Frequently Asked Questions

Depends. If you have another fan bringing fresh air into the room with the correct CFM rate then you will be fine. If you need your “grow light” fan to keep the air movement optimal, then I suggest running it all of the time.

If you do not know what the CFM rating is, (you need this for the correct air exchange) use this method: Multiply your room length by the width. Then, multiply the height of the room. This is your air volume. Divide the air volume of the room by the CFM rating on your fan. You want a complete air exchange at least every 5 minutes

Clamps work well, but they can sometimes slip off when you raise or lower your hoods. I strongly suggest using duct tape. The best I’ve found is the silver tape that stretches (usually has black writing all over it). If you use duct clamps, use tape as well to ensure long term effectiveness.

If you want to speed up the growth to cut cuttings, you need 22-24 hours of lighting. If you want to slow down the growth between the growing cycles, reduce to 18-22 hours of lighting..

Again, a good rule of thumb is 18+ hours of light to keep your plant in the vegetative growing state. I would strongly suggest using a 24 hour light cycle for fast vegetative results.

18-24 full hours of light is best. You do not need high intensity light until your seedling grows its second set of leaves.

Low intensity light is ok in the very beginning (until the plant grows its second set of leaves). But you are not getting the maximum benefit until your plant is in a similar environment to what it will be flowered in. I suggest keeping a light period above 18 hours. For the fastest transition to full growth, I would leave the grow light on 24 hours.

Hot spots occur when the light being reflected is unbalanced. This could be because the hood is too close to your plants. The best solution (other than raising your hood) is to have a fan blowing right over the hot spot to lower the temperature between the plant and the light. A more expensive way to fix a hot spot is to implement a light mover into your system. Light movers work great.

Yes there is. If you are noticing the leaf tips closest to the light are burning then you should raise your light up more.

Though your hood is made to spread the light footprint, the most intense light is still in the middle. You can move the plants around to help balance the footprint of light. Move the large plant to the outside and the smaller ones to the middle. You can also purchase a light mover. I do not recommend having the light mover move more than 18” in each direction (over 18” in movement and your max benefit of light dwindles)

Clean the glass monthly. The glass already decreases the light off the bulb by about 8%. If the glass is dirty the inefficiency is a lot worse. If you have air-cooled hoods with one side of your hood open to the room, maybe put a fabric filter on the open end to keep dust or pests from entering in the hood.

If a power outage occurs a couple times during a cycle it will not make a dramatic difference. TIP: In your Mother room you never want the lights out for too long. Buy an LED light with an emergency battery backup. Set it high up in the Mother room. If the power goes out the emergency units sense the power interruption and will turn the light on until the power is restored. Some of these emergency power light backups can run for 2 days until the battery dies. The great thing is that the power is usually not off more than a few hours. Once the power is on the emergency light units will automatically recharge the battery in the unit.

This helps to ensure the light turns on and off when they are supposed to. You can manually flip your lights on and off, but what if you become sick? Or what if you are away unexpectedly, and the light cycle is interrupted. Light cycles being interrupted will adversely affect your plants.

Not everyone needs one, but the more tools you have the better your knowledge and in turn, results. If you buy a light meter: When you get a new bulb check the lumen output, write it on the box. Then you can take a reading every 6 months to gauge when to replace the bulb, for a newer more efficient one.

An HID bulb can lose up to 30% of its efficiency over two years; up to 10% after the first year. The spectrum can also change over time, due to the intensity change. A frugal grower might replace their bulbs every two years. A commercial grower will change the bulbs annually. The (type A) overly conscious grower might replace them every 6 months.

The new LED technology is growing fast. It seems to finally be catching up with the more complex needs of fruiting and flowering plants. I personally feel LED technology is on the brink to being efficient enough to gain the general confidence of the indoor growing community. Every year I see LED with a better light intensity, and added energy efficiency to match. I would not feel the need to be replacing your 600 watt and 1000 watt (HID’s) for flowering yet, but you might see some competition soon. Check out plasma lights, this technology is VERY promising.

Digital lighting has given the indoor gardener a great advantage compared to their old magnetic coil ballast counterparts. The new Digital Ballasts weigh less, run MH and HPS bulbs, use both 120v and 240v, and run at cooler temperatures, have a higher lumen output, greater power efficiency, and have dimming functions (on some models). The only advantage I’ve seen with the older magnetic ballasts is that most of them are still running. If you’re old school, you might even have a Diamond magnetic light still powering a grow.

Feel free to use soapy water (very small amount of soap). I would not repeat this method more than twice in a grow cycle the soap can build up. Use a mild soap such as Ivory, Castile, do not use Dawn.

If using beneficial microbes (teas, fungi, bacteria), always use reverse osmosis tap water (it takes chemicals out that will kill the beneficial flora). To get fast delivery of the additives and/or beneficial supplements, you can foliar feed them (if the label states you can) or mix into a watering can for immediate watering to plants. Even if you have an Ebb & Flow, top feed them, you will see faster results.

When the light goes off or the sun goes down. This ensures all of the nutrient spray has been absorbed before the light is able to react with it. When you spray with the light on, or when your plants are still wet when the lights turn on, there is a negative reaction. The water also acts like a magnifying glass when the light shines through to the leaf. Liquid Light by Dutch Master requests that you spray the solution with the lights on. This product has been engineered for this. Also the product is very light to begin with (it’s hard to burn). But DO NOT use this product outside or inside using 1000 watt lights. Only 600 watt lights and below for Liquid Light (it too has its limits in the light).

Healthy plants get more benefit from foliar feeding in the “grow/vegetative” stage. You can foliar feed in the bloom/fruit & flowering stage until the second or third week. Foliar feeding past 3 weeks in the bloom/fruit & flowering stage is not recommended and can cause fruit and/or flowers to rot.

Using a wetting agent makes a big difference. Wetting agents reduce surface tension allowing the foliar spray to saturate the leaves and be absorbed into the plant tissue instead of just dripping off of the plant.

Yes. Foliar spraying is the fastest way to get nutrients to your plants. Be careful not to foliar flowering plants past their 3rd or 4th week. I’ve seen 20% increases in growth and flower production due to a regular foliar feeding regiment. Be careful with new products. I recommend only using a 50% ratio of the stated dosage, until you feel comfortable with increasing the use of the product. Also, if you have a burn issue due to foliar feeding, know it can take up to 3 days to see the results of burn.

Your pH will fluctuate for a number of reasons. The largest factor is that the nutrient is mixed with outside elements every time you water (your plants, trays, pots). If your pH fluctuation is happening too frequently, you should try a larger size reservoir. Remember as your reservoir water level drops your PPM increases. This is because your nutrient is becoming concentrated by water loss (Your plants do not eat all of the nutrients, during water loss the PPM goes up proportionately). If you have an automatic topping off float valve, it’s your water (the new water topping off is not pH adjusted). If you tend to have undesirable city or well water to begin with, this could also be the cause. Check the regular tap water at your house PPM level with the TDS meter. This is a good test for water quality when wanting to know if there is a lot of anything present. Good water will read 0-150 PPM. I’ve seen tap that is as high as 450 PPM, with a super basic level of 8.5! In any case it is good to buy a water filtration system if you experience any regular fluctuation of pH or if you notice there is a high PPM right out of the tap. Try to get a 3 stage RO (reverse osmosis) system.

It is important to check your pH level every time you water your garden. If you are using a timer to automatically water, you should check it daily. When growing in soil you do not have to adjust is as often as when growing hydroponically. Typically when growing hydroponically, you want your pH range to be between, 5.5 - 6.5, depending on your crop and/or genetic type. When adding nutrient to your reservoir it is important to pH AFTER all the nutrients have been added. This is because your nutrients will increase your pH level. So if you pH as the last step, you know and have control over what the pH is..

The majority of growers, especially indoor gardeners should be adjusting their pH. You can grow without adjusting it, but are faced poor results. In some areas, the water is so bad out of the tap; you might have to adjust the pH just to have a decent harvest. Soil is a bit more forgiving than other media types, for pH adjustment. This is the best way to assess if pH adjusting should be a concern. Obtain a pH reading kit (has strip and a liquid) or a pH meter. Test the water right out of your tap. If it is above 6.5, you should be adjusting your pH level regularly. Once you incorporate pH balancing into your routine your will see the difference. IMPORTANT: When you add nutrients/supplements to your reservoir, your pH levels will RISE. When you are adjusting your final reservoir mixture, pH balance LAST.