First grow help

seaneff

Member
Hi vento

Once again a most excellent and helpful post, I will certainly look in to purchasing this stuff. However I was wondering as to your thoughts on a dual spectrum light to start with. I remember seeing 125w lamp for around £25, do you think this would be a possibility?
 

Vento

Well-Known Member
Hi vento

Once again a most excellent and helpful post, I will certainly look in to purchasing this stuff. However I was wondering as to your thoughts on a dual spectrum light to start with. I remember seeing 125w lamp for around £25, do you think this would be a possibility?
Hi Sean :)

Yeah you can get a dual spectrtum ( Red and Blue ) Known as Purple for a full grow , A higher wattage purple would be better as im told it just uses two seprate filiments and splits the wattage between both ... so a 300 w consits of a 150 w red and a 150 w blue ... You may just be better off getting a 200 w red and a 200 w blue and switching to the red when you change to the flower cycle ?.

Im not big on full CLF grows ... Some people are happy with it ... But im going for bigger more potent buds , For yourself it might be the way forward though untill you can get a space sorted out and have the cash to move up to HPS :)

The advantage with CLF is you dont need a balest , They just plug straight into the wall ( or timer ) , You can step up to a Dual spectrum that way to , But it will mean you will need a balest AND a contactor to stop your timers burning out , You can buy a compleate kit ... Reflector ... Lamp .... Balest ... easy rollers.. But that ups the price a bit .... and then you have to think about venting your space a bit more , So you could end up having to buy a bigger extraction fan and larger ducting at a later date .

If you went for a dual spectrum HPS and a bigger fan and duct sizes from the start .... you will get larger crops ! ... so its a ballence act .

I still go with my first bit of advice , Do what your doing now ... Learn the crack ... save ... learn .... And get a space sorted out , Then just go out and get all your kit in one go aand have it all instaled and tested ready to go :)

If you can't wait ? lol .... Go with the CLF grow ... but expect to maybe have to shell out again later on when you decide that you want bigger crops :)... Its a juggling act i know .... Budget allways determins what you do , Im sitting here right now wishing i had gone for a Cool tube ( coz my temps are crazy ) and having to juggle it out untill i get one tomorrow heheh .

Bottom line is this ... we can only advise you ... what and how you do it is all down to you ... BUT you ARE on the RIGHT track atm :)

Hope that helps a bit :)

Enjoy the vids ? :)

by the way ... see that little star at the bottom under my name ... click that to show some Love :)

V:peace:
 

seaneff

Member
Thanks vento didn't know about it splitting the wattage, thats good to know. Yeah the vids were really good learned a lot of new stuff from them.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Vento again.

Seems I been giving you a little too much love lol

Peace.
 

jondamon

Well-Known Member
Hi Seaneff

Vento seems to have beaten me to it im afraid.

I cant argue with what he has told you to get. Except that you do not have a flowering spectrum CFL which you will need if you want to harvest any buds from those plants.

Look for a CFL like what he has found you for veg.

BUt if you have the budget for it you could always get yourself a little 250w HPS lamp and ballast and then use a dual spectrum lamp which means you could veg and flower using the same bulb.

Something like this from VENTO's new favourite shop

http://www.homehydro.co.uk/index.php/lighting/250w-hydroponics-lighting-kit-powerplant-daylight-kit.html

This would mean that you then would need to get nutes medium PH stuff.

if you used this light on 2 or 3 plants you could get a good few ounces once you dial in your technique of growing.

However as you can see its not cheap to get started.

You can go cheap but you get out what you put in.

I would save and buy the things you can until you are able to get everything that you will need.

J
 

Vento

Well-Known Member
ehe Jono :) i love you !! ( but i can't rep you :) )

I forgot to post that link :)

Does the purple CLF ( red and blue mixed ) not work for flowering ?.. lol now im confused :)

But yeah , For Mr Sean here ... its clear he's doing the right things so far ... a little bit of patience and a bit of a bigger budget and he can start as he means to go on rather than setteling for the full CLF grow ....Im going into talks with this store about a Budget starter set up , They are experienced ....And the prices are spot on in my opinion .... But im pushing for a " Noob Grower Set up " that will include everything needed for a first grow in one package , I have allready pointed them to a load of stuff thats a bit more budget ... Things like ... a 2 in 1 PH & EC meter pack £35
http://www.grotec.co.uk/products.php?DepartmentID=10



Or a Budget EC meter £17.99 http://www.virtualvillage.co.uk/mini-digital-ec-meter-for-water-quality-testing-001490-049.html

This will encourage people wanting to grow but are on a tight budget or that may be frightened off by the prices of equiptment ....we all want to start off as cheap as we can just in case we are not suited to it or things go wrong .... can allways upgrade later .

I'm growing for PERSONAL use only and to have a hobby that i enjoy .... And to SAVE money .... and not have to hang about with the naughty boys :)

But for " Some " people ... you can pretty much get all your lay out cash back off your first crop :hump: .... cough ! cough ! :)

/me spins around on my heels and walks away whisteling ...;)

EDIT : btw Sean ... you might want to turn your PM's back on bro :)
 

jondamon

Well-Known Member
HI Vento

If i were choosing CFL's i would get the spectrum for the stage rather than a dual CFL. No harm in mixing up the Spectrums eg 125w 6400k + 125w 2700k + 125w 6400k if you have the room but then by the time you use this amount and buy this amount of CFL's you may aswell have bought a 250w HPS with the Dual spec lamp.

Sean , if i were you i would look to go down the HPS route. Save now and spend on what you need first. Its better to get everything in one go then you can setup test and then start.

Rather than having to alter and rearrange while you are growing. Its not an easy thing to do while you are growing making alterations. TRUST ME IVE BEEN THERE! Making holes in ceilings to vent out of during a grow. Not FUN at all!

make a list now of what you will need.

If you have a confined space available for growing look into cooltubes and INLINE fans etc as this will enable you to get he best out of your HPS lamp.

J
 

Bonzi Lighthouse

Well-Known Member
Hi vento

Once again a most excellent and helpful post, I will certainly look in to purchasing this stuff. However I was wondering as to your thoughts on a dual spectrum light to start with. I remember seeing 125w lamp for around £25, do you think this would be a possibility?
Shop around, 125w are about $50 US

http://www.amazon.com/Feliz-Grow-Light-2700K-Reflector/dp/B003JJLZL2/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1280247478&sr=8-10
https://www.jollygreenhydro.com/onlinestore/product.php?productid=17135&cat=395&page=1

IMO T5 HO kicks CFL all day every day:

https://www.jollygreenhydro.com/onlinestore/product.php?productid=16901&cat=252&page=1
https://www.jollygreenhydro.com/onlinestore/product.php?productid=17132&cat=252&page=1
 

Vento

Well-Known Member
HI Vento

If i were choosing CFL's i would get the spectrum for the stage rather than a dual CFL. No harm in mixing up the Spectrums eg 125w 6400k + 125w 2700k + 125w 6400k if you have the room but then by the time you use this amount and buy this amount of CFL's you may aswell have bought a 250w HPS with the Dual spec lamp.



J
Yeah i fully agree ... Duel spectrum CLF's are a bit of a gimick really , Better to have dedicated bulbs for the process .. but as you said ... all said and done your better off going for a HPS from the get go .

I need to update my J with some pic's .... Rigged up a little baby grow box ..and picked up some NICE bargins at the car boot on sunday ... LOL wait till your see my " Turntable " hahah :)

Sean ... all good advice here man ... J and i have both suffred the upgrading as you go syndrom ... and its NOT fun ! :)
For me it was just how it was and as much as i tryed to plan ahead my budget controlled everything so i was getting bits as and when i needed them ( still am ) ... Looking back now i wish i had just got everything set up first ... Ran it all and tested it all to make sure everything was smooth .... you can do that a bit at a time .... but it can be stress on you and your plants .... Last week i put a 600 w over my plants after being under a CLF and my room was like an oven and i had to battle it out as best as i could to keep temps down ...and while i have it sussed out now ... i still have to get a cooltube ready for when i start to flower next week .... or all the hard work so far will just have been a waste of time ...you live and learn ... thats why we are here i guess :).... Better to learn from others mistakes though :P
 

seaneff

Member
Miss one day and I got all these posts to catch up on lol. First up I just want to thank every one for their input. I think I'll take your advice and start savin the pennies that HPS looks the business :) As I said after I get back to college I should have the money, student loans are great lol.

And finally to Vento I didnt know my PMs were off lol I'll go see if I can work out how to turn them on.
 
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