A little lighting advice...if you please

[EARTHWALKER]

Hi peeps.

I'm still here How could I ever leave a place like this. Nothing will stop me Mwhuhahahaha You wouldn't believe I'm almost 50 haha

Anyway, onwards to my query. I suppose I best lay out the reasoning.

As you can see in my sig, I have a completed journal, so have grown....with lots of advice and the past 6 months I've done almost nothing but read read and read some more.

I did do a 2nd grow which was a total disaster. Couldn't take any photos and make another journal as my daughter's kindle decided it just preferred to be a doorstop. Anyway, my grow was about 4 weeks away from harvest, seemed to be going well and then the unthinkable happened. We had sunshine in England! No no, this is true..lol
The sunshine was great, but my plant really didn't like it. Once I realised my plant was suffering from heat exhaustion, I set fourth to do some venting. The air in the house was humid, the air outside was hot and humid; there wasn't any cool fresh air anywhere for about a week. My plants went all fluffy and basically faded to nothing. 2 plants and a total of 9oz's of fluff....grrrrr

So many police in this area, there's no way I can always stick the venting tube out the window without being noticed.

I'm in need of some cooler lights as my dual spectrum 400w hps is like a halogen hotplate; even with 2 fans inside trying their best to push the hot air out.

I've done some reading on hid lights. That's a no no as they seem to get hotter than hps
I looked in either T5's or CFL's the total confusion overwhelmed me.

There's a local hydroponics shop that sells a LightWave T5 2ft 2 tube Fluorescent Light for £60 I can't afford that yet, but maybe able to in a couple of months. Unemployed and jobs very scarce means no frivolous use of what little I have in the way of income. Would this light be ok for my 1 plant 2x2ft setup? Would it fry my plants? Would I need venting with this?
They also do some cfl's @ 125w, 200w, 250w and 300w @ £20, £30, £40 and £45 respectively in 2700k flower or 6500k veg

I'm in a bit of a pickle and don't want this new grow to turn into cherry blossom too.

Any help, advice will be greatly appreciated.

I'm in the UK btw.

 

[Dan Ultra]

Those T5's will be sufficient, but if you can invest in LED you will be much more impressed and set for any and every grow. Generally you want at least 100-150W per plant, so as long as you are within that range then CFL or LED will be fine. LED's are more expensive, but have less draw. They are also typically dual spectrum. So you still get the 6500k for veg and 2100k for flower

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Lots of things can cause fluffy/airy bud... like high temp etc it could even be strain related.

Mmm ya grow area of 2x2ft & a 400w bulb seems to be a little over doing it for such a small area & more likely the cause of the heat issue.

I would suggest an air cooled hood/reflector but in a tent that size its hardly going to fit !


If you wish to continue to use a 2x2ft area perhaps a smaller bulb of 250w would be better to aid in lower temp.

Or may be get a 3x3ft tent or 1m2 where a 400w is a bit more suitable for.


Not sure if ya got passive vents on ya 2x2ft tent tho but if ya have you could open em up for improved air flow.

Some like these... located towards bottom of the tent.

Also 2 fans seems a bit ? depends if you mean those desk top sort ?

Better to get an inline fan for extraction/exhaust as they shift a far greater volume of air.

 

[rillos]

I use this too veg and hps for flower but they do have these for flower also.

 

[OttawaGreen]

Big CFL gets hot too. Try led. I recommend eshinesystems.com 3G models. I have them and they are cheap and great. Lots of people also seem to have good luck with mars Hydro leds too.
Check the grows in my signature to see details.
Could replace that 400w hps with about 250w of led from my experience.

 

[EARTHWALKER]

Thanks all. I have a little bit more knowledge now. That seems to happen every time I visit
I do like the idea of LED's that would seem to fit my situation perfectly apart from the cost. Thankfully I'd only need a small one.

I went to eshine systems, but couldn't find any prices at all, also couldn't find anywhere that sells them; apart from some dodgey site called alibaba or something.

The CFL route does seem to be a bit of a headache. Well, for me at least. LED's mmmmmmm I can dream a little. I do love window shopping. Ah, you never know. Something good might happen.

Thanks again peeps. Much appreciated.

 

[Dave Groomer]

A Mars-Hydro 48x3 would fit your area nicely. It has a Veg and a Flower setting (uses less power in veg.) I used CFLs to start and I spent as much on the bulbs and fixtures as I would have if I just bought the LEDs first. I love my LEDs. Here is a link to the light. Reflector LED Grow Light 48x3W - Mars Hydro

 

[EARTHWALKER]

Aww man, that LED looks sweet, and even sweeter with veg and bloom settings. I'm dribbling now. Even with freight to the UK it works out to be £67.00 which is amazing. Got to either rob a bank, mug a granny or wait patiently.....Hopefully I can keep this grow alive until I can afford one. That's definitely on my MUST GET list. Cheers bro.

 

[Dave Groomer]

Aww man, that LED looks sweet, and even sweeter with veg and bloom settings. I'm dribbling now. Even with freight to the UK it works out to be £67.00 which is amazing. Got to either rob a bank, mug a granny or wait patiently.....Hopefully I can keep this grow alive until I can afford one. That's definitely on my MUST GET list. Cheers bro.

Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light Discussion is a great thread to read about peoples experiences with their Mars-Hydro lights.

 

[OttawaGreen]

With eshinesystems and Mars you buy direct. Contact info is on the website. Tell them you are 420magazine member and want the discount.
If you want I can pm you my sales woman's email. Mine was $249 U.S. Plus shipping. 260 real watts. Mars is even slightly cheaper.

 

[Antics]

If possible, try to shoot for 30-40 (50 max) watts per square foot. 2x2 you have 4 square feet. The 48x3 reflector will only give you 20 watts per square foot.

You can definitely grow with it, but if you can swing it, a little more wattage will go a long way.

I bought TWO Old Models from Mars Hydro, 300 real watts, $210 USD shipped, They don't have Veg/Bloom switches, but they've been working great so far without any problems. And a 3 year warranty to boot.

 

[EARTHWALKER]

Thanks Antics. Looked all over the Mars site. Amazing place. You can get lost for hours