Introducing myself

R

RobotCat

420 Member
Figured I should do an into post and join this forum correctly.

New to growing and found this site always came up when I'd search for whatever question I had, so it seemed like the place to be.

Been reading a ton, so I'm feeling really book smart about the subject with next to nothing in actual experience. Started some seedlings years ago, but I think the biggest I ever had a plant was maybe a foot tall before the bugs got to it.

Going to start a PC grow box, or something similar, in the next few days and see where that takes me. Really just need to get a bit of experience to determine exactly how big I want to go, what I want to do, and where my comfort level is at.
 
Hey howdy high RoboKitty! :welcome: to :420:

Pretty much in the same boat myself, mild to excellent green thumb with other plants, almost 0 exp with mj, loads and loads of reading.

If i may offer one tiny bit of advice (before you go buy everything?) make heating and ventilation and higher priority. What lights to use Vs how much heat they put off Vs how easy/hard it is to control a steady temp. So many variables at play and hard to know what works best with what setup until you just start playing around and gaging things.

Best of luck getting started. Never fear asking questions around here, im loving how helpful this community is :circle-of-love:
Will be waiting and watching for your journal too!
 
DankWolf907 said:
If i may offer one tiny bit of advice (before you go buy everything?) make heating and ventilation and higher priority. What lights to use Vs how much heat they put off Vs how easy/hard it is to control a steady temp. So many variables at play and hard to know what works best with what setup until you just start playing around and gaging things.
Click to expand...

That's actually my biggest concern, and one of the reasons I'm starting small is the see just how big of a problem it is for me. It's already hard to keep things cool in a 150 year old house in the Georgia summertime, and I'd expect life in a small box with a lot of lights burning to be even worse. First grow will be under CFL, but I expect to end up under LED's due to the heat.
 
Awesome that its on your mind already!
Do the research, follow members journals, so much valuable information to be had!
Wishing i had started researching sooner. Right from the start i opted to ignore any thought of LED due to price, but with alittlemore research i think i could have spent close to the same amount, and possible have a better light source then 400wHID, along with less headache of heat issues. Just the damn prices are daunting! I also knew from others that HIDs do their job very well, i hadnt heard an overwhelmingly large amount of good things with LED. So i didnt even bother researching.:hmmmm:
None the less, im happy withmy investment and itll serve me later along side any future LEDs :)
 
Welcome robotcat. LEDs sound like a good way to keep your heat down. Reading is essential and there's lots here to look at. But joining has now opened so many possibilities. There are people ready to help with each step of the grow. Even to help design it with you. Lots of people have been where you are now and it's great to have access to all that shared knowledge. Looking forward to see what you end up choosing!
 
Welcome Mr. Cat!

I'm going to go in the other direction. I find HPS with cool tube are just as easy to control heat as LEDs, and at a huge savings. A lot depends on your grow size and design. A cool tube and fan will pull much of the heat directly out. LEDs don't offer a cool tube feature so all their heat ends up in the grow, which then has to be exhausted. Both work great, but LEDs cost a lot more and the reliability is lower. I see posts about LED panels going bad more often that I would have expected. I don't think I've seen a single journal with a bad HPS fixture. YMMV.
 
Good morning Robocat,
1st off let me give you a big hearty :welcome: to :420: :hug:

Glad to see you did some research before just jumping in with both feet then expecting someone to come hold your hand and walk you through it. Shows to me that you will most likely be successful. Old homes can be a nightmare to cool and to heat depending on the time of the year. I know I lived in one too for 20 years. Couple of quick suggestions and questions for you.
Does your home have a basement? if so this is a great place to grow and help with the high heat.
While LEDs will appear to produce less heat then an HID fact is, a watt of electrical power produces a set amount of BTU's of heat and those watts do not care if they are HID or LED or a toaster as far as that goes. That being said the advantage of LED over HID is this. Plants use a specific set of light wave spectrums, the others they could care less about. An LED is designed to only produce the light that the plant wants, where a HID produces the spectrums the plant wants, it also produces light in spectrums the plant should care less about so the heat produced from those spectrums is wasted heat. Many, including the LED companies will tell you that you can get the results of a 1,000 watt light with 50% less heat. Well I hate to break it to you but ALL manufactures fib about the truth to make their product more appealing then the next guys. In reality you can expect 20% less heat to get the exact same light from an LED verses a HID to get the same amount of usable light. While 20% does not seem like a lot to most, when having to battle heat, 20% is a big number.
And yes even LEDs do offer a cool tube design though personally I only know of one such company and yike they are expensive but they are available.
I really like the idea your starting out small, getting your feet wet and taking small steps, before you try to run.
I have only been a member here a short time, yet I will say "I LOVE IT HERE" Everyone wants you to be a success story. Everyone here is encouraging, and positive.
Which ever way to you choose, start a journal and take pictures. Even of your build of the grow area. Tell why you did what. The reason I say this is because one day, you will be in our shoes welcoming some new grower and giving them your advice on how to get started and it is much easier if you have a journal as an example.

Welcome again Robocat and best of luck on your grow.
OG
 
Bravo OG couldn't have said it better.
 
ShiggityFlip said:
Bravo OG couldn't have said it better.
Click to expand...

LOL Ok but when I started typing the welcome there were like 2 posts, as I was typing more jumped in, I wish either I was a faster 2 finger typer, or I was able to say what I want to say in about 80% less words.

Please forgive me Robocat, my posts tend to be long winded and I have been known to babble..lol
I keep blaming it on being old and having bad eyes.
 
oldergrower said:
Good morning Robocat,
1st off let me give you a big hearty :welcome: to :420: :hug:

Glad to see you did some research before just jumping in with both feet then expecting someone to come hold your hand and walk you through it. Shows to me that you will most likely be successful. Old homes can be a nightmare to cool and to heat depending on the time of the year. I know I lived in one too for 20 years. Couple of quick suggestions and questions for you.
Does your home have a basement? if so this is a great place to grow and help with the high heat.
While LEDs will appear to produce less heat then an HID fact is, a watt of electrical power produces a set amount of BTU's of heat and those watts do not care if they are HID or LED or a toaster as far as that goes. That being said the advantage of LED over HID is this. Plants use a specific set of light wave spectrums, the others they could care less about. An LED is designed to only produce the light that the plant wants, where a HID produces the spectrums the plant wants, it also produces light in spectrums the plant should care less about so the heat produced from those spectrums is wasted heat. Many, including the LED companies will tell you that you can get the results of a 1,000 watt light with 50% less heat. Well I hate to break it to you but ALL manufactures fib about the truth to make their product more appealing then the next guys. In reality you can expect 20% less heat to get the exact same light from an LED verses a HID to get the same amount of usable light. While 20% does not seem like a lot to most, when having to battle heat, 20% is a big number.
And yes even LEDs do offer a cool tube design though personally I only know of one such company and yike they are expensive but they are available.
I really like the idea your starting out small, getting your feet wet and taking small steps, before you try to run.
I have only been a member here a short time, yet I will say "I LOVE IT HERE" Everyone wants you to be a success story. Everyone here is encouraging, and positive.
Which ever way to you choose, start a journal and take pictures. Even of your build of the grow area. Tell why you did what. The reason I say this is because one day, you will be in our shoes welcoming some new grower and giving them your advice on how to get started and it is much easier if you have a journal as an example.

Welcome again Robocat and best of luck on your grow.
OG
Click to expand...

From what I understand about LED's...

They do run cooler than other lights, except for the times when they run just as hot and when they run even hotter.
They do not use as much electricity, except for the times when they use more.
They provide better lighting that the plants need, except for the cases when they don't.

I think you get the idea.

Been reading a ton and I think I've got a real good handle on what's going to happen, or at least as much as you can get from a book and not ever having done it. Lighting, however, is the one thing that I'm still not sure about. So much to read about every lighting type and I just haven't had the time to go down every rabbit hole to learn about it all yet.
 
RobotCat said:
From what I understand about LED's...

They do run cooler than other lights, except for the times when they run just as hot and when they run even hotter.
They do not use as much electricity, except for the times when they use more.
They provide better lighting that the plants need, except for the cases when they don't.
Click to expand...

You've got it! :rofl:
 
Just my two bits.... i had a heat issue and was running a 600w hps in a 2x4x6 tent. I could barely run it at 50% power. way too hot. So I switched to a true 315W led and it did get easier to manage. I do like OG's answer at 20%. That is probably about right... The HPS even with 440 cfm running through a cool tube was "throwing " heat from the glass. I am still a Rook so take it for what ever.. but i got the led and it was solved... ;) I may have been able to use the HPS but i messed with it a lot and couldn't get it corrected.


FE


Welcome to the board... that was suppose to be first off!!!
 

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