Hi to all, Im getting a Lumatek dual ballast to run both my lights (2 x 600w Eye Hortilux w/ Blockbuster reflector) for my 2x2x2 meter squared tent. I was wondering since my ballast permits it, I could run 1 x 400w MH + 1 x 600w HPS during the first vegging phase, i dont know if anyone has tried both of them and prefers one or the other..... It sounds good since i will save 200w, on the vegg phase and provide a more complete spectrum as well. What do you guys think, is it worth it?? or should i just use the 2x 600w HPS and get all the wattage i can into the tent???????
Well, I don't think the type or the watts in veg. are as important as they are in flowering. I don't know what size your veg room is, but I have two 4ft by 4ft trays that are covered very nicely with two 400W MH. keylime
I would flip it around if anything for veg... 600w MH & 400 HPS... But I personally would do two 600w MH in veg. Then of course the two 600w HPS for flower... It's been proven time and time again, the more light you supply the more growth you get.. Well to a certain point anyway...
To a certain point for sure.... When you have 40 plants say, in the flower room, chances are you will have approx that many in the veg room to replenish the the flower room after the harvest. A plant in the veg room maybe 10 inches high when it leaves for the flower room. The same 10 inch plant may end up being 2 to 3ft tall when it is finished. My point is you don't need the same Watts in the veg room that you need in the flower room. I have a friend who has 4600W in flowering, and has about 1000W in vegging, including mothers. keylime
The thing is that the lumatek digital ballast im getting will only let me use 600w HPS and only 400w and 360w MH bulbs..... Im getting 2 x Eye Hortilux Super 600w HPS for flowering, and 1 x Eye Hortilux Blue spectrum daylight 400w MH.... (they are kind of expensive bulbs, $200 for both HPS and $120 for 1 x Blue Spectrum MH)..... (i can get another cheaper MH over here since im in SOUTH AMERICA, not Hortilux blue spectrum but MH none the less, so if you all think that i should go all MH in vegg, just sayy the word, considering it would mean 400w less!!!!) if not il just do 600w HPS and 400w Blue MH fore vegg, then swith the bulb for flower!!!!) Im just starting out again and i have a, (6.5 x 6.5 X 6.5 sq FT tent)and im planning on selecting a few mothers from 16 seeds of Moby Dick(Dinafem)... 10 critical + (dinafem), 12 OG kush # 18 (reserva privada) & 6 sour kush aka HEADBANG (reserva privada)......... planning on having a perpetual garden eventually, hopefully this year.........i plan using the tent exclusively for FLOWERING and since i will have 2 blockbuster 8' relfectors i can offset by one month, but for the selection that comes first im just gonna stick everything in there, take 2 or 3 cutting of each plant, and then do a separate room where i will put the winning mothers & cuttings, (fluorescent for maintaining) and have another room for veggin, maybe with one 400w MH...or another 250w MH for a totarl o 650w for about 40 cuttings to vegg,.........well something like that is what i will hopefully get to, and break my 430gr high quality mark with 1 x 600w on my first indoor
My recommendation is using about 25% of your Total Wattage for the veg, and 75% for the flowering..... you wouldn't even need HPS/MH in the veg if you didn't want to.... fluorescent light do just fine in that area.... keylime
We're not taking large scale grow.. LMFAO Oooooooh, OK, you want 6" of stem in between nodes... I get it now.... If you knew anything, you would know basic lighting requirements... Minimum light requirements are 30w per sq. ft. Minimum suggested light is 50w per sq. ft. L x W = sq. ft. Watts ÷ sq. ft. = watts per sq. ft. Do the math.... Because at 1200 watts in a 42 sq. ft. tent is 28w per sq ft. Good luck with your grow indordog....
Thanks Jakester..., Im just gonna use 1 600w HPS and 1 400w MH......... to get 1000w in there in vegg, then go all the way to 1200w for flowering with the 2 HPS......i think its the best way....... Which option of these would YOU use for Veggin??? 1. 1 x 600w HPS & 1 x 400w MH 2. 2 x 400w MH 3. 2 x 600w HPS I want the best possible structure and relatively low height ( 6.5 ft tall tent) for the plants. Thats why im trying to decide for vegg, since last time i used ONLY HPS for vegg & flowering, and it wasnt that baad. Although a bit stretchy. Thanks & good SMOKES
Well again any experienced grower is going to tell you the more light you can supply, the faster growth you're going to get... It has been proven time and time again... So if my only options were between 1, 2, and 3, personally I would choose 2.. Simply because the HPS spectrum is really not what we want in veg. and the plants are going to use more of the blue spectrum (which HPS produces very little of) over the orange & red.. You see, plants only absorb certain light spectrum, mostly blue and red, while nearly all others are reflected or otherwise unused by the plant. Then of course they use the different light spectrum at different stages of their life cycle. During vegetative growth, they mostly absorb the 430nm to 450nm ranges (blue), but when flowering they mostly absorb the 640nm to 660nm range of spectrum. Even though they do absorb and use some of the the red/orange during vegetative growth, it's no where near the absorption rate of the blue spectrum.. So by supplying the plants the HPS light in vegetative growth, they are not absorbing the reds and oranges (640nm to 660nm range which HPS mostly produces), they absorb more of the blue spectrum which the MH produces way more of, as opposed to the HPS bulbs. Thus why I would choose to get more of the spectrum which the MH bulbs produce in the vegetative chamber (even though it's less watts per sq ft), over the HPS... Again, simply because the plants are not absorbing the red/orange spectrum within the vegetative part of their life to produce chlorophyll which is vital part for photosynthesis.... If that makes sense???
It certainly does sir, and if I had to make a choice of those three options I would pick the 2 MH 400W lamps as well. All I am saying is this: How much space do you need in your veg room under lights, vs how much space do you need in your flower room under lights? In other words, you don't need as much space for the vegging of plants when they are small, say from 6 inches to 12 inches tall in relation to the flower room when they are 30" tall. I have been growing successfully for 10 yrs and have actually already figured that out, jakesterjammin. keylime
First, I do not want to jack up indordog's thread getting into a debate with you.. And I would totally agree if we're dealing with two different size chambers... BUT, we're not, as indordog wants to veg and flower in the same tent, thus the tent is NOT going to shrink increasing the watts per sq ft. simply because the plants are smaller... Then to suggest he/she can simply just use "fluorescents" in a 6.5' x 6.5' vegetative chamber is absolutely ludicrous... I can understand CFL, or even T5 "as secondary lighting", but just fluorescents to veg??? Really???? IMO CFL, T5, and fluorescents are secondary lighting ONLY, in ANY vegetative and/or flowering chamber...
As you said, that's your opinion. I have several MOTHERS in 5 gal buckets under T5 and florescents.....without any problems... In fact they have been under them for several years (although they are changed out every six months or so).
many people veg under florescent lights and it works just fine, but you will get faster growth, less stretch, and tighter internode spacing under MH
Hey, what up JB?? Well you know cannabis is a weed and it will grow under a 60 watt household light bulb... So of course it will grow under florescent lights... But is that (in your honest opinion) the best way to go for veg growth in a 6.5'x6.5' tent?? Then when indordog clearly says: That right there tells me NO and get as much MH light in there as you can.. Florescent lights work great for cloning, but not for vegetative growth... But we all know opinions are like assholes, everyone has one... And you know me, mine is as big as my mouth... Nice to see ya on the boards man...
no it isn't the best way to go, and only people working with limitations (mainly $ or heat issues) use them, I was just pointing out that people do use florescent bulbs and that they do work. I personally veg with MH and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Thanks for clarifying this jackester......even thougn everybody is entitled to there opinion, and if it works for them...thats perfect. I personally would only use fluorecent lights for mothers/clones, not for anything else, or maybe secondary lights but, definetly not for veg.... So i will go with the 2 x HORTILUX BLUE DAYLIGHT MH for veg..... This FIRST time i will be using the tent for both veg and flower stages, since im gonna be doing a mother selection (with some luck) i will get one with nice phenos.....im really really picky for what i like, (taste,look and power wise) so i hope i will get a KEEPER this time. After i hopefully have some mothers chosen, i will have another space for veg only and use my 6.5sq ft tent exclusively for flowering...with that space & lighting im aiming to get to 900grs trimmed, & cured, but since summer is just starting out in this side of the globe I can live with 800grs... but as always QUALITY is the main concern here. After i have the quality desired, i will make a space for the mothers, a space for the aero-cloner and a space for veg growth, in which i will use one or 2 400w MH.....with this hopefully i will get to shorten my harvest time up to once a month......it is still a bit premature to say what it will be for sure but something like that is the goal. Thanks to all for contributing and stating your opinions.They are alwasy welcomed as long as it contributes to the evolution of new growers like myself..... GOOD SMOKES! Thanks to jackester again, for your time on giving me the clarification i needed.