Ok. so up until recently I've done all my veg and flower with 1 600w digital hps/mh system. Now I've went out and got myself another 600w digital hps/mh system. Since i use fem seeds/clones exclusively there will be no need for me to kill off males/transplant. I'm looking to find out what would be the way to use them at peak performance? i eventually plan on starting a prepetual grow with the 2 600's being for the flowering phase and using some t5 fixtures for veg. but until then i can only veg and flower @ one time with both. (i dont have my veg area ready yet) so i wanted to know whats the best yield/biggest sized buds/best quality buds i can get with 2 600w hid systems? one will run a mh bulb, the other a hps bulb. i plan on rotating the position of the plants every day to ensure they both get an even dose of mh ligh and hps light. i dont plan on going the sea of green route just yet. i use fox farm soil (ocean forest) and the fox farm line of nutes (tiger bloom, grow big, and big bloom) and some molasses. currently i have 5 gallon pots. i originally thought 12 plants in 5 gallon buckets would be suffice but now that i think about it 12 plants may be too many and my quality/yield/grams per watt would be better with fewer plants? maybe more like 8? i also plan to routinely top and/or fim, lst, and super crop. so which size pots/number of plants would produce (on average) the most grams per watt? there are endless combinations...should i use 3 gallon pots and do 12-14 plants? should i use 5 gallon pots (like i have now) and do 8 plants? should i use 10, 20+ gallon pots and do 4? im not sure but the bill will be soooooo high i dont want to take any chances and mess this up. i read at peak performance i should get 2 to 2.5 lbs from 2 600w hid lights...im aiming for the top. any ideas?
additionally (forgot to ask) i'd like to know if theres any benefit to moving my 5 monster white widow x blueberry plants (they are day 20 flowering now...expected to be done at day 52-56) under both 600w lights? note: i didnt have the other 600w light at the time i started this grow...these 5 were under (and still are under) a single 600w hps... how much of a boost in yield could i expect by hooking up my new 600w and putting the 5 plants under both lights (the lights would be right next to each other...so 2 under 1...2 under the other...and 1 that sits between them both?) is it too late to make a real difference in final yield? (note: my plants are not monsters in height...but i topped, super cropped and did some minor lst...so they are WIDE...6 wouldnt fit under the 1 hps so i killed it off it was the runt anyway).
wat up Im from C.A. to and I sorta have the same problem but I went for 38 plants in 2 gallon pots. All the plants are under a 1000 wat hps and a 600 wat hps. My more recent grows have been ok but not great. From experience I think u should try a few plants in big pots and take well care of them. Man I didnt think light distribution mattered that much but my smaller grows where I did like 12 plants under one 600wat had much better quality and Im seriously considering UPing my wattage or having less plants
I think it would definitely be better to have both setups over your present grow,it will make your yield much more. Mh + hps will make your buds better quality, more frosty. But runnin the two hps will make your buds more dense and your yield would definitely be more than runnin one mh +one hps,just my opinion. But either way the more light the better.also having a wider light footprint will make it so you can spread the plants out and then the lower growth would have more room to reach for the light.
thanks for sharing. ive heard this to...so at most i can do 12 plants (in 5 gallon pots) which would be 100 watts a plant....i been pondering the idea of 10 plants in 5 gallon pots or even 8... im asking about my current grow because i wasnt sure if 1200w of mh/hps light would be overkill (or a waste) for 5 plants already well on their way in flowering... ok but you dont think its too late into flowering for the extra light to make a difference at this point? im about 2-2 1/2 weeks in...its only 50-55 days total flowering time... its budding up nice so far...just wanted to make it explode but not if i waste more electricity than i do gain in final yield... how much of a total difference in yield could i gain at this point? keep in mind this strain says it yields 500 grams per sq meter @ optimal production. i have 5 plants in 5 gallon pots (very bushy). topped once, minor lst, and super cropped as often as possible during veg (pretty much every other day i'd snap some...)