Hi Wilbur
Can I ask a question?
You are using the energy saver fluorescents, are these like normal fluorescents and should be close to the plants , or do they have to be further away.
Great pics by the way, I am halfway through setting up and I have been getting some good tips from you.

Hi Penfold911


They can be super close as they are really cool. It is a good idea to attach them with hooks or similar, rather than permanently screwing them on, as you will have to move them frequently as the plant grows.
The alternative is to screw them high up so you don’t have to move them but as flouro light is so weak over any sort of distance, it causes the plants to stretch, which is no good if you have limited headroom.



Wilbur

Thats great news I think. The reason I asked is I had put them up before i seen your grow. I had thought that because the fluoro light runs out at distances i would hang them down with normal light cable and the normal light bulb socket. I have eight lights and can all be moved to individual heights seperately. I thought it would be a good idea , that when the plants were a bit bigger the 2 centre lights can hang lower and provide light to lower branches. Is this sensible thinking or have i got the plot wrong somewhere?

Hi Penfold911, are you planning on flowering with flouros or is it just for vegging?

I was going to be asking a similar question soon.
I am planning a scrog next and was wondering how beneficial it would be to have the flouros underneath keeping the tucked under fan leaves alive with the HPS on top for the buds. I know that the leaves underneath will fall off due to lack of light anyway, so is it worth me turning on the flouros underneath to keep them photosynthesising?
Anyone???





Wilbur

Hi Wilbur
I will be using the fluorescents just for veg and seedlings, I have a 600w HPS for flowering. I haven't got the flowering room set up yet.
The reason I was asking about the heat from energy savers I have been practising wit hsome bagseed , and the plant went all yellow and then crispy. I have i photo I took today but the plant is much better, you can still see what I mean in the pic. I have been told its prob nutrient burn. I haven't been feeding, but i did put dried blood and bone meal into the soil mix , so maybe its that.

Hi wilbur
I have gotten access to a digital camera so, I have some of the wardrobe now to let you see what I mean. Hopefully i am on track.

The seddling bit.

flowering room pic, the door is still to be put on

Hi Penfold911

Could you resize that first pic to 550 pixels wide please, it is making it real hard to read having to scroll along each sentence. It will be even worse for those with a small monitor or low resolution. Cheers


Looking sweet

What are your plans for ventilation?




Wilbur

Hi

I have ordered a 5" LTi fan for the flowering room. I have 3 9" x 9" passive vents for intake. i haven't sorted vents for the wardrobe yet. I am not sure if the wardrobe will be in the flowering room or outside in the spare room. Outside would be better as I wouldn't have to worry about light getting into the dark cycle of flowering or the heat of the 600w, but I think i am limited to space and so the wardrobe might have to be located in the flowering room.

Penfold I've split the thread so its not all mixed with Wilburs.

Carry on folks.

QUOTE (penfold911 @ Jan 13 2003, 03:38 PM)

flowering room pic, the door is still to be put on

you must have some cat running around that house of yours penfold

nice looking setup, i have been trying out energy savers just the 20w so far and they are doing the job just about ! i set my sockets into the shelf of the cupboard and just move the shelf up and down and as there is only 3 bulbs i can keep the shelf usually very low so the lights are hanging down between th eplants and it doesnt appear to be doing any harm ?! hope tht makes sense bud

top job old son !! keep up the good work ( i gotta get a camera)
keep safe
hemlok

Hi
Thanks ot1 for splitting the post.


As far as the paw prints Hemlok , I have 4 of the furry nippers and when they get going I wouldn't be surprised finding footprints anywhere . Could be to do with the catnip I grow for them.

Looking good there penfold mate
the 5 inc Lti should handle the heat ok hope you have a bumper crop

Its taken a while but I'm back, finally got some of the flowering room done. Fans setup in the loft and the light is up
I have a few pics but i still not got the hang of the camera.

Here's another.

Boy has this week been a killer. I have had non stop probs in my life , health wise and financial. To top this off my grow has been causing great headaches for me. I have had problems with heat, light pollution and pesky cats out to destroy my hard work.
My Problem is mainly bad design on my part. My veg area is a wardrobe with energy saver compact fluorescents. I did not realise how much heat the compact flouro's put out, far more than the flourescent strip lights. This was a problem as the wardrobe was in the flowering room with the the HPS light. 8 compact fluoroscents were adding 10C to the temp of the room. The room was still within okay temps at the moment but it was getting close to 85 - 90F. Its the coldest it can be at the moment with the ambient temps outside, so by the time it warms up for the summer, the temps will be far to high.
Also as the compact fluorescent are much hotter, unlike the strip lighting, if the plant grows and touches the bulb it burns the plant and if any water splashes on the leaves, it burns them.
The original plan was to let the bulbs hang between the plants as they grow, scrap that idea.
I am glad unabriddged gave me the reflector plan, just have to save up for the bits first.
My other problem was light proofing my flowering room from the veg area. As i said they were in the same room and i had some thick black plastic that was put over the wardrobe. It blocked the light ok, but meant no air was getting into the veg area , it was also heating up too much.
I have got round it the obvious way, I have taking the wardrobe out of the flowering room. It almost killed me doing it but I managed. Its not ideal, because i now have a glowing wardrobe in my spare room. Quite a giveaway.