1st Grow - 25 Plants - HELP PLEASE! Lighting Question – Optimal Yield

For OPTIMAL YIELD is it reasonable to have five(5) plants per 1000watt HPS lamp? Will there be enough light for each of the 5 plants in the space provided by each light? Would you recommend fewer plants per light? Should I add another 1000 Watt light and go 4 plants per light? Would the difference in yield be worth the added costs of the extra light (hood/lamp/ballast/electricity)?

- OR -

Going the opposite direction, is five 1000 Watt Lights for 25 plants overkill? Could I even increase it to 6 plants per light without it affecting the yield or the other 5 plants? What is the cut-off point of diminishing returns?

I'm definitely going for top shelf high quality and high yield, but don't want to waste money unnecessarily either. Thanks in advance for the knowledge!

Necessary Info: 25 plants (Indica OG Kush), soil grow, well ventilated, (5) 1000 Watt HPS Lamps, CO2 generator

- Jeff

you only need to make one post.

dadio161 said:

you only need to make one post.

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I realize that now...in fact, tried to delete some of the duplicates (like this one) but can't figure out how to do it...it gives me the option to edit it, but not delete.

I dont know how large you want to grow them before you flower but.. I think one 1000w will do an area about four feet square, that should be lots of room for your plants
Myself I would use one 1000w Mh and switch or add a hps for flowering, the hps has more reds in it.. helps the plant grow buds. the Mh has more blues.. grows a tight bushy plant.
I am trying T5's for the first time.. they seem to work great and very little heat compared to Mh an Hps

canibud said:

I dont know how large you want to grow them before you flower but.. I think one 1000w will do an area about four feet square, that should be lots of room for your plants
Myself I would use one 1000w Mh and switch or add a hps for flowering, the hps has more reds in it.. helps the plant grow buds. the Mh has more blues.. grows a tight bushy plant.
I am trying T5's for the first time.. they seem to work great and very little heat compared to Mh an Hps

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Thanks for the reply, someone else suggested I use a T5 tube for my mother plant....I'll need to research them and see what they are. I read that I could use the HPS the entire time and would be fine. Are the MH as expensive as HPS? If not I'll look into trying that since each is better for specific grow periods. Thanks again.

I have 20 plants vegging under a 600W MH in 3 gallon pots. I have a really big reflector but even still, I'm going to have to get another light. Id say for optimal yield you want 4 to 6 large plants under one light, although you could probably push it to ten but the yield will drop because you have plants bleeding into each other and it reduces the amount of light each plant can use.

...I would grow 4 plants each 1k...trip them into flowering at 12 inches, use HUGE pots....I would position your bulbs vertically to provide plenty of side light, let your light hang 1/4 of the plants height down into your canopy....rotate your plants very often....watch this video. ....also, I would use 6500 Kelvin fluorescents for veg.

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JLewbowski said:

Thanks for the reply, someone else suggested I use a T5 tube for my mother plant....I'll need to research them and see what they are. I read that I could use the HPS the entire time and would be fine. Are the MH as expensive as HPS? If not I'll look into trying that since each is better for specific grow periods. Thanks again.

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I have an UltraLux 6-Lamp T5, ya have to keep it close to the canopy and the penetration is not as good as Mh or Hps but for the vegging it works great.
Hps tend to make the plant tall and leggy if used for veg. the cost is about the same, you can get ballasts the will work for both...

I think you can do just fine with less lights.. if you want to spend and get a better return I would say go Hydroponic or aeroponic you can control how much nutrients the plant gets and without them all the light wont help. I would rather have a plant 20" tall that weighs in the same as one 40" tall, a lot less stem more bud is what I go for.

I am new to aeroponics now but so far it blows away soil and is doin better than hydroponic