Just moved into new appartment in florida in the US, the heat here is pretty bad but i have an air conditioner set up in the room im making my grow room and i have alot of things to be able to deal with temperature BUT my problem is my lights, i dont think i have enough lighting/enough space for the light setup here is a pic, take a look at the set up then i will explain everything! There are 2 strips of 80 watt floros there^ as well as 2 halogen bulbs wired there explination of the lights: 4 florescent lights total, (2) 40W bulbs in each holder on the walls ****** the 2 halogen bulbs are special, with each click they gain more power each can go a total of 500W, but 1 click is 250W so total when they are both running at full power, it is 1000W wamming the plants The Halogen bulbs are mounted 3 feet above the ground 2 Feet from where the plants will be sitting NOW! my questions and where i need help is: IF i am only using this light setup, will this be effecient lighting for the entire growth of my girls? What wattage should i have set up for the plants on the halogen bulbs?? (HOW MANY plants do you think i could set up in the room??, the room is 6'X7') my ultimate plan is i want 20 plants growing in this room is it possible with this setup? what should i fix? loose? go out and get? any help would be unbelievably helpful guys!
No, I dont know who told you halogen's are good for growing.. You definately will not get 20 plants growing in that room , I'd say one, two max with that setup. And not good plants for that matter. You need to do some more research on what lights to use first. Also - if the room is bright enough with this florous yes if you plant seeds they probably will sprout, and even grow. But good luck trying to flower 'em.
Halogen lamps make poor grow lights. Avoid them if at all possible, especially since you have so little clearance. The plants will quickly grow into the lighta and burn. Normally I would suggest an HPS light, but if you only have 3ft of clearance then your only real option is to use flourescents, like the ones you have in the strip lights. You can let the plants grow right into them and the heat won't be a problem. You can get some great herb from flourescents, but your yield will be substantially reduced compared to HID lights. For my first grow we grow 5 plants under a 400W HPS and 4 plants under a total of 10 40W flourescent tubes. The plants under the HPS gave an average of just over 2oz each, and the flourescents gave 3/4oz each - great stuff though. Anyway, to cut a long story short: Ditch the halogens Try and get hold of as many flourescents as you can Cover the walls in mylar if you can. If not, then that white paint should be good. Keep the plants short and bushy (look into tying them down) and you should have some good erb
ive done my research, these halogen lights were free from an uncle didnt buy em or anything just figured they were a light source good enough for now, but in all reality, 1000W isnt enough?? your not being very helpful in your comment its more of just you trying to be-little my room, im looking for HELP not you to be an a55 to me, thanx hoast
Geez guy, I'm trying to help here.. I have nothing against you, or your room. As a matter of fact it's more room than I have. "In all reality 1000watt isn't enough??" No, it doesn't exactly depend on the wattage if its the incorrect light. See, you would know that if you did the correct research is all im saying, no disrespect.. Honestly you would get WAY better results with flouros and a 250watt HPS as opposed to 2 industrial grade halogens 500watts..
hey arseface, thanx for the help, i went to home depot today to try and find mylar but they didnt have any but i am definitly finishing every inch of the walls with mylar if i put the halogen bulbs up higher? say from 5-7 feet(the ceiling is 7 feet high) do you think they would be ok to use? do they kill your plants because they are too strong? or are they beneficial at all??
ok then im sorry for being negative its just i didnt see ur post as help at all at first, but thank you now i see alot of people are gonna flame me for the halogens :-/
If you're serious about trying grow, if you invest maybe anywhere from 150-300 for a proper light and supplies (soil, buckets, timer for lights, all the shit adds up) You probably have enough room for what looks like maybe 6 plants. It's just a picture so I can't really tell. Definately not 20 though, as it looks like a closet and for this grow I'm planning we have a whole room and thats pretty much taking up all of it, and its only 12 plants. 6 plants in a closet would for fine under a HPS.. as long as you research.. and know what you're doing..
Stoner, you won't get flamed for using halogens but you are begging for it with that first attitude. Your subsequent apology looks sincere, no harm no foul. Hoast and Arseface speak the truth that halogens are no good for grow, they get way too hot. You have good height so HIDs are a possiblity. There's a link in my sig about lighting...
stonerBOMB, Room looks good. I just wanted to stop by and reaffirm to you that the other kids in the classroom are correct. Halogens are no good; they are the wrong spectrum and will probably do more harm than good. Sorry man.
my 1 idea is though, if i keep the halogen lights high enough, and just mainly focus the grow from the flor's will this be alright? your all saying that halogens will just fry my plants... i understand that... BUT if there up high enough away from the plants and just beaming them from up high, is it still killing them? ill keep the plants stop like 4-5 feet away from the halogens and im going to LST them and make them remain small enough that the halogens wont fry them could this work?
No, because it's also the improper light. Not just the heat. You can't flower with the florous, either.
Go to lowes and even buy just a 150w hps for $80. Thats what I started out with. You combine your flouros and HPS and you should do pretty good.
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-400-watt-HPS-GROW-LIGHT-400w-High-Pressure-Sodium-w_W0QQitemZ7764795454QQcategoryZ42225QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem few questions.... -----im going to purchase this light, do u think that would be fine? -----should i have them directly over the plants? how many plants possible under this light setup? **(3) 4' strips of 80W floro's for the growing stage, and using this 400W HPS 53,000 lumens for the flowering ^^Possible for 10 plants to grow?
Dude, the way lumens work is the further away the light is from the plant the less lumens the plant will receive. At 4-5 feet away from the plants the light would be short of worthless even if the light were the correct spectrum. Using the halogen would be a complete waste of energy and would not give the plant useful light one bit. As for the hps and those fluoros, using them together you could possibly flower 10 plants.