25W Per Square Foot Doable?

Discussion in 'Lighting' started by Eager2Grow, Jul 15, 2014.

  1. \t\t\t\tHey guys, 

    \t\t\t\tI am currently starting my first grow, I have a 400w light and I am doing the grow in a 4x4 tent. I know this is a slightly larger than ideal footprint for using a 400w, and it is generally suggested to do 4x2, 3x3 or even some suggest 2.5x2.5 to make the most of this light.

    \t\t\t\tI know I could easily get away with a 600w in this space, and would obviously get better results in doing so. But for various reasons, which I would prefer to avoid getting off topic on in this thread, that isn't an option for me right now.

    \t\t\t\tWhat I would like to know is will I actually somehow grow less weed using a 400w in a 4x4 tent than I would in a 3x3 tent?

    \t\t\t\tIt doesn't make much sense to me that there would be any real difference, as long as I try and arrange my plants as close to a 3x3 foot print as possible it seems like the extra space around the plants would be beneficial for me to move around and also in making humidity less of an issue in flower.

    \t\t\t\tThe only real potential drawbacks I can see from the added footprint are that I will lose some lumens reflecting back off the walls of the grow tent, but I can't imagine in the scheme of things this would make a huge difference.
    \t\t\t\t 
    \t\t\t\tThe only other potential drawback I can see is that I will lose some of the heat of the lamp and since it is currently winter where I live the grow space may run a few degrees cooler than is optimal. Equally though, this would be an advantage in summer when the weather is hotter.

    \t\t\t\tBasically I am wondering if I am going to produce dramatically less from this light than I would if I were to run the same setup in a slightly smaller tent?
    \t\t\t\t 
    \t\t\t\tIf I would produce dramatically less then some assistance in understanding the reasons for this would also be appreciated!
    \t\t\t\t\t 
     
  2. Imo the 400 in that space will not cause u to grow less copared to a smaller space i currently run a 400 in 1.2m x1.2m and havent noticed any difference from when was in a smaller cupboard

    Sent from my SM-G900F using Grasscity Forum mobile app
     
  3. Yeah I think the only difference would be the distance of the walls from your plants and the light that reflects off them. Not sure if that is significant or not.. but you could always put up some panels with mylar or panda film/white paint around the little 3x3 area to help reflect more light?
     
  4. #4 Eager2Grow, Jul 15, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 15, 2014
    Cheese dug that is very comforting to know, many thanks! How many plants do you run in such space, what is your grow medium and how long do you veg for? Sorry to ask so many questions!
     
    Atma, I did consider hanging plastic sheeting to reduce the light space, I felt there were a couple issues with this however. 
     
    Primarily I feel as though it would either reduce the efficiency of my ventilation, or alternatively my ventilation would cause the plastic sheeting to move around quite a bit which could at times either, reduce the light footprint more than desired whilst causing the plastic sheeting to hit my plants, or be totally pointless and the airflow blow the sheeting out and increase the light footprint to the virtual diameter of the tent.
     
    Aside to that, I feel that it would actually make movement around my grow space even more cumbersome than if I were to utilise a smaller tent and between the two aforementioned factors it feels like hanging the plastic would be a complete waste of time. I could build up walls inside the tent, but this would create portability issues (which I admit, are not immediately pressing) as well as likely costing me close to half what replacing the tent with a smaller one would. It also creates an issue with my airflow/ducting and my wiring which rely on outlets on the outer wall of the grow tent.
     
  5. you get much more par out of direct light than you do off a reflective surface. your going to like your larger space. 
     


  6. Sent from my SM-G900F using Grasscity Forum mobile app
     
  7. I had 20 i think and they filled the space tbh the plants went through alot gettin moved outside in cold temps an stuff spme wer bit stunted and things but most made it through i didnt lst or top this go round but still expect around on oz a plant average

    Sent from my SM-G900F using Grasscity Forum mobile app
     
  8. I don't think you'd get any less really...just try to shape the canopy more bowl shaped and you should do great. Or you could do vert...barebulb or cooltubed.
     

Share This Page