes. The whole plant is dark green... I want her to loose some of that heavy feeding I gave her all grow. Havent decided exactly how I will proceed for final flush. In coco, one shouldn't flush too long nor give water only... Lets make her die very very smoothly ;-)

P.S.: I went with hydro nutes (GH Maxi) because its in powder, lasts a long time, costs almost nothing (not buying water), and it works wonderfully. Going waste-to-drain 30%+, a lot is wasted so it should cost as little as possible imo.

I dont mind adding calmag. One just has to dial up everything when using tap-water. I did enough experiments on this grow to be very confident that the next grow will be my best ever !
 
Update on reservoir...

Well, the culprit was the temperature of the rez. Being left in the room at 25-26C (77-79F)... the rez slowly heats up (from cold water to start with) to a point where the bacteria proliferates. After 2-2.5 days... PH climbing and bad smell.

Putting frozen water bottles (1 during the day, 2 during the night) I have now augmented the rez capacity a bit, and the last rez lasted until it was empty (3 days), without smell.

I dont aerate because it draws hot air from the room into the rez, contributing I think, to its heating.

I had a few email exchanges with an enzyme producer. He basically confirmed that the enzymes wouldn't do much (for keeping water fresh without bacteria) until rez temperature was controlled.

But I bubble my rez upon mixing it, for several hours to remove chlorine and stabilize PH, with a perforated tube, no air stone. The enzyme guy says air stones are very bad for bacteria.

BP
 
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