just finished bricking up my room and im stuck on what light set up to go with...???

[crop thief]

so iv just finished bricking up the windows and back door of my grow room,,, now im stuck on what lights for my area would get me the best result but not cost a lot , cause i don't want to pay a shit load every month for elec bills... here are the stats..... 2.6meters wide by 4.8meters in length and 2.4 in height... i was thinking of running 4 x 400watt HIDs. or 2 x 600watt HIDS.. for some reason it wont upload my pics,, got them in my album if u want to check them out......

 

[hbbum]

It is my understanding that the most efficient size HID if 600W. Look into it, I think your lumen/watt ratio is best with the 600.

 

[hbbum]

Looking online.. a 400 gives 50K lumens (HPS) and a 600 give 90K lumens.. so 2 600W would give 180K lumens for 1200W or 3 400W would give 150K lumens for the same 1200W.

Should also be easier to cool (less ducting, lower fan, less elec) as well.

400W gives 125 lumen/w
600W gives 150 lumen/w
100W gives 130 lumen/w

 

[crop thief]

so u think i should go with 2 600watts.. i just thought with 4 400watts i could cover more area... wanted about 20 plus plants..

 

[crop thief]

lol seen as ur here,,, how many plants do u think i cant fit under 2 x 600watts>>? 100 watt a plant? or 75 watt.. im looking for the biggest amount i can get from the 2.6 x 4.8 room...

 

[lamopa]

That's a huge space to try and get proper light coverage. I'd split that room into 3 different rooms, each bigger than the next in order: clone room, mother/veg room, flowering room. I'd put cfl's or a couple white/blue LED panels in the clone room, cfl's or MH (250w is fine) in the mother/veg room, and two 600w or one 1000w HPS in the flower room.

Just my .02 cents!!

 

[hbbum]

I would need to differ to someone that has experience running larger areas. Logically I would think that your "best bang for the buck" would be 2X 600W with a light mover to increase coverage if needed. Maybe I should say your "best bang for the bud" , "wack for the watt"?

 

[crop thief]

ok but if u look at the space... when i look at it just 2 600watts wont cover that area would it? i know they say a 400watt can cover 3x3 and if my room space is 2.6 wide then two lights should cover it ? not sure if this 3x3 is right.... just i have 4.8 length so im thinking i can push 4 lights to max the space... i want to fit as mny plants as i can with out them cramping...how mny plants can i fit under 2 600watts? i would imagine i can fit more under 4 x 400watts and still get good flowering

 

[crop thief]

ok atleast answer me this.. can i fit 20 plants under 2 600watt?

 

[lamopa]

ok atleast answer me this.. can i fit 20 plants under 2 600watt?

Sure, but it may be tight. I'd focus more on 16 or so (8 per light). With a little fimming you can produce trees!!

I kinda use this as a guide based on my research:

150w - No more than 2 plants.
250w - 4 - 6 plants
400w - no more than 6 plants
600w - no more than 8 plants
1000w - 12+ plants

I'm sure others will disagree, this is just my opinion. Now if you're doing SOG or SCROG, that changes things. These estimates are based on a little topping or fimming.

 

[hbbum]

I agree with Iamopa, but think plants per light is super misleading. If you do a Sea of Green you can put your plants in 1 gallon pots and put 50+ in that area, or I grow a single plant under a 400W and just train the shit out of it since I think its easier to run a single bigger pot.

Depends on what you are looking for.

 

[lamopa]

I agree with Iamopa, but think plants per light is super misleading. If you do a Sea of Green you can put your plants in 1 gallon pots and put 50+ in that area, or I grow a single plant under a 400W and just train the shit out of it since I think its easier to run a single bigger pot.

Depends on what you are looking for.

Lights per plant is def. misleading. Mine was more of a basic guide. As you said, you can top or fim one plant under 400w and have it produce a high yield of bud.

 

[jcmjrt]

If you want to go with fairly traditional lighting but save some electric cost, you should check out Ceramic Metal Halide.

I use quality LED lights. The biggest problem with LED is the upfront cost to get into the game at all. You save money on the back end but the initial investment can hurt and if you don't buy quality LED, you should just pass. Cheap chinese LEDs are why so many people say that LEDs don't grow well. Ceramic Metal Halide isn't as efficient as LED but doesn't have the initial high cost to get into it.

 

[lamopa]

If you want to go with fairly traditional lighting but save some electric cost, you should check out Ceramic Metal Halide.

I use quality LED lights. The biggest problem with LED is the upfront cost to get into the game at all. You save money on the back end but the initial investment can hurt and if you don't buy quality LED, you should just pass. Cheap chinese LEDs are why so many people say that LEDs don't grow well. Ceramic Metal Halide isn't as efficient as LED but doesn't have the initial high cost to get into it.

I use some of those cheap Chinese LED panels strictly for supplementing some red spectrum during flowering. I also use a blue/white panel for clones, they seem to like the blue spectrum and the lower lumens output But as a main light for growth from start to finish they are indeed useless.

 

[crop thief]

lets just say im not going to be the only one smoking from this so i need to get the biggest yield possible from my space... i under stand what u guys are saying... and that guide can be used i was thinking 6 plants under my 400watt.. 16 plants under 2 x 600watt and 24 under 4 x 400watt.. 4 x 600watts will eat power in the end... 2400watts.. and 4 x 400watts is 1600 watts just above what i would like, i looked in to the leds but i can only get them shipped and the shipping is almost the same price as the leds due to the distance they will travel,, i want big sizes pot so i can grow real monsters.. i will fit 5 plants under each 4oowatt>> thats my total of 20 that i need,, plus 5 under each light is plenty of space for them to bush and grow...

 

[hbbum]

I would still go 3x600 over 4x400, would give you 270K lumens for the 600 vs 200K lumens for the 400 and the power difference should be made up from making it easier to cool. If you have a good hood they should also give you about the same footprint for space to grow.

Of course, only you know what will really work in your space

 

[WayBaked]

40-60 watts per square foot

put as many plants in that as you want; 4 plants properly trained for even canopy will yield almost the exact amount as 24 plants in the same space under the same amount of light.

there's pros & cons to less/more plants

and as mentioned, 600W HPS are by far the most efficient to use (even tho I don't use em)

 

[crop thief]

update... have been speaking to my good friend homegrowerZA and im going to place a drywall up to make two rooms, veg and flower, im going to try get 2 x 600watts in the flower room and 2 x 400watts in the veg room,, then i can grow constantly... waybaked.. do u have 3 x 1000?