I went with (4) QB144V2's for the tent corners, (2) HLG96's and (2) QB324's for the inner center portion of the tents. Thanks @Tbone Shuffle ! Does anyone know when plants during flower are the most hungry for lumens? I would assume that it's not at the beginning of flower or the end since most people drop their CO2 ppm during those two periods. Does any one have any information on this? Thanks!
It should also go with the peak feeding time which for me is weeks 4-7 or so with a 9 week strain. Easy method for hanging single qb96 boards.
I'm thinking I'm going to eventually need to add a third flower tent to maximize my efficiency once i get things more dialed in. I'd like to use the HPS aircooled lamps during those middle 4-7 week time even if for only 6 hours a day. Three flower tents might be a bit excessive actually... lol Hopefully I can hit 1.5-1.75 gram per watt with these Leds qb's + co2!
That's a lot of frigging work lol. I'm good with one 4x4 veg and one 5x5 flower. And most of my 5x5 right now is peppers and tomatoes lol. Sent from my SCH-I545 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Yeah... I hear yeah. It's like tent city over here -- Probably too much work to keep up with. I have 1 clone/veg 4x4, (1) flower 4.54' x 4.54', (1) 5' x 5' flower, (1) 2' x 2' mother tent, and (1) 3' x 3' tent for drying. That's more than enough work I'm thinking! Don't quit your day job right?!
3 flower tents would be a lot for me especially by myself but I also don't consume much, so I'm happy if I pull 4 lb in a year. Sent from my SCH-I545 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Besides the added time and labor commitment. Another tent would cost a fortune to keep consistent: $250 - tent ~$900 in lights $100 in CO2 tank $20 CO2 tank fill $50 CO2 regulator $250 environmental controller $60 - tubes and net cups for hydro $35 - pumps, hoses $65 - ventilation fans, ducting $200 - fans, dehumidifier, humidifier $25 - extension cords, outlets, timers $45 - carbon scrubber Total of $2k to add another tent... not chump change!
Yeah it isn't a cheap hobby. Especially if you live in a legal state like Oregon where I am. Cheaper to just buy it. Sent from my SCH-I545 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
I would give up on the CO2. I've never found it to be necessary for personal grows. It complicates things.
In your opinion, when would you consider c02? I have no interest setting up co2 at this point, but given the proper environment , I’d be curious where the threshold is, and when it would be beneficial. I have a friend that has a little passive c02 generator. I feel like its a waste of time considering how little extra c02 might be generated. It’s a tent within a larger bedroom, but nothing close to airtight as far as I know. Thoughts?
In order for CO2 to be effective you have to maintain it at a level about 1000-1500ppm. This can only accurately be done with a controller that monitors and controls the release. In order to keep levels that high you need to also seal the space, turn off exhaust fans. When you seal the space it gets warm in any garden with enough lights to actually take advantage of the increased co2. That usually requires adding an air conditioner to the setup. You'll never maintain 1500ppm running an exhaust fan all the time. You do have to exhaust the room to at least change the air at night for fresh oxygen. The roots breathe oxygen not co2. All that to increase growth a little? It's too complicated for me. It can also be dangerous if an area fills with co2. The only place it's practical is commercially because it can dramatically decrease your cooling costs raising the optimal grow room temp up to 90's. It can be a problem in a home grow. I have all the time I need to veg. The whole bud cycle. I would run out of headroom if they vegged faster.
This seems like it would be the biggest advantage. Even if the c02 didn’t make a big difference in weight, the offset of reduced power could really add up.
It's pretty much the main reason you see it in commercial warehouses all the time. It increases the temp tolerance of the plants so the ac only has to run the room down to 90 degree range during lights on. That's a lot easier for an ac to do in a hot area then running the room at 80 degree range. Higher temp is higher feed rate is higher growth rate. It's one reason I run my bloom area at 82 degrees target temp. Plant growth is a set of complicated chemical reactions. Almost all of those reactions take place faster at a higher temp as long as the plant can tolerate it and oxygen levels to the roots don't suffer.
I have noticed my plants like the high 70’s, low 80’s the best. This makes sense. I was walking a fine line before on the high side, but it’s defiantly easier to control right now with my new setup. Unless you have a very tight locked small grow, I agree, i sounds like more trouble than it’s worth. I’m trying to make things easier, not more complicated unless the reward is pretty solid.
Optimal bloom temp with leds is IMO 82 degrees. I've done some reading on this. It's because of the more optimal light spectrum. HPS and other lights have a lot of yellow/infra red that increases surface leaf temps much more then led light spectrums. Because of this the optimal grow room temp is higher with led light by about 4-5 degrees or so. I would target 80-82 when optimal with HPS is usually accepted to be about 77-78 in bloom.
How do you like the qb96 spectrum compared to the new R Spec boards in a tent that will be used strictly for bloom?
I think the reason that HLG made the new qb288 is the qb96 was growing better with it's superior light spectrum. I'm not sure which would be better now that the qb288 also has some reds but the power handling of the qb96 each board for the price is still much better. They are almost twice as powerful per board if you want to push them in watt handling capability.
The qb96 is absolutely more powerful on a on a power/$ basis. I'm more considering the fact that I have a 6.5' tent, and w/ the limited amount of height I could get more even spread from two qb288, especially if I wanted to dim the lights and move them closer to the plants to try and get an extra 0.5' to 1' out of the grow. And of course whether the spectrum is better. Cost isn't really a factor, since a pair of either boards would be about the same cost and would be more than capable of handling my 2' x 2.5' tent