Whats the best lights for big plants? im getting a 5 x 9 tent for 2-3 large plants

Philly xG

Philly xG

Active Member
how we doin? xG here and im gettin a gorilla grow tent 5 x 9 and looking for some ideas of what to use for lighting for larger plants.:weed:

i have about 4-5 decent grows under my belt with a 4x4 1000w hps, i know SOME stuff here and there not all. im just looking for new ideas thats all..

im going to be topping the girls here and there (no lsd bending sog lolli popping ect) and going to be using botanicare veg and bloom, kelp and some carbs on sunshine mix #4 hand watered in 7 gal. root trappers or bigger.I dunno yet haha:joint:

veg is with t5s in a smaller room but are HMs better?

the plan is to do a 3 larger plant rotation through the set of lights maybe? or one kind of light? 3 kinds? i dont know yet!!!!!!

im looking for advise WITH experience of lighting (pictures are awesome too!)

should i be trying to find a great combo of lights that work or should i just stick with 2 1000w hps? was thinking maybe a hm in between?

ive seen in hightimes leds making dense nugs at the base of the stalk right above the dirt! is this true? worth the investment?

and of course brand of hood?

any info or advise would be awesome and greatly appreciated!

and more then happy to answer any questions if i didnt mention something i should have
cannatonic about to put me to sleep hahabongsmilie
 
Z

Zippo Guy

Member
I can't vouch for LED's, but have been using HID for a while now...
Bulbs:
-600w HID bulbs are the most efficient in terms of the lumens they put out per watt of electricity.
-MH are very good for vegging, but run hotter than HPS so make sure you won't be running into any heat issues.
-You could get yourself a dimmable ballast, that way you can still use the 1000w if temps permit. (They even let you boost HPS bulbs by 10%)
-'Sunmaster MH' bulbs (7200K) are great for vegging, and they also make 'Dual Spectrum' which I use for early flower.
-'Osram Son-t Plus' are good HPS, and are what I use later in flower.

Reflectors:
-The most efficient reflectors are the 'Double Parabolic' types.
-If heat is an issue, get a 'Cool Tube' and hook it up to your extraction.
-Don't get anything White or "Mirrored".

I usually use my 400w MH for first week or two, then up it to 600w for the rest of vegging. For the first 3 weeks or so of flower I use my 600w Dual Spec, then change it for a 600w Osram HPS.
I do recommend usinc CFL for the first few days or a week.
This is obviously scalable, so you can use the wattages that work for your space/budget.

This is what I do, I'm not saying it's the only way to do it, or even the best way... but it works great for me.
Hope this helps, and happy growing :D

Zip
 
Shawns

Shawns

Active Member
i would go with a 1000 and a 6" or 8" magnum xxxl air cooled hood I just bought the 6' and it's big
 
Philly xG

Philly xG

Active Member
Zippo Guy said:
I can't vouch for LED's, but have been using HID for a while now...
Bulbs:
-600w HID bulbs are the most efficient in terms of the lumens they put out per watt of electricity.
-MH are very good for vegging, but run hotter than HPS so make sure you won't be running into any heat issues.
-You could get yourself a dimmable ballast, that way you can still use the 1000w if temps permit. (They even let you boost HPS bulbs by 10%)
-'Sunmaster MH' bulbs (7200K) are great for vegging, and they also make 'Dual Spectrum' which I use for early flower.
-'Osram Son-t Plus' are good HPS, and are what I use later in flower.

Reflectors:
-The most efficient reflectors are the 'Double Parabolic' types.
-If heat is an issue, get a 'Cool Tube' and hook it up to your extraction.
-Don't get anything White or "Mirrored".

I usually use my 400w MH for first week or two, then up it to 600w for the rest of vegging. For the first 3 weeks or so of flower I use my 600w Dual Spec, then change it for a 600w Osram HPS.
I do recommend usinc CFL for the first few days or a week.
This is obviously scalable, so you can use the wattages that work for your space/budget.

This is what I do, I'm not saying it's the only way to do it, or even the best way... but it works great for me.
Hope this helps, and happy growing :D

Zip
Click to expand...


that helps with alot of questions! thank you!

i like those double parabolic reflectors and was looking the ajustable electric ballast would be nice for my summers

heat wise i think im just going to get 1-2 really good cfm fans 8"-10" and a couple isolating fans (i like lots of fresh air flow in my rooms)

now im trying to get some big thick bush's and im going to veg for about 1 month or so.. im thinking MH is better for that

do think 2 1k lights would be enough for 3 big plants (4' tall 3' wide or so) in a 5x9?? i was thinking on the left and center 2 hps and 1 hm on the right as the girls makes there way out?( im rotating a plant every month, put one in the left take one out of the right )

i saw that hitting with a hm befor harvest increases flavor and smell and thats what im shooting for and nice colas!

thanks guys!
 
Z

Zippo Guy

Member
Yeah some people use MH for last week or so, but it's debatable as to whether or not it makes a difference (Some say it's pointless, but who really knows..?).
I personally have never done this... but I have used UV on one grow.
You could do a bit of research and get a UV light (UV-B), that will be my next purchase because my buds got literally caked in Thc, and have not got results like that since!

You could have the lights as you said, it definitely won't not work, lol.
I actually forgot to mention that there are relatively new types of MH, which are 'Ceramic Metal Halides', they have a longer life and a more stable output, both for power and color.

For a big thick bush you might have to veg longer than 4 weeks... I veg 5-8 weeks depending on the strain and how she looks.


Zip.
 
Philly xG

Philly xG

Active Member
i had a talk with my buddy who at one point was growing 1 1/2 lb. plants and he was saying he dont care what people say about light movers but they are awesome! he explained something about how the light isnt pushing heat just on one spot of the plant and you can have the lights much closer.. the way he explained it made alot of sense

also seems like you get twice the space for lighting plants or light spread.. something to look into!
 
dbkick

dbkick

Well-Known Member
From a "scientist" at Sunpulse lamps....
Do you have a light meter? 1000w lamps are too much for plants and causes photo-inhibition, stopping photosynthesis. At around 5500 footcandles photosynthesis stops, in nature. You can push up to 7000 indoors, but that's max, and still causing some plant shut down. If you back the light up to 2', then you lose 3/4 of the lamps energy, a 1000w light will only put out 250w of usable energy at 2 feet, its called inverse square law - its just the physics of light.

dude seemed to know wtf he was talking about and he does work for sunpulse so I wouldn't write it off as bullshit, personally I'm taking his advice and going with two 600 watt lamps on a mover in a 8 by 5 room. differing spectrum of course. more than likely one solis tek 4k MH and undecided on the other, maybe a 3K sunpulse, both 600 watt.
All this came about for me when I let my shit get too tall (was sick for a good week and couldn't switch rooms) .so right now I have so little room between the light and canopy it's right at 7500 footcandles(1000 watt hortilux super hps) , 500 more than what the scientist said was max for indoors .
 
dbkick

dbkick

Well-Known Member
Philly xG said:
i had a talk with my buddy who at one point was growing 1 1/2 lb. plants and he was saying he dont care what people say about light movers but they are awesome! he explained something about how the light isnt pushing heat just on one spot of the plant and you can have the lights much closer.. the way he explained it made alot of sense

also seems like you get twice the space for lighting plants or light spread.. something to look into!
Click to expand...
after installing a mover I found I couldn't get my room any higher than 73 F temperature. before when the light was stationary the room would get hot as fuck. I was going to mention a lightrail and tent kit for op, that and an add a lamp kit so he could run 2-600s.
 
Nizza

Nizza

Well-Known Member
the secret with movers is to have multiple going in alternating directions. while light 1 is at the far end of your room, light2 is at the front, and maybe light 3 is in the middle. this makes the lights be able to be put closer and also reduces stretching usually caused by movers. I run a single 4' mover with a 430w hortilux super hps and have 2x dual 4foot t5's; one for each side of the track. the t5's are supposed to give side lighting so while the hps is on the other end of the room, helping reduce stretch. this is a 2.5 x 4.5 room and its going to be legen.... wait for it.... hope your not lactose intolerant..... dairy!
 
Kevdogg5555

Kevdogg5555

Well-Known Member
like what shawns said. 1000w, 6-8 in magnum hood, That would give you the sun in your tent. 1000w has that much more power to penetrate dense foliage, Which seems the best choice seeming that you going to grow 2-3 big plants
 
dbkick

dbkick

Well-Known Member
Kevdogg5555 said:
like what shawns said. 1000w, 6-8 in magnum hood, That would give you the sun in your tent. 1000w has that much more power to penetrate dense foliage, Which seems the best choice seeming that you going to grow 2-3 big plants
Click to expand...
dude sells lamps for a living and he tries to talk me into buying a cheaper/lower wattage lamp. get a footcandle meter (20 bux) and see if you are over max at canopy, 7000 footcandles indoors is max, after that as the scientist says photo-inhibition, stopping photosynthesis .
 
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