How's it goin guys? I'm starting another grow today, some Platinum Kush and a couple of mystery seeds. I've only done CFL and T4-T8 grows before, but a homeboy of mine just came through with an unmarked all in one hood, ballast and bulb. Basically, I'm trying to figure out what this thing is. I know pics help, but my camera is out of service for a little while, so work with me. It's not inner-cooled, the bulb is only clear the first inch up the glass, then is white. It takes a minute to warm up, and goes from a cool blue light to an intense gold-white light. the hood gets hot very fast. If you try and take a picture when the light is on, there are very clear wave-lengths in the picture, which I know to be a characteristic of HPS. Most of this looks consistent with an HPS, but I figured I should ask and make sure. My other question is, assuming this is a HPS of some variance, is it safe to run all the way from seedling to end of flower with the support of CFL? Thanks for any help you guys can give me. -SCRD
I'm not positive if it is a HPS, but assuming it is, you can use it from veg to flower, with or without CFL although I am sure the CFL won't hurt
What's crackin' SCRD, so, so my recommendation is to use the CFL during sprout, and seedling stages. Grow them about 2' - 3', maybe your 5th or 6th leaf set, FiM them, and then move them under the Mystery Light. Ensure you keep the lamp far enough from the tops of the plants as to avoid any heat damage. Should be cool though. I run CFLs right next to my 600w HPS during bloom for the tall colas, and a 250w mh / CFL combo for clones, veg, and Mothers. Rock it out, just make sure you keep close eye on the moisture, depending on your medium, as they will dry out rapidly as they adapt to the stronger light source. Sorry if this is a more detailed response than you wanted, but I just thought, what would I do? Peace And oh yeah, I'm from North County SD too!
Very sound advice. I've burnt a few seedlings over the past week with my HPS...even while maintaining proper heat and ventilation. I'm finding that it is doing more harm than good right now. If you do try it from seedling make sure to maintain a decent humidity. They can easily dry out before you know it. Ugh, I've been battling this all week.
Thanks for the help guys. I noticed some issues with the heat over my first batch of germ'd seeds in 2'x4' cups, all my soil was drying out so I put some space between the light and the seeds, and started pulling the plug on light early at night and just leaving the cfls through until morning. I'm probably just gonna do as you guys recommended and pull the mystery lamp until I boost into flower early in a few weeks. Still no ideas on what the light could be, anyone?