Hey RUI,

Pictures of my set up are as follows:
1. Full flower chamber
2. Full veg chamber
3. Cloning rack
4. Flowering plant shot

Quick question, Should i switch from 60 watts standard fluoro tubes to 50w metal halide?

i have 4 standard 15 w tubes, and the light i'm looking at is this one

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...-28&lpage=none

If I were to switch, I will be remote ballasting and cool tubing the light like the current hps, and plumbing it together with the current cool tube in my grow. I will create a 90 degree bend in the ducting from the one cool tube to the other so as no light spills through the ducting to the flowering chamber. Then i would upgrade my current 110 cfm pc fan that is extracting from the cool tube to a nice spiffy 220 cfm pc fan to deal with the added static pressure of the longer ducting on a speed controller to deal with the noise. Also i would switch one or two of the current fluoro tubes to above the cloning rack that is on the right side of the veg chamber.

Ok all that said, i know that lumens and efficiency are much greater when the two options are compared. Also the added heat should not be a problem as i am completely removing it from the grow room via one long cool tube.

My question is will the growth rate be significantly better to warrant the switch?

I'm weary because i grew that fine plant in the flowering chamber with only those fluoros in 4 weeks time from cloning. So i'm not sure whether or not i will need the extra lumens when i'm already getting a pretty nice growth rate from the fluoros.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I guess i'm just looking for someone to verify that i should do the upgrade bc i'm drooling over that super cheap 50w metal halide and ballast for $44.

Oh on a side note wally world has a similar solution with a 100 w metal halide security light that i could remote ballast for $68. Does anyone think that i should spring the extra $24 for the extra 50 watts?

I'm currently running a 150w hps remote ballasted and would really love to dial in my veg and flower times to maintain a perpetual 4 week difference between each plant i have. So getting the right amount of growth during the 4 week veg to allow the entire screen to get filled during the 8 weeks flower is what i'm aiming for.

Thanks to anyone in advance.

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Bump

Haha no one ever wants to reply to my posts. I think they're too long for people to read at first. I'll have to work on that.

Anyone have any input? Just lookin for "GO FOR IT!" or "Don't bother."

Bump.

No one even wants to try?

There's no wrong answer here as i'm just asking for opinions.

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1st grow journal

go for the hid. if you are cool tubing it, there no need to worry about temps. Just a little extra electrical bill.

Check this site too, for good prices on ballasts:

http://www.plantlightinghydroponics....c-357_250.html

Saw your pics, I got the michael's cool tube as well....haha.

I'm doing a scrog too, just horizontal, I'm not all fancy like you.

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grow #2: Vertical Scrog - Casey Jones & Headband clones dwc 650w
grow #1.2: Purple Kush clones dwc 650w HPS + MH
grow #1: DIY DWC Scrog, 650w, Hindu Skunk, White Widow, from clones, lots of pics
It's either my ego, or the fact that I never leave the house... but sometimes I forget everything isn't about me.

Whats up bud, First of all you are starting a real debate over floro vs metal halide. It all boils down to you and what you want. You have to weigh the pros and cons
In my opinion floros are great!! They are cheep to buy and cheeper to run. They will run cooler than hid light. I have been using floros for the past 8 months for my veg chamber with no problems. but like I said its up to you.

Thanks for the reply Jig. I knew there was life out there.

Thanks for the link. I looked around and the prices are pretty good. It would actually be slightly cheaper to get the 100w metal halide parts from your link and assemble the light instead of buying the 100w metal halide light from wally world. It think the shipping's going to bite me in the ass though. It would also save me the work of disassembling the wally world light. Though that might have been my favorite part of the whole process.

Also do you think i need the 100w's of metal halide or would the 50w's be just as good in that very small space? Please keep in mind that with the cooltube i have now i am able to put my plants right up against it. I will be shooting for the same thing on the metal halide cool tube.

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1st grow journal

I like doing things big, I figure if you are thinking about 50, might as well go 100... but imo 50w would probably do just fine for your little situation. Like both me and Dirtfree are saying, really up to you.

I think both would be fine, one is just twice as much. Twice the electricity used, twice the heat, twice the growth??? I'm not sure, but if you don't have huge ambitions you might not need the 100

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grow #2: Vertical Scrog - Casey Jones & Headband clones dwc 650w
grow #1.2: Purple Kush clones dwc 650w HPS + MH
grow #1: DIY DWC Scrog, 650w, Hindu Skunk, White Widow, from clones, lots of pics
It's either my ego, or the fact that I never leave the house... but sometimes I forget everything isn't about me.

Thanks for the reply DirtFree you really made my day today. I didn't really realize what i had said until i saw youre reply.

I've been using fluoros with great success as well. I agree with everything that you said about them. The problem is that i'm just not getting the growth rate from the 60w fluoros that i want. It's throwing off my perpetual harvest schedule by having to veg the plants longer than i want. I know its kind of an objective question but i guess i'm having attachment issues with my fluoros and am sad that i'm deciding that its finally time for them to go. I guess looking at pure stats i will have 1.5-4 times my current lumens by upgrading to either metal halide so i should expect to at least 1.5-4 times my growth rate and since my veg time is 1.5 times the length i want it to be the metal halide would put the veg time just at where i want it.... good logic? Bad logic?

the 50w metal halide i linked to is such a find though. Its 50w which is 10 watts less than the fluoros. The 50w metal halide gives off approximately 3000 lumens, the 4 fluoros together are around 2,000 lumens so thats 1.5 times more lumens for 10 watts more efficient light. I would also be removing all the heat from the grow room created by the light by cooltubing the bulb and remote ballasting the light which is something i could not do with the flouros. I mean what's not to like right?

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1st grow journal

Good point, i don't have huge ambitions just enough green to keep two moderate smokers satisfied. Thanks a lot for your input this was exactly what i was looking for.

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1st grow journal

I love this site for 3 reasons:

1. Information

2. Sharing

3. Reassurance

__________________
grow #2: Vertical Scrog - Casey Jones & Headband clones dwc 650w
grow #1.2: Purple Kush clones dwc 650w HPS + MH
grow #1: DIY DWC Scrog, 650w, Hindu Skunk, White Widow, from clones, lots of pics
It's either my ego, or the fact that I never leave the house... but sometimes I forget everything isn't about me.