Help & advice for upgrading my lighting

[Happyjoy]

hey there everyone.
i need some advice for upgrading my grow lighting.

basically, my space is 2x3 feet. 5 feet height.

exhaust of around 170cfm.

my current lighting is: 1 mars hydro reflector 3x96.

i would like to add another light. and am interested in advice on what yall think.


option 1 i was considering:
Currently, my LED which is rectangle shaped, is hanging longways across the length of the room.
if i buy another one of the 3x96 reflectors, (or their current 5x96), and hang them both width wise, then ill get a pretty nice even coverage of the whole space.


option 2
i was considering maybe buying a 250W hps, to pair up with my LED in my space to get a good mix of different light types.


any other ideas?
thnks!
hj

 

[verticalgrow]

re: Help & advice for upgrading my lighting

g'day Happy,

315w cmh is a low heat light and top quality light,
is better then any hps and last twice as long, over 20,000+ hrs

MasterColor CDM-T Elite 315W/942 T9 U MasterColor CDM-T Elite Med Wattage - Philips Lighting

 

[Happyjoy]

any other ideas?

 

[MRXC]

go with the HPS thats just so chill. i have one mars old 100x3 and one 150watt hps and it works great. but using cfl's as side lighting works verry good aswell. and your idea off adding a other led panel is good aswell. but if you like experimenting going the HPS way is fun only need to consider the heat. maybe a electronic ballast and a 250 watt HPS in a cool tube if heat is an issu.

good luck and with mixing spectrums you could never go wrong adding a little UVB in flower is a good thing to like using reptile lights

 

[Happyjoy]

hey there everyone. just an update.
i tried connecting the 400w hps i have lying around, together in the room with my LED's. (couldnt afford to buy a 250W HPS, so i used what i had here)

temps shot to 95F. so i added an active intake, and temps went down to around 90F. if i turn ofaf my LED or just use the BLOOM switch on it, then temps go down another 4 or 5 degrees.

so questions is:
is constant temps that range between 85-95F daytime, and 60F nightime, too drastic of a stress, and its better that i dont add in the HPS? again, if i dont use it together with my LED i can keep temps to around 85-88F.

ireally do like the extra light, but im not sure if its worth the heat change.

 

[MRXC]

the 95 degrees is just at the edge of killing your plants and making them grow fast... with added co2 you could runn at these temps... but the 60 degree night temp is just bad the difference will harm your plants so getting your night time temps up ( heater on a timer ) and add co2 this will work great....

but your better off running your led light and keep the temps in check

a other sulution could be running your lights at night and off at day time to minimize the temp chance.
a diference of 5 degree's between night and day is perfect

 

[Happyjoy]

the 95 degrees is just at the edge of killing your plants and making them grow fast... with added co2 you could runn at these temps... but the 60 degree night temp is just bad the difference will harm your plants so getting your night time temps up ( heater on a timer ) and add co2 this will work great....

but your better off running your led light and keep the temps in check

a other sulution could be running your lights at night and off at day time to minimize the temp chance.
a diference of 5 degree's between night and day is perfect

thnks for the reply.
i just got the light on temps down to 86F by opening up the intake hole more.
however theres no way i can run a heater in the little room at night, or add co2.

i can try turning of the exhaust at night and see how temps stay at night.

so a difference between lets say 65F night and 85F day is really too much and can do more damage than the good of the extra light?

 

[MRXC]

thnks for the reply.
i just got the light on temps down to 86F by opening up the intake hole more.
however theres no way i can run a heater in the little room at night, or add co2.

i can try turning of the exhaust at night and see how temps stay at night.

so a difference between lets say 65F night and 85F day is really too much and can do more damage than the good of the extra light?

Turning the exhaust off I no option sind it will stop the airflow and this will raid the humidity berry Much by transperation from the plants... In flowering this will cause budrot ... So maybe a heater out side of the grow room heating the air before it enters the room.

Or using 2 air intakes one from outside and one from inside the house

And yes the add light will do more damage than good maybe just getting away with 85 degrees but it will cost you your THC in late flowering... Better get it at 79 degrees and than you also don't have to worry about night temps so much...

Or a other option pop that hps bulb in a cooltube and be done with it

 

[Happyjoy]

I can't Add another intake or exhaust.
A cool tube is a great idea, but they're pretty pricey here.
It looks like my two options are
1: take out led light and leave 400whps. That should bring temps down to 80
2: swap my exhaust for a stronger 8" one.
Does anyone know, if I connect an 8" exhaust fan, to a hole that's only 6", will the CFL still run at the stronger speed of the 8"?

U sure that leaving it as is, with 85 swag daytime, and 60 nighttime, will do more damage than good, and it would be better to just run the hps alone?

 

[MRXC]

Cooltube expencive ??? I paid like 25 euro for one ... Is it that much more expensive over there ... G wiz... If you have a 8 inch try it would be cool to make the led work with hps so bigger fan is one. And a 8 to 6 is no problem at all . But if I were you and it would be very much work to change the setup of your grow room I would try running it like that and fix it the next grow. But if your plants are not taking it and next week theye look bad change it than and there and see what I does. Some strains are better at handling strong light and heat and others just suck in hot rooms. And if a plant is used to the heat than it can take a lot more.


And maybe turn the lights on at night and lights off at day time to get a more stable grow climate