How important is the temperature..

i am going to setup in a 3x3 wide x6 high room (meters, high ceiling).... 600w hps bulb suspended over plants...

Where live the temperature outside drops to 4-5 degrees celcius, and this part of the house has no heating. Will the heat from the bulb be enough to keep the room from getting tooo cold?

temp is only important if the lights are burning the plant from to much heat i bought t5s so i dont have to worry about burning my babys.

Just keep it cool not to cold not to hot keep light at distance put ur hand under the light if you feel a burn from to much heat move it up that will burn the plant.

Temps ideally should stay consistent in the 70's during day cycle, and about 60-70 degrees during night cycle. What are the walls made of, and are they on the outside of the house (IE are their walls the houses outer walls)?

MVNugs

during 12/12 dark peroids u could have low temp issues

get a max min temp gauge and check then u can invest in a space heater if needed

MVNuggets said:

Temps ideally should stay consistent in the 70's during day cycle, and about 60-70 degrees during night cycle. What are the walls made of, and are they on the outside of the house (IE are their walls the houses outer walls)?

MVNugs

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3 walls are internal and 1 is exterior

buddwasher said:

during 12/12 dark peroids u could have low temp issues

get a max min temp gauge and check then u can invest in a space heater if needed

Click to expand...

Thanks, thats my concern... although i have auto lowryders so if i want i could leave the lights on 24/7 apparently, is this true or is it still better to cut back to 12/12. My problem with a space heater is the high ceilings, and with fucked bones and not wanting to involve anyone else i wont be able to construct a lower ceiling there for i might find myself heating the top of the room wil the bottom is only catching rays and no getting immersed in the warmer air. thanx 4 ur advice.

I prefer to keep mine at about 25.5 celsius. I wouldn't let it get higher than 28. I let mine get as low as 15.5 during the dark cycle, but wouldn't want them to get below 13. Get an electric heater that has a built-in thermostat and doesn't emit any light and I think you will be fine keeping it warm during the dark cycle. I hope this helps.

sputniknz said:

3 walls are internal and 1 is exterior

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What are they made of? And what is the insulation? I really dont think you'll have a problem with it. As long as your night cycles run between 60-70 degrees F and your days dont go over 90F or so, you'll be fine.

Theres a reason its called "weed", it grows like a weed. You basically have to try to kill it for it to die. Just give it love, and you'll get payoff.

MVNugs

Temps are extremely important as they are one of the primary factors in the rate of metabolism with the plants. Given the size of your room and the fact that you just have one bulb, low temps are definitely going to be an issue. You are going to have to run a space heater..probably even when the lights are on. A big difference between lights on and off temps can also cause issues like excessive stretching of the plants. If it were my space, I would frame a "room within the room" with 2 x 4, insulate with R19, and then staple panda film up. You only need 10 foot ceilings max. Your 600 isn't going to penetrate much beyond 3-4' anyways.

Its a bitch to heat the plant with radiant heat from the bulb.
Any adjustments MUST be watch closely. An repeatedly check for several hr.

I ended up sealin the lights in the top of the cab off with fire wire safty glass (plexi would work an you can cut it with most saws).
An venting the heat in the top of the cab.
Cause in the summer its WAY to hot unless its sealed. (then your run your dark period during the hottest part of the day)
This allows the plants to very close to my lil HIDs.

To make it work I use a space heater (cause of its thermostat), pointed away from the plants to keep a even temp.

MVNuggets said:

What are they made of?
MVNugs

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Outside is horizontal weatherboards, frame construction and no insulation, inside is vertical TG&V (old house, almost 105 years old). Also there is a hole in the floor which i plan to block up or use if it becomes neccesary. When we bought this house i was healthy, we planned on renovating for a quick sell. Im all but in a wheelchair now so you can figure the rest...

OH... OOPS SORRY!.... forgot to mention it has a signle glaze window approx 1800 x 800. I was going to cover this anyway (doesn't get direct sunlight anyway) but thought i should tell.

sputniknz said:

OH... OOPS SORRY!.... forgot to mention it has a signle glaze window approx 1800 x 800. I was going to cover this anyway (doesn't get direct sunlight anyway) but thought i should tell.

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Ah. That window could be a problem. I would stuff the frame with insulation (styro, that pink shit, mylar, whatever works for you). Ever notice that near a window in winter its cold? Yeah. It also, if its in a unused room, might have a draft to it, as no one ever used it/ upkept it. And by 1800x800, do you mean inches?millimeters?miles?

MVNuggets said:

And by 1800x800, do you mean inches?millimeters?miles?

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Ha ha ha.... *LMFAO*.... that made me laugh dude, metric mate, all metric here .... sorry i forget you guys still havent upgraded yet. Im planning on covering the window any way, but i might put some insulation behind as i have some in the garage.

Found a great cabinet for vegging today, but will wait till i get some different strains as auto lowryders dont really seem to need vegging time.

sputniknz said:

Found a great cabinet for vegging today, but will wait till i get some different strains as auto lowryders dont really seem to need vegging time.

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Yeah, auto's will start flowering in about 2 weeks. By then they will only be about 3 to 5" tall, so a vegging cabinet isn't really nessecary.

MVNugs

as already said,a thermostat w/ hi/low memory would be the best way to tell if you need more heat.
what hasn't been said is that a ballast needs an hour or 2 a day off time to cool or you will shorten the life of the ballast & bulb. autoflowers do better w/ more than 12 hrs of light a day but your equipment needs a rest so 24 hr days isn't a good answer either.1-2 hrs off might not be enough for the temps to drop too low but you will need a thermostat w/ memory to know.

buddwasher said:

during 12/12 dark peroids u could have low temp issues

get a max min temp gauge and check then u can invest in a space heater if needed

Click to expand...

yeah, he's right. My plants got real cold here during a hard freeze...the stems turned red and when I went to clone one looked like it was bleeding when I cut it.
Now I have to wait for it to return to a healthier state and this slows down the plant growth. I went and got a mini personal heater. I dont blow it directly on the plants just around it. Its been about a week or so now and they still haven't returned to a healthy veg state*sigh*.

mrmadcow said:

as already said,a thermostat w/ hi/low memory would be the best way to tell if you need more heat.
what hasn't been said is that a ballast needs an hour or 2 a day off time to cool or you will shorten the life of the ballast & bulb. autoflowers do better w/ more than 12 hrs of light a day but your equipment needs a rest so 24 hr days isn't a good answer either.1-2 hrs off might not be enough for the temps to drop too low but you will need a thermostat w/ memory to know.

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Thanks dude, i hadn't thought of this, infact i thought ballasts were pretty hard core, didn't realise they needed down time too. Im going to run 18/6 then, hey even the plants need to sleep aye.

Good things happen when the lights are off for sure. But in case in didn't sink in the first time, your going to need serious insulation. Yeah it's cold up there now but come summertime, it's going to be an inferno.

legallyflying said:

Good things happen when the lights are off for sure. But in case in didn't sink in the first time, your going to need serious insulation. Yeah it's cold up there now but come summertime, it's going to be an inferno.

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thnx legal, i did hear what you said about the insulation. im going to cover the windows and then line the room with thermal wrap and line it again with white plastic wrap, its the best i can do with what i have at the moment ($$) as most of this is already sitting in my garage. just got to get staple gun. will try to find a heater with a thermostat too incase.

PS: im in southern hemisphere lattitude 46 degrees