HPS watt question

Discussion in 'Growing Marijuana Indoors' started by McSmokerson, Aug 2, 2003.

  1. I'm wondering how many watts i would need in my grow box. It's about 2.5 feet tall, 3 feet long, and 1.5 feet wide. I'm only gonna do 5 plants or so at a time, and the fluoro i have is pretty shitty, so i've been looking at HPS lights.

    And we all know know fuckin expensive those can get. I've seen some pretty cheap 150watt HPS lights on ebay. But i'm wondering if 150watts is enough for my container, and size of my crop. I know more is better, but i'm on a tight budget.

    So is 150 ok? Or should i spring for a 400watt bulb?
     
  2. i would say 150 should work a 400 is to much for that area unless u can keep the heat down good luck
     
  3. Alright, that's what i was kinda thinking (and hoping).

    I already have the workings of a stem. It's emerging out of the ground right now. So i'll try to get then HPS in there soon, to really make it fo nuts.
     
  4. the more watts will mean more yeild (usaully) as long as the temp is ok so go for the biggest light ,,,,good luck
     
  5. Since this is my first time, i'm gonna keep it simple. I've got a fluoro in there now and it seems to be doing it's job pretty well. In 12 hours, i went from barely seeing the beginnings of the stem, to having the first set of leaves and it being about an inch tall. So i figure that the fluoro is doing ok for now. If this batch turns out shitty, then i'll switch to the HPS.

    No sense in paying more, if what i got works.
     

  6. wise words....

    at 2.5 foot ur box aint that tall so fluros mite b the best bet anyway. i dont know how many tubes u have in there or wot watt they r but as u have 4.5sq foot then u shud b looking at having about 200w of fluros in ther to give just under the ideal 50w per sq foot for flowering. that shud keep ur plants short, stocky and give u gud tight buds the whole hight of the plant.

    gud luk wit the grow and any chance of a pic or to of the finished plants when there done, i like seeing wot can b done with fluros.
     
  7. Yea, I'll definitely get some pictures of the final product. But that won't be for a while now.

    And maybe some 'in-between' pics. We'll see.
     
  8. My opinion is that your box is way too short! Do you want to harvest 7 grams per plant? If that's all your after then go for it. Otherwise if you are serious about getting a decent "bang for your buck" make your grow area at least 4 ft tall.Buy the 250 HPS and use it to make nice compact buds. And lots of them. You should be able to easily harvest 1 oz. per dried and properly cured plant. If you are limited heightwise have you considered a sea of green setup? Hope I was of some help. PEACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
     
  9. i think a SCRoG or some heavy training of the plant wud b the way to go rather than trying to get a sea on the go. 4 plants, topped or FIMd wud bush out nice, tied down a bit wud give a good use of space and a respectable harvest 4 the size of box
     
  10. The height of the box has been my biggest dilema so far.

    I've been looking around for some sort of Rubbermaid locker type thing, that's like 4 feet (or more) high. Cause I don't wanna stick to really small plants. The box i have now fits perfectly in my closet, allows 5 plants, and holds my 2 fluoros very nicely. Although, like i said, that wouldn't allow them to get very big. That's why i'm looking for a larger container. It could still fit in my closet, but can't be too wide.

    Does anyone know of anyplace i could buy a cheep tall storage bin like that?
     
  11. .....Also I found a pretty cheap 150 watt HPS light at Lowe's Hardware, but they don't sell the ballast. It's a S55 ballast, and i can't find one anywhere. Anyone know where i could get one?
     

  12. do u own a saw and a screwdriver? a few sheets of mdf and a coupple of hours work will get u the box u want at a v low price!


    by light do u mean the lamp? (the round glass bit that glows) these r cheap. find the balast cheap then looking 4 a cheap lamp that suits the balast will b a lot easyer than finding a cheap balast to suit a lamp.
     

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