I plan on growing about 15 plants soon. I am currently vegging 6. I am using a 400W MH for vegging now and will continue to do so for the 15 plants. I am going to buy another lamp this week. I was thinking of buying a 1000W HPS for flowering. I figure, it doesn't cost much more then the 400W HPS and its cheaper then the 600W. Plus, I should yield more with a 1000W. But I was wondering if 1000W is too much? If I veg 15 plants to 12 inches, then put them in for flowering and only say 8 turn out to be female. 1000W would be great for 15 females, but do you think it may be a little much for only 8 plants? Should I just get a 400W instead? I will be flowering in a bedroom about 12 feet x 9 feet and will be growing 1 plant per sq foot in 3 gallon containers. The room will be divided in half with a tarp to keep light from spreading all over the room. There will be a squirrel fan venting into the attic, and the temperature will be controlled using an 8,000 BTU air conditioner. I will also be using a humidifier. Its pretty dry in my apartment. Theres also a big ceiling fan for air circulation and wind.
what about the electricity?.......maybe noticed that way with 1000w.........and also do you have the room divided to 12' x 4.5'.......or 9' x 6'?.........lol......just messing with you, both end up 54sq feet........that's quite a big room, have you thought of making it smaller to suit say 20 plants at maybe 1.5'sq for each one........that gives you 30sq feet.........maybe not need that 1000 to get a good harvest depending on keeping the room smaller, and with more lumens per sq foot, also the venting will be good as well, temps will be kept low too......... lol......but then again the above and a 1000w HPS, now that would be nice!......lol Peace out........Sid
Yeah, I thought about the electricity issue. But I look at it this way. By the time I am going to use the 1000W and 400W at the same time, it will be warm enough for air conditioning. Air conditioners eat up a lot of electricity so I would just run 1 large unit, plus the 1 small unit for the flowering room instead of 1 large unit and 2 small units (1 for flowering room and 1 for my bedroom). The 400W only uses about 5 amps if i recall correctly. The small 8,000 BTU air conditioner uses 7.5 amps. So to the power company, it will just look like I am running a bunch of air conditioners. Hopefully. About the space...I probably will make it smaller then 9' x 6'. When the time comes, I will probably hang the tarp so that there is just enough room for 1 plant per 1.5 sq. foot like you said. So you think for this space 1000W would be too much? I want them to yield as much as possible, as quick as possible. I don't plan on growing them very big at all. Like I said, flowering starts at 10" to 12". BTW...whats the standard lumes per sq ft I am looking for? Will the plants yield much more with the 1000W then the 400W? Cause if a 1000W will not at least be close to doubling the yield of the 400W then I don;t want to bother wasting the electricity. I'll just buy a 400W or 600W. What would you do if you were in my situation? Go with the 1000W or the 400W?
optimal is about 3000 lumens per sq foot, some experts reckon that too many lumens can be bad for the plants..........what's the final size you will be flowering in?......Peace out.....Sid
3 gallon (10.75 inch) pots are going to be the final size. I'll go ahead and get a 400W HPS. No need for the 1000W I guess. At 3000 lumes per sq ft, I can grow 15 plants with just one 400W HPS. I just want to make sure that I'll have enough dry bud each harvest to last me 3 or 4 months until I can harvest again. I'll worry about quality with my next crop. For now I want yield. I average about 1.5 ounces a month. I've read about people getting 3 ounces from 1 plant under a 400W HPS. I am growing 6 plants now, and hopefully 3 or more are female. I just thought that I'd have a better chance of getting 5 ounces out of 3 plants with the 1000W then I would with the 400W. However, I'll probably be happy if I get 1/2 ounce from each.
i know that the 400 will cover 15 plants, but i have one, and seeing it's power, and the power of a 600, i'd go 600........... however...... if i was doing 15 plants, i'd design an elongated room, with 2 tables, and 2x400's on chains from above.........good luck on which one you choose........Peace out.........Sid
600's cost a lot of money though. I'm not sure what I am going to do yet. I'll find out this weekend when I go to the hydroponics store. I have narrowed it down to either a regular 600W HPS Sun Systems setup like I have for my 400W MH. Or a 400W HPS P.L. Lighting Systems setup. They cost about the same amount, but I heard the P.L. Systems are the best. But it will still only be a 400W compared to a 600W. Whatever. I'll probably just get the 600W Sun System package. You have to keep the P.L. lamp a lot closer to the plants and I don't think 1 will cover 15 plants. I'd like to put 2 400W HPS above a table like you said, but then I would not have a lamp to veg other plants under. Or I'd have to go buy 2 more lamps. Fuck that! Thats way too much money. lol I still have a week or 2 before I need the HPS. The ex girlfriend moves out next week so I won't have that extra bedroom until then. Once she leaves, I'll be setting up the tarp, exhaust fan, air conditioner, and HPS lamp right away. Then the plants can start flowering.