So, I had a friend graciously gift me this here setup. I plan to set it up during the coming days. It's a 5x5x7ft Vivosun tent, with a Hydrofarm Phantom 315w CMH to go with. It also has all the Inkbird controls, with an AC Infinity inline duct fan, paired with the biggest damn charcoal filter ive ever seen! Lol. He also gifted me a 150w Blurple COB LED and a bunch of other timers, thermometers/hydometers, extra industrial duct fan, surge protectors, etc. What a f*ckin guy!!!! Now I have about 500w of LEDS lying around that I can use already for this setup, but its 3 entire different lights, that don't match. 300w are in my 2x4 now. But, I think the CMH will be a cleaner setup and look. Hell, it will probably grow better as well! I also have heard really good things about CMH's, so I'm excited to try it out. Efficiency isn't a huge deal here and it's obvious my friend didn't cut corners with his hobby.... Now. I've had a lot of other HID setups, but never a CMH. Only a few smaller ones that I've made out of house fixtures/ballast and my bought MH/HPS 600w cooltube grow light, that i still have. This is by far the nicest stuff I've ever owned haha... It's my understanding that these don't get as hot, or use as many watts, but still put out the same amount of light as an equivalent HID or LED. Is this correct? I'm just wondering if this light is big enough for this setup and will grow like i need it to? He swears it is and claims massive yields from one Gorilla Glue Auto run, using this setup and I'm not doubting his ability or anything of that nature, he's a good friend... I'm just wanting some other opinions. Maybe of some other ppl that have a similar setup? This thing only has ONE GROW under its belt..... He also swears it doesn't get very hot. That he just had it in his garage, with the negative pressure of the inline duct pulling outside for air. He claims he even had to use a heater during lights out. All of which I believe, as it was in his garage. This is going in my house though, so I plan to have an inline duct, hooked to the Rainbird (so it cuts on and off at free will to keep in my set parameters), coming directly from outside and the cold winter air that it holds via a window. As well as the AC Infinity doing its think 24/7, which is sucking air out of that same window, via the charcoal filter. If it does indeed get too hot still, with that going on. I have the ducts to attach onto the sides of the light fixture, to make it a cool tube type setup. So I think I have the temp under control, I definitely have lots to work with and could easily have winter air pulling over that light in an instant. *Update - I'm actually thinking of swapping the light fixtures and using my MH fixture, as it is vertical and already has the ducts on it. Would I need to swap the entire socket and cord over to that hood? I don't believe they have the same connections, so I'm sure I would. But it's easy enough. I'm planning a setup, like I have pictured... That said, does anyone have any opinions on this sucker? I have 6 Vaghan Marmalade's from a breeder by the name of Jolly Pond Farm's out of my local Virginia. 2 of which are clones and still in the humidity dome right now - they're from the biggest plant. All of this is in my 2x4 tent right now and as u can expect, it's already crowded. Im really excited about these plants, as theyre already SUPER bushy and bulking up nicely. Its a cross of VA Beach Ghani and Limetta Maramalade. Everyone is always raving about the Virginia Ghani, so im very excited to see it bred with a lemon strain! I plan to throw them into the tent, along with a Critical XXL Auto (that is in germ now) during their veg stage. When the auto finishes and i harvest some smoke..... thats when ill flip the phenos. Thoughts, opinions, anything? Lol! - Peace!
I'm not sure on the size of the airpots. They're pretty big though. I was gifted those a while back as well. Lol. I have some amazing friends! Indeed he is. Thanks brother! I've updated the post with a cpl more photos and a question about using this CMH in my MH's hood. Thanks for the support!
I am not very versed on CMH but I do not think that ONE 315 watt CMH is big enough for the 5x5. I think you will need 2 of them. Furthermore, I think the order of heat production in decreasing order for the same amount of PAR is HID then CMH then LED. Not sure if this answers some of your questions. I need new friends.......................lol
It does a little haha. From what I'm reading, the one will be fine for vegging and possibly enough for a run of some autos, OR something that isn't taking the entire grow space. But for flowering and/or using the entire space, yes, it's looking like I'll need another. I believe I'll mount this one inside of my MH hood, until I can afford a matching unit. That way, It's atleast vertical and it will give it a larger reflector for the moment. For this run, ill probably just add one of my 200w full spectrum LEDS during flower. And yes, you can never have too many good friends! Haha
I looked at the factory info. 3’x3’ area recommended for the 315w fixture. They make a double (side by side, 3’x5’
Yea, thank u. I looked a little and saw that as well. I'll eventually get another one and line it up with this one. For now, the single and a 200w LED are going to have to do. Should do fine! Will do. I'll probably start a little grow journal and some photos of me setting her up, along the way!
Got it set up today and come to find out, it's a 4x4ft tent, which actually is a perfect fit for me! I also got my 315w CMH wire and socket swapped over to my 600w MH hood, so that I can connect the ducting through the light fixture. I went to put the bulb in and it was busted, so it'll be a few days before a new one comes. Any recommendations on bulbs?? For now, running a 200w LED and a 100w LED! Inkbird is set to cool and keep temps in check, via another 6" inline duct fan that it powers on/off, pulling air from the winter outside...
Going to order a 3k CMH bulb and use that unit during flower only, for efficiency purposes really. I'm going to veg under my two full spectrum 200w QB's. Break out the cmh when I flip em... *Edit* Got the other 200w QB wired up and hung. Let's see how they handle 400w of Chinese goodness thrown their direction! I've also attached some photos of the setup and current plant layout. The one in the middle is a bagseed from a lemon strain I had, hence why it's in a bag lol. I made said bag from 4 layers of window screen replacement, as a little experiment for future endeavors... we'll see what happens, seems to like it so far! This is by far the most light they've gotten throughout their life though, so I will keep a close eye on temps and any signs of stress.
Those 2led should almost be enough for the 4x4 I have a 1000 watt hps mh in a 4x4. I would try to get 200 more led watts if I was using led or another 315 if using cmh imo
Yea I'm going to grab another of the 200w LEDS. But I believe I'm only going to use CMH in flower. I still have a 100w LED that's not in the tent atm
I have my LEDS so low, it almost feels like I shouldn't lol. But the plants are absolutely eating it up and temps stay at 73°F. The light fixtures don't put out hardly any heat with my mods - u can literally grab the QB at any time and they're cool to the touch. What distance do yall run your LEDS from your plants during veg? Mine are at 19" above the plant's canopy....
I think im going to go with this Par Pro bulb for the time being, as it has the best feedback I've found, for this price point. Anyone know about it?
So I ordered another complete 315w CMH Fixture, only because it was on sale for like $40, shipped to my door, after taxes! It doesn't come with a bulb, but it comes with a ballast connected to the fixture AND the socket that I need... I also ordered two 3k Phillips Bulbs! I'm just going to seperate the ballast and mount it on a control board, next to my other 315w ballast (outside of the tent). Then, I'm running the socket via the plug and wire that came with my Phantom CMH. The socket will be mounted to the other side of the giant cool tube reflector/hood. So.... that will give me 630w of CMH during flower! I also ordered 3 more Growstar HLZB-2 LED quantum boards, to match the one I have now. That will be 800w of dimmable, full spectrum Samsung LEDs for veg - with a 630w of CMH in the air cooled reflector! Now all I gotta do is see if Growstar will sell me the brackets they use, when connecting two of these boards together, the same way I am!