Need help setting up room

researchkitty said:

Screw the mothers.

Destroy the veg room.

Make em both flower rooms and use a small area with the flood tray to veg in. Mothers for this small of an operation is really silly. You'll just waste nutrients and time keeping them alive and clipped to size because one mother will produce enough for 10x your room space every month.

Stick with feminized seeds, and go nuts!

If your curious how an ebb & flow commercial grow op works, check my signature out............ It's just in the beginning phases, but about 3 steps ahead of you with plants in week 3 of flowering and about 300 seeds and clones planted for 24,000 watts of power............... Look how SMALL my veg room is for a 24,000 watt operation!

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Hey kitty, thanks for the input, you have some real good points. I will definitely check out your thread because it would be nice to get the ebb n flow table running eventually. The reason I was hoping to keep some mother was because it is winter here and I wanted to create 100's of clones to throw outside this spring. Do other people do this?

Hell yes, many people veg in early spring indoors, then move them outdoors when weather permits.................. It's a great supplement for sure!

Hey guys, this update is because i have a concern maybe some ppl could help me with.

Since setting up the 1000w it has been flickering/pulsing non stop at a high rate... i can hear is quickly flickering in the ballast too, is this normal ? i don't think so.

The light does seem very bright. To make sure it wasn't the bulb i switched out the MH and put in my HPS and it also flickered/pulsing. The longest i let it run was about 4 hours or so and tried it the next day. I didn't want to leave it on because I thought it may be unsafe. I put my plants back under the t12 flourescents and they seem fine.

I called the hydro store from where I bought the ballast and the lights and they told me if there are any major issues its under warranty and we'll be able to arrange something. She advised me that sometimes MH bulbs can take 48hrs or so for flickering/pulsing to stop and HPS a little shorter (i beleive she said until they "stabilize")

After talking to her, I put the 1000w back on and will let it run for a couple days at 18/6 and see what happens. I wanted to fully troubleshoot it so they don't hassle me too much when I go to exchange it. She told me the flickering/pulsing it is safe... I HOPE SO!! what is also strange is i can subtly hear the flickering/pulsing in the baby monitor, i know this because i turned the light off and the noise was gone in the monitor. Any electricians or light experts outs there? let me know if anyone has experienced this or has suggestions. ALSO, is it bad to be switching the type of light for my small plants for the last 3-4 days.

If you put the HPS bulb in and the flickering goes away, it was the MH bulb. If the flickering continues, then it is the ballast.

No bulb flickers or pulsates for 48 hours. She probably also things grow/micro/bloom is for tomatoes. At best it should flicker just when its turning on for no more than a few minutes but once it is at max brightness then it should never flicker pulsate buzz hum or waver at all.


The plants in veg will be fine in 18/6 with the HPS, the MH is better, but the HPS wont hurt em. It does spit out more lumens than the MH at the same wattage, which is why we generally use them for flower more. A 60/40 mix of HPS/MH is sweet if you can kick it.

researchkitty said:

If you put the HPS bulb in and the flickering goes away, it was the MH bulb. If the flickering continues, then it is the ballast.

No bulb flickers or pulsates for 48 hours. She probably also things grow/micro/bloom is for tomatoes. At best it should flicker just when its turning on for no more than a few minutes but once it is at max brightness then it should never flicker pulsate buzz hum or waver at all.


The plants in veg will be fine in 18/6 with the HPS, the MH is better, but the HPS wont hurt em. It does spit out more lumens than the MH at the same wattage, which is why we generally use them for flower more. A 60/40 mix of HPS/MH is sweet if you can kick it.

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Ya I tested both bulbs and they both flicker/pulse. I left the light on whie I'm at work today and am kind of paranoid, I hope its safe like she said.
I agree with u and a couple ppl that I talked to, something has to be wrong with ballast. I have a upgraded panel at my house and the wiring is good. The grow room is on its own circuit and shouldn't be overloaded at all.. Even it was overloaded the breaker would go.
Just sucks that grow store will be closed for holidays and I can't return it until jan 2 or 3rd... My seedlings will be goin into week three now, sucks ill have to put them back under the flourescent lights.....

jianle said:

Ya I tested both bulbs and they both flicker/pulse. I left the light on whie I'm at work today and am kind of paranoid, I hope its safe like she said.
I agree with u and a couple ppl that I talked to, something has to be wrong with ballast. I have a upgraded panel at my house and the wiring is good. The grow room is on its own circuit and shouldn't be overloaded at all.. Even it was overloaded the breaker would go.
Just sucks that grow store will be closed for holidays and I can't return it until jan 2 or 3rd... My seedlings will be goin into week three now, sucks ill have to put them back under the flourescent lights.....

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This is sound thinking, except that if the ballast is defective inside it could simply catch fire, and THEN pop the circuit, in the mean time your entire room is burning down. Replace the ballast, and on the very soon side. Chances are very slim that there will be a fire or a safety issue, but keep it in mind as it still *could* happen............ It sure does sound like the bulbs are fine if they are both having the same symptoms......... Good luck!

I don't think the circuit inst getting overloaded, the grow room is on its own breaker. Only thing running in there is the 1000w and a computer fan.

I can keep the room temperature at 70F consistently. I've had the light running for 6 hours last night and for 12 hours today and it is doing EXACTLY the same thing. The ballast is pretty quiet, if i put my ear right up to it i can hear the pulsing sound in it that matches the lights pulsing. The ballast is not super hot... i can put my hand on it for a while.

The light is 30 inches away from the canopy and the plants seem fine

I am definitely changing up the hardware on jan 3rd. Hopefully they don't have to send it away or something stupid... i might try the ballast at another house just to make sure i've troubleshooted everything.

So ya think i should keep this light running even though its flickering until Jan 3? or just play it safe and put it back under the flourescents until jan 3 ?

If the light is flickering as a result of the ballast that means something is shorting inside the ballast and that short when arcs is what could create a fire and then after pop the circuit when its too late. I cant really tell you what to do and when you should do anything, that's up to you, all I did was explain the risks......... Circuits trip from being overloaded, or a failure of the device plugged into the outlet, in this case, the ballast.......

researchkitty said:

If the light is flickering as a result of the ballast that means something is shorting inside the ballast and that short when arcs is what could create a fire and then after pop the circuit when its too late. I cant really tell you what to do and when you should do anything, that's up to you, all I did was explain the risks......... Circuits trip from being overloaded, or a failure of the device plugged into the outlet, in this case, the ballast.......

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I defintely agree and think the flickering is a result of the ballast. I've read your whole grow thread and it was awesome! i'll trust your logic on what could happen. I'm gonna put the plants back under the flourescents and see about replacing this hardware asap.. just my luck, everything was brand new. I guess i'll update after i get this problem fixed. Thanks for help

Yeah i am gonna put plants under the fluorescent and return the ballast on the 3rd.

my friend gave me a meter that measures how much power a receptacle is using. I plugged in the light and see it is using 117 volts and i put the multimeter on the outlet and it indeed was 120. here is a vid of what the ballast is pulling in terms of watts... i am guessing some fluctuation is perfectly normal.. but is this odd? just interesting, learning lots. When i plugged the 4 t12 bulbs into the meter they are drawing 90 watts total.

Here is a quick vid showing the watts and the flickering that is going on. and the plants

DSCN0014.mp4 video by jianle420 - Photobucket

Party cups rock. Plants lookin good..............

If thats what the watt meter is showing, then its gotta be a shorted ballast............

researchkitty said:

Party cups rock. Plants lookin good..............

If thats what the watt meter is showing, then its gotta be a shorted ballast............

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Those of you who thought it was a bad ballast were totally right. I took the unit back to the store today and i had the lady there run it. I told her all the troubleshooting i did (thanks for all the suggestions BTW!) we ran it, she agreed that it was a bad ballast. Unfortuntely, they didnt have any more of that older lumatek in stock. This unit was sold to me for $300 bucks which was a steal because SOMETIME HAD RETURNED IT BEFORE ME AND THEY ASSURED ME IT WAS GOOD + no switchable. After complaining about that and having a no good ballast for a month we agreed that i could get the new switchable 1000w ballast for $50 off... so i got 300 credit and paid an extra $100 for the thing you see in the picture.

I have everything setup right now and am super happy... I'll be watching and seeing what happens with the heat now. I have a heat vent run into the room to keep it at 75-80F... I removed the heat vent for now and will see what happens.

The light is 24" away and i put the light on the 600w setting ? I was thinking since i only have 7 small plants that 1000w might be overkill ? I dunno? let me know what you think about height and watt

The plants are 4 weeks old and vary from 3" - 5". Time for a transplant ? How they look guys, first time here lol Any trimming ? Training ? Nutes? i did give some 2 days ago and they shot up like crazy

Thanks for checking out thread and the light problem is over! WTF is superlumens hahahaha

Excellent work man, glad you got that resolved.......... Two suggestions:

1.) Lower the light by about half of where it is now. Its way too far up.

2.) Top your seedlings using UncleBen's Topping Method (There's a thread on it here, search for those 3 words). This will give you 4 top colas per plant. You do it early in veg when the plant is above its second node, which your are. They are perfect for topping *right now*.

That's it! Looks nice and clean good work

My goal was to produce atleast one good mother plant out of this batch. Should I be doing the toopping technique if I want mothers?
I am going to put these in bigger containers in next day or so prob around 3 gal.
I lowereed the light down to about 16 inches. Temprature has been staying around 75.
So I am nervous to cut em lol... But just wanted to clarify if I should if trying to raise moms now.. And prob clone for sex in about 4 more weeks?

From seed, a mother takes six weeks before its big enough to take reliable clippings from. I would top a mother if you need a ton of plants, if you need under 25 clones a month I wouldnt bother topping it. It wont make any yield difference either way, topping in this method just makes 4 colas, it isnt the same as topping it the entire way of its life.

Six weeks isnt set in stone, it can vary per strain, of course. Best thing I can offer is snap a photo when you think its ready to take clones from and we'll let ya know if it looks good!

Thanks man,

So I decided I would do one transplant before putting them into 5 gallon buckets, esp. since I don't even know the sex yet...

I really wanted to learn and best way is experimenting... I topped one of the plants between the 2nd and 3rd node (i believe). I just did the one to see what will happen. Also, i know there is quite a bit of shock related to transplanting + I just finished at 10pm and the lights will be going out from midnight to 6 am... I hope the lack of light and my timing isnt a huge problem. The soil is promix, i tried to get the fox farm or ocean farm stuff at the hydro store and they said it is a bugger to get and they would love to have it but they cant get it... errr

OH! and i was thinking if i am going to top them and i need to determine sex... couldn't I try to clone the topped piece? just for the sake of determining sex asap ? how would i go about doing this... just like normal ?
I know this one is toooo tiny but i dipped it in some gardening powder root stimulator i had laying around (I'll get some nice gel stuff but i wasn't planning on doing any cloning yet). I trimmed off the bottom stems and there are some leaves higher up, i shoved it in a rockwool cube for shits and giggles...


Roots in the party cup


new pots


before topping


after i butchered it .. oh god.. well there's a first for everything


I threw the topped piece in some rockwool... this was spur of the moment.. but would something like this work if i planned it out properly?

Your using rockwool, soil, and hydroton? No, no no..................

I'm using all soil. I just put it in the rockwool cube to see if roots would form.
When i clone in the future, am i going to dip the stem and put it into dirt ? or rockwool then into dirt ?

If you use soil, use soil.

If you grow hydroponically, use rockwool and hydroton.

They cant really be mixed, they both have incredibly different water retention qualities and treat the roots differently.

I dont know anything about soil. But, if you move hydro, ask any question you like! You'll want the dirt experts in here......

Thanks for the offer kitty, I've been reading thru your grow thread (lots of pages).
I really just want to get a couple female moms going in soil..
Once I have these established I am going to try cloning. I have that 3x3 flood table I could grow on or do soil. Nonethless I have another 4x7 flowering space. the reason I made the veg space almost same size is that I am hoping to have lots of clones to go outdoors in the spring! (About 5 months away)
I don't totally feel comfortable growing inside yet. Its gonna be when I decide to flower something and see what the smells like