New lights/mover setup ???

[Renfro]

I almost said 4x12 to give more overlap lol.

Seeing as how the three 550's are a total of 1440 watts, if we went with the watts per sqft theory:

35 watts per sq foot (good) = 41 sqft

50 watts per sq foot (awesome) = 28.8 sqft

Now lets assume 4 feet wide canopy area by having the lights close enough that the coverage area is 4 feet wide on the narrow dimension of the light, at 50 watts per sqft he would have a row 7.2 feet long. So basically 4 x 7 area thats really well lit. At 35 watts per sqft he would have a row thats like 5 x 8 moderately lit.

I don't see the row being longer than say 8 feet if he wants to get at least 35 watts per sqft.

 

[Renfro]

4x13 puts him at 27.7 watts per sqft.

4x12 puts him at 30 watts per sqft.

 

[WaterDog]

I almost said 4x12 to give more overlap lol. Lighting is one thing that I don't believe less is more. I also would have those lights as close to the canopy as I possibly could .

How close would you recommend? I'm gonna veg for about a month before switch. I could supplement lighting easier than making my area smaller. What should I look into for that? I'm sorta stuck with my size. Maybe just hard headed. Thanks guys

 

[JohnDee]

????
Thoughts

Hi Waterdog,
I use a Gualala 3.5 with two trolleys and holding three lights. I only have a single rail (4x8 space) and it only moves 2 feet back and forth.

So you're adding a third light. That's good because you won't get that much of a coverage boost with a mover. Maybe 20% if even that. I find them handy by adding versatility. Plus it allows lower light placement and minimizes shadow effect.
JD

 

[WaterDog]

Hi Waterdog,
I use a Gualala 3.5 with two trolleys and holding three lights. I only have a single rail (4x8 space) and it only moves 2 feet back and forth.

So you're adding a third light. That's good because you won't get that much of a coverage boost with a mover. Maybe 20% if even that. I find them handy by adding versatility. Plus it allows lower light placement and minimizes shadow effect.
JD

Yes Ive added a 3rd light and will supplement lighting based on advise from this forum, I know nothing about cobs but seem like a good idea around my existing setup

 

[Thundercat]

How close would you recommend? I'm gonna veg for about a month before switch. I could supplement lighting easier than making my area smaller. What should I look into for that? I'm sorta stuck with my size. Maybe just hard headed. Thanks guys

12-14 inches optimizes the amount of light from a source. Some people get their lights closer then that with no problem, some move them farther away. It depends heavily on your plants and the rest of the environment.

I agree heavily with what renfro was saying above about your coverage for those lights. My previous suggestions were very much made trying to find a middle ground between what you are trying to do and what I feel would really be best. I don't think it is at all optimal to run less then 35-40w per sqft . But I also expected you wouldn't want to grow in the much more realistic space for the light. I also understand that LEDs put out more photons per watt. I personally run 62w/sqft and my plants love it!

Which brings me back to you wanting to cover a 5x15 space. I would think 6 lights would be your best bet for proper coverage, that would be just over 40w/sqft. If you have massive ppfd measurements you can always dim them slightly but you will still have proper coverage on the plants.

If you went with the manufacturers rec, then 5x15 space devided by 5x4 coverage would give you 4 lights. But really their coverage estimate seems a bit high in my opinion. I think a 4x3 coverage would be much closer to optimal instead of minimal.

 

[WaterDog]

Thanks, what would be my best option for adding light to my setup. I'd really rather not buy another 550. I do plan on vegging with same lights after roots well established with t-5's so maybe 4 in my space is best bet.

 

[JohnDee]

Waterdog,
Sort of curious why you abandoned the lightmmover idea. Three lights on a mover could provide a reasonable light level...
JD

 

[Thundercat]

Thanks, what would be my best option for adding light to my setup. I'd really rather not buy another 550. I do plan on vegging with same lights after roots well established with t-5's so maybe 4 in my space is best bet.

Honestly I would look at adding some of the qb96 elites. They have more far red spectrum then the 550s which would be a great addition and they can push decent power.

When I set up an led room it will have uv and ir diodes somewhere in the mix to try to get a more " sunny" spectrum.

 

[WaterDog]

Waterdog,
Sort of curious why you abandoned the lightmmover idea. Three lights on a mover could provide a reasonable light level...
JD

I decided the way I wired my room and the cord travel was just to much of a worry for this grow, I'll be gone a lot and its a weak link I didn't want to contend with.

I do plan to use it with single Gavita 1000 at a later time. I like the theory a lot.

 

[WaterDog]

Honestly I would look at adding some of the qb96 elites. They have more far red spectrum then the 550s which would be a great addition and they can push decent power.

When I set up an led room it will have uv and ir diodes somewhere in the mix to try to get a more " sunny" spectrum.

Do you have a link for these as a plug and play fixture? I could add 2, 1 in between existing 550s? Thanks

 

[JohnDee]

I decided the way I wired my room and the cord travel was just to much of a worry for this grow, I'll be gone a lot and its a weak link I didn't want to contend with.

I do plan to use it with single Gavita 1000 at a later time. I like the theory a lot.

There is that darn wiring to contend with. I've used lightrail types for every grow I've done in the last 20 years. I just lift the middle of the wire bundle and hang it from the ceiling with a bungee. Loosely enough so that the bungee stretched a bit at each end. Cords never hit the floor and never cause any problems once adjusted.

Good luck getting things set up. Just got done doing that myself...
Later,
JD

 

[Thundercat]

Do you have a link for these as a plug and play fixture? I could add 2, 1 in between existing 550s? Thanks

https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/products/qb96-elite-v2-quantum-board-engine

They aren't exactly plug and play, but this is what I was talking about. They seem like sweet add on lights. There are some threads here on RIU where guys are running them. I would check them out at least. I havn't ran them so I'm not speaking from use, just from reading. I really like symetry so I would still be inclined to just add more 550s so it was all the same. But it seems like added red spectrum could have benefit too .

 

[Herb & Suds]

????
Thoughts

Never been a fan of light movers , better to add lighting than skimp

 

[Renfro]

Never been a fan of light movers , better to add lighting than skimp

Yeah I think movers just spread the yield and you end up with more trimming and smaller nugs.

I can see using them in veg but still you will just have to veg longer to get where you wanna be.

The only reason to use movers in flower isn't to cover more area, watts per sqft rules still apply, just to avoid hot spots and make a more even canopy.

 

[WaterDog]

My mothers, White Widow and Holy Grail Kush. I think I'm ready to start taking some cuttings???? Is it ok to go from my T-5s to the 550's to veg?

I really cant swing another 550 right now so, I'll probably just put about 6 plants under each light.

 

[WaterDog]

So I'm about ready to transplant some rooted clones. I'm still kicking around the idea of adding more light to my setup.

Maybe spread the 550's a bit and put 2 cmh 315's in between the 550's. My space is 5x15


Thoughts?

Thanks

 

[Thundercat]

Sounds like a solid choice. People seem to love the cmh!

 

[Sparky123]

If you only plan to veg 2 weeks your plants arnt going to fill that space fully wall to wall. Plus look at your shadows with everything spaced apart like that. With only 2 weeks veg your not growing trees to even fully fill the space with the number of plants you have there. why don’t you main line them and cut the plants down to a total of 12 over 12’ that has been suggested previously. There is a grower with an awesome mainline grow using the smaller version of your led boards

 

[WaterDog]

Ill veg until the plants are trained into area, im not in a hurry just want the best product i can make in the middle of pricing a mini split shit adds up.

thanks