Lighting question

I've grown my own legally for a couple years now and will finally move to something a bit different. All Veg and Flowering has always been done in one room without having two things going on (Veg in one room, Flowering in another) and I'm planning on moving toward a constant grow cycle year round.

I have a 400W Xtrasun Sodium (BAS400) with an Aluminum Wing Reflector and a 1000W Sun Supply SS-1 HPS with a Sun Systems Cool Sun Reflector with Glass Cover.

I'm authorized to have 12 seedlings and 4 mature plants. I would like to have 2 Mothers, 2 Flowering, and the 12 seedlings (though technically their not seedlings since I will need to continually trim them down to 12" x 12" until I have room in my plant count to move them toward the mature side).

Will the 400W system work well as the only light in my Veg Room or should I get a light mover? The plants aren't going to be very large - 1SF each (12SF Total of plants plus the space between). I'm also planning on purchasing a conversion bulb to run the 400W as MH.

Am I correct in thinking that I want the most Wattage in the flowering room? The current plan is to have the 1000w for Flowering and tying back the branches of the two that are in Flowering for the most light coverage at the bud sites.

Lastly (I still have a very long time for this since everything is still in seedling stage) - should I top the plants that are going into flower when I move them from the Veg Room to the Flowering Room? What is the benefit of topping them? I've been advised for years to not top any plants and hope for a very large, sticky top bud.

Thanks

bigmaccommj said:

Will the 400W system work well as the only light in my Veg Room or should I get a light mover? The plants aren't going to be very large - 1SF each (12SF Total of plants plus the space between). I'm also planning on purchasing a conversion bulb to run the 400W as MH.

Am I correct in thinking that I want the most Wattage in the flowering room? The current plan is to have the 1000w for Flowering and tying back the branches of the two that are in Flowering for the most light coverage at the bud sites.

Lastly (I still have a very long time for this since everything is still in seedling stage) - should I top the plants that are going into flower when I move them from the Veg Room to the Flowering Room? What is the benefit of topping them? I've been advised for years to not top any plants and hope for a very large, sticky top bud.

Thanks

Click to expand...

Ya you wouldn't want to go from 1000 watt veg to 400 watt flowering. 400 watt is plenty to veg and do what you're doing. Topping will make the plant bushy, so you'll get more tops, but they will be slightly smaller than if you had one, it all depends on what your grow space will allow and personal choice. The plants will tend to be shorter if you top.

you want the 1000 in the flower room for sure and the 400 watt is perfect for vegging. you want the metal halide conversion bulb in the veg room though so your plants dont stretch (as they probably will with a hps in veg).

your best bet, since youre only gunna have 2 flowering plants at a time, top them. if you top them when they have 3-5 sets of leaves, the side branches will grow them much bushier having manyy buds smaller than a cola but youll have several of them. as a perfect example of topping i have just started a thread about a "suposed GHS big bang 1 for sure lemon skunk". you can see on the big bang i have around 12 side branches, all with colas. they grow laterally rather than vertically. its really a personal preference. since you have the ability to use a 1000 watt hps for 2 flowering plants, you might not want to. but as to my preference, i think it gives you the ability to have limited flowering plants grow as large as they can. you again have to think that 1 main cola also has 1 large stem.

if you look at the pictures of my plants, it might help show you the differences between topped and not topped. another advantage to topping is that you can take clones off that plant and not have to start seeds every time you start a new grow, thus reducing your grow times. just remember the whole topping, FEMing, and not topping is based on the growers preference. those that grow many smaller plants in a SOG usually dont top and just grow 10+ plants with one main cola. you should try both methods at one time or another just to see which you like better.

i hope this helped you a little bit. i also hope you have many prosperous grows