Amount of light needed

My grow space will be 4'x4' approximately, what wattage HID will I need? Would one 400 watt light work?

Also take into consideration the total closet space is 4'x7', I will be making the whole closet a sealed "tent" so to speak by taking the door off and putting plastic over the door and cutting ducting holes.

Light could spread around the remaining space in the closet.

light spreading wont be an issue, so long as you put the door BACK ON after the plastic goes up. if the light can get out, it can get in, and during flower, thats a major no-no.

sound like a 400 would do just fine in that space assuming 2 things

1. you can keep your temps under control, my closet is similar but our house is bad at maintaining a temp so i have to check in on them every couple hours make sure that it aint getting too hot/cold.
2. that light leak. make sure it doesnt exist before you start. around the closet is fine cuz it will only happen when the hps is on. but if you only have that plastic for a door, it could let light IN during night hours. even a stupid normal 60 watt incandescent bulb in a bedroom can be enough to fuck with a cycle if that light gets in there. needs to be pitch black during lights off. real vin diesel style.

if you can keep those temps in check, i would almost go 600W instead of 400W. the energy is a bit more, but you will get significantly more lumens for your space, and more light 95% of the time means better plants.

This is soil btw, Temps should be ok, I've got an ac vent I can duct to the intake for the room.

How many plants could I use maximum in that 4footx4foot space? Jorge Cervantes says for every 40" x40" area you can generally have 16 plants. That seems like a lot to me. And I'm wanting these plants to grow pretty tall. Tall enough that flowering takes them to the maximum height with 18" light distance+reflector height in mind. And not to burn the plants.

I want to grow as many in the 4x4 space and as tall as I can safely.

How many plants?

GanjaRastaMan said:

This is soil btw, Temps should be ok, I've got an ac vent I can duct to the intake for the room.

How many plants could I use maximum in that 4footx4foot space? Jorge Cervantes says for every 40" x40" area you can generally have 16 plants. That seems like a lot to me. And I'm wanting these plants to grow pretty tall. Tall enough that flowering takes them to the maximum height with 18" light distance+reflector height in mind. And not to burn the plants.

I want to grow as many in the 4x4 space and as tall as I can safely.

How many plants?

Click to expand...

i just read your other thread asking this. tbh iam not sure and i havnt read the infamouse Cannabible from Cervantes, but 16 does seem high. i would bet this is totally dependent on the strain and type of grow. i saw that you dont want to do scrog, so i would say not to try to fit more than 6 in there personally. is this your first grow? if so you might want the extra space at the end just for room to meneuver and get used to your setup. also, if it is your first grow, 4-6 would just work better. why grow 15 if you dont have the hands on experience with one yet? you could potentially screw your whole crop up with a bad fertilization or lighting mistake, better to lose 4-6 plants than 16. wait til you got it down, know the ins and outs, and epsecially, know what your strains like, befre you try to go for a 'bigger' grow. just my $.02.

Yeah this is my first grow. I don't even have the place to do it at yet. It will be an apartment I've been looking at And I've been working with the maintanance guy (I work for a temp agency but will probably get this place after I come back from trade school)most likely and I've pretty much got a plan for my safety. The closet will be my walk in bedroom clothing closet so I'm going to chisel out the bedroom door frame a bit to put a dead bolt in the place of the knob lock. just in case maintanance decides to pay an unexpected visit (which would be against the policies, just as precaution though) Change the deadbolt back to the normal knob when they give me advance notice of inspection. Take it all down, throw the plants away and put my cleaned equipment in duffel bags and lay low. Then start again if that happens.

I don't believe the place does a yearly inspection but if they do I should be ready, if they don't give me notice at least the bedroom door will be locked with a decent deadbolt. An they'll ask for a key, then I'll knock it all down in that case, instead of seeing the grow. And lastly they only change air
filters when they do make readys for the next occupant. So I think I'll be good.