Noob Light bulb question

[lee oswald]

Hello everyone.

I am planning a stealth wardrobe build, 3m long x 2m high and 1m wide.
A mate has some bulbs which might be handy and I wanted to ask your advice as to whether they would be suitable as grow lights.

They are as follows :
BLV C-TOPSPOT CERAMIC METAL HALIDE 150W G12 FITMENT UV-P
They are 11cm long and 3000K.

Too small in size for use during flowering ?

If not, how many would I need to use in a 3m long by 1m wide space ?

All help greatly appreciated.
Thanks

(soon to come, grow room construction diary)

 

[Luke]

Hello everyone.

I am planning a stealth wardrobe build, 3m long x 2m high and 1m wide.
A mate has some bulbs which might be handy and I wanted to ask your advice as to whether they would be suitable as grow lights.

They are as follows :
BLV C-TOPSPOT CERAMIC METAL HALIDE 150W G12 FITMENT UV-P
They are 11cm long and 3000K.

Too small in size for use during flowering ?

If not, how many would I need to use in a 3m long by 1m wide space ?
I'm not familar with the lights you have but your grow room is 9ft x 6ft x 3ft,sorry from the states and i'm not use to your measurments.Thats a relativley small cramp area.I would suggest a 250 or 400w light with a electronic ballast on a mover along with T-5s along the wall.They work great and give off very little heat and temp is going to be a problem with any watt "Hid".You better have some type of ventalation in your grow room.You may even want to mylar your walls and just use T-5s or cfls.They will produce enough lumens to grow your girls and dont forget your co2.sorry if i got away from your question

 

[lee oswald]

Thanks for your reply Luke.
I had not decided yet if I will use CFL or HID lights.
From what I have read on the forum, CFL uses less electric / produces less heat but the HID will give a much bigger yield, be much hotter and cost more on the electric.
Also hoping to mylar walls and use a charcoal filter and some fans.

Would 1 400w HID or 2 x 250's should be enough for whole area ?
4 plants per metre sound ok ?
(forgot to say will be growing in soil)

 

[jawbrodt]

3 meters wide? Holy crap, that's going to take alot of light. Figure on 4 of them to cover 1 m x 1 m, and you have three of those spaces to fill. So, you'll need about 12 of those 150 CMHs(2 rows of 6, placed about 1/2 meter apart), maybe 10, at the least. Or, you could go with three 400 watt HIDs, which also cover about 1 m x 1 m, each.

 

[lee oswald]

Thanks for your reply Jawbrodt.
The reason I was thinking of using these bulbs are because my friend has about 20 which he will let me have for free.
They were from a job he was on for shop window display lighting, he had some spares left over.

 

[Luke]

An "Hid" will give you more lumens.I would go for the 2 250w lights.With that you will have two points of light and that will give you many more lumens than 1 400w light.You want to make sure that you do have adaquate ventilation,I cant stress that enough.Your temps will be extemely high.If $ isnt an issue try to get your reflectors air cooled that would help a-lot in controlling your temps.You can hook-up a fan to your lights to cool them and that will also cool off your closet.I also grow in a closet and know first hand how fast it heats up especially when its warm to hot outside.I would also sugest that you look into T-5 light(Iswear by them)The lumens are decent enough to grow plants on their own,but youll need to get quite a-lot of them to do the trick.My room is 7x7x12 roughly 2m by 2m by 4m right?? I use 2 400w hid along with 12 T-5s 6 foot single bulbs and 4 2foot bulbs.Its overkill but i get plenty of lumens and when growing indoors,thats what you want.I have intake and an outake fan on a humidity and temp timer along with 2 air cooled reflectors with its own fan too.

 

[lee oswald]

Thanks Luke. Did you do a build diary or have any pictures of your closet by any chance? Sounds superb, like just the setup I want.
I imagine your closet looks a bit like this with so many bulbs ....

 

[Luke]

Thanks Luke. Did you do a build diary or have any pictures of your closet by any chance? Sounds superb, like just the setup I want.
I imagine your closet looks a bit like this with so many bulbs ....

I'm a firm believer that grow journals and pictures are evidence for the cops if you ever get popped.Thats why i dont keep one or take photos.I do have a decent set-up and over the years it cost me a good dime.I statrted just like you by having a bud give me my first light and clones than it balloned to what i have now.and always remember,dont let anyone know what your doing.Your best friends can be your worst enemys when they get pissed off at you.With my set up i average about 3 to 5lbs every 4 months.Idont do dirt anymore graduated to aeroponics & DWC.Its easier for me.Good luck Lee

 

[Dj1209]

To give you a perspective on let's say a 400w HPS that would cover about 3x3 ft area and puts off good amount of heat so if you do choose a HID you will need good ventilation or cool tube