LEC Sun System 315W CMH/Philips Elite Agro 930 - Virgin Flowering Run

HottyToddy

Active Member
Ok, weekly update for Day 8 of 12/12. As mentioned above had a bit of clean-up work last night. Forgot I took some shots after the clean-up, late night. There's one up-side to this culling of the BB male, better coverage for the 2 remaining plants, there's always a bright side ;)

So, pics going forward will be for the 2 fems left in there, a Jack The Ripper (JTR) clone, and Pure Power Plant (PPP) from seed.
Unfortunately these 2 were the smallest going in, but they'll produce some bud so on with the grow, will try to make the best of these two ladies.

For 8 days @ 12/12 they're looking well imo. Flowers are developing quickly, keep in mind that I'm counting from the flip to 12/12. I put them @14/10 for 9 days under the LED's to stretch them and get them pre-flowering. I find when I do this, besides stretching them, they begin pre-flowering. That makes the count from 12/12 pretty close to the seed bank recommended finish time. JTR should be 8 weeks total, PPP should be 10 weeks so I'll be harvesting these incrementally as they each finish.
The coverage in the remaining area of 2'x3' is awesome. All sides/ends are getting a ton of light. One thing I noticed with these lights in comparison to (LG) LED's is the penetration seems much deeper. You can clearly see light getting to the bottom and hitting the floor in between the plants. May be that it's white light and easier to see but it looks brighter all the way down/through the canopy. Should be able to validate later as the buds develop. I found the middle/lower buds with the LED's popcornish (and fluffy) beyond the top canopy last round.

Environment:
I've mentioned it in previous posts, these lights run surprisingly cool for this technology. They've only raised temps by 2-3F which was easy enough to adjust/manage by adjusting the variable controller for incoming air to 1/3rd throttle. Considering it's been in the mid 80's and 60-80% humidity outside since I turned them on, that's awesome. No worries with summer weather, was a bit of a concern going into this early summer. Keep in mind though, I just built this room and it has air conditioning being pulled in from the house HVAC system. Since I run the lights at night and keep the house at 68F for sleeping, any fresh air going into the room during lights on is 10-15F cooler than the flower room. So if I need to cool it down further or reduce humidity all I have to do is crank the variable controller and I get cooler/drier air in there.
Temps: Lights off: 70-75F, Lights on: 79-83
Humidity: Lights off: 55-58, Lights on: 46-49

Vertical SCROG?:
Oh yeah, one more thing Im playing with this round is the trellises you'll see in the pots. Saw them when picking up some stuff at the dollar store. They're not much different than the one's my grandpa used to make for his tomatoes, figured I'd try them. They're bamboo, about 28" high and the bottom 8" or so have 2 "feet" that stick into the sides of the pots. They make LST easier when needed in these fabric pots and I'm doing a sort of vertical scrog thing with them, guiding the main colas through the holes. Makes evening out the canopy easy, and open up the centre nicely to get lots of light down through the centre. I can tie the colas to the stakes if necessary and provide support when they get heavier. So far I'm liking them. Only down side I can see is once they're weaved through and they stretch out, they'll need to stay in there until harvest, but no different than a horizontal SCROG really.

Finally pics, here are the two remaining girls, group shots:
View attachment 3197395 View attachment 3197396

JTR:
View attachment 3197402 View attachment 3197403

PPP:
View attachment 3197404 View attachment 3197405

Cheers :bigjoint:
Hello @GroErr

I just read this entire thread and can't thank you enough for all the great info. I'm building out my basement and was wondering if you could go over in detail your vertical trellis? I've always used pvc horizontal trellis' and was wondering the benefits to your trellis vs. the traditional horizontal ones we all know and have seen. I tried looking at some of the pics showing it, but really couldn't see how it was put together.

Thanks for your help!
 

GroErr

Well-Known Member
jesus, 30 inches of bud from a lamp drawing less than 400
watts. grower skill played a big part as well, but the combo
of great skills and awesome tech... welcome to the future fellas.
Thanks for the pos comments, those lights in the right conditions are awesome. Would like to see some others run different configs with them like SCROG, vertical, they should do really well in any style grow.
 

GroErr

Well-Known Member
Hello @GroErr

I just read this entire thread and can't thank you enough for all the great info. I'm building out my basement and was wondering if you could go over in detail your vertical trellis? I've always used pvc horizontal trellis' and was wondering the benefits to your trellis vs. the traditional horizontal ones we all know and have seen. I tried looking at some of the pics showing it, but really couldn't see how it was put together.

Thanks for your help!
Hey thanks for popping by and glad you found it useful. Those trellises are really simple, why I like them. I bought them at a dollar store in the gardening section. They're like 3 for $2.50 or something. They have two "feet" sticking out the bottom that you just push into the soil at the edge of the pot, push to the bottom and they stay there. I put two per pot opposite each other. I originally got them for support and LST when I went to fabric pots, needed something and didn't want to drill/rip the fabric pots. Tried them in veg first and loved it and brought them into the flower room. They're great for LST early on, support as they get heavier, and somewhere to tie and keep the canopy even.

It's kind of like a vertical version of a SCROG, but I find this easier to do maintenance. I can move each plant individually, comes in handy sometimes to even the footprint.
DollarStore-Trellises.jpg

Cheers
 

HottyToddy

Active Member
Hey thanks for popping by and glad you found it useful. Those trellises are really simple, why I like them. I bought them at a dollar store in the gardening section. They're like 3 for $2.50 or something. They have two "feet" sticking out the bottom that you just push into the soil at the edge of the pot, push to the bottom and they stay there. I put two per pot opposite each other. I originally got them for support and LST when I went to fabric pots, needed something and didn't want to drill/rip the fabric pots. Tried them in veg first and loved it and brought them into the flower room. They're great for LST early on, support as they get heavier, and somewhere to tie and keep the canopy even.

It's kind of like a vertical version of a SCROG, but I find this easier to do maintenance. I can move each plant individually, comes in handy sometimes to even the footprint.
View attachment 3295178

Cheers
Cool! Thanks for the clarification. I'm gonna check them out, for sure.
 

Ace Yonder

Well-Known Member
At least it looks like, as far as I can tell, the ED37 aren't the ones listed in that recall notice at the top of that link. Because
"Recall Summary

Name of product: Metal Halide Lamps

Hazard: The internal wiring can arc causing the lamp to catch fire or the glass to shatter. This poses fire and laceration hazards. "

Is fucking terrifying
 

GroErr

Well-Known Member
At least it looks like, as far as I can tell, the ED37 aren't the ones listed in that recall notice at the top of that link. Because
"Recall Summary

Name of product: Metal Halide Lamps

Hazard: The internal wiring can arc causing the lamp to catch fire or the glass to shatter. This poses fire and laceration hazards. "

Is fucking terrifying
Yeah that's another MH bulb, it's been up there for a while. Philips publishes any recalls on their web site.

i dream of using them vertical bare bulb, heath robinson style, with
COB arrays over each plant to make up the difference in wattage.
That would be awesome, gotta get around to building some COBs, the two techs combined should grow great bud.
 

GroErr

Well-Known Member
Re-load time, didn't even bother turning off the second LEC, loaded the 3x 5Gal pots to replace that giant Blue Dream in the 7Gal pot last night. This is 1x JTR clone, 1x Blue Dream clone, and 1x Blue Pyramid from seed. Would have liked to veg these another week or two but needed the veg space so in they go! I have a little space at the end closest to the door, will up-pot and give 2x PPP clones a couple of days to settle, then throw them in. They were just extra clones I didn't want to cull, they'll go into 2Gal pots and should fit in the end, no training, just straight-up xmas tree style, last of the PPP's I'll run but have some crosses with it coming up in the smaller veg cabinet. The first 3x3 in 3Gal pots is Day 11 and they're throwing out small flowers, colas are starting to form and pushing up towards the lights. Have had to tie them up a couple of times this week to maintain an even canopy but considering there's 4x strains in 6 pots so far so good for canopy management.

Adjusted the lights to the same height and spread them to bleed into each other, great coverage and could stretch it another 12" if needed on the length. They could cover 3x7 imo side by side with a full/single load, I just won't have the veg space to do it for a while (in a single load). Lights are ~24" above the canopy as the 3x 5Gal were right around the same height as the stretched out 3Gal 3x3' plants. For a few days I'll have a 3x6 canopy, won't last long, those 3 new plants on the end will end up 8-10" above the 3Gal plants in the next 10 days, I'll raise that light once they hit 20" or so below the light. Expecting the original 3x3 in 3 Gal pots to settle down stretching this week and will end up around 22" below the light.

Interested to see the eventual yield between 6x 3 Gal and 3x 5 gGal pots. Won't have a direct overall comparison as I have a couple of new strains in the 3Gal pots but I do know what the Blue Dream and JTR can pull and have some in both runs so will give me a good idea. So far I'm not minding the smaller 3Gal pots, not a lot of extra work and they dry out around the 3 day mark, same as the 5Gal once they get settled into flowering.

This is about the 4th flowering round using those trellises, they really are handy and I'll be running this style for a bit, very productive use of footprint and great canopy control.

Shot of the 5gal girls just before being moved into the flower room and some shots of the 3x6/room. Got a good shot of the light setup, you can see the reflective surface on those LEC's well in the first flower room shot.
3x-5Gal-Veg-to-Flower-Day0.JPG 3x6-Day11-3x5Gal-Day0-1.jpg 3x6-Day11-3x5Gal-Day0-2.jpg 3x6-Day11-3x5Gal-Day0-3.jpg

Cheers :bigjoint:
 

ozone25

Member
Hi GroErr,

I've been doing research about CMH bulbs for the 5 hours and have seen many posts by you on this topic. Not trying to thread jack but simply looking for an answer to my situation.

I have looked at getting the Sun System LEC 315w as well but found the shipping to Canada to be $100! I noticed in one of your previous posts that you said you got it for $500 shipped, was wondering what you did in terms of shipping to get it lower.

I can't decide between the Advancedtechlighting's MasterColor setup and the Sun System. My only problem is my flowering room is only 2x2x4. I don't have anymore head room and I feel this will be an issue. Maybe I will just need extra super cropping or short strains.

Have you found any difference while doing research between the:
Argo Elite 930
vs
the one from AdvancedTechLighting, the Philips MasterColor CDM Elite 315 watt?

Other than that, it looks like an amazing setup you have going! Your abilities and setup has inspired me :)

Cheers,

Ozone
 
Last edited:

GroErr

Well-Known Member
Hi GroErr,

I've been doing research about CMH bulbs for the 5 hours and have seen many posts by you on this topic. Not trying to thread jack but simply looking for an answer to my situation.

I have looked at getting the Sun System LEC 315w as well but found the shipping to Canada to be $100! I noticed in one of your previous posts that you said you got it for $500 shipped, was wondering what you did in terms of shipping to get it lower.

I can't decide between the Advancedtechlighting's MasterColor setup and the Sun System. My only problem is my flowering room is only 2x2x4. I don't have anymore head room and I feel this will be an issue. Maybe I will just need extra super cropping or short strains.

Have you found any difference while doing research between the:
Argo Elite 930
vs
the one from AdvancedTechLighting, the Philips MasterColor CDM Elite 315 watt?

Other than that, it looks like an amazing setup you have going! Your abilities and setup has inspired me :)

Cheers,

Ozone
Hi ozone, thanks for the comments and questions. The last one (second unit) I bought on sale, I think they may even have one of those 10% off sales this week so it cost $448 + $68 shipping US, that's the economy option and about the cheapest they offer. Still cheaper than anything available up here, you'd probably be looking at $600+ CAD or more if you could find a dealer to order it in. I've looked around a couple of times, asked the manufacturer, they sent me to a couple of shops up here and those dealers didn't even get back to me with a quote so I stuck with growershouse. Just part of the problem being up in Canada, supplies, prices and options suck.

That said, I've mentioned a couple of times that with the Sun Systems fixture/hood you need some height in the room, 6ft imo is about minimum. Some of it is heat dissipation is better the more height you have but the more practical limit in your case is you need 20-22" to the canopy, plus ~12-14" to hang the unit, that leaves you with next to nothing so you wouldn't be able to take advantage of it and imo you'd have heat issues with that size tent. I have a 2x2x4' tent I use for breeding and wouldn't be able to hang it in there, I run about 250w of LED's in there.

Only option I can think of if you wanted to try it would be to go with the 210w bulb (same Elite Agro but in 210w, I bought one as a spare in case one of my 315's blow). I've tried it in the fixture and it's intense, not far off the 315. You could consider running that bare-bulb and hang it as close to the top as possible, then you may be Ok if you kept your plants under 24" height like a scrog and lots of airflow/circulation to dissipate heat. I'd recommend looking at the A51 RW-150's, maybe 1x RW-150 and 1x Rw-75 for that space. Haven't come across anyone running these in as small a space as you're talking about. Cheers.
 

PSUAGRO.

Well-Known Member
Hi ozone, thanks for the comments and questions. The last one (second unit) I bought on sale, I think they may even have one of those 10% off sales this week so it cost $448 + $68 shipping US, that's the economy option and about the cheapest they offer. Still cheaper than anything available up here, you'd probably be looking at $600+ CAD or more if you could find a dealer to order it in. I've looked around a couple of times, asked the manufacturer, they sent me to a couple of shops up here and those dealers didn't even get back to me with a quote so I stuck with growershouse. Just part of the problem being up in Canada, supplies, prices and options suck.

That said, I've mentioned a couple of times that with the Sun Systems fixture/hood you need some height in the room, 6ft imo is about minimum. Some of it is heat dissipation is better the more height you have but the more practical limit in your case is you need 20-22" to the canopy, plus ~12-14" to hang the unit, that leaves you with next to nothing so you wouldn't be able to take advantage of it and imo you'd have heat issues with that size tent. I have a 2x2x4' tent I use for breeding and wouldn't be able to hang it in there, I run about 250w of LED's in there.

Only option I can think of if you wanted to try it would be to go with the 210w bulb (same Elite Agro but in 210w, I bought one as a spare in case one of my 315's blow). I've tried it in the fixture and it's intense, not far off the 315. You could consider running that bare-bulb and hang it as close to the top as possible, then you may be Ok if you kept your plants under 24" height like a scrog and lots of airflow/circulation to dissipate heat. I'd recommend looking at the A51 RW-150's, maybe 1x RW-150 and 1x Rw-75 for that space. Haven't come across anyone running these in as small a space as you're talking about. Cheers.

Good advice^^^^....................Also should mention if he has a mag 250/400/1000w mh ballast laying around he could use the philips all start cmh line for cheap.
 

GroErr

Well-Known Member
Good advice^^^^....................Also should mention if he has a mag 250/400/1000w mh ballast laying around he could use the philips all start cmh line for cheap.
Good point, thanks for the input PSU, I hadn't looked at the Allstart's but a quick google found this 145w mogul base lamp, only comes in 4050k but that's fine, bare bulb and 145w might work in that space? I didn't realize they had such a small lamp in that series, going to look into it and may try that myself in my breeding tent, that would pop nicer seeds than my DIY/low-end LED setup in the tent :bigjoint:
 

GroErr

Well-Known Member
Sent an inquiry to Advanced Tech to get some details/options and pricing on a bare setup, mogul/lamp/ballast for one of these 145w Allstarts, will post some details once I get them. If it's reasonable I'll try one in my 2x2x4' tent to gage if they can be managed in a smaller space. If not no biggie, I could run that in my veg cabinet which has 5.5' in headroom, or use it for additional light in the flower room.
 

coolj

Well-Known Member
Blue Dream got the chop tonight @day 56/8 weeks. Well ready, huge plant. Dry it this week and trim up next weekend. Had to break it into 4 sections to get it out of the trellises. Some good size buds and weight there, let's see where they come in dry :bigjoint:

Posting chop shots, then bud shots to follow in a second post:
View attachment 3295067 View attachment 3295068 View attachment 3295069 View attachment 3295070 View attachment 3295071 View attachment 3295072 View attachment 3295073
freaking insane!!!!
 

ozone25

Member
Hi ozone, thanks for the comments and questions. The last one (second unit) I bought on sale, I think they may even have one of those 10% off sales this week so it cost $448 + $68 shipping US, that's the economy option and about the cheapest they offer. Still cheaper than anything available up here, you'd probably be looking at $600+ CAD or more if you could find a dealer to order it in. I've looked around a couple of times, asked the manufacturer, they sent me to a couple of shops up here and those dealers didn't even get back to me with a quote so I stuck with growershouse. Just part of the problem being up in Canada, supplies, prices and options suck.

That said, I've mentioned a couple of times that with the Sun Systems fixture/hood you need some height in the room, 6ft imo is about minimum. Some of it is heat dissipation is better the more height you have but the more practical limit in your case is you need 20-22" to the canopy, plus ~12-14" to hang the unit, that leaves you with next to nothing so you wouldn't be able to take advantage of it and imo you'd have heat issues with that size tent. I have a 2x2x4' tent I use for breeding and wouldn't be able to hang it in there, I run about 250w of LED's in there.

Only option I can think of if you wanted to try it would be to go with the 210w bulb (same Elite Agro but in 210w, I bought one as a spare in case one of my 315's blow). I've tried it in the fixture and it's intense, not far off the 315. You could consider running that bare-bulb and hang it as close to the top as possible, then you may be Ok if you kept your plants under 24" height like a scrog and lots of airflow/circulation to dissipate heat. I'd recommend looking at the A51 RW-150's, maybe 1x RW-150 and 1x Rw-75 for that space. Haven't come across anyone running these in as small a space as you're talking about. Cheers.
Thanks GroErr for the info. I already have a A51 RW-75 which I really enjoy. I think I will be going with the one from Advancedtechlighting and see how that goes. I have access to fresh cold air from outside so that will really help with keeping the temps low. I just have to research fans and ventilation as I don't know a lot about that. As for my box I think I may be able to push it to 5ft tall on half the tent and 4ft tall on the other half, ill just keep the light on the higher side. Might work out. Unfortunately its in my attic so a slopped roof.

I'll be following your journals :) A lot to learn from you
 

GroErr

Well-Known Member
Thanks GroErr for the info. I already have a A51 RW-75 which I really enjoy. I think I will be going with the one from Advancedtechlighting and see how that goes. I have access to fresh cold air from outside so that will really help with keeping the temps low. I just have to research fans and ventilation as I don't know a lot about that. As for my box I think I may be able to push it to 5ft tall on half the tent and 4ft tall on the other half, ill just keep the light on the higher side. Might work out. Unfortunately its in my attic so a slopped roof.

I'll be following your journals :) A lot to learn from you
Oh I see, you have some additional space just angled, that may be enough with some good circulation to dissipate the heat. If you combine the A51 panel with say the 210w Elite Agro that should grow some nice bud and manageable without a reflector, the 315w may still be a bit much. Good luck, some great info and resources in the Grow Room Design forum for your ventilation options. There are so many variables involved but keep the following in mind and you can figure out the best options for your space. There are basically 3 ways to manage temps and humidity, bring in cooler/warmer/drier air depending on the season, exhaust warm/moist air, (usually both in combination), or equipment like an air conditioner/dehumidifier. Try and avoid the equipment, particularly in a small space, while it may work, it will take up valuable space and generate even more heat in a small space. Thanks for the props but remember I experiment a lot and screw up just like everyone else, careful ;)
 

GroErr

Well-Known Member
Blue Dream is still drying, another couple of days yet. Fill in with some LEC porn while we wait for it to dry :bigjoint:

Filled in the second 3x3 with 2x PPP clones I had in the small veg cab. They're in 2Gal fabrics, built a little booster platform to keep them somewhat even with the 2nd 3x3 canopy. They're the 2 front-right.

Day 13 for the first batch towards the back, they're throwing out flowers fast now. Day 2 for the others, just starting to stretch. Room is filling in nicely, it's about 33" x 66 but the one's in the front just went in and will stretch quite a bit to fill the available space. Really impressed with the Blue Pyramid, it's the one sitting front-left in the pics. Strange leaves, purple stems but it's blowing up to be huge and some nice bud sites developing, this should be a decent producer and smells great, similar to the Blue Dream.
3x6-Day13-3x5Gal-Day2-1.jpg 3x6-Day13-3x5Gal-Day2-2.JPG

Cheers :bigjoint:
 

indianajones

Well-Known Member
the funky stems and leaves are a really good sign IME with the blue
strains. from what i know, it is indicative of thai genetic expression.

the bud in my avatar is dj short's vanilluna, i actually took the pics
and ran the cut that is used for selling the seeds. here are some
more pics of her, she looks funky as hell but i think she's beautiful.
other plus side is you don't have to label her, you can look at the
garden and ID her at a moment's notice.

at 2 weeks, check the variegation





and at 61 days





 
Top