ahh The great light!

[farva]

I've tried looking up this question..I'm sure it may have just slipped me and it's right in front of my face but it's a good question none the less for small grower. How much light do you actually need for a 1-2 plant grow? I have read 250 is perfectly acceptable, could I go lower and if there are some links handy for a light that would be acceptable (the lowest possible with enough to get some buds).
Thanks guys, this site is excellent always love to read. Have a great night!

 

[Wavels]

If you have the loot, go for 400watt!

 

[farva]

haha, believe me i'd LOVE to..but my paranoia gets the best of me. I'm not as young and carefree as I use to be unfortunately That's why i'm looking for the least amount of light that is still 'useable' ;D but believe me, i'd be poppin a 400 if I wasn't such a pansy.

 

[Wavels]

*lol*
Well I guess it comes down to your definition of "useable"....
From an efficiency standpoint, and most "bang for buck" etc....
IMO, minimum usability would be a 400w....try and figure a way to control the light and additional heat, given it is feasible for your chosen area! You will be one happy camper, grab the ring and go for the gusto!
Sorry the above sounds like the spouting of a snobby jackass, I've been drinking!!!

 

[farva]

no problem, didn't even think of it like that! I just hope someone with semi-good results using small lights will throw some advice down. =)

 

[bleorg]

I grew 5 pretty big plants under a 400w hps a couple of years ago, I'm setting it up again this week. I'm sure you could do pretty well with a 250. You could go even smaller and use flouros, which I'm using now. But to get ahead of the game, I'm putting that hps back up.

 

[farva]

Good call on that bleorg, I may have to look into that!

 

[caper]

u'll be ok using 2 or 3 42 watt cfl's for 1 or 2 plants for veg, but when it comes time for flowering ur gunna need a hps to get the bud u want

 

[farva]

ahh! See, that's what i'm saying. I'm honestly not worried about the amount of bud that comes off the plants, i'll just reveg when i'm done. So what would you guy suggest for the least amount you could use with results during flowering? (Like I said, not worried about the amount that comes off the plant personally...weird I know )

 

[FallenHero]

if you really arent worried, use 1 low watt cfl. your buds will feel like feathers. except maybe the very top, good luck on that re vegging, as it takes longer than starting a seed if you even succeed.

if you REALLY dont care.....

if electrical usage is your worry.. 1 400w hps will not get you noticed.

 

[Firsttimer]

I am like the rest. I love my 400HPS, but if you want ok light go with the new CFLs. You can find them at Home Depot. 100 watts and I did find a 150 watt that I got. Also get the reflectors what come with clasps. It will all be cheap. You can take the plants all the way with these, but you will not have the results you would with HPS. Also 250 wattHPS costs about the same as 400HP.

 

[FallenHero]

I am like the rest. I love my 400HPS, but if you want ok light go with the new CFLs. You can find them at Home Depot. 100 watts and I did find a 150 watt that I got. Also get the reflectors what come with clasps. It will all be cheap. You can take the plants all the way with these, but you will not have the results you would with HPS. Also 250 wattHPS costs about the same as 400HP.

'

the 100watt and 150watt you see on the box is the equivalent to an incandecent bulb, these actually use less watts. the 150 equiv is acutally the 42 watters and i believe the 100 are 32 watters. you want to count them based on the actualy wattage used, home depot does not sell any over 42 watt, and if they do some places, im sure they dont sell them that high, would be nice though!

 

[i see a whole new world]

hey guys im ganna be growing 8 plants in a area which is 48 inches by 27 inches which is 9 square feet exactly and im going to be using a 400w hps lamp is that going to be enough. it comes with a bulb that puts out extra lumens and has a enhanced spectrum\/ \/ \/ is it good enough??

"thisis not your ordinary 400w HPS lamp/bulb. This is a specialty high output 55,000 lumen spectrally enhanced 400w HPS bulb. 10% brighter than standard bulbs which emit only 50,000 lumens. This bulb starts out brighter and stays brighter longer than your cheap run-of-the-mill standard HPS bulbs. This specialty grow bulb also provides 30% more "blue" spectrum for better plant growth. This "blue" spectrum combined with the "red" spectrum of the High Pressure Sodium gasses provides a more balanced light spectrum for superior results over standard HPS bulbs. This is the BEST HPS BULB you can use for growing plants."

 

[amino]

farva, I'm growing 2 with a 250 HPS. It's a stealth grow, the missus doesn't approve. The unexpected benefit was a very low heat buildup--i can keep that light 3" away from the plants. The light has an external ballast. I read somewhere that the effective lumens gets cut in half for every time you double the distance. Lumens at 3" = 1/2 lumens at 6". Cool is cool!!!

 

[farva]

VERY cool amino! Thank you man, how's that grow going so far? Happen to have any grow pictures up in the other section?

 

[FallenHero]

hey guys im ganna be growing 8 plants in a area which is 48 inches by 27 inches which is 9 square feet exactly and im going to be using a 400w hps lamp is that going to be enough. it comes with a bulb that puts out extra lumens and has a enhanced spectrum\/ \/ \/ is it good enough??

"thisis not your ordinary 400w HPS lamp/bulb. This is a specialty high output 55,000 lumen spectrally enhanced 400w HPS bulb. 10% brighter than standard bulbs which emit only 50,000 lumens. This bulb starts out brighter and stays brighter longer than your cheap run-of-the-mill standard HPS bulbs. This specialty grow bulb also provides 30% more "blue" spectrum for better plant growth. This "blue" spectrum combined with the "red" spectrum of the High Pressure Sodium gasses provides a more balanced light spectrum for superior results over standard HPS bulbs. This is the BEST HPS BULB you can use for growing plants."

that bulb will do nicely.

 

[i see a whole new world]

so will a 600 watt bulb make a significant(spelling??) increase in yield?
because im ganna be dealing to get money for a car(still in high school)

edit: i just did some research on some other guides and forums and it says 50-75 watts is ideal and with a 400watt bulb ill be having 44.4444... watts per square foot but with a 600w ill be having 66.666..watts per square foot

so has anyone done any successful grows iwth 400watts in 3x3 or should i get 600w

edit: o ya what if i supplement my 400watt hps with 160watts worth of cfls 20watts extra per plant

edit numero dos: i just saw a pic of a guy that had 6 plants on a 1000watt hps and i think he got like 30 ounces i mean the pictures look CRAZY btw he went SCROG

 

[Firsttimer]

Just a suggestion. If you are still in high school why don't you just find a job that will pay for your car and forget dealing. Do what you have to do in school and go to college. Make something of your self, and then if you still enjoy smoking great marijuana, then be smart and read up on indoor growing, and then grow your own. Dealing is risky. It is how people go to jail. Also why are you on this web sight. I thought you had to be 18 to be on here.

 

[FallenHero]

The more light, the beter, a 400w hps will work good.. more would probobly work better..

 

[i see a whole new world]

Just a suggestion. If you are still in high school why don't you just find a job that will pay for your car and forget dealing. Do what you have to do in school and go to college. Make something of your self, and then if you still enjoy smoking great marijuana, then be smart and read up on indoor growing, and then grow your own. Dealing is risky. It is how people go to jail. Also why are you on this web sight. I thought you had to be 18 to be on here.

im almost out of school and i landed a awesome SAT score so i can get into like virutally any collage in the state
and when i deal i dont mean in dealing to consumers but to deal it to middle man ... im ganna sell in bulk my whole stock to my drug dealer(hes my neighbor) and then he will go sell it to other ppl so i only have to sell to like 1 or 2 people and no drug dealer has been caught in my school in a year and we have over 5500 students and alot of them smoke weed
so i probably wont get caught and my grades are all good so im good 2 go


EDIT: oo ya and my parents arent letting me get a job because i might start doing bad in school