Im using 400 watts CFL... would 400 watts of hps be much hotter?

labratlee

labratlee

Well-Known Member
hey there.

I'm 5 to 6 weeks into first grow. Growing 4 autos under 400w of cfl. Its getting pretty hot and I'm not getting the penitration I need. I have a 600w hps but it gets me a couple of degrees Celsius higher than cfl. I was wondering if I got a dimmable ballast I could run my hps at 400 or even 250 watts.... Would this be cooler than the 400w cfl's? Any input would be greatly received. If I'm gonna change then I need to now for bigger yeild.

cheers guys.

peace
 
GemuGrows

GemuGrows

Well-Known Member
Honestly man its likely that using the 600w hps, even if it brings your temps a bit higher would likely significantly increase your yield.

Yes there are several dimmable ballasts and they are very easy to use. You can even run a 400w light on a 1000w ballast dimmed down to 400w if you want; or you could have a 1000w in the 1000w ballast dimmed down to 400w.

But you do not want a 400w in a 1000w ballast set at 1000w.

^Just an example

Either way using the HID will very likely be warmer than whatever CFL setup you have especially if the HID overall wattage is higher than your CFLs, but the significant light increase is likely worth it in this case.

some ballasts are 1000/750/600/400

some are 600/400/250

etc... You have lots of options if you want to use the HID
 
labratlee

labratlee

Well-Known Member
the 600w hps brings my temps up to about 33 Celsius. I read that at that temperature growing bacically stops and the plants could even die. Its a real shame.. Id love to run the 600hps but even my 405w cfl temps are peaking at 26/27 Celsius round mid day. If I was able to get a better extraction system or a cool tube then maybe it would work. Where my tent is at the moment tho I cant really have noisy fans etc. I'm gonna try figure something out as id like a bigger yeild. At the moment id be amazed if I got an oz from 4 plants. Unless they magically produce alot more bud size in the next 3 to 4 weeks lol.
 
GemuGrows

GemuGrows

Well-Known Member
labratlee said:
the 600w hps brings my temps up to about 33 Celsius. I read that at that temperature growing bacically stops and the plants could even die. Its a real shame.. Id love to run the 600hps but even my 405w cfl temps are peaking at 26/27 Celsius round mid day. If I was able to get a better extraction system or a cool tube then maybe it would work. Where my tent is at the moment tho I cant really have noisy fans etc. I'm gonna try figure something out as id like a bigger yeild. At the moment id be amazed if I got an oz from 4 plants. Unless they magically produce alot more bud size in the next 3 to 4 weeks lol.
Click to expand...
14 - 4 1226.png 14 - 2 1226.png 14 - 5 1226.png
These are some plants I grew at probbaly 95f, so probably like 34c.

600w of CFL would not have touched these results. It was an early grow of mine, there were some nutrient problems, but they grew fine.

I guarantee you it gets over 100f/~35c in Africa, Jamaica, Mexico, etc...

This was with cheep 600w hps, magnetic ballast, and the cheapest reflector I could get. Again even 600w of CFL, even if it kept my temps down by another 10-15% would not have touched these results

Not that you shouldnt worry about temps, but greatly increasing your light output is far more important (to an extent) than worrying about a few degrees.

14 - 3 1226.png

^Once again, these ladies had their issues, but it was in a very small warm space with a 600w HPS, and no 600W of flourescent could have touched those results or kept flowering the 5 1/5 foot tree I accidentally made

Alls i'm sayin is, if somebody told you like 95f/33c woudl kill your plants, somebody told you wrong. These ladies grew in warmer temps than that, and they clearly were not dead
 
labratlee

labratlee

Well-Known Member
ok mate that's awesome. I will look at getting my hps rigged up. The only thing I can think of about the temps is that I'm growing autoflowers so they would be in 32 heat for 20 hours a day, not 12/12 like photo period. Were your plants photo period or autoflowers? What strain were they.... They look lovely.

cheers
 
labratlee

labratlee

Well-Known Member
Cam Roll said:
Is a 400w or 600w HPS compatible with your standard light bulb fixture?
Click to expand...
I don't think so.. I think I could put the bulb into my CFL reflector as its the same size but my CFL has the ballast built into the bulb so it wouldn't work. I have a 600w hps and ballast but I'm not using it because it gets to hot. What ya thinking mate?
 
Cam Roll

Cam Roll

Member
labratlee said:
I don't think so.. I think I could put the bulb into my CFL reflector as its the same size but my CFL has the ballast built into the bulb so it wouldn't work. I have a 600w hps and ballast but I'm not using it because it gets to hot. What ya thinking mate?
Click to expand...
I am running 9 CFLs in a small space and my grow is going well, but I know how much HPS increases yield, and obviously that's great. My temps run a little high sometimes, and my girls just started flowering so I am mostly concerned about temps.
 
labratlee

labratlee

Well-Known Member
this is my first grow so only
Cam Roll said:
I am running 9 CFLs in a small space and my grow is going well, but I know how much HPS increases yield, and obviously that's great. My temps run a little high sometimes, and my girls just started flowering so I am mostly concerned about temps.
Click to expand...
experience with cfl. They don't give the same penitration a hps so you don't get fat drnse buds... They ear alot more aery. I'm only using 2 bulbs 1 300 w above and 100 in the middle. I wish I had lots of smaller bulbs to move around and get in real close.. You wanna be an inch away from your plants. If u can keep it like that, you will get some good bud.. I think id rather a 250 hps than 400 watts cfl. Cfl's. Vet pretty hot in a small space too. They ain't a cool as most people think.
 
GemuGrows

GemuGrows

Well-Known Member
labratlee said:
ok mate that's awesome. I will look at getting my hps rigged up. The only thing I can think of about the temps is that I'm growing autoflowers so they would be in 32 heat for 20 hours a day, not 12/12 like photo period. Were your plants photo period or autoflowers? What strain were they.... They look lovely.

cheers
Click to expand...
yep photoperiod feminized/hermaphrodite plants of random strains.

They "liked" the 600w better than any flourescents I possibly could have provided them
 
C

churchhaze

Well-Known Member
labratlee said:
hey there.

I'm 5 to 6 weeks into first grow. Growing 4 autos under 400w of cfl. Its getting pretty hot and I'm not getting the penitration I need. I have a 600w hps but it gets me a couple of degrees Celsius higher than cfl. I was wondering if I got a dimmable ballast I could run my hps at 400 or even 250 watts.... Would this be cooler than the 400w cfl's? Any input would be greatly received. If I'm gonna change then I need to now for bigger yeild.

cheers guys.

peace
Click to expand...
400W of HPS would generate the same amount of heat as 400W of HPS not including the ballasts, 400W of heat. It would also do a much better job at growing than 400W of cfl.
 
Son of a collier

Son of a collier

Well-Known Member
GemuGrows said:
View attachment 3442936 View attachment 3442937 View attachment 3442938
These are some plants I grew at probbaly 95f, so probably like 34c.

600w of CFL would not have touched these results. It was an early grow of mine, there were some nutrient problems, but they grew fine.

I guarantee you it gets over 100f/~35c in Africa, Jamaica, Mexico, etc...

This was with cheep 600w hps, magnetic ballast, and the cheapest reflector I could get. Again even 600w of CFL, even if it kept my temps down by another 10-15% would not have touched these results

Not that you shouldnt worry about temps, but greatly increasing your light output is far more important (to an extent) than worrying about a few degrees.

View attachment 3442941

^Once again, these ladies had their issues, but it was in a very small warm space with a 600w HPS, and no 600W of flourescent could have touched those results or kept flowering the 5 1/5 foot tree I accidentally made

Alls i'm sayin is, if somebody told you like 95f/33c woudl kill your plants, somebody told you wrong. These ladies grew in warmer temps than that, and they clearly were not dead
Click to expand...
Yes i have a 1000w hps in a 1.2 tent and the plants do great up to a point, yield is reduced with high temps, if ur in a tent try closing the vents it sounds counter intuitive but its about airflow not ventilation if u get my point.
im switching to cfl's in about a weeks time so that i can put the tent away and grow in a room with maybe double the number of plants, to compensate for the lesser lumens.
how close to the plants ...... my 1000w has to be 24 inches above my plants whereas cfl 300 w maybe 6-8 inches.... i'll have 20 odd girls under 2 300w cfls + 10x 2700k cfls 45 watts equiv each.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top