Oh haha, yeah, those stock hoods are trash for sure.
All this talk about cmh makes me so tempted to try it out!
Between my old hps, cobs, and strips, it’s a little ridiculous though. I’ve got at least 2000 watts worth of lights just sitting in a corner.
Actually, if anyone is tight on funds, but needs some lighting, I can help you out, dm me. I’ll give you a stupid good deal. Tech might be a little old, but I grew some decent crops with it.
yeah man I was dead set on LED’s but @Demontrich has swayed me to the CMH side. It has the same benefits of LED but is more designed for growing plants so I’m expecting the results to be better. I need the heat from the lights too for heating the room currently, so that’s another con for LEDs for my current situation. They just run a bit too cold for me.
I haven’t seen too much on side by side grows but for the ones I have, the grower has almost always said the CMH performed a bit better, even though the LED still outperformed the HPS by a lot.
I’ll let you guys know how it works out in my garden.
Same here
30 old hps/mh bulbs amd 6x 600hps/mh digital/dimmable ballasts collecting dust
@Demontrich I’m going to be growing 4 plants in a 5x5, going with a rdwc system, what lamps could I use, I’m gonna mostly top the plants for a main lining training so the canopy will stay pretty low, I’m still hesitant about going full LED or a CMH/HPS setup
You can do a 4x4 with 1x315 cmh. The 5x5 is tough for 1x315, bit do-able
Would I be better opting for a slightly bigger lamp? I want to get bigger yields to compensate the small amount of plants
@WorriedSam do exactly what I’m doing. 2x315CMH with vented hoods. I’m gonna be running the same. 4-6 in a 5x5
I’ll be chopping down my room Wednesday. I’ll toss up a few pics. Show ya what cmh can do.
I need to consider power usage because Its included in my rent so im worried that my landlord catches me
Im interested to see that man!
Would love to see those pics. I have been considering CMH for a couple months.
I’ll toss up some pics later on tonight.
I am stuck on if I should get a setup with a remote ballst or a fixed one. I found a ballast I like that has 2 315w output wires for 2 hoods. I don’t think having my ballast attached to the fixture is ideal in many aspects.
personally would go for the remote option. It is nice to be able to pull that heat away from the lighting area
Thats what I was thinking. I was not sure if there was a reason having a fixed ballast would help. Less cord, less resistance, more efficient type of idea.
Ever tried running hps and cmh offset from each other in bloom @Demontrich ?? Also have you looked into gavitas leds? The 1700e?
Most lighting will overpower cmh if next to it. So no good overlap.
A buddy went from a bunch of 630cmh to gavita 1650e. 2 runs later the gavitas are collecting dust.
Do you still follow the same lumens per sq ft rule with cmh or can you go a little lighter. I hate to get a big hood that spreads the light to far considering most setups are only 315w. Do you recommend getting the 630w setup or even the 1000w cmh and set them up just like a normal HPS?
I’m not a rule follower. I tend to break rules. Lol
Bugger hoods spread light out wider, but you need closer canopy to hood height to get the proper light needed. There are many tricks. Think of the hood like an adjustable mag flash light. Spin the lens part, the light is concentrated in a smaller area and brighter. Spin other way, the light spreads out more, but sacrificing brightness.
I’m currently running 3X340w quantum boards is a 5x5 tent very little heat and tons of light, no need for AC at all, most times when the plants are still small it’s tough to build enough heat actually. Power consumption a has been about $40-$50/mo all in on my 5x5 tent. I haven’t cropped us these lights yet but I do business with a grower that uses the exact same lights I am, he runs 4 boards and he pulls 4lbs of top nug and about 1lb of lowers and about another pound of quality trim.
