Perpetual Pics

[josh223]

Exterior conduit will protect from mad dogs and squirrels while it looks better. It's probably worth the money.
Prices are good if they have it at ReStore, a Habitat for Humanity resale store.

You may not have to add another circuit.

820 watts is only 7 amps.





To combine my lights, I made HPS - LED saddlebag lights. I run the LEDs 3 hours a day in flower.

Radogast 2016 - The Neverending Growing

I went rounds with the electrical contractor, the county inspector, and finally state inspector when we closed the sale on the house. It was built in 1927. There is still "knob and tube" in the attic.

Downstairs there are two 12' X 12' bedrooms. Other than Egress, they are to code. My problem...looks like one 15 Amp breaker with 14 Gu wire runs the four total bedroom plugs. Fine. But I'm pulling combined, from both rooms, close to 3-4 K Watts.

Seems the same circuit feeds two other receptacles on the main floor that I need. I have to flip breakers when vacuuming.

New Mars lights are supposed to be here Monday. I'm a Gov employee. That's also payday. Think I'll run a couple more dedicated runs. Better safe than sorry.

 

[josh223]

Oh yeah Rad, I'm planning in setting my lights similar to yours. Only going to hang the LEDs the long way because of my vent lines. My HID reflector is around 34" X 20". 4" to 8" store-bought vent reducers take up a lot of room. I'm planning on hanging the LEDs under those.

 

[josh223]

My lights just arrived-and they seem to be in perfect working order!!! I'm about to head to work. Flowing lights aren't on yet so I have to wait until after to hang them. I'm a little surprised by their size. I'm going to have to get creative with hanging them. I'll be sure to get some pics posted in about 8 hrs from now.

 

[josh223]

Whew-that took some doing. I found out I need a little bit larger tent. I got it done, but the HPS reflector over shadows the LEDs a little bit. I think I'm going to shorten up the cables that connect to the ratchet hangers. I have a couple really tall plants. 10" above those is all I can squeeze. I'm going to build some more of those portable SCROG screens. That way I can have some resemblance to an even canopy.

My only complaint about the LEDs thus far is they need longer power cords. I had to use an extension cord on one. But they are working. All the diodes are lit. No funny sound from the fans. I do have to say that the build seems solid. And let me tell you, they are bright. I'm a welder. I'm used to bright light. Well, quickly staring at a 200 AMP arc hurts less than looking into one of these. I may have to invest in safety glasses.

I also picked up a new carbon filter today. I'm going from a 4"x14" to a 6"x24". I've never heard of the brand, Black Ops. Guys at the local hydro store have yet to lead me astray. The owner said he personally switched from a Phreash brand to this. A little bit less money but built just as well. Says expected to last 2 years. I got about 3 from my El Cheapo. Hope I get the same from this. He also gave me $20 off my purchase which is never bad.

Here comes the pics.

Added: I forgot to mention I have both fans and the HPS turned up all the way along with both Bloom and Veg switches on the LEDs. The circuit hasn't tripped. I'm monitoring where the temps level out to. Once the summer heat arrives I may have to turn down the HPS. I'll check for bleaching tomorrow. I'm in a temp shop tomorrow so I can't fab a shorter alternate to those cables. If I see bleaching about all I could do is turn off the Bloom swith.

 

[Radogast]

Nicely done.

A possible concern is heat from the HPS falling on to the edges of the LED units.
If the LEDs are raised to even with, or above the lip of the HPS hood they will avoid light induced over heating.

 

[josh223]

Nicely done.

A possible concern is heat from the HPS falling on to the edges of the LED units.
If the LEDs are raised to even with, or above the lip of the HPS hood they will avoid light induced over heating.

That has crossed my mind. I'm out of room horizontally. The LEDs are against the tent walls. If I were to raise them vertically the HPS reflector would be blocking some of their light. It's a Catch 22. I'd like to leave the HPS in there because I still want quantity on top of quality.

My flowering tent is a 4' x 4' x was 8' high. I had to cut six inches off the vertical poles to make it work with my low ceiling. It's by far the nicest of my three tents. Problem with it is that it was given to me-maybe had a month of prior use. Problem is the corner connectors are plastic. One was broken when I got it. So I used an entire role of duct tape to shore it up. That worked fine until I added the additional weight of the LEDs and my over-size carbon filter.

Think I need a new tent. Going to go back through my research. Joey "JJ Bones", our sponsor at Perfect Gardens talks highly of Secret Jardin brand. They have ones that I don't have to modify for my height restrictions. But their footprint is kind of odd. Gorilla Grow Tent's Lite Line looks promising. Off the top of my head, seems like mars Hydro makes a 56" x 56" x 60". That would be my ideal size. Right now I'd rather spend more money on a slightly larger tent because I already need a new one. I'm not looking to add more lighting watts at this time.

The other thing in the back of my mind is ditching the HPS in there and getting one of those small double-bulbed LEC setups. I'd be using roughly the same watts but the reflectors are narrowed than the HPS. I don't know. Just going to play it by ear.

 

[Radogast]

I have no serious experience with LEDs - At $300+, The Mars Hydro Reflector 192 looks very good for a 4'x4' tent.

 

[josh223]

^^^ I don't either. If they say one 192 is good for a 4'x4', two should be better. I'm only leaving the 600 Watt HPS in there because I'm also new to LEDs. I've seen a lot of journals, Mar's facebook page is a great example, of nice looking buds. But, the density seems to be lacking. Really long gaps between buds isn't my goal. I want it all-entire stems covered in rock hard buds dripping with trichomes.

 

[NoobGrowUtube]

Yeah a rep here (Sara) told me that the Reflector 192 would be best for a 4x4 tent.

As of right now I'm on a low budget tent that I will use only for side projects and maybe veg. Tent is 2x3 and 53" tall. I thought the Marshydro 300w was enough until I did further research. At least 50w per sq foot is good. And closer to 80w is prime. But I have also 600w hps by Apollo horticulture. So I have the power .

.......
But my question to you guys is would my 300w led and 600w hps be a good combo for a 4x4.? I'm unsure. Any of you currently running a 4x4? If so what's your experience with the amount of lighting?


Also on the tube at NoobGrow

 

[josh223]

Yeah a rep here (Sara) told me that the Reflector 192 would be best for a 4x4 tent.

As of right now I'm on a low budget tent that I will use only for side projects and maybe veg. Tent is 2x3 and 53" tall. I thought the Marshydro 300w was enough until I did further research. At least 50w per sq foot is good. And closer to 80w is prime. But I have also 600w hps by Apollo horticulture. So I have the power .

.......
But my question to you guys is would my 300w led and 600w hps be a good combo for a 4x4.? I'm unsure. Any of you currently running a 4x4? If so what's your experience with the amount of lighting?


Also on the tube at NoobGrow

I'm running a 4'x4' tent with two reflector 192's and one Apollo air cooled hood with an Ushio brand bulb. So that's around 1420 watts @ 88.75 watts per square foot.

I am by no means an expert in the LED field but I have been researching them since November 2012. I've seen a lot of pictures of people only using LEDs and having airy, non-dense looking bud. That's the reason I left the HPS in the tent.

My LEDs are as high as I can raise them. One thing about them is they are very unidirectional. The light pretty much goes straight down with very little spread. Much different than other light sources. I know what the specs say, but if I were going to run only LEDs in a 4'x4' tent, I would go for four of the Reflector 192 so that I could get a good spread. Looks like a person could shoehorn 6, possibly 9 of them in there.

I have, however, seen a pretty dramatic increase in trichome formation, bud density, smell, quantity, and overall bag appeal since adding the LEDs. But, the lights don't hit all the plants at once so I rotate them daily.

I think your 300 watt LED and 600 watt HPS would work well. If you're anything like me, don't be surprised if you find yourself wanting more.

 

[NoobGrowUtube]

Yeah once I upgrade to a 4x4 tent I think I will add another Marshydro 300w led to the mix. Running the HPS in the middle.


Also on the tube at NoobGrow

 

[josh223]

I'm kicking around a few ideas for my next upgrade. Going to be awhile though. My wife's truck is down. Now my car is at the mechanics. I can't do anything until I get into a "new" used car. Most likely I'm going to get a Gorilla Grow Tent Lite Line. My only dilemma is that if I step up to a 4'x8' I'll have to double my lighting.

I think I can grow with the best of them. A 4'x4' fulfills my needs. Any more plants and I'd have to treat it as a job versus a hobby.

 

[josh223]

I haven't posted any pics in a while. First up is Nebula. I apparently forgot to start a new mother. This was the old mother. I have another in a 3 gallon Hempy flowering. So that will be the end for this strain. I'm not sad. I can not for the life of me remember why I chose to buy her. She is Sativa dominant, stretches like nothing I've ever grown, isn't a high yielder, on the long side of flowering, and is a pain to trim. The breeder says she's nicknamed Honey Pot because how sweet she is. There is a mild sweetness but zero flavor. Oh yeah, she's a horrible cloner. I think this is the least favorite of all the strains I have grown. These pics were from a few weeks ago. She's been jarred for a couple days now.

On to something much better. I have to thank Chronic Hemp Hog for this recommendation. This is the first Dinafem OG Kush. I'm about to trim her now. I hope she smokes as good as she smells. The odor is much stronger than my Holy Grail Kush. I didn't think that was possible.

She was finished directly underneath one of the Mars Reflector 192's. She's in a 3 gallon Hempy fed Botanicare Pure Blend nutes and finished the last 1.5 weeks getting flushed with Clearex. Veged her for about a month under standard CFL's and Fimmed once. She's a high yielder. My Holy Grail needs massive amounts of nitrogen in flowering. I've never had one in hydro that doesn't get yellow leaves. For that reason I recently switched to Advanced base nutes with PH Perfect. Hopefully that helps.

Here's the OG.

 

[Radogast]

Yeah a rep here (Sara) told me that the Reflector 192 would be best for a 4x4 tent.

As of right now I'm on a low budget tent that I will use only for side projects and maybe veg. Tent is 2x3 and 53" tall. I thought the Marshydro 300w was enough until I did further research. At least 50w per sq foot is good. And closer to 80w is prime. But I have also 600w hps by Apollo horticulture. So I have the power .

.......
But my question to you guys is would my 300w led and 600w hps be a good combo for a 4x4.? I'm unsure. Any of you currently running a 4x4? If so what's your experience with the amount of lighting?


Also on the tube at NoobGrow

I am running 2 600W HPS and 2 100x3W LEDs in my 4x8 flowering room.
The HPS are on 10.5 hrs per day and the Dual LEDs are on for 3 hrs per day.

One 4x4 half of the room has 1 600W HPS flanked by both 100x3W LEDs, while the other has 1 600W HPS.

I've only grown 4 plants from the HPS with the LED saddlebags installed for the last 4-5 weeks of flower. The buds are denser than with the HPS alone, but the yield seems about the same.

 

[NoobGrowUtube]

Nice so if I upgrade to 4x4, one more Mars 300w LED should be perfect. I also have some supplemental lighting with five 5w LvJing LED light strips.


Also on the tube at NoobGrow

 

[NoobGrowUtube]

Little embarrassed.....what's an LED saddlebag? From what I see its attachment light strips for an hps or mh setup...!?


Also on the tube at NoobGrow

 

[josh223]

Little embarrassed.....what's an LED saddlebag? From what I see its attachment light strips for an hps or mh setup...!?


Also on the tube at NoobGrow

Radogast means having LEDs on each side of his HPS. You can go back to the last page of this journal and see a pic he posted of his set up. There's also one of mine.

 

[Radogast]

Little embarrassed.....what's an LED saddlebag? From what I see its attachment light strips for an hps or mh setup...!?


Also on the tube at NoobGrow

Radogast means having LEDs on each side of his HPS. You can go back to the last page of this journal and see a pic he posted of his set up. There's also one of mine.

Sorry. The shorthand words inside my head slipped out into the real world. What I meant by saddlebag lights.

Radogast 2016 - The Neverending Growing

 

[NoobGrowUtube]

Oh okay. Why do that?


Also on the tube at NoobGrow

 

[Radogast]

Oh okay. Why do that?


Also on the tube at NoobGrow

I strapped the LEDs onto the HPS hood because I have limited space and strong hanging points between the existing lights. (rafters hidden above a plastic ceiling.) I can also control the angle of the lights this way. - - I'm not suggesting this as a great way to hang lights - then again, it only took a few minutes with a single knotted piece of rope.