A little grow advice.

Alright, So i have a little room with a couple "girls" hopefully. I am running them on 18/6 with a 400 MH. They are almost 2 feet at this point and I am thinking about running them into flowering. I have always read and or heard in my lurking that it is best to flower under hps, and I have a 1000 hps, but unfortunately the people that owned it before I acquired must have let it get wet because when it is plugged in it puts off a very loud buzz. SO loud that I cannot run it in my house without hearing it outside. I have thought about making an enclosed box for it to sit in that has a fan running directly through it to dampen the noise and also cool it. Does anyone think that would be a good idea to try or would it be so bad just to continue with the 400 mh? Thanks for all the help and if I can snap a few pic I will get them up here.

magnetic ballasts only have like 3- 4 working parts. you can rebuild them for very little in most cases.I can't see a working ballast being that loud, glad I bought digital.

You can flower with the MH just fine. A lot of people believe that HPS is the only way you can flower. For years that was the school of thought, and it is true that the spectrum from HPS is closer to ideal than MH. But in many circles, the school of thought is now to flower and veg under BOTH. I have tested this, by doing both phases under MH alone, HPS alone, and under both. I saw no real discernable differences. Buds were as dense and tight (to me) in all the grows. If there was a difference in yield, it would have been measured in grams. If I had to choose one or the other, I'd personally go with the MH, just because it's easier on my eyes to work under.

Yes it is ridiculously loud. I have never even thought about reworking that ballast actually. What would be causing that or would I need to open it and see if there is actual vibration in the malfunctioning part. I have alot of experience with electronics and wiring so I am positive I could do the repair. My actual thought was to try to sell this one with the hood setup and just to buy two DIY 1000 hps and buy whatever hood I want from them but I don't have the time to do that because I am going to run out of space if I don't get into flowering soon.

You will have to get another ballast as that one they sold you was a lemon ,the noise is telling you its on the way out. Assholes. Should only be about $50.

Then I am not going to worry about it. I'm going to sell the hps setup I have and buy 2 1000 mh for the next grow.

Hey Buds, what do you think would be a decent price for that sungro 1000 mh/hps with a enclose hood with a fan hole into it to cool and two bulbs, 1000 mh and hps. I wish I could get a pic up here, anyone wanna let me know how to take one from a smart phone and get it up here?

rockabillygrower said:

Then I am not going to worry about it. I'm going to sell the hps setup I have and buy 2 1000 mh for the next grow.

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yo there are mh specific to flowering, why buy two mh if you're buying buy two mh/hps and make up your own mind about what works better for flower.

I understand that but from what I have found the prices are much cheaper on mh than they are on the switchable, and unfortunately I am on a tight budget right now.

There's really a reason why these different spectrums of light work for specific things, no matter what anyone says I think the research was done long long ago .although as I say there are flower specific mh bulbs on the market.

ah cheap, cheap isn't a factor when you're buying something you really really gotta depend on.

That would be best, IMHO. If you bought one of each, then you'd have to either get a rotating light mover, or manually rotate the plants to get the benefit of the dual spectrum. MANY successful grows are done under just one or the other. You can drive yourself silly trying to tweak this to the Nth degree. If you take a road trip, you can either ride a caddy or a formula one car. The formula one is higher performance and will get you there faster, but I'm gonna choose the caddy, and enjoy the ride!! I promise you that the end result will be just as as satisfying for you!!

PS: Check with some of your local commercial lighting contractors or Building demolition companies. They will almost always have used HPS and MH ballasts available for a good price. A converted high bay fixture, while not very pretty, will get the job done just fine. Also craigslist is a good source. I bought 8 HPS ballasts for $50 ea. I try to buy ballasts when I can get a good deal on them, so I usually have a stockpile of them. Sadly, I don't have any at the moment.

but good luck with that, if cheap is a factor you can forget the flower specific mh bulbs because they're kinda pricey. happy growing.

rockabillygrower said:

Hey Buds, what do you think would be a decent price for that sungro 1000 mh/hps with a enclose hood with a fan hole into it to cool and two bulbs, 1000 mh and hps. I wish I could get a pic up here, anyone wanna let me know how to take one from a smart phone and get it up here?

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If i were you i would buy 2x 1000w HPS with cooltubes and be done with it. You can veg with them and are a must for flowering, for about $500(mag) $700 (digital). This way you will have the best and you will always have your spare 1000w hpslight for emergencies.

I agree with you on that, can I borrow 100 bucks. roflmao. Just kidding guys. The DIY kits I have found are decently priced. Anyone have some experience in any Build-your-own ballast kits?

Btw, Thanks for all of the help and advice. I have lurked for a while before I made a name and I lurked for a while afterwards, you guys are the most helpful forum I have found. Thanks all.

Yer gonna need a lot of ventilation if you plan on running 2 1000 watt bulbs...

rockabillygrower said:

Hey Buds, what do you think would be a decent price for that sungro 1000 mh/hps with a enclose hood with a fan hole into it to cool and two bulbs, 1000 mh and hps. I wish I could get a pic up here, anyone wanna let me know how to take one from a smart phone and get it up here?

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If you take a pic with a smart phone STRIP THE XIFF data from the file. GPS data is embedded in that file, along with a shitload of other personally identifiable data.

And Rockabilly, just a bit of advise, air-cooled hoods are highly over rated!!! I wasted a lot on some sun systems hoods. The glass eats light (up to 25%) so the difference is, you can get closer with less light, or stay a bit further with all of it. Remember, the closer you get, the smaller the illumination footprint. Just have good air circulation and a good extraction system.

Thanks again for all the help and information Jack. I will see if I can get some pictures of the "girls" and of the little setup I have going up in the next couple days. My next grow, hopefully, will be me starting my perpetual and I will get a grow journal going. By that point I will have my camera back and I can take some excellent pics. It's not going to be much, but ventilation I have no problem with. I am going to have to modify slightly to get plenty of airflow when I start to flower with 2 1000's but I am already in the middle of that modification. You guys are awesome and Jack you're the man.

What size space are you going to be growing in?