How many 600w lights would YOU buy for 36 SqFt ?

I am the definition of a Newbie.

Over the years the only thing I've grown is a Beard. Right now im researching on my first grow and after reading LOADS of information for months im closer to getting hold of some local clones and getting busy.

what I'd like to hear from you guys is how YOU would fill a 5 x 7 ft space. I know I said 600w in the title but feel free to explain why YOU think 1000w is better for that space, if thats what you think. I obviously have my own idea on it that im happy to discuss but im really interested in bouncing ideas with people who have an informed opinion. As you can probably tell, 36 plants will fill that 5 x 7 ft Grow Room, allowing each plant 1 SqFt each and allowing me to kill a bunch of em as I struggle on my first grow LOL ideally all 36 will survive my learning curve and I'll have weed to last months without venturing into the street.

So I would like to know how YOU GROWERS would light that space????

I know the uniform response to questions like this is to point out that "conditions vary blah blah blah" but right now I simply want to hear people's opinions on it. Dont worry im not gonna go out and buy anything based of your responses. Its just a discussion not LAW written in STONE. Here are some of the things you might want to know before you answer. The Room I'll be building my Flower Room in is 10 x 10 ft approx with a 8 ft high ceiling. As already stated the Flower Room will be a 5 x 7 ft room (within a room) However, for the purposes of this question the height or even the size of the Flower Room can be slightly altered if YOU think it will increase efficiency and help you answer the question. I can build a Flower Room of any size in the main 10 x 10 ft Room. The Grow itself will be DWC, with Control Bucket and Reservoir, the interior walls will have Mylar, the Cool Tubes will have Reflector Hoods etc. I also plan on using a Very Powerful fan to exhaust heat outside, as well as oscalating fans and CO2. The Flower Room will have a Light Baffle to allow the vaccum inside the Flower Room to be filled with air from the larger Room. For now dont worry about Clones, Odour or Nutes. My grow will def have Dehumidifiers / Humidifiers / Air Con to automatically maintain the perfect temperature. So again, please resist the tempation to simply answer "WELL IT DEPENDS..." Just relax and imagine the perfect environment control, DWC Grow, Room within a Room, with the Flower Room being approx a 5 x 7 ft space, evrything is perfect the birds are signing.... how would YOU light the Grow????

Oh, the plants will be vegged elsewhere from clone till at least ONE FOOT tall, then they will be placed into the DWC in the Flower Room for 2 months. At Harvest I would expect the plants to be no higher than THREE FEET, even if I have to use chicken wire to maintain the perfect distance from the Lights. The Strain im growing is quite hardy and grows short. If ive missed out Info let me know, but more to the point let me know what YOUR opinions are! I just want some dialogue on LIGHTS guys so let me know what you think. Much Appreciated !!!

i would go with 2 600w cool tubes and 36 plants is too much for that space i would do 10 hempy buckets and try for each plant getting about 3-4 ft tall at harvest.for that size plant i would get 2-3 gallon square plastic mop or waste buckets.and a bag of perlite each so your looking at about $7 a bag and $2 a bucket from walmart.

What's up bro? One 1000W HPS fixture will do it for you. Since you're gonna have a bunch of smaller plants, you'll be able to rotate them from the outside of the room to the inside, and vice versa. That way all your plants will get equal light. Also, with the eight foot ceiling, you won't have to worry about the excessive heat the 1000W throws off burning them up. Just my two cents. Best of luck with your grow, whichever way you choose to go.

Thanks Johnny and Antman

Firstly, if im using 5 gal buckets that give each plant 1 FT of space, am I right in thinking I can get 36 plants in a 5 x 7 Flower Room? (35 SqFt)
I've mapped it out and I can fit 35 buckets in there, and I dont plan on growing any plant higher than 3 FT before harvest. With the right ventilation, temperature and humidity, is it reasonable to put 36 plants in that space? It seems like alot to me, but I want to have something to smoke after my first grow so I figure I can't go wrong if I have 36 plants to kill But before I consider how many lights or which lights, is 36 too much?

I dont think so maybe im wrong. Its fine if there are growers preferences - to each his own comrades - but objectively speaking can I grow 36 plants 3 foot tall in 5 gal buckets with each plant having only 1 SqFt of space?


btw - I know I keep saying 36 plants in a 35 SqFt space, but you understand what I mean

20-24 plants would fit better. Yes, the buckets are a foot wide, but you can't expect the plants to grow inside that one foot space you've allotted for each plant. A plant that is three foot tall is gonna be close to two feet in diameter. At the least, 18"-20".

I'm running my first indoor crop, 5x8 2 600w, honestly, after working in that space, I'd max out at 18 plants, if done well, you'll harvest plenty.

Hey Johnny, I took a look at your photos your Girl looks Purrrdy

You said to start with 10 buckets in that space, but with each bucket taking up approx 1 ft of space, or even if I use huge mop buckets that take up 2 ft, I'll still be wasting loads of space because the Flower Room im considering will have 35 SqFt of space to play with. I know for some grows having that space is conducicve to a great harvest, but for my first grow I want to do a SOG and have every bucket Lip to Lip so every single SqFt is used up. The Ventilation will keep things fresh in there and I'll probably chop the lower leaves to increase Light Penetration.

The main problem I've had with researching is jumping from idea to idea. DWC SOG is my final answer But do you think 2 x 600w can cover that space if I build it 5 x 7 ? I thought I might need more 600w lights because 2 x 600w only equals 34 watts per SqFt. What do you think?

Hey Antman and DirtNap.

Your already making me think again, and your right, it will be hard to fit all 36 plants in there because like you said they will branch out over the 1 SqFt wide bucket. BUT answer me this do you think I if I remove the lower branches and allow my plants to grow a thick bushy interwoven canopy it would be ok? I've seen SOG Grows where plants are clearly growing into each other and are tangled into one thick Bush by Harvest. Thats the idea im going for, a thick dense SOG. Also, I can make the Flower Room slightly larger than 35 SqFt to create a little more space between plants.

Would you guys still say 36 is too much if I plan on lower trimming and SOG ?

I have a 5x7 room, 5ft high. I run 2 x 600 watt on a light mover, large exhuast fan to control temp. Room never gets over 82deg.

I run 48 plants in 2 liter pots (sunshine mix), veg'd 10 to 12 inches. I run 4 rows of 12. Each row 2 weeks behind the other, for a harvest every 2 weeks. Never had a problem with space. Always get 3/4 to 1 oz dry per plant depending on strain.

You should have no problem with 36 for space.

Snake

DirtNap

Your growing in a Room approx the same size as mine? Perfect. Im guessing you said you'd stop at 18 plants because it became hard to maintain? I know I can physically cram 36 in that 5 x 7 space but as far as maintenance goes I want to use a DWC with a controller and a Reservoir, so I can empty all the buckets via the controller and feed all the plants via the controller. Basically I wouldnt have to dive into the Bushes to do anything. I'd use wire to Keep plants at a consistent height (without having to Rotate) and worse case scenario I intended to make the Flower Room out of 2x4 with a wooden frame and Velcro / Mylar Walls which allows me to access the Plants from any of the four sides.

I want to start Flowering at 12 inches tall and Harvest at 3 Ft Tall. 2 Months Flowering Total. But in a SOG I thought the whole point was you leave it to form a large crazy bush. By the time I harvest everything is supposed to be merged into one Bush. What Grow Method did you use? How many lights? Did you space your Plants out in your Room or did you cram them all in? I'll have a look to see if you have a Journal.

God Damn it Snake thats One fucked up Picture

But thanks for your input Bro - I know there are a million ways to grow, there are no wrong ways, but if new growers dont research and stick to ONE method we'll never start. After everything I've read im going for a DWC with a control Bucket and Reservoir using SOG and as much light as is sensible. Your also working in a similar sized room to mine, perfect. I had the idea to use 5 gal Buckets to give max root space, but I know that its slightly overkill for a plant in water that wont grow higher than 3 FT. Your growing in 2 Litre Buckets which is tiny!! so im sure I can afford to go for a slightly smaller Bucket. Anyway, good to hear you crammed 48 in there! I would be happy with just 36! Also, I decided I didnt want to grow a million baby plants under one light, not sure what that Method is called, and that was because it meant maintaing enough Mothers to take cuttings from. I'd be happy if I only had to take clones once every 2 months so when I Harvest I have fresh clones going in and new clones to cut.

Like I said I wanted to grow clones to 1 FT tall in a month and then flower them to 3 FT tall in 2 months. You said you start with approx 1FT clones so what height do you Harvest at? How much do they grow in 2 weeks before you Harvest them? I considered a Light Mover, I also considered staggering my Harvest so I Harvest 18 plants every month. So much to consider glad to see your getting results in a similar set up to mine. Would be interested to know how tall your plants get before you cut them and how thick your 48 plant Canopy gets in that 5 x 7 space.

See? Im off topic already. So many things to consider when starting out....

Ok so 2 x 600 seems like the most popular answer for my 5 x 7 space BUT what about Watts per SqFt ? It would only be 34 Watts in my space and thats quite low....

When I hang my 2 x Cooltube 600w close to the plants will that make up for the low Watt/SqFt number? Or should I add a third 600w for my 5 x7 space to raise the Watts per SqFt?

I know there is a HUGE debate regarding 2 x 1000w Versus 3 x 600w and 1 x 1000w Versus 2 x 600w but I must admit im being swayed by the 600w crowd more flexibilty, I can get closer to the plants and there will be less heat. Im set on packing this space out with 36 plants. Im confident the environment will be perfect but after reading a thread on here about Lux and Lumen and Par etc I figured I'd get into the Light debate. So what do you guys think? and why?

safety comes first said:

See? Im off topic already. So many things to consider when starting out....

Ok so 2 x 600 seems like the most popular answer for my 5 x 7 space BUT what about Watts per SqFt ? It would only be 34 Watts in my space and thats quite low....

When I hang my 2 x Cooltube 600w close to the plants will that make up for the low Watt/SqFt number? Or should I add a third 600w for my 5 x7 space to raise the Watts per SqFt?

I know there is a HUGE debate regarding 2 x 1000w Versus 3 x 600w and 1 x 1000w Versus 2 x 600w but I must admit im being swayed by the 600w crowd more flexibilty, I can get closer to the plants and there will be less heat. Im set on packing this space out with 36 plants. Im confident the environment will be perfect but after reading a thread on here about Lux and Lumen and Par etc I figured I'd get into the Light debate. So what do you guys think? and why?

Click to expand...

Hmmmmm..

Have to probably say 600's, or a thouie on a light mover.

If your doing sog, you will be able to get away with growing that many.

Your growing soil or dwc, or??

im running a 600w HPS in a 5.5'x 5.5' room and its kinda tough to keep it cool as it is. but I wouldnt go with less because the light fills the room nicely. Im about to move it to a 7'x7' area inside a 10x10' room so heat shouldnt be nearly as bad.

dam i just read further.... i dont know how u can keep 2 lights even at 400w cool enough for that size space. is this a closet?

i have 650w of MH in a 32"w x 24" d 72" h cab....... and 400w of CMH and 86w of cfl in a cab the same size right next to it.
temps havent gotten over 82f yet.
no cooltubes
see-

Hi mate im currently growing 24 plants for my first grow ever. And it become a bit of a logistical nightmare. I veg'd for 5 weeks and am now day 6 flower. im having to use every last bit of space in my grow room and that 4.8 m square. There in 9 gallon pots and are 20 inch high and wide. im using 3 x 600w HPS lights and im going to install some side lighting soon. They grow quick and big. so 36 will defo be too much for that size room your using. take a look at my thread. i just have enough room for them.
https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/302501-hi-everyone-my-first-grow-post3783983.html#post3783983

here are a few pic's below of what it look's like at the moment.

You want 62w/ sqft. This is best. I would go with 2*1000 in that space if you can control the temp. That's 57w/sqft. and 36 plants sog is good

less bigger plants ftw