I'm never going to grow alot unless I use 1000 watt huh?

Harrekin

Well-Known Member
Its because your trying to fire all the bulbs at once, they roughly double the amps used when they first fire, you'd probably be able to use a 1000w on your circuit if you can fire a 400w on one, its because your trying to light all the bulbs at once on the one circuit thats causing your problems...because initially they spike (before dropping almost as drastically) and thats whats tripping your breaker.
 
extension cord increase power consumption. consider checking your power box to determine the amperage of the breaker. Extension cords can be a fire hazard, along with always being in the way.
 

DawgMountain

Active Member
extension cord increase power consumption. consider checking your power box to determine the amperage of the breaker. Extension cords can be a fire hazard, along with always being in the way.
An extension cord will not increase power consumption. But a small gauge cord without a ground plug can certainly be a fire hazard.
 

ogreballerina

Well-Known Member
An extension cord will not increase power consumption. But a small gauge cord without a ground plug can certainly be a fire hazard.
Nope..all high grade ( industrial grade extension cords) with grounded plugs. Construction /Military grade..

I think I will get a bigger light...and with winter coming on and heat no longer a problem..I can fully enclose the tent.

And as someone mentioned earlier...I did have a PH problem...fixed now...but I still have low RH even with a humidifier...but I have been running the shower each morning to increase RH for at least part of the day.

I live in Colo and it can get really dry....bone dry...7% is the lowest.

Thanks for the tips.
 

Harrekin

Well-Known Member
Extension cords are supposed to be fully unwound too (if your using a windy up one). On one of mine wound its listed as 600w max wound or 1250w unwound. But the point is that your tripping the breaker but firing multiple bulbs at once, why not set them to fire 15mins apart? A house circuit can easily handle the pull off a 1000w, a tumble dryer uses more than twice that, a microwave nearly the same, it'd have to be listed for way more than that if you'd wanna run multiple household items at once.
 

Dezracer

Well-Known Member
I currently use a 400W HPS and have been doing sort of a perpetual grow. I usually harvest 1-2 plants at a time (approx. every 4 weeks) and get 1.75-2.5oz per plant depending on strain. I'm switching to a 600 as soon as it arrives but only because my flower room is a bit too big for the 400 so I haven't been able to effectively use the whole room and would like to.

I use FF nutes only (Grow Big, Big Bloom, Tiger Bloom and Open Sesame) and when I grow in soil, I use FF Ocean Forest soil too. I recently purchased the other two solubles so will be using them going forward too but haven't so far.
 

cloudyharvest

Active Member
i have only 1 harvest under my belt. i used a 400 watt mh-hps along with nutes might of had a slight ph problem cause leafs were always dying with wonder woman fem seeds and got 2 oz dried per plant.......not the greatest but i read its norml idk if i woulda got any more with a bigger light like a 1000 watter....just my 2 cents
 

Dezracer

Well-Known Member
@ cloudy: I think a lot of people pad their numbers a bit when they post how much they yielded of a plant. From what I've heard and seen personally from people I know I can trust, 2oz. per plant is pretty average for 400s. Some people will get more and some will get less but the average seems to be around 2oz.

If you want to get more per harvest, grow more plants at a time.;-)

I know a girl that grows using a 400w digital ballast and a 400w Hortilux bulb in a cooltube, over a 30"X30" grow space who somehow gets 3+ per plant, almost every time...
I've seen the results personally and still have a hard time believing it.
 
@ cloudy: I think a lot of people pad their numbers a bit when they post how much they yielded of a plant. From what I've heard and seen personally from people I know I can trust, 2oz. per plant is pretty average for 400s. Some people will get more and some will get less but the average seems to be around 2oz.

If you want to get more per harvest, grow more plants at a time.;-)

I know a girl that grows using a 400w digital ballast and a 400w Hortilux bulb in a cooltube, over a 30"X30" grow space who somehow gets 3+ per plant, almost every time...
I've seen the results personally and still have a hard time believing it.
I got pictures in my album to show i got 90 grams off of 1 plant and i had 3 in there.each were 80+grams.I use a 400 as well.
 

cloudyharvest

Active Member
ok well.....you think if i switched to a 600 watt for flowering id get 90 plus a plant? or is it genetics? what types of mj was producing 90 gm dried at 3 1/2 ft? using any methods?any one kno about plastic tent? 2oz\pp is 30 day veg no topping...by the way im not a pro...just sharing my experience......happy token!
 

Dezracer

Well-Known Member
My Sour Grapes was actually 78 grams dry but that's the most I've yielded from one plant so far but the rest were all in the 58-65 gram range. I used soil and I FIM'd and Supercropped it a couple times during veg. It got soo tall in flower that I had to cut 12" off the main stem/cola at about 4 weeks of flower since it grew right past the light when the lights were off a couple of times. I couldn't raise my light anymore the second time so I just cut the cola off. It had multiple colas so I didn't really care but had I not cut it off It would have been over 3oz.
You can see from what myself and wyteberrywidow have posted that it's very possible to get 90 from one plant with a 400. It'll just take some practice with different growing techiques like LST, Supercropping, FIM'ing or topping or a combo of a couple of them. I'm a fan of Supercropping and then FIM'ing as it creates a lot of budsites as well as multiple colas. Others swear by topping but I haven't tried it yet, maybe I will on this new grow I've got started since it's supposed to produce multiple colas too.
 

tip top toker

Well-Known Member
ok well.....you think if i switched to a 600 watt for flowering id get 90 plus a plant? or is it genetics? what types of mj was producing 90 gm dried at 3 1/2 ft? using any methods?any one kno about plastic tent? 2oz\pp is 30 day veg no topping...by the way im not a pro...just sharing my experience......happy token!
It all depends on how many plants, (more plants = less light per plant) but 90g from a single 3.5 foot plant is more than doable with a 400w let alone a 600w :)
 

ganjaluvr

Well-Known Member
man, you don't need 1000watts to be able to grow.

Take some of those people that only use CFL lighting.. some of the grows I've seen with CFL bulbs.. some of them I've seen have used just 150 to 200 watts worth of CFL bulbs.. and they grow beautiful fat buds.

Trust me my dude.. you don't need 1000watts to be able to grow. Whoever told you that BS.. is a brainless moron.

Lastly.. your question "Would even a 600 watt provide more lumens then a 400 and 2 150s ?" The answer is no. if you have a 400 and then add two 150's (300 watts).. that would be 700watts total (not sure how many lumens it would be).. but a 600watt isn't going to put out more lumens that running 700watts. Why? Because.. your running 100 more watts with those three bulbs.. than just the one 600watt one...

in a nutshell.. the more watts you have.. the more lumens your going to have, period.

good question though.

peace..
 

ganjaluvr

Well-Known Member
forgot to mention also.. that you non-legal growers need to be careful when considering wattage. The higher the wattage you have running.. the more energy your going to need and consume. The more energy you consume.. the more suspicious your going to look to the power company. Just trying to help you nonlegal growers stay out of jail... that's all.

Good luck!
peace..
 

tip top toker

Well-Known Member
Lumens is not as simple as A and B. a 400w HPS will output around 50,000 lumens. Whereas for just a 50% increase in Watts, a 600w light will throw out over 90,000 lumens.

a 400w hps and a pair of 150w hps bulbs will consume in and around 700w, and will put out around 82,000 lumens, wheras a 600w will use arou/nd 600w and put out 90,000 lumens. The 600w would also have a better penetration than the 400 and 150w lights i'd have thought.

With regard to power company, unless you're using 5000 watts or such, it means nothing to them. A hairdryert alone is around 1800w, and a tiny portable heater in the winter would use up around 3000w, in short unless you've gone bonkers overboard, there is nothing they can ask to which you can explain innocently.
 

newworldicon

Well-Known Member
There are many factors that come into play besides what type of lighting you use. The lights you have are sufficient for the plants you have. Your setup will definitely have more lumens than a single 600. It's also much easier to place 3 lights for great coverage to the foliage instead of just one light.

Are you using any nutrients? How far away are the lights from the plants?
Sorry to point it out but his 1x400W and 2x 150W will never have the same or more lumens than a 600W...

600W = 85000-93000 lumens
400W = 50000+/- lumens
150W = +/- 20000 lumens

You can't add lumens together, it does not work that way!
 

researchkitty

Well-Known Member
Your 7% humidity is a GIGANTIC concern. It forces all of the leaves to always be transpiring rather than tryin to grow. If you cant keep your humidity UP with a humidifier thats already in your room, get a new humidifier! :) You can also do a very simple trick -- leave a bucket or two of water full and just sitting in the room. It'll evaporate and provide humidity for you.

When your ready to understand exactly what temperatures and humidity are the best:

http://urbangardenmagazine.com/2010/07/plantworks-part-1-humidity-and-vapor-pressure-deficit/

Short story: 40-60% RH and 75-80(f) is great.

Isnt the desert more humid than 7%? lol.... :) GL!
 
lmao,i use cfl's i get more than 3 oz's a plant, i stager harvest, i use one fan. my plants are 30-36 inches tall. pal you will get waht you put into it..you can easily get 4 ounces or more a plant with a 400whps, and 700w,lmao, i know guys that harvest 8 ounces a plant on 6 plants with one 600w hps Do not go by any other opinions, live and learn , give your plants all they need throughout and you will get big yields no matter what the light! i have done things with cfl's i was told was impossible..all these experts, you are only and expert on your own grow, point blank! You can take advice and opinions all day, first hand experience is your only education
 

gobbly

Well-Known Member
There are many ways to successfully grow, from CFL's to plasma. I think what a lot of people don't understand is that you have to tailor your grow to the conditions, growing under flo's is way different than HID, LED is different from both, etc. I would also look more at yield per meter/foot square or grams per watt. If it were just about single plant yields and wattage, strategies to increase yield like SOG wouldn't exist (and to be honest, most of the people I see breaking 1.5g/w are sog/scrog).
 

rocpilefsj

Misguided Angel
The size of the light means nothing if you don't grow properly. I bet you could put a seasoned grower with a few cfls against a newb with a 1000w and the cfl grower could more than likely pull more in than the newb.
 
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