Doobz Goes Hydro Loco

Got to say, they look great, might have to get ya to build me a custom sized one of these aero thingies to fit my cupboard. I forgot, what strain are ya running?

[Elmer Bud]

G`day Doobs
Gonna side track here for a moment ,after reading BH`s post bout foggers I searched this out http://www.instructables.com/id/Buil...oponic-System/
Clever little basket eh ?
Anyway back on track . Re the roots ; usually by the time the plants have finished the troughs should be one solid mat of roots . Now it may seem that the plants are destined for the bin .. but I have taken a crop that was harvested and revegged ,then cut the root mass into even sections and replanted the plants in a Ver ,Per + soil mix in 4ltr buckets , after a week or two to harden up they were placed outdoors for a winter equinox harvest ,Bobs your Uncle ,and if he had tits he`d be your Auntie .
Wishing you well and appreciate the info
Thanks for sharin
Elmer Bud .

[Doobz]

Running the same "Unknown" cheese mate. It was the only thing I could get enough clones from in time..

After all my pissing about making the caps for the ends of the chambers, the roots seem to have sorted themselves out and stopped poking out as much so I sacked them off.

Speaking of roots, I did some research into the Vitalink Max Nutes as I was worried slightly that the roots were a bit brown. I got some good info from Heath Robinson's grows where he explains Vitalink Max, does dye your roots slightly.

Its amazing how healthy and strong they are though. Its hard to explain what they are like. Almost like a Crispy Vermicelli. The whole base of the Chambers is now about 1/2" matt of roots.

I put in a new Grolux bulb last night and there has been some nice new growth compared to just using the MH. Maybe the MH needs replacing too as I have used it for a while now?

I will do a rez change tomorrow as it seems the EC has dropped down now to 0.5 from 0.8. I guess that means they are eating..

The plants are still on grow nutes. I will stick with grow nutes till the plants have finished their stretch..

Other than that, everything is ticking over nicely.

Yup, the ec falling means they are eating. They are looking nice and that root growth is fantastic. My roots are usually a bit brown as I use so much seaweed and that stuff turns anything it touches brown.

I change my bulbs every 6 months just to be on the safe side, they are good for about a year before the lumens falls a lot, but I like to make sure I get the most lumens for my leccy so I swap em at 6 months, and I get my 400s on ebay dirt cheap so I can afford the bulbs more than I can afford the lecyc!

[Doobz]

Can I add a little bit more A+B to the rez? Maybe just add 10ml of each to take it back upto 0.8?

Thats a long time isn't it BH? I change em every grow so 8 weeks of 12/12 = 4 weeks on constant. I get the grolux 600w's for 20 a pop so shouldn't really complain. If you want my old 600watters, your more then welcome.. They are only 8 weeks old lol..

Yeah, you can just add more nutes to the res to up the EC.

Wish I had a 600 ballast! It's been a while since I looked at the lumen maintenance charts for the bulbs I use (usually Osram, but have Venture, Phillips, Sylvania and Powerplant in my stash) but they should not lose too many lumens over 6 months of use, I should take a look.

I'm still thinking of replacing my 400 in a cooltube with 2 x 250 in a dual tube to better spread the light over my space which is 45cm deep and 90cm wide, so the 400 lights the middle great but the ends are a bit dim. I have a pair of 250 lowbays I can rob the ballast trays from, just need to get a dual cooltube and a pair of 250 lamps, I have a 250 HPS somewhere.

[Doobz]

cool cool thanks mate. I just ran up and added 10ml and now the EC is back at 0.8..

I was kinda lucky to get the ballasts I have atm. The dude who I got them from obviously was trying to get rid of them because they were not firing up all the time. All that was goosed was the ignitor?. I grabbed a few off e-bay for a few pennies and they have been good ever since. They are the old metal housing Canatronics illuminator ones.

There seems to be a new bulb on the market. They are called "Philips Greenpower Lamps" and unlike most HPS bulbs they are not recomended to be changed after each grow.. Here is the Blurb..

Finest full specturm lamps

One of the most efficient and effective light sources available to indoor gardeners today, the Greenpower Lamp from Philips has a fine reputation for cultivating tremendous crops – both in terms of quality and quantity!

As you would expect from a premium standard full spectrum bulb, the light that is generated by this exceptional product triggers phenomenal growth in all your plants over both vegetative and flowering stages. On close inspection the advanced technology and robust design employed by a Philips Greenpower Lamp also gives you distinct benefits of increased reliability and longer lasting output at the optimum level. In other words, you have to change it far less frequently than alternative options! We recommend replacing this lamp every 6-9 months.

Yup, the ignitor is usually the first thing to go in a ballast and they are easy to replace. Capacitors also go and those are also easily replaced.

Phillips released those Greenpower lamps 5 years ago but I've only seen them in high wattage double ended versions:

http://www.lamptech.co.uk/Spec%20She...wer%201000.htm

HPS lamps have long been the favoured light sources for plant growth, owing to the high proportion of radiation in the spectral range of greatest value to photosynthesis. Philips was an early pioneer in the development of lamps having a further optimised spectrum, for instance the original SON Agro 400W. This features enhanced output in the blue as well as red regions to stimulate photosynthesis with maximum efficiency.

In order to increase growing yields, there has been a continual trend to the use of higher irradiation levels, which in turn calls for higher output lamps. However at levels above about 3000 lux the blue output (which prevents excessive vertical growth) becomes less important. This resulted in the GreenPower range of HPS lamps having only the increased red component, which raises performance because growth is stimulated much more by red light than blue.

To fuel the desire for still higher light levels, Philips launched the first 1000W plant growth lamp in 2005, in the form of this GreenPower TD. The double ended construction was chosen so as to maximise optical efficiency in the luminaire, because unlike for single ended lamps there is no frame support wire running alongside the arc tube, which may cast a shadow in the beam. The position of the arc tube with respect to the pinch-seals is also tightly controlled, which permits optimal positioning within the luminaire's optics. In common with most other double ended HPS lamps, the outer jacket is gas-filled rather than vacuum. This permits a reduction of arc tube length for a given wattage, further improving the degree of optical control. The high thermal conductivity of the gas filling does however make the lamp extremely sensitive to its environment in the luminaire, especially the reflector design.

[Doobz]

Originally Posted by british_hempire

Yup, the ignitor is usually the first thing to go in a ballast and they are easy to replace. Capacitors also go and those are also easily replaced.

Phillips released those Greenpower lamps 5 years ago but I've only seen ]

Possibly the HPS E40 fit bulbs are fairly new? The dude from our grow-shop near our gaff said he has only started seeing them available from his suppliers.

Yeah, the e40 ones could be a new thing, not seen em personally, but I guess it's inevitable that Philips would produe this new tech in the old form factor.

BTW, I've been worried about Denis, he has been in his burrow under the tree root for over a week, yesterday I picked up the root and whaddya know, he shed his skin, so I removed it from the tank. I'll leave him be another week or so then I'll give him a cricket.