i used the 150 (or 125, its early memory sucks) for flower in my last grow along with a few standard CFL (that plant grew out of control) i kept her within inches and hindsight may have been a little too close. everything i know about CFL says "keep them close" but with that much wattage you'd think distance is OK. whats the average distance for the more "standard" HID, HPS and MH? I say take that distance, cut it in half, and start from there.


Shack

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Closet Grow in GH WaterFarmDIY Grow TentDIY Stealth Cabinet

Sound advice from Shack there DW. My gut feel would be that the 250 will have double the envelope of my old 125 watter, which was 2 - 6 inches, so 4 - 12 inches would sound about right.
I have some of those GH nutes and they are great. They are suitable for soil, hydro and coco so no need to change nutes if you change growing style either. They do need ph up in neutral water though.

you are too wise shack! from what they say about the cfl they said it was the equizalent to a 600w hps/mh what do you think? i will keep them with in a foot and monitor it.



mr v12 glad to see you again hope all is well! it would only make sense that double the wattage would mean more plan in distance well i will be playing arorund with the heights for sure. like i said to shack they say these 250w cfl are the equivalent to a 600w hps/mh/ what do you think? as for the GH guy said i shouldnt have to worry about ph with out local water supply but who knows ill watch it anyways...


seeds are germinating just waiting for those babies to crack

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Congrats with getting started ! Always a good feeling. So you have two of these lights ? One of each spectrum ? Awesome. Going to run the 6500k for veg ? Then switch to 2700k or whats your plan ?

If heat is a worry in your area, consider running 18/6 light schedule for veg. 18 hours on, and 6 hours off. My 6 hours off is normally from 1-7 pm when the day is hottest. My lights run mostly at night, when its a little cooler outside, and easier to manage temps. The warm lights at night will also help with super cold night-time temps.

I wouldn't go that far ! I'm a relative new guy too. Been growing in soil for awhile now, but just started with a hydro system. All new to me, but not nearly as "hard" as I was worried it would be. But I appreciate the comment man. I just happen to have some experience with these huge CFL's and I like to help. I'm subscribed to this thread, so I aint going anywhere .

I keep my lights CLOSE. I run chain, with hooks so I can constantly adjust them. I keep mine probably 2"-4" away at all times. You can put your hand 1" away from the bulb, and not get burned. Touch the bulb, and its a different story. Since I keep my plants so close, sometimes their growth over night will push them into the bulb some. Get a small burnt spot, and then i adjust the light, or bend the plant. No big deal ! Plants are plenty big enough by this time to not be effected much. Maybe 2-4 leaves have some burns, no biggie. Thing is, with a CFL, the lumens they produce dissipate super quickly over a short distance. Closer the better, without getting burned. The "hand test" always works. Put your hands where the plant is, and see how warm it is. If its too hot for your hand, its too hot for the plant. Adjust as needed. Like I said, a good 2" -4" works great for me.

At 12" you will have some stretching going on. For the first time, I tried a "stretch" to get more space between the nodes. 1 24 hour cycle the light was about 12" maybe more, and gave me a decent stretch and thinned it out a little.

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i'll be posting this to my own thread shortly after this.


essentially the unit runs on the principal of displacement, air pressure goes in and has no place to escape. this causes pressure to push water through the other line and with a control knob you can control the rate at which the "drip line" drips. i said it could free you for 5 days. the idea is, you have a large reservoir my ideal is a 5 gal bucket with tight fitting lid, drill two small holes in the lid one for the air pressure line to go in, and another for the drip line that hangs all the way down at the bottom and coils a bit to ensure it stays at the lowest level possible. i built a mock up last night using a 1 L bottle. my lowest drip rate was about 0.3 oz/min and wide open got about 12 oz/min. my guess is that with a larger tank (the 5 gal bucket) air pressure changes and you would have to do some dialing in to find you desired rate. one of my books (Buds For Less by RIU's very own GardenKnowm) states that he waters about a gallon a day in two installments to ensure overflow in the catch tray is absorbed. if you run the rig on a timer (at the rates listed above) 15 min of drip time on the hour, with lowest setting, gives you roughly a gallon a day. with a tank size of 5 gallons, in theory you could leave the plant for 5 days fully automated. this doesn't mean you would be feeding nutrients, you would probably give it a feeding the first day of the system and then the day after.

now to post all of this to my own thread, attached are some whiteboard drawings i did of the unit.


Shack

Attached Images

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	IMG_0630.jpg (38.5 KB, 23 views)
	IMG_0631.jpg (37.9 KB, 22 views)

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Closet Grow in GH WaterFarmDIY Grow TentDIY Stealth Cabinet

yes i bought one of each spectrum using the 6500k then the 2700k. it should all work out im hopeing i also unmounted my hood and put it on chain so i can adjust it accordingly. good plan with the light schedules luckily temps and not an issue so im as happy as can. also i think ill also grow in soil hydro just makes me scratch my head lol seems like a ton of work i could be wrong maybe just the initial setup is. and like i stated above i can now adjust my hood so i think im ready to rock! i checked my germing seeds the one LA Women has cracked and nothing from the three Wonder Women yet im a little worried though i shouldnt be seeing its only been a day not even.

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shack im not convinced that you thought of this contraption on your own.... just kidding. well thought out sir definetly come in use if i ever find myself in a situation where its needed.

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hey great loking start very well built and neat i could walk in there and never know what the hell it was i love it.+reps for that alone with more to come im sure once those babies start to grow im hooked have my own cfl grow going as well with four plant 2 blue mystics and 1 papaya 1 skunkxhaze in my closet..so on my spare time ill be watching you grow...peace pot prosperity...

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That dog will hunt!!

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thanks for the compliments friend hope your grow turns out well keep popping in here checken mine out and updating me on yours.

i sure hope so i have high expectations.




checked the seeds again still no wonder women action

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