1000 watt HPS and metal Halide

A

ahbenshaut

New Member
Greetings!
Hopefully, someone will have an answer for me. I recently was given a 1000 watt HPS and Metal Halide grow light, well, the shield and the two ballasts. I would like to try to grow some of that auto flowering Northern Lights so I'm curious, is that too much light and heat? I would imagine 1000 watts is pretty hard core...


any help would be greatly appreciated.
thanks
 
Grown correctly it wont hurt but that is for sure overkill for a single plant.

And if you are growing an auto you wont need to use the MH setup at all. In fact the one thing MH "helps" with is something you want to have happen in an auto.
 
I am curant running 2 1000w light. I have vented hoods tho and a 8in. 750cfm inline with a splitter to pull the heat off the lights to keep the room cool. not only that I have a 250cfm inline pulling air from outside these things put off alot of heat. so depending on room size and a number of other factors it may not be what your looking for. you need alot of air transfer to keep these things cool.

do you know how you are going to vent the room? what size room are you going to have them in? how worm is it where you live? I ask this because if your pulling hot air into your room because you live in a hot place you will more than likely have mad heat issues unless done rite. I hope this dosnt discurage you. if your willing there is a way to make this happen. but it will more than likely mean more money on equipment if you don't have it already.

as for auto flower I'd go with what the others suggested. I don't grow autos so I have no idea of their requirements. but it sounds like you will have to get another HPS.
 
I am a big fan of go big or don't grow. We put a lot of time and energy (not to mention some cash) into this...might as well do the best you can. Done correctly 600W gets the best illumination but 1000 (which I use) is the way to go in my opinion. You have some more freedom to do some things.

I use DE now and wont ever go back. Way more light for the same watts.

I just grew 2 autos next to 2 regulars under a 1000W. 4 is good depending on the hood. I mean for the first few weeks it will definitely be overkill but eventually you can fill it in. I have a switchable ballast so I can drop it down for early veg and not run so much and then run it up later on. I also have a 400W I use sometime in early veg. But in bloom I like to go big. I like to get the best flower I can.


Here is a great video on lighting. Good general info. Most of the lights you see online are setup wrong. This video explains a lot of things people screw up.



The fan size is a function of the ambient temps. DE bulbs run hotter than SE bulbs. I have a 1000W DE pumping out heat in a small 5x5 tent in my garage with a small 400 CFM fan barely turning right now because it is 28 degrees outside. If it were 90 degrees outside I would need a larger fan as that wouldn't pull fast enough.

So it all depends on where you place it, time of year and time of day. In august I have to run at night if at all.

If you only plan to run Autos you can sell the MH stuff. It only really "helps" for 2 weeks of the grow that don't really matter if you know what you are doing. Many people who run them screw it up and pull them out during those 2 weeks and it is all a waste of money having two setups. In the case of an auto you want it to stretch. Pros with real big grows don't run MH because stretch is a good thing. It helps get light to the lower flowers so increases overall yield and quality. The only reason to reduce stretch is if you are in a confined space and don't time it correctly. If you have enough space for a 1000W setup you probably have enough space to take advantage of stretch even if you Scrog...or rather ...especially if you scrog. you wont be doing that likely with autos so stretch will be good if it even happens. Mine started blooming nearly immediately (7 inches) and never stretched.

:goodluck:
 
VilliageIdiot said:
I am a big fan of go big or don't grow. We put a lot of time and energy (not to mention some cash) into this...might as well do the best you can. Done correctly 600W gets the best illumination but 1000 (which I use) is the way to go in my opinion. You have some more freedom to do some things.

I use DE now and wont ever go back. Way more light for the same watts.

I just grew 2 autos next to 2 regulars under a 1000W. 4 is good depending on the hood. I mean for the first few weeks it will definitely be overkill but eventually you can fill it in. I have a switchable ballast so I can drop it down for early veg and not run so much and then run it up later on. I also have a 400W I use sometime in early veg. But in bloom I like to go big. I like to get the best flower I can.


Here is a great video on lighting. Good general info. Most of the lights you see online are setup wrong. This video explains a lot of things people screw up.



The fan size is a function of the ambient temps. DE bulbs run hotter than SE bulbs. I have a 1000W DE pumping out heat in a small 5x5 tent in my garage with a small 400 CFM fan barely turning right now because it is 28 degrees outside. If it were 90 degrees outside I would need a larger fan as that wouldn't pull fast enough.

So it all depends on where you place it, time of year and time of day. In august I have to run at night if at all.

If you only plan to run Autos you can sell the MH stuff. It only really "helps" for 2 weeks of the grow that don't really matter if you know what you are doing. Many people who run them screw it up and pull them out during those 2 weeks and it is all a waste of money having two setups. In the case of an auto you want it to stretch. Pros with real big grows don't run MH because stretch is a good thing. It helps get light to the lower flowers so increases overall yield and quality. The only reason to reduce stretch is if you are in a confined space and don't time it correctly. If you have enough space for a 1000W setup you probably have enough space to take advantage of stretch even if you Scrog...or rather ...especially if you scrog. you wont be doing that likely with autos so stretch will be good if it even happens. Mine started blooming nearly immediately (7 inches) and never stretched.

:goodluck:
Click to expand...

man VilliageIdiot you are on point! every post I read of yours is solid and you can really tell you have so much knowledge! I am running 2 de 1000w solis-tech high frequency digital balasts and they have the same option for dimability! is this what you are running as well? these things are truly amazing and I'll never switch!
 
Yup solistek with Gavita bulb...top of the line for me. I don't fuck around anymore.

Gavita has been doing DE longer than anyone. I think they are on the 4th or 5th generation bulb. Everyone else in DE is just playing catch up. Philips makes the bulbs for them they are so good.


I let stretch work for me as I scrog. I tuck through stretch to maintain a consistent canopy.

This was 1 week ago today single plant 33x28

33x28.JPG



I took this pic about an hour ago.

week314.JPG
 
what beautifull girls! I think you may be my more knowledgeable more experienced long lost twin! I know your running a living system, de solis-tech ballasts, let me guess your running a DIY RDWC system? if so this is so scarry pretty much exactly what I'm shooting for and have going at the moment!
 
Ha

My hydro is fo sho DIY...takes all the fun out of it to just buy them. But this un here is a soil grow. I do both.


But hey since I have hijacked this thread one more ...


A good reason for a BIG light is penetration. Bottom left is a taller flower by the 8 inch mark in the first pic. Here is a side view...and that is not the main stem that is a side branch. (Main stem is up at the top right.) So as this grows I will still probably get some good stuff down there at the bottom of the canopy.

DSCF17714.JPG
 
IMG_7006-1.jpg
what beauties. I was going to wait till I'm able to do my journal to show my girls but I'm all excited now and I wanna se what you think VilliageIdiot!
 
They look like some awesome Indica... but cramped. I hope you have started flowering. There comes a point of limited returns indoors. There is only so much penetration (what I was talking about in the last post). So depending on how they are trained out you don't really see any benefit for the plant beneath a certain depth from the top of the canopy. This is why Scrog is awesome. By keeping an even canopy the light can be optimized to hit more flowers so the overall maturity at harvest is better..the average bud is better...no immature popcorn buds (or significantly reduced amount of them as most reach maturity with the rest of the plant).

There are a lot of advanced techniques but they are best learned after you see what happens when not doing them. For example if you haven't finished stretch you should look up Lolloping for those. It is a technique stolen from apple tree farmers. Once you know about it no orchard will ever look the same to you.


If you got some bamboo stakes and trained that out a bit and lollipop them you might get 1/4 or more yield and better overall yield maturity evenness. But you sacrifice about 1 week longer grow time.


There are a lot of techniques to learn that you will get too. You can't and shouldn't learn everything all at once.


That is awesome for a first grow...you did say first grow right? Just keep the breaks on the nutes and continue about your plan. The most important thing for you first grow is not burning them. They need way less then we think they do. just monitor the res and listen to what they say.

Look at this chart. It is a standard 3 month hydro chart. It has lots of data. Look at the pH line. The reason for the change is because as you go through the grow you want the nute uptake ratio to change. So in the beginning you want to run it like lettuce (look up how to run lettuce in hydro...you will learn something). At the end you are blooming and need different nutes. If you want to run it tight then you follow that line to get the right ratios.

Also look at the EC line. Notice how you have near nothing in the beginning and mid way through bloom you drastically drop off. Don't screw that up!

CCH2O-Recommendations-Graph-1024x743.jpg



good luck my friend...I am always around if you want to PM a question.
 
hey I really appreciate you taking the time out of your day to talk to me, and allowing me to pm you!

my girls are defanetly a little crouded. they are still in veg I work away from home working 3 weeks and having 3 weeks off. with that being said I have a wife at home and 2 kids so she is busy with them and only has time to maintain the girls while I'm gone.

I plan to trim them heavenly when I get home friday. I've been pulling fan leafs and feming the main tops and also a little supercrop . and the pic u see now is about 3 weeks of me not doing that. I want to get a net and put it over them like how you do in scrog and let them rebound for a week or 2 before putting them into flower. meanwhile weaving the branches in and out of the net like you said. then 2 weeks into 12/12 I will lolypop them and continue to pull faneafs to thin the canipy. does this sound correct?

I did months and months of reserched on here before starting this so I have a pretty good understanding of scrog and lolypoping and all the diferant LST techniques. and if I was home every day I would have set the net about 2 weeks ago. my question is do you think they are too big to try and net them up friday? do you think it's a good idea for me to do a super heavy trim before setting the net? and do you think I should let them rebound a little before switching to 12/12 lighting to induce flower?

thank you again villageidiot!:thumb:

i have to veg longer due to the fact I have to be home when it comes time to chop them down. o ya the strains are crystal and wonder woman both from nirvana! I would have turned them last time I was home but I was having thoes huge ph swings and had a hard time keeping that from stressing them out too much. thankfully my wife and I monitor the system like a hawk!
 
I am unable to pm yet I'm so new I don't have enough posts to pm yet. I'm almost there tho!.

I'm sorry ahbenshaut I didn't mean to take over your post. it just happened. I get a little excited sometimes I hope you understand.
 
I started drooling over the pics and forgot to answer those questions. Im building a 4x6x8 foot tall grow room. I live in alaska so the air outside is pretty chilly. :)
What are DE lights?
Eventually, I would like to grow some white widow but baby steps first. Any advice on a simple but effective hydroponics system? There are so many variations of them, I get confused trying to figure out which is best.
 
Baby steps are the best advice I can give you. Don't try and buy your way to a professional grow. Learn how hydro works first...more importantly learn how cannabis works first.

DE is a Double Ended bulb. It is a newer technology about 15 years old I think. I don't know how long they have been used in growing...maybe 6 or so? SE stands for single ended and is what most people are still using.

DE bulbs are much more efficient so they will put out a lot more light for the same wattage so you get much bigger better plants for the same cost. They also last a lot longer...more than twice as long. So even though the bulb is more expensive you get a lot longer life out of it. They also run a bit hotter so you gotta compensate for that. But a 1000W DE bulb requires safety sunglasses because it will burn your eyes it is that bright.

I have to run...tonight I will get back on here and recommend a beginners hydro setup. It will be a basic DWC bucket. No ganging them up until you have a good method and are running clones.
 
ahbenshaut! a fellow Alaskan!
DE stands for Double Ended. it is a kind of light. to get more info on it just Google Double Ended HPS. and you will get tons of info. I'm running a set from solis-tech and they have been pretty amazing I must say. I do know that a 1000w light and hood spreads the light to a footprint of 4x4. this is why I went with a 4x8 grow room so I have even coverage throughout the whole room. if you have room and you still want to run 2 1000w lights. I'd go with the 4x8 room.

as for the system I'm running a DIY RDWC system that is working wonderflly. it really depends on how you want to grow. you can go the flood and drain way a buddy of mine does this. I have an extremely bias opinion tho because I'm running RDWC. this system is pretty easy and makes it so you work out of 1 spot when replacing water and nutiants. I've had great success with it and I even showed my wife how to do it. she was extremely upset I went with hydro at first but after she seen how easy it is and it's really not that hard as long as you monitor key variables. she is all about it!

I am by no means saying this is the only way to go. I'm still a nube and there are more ways than one to go about doing this. I recommend Looking up DWC and RDWC. this is what I recommend but like I said EXTREMELY bias on my opinion. because I built it myself and it is so easy my wife can do it while watching 2 kids lol.
 
the only reason why I went the rdwc way is because I did extensive reserched on the topic. and that is going to be the most emoortant thing you do before picking a grow method. look at the pros and cons to the system before choosing one. I've seen people go with only 1 plants under 1000w light in a DWC bucket with great success!
 

Similar threads

C
Metal halide bulb explosion
Replies
2
Views
4K
Vapedogg223
Vapedogg223
A
Metal Halide switch
Replies
2
Views
1K
oldhippie64
O
madsdad4ever
metal halide help please
Replies
2
Views
776
dr.h00k
dr.h00k
S
CMH vs MH question
Replies
1
Views
1K
Jersyn82
J
Z
Autoflower light cycle help
Replies
1
Views
969
Dave Groomer
Dave Groomer
Back
Top Bottom