Room Temperature/humidity

In my last grow I pushed every thing to the max. It was an 8'*4' homemade hydroponic ebb and flow setup. Five 400w HPS lights and co2 being released every twenty mins. The temp was 95f and my dehumidified pulled out large amounts of water every day. My new setup is small and instead of pushing for yeild at the expense of potency I want things right for good growth but healthy potent plants for personal use.Growing in soil pearlite mix under a 400w HPS extented spectrum light. Just wondering what you folks think the best Temperature and relative humidity of the room should be. Ive read 75f. Surely i can push it up a little more with out any loss of potency but increased growth rate. Not using co2 but theres a good extractor fan going with a oscillating fan to keep the air moving. As for humidity Ive read increasing it during seed growth can increase female to male ratios. Theres that much conflicting information its hard to know what the definitive answer is.
Ant ideas?

 

Also forgot to ask In veg I always have my lights on 24 hour. Some have theres on 18/6. Is there any advantage to this. Surely its wasting 6 hours of growing time everyday, which will add up to around a weeks extra growth over an average 28 days vegging period. Or is there something I 'm missing. (apart from 1/2 brain due to years of abuse.)

 

My understanding is that there is no real advantage by extending from 18/6 to 24/hr. (except obviously you no longer require a timer), but I HAVE read a few places that the 18/6 is preferred to give the plants AND light a little quality "down time".....This is a GREAT time to water yer plants and also turn yer fans off so the plant can sit still a few hours and just relax....Basically (my newbie understanding), is to provide a nice size pot with good soil in it and occasional water (with a little MG Nitrogen mix) with a Halide light (set for 18/6) for a period of 8 weeks. Then kick the light back to 12/12, sex the plants within a week, and crank up the HPS light for another 8 weeks (or so) of flowering (Using a water/fert mix with a high Phoserous ratio and very little N.) Flush the plant heavily with distilled water about 1 week before harvest and use no more ferts. Cure properly and enjoy ..Repeat often ...I think thats about it

 

Would you like to speed up yourt veg cycle or could it be slower and still keep up with your flowering requirements?

What I like about a 24 hour cycle is that things like ballasts and bulb get most of their wearing off when the lights are turned on. If you can make sure to keep the light on at all times, the bulb will last longer.

On a 24 cycle they will grow faster obviously, it's just that some argue that the gurls need their sleep, I have no opinion on that.

 

Oh, and clones need the light on 24/7, so if you have your clones in your veg room, using a 16/8 or 18/6 or 20/4 for your veg will be difficult because you'll still have the clones' lights on at night. So a sleep time for the veg would require a seperate room for you clones.

 

Did not know that about bulbs wearing whilst off.

 

No, the bulb doesn't wear out when off.
I am just saying that the action of turning it on and off, heating it up and cooling it is what causes the most damage to the bulb.
When you turn it on, it heats up so all the components such as the shield, the element, the iner bulb and all start to expand, than it shrinks back down when turned off allowing it to cool. This expand/shrink action repeated is hard on the bulb.
You'll get more hours of use out of your bulb if you keep it on all the time than if you turn it on and off often.

Obviously, you don't have a choise in the flower stage but you do in the veg stage.

 

Thanks pepe. I pay only £15 for a 400W expanded spectrum growlux bulb. Can't remember the exact figures but I tested it before and after a grow with a light meter. It started at approx 56000 lumens and aftre 3 months it had dropped 8 or 9 thousand lumens. Thats approx 15%. Don't know what that would equate to in percentage harvest terms of a crop but at only £15 I reckon its worth replacing the bulb every crop or two at the most. You can always sell the used bulb or save them in case of emergency.
Thinking of swapping to a digital ballast. Do you reckon its worth it?

 

There's a few things I like about the digital ballasts but I don't know if the claims are al hype or all true. The ballasts I got for my 400 W MH claim 40% savings on electricity but that is a bit deceptive, the bulb uses 400 W and the ballast itself also uses about 60-80 W, so you might save 40% on the ballast's use but certainly not on the 400 W bulb.
The magnetic ballasts run very hot and that is usually a sign that it is consuming a lot of electricity. So since my digitals run a lot cooler that the magnetic ones, I guess the use less electricity.
I keep my 1000 W ballasts outside the grow to help keep the grow cool but the digital ones stay in without any problems. I don't like those ballasts outside, noisy and weird looking for anyone who might happen to go in my basement.
Their claim that it procides 27% more light is also bullshit, sort off! I tested it with my grow store guy and the digital one produced about 5% more light, but where I think I'll get more light is when the bulb starts to wear off and when the ballast starts to wear off too. The digital ballasts are supposed to last a lot longer and provide to lumens for longer, I don't know, only time will tell.

Me, I just like that they run noiseless and a lot cooler, the rst will be an added bonus if those claims check out. I made a lot of research before buying and I would recommend you get a Lumatek ballast, all other brands seem to have a high failure rate.
I am waiting for the 1000 W ones to come out, I think if there's a difference to be made, I'll see it a lot clearer with the 1000 W ballasts. Here's where I got my 400 W ballasts and were I'll be getting the 1K'ers when they hit the market:
http://www.westcoastgrowers.com/ballast2.htm

 

Cheers I'll check it out. But I am in the UK so may have to order closer to home.

 

Well, I'm in Canada but I don't like buying American, I figure some part of my money might go to Emperor Bush.

 

I think I would have to agree with baffoonman.

Just for the sake of argument.
Assuming that more lumens will always equate to an equal increase in productivity.
And assuming that you can get a maximum yield 1oz/sqft and an ounce is worth just $100 if you had to buy it.

Now using a 400W HID which costs an absurd $100, which will cover 12 sqft.
%15 of 12oz leaves 10.2oz. A loss of 1.8oz, worth $180.

 

I didnt read all the responses, this could have been mentioned...the only reason I use 18/6 is to get the electric bill as low as possible.

 

1 KW costs costs $0.05/hour here where I am.
A 400W lamp will use 400W/hour, of course
Running the lamp for 24 hours/day for 30 days is a total of 288KW, which costs $14.40
Running the lamp for 18 hours/day for 30 days is a total of 216KW, which costs $10.80

The plants don't grow in the dark. (They may continue to grow slowly through dark periods, using reserved energy)
24 hours/day for 60 days is a total of 1440 hours of growing time.
To get 1440 hours of growing time on an 18/6 schedule requires 80 days of growing time.

That's a difference of 20 days. 20 days at 18 hours x 400W = 144KW which costs $7.20

Total cost for 24/0 for 60 days = $28.80
Total cost for 18/6 for equivalent growth = $30.80

Also, 20 extra days every 60 works out to an entire grow cycle (60 days veg, 60 flower) every year, lost.

 

Just think what all that extra growing time would equate to in your final harvest. Even if it was only one ounce at only $2 extra electricity it would be a cheap ounce.

 

$100 an ounce, try $320+ in Nor Cal.

 

I now, a n HPS bulb doesn't cost $100 either, more like $30

 

Baffoonman, I think you misunderstood.
20 day extra is not extra growing time. It's just a longer period of time.
on a 24/0 schedule it takes 60 days to achieve 1440 hours of growing time.
on a 18/6 it takes 80 days to giv eyour plants the same amount of light.

Your plants aren't going to be bigger just beceuse they are 20 days older if they are getting less light. Yer just wasting time.

.. or maybe I misunderstood, and you were actually concurring with me

 

Not sure of anything anymore. Could of meant anthing if I was stoned. Looks like I was trying to say if you leave your lights on an extra 6 hours a day that equates to more growing time which in turn will mean a larger harvest assuming you have enough light to handle the extra area of space covered (which with good training techniques you should be able to do).