Hey all, I promise I have been reading around a lot to try to find an answer for my question but I can't find one that is specific to my lighting problem. I am beginning my first grow and I have a 2x2 space (3x3 at the most but I doubt it) to grow in. I have sealed it off so it is completely light proof. I currently have two 60 watt GE plant lights that I plan to use to light them. I am pretty sure this is not going to be sufficient enough but what do you guys think? I am going to start four plants and get rid of the males like normal later so I might be down to 2 or 3 by the flowering stage. Light output per bulb is 630 lumens per bulb. Will two of these be enough for a very small space like a said for just a couple of plants or should I significantly up the wattage and number of bulbs? Thanks for taking the time to help guys!!
you are going to want 250 watts for 4 plants I'm not 100% sure about how the lumens and watts work but I know you want around 5000k lumens per square foot.
Changed the grow room from my small closet space to under the house. There is a small hidden hatch that I can pull up and get under my house. I jumped under there and set up an area for three plants with 10,500 lumens total. Not ideal but that's the best I could do. Do I need to close the space off and make it smaller to keep all the light in or is it okay just being in the middle of the so called "pantry way"? Lights are concentrated above plants in a 2 by 2' area about three feet off the ground and about 2'4" from the plant bases. Suggestions??
You don't want plant grow bulbs period. Ditch those and then decide if you want to go with CFLs or HID. CFLs are cheaper, but you will need a shitload of them so once you are beyond about 2 plants it makes more sense to consider HID. Lumens is what matters, not watts. Actually, even lumens is not a measure of what we want to be measuring but at least it is some sort of stand-in for amount of light. Watts only has to do with how much electricity is consumed, so your computer and microwave also use watts. CFLs are marketed as being "replacement" or "equivalent" watts, completely ignore that number. So for example, if you see a CFL that says 100 replacement watts and 23 actual watts, only the 23 watts counts. Based on that you want a bare minimum of 100 watts of CFLs per plant, more is better, but keep in mind that a bulb can do double-duty if it is hanging between two plants and shining on them both. HID involves a different socket and a ballast, and most likely you will want a hood/reflector. They run hotter so you will need good ventilation to manage heat, but once you get it working they will crank out about double the lumens per watt as CFLs. HID come in HPS, which is good for flowering, and MH, which is good for vegging. With HID you want minimum 50 watts per plant, closer to 100 is really good. So, for 4 plants you will want at least 400 actual watts with CFLs or yes you could get by with a 250w HID but would be better off with a 400w. How much height do you have? You only mentioned two of the three dimensions...
HID is more like old skool i have seen some great grows using CFL's on this forum also LED lights are getting more advanced nowadays and are able to produce good results as well. With LED or CFL you wont need as complicated and expensive air extraction system. But yes, HID is the most powerful yet..
Sorry I should have been more clear. I did ditch those bulbs and bough 6 CFLs for a total of 10,500 lumens. Have approx 33 inches tall and lights are concentrated in a 2x2 area but total area of the pantry under the house might actually be about 60x60 feet. Plant bases are about 2.5 feet under lights concentrated in small area. Going with three plants and will kill males (duh) if I get any. Hoping to have two females out of three plants, so 10,500 lumens should be sufficient right? Also, ordered a PH tester, what are good cheap resources I can use to lower or up the Ph if needed? Last, there is one opening to get in and out and that is it, using a fan currently to cycle all of the bad air out of there (blowing from inside to out) and will switch in a couple of days to blow outside to in). Is it absolutely critical to have two entrances?