Help me with light watts
- Thread starter jeankka
- Start date
realmaple1
Active Member
well question is how long your goign to veg for (how big you want them) what kind of lights r u looking to invest in?
Beansly
RIU Bulldog
I thought it was 2000 lumens per sq ft minimum, but oh well.
Honestly dude (cant tell by your name whether your dude or dudette), there are a lot of answers to this question, but you need to give a little more info.
But the short answer to your question is -it depends on how much money do you want to spend or, as much light as you want so long as you can control the heat.
But other mitigating variables include;
What system your gonna grow them with?
How much space do you have to work with?
Can you properly vent the room?
Some ppl would use a 1000 watt light for two plants. It just depends.
Honestly dude (cant tell by your name whether your dude or dudette), there are a lot of answers to this question, but you need to give a little more info.
But the short answer to your question is -it depends on how much money do you want to spend or, as much light as you want so long as you can control the heat.
But other mitigating variables include;
What system your gonna grow them with?
How much space do you have to work with?
Can you properly vent the room?
Some ppl would use a 1000 watt light for two plants. It just depends.
Hobbes
Well-Known Member
.
Jeanka with Haze your problem will be light penetration into the canopy - haze can grow tall, indoor lighting looses intensity with each inch from the bulb. The lower parts of a tall haze plant will be useless with a 400 watt light.
.
Canopy light penetration, HPS:
1000 Watt: to 36"
600 Watt: to 29"
400 Watt: to 21"
250 Watt: to 16"
150 Watt: to 12"
I use a 600 Watt HPS and I like to keep my plants under 18", a very tight canopy. I've grown 30" colas my style with a 600 Watt, the bottoms took an extra week to fill out and finish. With my Crop Circle Of Bud growing style I estimate my canopy light penetration to be half that suggested above, because of the tighter canopy.
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You can plan your grow to keep your plants short - I've ran a 48" Kali Mist with 4" of height over the bucket rim, most of my plants are 12"-18" tall and yield 3 litres of 4 week cured bud (60g - 75g per litre). These two Strawberry Diesel each have 6'6" of stem and are less than 6" tall from the bucket rim, each produced 2 to 2.5 litres of 4 week cured bud (60g-75g / litre). I could comfortably fit 12 of these in my 8'x3' garden, squeeze 14.
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I use a 600 watt HPS on a light mover, I'm building a custom 300 watt LED light and reflector to replace the HPS. The light mover lets you double the size of your garden, long and narrow to get maximum light to the edges. I find that it increases yield per square foot over a double size garden, my theory is that the plant's light receptors use the light more efficiently so there seems to be more production than extra energy put into the system - when really it is just that a stationary light is less efficient.
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Drufiss is correct, look for 50 watts HID (HPS & MH) per square foot with a stationary light, 25 with a light mover. A 600 watt light with a rectangular reflector has a 3' x 4' light foot print (12 square feet x 50 w/sq') and a 1000 watt light has a light footprint of 4' x 5' (20 sq' x 50 w/sq'). Double the length for a light mover, width stays the same.
.
Jeanka with Haze your problem will be light penetration into the canopy - haze can grow tall, indoor lighting looses intensity with each inch from the bulb. The lower parts of a tall haze plant will be useless with a 400 watt light.
.
Canopy light penetration, HPS:
1000 Watt: to 36"
600 Watt: to 29"
400 Watt: to 21"
250 Watt: to 16"
150 Watt: to 12"
I use a 600 Watt HPS and I like to keep my plants under 18", a very tight canopy. I've grown 30" colas my style with a 600 Watt, the bottoms took an extra week to fill out and finish. With my Crop Circle Of Bud growing style I estimate my canopy light penetration to be half that suggested above, because of the tighter canopy.
.
You can plan your grow to keep your plants short - I've ran a 48" Kali Mist with 4" of height over the bucket rim, most of my plants are 12"-18" tall and yield 3 litres of 4 week cured bud (60g - 75g per litre). These two Strawberry Diesel each have 6'6" of stem and are less than 6" tall from the bucket rim, each produced 2 to 2.5 litres of 4 week cured bud (60g-75g / litre). I could comfortably fit 12 of these in my 8'x3' garden, squeeze 14.
.
I use a 600 watt HPS on a light mover, I'm building a custom 300 watt LED light and reflector to replace the HPS. The light mover lets you double the size of your garden, long and narrow to get maximum light to the edges. I find that it increases yield per square foot over a double size garden, my theory is that the plant's light receptors use the light more efficiently so there seems to be more production than extra energy put into the system - when really it is just that a stationary light is less efficient.
.
Drufiss is correct, look for 50 watts HID (HPS & MH) per square foot with a stationary light, 25 with a light mover. A 600 watt light with a rectangular reflector has a 3' x 4' light foot print (12 square feet x 50 w/sq') and a 1000 watt light has a light footprint of 4' x 5' (20 sq' x 50 w/sq'). Double the length for a light mover, width stays the same.
.
realmaple1
Active Member
if you want to just try it out i would go to homedepot or walmart. buy some cfls with 2 spectrum.. ill mix them up and put like 5 26 watts 6500k+ spectrum. and maybe like 2 42 watt 2700 or go the other way around. 5 26 2700k+ and 2 42 6500k+ that will get you 2 plants to yeild a decent amount and you will learn off this first grow, which will help you with your 2nd =P...
remember keep CFL's as close as possible without burning the plant.
remember keep CFL's as close as possible without burning the plant.
Spanishfly
Well-Known Member
150 watt for the first plant, then add 125 watt for each additional.
thank you all guys for the answers but really i have no idea about light types i am gonna get a 200w home lamp for my 2 plants i hope it will be ok also here in cyprus all lights over 200w are not allowed anymore i dont know why ;p ok so all i am asking here it will be ok to put a 200w light for my 2 plants ?;/
upthearsenal
Well-Known Member
what kind of 200w light?
upthearsenal
Well-Known Member
yikes, is that an incandescent? that light doesn't look good. you could find a 150w HPS, that would work well
realmaple1
Active Member
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xg8/R-100676712/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053 something like that.. even a bunch of lower CFL's work..
realmaple1
Active Member
that light is horrible and waste of energy.
NewClosetGrower
Well-Known Member
im new to this myself bro, but ive read that incondescents (like that one) are good for the seeding process and thats about it...i just started my first grow myself, i have 8 plants in my closet and im using 2 2foot flourescent's and 2 24watt CFL's..from what ive read and seen on youtube and stuff is that you CAN grow with FL's and CFL's but the harvest time is not as good as if you were using an HSD light, which ive found to be the best for harvesting, i could be wrong, but thats what ive gatherd...so to answer your question, try and find a Compact flourescent light which is not much more money at all the the light you have pictured
upthearsenal
Well-Known Member
yeah, CFLs are cheap. they are not the best for flowering though, but can be used to good effect. you'd have to change the spectrum when you switch from veg to flower. i'd still recommend a low wattage HID light (high-intensity discharge), preferably a HPS (high-pressure sodium). if you get a HPS, then that's all you really need. i start seeds under mine and just keep them there till harvest.
realmaple1
Active Member
yeah just invest into a 250 watt HPS/MH lamp ballast and then you will have no worries..
NewClosetGrower
Well-Known Member
hey bro, i was looking into a 400 watt mp/hps light kit...is that to big for 8 plants in a 6x6 box?
upthearsenal
Well-Known Member
that's not too big at all, probably the minimum if anything
Mazar i Shariff
Active Member
A 400-600 watt light would prob be a good starter light for you to work with ... If you want better yield, potency, and pay a bit more so that you don't have to upgrade in the future, purchase a 1,000 watt HPS or combo ballast (HPS AND MH) and use that for your 2 plants. The results will shock you if you go about treating your plants properly. Look to ventilate your hoods if you go HPS to control heat, unless you have a cold room that requires heat, in which that will help you maintain the recommended 75-77 degrees.
Hope this helps!
Hope this helps!