strainwreck

problem after problem.. my light came in. I bought a complete kit, came in with no socket assembly.. So I goto my local hydro store, tell them I have a lumatek 400w electric balast, they give me a socket. I get it home, plugs different. I guess the balast I have has a BAREF plug. The socket they sold me is a Smart Volt plug? So im going back tommorow to switch it out *sigh*. ive had my plants under 1 40w florescent tube for the last 4 days. I did end up changing my grow room again. Gonna use the box as a veg/mother chamber. I am gonna use the whole shower in the bathroom as the flowering chamber.

So out of the 50 seeds I tried to germinate, 3 actually spruted. They are over a year old and bagseed so im not totally surprised. I did start germinating 50 more not-as-good bagseed that was deffinatly indica dominant. Once I get my growroom put together im gonna start a grow journal so ill hold off on pictures for tonight.

I did get a line on a source of clones. Im supposed to get my blueberrys and a list of others next week. That is about the only good news lol.

farmergiles

Did you get in touch with the supplier? The light should be supplied as advertised.

IDK what plugs and sockets you have where you are, over here kettle leads (sometimes called euro leads) are on most ballasts, you can buy them from any hardware or electrical store.
I've hardwired a ballast before but I'd only recommend this if you're sure you know what you're doing.

Like SAF and v3d4 said it is good to set the space up before the plants are ready as there are often teething troubles.

You might get lucky with bagseed, no reason why you can't grow something better than the bag they came in, commercial grows are often compromised as far as quality goes.

Hope you resolve your issues without too much hassle anyway.

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Pharm Girl

is this the plug u need?

it's a 240 v, n'est pas?

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but you must do the walking
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Become an inquisitive free thinking
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Fuck the Monkeys

MannyBoy

I built a cabinet about the same size and dimensions as yours. Here is a pic (not that mine is any better or worse, just different):



I like that yours is one door since my two door is giving me trouble with light leaks round the doors where they close in the middle. It flexes in the middle even with the seal material.

Anyway what I wanted to show you was a cabinet making trick which eliminates the door opening problem you are experiencing. See the frame around the basic box the doors close against? You just use regular 2 1/2" X 3/4" 6' or 8' (I forget) length pine. You buy them at Home Depot for like $2 to $3 a piece. I painted mine white. Attach these flush to the outside surfaces of your basic box making a picture frame (yours won't have the vertical middle piece). You can back brace them to sturdy things up if you wish. Then cut down your door 1/2" or so on each side (or 1" on two adjacent sides!) and your good to go with a swinging door that fits the opening.

I also installed a $5 clothes drier vent (like on the outside of your house) on the back of the cabinet so when the exhaust fan in the cab is drawing air this drier fan's louvers swing open and let in fresh air. Of course this may cause a problem with light because when the louvers are open light goes in and out. Mine is in the bottom section of the cab. and I have light traps in the shelf to avoid this problem.

While your at the Home Depot or Lowes or whatever, pick up a 90 CFM 4" inline fan in the HVAC (Heating Ventilation & Air Cond.) department for about $50. If you still need on that is.

MannyBoy

I think I can save you some money and grief, but I will pre-warn you that not everyone is going to agree with this suggestion. And this is only a suggestion.

You could consider trashing the whole idea of HID lighting for the very problem you are struggling with - heat. HIDs come with an array of difficult issues related to heat from the lamps. The other variable you have not yet encountered: cost of electricity to run your bulb.

In my area (midwest US) the cost of electricity at the moment is 6.88 cents a kw/hour. If I am correct in my math (I have been wrong very often) let's work out the elect. cost. A kilowatt is 1,000 watts. So, your 400 watt HID bulb will cost roughly 66 cents a 24 hour day to run (about the same a window air conditioner). These numbers are 400 watts X 24 hours = 9,600watts = 9.6 kilowatts (thousand watts).
9.6 kilowatts X 6.88 cents = 66.05 cents. For a 6 month grow period (24 hours to simplify the math) that's roughly 175 days X 66.05 cents = $115.

My suggestion would be to consider returning your HID lighting system and buying an LED light. You can see an LED panel in the photo on my prior post. My light is probably underpowered, it is supposed to be equivalent to a 250 watt HID. You could buy a UFO LED that is equivalent to a 400 watt HID for $200 to $300 on ebay. Electricity cost of a UFO LED (it uses 90 watts) $26 for 6 months at 24 hours a day. Saving $89 every 6 months or $178 a year in electricity.

My problem is not enough heat. The temp in my cab is a constant 67 degrees F.

LEDs are very specifically tailored to only the exact wavelengths the plants need for photosynthesis. HIDs give all of the light for the visible light spectrum. More light. More heat. Problem is the vast majority of this light (although we can see it) the plant cannot.

I will warn you. LEDs are a newer technology for growing grass. Some of the earlier attempts in the 90's and early 2000's were with LEDs of the wrong light spectrums. These older tech lights created poor results, thereby understandably making the cannabis growing community cautious. I for one think they have arrived. So much so that I am using one for my first grow. I have only started so I can't say definitively from my experience they work. But it is doing fine so far. And I found many cannabis growers who are getting excellent results.

Just an option.

stoneric

We have had some growers here who have tried LED's with no success. I hope that isn't the case with your grow.