1st time growing and it’s been 13 days since I’ve changed to 12/12. Been giving fox farm 1/2 dose of nutes every other feeding. Any advise on how far to keep my 1k hps from the top of the plants? I’m in a 32x32 tent.
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You don’t by any chance have the option of running a 400 or 600watt bulb instead? Basically, if the back of your hand feels cool at canopy height, the plants are probably okay. The correct way to measure is with a laser thermometer reading the top and underside of the leaves, aiming for ~80 with lights on. This could be hard to accomplish with a 1000w bulb covering a 6.5sqft canopy.
Yes I have a 600 watt hps bulb as well. Would I be better off with that? I do have my light in an enclosed hood sucking out the hot air. My tent stays about 82-85 during the day and about 65 at night. I thought you couldn’t give them to much light?
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I appreciate your enthusiasm for lots of light. Based on the slight burning on the tips of your leaves I’d say your light might be too close.
Early in flowering the leaves have the ability to compensate for lots of light. As the plant continues to mature it diverts energy away from the leaves and into the buds. As some point the leaves won’t be able to keep up with the demands of lots of light and the top leaves will begin to yellow and die off. If that happens you should consider your lights too bright/close.
Is it usual for the buds to start so early? I thought I wouldn’t start seeing any till week 3 or 4 of flowering
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They look right on schedule. I usually see the first sign of budding within a few days and within two weeks they look great, just like yours.
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My girls started 10 days from 12/12 flip - so you are pretty much spot on so far as flowering started a couple of days ago for you it seems.
That sounds like a lot of light for a smallish tent - as others have said, a 400 or 600W would kill it in there.
Best of luck - I am on my first run as well 
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When should I stop the nutes? I plan on flushing this weekend then 2 weeks of nutes which will bring me to the end of week 5 Then I was going to flush again and then just give Straight water for the rest of the cycle Does that sound right? And do I stop all nutes?
Not exactly sure. Just going to feed mine as required until start of Week 7 and it will be pH’d water only until the chop.
I’m gonna start flush at 6 weeks I’m not trying to be smoking on any fert
Didn’t see this until now, since you didn’t (@) me or reply directly.
Yes, you can give too much light, but my concern was specifically about heat, which is why I mentioned measuring leaf surface temperature. At least you have an enclosed hood, but where does that vent to? Inside the same space as the tent, because then it’s going to get recirculated, adding to your cooling load.
Glad to hear you have a 600w. A 400w bulb wouldn’t be terrible either, or you can invest in a dedicated seedling light before your next go round. It’s all about saving money by running efficiently.
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I’m apologize I don’t even know how to @KeystoneCops. Until I just hit the@ and your name popped up. How about that technology!! I do have my hps venting outside my house. My tent stays about 72 degrees I have fresh air coming in with a dial so I can adjust accordingly. I have a bag of exhale 365 hanging up and two fans going. Just ordered a hlg led 60 supplemental light. I was told the different colors would help with the potency. From your experience Is there any truth to that? I plan on mounting it directly to the hood of my hps Also plan on getting a led light for my tent eventually and replacing the hps. We’ll have to see ho much extra cash I have after my vacation to the keys end of October
I also have a small led 600w that I veg with outside of my tent since they don’t stink so bad my wife hasn’t started complaining yet so I’m keeping it going
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Technology sure is a cruel mistress, ain’t it?
Are you talking about the far-red initiator LEDs from HLG? I know people who use them, but personally don’t have one. As I understand them, they help the plants enter the scotoperiod faster; they’re only used for ~15 at the end of the light cycle. Someone else like @dbrn32 can correct me if I’m wrong on that.
I’m more focused on the mushroom bags. I would ditch them, going forward. I’ve commented elsewhere about CO2 enrichment in ventilated systems and I can copy/paste if you want; the long and short of it is ventilated spaces have plenty of CO2 already. I’ll qualify that because you are over lighting that small area, and if it were sealed CO2 enrichment would allow you to use more of (but not all) the light you’re providing.
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Not the far red but the supplemental strip led
This one here hopefully I did it right.
I don’t think that’s the best light for your situation, as I understand it. You are going to add that red spectrum booster to an HPS tent, right? HPS is already very red. It seems like they offer that light for growers who have a very expensive B-Spec light and want to flower under it.
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Got ya. So what you’re saying is that the HPS is good enough by itself? Sometimes I get caught up reading and try a little to hard for perfection and end up screwing something up. Right now the hps is kickin butt in my opinion by itself. I’ve been in flowering mode for 33 days or so since august 25 and if you ask me these ladies look great to me
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There I go again I didn’t do the @KeystoneCops my last post. So you think I’m good with just the HPS? Seems to be doing the job.
A 1000w HPS covers 20-25 sqft of canopy; you’re probably going to spend more on electricity due to excess lighting than the cost of a properly sized LED and the cost to run it. Maybe that’s an exaggeration, but my rates (delivered) are really high.
You’re running a 600w HPS currently, right? That’s still 3x the amount you need.
I’m confused about the purchase of the supplemental LED; Do you mind explaining what led to that purchase? I’m sure you had a reason, even if it was based on bad info. It’s an expensive product.
There lights that would work better in your space, but there will always be better lights. The technology is moving fast now. If you aren’t spending money to cool the house/grow, then your HPS might be great for a couple years. And at that point today’s bleeding edge LEDs will be low-end.
Yes I’m running 600 hps. I was told the supplemental light would increase the resins and growth. This is my first grow. How big of an area is my 600 good for? Looks like I’ll be customizing my grow area after this harvest. My setup is in the basement which stays pretty cool and my hps is air cooled so heat is not a big issue. My tent is 80 degrees now and lights been on for 4 hours already. I’m sure I’ll have 2 or 3 harvest by the time I get my grow area just right. I built a 1940 street rod I went through 7 different rears before I found the one that rode just right. Kind of the same thing. But different Just like when Curtis brought those outfits to cheetch and Chong for their gig in Up in smoke. Lol. Thanks for your time and help much appreciated. Oh @KeystoneCops
With HPS you can take the wattage and divide by 50 to get the sq ft coverage. LEDs are trickier, because the efficiency varies widely chip to chip, and the majority of manufacturers misrepresent the wattage of their fixtures. Those “1000w LED GROW LIGHT ONLY $79” listings on Amazon, they aren’t usually legit. HLG lamps will typically cover 1 sq ft per 25w.
Most of us have been through a lot of subpar or even garbage tech. There’s no perfect setup. You just improve a little bit with each grow. You have the right idea. Don’t change everything each time. Cheers.