Plasma and 1000w grow

TheLastWood said:

Congrats on the bountiful harvest. So what's the numbers lookin like, plasma vs hid?

Click to expand...

Thanks, but no idea yet on the weight but it wouldn't be a fair comparison at all. The plants under the plasma had at least 1 week less of veg time and were all runts and late rooting clones.

I can say that there was no noticeable difference between the plants grown under either lamp aside from the size differences. The buds are just as dense and covered in trichromes.

With the 4 remaining LSD, it's pretty clear the plasma light is going to cover about a 2.5 foot x 2.5 foot area with no problems. So, IMO I would have to have two of the plasmas to have a valid comparison as the plasma only draws about 300 watts and covers less space. A second one would slightly increase the foot print over the 1k and still draw 400 watts less. I'm pumped on this light though. The considerable reduction in heat plus the ability to cover the entire life cycle with red and blue spectrums is awesome. I still want to play with it some more and see how well it penetrates the canopy.

I just bought 2 GLH Spectra 290 because I'm starting to have some heat issues with ambient temps so any help I can get with temp reduction is welcome. Unfortunately that means I'm not going to be able to do a head to head HID/Plasma comparison anytime soon. On a positive for me though, I will be able to cover a larger footprint and still use less watts and not push my ac unit as hard. I already have 40 something clones ready and trying to get my hands on another 10-15 so I will be onto the next cycle quick.

Well if the stunted younger plasma clones did as well as the hid then that would be a great comparison lol.

How much are the new lights gonna run you?

TheLastWood said:

Well if the stunted younger plasma clones did as well as the hid then that would be a great comparison lol.

How much are the new lights gonna run you?

Click to expand...

I guess you have a point on the comparison. The LSD that are left look fantastic and they went straight from the cloner to flower.

The Spectras cost me $700 a piece but I got a discount and free shipping because of mentioning irishboy's thread. They're LED's and I saw a few of the journals (irishboy's in particular)around here and decided to pull the trigger. Just hung them earlier tonight and I can't wait to get this next round fired up.

I would love to grab another plasma but that's probably going to have to wait until after the next harvest. My friend said they have a horizontal ballast that may be easier to hang and raise and lower. The first one cost $700.

Right on man thanks for the info. I rly like the plasmas man. Never used led but I don't think I will. Not sold on there penetration ability. I think someday, plama may replace hid.

TheLastWood said:

Right on man thanks for the info. I rly like the plasmas man. Never used led but I don't think I will. Not sold on there penetration ability. I think someday, plama may replace hid.

Click to expand...

I agree with plasma replacing HID. They're too efficient not to replace them. I hope the plasma companies realize they have a huge potential in horticulture and work on being able to remotely locate the ballast (right now they can't because of transmission loss on the cable between the power supply and the puck). My light would be so much easier to move if it didn't have the huge ballast above the bulb.

I think as the price comes down you will see more and more of them.

Total harvest dried came to 1 lb and 4 ounces. The smoke of the plasma vs the ones under the HPS is no different and you can't tell the buds apart if you sit them next to each other. Had to chop the LSD earlier than I wanted because I needed to move some babies so I could cut more because someone who was supposed to cut some for me was a lazy bastard. The LSD is pretty much dry now and is fantastic. I can't wait for the next round.

Nice man thanks for the update. At least it shows that the spectrum is great for our needs. Will be nice to see led vs hid vs plasma

kckid816 said:

Thanks, but no idea yet on the weight but it wouldn't be a fair comparison at all. The plants under the plasma had at least 1 week less of veg time and were all runts and late rooting clones.

I can say that there was no noticeable difference between the plants grown under either lamp aside from the size differences. The buds are just as dense and covered in trichromes.

With the 4 remaining LSD, it's pretty clear the plasma light is going to cover about a 2.5 foot x 2.5 foot area with no problems. So, IMO I would have to have two of the plasmas to have a valid comparison as the plasma only draws about 300 watts and covers less space. A second one would slightly increase the foot print over the 1k and still draw 400 watts less. I'm pumped on this light though. The considerable reduction in heat plus the ability to cover the entire life cycle with red and blue spectrums is awesome. I still want to play with it some more and see how well it penetrates the canopy.

I just bought 2 GLH Spectra 290 because I'm starting to have some heat issues with ambient temps so any help I can get with temp reduction is welcome. Unfortunately that means I'm not going to be able to do a head to head HID/Plasma comparison anytime soon. On a positive for me though, I will be able to cover a larger footprint and still use less watts and not push my ac unit as hard. I already have 40 something clones ready and trying to get my hands on another 10-15 so I will be onto the next cycle quick.

Click to expand...

Heard you're having heat issues? I was having the same problem last week.. as the outside temps/humidity were redicuously high. I'm talking humidity levels in the 70% up to 90% at times.. and that was causing my grow area to heat up considerably. So, what I did was.. I simply went to wal-mart and bought two of those 'Box style fans'.. the ones that look like a big square shape. Anyhow, they're also stackable.. so you can put one or two on top of the bottom one.. which doubles or triples the CFM output. Anyhow, I simply put two of these box fans side by side.. in front of the door in the grow area.. pointing out to function as exhaust.. to pull the warm air out of the room. It worked VERY well... way better than I thought it would!

Before adding these exhaust fans.. I had temps that would max out around 92`F and 56% humidity during the hottest part of the day, and since I've got all three ladies in flowering.. I don't need temps that high.. nor do I need that amount of humidity/moisture in the air.

Anyhow, after adding the two exhaust fans.. and putting them on medium setting.. the two combined fans actually dropped my max temp and my humidity level. My max temp yesterday was exactly 83`F with 38% RH.. and that's where I would like them to be.. would be better if I could get temps down into the mid 70`s.. but I'll take whatever I can get. It's probably a good thing I added the exhaust fans.. because around here we have some of the most humid & hot summers.. like you wouldn't believe. Once we get to about mid June.. is when the almost unbearable heat really starts creeping in.. as well as rediculous hot temps.. which will be in the 90`s.. all the way from mid June.. through July.. through August.. and most of September.. so about 3 & 1/2 months worth of 90`f temps and very high humidity levels.. so these exhaust fans will come in great use this summer.

Anyhow, you should try that buddy.. if you don't have any exhaust fans.. you need to get some. You'll be amazed at how well they really work.. as long as you have them setup correctly.

Good luck.. sorry for rambling so long. Morning 'wake-n-bake' has me in a talkative mood.

Good luck man.

peace.

TheLastWood said:

Nice man thanks for the update. At least it shows that the spectrum is great for our needs. Will be nice to see led vs hid vs plasma

Click to expand...

Eh, L.E.D. lighting.... for cannabis growing.. IMO isn't worth the money. They're expensive as hell.. and they don't put out near the amount of light/lumens as HPS/MH lights do.. so IMO.. L.E.D. lights have a long way to go before they have the technology to be able to compete with HPS/MH lights.

Just MO though.

peace.

Yeah I said the same thing about the led on the last pg. Not so interested in led, but interested in seeing a true comparison between the 3

cannabisguru said:

Heard you're having heat issues? .

Good luck.. sorry for rambling so long. Morning 'wake-n-bake' has me in a talkative mood.

Good luck man.

peace.

Click to expand...

Appreciate the tips. I just moved a fan in to help with air circulation. I already have a big can fan pulling air through a carbon filter as my exhaust. That worked great until I pulled down the 1k for some reason. I suspect it's cause I'm not turning over the air in the dead space between the shed door and the wall that closes off the grow space. I threw a small fan in there to help with that. If that doesn't get it to where I want I think I'll grab some more insulation for that wall and hopefully that'll help. Also, I suspect that my can fan may be losing some efficiency as it's about 7 years old. It took 4 years off but it's still put in quite a bit of work. So hopefully these smaller cheaper steps will help and I won't have to replace the can fan.

We have brutal summers here too. So, I'm experimenting with whether I'll be able to run the whole summer or need to take some time off.

Ok, so have fixed the heat issue for the most part. My a/c exhausts under the shed. Well, the air wasn't moving fast enough so it was building up a tremendous amount of heat. I dug out some dirt and that along with mother nature cooperating has brought my temps back down.

Here's some shots of the finished product.

Great job man. Those look like some tasty nuggies.

Nice grow man, nice buds.
This is not a plasma vs HPS its a Plasma + HPS ... they need to be isolated from each other in order of a competition.
Your Plasma light from Luxim is the H400 can be dimmed to 20% is a sulfur plasma not argon i am pretty sure. Also the spectrum might not be the same as the Horticulture versions. ( stay away from chamleon lights $$$$$$$$ cost to much ) since you have a version from lumix and what you have done with it, i would keep with it.
The bulb can go closer to the plant as well. Just some info for next grow. The Plasma LED combo will be a better harvest all around.
cant wait for more
check out Monstergardens.com they have a argon gas Plasma 288 watt true draw 300w output.
they use a bulb with argon gas ignited by microwaves ( other models spin the bulb to activate light and or use sulfur gas i.e plasma international lighting )
i believe luxim uses a metal halide bulb filled with sulfur or argon gas (they use both i beleive your model is a sulfer) the G2 plasma grow light uses argon and has a more beneficial spectrum designed for horticulture.

they range from 90lumens/watt to 140lumens/watt and anywhere from 300-1500w systems.... $600-10,000 ( affordable models) plasma international lighting has as1300 the sun on earth i believe this model is 10,000 not to bad if you ask me

keep up the good work
till~420

not to mention 30,000-50,000 hour bulb life... 100,000 hour internal life..

TillthedayiDIE420 said:

Nice grow man, nice buds.
This is not a plasma vs HPS its a Plasma + HPS ... they need to be isolated from each other in order of a competition.
Your Plasma light from Luxim is the H400 can be dimmed to 20% is a sulfur plasma not argon i am pretty sure. Also the spectrum might not be the same as the Horticulture versions. ( stay away from chamleon lights $$$$$$$$ cost to much ) since you have a version from lumix and what you have done with it, i would keep with it.
The bulb can go closer to the plant as well. Just some info for next grow. The Plasma LED combo will be a better harvest all around.
cant wait for more
check out Monstergardens.com they have a argon gas Plasma 288 watt true draw 300w output.
they use a bulb with argon gas ignited by microwaves ( other models spin the bulb to activate light and or use sulfur gas i.e plasma international lighting )
i believe luxim uses a metal halide bulb filled with sulfur or argon gas (they use both i beleive your model is a sulfer) the G2 plasma grow light uses argon and has a more beneficial spectrum designed for horticulture.

they range from 90lumens/watt to 140lumens/watt and anywhere from 300-1500w systems.... $600-10,000 ( affordable models) plasma international lighting has as1300 the sun on earth i believe this model is 10,000 not to bad if you ask me

keep up the good work
till~420

Click to expand...

Been awhile since I checked this thread, but my build is somewhat custom. My buddy chatted them up for awhile and had a back story so we got to choose our setup. Next one he talks out of them is going to have a horizontal ballast as opposed to the vertical I have now. We also got it late enough that we got to grab their 02 bulb (it might be 002 but it's something like that) and that has the enhanced red spectrum which the Chameleon (yea way too expensive) doesn't have. We paid $735 for it and got it fast after paying for it.

I love the light and have another run going now. I didn't want to journal the whole thing as I wasn't sure how it was going to go because I live in a hot ass state and this isn't in my house. Actually checked this thread to update with some pics. I'm running 2 2011 GLH Spectras 290w next to the plasma.

Edit: I know I can move the light closer but it is so big it is a pain in the ass. I will be trying to work out an adjustable height rigging for it after this run.

And here are the pics. The girls under the plasma are Barney's LSD on the right and some unknown purp strain (for the time being we'll call her Wall-E funny story don't know if I'll tell it here but anyway). There's a couple Kannabia White domina's stuck with Wall-E. Wall-E grows fast as fuck. I'm at day 28 of 12/12 and she is way ahead of anyone else.

I have about 24 plants under the LED's. One tube only has one 1 girl (the white domina) but I have trained and put up a chicken wire screen (yes, I know I'm a dumbass and it will be a pain to remove but I needed it quick and didn't have much money so chicken wire it is). The canopy is fucking full despite the empty tube.

Under the plasma are 1 white domina and the rest are Kannabia's Big Band (thanks attitude ufo's ). I have 8 viable girls under there. The other little runts are there for shits and giggles.

The LED's fuck with the camera so I played with some different settings so that's why some of the pics look different under the LED's. I made sure to snap a few with them off though.

nice grow man! So you have 2x290W Spectras on one side and one 290W plasma on the other? Same veg time/strains on both sides? Please do let us know your observations on veg vigour and flower development on each side.

medicine21 said:

nice grow man! So you have 2x290W Spectras on one side and one 290W plasma on the other? Same veg time/strains on both sides? Please do let us know your observations on veg vigour and flower development on each side.

Click to expand...

The plants under the plasma have a week less veg time because I can't move the light any higher than where it is. I'm using a shed so that limits my ability to move the lights up. It's on of the reasons I moved from the 1k to the LED's.

As far as vigor, the vegging is very similar and flowering is too. I can't stress how much I love the plasma. The heat is very low relatively and the plants seem to love it.