4x4 Gorilla grow tent - 250 watt HPS/MH set up - newbie

GrowingAbroad said:

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Oh ok, i thought you were talking about LED. If it's hps then your ok with 600 watts Try to get both a MH and HPS tho. MH for Veg and HPS for bloom. Just HPS is possible but by using HM for Veg you're able to keep your plants a lot shorter and more compact.

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Yea I also found a fox farm starter bundle for $50 that includes 3-16 oz bottles of nutrients(tiger bloom, grow big and big bloom) and 1 12 quart bag of ocean forest. I'm pretty sure ima need more soil but ima get that at home depot because they got a 40 quart for $30 bucks of fox farm soil.

Jinggos78 said:

Yea I also found a fox farm starter bundle for $50 that includes 3-16 oz bottles of nutrients(tiger bloom, grow big and big bloom) and 1 12 quart bag of ocean forest. I'm pretty sure ima need more soil but ima get that at home depot because they got a 40 quart for $30 bucks of fox farm soil.

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No idea about those nutrients and soil seeing i'm not from the US but i read a lot about it here and it seems like a good thing so your well on you're way that's for sure.

Jinggos78 said:

Yea I also found a fox farm starter bundle for $50 that includes 3-16 oz bottles of nutrients(tiger bloom, grow big and big bloom) and 1 12 quart bag of ocean forest. I'm pretty sure ima need more soil but ima get that at home depot because they got a 40 quart for $30 bucks of fox farm soil.

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You don’t need all the shiny label nutrients. Don’t get hung up on thc% because one if this is your first grow you won’t come close To that number. Second thc is only a small factor to consider with weed. Third that’s number is based off of the phenotype they chose and more or less hype. How are you going to cool the grow? what size pots are you going to use?

Jinggos78 said:

There is a hps/mh 600 watt kit made by ipower for $129 on Amazon with a 10% discount coupon code thingy but that one has a wing and I'm worried about the heat so now I'm looking at the hooded one for $151 plus I spotted a ventilation kit (6 inch inline fan, ducting and a carbon filter) for $94.

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My bad. I assumed you were looking at a 600w LED on Amazon. I don't think I've seen HID lighting on there. Must have to do a specific search for it. GL

twentyeight.threefive said:

My bad. I assumed you were looking at a 600w LED on Amazon. I don't think I've seen HID lighting on there. Must have to do a specific search for it. GL

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I just went to amazon.com any typed in "600w hps" and found this deal pretty quick:

PJ Diaz said:

I just went to amazon.com any typed in "600w hps" and found this deal pretty quick:

Amazon.com : VIVOSUN Hydroponic 600 Watt HPS MH Grow Light Wing Reflector Kit - Easy to Set up, High Stability & Compatibility (Enhanced Version) : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Amazon.com : VIVOSUN Hydroponic 600 Watt HPS MH Grow Light Wing Reflector Kit - Easy to Set up, High Stability & Compatibility (Enhanced Version) : Patio, Lawn & Garden

www.amazon.com

View attachment 4941786

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Like I just said, you'd have to do a specific search including "HPS" like you just did... I guess if you search 600w grow light it does show results further down for HID.

I don't shop for lights on Amazon so there you go.

It all depends on your weather. If I lived in the states or Thailand or Mexico. I'd opt for an outdoor grow. Although with so many people growing now. There's more chance of plants being pollinated from random pollen. I'm in the UK and it's both. Autos and a few choice photos outside. Photos need to be early flowering or your fucked come October and rot sets in. But inside is the way to guarantee an in pollinated crop and you just have to live with smaller plants. I can grow monsters. But with the weather the way it is, it's mostly a waste of time as rot sets in. Indoors is more controllable and you can guarantee some nice fat colas if grown right. I'm more of an aesthetics guy. I like one plant in its natural form Xmas tree shape or I'll take 9 clones and fill the tent up with them and do a sea of green. That produces the best overall results

You would do well to get a multi wattage ballast if you can vent the tent ok. 250/400/600 watt and start them off on 250 using a 250 watt bulb. Never try dimming a larger bulb down to a lower wattage. This is a recapie for disaster. Always match the wattage setting on the ballast to a bulb of the same wattage. So start them off on the 250 w and when you flip them use a 400 watt bulb and give them the 600 watt for the last few weeks
But if you have a 1m x 1m tent. Then start them off on a 250. Then go for the 400 and switch to 600 for flowering. Nice crop especially if you go the clone root sea of green can't go wrong

go go kid said:

You would do well to get a multi wattage ballast if you can vent the tent ok. 250/400/600 watt and start them off on 250 using a 250 watt bulb. Never try dimming a larger bulb down to a lower wattage. This is a recapie for disaster. Always match the wattage setting on the ballast to a bulb of the same wattage. So start them off on the 250 w and when you flip them use a 400 watt bulb and give them the 600 watt for the last few weeks
But if you have a 1m x 1m tent. Then start them off on a 250. Then go for the 400 and switch to 600 for flowering. Nice crop especially if you go the clone root sea of green can't go wrong

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He already has a 250watt hps so he could start using that one for the first 1-2 weeks and after that just use the 600 watt. Although if you have no problem with you're electricity bill i would start off with the 600 MH right away and switch to HPS at the second week of flowering when the stretching becomes less. More light is more growth in my opinion.

go go kid said:

You would do well to get a multi wattage ballast if you can vent the tent ok. 250/400/600 watt and start them off on 250 using a 250 watt bulb. Never try dimming a larger bulb down to a lower wattage. This is a recapie for disaster. Always match the wattage setting on the ballast to a bulb of the same wattage. So start them off on the 250 w and when you flip them use a 400 watt bulb and give them the 600 watt for the last few weeks
But if you have a 1m x 1m tent. Then start them off on a 250. Then go for the 400 and switch to 600 for flowering. Nice crop especially if you go the clone root sea of green can't go wrong

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I've run various hps dimmed over the years and never had an issue. Once I even accidentally ran a 400w lamp on a 600w ballast, and had no issues. I didn't realize that I had the wrong lamp in until the run was over.

As previously mentioned, get a good plan for cooling or you’re wasting your time and money.

The kit he mentioned earlier does have an in and outlet to cool it down so if he puts a 100/125mm fan on it it should be pretty cool even during the summer.

PJ Diaz said:

I've run various hps dimmed over the years and never had an issue. Once I even accidentally ran a 400w lamp on a 600w ballast, and had no issues. I didn't realize that I had the wrong lamp in until the run was over.

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Wow that's insane haha. Would have thought the 400watt bulb would have died pretty soon. How was your yield? Did you notice any difference? I'm guessing there should be right?

I didn't even think that was possible without blowing the bulb up

GrowingAbroad said:

Wow that's insane haha. Would have thought the 400watt bulb would have died pretty soon. How was your yield? Did you notice any difference? I'm guessing there should be right?

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go go kid said:

I didn't even think that was possible without blowing the bulb up

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Yeah, that's what I thought too. The only reason I noticed was because I was switching to a CMH lamp and different ballast for the last week or two or flowering. When I realized that I'd been running the 400w at 600 for 7 or 8 weeks with no issue, I was surprised myself. I really didn't notice much difference in yield to be honest. I mean at the end of the day I was still hitting the plants with 600 watts.

So here's the stuff I plan to buy soon.
The ventilation kit will be mounted on the top sucking the air out of the tent through the carbon filter and the second fan will be on the bottom of the tent sucking fresh air in. This picture has the light kit I plan to buy aswell. I wanted to buy the hooded version but honestly I perfer the wing and it saves me a few bucks which is nice.

Lordhooha said:

You don’t need all the shiny label nutrients. Don’t get hung up on thc% because one if this is your first grow you won’t come close To that number. Second thc is only a small factor to consider with weed. Third that’s number is based off of the phenotype they chose and more or less hype. How are you going to cool the grow? what size pots are you going to use?

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Forgot to tag you but I took a screenshot of what I plan to buy for ventilation and posted it on the thread.

Jinggos78 said:

So here's the stuff I plan to buy soon.
The ventilation kit will be mounted on the top sucking the air out of the tent through the carbon filter and the second fan will be on the bottom of the tent sucking fresh air in. This picture has the light kit I plan to buy aswell. I wanted to buy the hooded version but honestly I perfer the wing and it saves me a few bucks which is nice.

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As long as you have a big enough in and outlet to keep you're temps under control you should be fine.
Keep you're temps in mind in you're area. As long as you have cool temps during the day or night during the summer you should be ok.
I mean if its 30C outside while running it's going to be a problem cooling you're room unless you have an AC.