Second Grow....First Using 400 watt HPS

Using a mates 600 at the mo and due to inadequate ventilation i'm strugglin to keep the temp in the 90's. I get my own ballast for my 400 on wed wen i get money but do i A get a lumatek with dimmer or get a standard 400 watt ballast and run an extractor? Please please help?

It definetly sounds like you need to get you ventalation system in check. I wouldn't go for a digital ballast if you can't afford one I would get a magnetic and a inline fan for exhaust if that is where I had to put my money.

Ok so i visited my local hydro store and the guys there are great(wondered why i wasn't stickin with cfls instead of spendin cash on hps. I really couldn't answer,so just said same reason we all do.....curiousity and wondering what the difference is plus i'm now addicted to this botany lark) and so i ordered myself a nice cool tube reflector with inline fan that fits on the end to pull the heat out my room, a 400 watt ballast and 5 metres of ducting to get the hot air out. Pics will go up as soon as i have my gear.If i put ducting on the other end of the cool tube, will the extractor pull cool air in the other end? Cheers for the advice pazuzo be good to have you along to help guide me.......i just did the flip on sunday of as yet unsexed and unknown strain. 1 was vegged by my missus with cfl's and one she did in natural light so wen i do get pics expect them to look totally different to each other.....i gotta bad feelin about one of them but time will tell and thats half the fun!!!!!

Ok one quick question......i'm using soil and my grow room could probably take 6 30 cm pots in 2 rows of 3.......the room is silver lined......some mylar,a lot of it not but cheaper survival blanket material. In theory how many plants could i flower with a 400m watt dual spec sunmaster?

Ok so got all my eqipment and most of it is in situ now......not got the fan wired yet as i think he's given me the wrong size for the cool tube and ducting but the cool tube alone has brought the temp down to a more realistic 85-90 farenheight......pics to follow as soon as the whole 'set up' is finished cause i think we've all seen a cool tube before eh?

6 inch extractor attached to the end of my cool tube using a reducer and 2 metres of ducting so that the fan is outside the growspace too then the other 3 metres of ducting head right out my wee grow room and worms up to just underneath the window so now the temp is a more realistic 87 farenheight.......Pics will have to wait till the weekend wen i can get them out from under the sodium as my camera don't like the mixed spectrum and the pics were all gammy! Anybody with any tips about using a sodium and or cool tube reflector would be most welcome to chip in with some hints and tips.......please?

Here's a few tips, first off if you run your lights at night you will cool another 5°
If you start having a problem with high humidity because of all the foliage in there disconnect the intake and suck the air right out of the cab through the cool tube.
Taking pictures under a hps is a pain, you get a much better pic when you do it right after the lights go out using a flash.

The best way to grow under a light is with a screen, goggle SCROG
You don't wanna pack a bunch of plants under there. I would go with six max.
You can get the same amount out of 2 plants as you can with six. Just veg them longer. Its not the amount of plants, its the amount of bud sites.

Feel free to check out my cabinet grows for ideas. I'll know if you post a question. The links are below in my sig.

I dont have an intake as such cruzer just an exhaust fan to help with the heat and i keep all my water and parapahanaelia well away from the plants so humidity at the mo seems a ok. Termps a steady 84 durin the day and evey morning i look in wen i just turned the light on its saying 77. So so far so goo. I'll take pics tonight at lights out som you can see my set up. You can totally tell the one vegged with cfls and the one done naturally.....

just found this second thread, you should b fine with a passive intake. you can get ya light much closer to the canopy with the cooltube. bet u lookin forward to those nugs ur gona get with that 400w.lookin 4ward 2 seeing ya next pics. happy growing peace.

best pics i can get at the mo

cool tube leads to this snd then vents out the grow area completey

And confirmed atlunchtime today they're both ladies.......and that ain't even the femmed seeds......Still dont have a clue what strain they are tho......proof of the pudding and all that!

I'll get a cupla pics up tonight at lights out away to get Ionic bloom formula.....comes highly reccomended. Anyone else got any ideas?.....thought about bat guano.....hmmm?

Ha!
Once we get a taste of growing we want more. In Hydro I've used general hydroponics grow micro and bloom, then there flora grow and bloom then their additives like flora nectar and kool bloom. Next I did Fox Farms, big bud, Tiger bloom, chi ching. Next was Dutch masters line up, there is like six of those but honestly I couldnt tell the difference between the three brands.

Then I wanted larger plants so I went soil, mixed FF ocean forest, Black gold, worm castings, bat guano, seabird guano, watered down with fish emulsion and super thrive. Then used flora vida grow and bloom last year. Now I got Earth juice bloom and hygrozyme.

Funny thing is, Although I have spent several hundred dollars in nutrients the plants will grow just fine in soil straight from the yard. I've done that too.

Some pics of the girls.........2 different strains i think. One a dark green one quite yellow/light green. Time will tell......

Once we get a taste of growing we want more. In Hydro I've used general hydroponics grow micro and bloom, then there flora grow and bloom then their additives like flora nectar and kool bloom. Next I did Fox Farms, big bud, Tiger bloom, chi ching. Next was Dutch masters line up, there is like six of those but honestly I couldnt tell the difference between the three brands.

Then I wanted larger plants so I went soil, mixed FF ocean forest, Black gold, worm castings, bat guano, seabird guano, watered down with fish emulsion and super thrive. Then used flora vida grow and bloom last year. Now I got Earth juice bloom and hygrozyme.

Funny thing is, Although I have spent several hundred dollars in nutrients the plants will grow just fine in soil straight from the yard. I've done that too.

Click to expand...

So true.....i like the simpicity of ionics range though. Dutch masters looks way too complicated!

The one with the bad cfl burn is the one my missus did.......the node groth is tight as fuck and should be a decent yield!

Ok so update so far.......6 inch cool tube with sunmaster dual spec 400 watt sodium bulb,sunmaster 400 watt ballast,1metre of ducting leading to an unknown german brand of extractor wth 2 metres of ducting leading from the fan to a stealth set up involving a cd rack full of cds on a window sill. Room is consistently 82 degrees farenheight during the day and the girls seem to be thriving. Looks like 2 different strains at the mo.....here's hoping! Sorry for the crap photos,i'm using my phones cam at the mo. Still using the Advanced Nutrients Bloom formula on it's own till i get down to my hydro shop for some ionics 1 part freed and some worm castings.......thats about it really. Oh one question......If humidity does become an issue how do i deal with it?


The one that was vegged using the cfl's is reaching for the stars like.....never seen leaves reach so much and the tube is only about 4 inches from the plant tops......was wanting to try topping one but dunno how to do it cos i been a lazy ass bastard the last wee while.......

thats all the pics i got at the mo.....looks like theres gonna be feckin loadsa bud sites!

Is it normal for the leaves to grow so vertical? Is this what happens with a sodium cause it's that wee bit further away? Cause 2nd pic from th left is how it grows.......it reaches for the stars then drops into place whem it's heavy enough. I'm enjoying this grow a lot more possibly cause things seem to bee movin a lot faster........trichromes appearing left right and centre. I hope what the guy in my hydro store told me is true. After much questioning about why i wasnt stickin with cfls etc and decidin on a set up,the assistant casually remarked....'aye the difference between cfl and sodium is that wi cfl you get a pund(scottish slang for pound) o raspberries but wi soudium you can get up tae 3/4 pund' Fingers crossed cos last of my first grow disappeared in less than 2 weeks! hehe