12/12 separation

[TheLibrarian]

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I am in my first grow with two White Rhino and two Snow White that came and sprouted beautifully from Nirvana. I built a box 24" x 48" x 60" and lit it with some florescent tubes for the first two months. Little growth, but healthy plants and then I ordered a 400 watt switchable MH/HPS cool tube lamp and then all went wild.

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My girls love the new light and the new Fox Farm Nutes. After a week of 18/6, I switched to 12/12 HPS and they are loving it. Full form, each variety has her own distinct growth pattern and they continue to grow daily. I am so glad they did not suffer too greatly from the bad lighting at first.

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My actual issue is that I can only visit them from five to five daily. They are kind of like my kids. I want to be able to see them when I want to, but alas I must allow them their precious sleep. It's been almost a week, but no flowers yet. Can't wait.

By the way, I love this site and all of the great information located here. I really think this is a community of growers that is here to support one another. Thanks for that.
OK, Peace all.

 

[medme]

sounds good,,,, i use a 400w MH and a 150w HPS in flower mode,,,,, i've heard MH works best for quality and the HPS works best for quanity, they also say 2 weeks MH, 4 weeks HPS, 2 weeks MH is a good way to go for 8 week cycle..... just saying... good luck

 

[TheLibrarian]

Is the 400w HPS too strong for the flowering cycle? The setup I bought came with one 400w MH and a 400w HPS. Also, how far should the HSP be from the tops of the plants?
Thanks,

 

[medme]

heat from them is your main concern... i've seen HPS very close to plants, but they were cooled.. i think MH get a bit hotter,,, put you hand on top of the plant, if it burns you after a bit, its to close... i have a light mover and at times the plant almost touches the bulb, but it doesn't stay there for long, its moving all the time.... good luck..

 

[Vapedogg223]

Hi TheLibrarian...

What he said... Heat is the problem, not light. There is almost no such thing as too much light if you can keep the heat down.

I'm running a 1000 watt HPS on a Lumatek ballast on the "Super Lumens" setting (which is somewhere around 1100 watts). I have a sealed, air-cooled hood that I'm pushing 449 cfm through, and my plants are about 2-3 inches from the glass with no problems at all.

Also if your temps get much above 80 degrees Fahrenheit it will start to slow your growth.