New Beginnings for Massachussetts and I

be4meliz

be4meliz

Well-Known Member
When I hook up my big tent, gonna run 2 600 wt MH/HPS- already hooked to ducting in line Cool tubes , so hopefully it will not need my space heater-intial test drive running 3 600's and no fan for an hour temps went to 88 deg. so 2 and fan should work.Still need to get dedicated 20 amp line run for all 3 lights, but can get by with 2 on 15 amp(1200wt div. by 120 volts+10 amps, so still safe.Just checked Autos and raised Led up( plants are 18 1/2" @ 4 weeks 2 days and showing preflowers.
 
be4meliz

be4meliz

Well-Known Member
Anybody near Worcester have a recent National Grid bill? Just trying to get KWH rate so I can figure increase in running my big tent with 2 600's. Itching to get going on some Photo period plants .8 bucket RDWC setup for my legal limit of 12 plants in household. Or keep learning and use 1 600& 4 bubblers( just hate to check each res. daily PIA) Another cheap setup $99 for 4 black buckets ,airlines, stones, airpump,,netpot lid, just no medium (ordered more hydrotron but have issues converting Liters to lbs. and ended up with 40 lb. bag LOL(Senior moment)
 
greg nr

greg nr

Well-Known Member
be4meliz said:
Anybody near Worcester have a recent National Grid bill? Just trying to get KWH rate so I can figure increase in running my big tent with 2 600's. Itching to get going on some Photo period plants .8 bucket RDWC setup for my legal limit of 12 plants in household. Or keep learning and use 1 600& 4 bubblers( just hate to check each res. daily PIA) Another cheap setup $99 for 4 black buckets ,airlines, stones, airpump,,netpot lid, just no medium (ordered more hydrotron but have issues converting Liters to lbs. and ended up with 40 lb. bag LOL(Senior moment)
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My bill won't help since I don't buy power from NG. I use one of the back end suppliers. You can do that in MA and save a lot. If you are buying your electricity from NG, look at alternatives. We cut our rate in half by switching.

Anyway, I use HTG in shrewsbury for the heavy stuff. No use paying ups to ship a 40 pound package when you can toss it in your car and go. It's actually cheaper than amazon by quite a bit.

Just a thought.
 
be4meliz

be4meliz

Well-Known Member
Thanks Greg- Have to get by there soon(HTG) for info and plumbing parts- Put my Bitches in Bondage tonight( soft wire ties to try and level out this massive canopy and expose more bud sites aka.LST) Now making some cannabutter out of some old bud- Love my Toast & Jam. Thanks for tip on 3rd party electric .Got a contact #?
 
ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
be4meliz said:
Thanks Greg- Have to get by there soon(HTG) for info and plumbing parts- Put my Bitches in Bondage tonight( soft wire ties to try and level out this massive canopy and expose more bud sites aka.LST) Now making some cannabutter out of some old bud- Love my Toast & Jam. Thanks for tip on 3rd party electric .Got a contact #?
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Tying my bitches up is a favorite pastime!

...so is gardening...
 
be4meliz

be4meliz

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the like ttystikk-Always like your feedback- from seeing your posts, your always trying to pass on knowledge. Me being a young 62 yr.old can appreciate that- as I am still learning.
 
MrSeeDoubleU

MrSeeDoubleU

Well-Known Member
ttystikk said:
I'm still just a whippersnapper at 50 lol
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I've noticed you have much more knowledge than I. As you can see from earlier post in running 6 plants soil and all different strains. I'm wondering I was running 400w MH bulb set up. I switched over to a 1000MH bulb set up. I'm thinking I should switch back and take my time. I'm in no rush. Just wondering what's better I guess is my question. Keep going with this or switch back to 400. Then use 1000 HPS when I go to flower?
 

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MrSeeDoubleU

MrSeeDoubleU

Well-Known Member
Also if you like butter. I have a couple sticks. Idk the going donation for them but I paid 50$ for both. If interested my local fellows. I'm on test so can't myself. Was going to make them for a party but didn't end up doing so.
 
thumper60

thumper60

Well-Known Member
be4meliz said:
I'm near the Worcester area in the boonies.Yesterdays game was a little shaky-hope they ratchet up for next round. Stay in touch
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I used to travel to little town near worster,milltin or millburn??they had a worms way in the early 90s closest hydro store to maine,now we gotem on every corner,man iam getting old:bigjoint:
 
be4meliz

be4meliz

Well-Known Member
My butter kicked my ass LOL Last time forgot to de-carbolize( just sauted And strained) this time did it right -And Wow- Kinda overdid the amount on my toast and jam.And the next 4-5 hours was Alice in Wonderland time.
Thumper- you mean Millbury & yes Wormsway has been there for along time
 
be4meliz

be4meliz

Well-Known Member
MrSeeDoubleU- How much height do you have? Nice setup- The 400wt. would be fine for young plants and save on electric; if not a concern, 1000 when they grow a bit more. I have to assume that your shelf the plants are on can be removed/lowered? to gain more stretch room.Nice looking plants(are they from seed or Clone? Also, might look into HPS for flowering cycle, if it will work with your light and ballest.
 
greg nr

greg nr

Well-Known Member
be4meliz said:
Thanks Greg- Have to get by there soon(HTG) for info and plumbing parts- Put my Bitches in Bondage tonight( soft wire ties to try and level out this massive canopy and expose more bud sites aka.LST) Now making some cannabutter out of some old bud- Love my Toast & Jam. Thanks for tip on 3rd party electric .Got a contact #?
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Here is a list of providers: https://www9.nationalgridus.com/masselectric/business/energychoice/4_supplier_list.asp

And here is a site that will list options with costs by zio code:

https://www.electricityrates.com/LP/Steps3/?sid=bma0620163&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Q116 - Massachusetts v2&utm_term=massachusetts electric providers&utm_content=Electric Provider Exact
 
be4meliz

be4meliz

Well-Known Member
Thanks, Greg!
By computing, I can run 2 600 wt @$74.90- 60.91 per month, so time to get going- germ. Then hand water til roots hit res.(really want my top-feed & rdwc plumbed in, but have to wait for more income. But can get by with bubblebuckets( just alot more work) Labor of love! Might go with just 4 and 1 light for 2 months veg. Then separate tent with Mylar, so 2 separate rooms(1 veg 1 Flower) and start 4 more. Any thoughts?
 
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Bosgrower

Bosgrower

Well-Known Member
MrSeeDoubleU said:
So I'm curious I'm running a 400w MH right now. I also have a 1000w MH. Can and should I be vegging with that light set up instead. For some reason guy at store told me to go with the 400 when I went there for a 600 ballast bulb combo.
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Hi all ... another Baystater checking in.

Just a couple of thoughts about lights.
There is such a thing as too much light. There's also a progression that you should follow going from stage to stage. There's a reason that the grow lights makers always seem to give a larger area for veg coverage and a smaller area for flower.
Let's say you have a 2 tent setup ... I for veg and 1 for flower. And let's assume that they're 80" tall.
For argument's sake, let's say you have a 4x4 flower tent with a 600 watt (at the wall) light. Don't care if it's HPS or LED it should be giving you 90-100K lumens. We can talk about PAR and PPF and PPFD later if you like, but for now let's keep it simple.
We're also going to ignore for the moment how high above the canopy you have your light. That gets to be critical in later stages of flower because light intensity decreases according to the inverse square of the distance. Simply put, you light's penetration power decrease very fast the higher off the canopy it gets. This is also a good argument for LEDs since they don't have the radiant heat issues of HPS systems and can get very close to the tops without damaging them.
So what this means is that when you have a full 4x4 level canopy (plant count is irrelevant), you will be able to use all of that light. In veg, you have nothing near that so at best you're wasting light and at worst you're damaging your plants.
So let's say in veg, you should go for a 400 watt (at the wall) setup. That's about half of the lumens of your 600w for flower. You bring your plants along from early veg at reduced intensity to late veg at max (440w) intensity, and then bring them to the flower tent at the same 400w initially, do your final training, and gradually bring up the lumens to 600w and decrease the distance until you're at max intensity and minimum distance.
So if you have a 600w 4x4 flower tent (which according to Goldilocks is "Just Right"), why would you want a 1000w 4x4 veg tent?
Rule of thumb for flower ... 3x3 450w ..... 4x4 600w .... 5x5 or 4x6 1000w
Go PATS

PS ... EVERY cheap LED maker lies. LEDs are great, but only if you have a great LED
 
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ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
MrSeeDoubleU said:
I've noticed you have much more knowledge than I. As you can see from earlier post in running 6 plants soil and all different strains. I'm wondering I was running 400w MH bulb set up. I switched over to a 1000MH bulb set up. I'm thinking I should switch back and take my time. I'm in no rush. Just wondering what's better I guess is my question. Keep going with this or switch back to 400. Then use 1000 HPS when I go to flower?
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Well sir, it really depends on your goals; if you want 3-6oz then the 400W will be fine. If you're looking for close to a pound, then you'll need the larger lamp.

In either case, know that you are using the very least efficient lamp available and from the look of your pic I bet you're on a magnetic ballast, which is also doing you no favors in the performance vs watts expended department.

Whatever else you do, budget a lighting upgrade at your earliest convenience. There are plentyof us who can help you make the best coffee for your needs. As it stands, you're making more heat than light- and it will need to be relamped in just 6 months.

And thanks for the compliment. After all the time I've put into this dodge, I'd better be doing SOMETHING right by now!
 
ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Bosgrower said:
Hi all ... another Baystater checking in.

Just a couple of thoughts about lights.
There is such a thing as too much light. There's also a progression that you should follow going from stage to stage. There's a reason that the grow lights makers always seem to give a larger area for veg coverage and a smaller area for flower.
Let's say you have a 2 tent setup ... I for veg and 1 for flower. And let's assume that they're 80" tall.
For argument's sake, let's say you have a 4x4 flower tent with a 600 watt (at the wall) light. Don't care if it's HPS or LED it should be giving you 90-100K lumens. We can talk about PAR and PPF and PPFD later if you like, but for now let's keep it simple.
We're also going to ignore for the moment how high above the canopy you have your light. That get's to be critical in later stages of flower because light intensity decreases according to the inverse square of the distance. Simply put, you light's penetration power decrease very fast the higher off the canopy it gets. This is also a good argument for LEDs since they don't have the radiant heat issues of HPS systems and can get very close to the tops without damaging them.
So what this means is that when you have a full 4x4 level canopy (plant count is irrelevant), you will be able to use all of that light. In veg, you have nothing near that so at best you're wasting light and at worst you're damaging your plants.
So let's say in veg, you should go for a 400 watt (at the wall) setup. That's about half of the lumens of your 600w for flower. You bring your plants along from early veg at reduced intensity to late veg at max (440w) intensity, and then bring them to the flower tent at the same 400w initially, do your final training, and gradually bring up the lumens to 600w and decrease the distance until you're at max intensity and minimum distance.
So if you have a 600w 4x4 flower tent (which according to Goldilocks is "Just Right"), why would you want a 1000w 4x4 veg tent?
Rule of thumb for flower ... 3x3 450w ..... 4x4 600w .... 5x5 or 4x6 1000w
Go PATS

PS ... EVERY cheap LED maker lies. LEDs are great, but only if you have a great LED
Click to expand...
This is sound advice, especially the last bit. If you want quality LED- and trust me, you do!- then right here on RIU is the best place to find it.
 
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