Someone help! Are 3 x 600w hps lights too much for a 2.4m x 2.4m x 2m grow tent?

[NoviceKing]

Once you account for pot height and light distance from canopy, that can lose you close to a meter height. Top them at-least once during veg to control height/stretch a little. Once topped, as a rough guide don't veg bigger than 2.5 foot from bottom of pot to top of plant. It's better to have them on the verge of too small than running out of head space and frying tops. You can increase the veg height once you know what to expect, but remember every strain is different.

Also make sure you get your light distance right to avoid stretchy plants. I can't tell you how far as it depends on your hood type. Younger plants can take higher intensity sooner than you may think, so try to avoid early veg stretch.

Love how you posted this bang on 4.20 hah i am going to take the advice but i am scared to top al 18 incase something goes wrong as i have never topped before.. ive seen it done! I was just planing on some good ols lst!? Veging for 5 weeks if that infor helps and hell yeah i defanitely want to avoid to much stretching would rather the plants bush out than grow to much in height. And as of strains i have have got gorrila glue, gsc, and a few ak’s all royal seeds

 

[NoviceKing]

Nah bro, hardcore biology coming at ya from the boys in da grow tent......

Leaves can get very hot from radiant light heat, s'why transpiration is HIGHLY efficient at transfering heat energy in water out of the leaf and has very little to do with the air temps you are trying to measure.

Straight up some newbies think the light radiation is the actual air temps, big fail wrong noNO...! I teach the real deal, air is not really warmed directly by light.

Learn science or ignore the broscience here and align yourself with some real growers, i could make my thermometer pass 50 degreeeeeeeees to the mother fukin 'C' if i place it close enough.

Stay in school kids

I hope that didnt sound all offensive, im down with the hard science and can give exacting principles to any tent to help you set up and dial in the environment

Offensive hahah bro this is what a need! and i really want to learn the full ins and out not just the bascis i dare say i know most the easy stuff i need to get deeper in it theres to many amatures round where i am from who just bang some seeds into a pot throw it under a light and boom just let it grow up and turn out with flimzy stretchy plants with airy buds, and i dont have enough people to learn this from the internet's full of stuff but av not yet heard or found what your talking about. I say if your gona do something do it right and i love this shit so everything im learning here is highly appreciated wish i had found this forum sooner.

 

[Kingrow1]

Say you were overwatering or overfertilizing then the plant will not take as much heat and light as a healthy one making you think its the light or heat.

In the end its a complex situation indoors and will take some grows to get to appreciate what the growers are saying.

The science to air temperature is used in weather stations to get your daily temps for the weather report, these guys use the same principles to measure air temos but not the heat from direct or reflected sunlight.

You should fimd as well as threads plenty of basic not marijuan google stuff on how to read air temps and how light radiation ruins it

 

[NoviceKing]

Say you were overwatering or overfertilizing then the plant will not take as much heat and light as a healthy one making you think its the light or heat.

In the end its a complex situation indoors and will take some grows to get to appreciate what the growers are saying.

The science to air temperature is used in weather stations to get your daily temps for the weather report, these guys use the same principles to measure air temos but not the heat from direct or reflected sunlight.

You should fimd as well as threads plenty of basic not marijuan google stuff on how to read air temps and how light radiation ruins it

See thats another worry that ive had about over watering or over feeding or vice versa i know that normally you want to use half the recommneded dosage, i am growing in canna coco coir and using the a&b soloution along with cal mag now i was wondering would that be suffecient to complete the grow from start to finish or would i meed additional nutes, also instead of replanting and making more work for myself im putting them straight into 15ltr grow bags from after the seeds sprouts? Now how soon before i should use the nutes or can i use then straight away from germination or wait a little longer when they on the verge of hitting veg? And while they are just germinating will one 1 600w hps be enough to get then into veg and then after first couple sets of leaves wack all 3 lights on or should i just put all 3 on as soon as there in the medium? Please help haha

 

[Flowki]

Love how you posted this bang on 4.20 hah i am going to take the advice but i am scared to top al 18 incase something goes wrong as i have never topped before.. ive seen it done! I was just planing on some good ols lst!? Veging for 5 weeks if that infor helps and hell yeah i defanitely want to avoid to much stretching would rather the plants bush out than grow to much in height. And as of strains i have have got gorrila glue, gsc, and a few ak’s all royal seeds

I'd verge on the side of caution and run 16 max, 4 rows of 4. You want to keep around 6 inches of space between the walls and plants for circulation of heat/humidity, it helps to have a small gap between plants top canopy as well, but only an inch or so. Lst is one way of doing it but you will get tired of it fast, so much work for what you can do much the same with early/regular topping. After flip you can put up a net about 6inches above the canopy and then use that for support/tucking as they grow into it. Won't be easy for the size tent but if your pots are spread out enough you'll be able to get in and around. It's better to use a net support and get it all done early rather than fucking around tying stuff up at week 6+, you will miss stuff and shit will rest on each other increasing humidity spot/rot potential. At the very least the stuff you miss won't mature and drop yield.

You can up pot directly into the 15L pots but water smaller amounts. Give them around 1/4L each every other day for the first 2 weeks, up or reduce the amount as you see fit. By the third week go for complete saturation/run off and feed every day if that's what you're intending to do. You could water to run off from the start but it will be a waste a lot of nutes and potential over watering.

Group the strains up and try to keep them under the same lights (4 squadron) where you can. Some may grow/stretch more than others so you can then adjust lights with the least amount of impact on the other plants. This however will likely result in the need for a second higher net to support the taller strains.

Logistically it will be easier to grow the same strain. If you are in closed hoods you may actually lose yield by growing multiple since you won't utilize overlap as good.

Btw try your best to get the plant in a V shape bottom to top. You really don't want bushy at the bottom as you'll block access. Lst is a twat for that.

 

[NoviceKing]

I'd verge on the side of caution and run 16 max, 4 rows of 4. You want to keep around 6 inches of space between the walls and plants for circulation of heat/humidity, it helps to have a small gap between plants top canopy as well, but only an inch or so. Lst is one way of doing it but you will get tired of it fast, so much work for what you can do much the same with early/regular topping. After flip you can put up a net about 6inches above the canopy and then use that for support/tucking as they grow into it. Won't be easy for the size tent but if your pots are spread out enough you'll be able to get in and around. It's better to use a net support and get it all done early rather than fucking around tying stuff up at week 6+, you will miss stuff and shit will rest on each other increasing humidity spot/rot potential. At the very least the stuff you miss won't mature and drop yield.

You can up pot directly into the 15L pots but water smaller amounts. Give them around 1/4L each every other day for the first 2 weeks, up or reduce the amount as you see fit. By the third week go for complete saturation/run off and feed every day if that's what you're intending to do. You could water to run off from the start but it will be a waste a lot of nutes and potential over watering.

Group the strains up and try to keep them under the same lights (4 squadron) where you can. Some may grow/stretch more than others so you can then adjust lights with the least amount of impact on the other plants. This however will likely result in the need for a second higher net to support the taller strains.

Logistically it will be easier to grow the same strain. If you are in closed hoods you may actually lose yield by growing multiple since you won't utilize overlap as good.

Btw try your best to get the plant in a V shape bottom to top. You really don't want bushy at the bottom as you'll block access. Lst is a twat for that.

Right that was a bit to take in but understood that nice a clearly, and hmm perhaps i should only do 16 for start, im just being greedy and trying to get as much as i can of thw first one as i have a put a lot of effort and money into getting this up.. i have never topped a plant before would it be relitivly hard to get it right first time? How far into veg would be ideal to do that too? And a net as in the scrog tech? But then its harder to access plants furthest away as i wont be able to do 4 rows of fow i have already bought grow trays to gow under the bags for run off and they will only fit 2 bags on to leave enough space fo each other. For support i have bamboo stick and ties not sure if that will sufice? And was hoping a bit defoliation would help reduce chance of rot and improve circulation between the leaves and round the flower? Also thankyou for the advice on watering too! I always heard that with coco it needes to be every 1-2 days as it drys up fast? And so i would be okay to use nutes from germinating as long as i give them small amounts to prevent burn? Sorry for all the questions, if you could reply and help out would be very grateful! Cheers

 

[NoviceKing]

Not sure what formation/positioning to have them in either as i have 2 light one on half of the ten and in the middle of the other half thought that would be best?? Am i just thinking to much into all this...

 

[Flowki]

Right that was a bit to take in but understood that nice a clearly, and hmm perhaps i should only do 16 for start, im just being greedy and trying to get as much as i can of thw first one as i have a put a lot of effort and money into getting this up.. i have never topped a plant before would it be relitivly hard to get it right first time? How far into veg would be ideal to do that too? And a net as in the scrog tech? But then its harder to access plants furthest away as i wont be able to do 4 rows of fow i have already bought grow trays to gow under the bags for run off and they will only fit 2 bags on to leave enough space fo each other. For support i have bamboo stick and ties not sure if that will sufice? And was hoping a bit defoliation would help reduce chance of rot and improve circulation between the leaves and round the flower? Also thankyou for the advice on watering too! I always heard that with coco it needes to be every 1-2 days as it drys up fast? And so i would be okay to use nutes from germinating as long as i give them small amounts to prevent burn? Sorry for all the questions, if you could reply and help out would be very grateful! Cheers

I would say 16 is what you'd safely expand into with enough veg time and topping, over crowding isn't fun. You can run more smaller plants but you might as well get into automated sog at that point. Manually watering 16 plants is going to be a challenge if you have other commitments. You'd be looking at 3 to 4 litres a plant x16. That's a lot for a one man show, consider every other day watering for your sanity.

The trays can work but they can also restrict space and lay out, do you have means to remove run off?. You can create a run off system with guttering that will direct it all to the front. Alternatively you can get bigger trays that will run from the back of the tent to the front that will hold 4 plants each (rows of 4). Chock the back up slightly so the water runs to the door where you can remove it with a pump or w/e. It isn't an urgent thing to do but removes a huge head ache.

Regardless of what support system you use, you will need access to all the plants in order to support them after stretch or during weight packing. You don't want to be puling plants in and out of the tent during flower so it makes more sense to prepare a fixed support system that you can get done early in the flowering. The net isn't just for scrog users, it makes very good support for well topped plants, better than bamboo for a few reasons. Again not something urgent to do, but something to think about, bamboo will get the job done but with a lot more work. If the plants are tall enough and V shaped you will be able to get under the canopy to tuck into the net or tie to the bamboos. I would not recommend moving plants when they are packing weight, get it done before that if you have no other choice.

When to up nutrient strength is a big mine field as growing environment, plant health and strain can vastly effect results. As I do keep saying, you can get plants on to full strength (around 1.0/1.2 ec for the avg strain) sooner than you think, provided the above is in check.

visually break your tent space down into 4 squares. Put 4 plants in each square, hang a light directly above each square. You can mess around with optimal over lap from there. If you can't run 4 lights then you may want to re-think how many plants to run, or at-least the size they get.

 

[NoviceKing]

I would say 16 is what you'd safely expand into with enough veg time and topping, over crowding isn't fun. You can run more smaller plants but you might as well get into automated sog at that point. Manually watering 16 plants is going to be a challenge if you have other commitments. You'd be looking at 3 to 4 litres a plant x16. That's a lot for a one man show, consider every other day watering for your sanity.

The trays can work but they can also restrict space and lay out, do you have means to remove run off?. You can create a run off system with guttering that will direct it all to the front. Alternatively you can get bigger trays that will run from the back of the tent to the front that will hold 4 plants each (rows of 4). Chock the back up slightly so the water runs to the door where you can remove it with a pump or w/e. It isn't an urgent thing to do but removes a huge head ache.

Regardless of what support system you use, you will need access to all the plants in order to support them after stretch or during weight packing. You don't want to be puling plants in and out of the tent during flower so it makes more sense to prepare a fixed support system that you can get done early in the flowering. The net isn't just for scrog users, it makes very good support for well topped plants, better than bamboo for a few reasons. Again not something urgent to do, but something to think about, bamboo will get the job done but with a lot more work. If the plants are tall enough and V shaped you will be able to get under the canopy to tuck into the net or tie to the bamboos. I would not recommend moving plants when they are packing weight, get it done before that if you have no other choice.

When to up nutrient strength is a big mine field as growing environment, plant health and strain can vastly effect results. As I do keep saying, you can get plants on to full strength (around 1.0/1.2 ec for the avg strain) sooner than you think, provided the above is in check.

visually break your tent space down into 4 squares. Put 4 plants in each square, hang a light directly above each square. You can mess around with optimal over lap from there. If you can't run 4 lights then you may want to re-think how many plants to run, or at-least the size they get.

Flowki cant say thanks enough for taking your time to wrtie all that out and explaining it all to me! I have so much more to think about and i have very little time as im on a schedual and i do work most day so it will be hard for me to get all the little extras in a short amount of time, i am beginimg germination tonight/tomorrow and hoping to have them planted in the coco by monday/tuesday i have all the equipmemt needed to set it off the way i planned but have learned over the last coulple days that im far from ideal, my brains been working overtime last couple weeks with it all and just when i thought i had it worked out hahah! For the drainage i have a mini hoover that can suck water out with a ltr container inside it so would have to do each tray at a time and empty once full and continue in that order. I posted a thread about scrog and everyone has advised that it would be best for me so looks like its what im going for, gona order what i need for the following week so should be here intime for the veg stage. And with watering i think i am going to have to struggle this time round and next grow will get a large container with pump on a timer that will do it for me. For now i have a second pair of trusted hands that can do it on the days when i cant manage. Want to say a huge thanks again for all the info and for making an effort to write back!!

 

[projectinfo]

I would say 16 is what you'd safely expand into with enough veg time and topping, over crowding isn't fun. You can run more smaller plants but you might as well get into automated sog at that point. Manually watering 16 plants is going to be a challenge if you have other commitments. You'd be looking at 3 to 4 litres a plant x16. That's a lot for a one man show, consider every other day watering for your sanity.

The trays can work but they can also restrict space and lay out, do you have means to remove run off?. You can create a run off system with guttering that will direct it all to the front. Alternatively you can get bigger trays that will run from the back of the tent to the front that will hold 4 plants each (rows of 4). Chock the back up slightly so the water runs to the door where you can remove it with a pump or w/e. It isn't an urgent thing to do but removes a huge head ache.

Regardless of what support system you use, you will need access to all the plants in order to support them after stretch or during weight packing. You don't want to be puling plants in and out of the tent during flower so it makes more sense to prepare a fixed support system that you can get done early in the flowering. The net isn't just for scrog users, it makes very good support for well topped plants, better than bamboo for a few reasons. Again not something urgent to do, but something to think about, bamboo will get the job done but with a lot more work. If the plants are tall enough and V shaped you will be able to get under the canopy to tuck into the net or tie to the bamboos. I would not recommend moving plants when they are packing weight, get it done before that if you have no other choice.

When to up nutrient strength is a big mine field as growing environment, plant health and strain can vastly effect results. As I do keep saying, you can get plants on to full strength (around 1.0/1.2 ec for the avg strain) sooner than you think, provided the above is in check.

visually break your tent space down into 4 squares. Put 4 plants in each square, hang a light directly above each square. You can mess around with optimal over lap from there. If you can't run 4 lights then you may want to re-think how many plants to run, or at-least the size they get.

Id start with one see if you dont kill it .

Its hard enough to learn how to grow one let alone the added complications that come with cramming 16 together on a table. Theyll be hard to maintain man.

Its going to be pretty dissapointing of you lose 16 plants your first run lol

 

[Flowki]

Flowki cant say thanks enough for taking your time to wrtie all that out and explaining it all to me! I have so much more to think about and i have very little time as im on a schedual and i do work most day so it will be hard for me to get all the little extras in a short amount of time, i am beginimg germination tonight/tomorrow and hoping to have them planted in the coco by monday/tuesday i have all the equipmemt needed to set it off the way i planned but have learned over the last coulple days that im far from ideal, my brains been working overtime last couple weeks with it all and just when i thought i had it worked out hahah! For the drainage i have a mini hoover that can suck water out with a ltr container inside it so would have to do each tray at a time and empty once full and continue in that order. I posted a thread about scrog and everyone has advised that it would be best for me so looks like its what im going for, gona order what i need for the following week so should be here intime for the veg stage. And with watering i think i am going to have to struggle this time round and next grow will get a large container with pump on a timer that will do it for me. For now i have a second pair of trusted hands that can do it on the days when i cant manage. Want to say a huge thanks again for all the info and for making an effort to write back!!

Yeah just some things to think about, as to not throw in the towel ^^.

 

[Flowki]

Id start with one see if you dont kill it .

Its hard enough to learn how to grow one let alone the added complications that come with cramming 16 together on a table. Theyll be hard to maintain man.

Its going to be pretty dissapointing of you lose 16 plants your first run lol

With ought sounding cocky he's got some solid insight there to adapt as needed and seems keen to continue with it in mind. If he gets greedy and crams 16 in if they are over grown (he has been given good spacing info) that's a lesson he clearly needs to learn the hard way.

Do you think anyone would run one plant when they have space for more?, never seen it.

 

[projectinfo]

With ought sounding cocky he's got some solid insight there to adapt as needed and seems keen to continue with it in mind. If he gets greedy and crams 16 in if they are over grown (he has been given good spacing info) that's a lesson he clearly needs to learn the hard way.

Do you think anyone would run one plant when they have space for more?, never seen it.

In that space my first run id probably run 4 plants and let them veg for a month so i could dial in the system.

And have time to read your strain and see how it reacts to nutes and light height, ph, temps, humidity.

Then when its lush green and growing healthy .... You may have hiccups...
Then flip it to flower once the space is filled out

That way you have lots of airflow down below . And youll have room to reach into the middle of your canopy . To get used to pruning and training.

Something tells me 16 plants your going to be overwhelmed

. Il follow ya, see how this grow turns out im interested to see a full on high effficiency grow first time

 

[NoviceKing]

Id start with one see if you dont kill it .

Its hard enough to learn how to grow one let alone the added complications that come with cramming 16 together on a table. Theyll be hard to maintain man.

Its going to be pretty dissapointing of you lose 16 plants your first run lol

I know exactly what your saying but i have grown single plants a couple times before but in shitty conditions which werent even close to suited for the plant this was years ago since then i have learned a lot obviously not close to enough as what maybe you know and other members on here but i understand what its going to take i am not someone who just thinks that banging a tent up and putting some plants in giving them feed and keeping temp and rh right etc and thats it..no, i know exaclty the kind of up keep its going to take and the science behind it, nearly anyone can grow shit weed.. it easy, but to grow good weed takes experience and i would say pation to be honest, and hell of a lot of dedication and effort! I have spend 2g in the last two weeks on equipment and preperation for this “project” lets call it, to come off and i am determent to nuture these girls like a mother a baby hahha and like i said before there will be a second pair of hands to help me out most days and i strongly believe i can do this and i that am going to pull this off! i know it wont be perfect but at least i got people on here who can help guide me in the right direction should any problems arise. Its all trial and error i know that even for a good and experienced grower it can take 2-3 grows to adapt to a new area before achieveing the grow up to a standard where he is happy.. if you know what i mean. I appreciate your comment and understand, by all means follow.. i will plant over the next few days i shall keep updating people and posting pics

 

[NoviceKing]

With ought sounding cocky he's got some solid insight there to adapt as needed and seems keen to continue with it in mind. If he gets greedy and crams 16 in if they are over grown (he has been given good spacing info) that's a lesson he clearly needs to learn the hard way.

Do you think anyone would run one plant when they have space for more?, never seen it.

Good man, haha feel like you kind of had my corner a little there but yeah your right if theres anyway to learn its the hard way and through trial and error, i am only vegin for 5weeks probably even 4 to be honest i would like to aim to have them finished and drying for around no later than early december surely if do 4 then flip them there should still suficient enough room without over growth cause i know people can bang a few more than that in there amd still be ok?

 

[Flowki]

In that space my first run id probably run 4 plants and let them veg for a month so i could dial in the system.

And have time to read your strain and see how it reacts to nutes and light height, ph, temps, humidity.

Then when its lush green and growing healthy .... You may have hiccups...
Then flip it to flower once the space is filled out

That way you have lots of airflow down below . And youll have room to reach into the middle of your canopy . To get used to pruning and training.

Something tells me 16 plants your going to be overwhelmed

. Il follow ya, see how this grow turns out im interested to see a full on high effficiency grow first time

You seem to be following the wrong person, it's not my grow -.^. If somebody wants to start big that's up to them, we can simply help best with that venture. Who are we to project such limitations?.

 

[Flowki]

Good man, haha feel like you kind of had my corner a little there but yeah your right if theres anyway to learn its the hard way and through trial and error, i am only vegin for 5weeks probably even 4 to be honest i would like to aim to have them finished and drying for around no later than early december surely if do 4 then flip them there should still suficient enough room without over growth cause i know people can bang a few more than that in there amd still be ok?

Don't take that the wrong way, it's inevitable some lessons will be learned the hard way. That said, you can avoid the obvious hard lessons, cramming too many in is one.

It's impossible to tell you the perfect amount. Your growing ability/climate/strain/veg time will all play factors. I'm just trying to give you a ''safe'' upper limit if the plants are topped a few times (and that upper limit is ofc my opinion, experiences differ). Run a few more if you decide not to top, pull them out if it gets too crowded. Run a few less if you feel overwhelmed.

If it helps put your mind at rest, topping is not hard and a few guides exist around here that are beginner friendly. Worse case (chain saw aside) you cut the wrong thing and end up with 3 tops instead of 4, or 7 instead of 8, etc. It's not a big deal if it happens.

Going 4 weeks from seed is pushing it if you do top. If you can afford 6 it would be better in that size pot. I can't speak for that kind of veg time in un-topped plants.

 

[NoviceKing]

You seem to be following the wrong person, it's not my grow -.^. If somebody wants to start big that's up to them, we can simply help best with that venture. Who are we to project such limitations?.

I think he has followed both of us

 

[NoviceKing]

Don't take that the wrong way, it's inevitable some lessons will be learned the hard way. That said, you can avoid the obvious hard lessons, cramming too many in is one.

It's impossible to tell you the perfect amount. Your growing ability/climate/strain/veg time will all play factors. I'm just trying to give you a ''safe'' upper limit if the plants are topped a few times (and that upper limit is ofc my opinion, experiences differ). Run a few more if you decide not to top, pull them out if it gets too crowded. Run a few less if you feel overwhelmed.

If it helps put your mind at rest, topping is not hard and a few guides exist around here that are beginner friendly. Worse case (chain saw aside) you cut the wrong thing and end up with 3 tops instead of 4, or 7 instead of 8, etc. It's not a big deal if it happens.

Going 4 weeks from seed is pushing it if you do top. If you can afford 6 it would be better in that size pot. I can't speak for that kind of veg time in un-topped plants.

Ah okay well that why i was jusy planing on lst but as you said before it would be more work on my part which i dont mind.. and i am a bit of a tight schedual for personal reasons, i understnd and appreciate all the info you have input, i am going to go with your advise and go for 16 i think thats just a nice number... im going to give it a couple weeks to try figure out some personal things if all can be sorted then f it they will all get topped, and thanks for that it has actually took a little edge of me.. what my biggest concern was when topping is completely killing the plant off

 

[Flowki]

Ah okay well that why i was jusy planing on lst but as you said before it would be more work on my part which i dont mind.. and i am a bit of a tight schedual for personal reasons, i understnd and appreciate all the info you have input, i am going to go with your advise and go for 16 i think thats just a nice number... im going to give it a couple weeks to try figure out some personal things if all can be sorted then f it they will all get topped, and thanks for that it has actually took a little edge of me.. what my biggest concern was when topping is completely killing the plant off

Yeah go with what you feel you can manage, good luck and I truly hope it is a fun first grow.