Hey everyone! Long time reader, first time grower. I just recently purchased a StealthHydro Dual Spectrum II kit, I also added another Dual Spectrum 65 lighting package and some White/Poly to construct my own DIY grow tent. Now, I am a beginner, but feel somewhat confident due to the fact I've been reading tons of how-to's for years now, and the SH bubbleponics looks foolproof enough to begin with. Nevertheless this is my first grow, and Im expecting the unexpected... Recently I was reading a thread by Roseman & PurpDaddy that mentioned the required lighting in a grow room using this particular SH kit that raised a question. With the lights I purchased, I'll have 15,200 lumens. (I think) According to the thread I was reading, it stated that marijuana requires a minimum 3000 lumens per sq. foot. (7000-10,000 optimal) Now, it didn't specify if this applied to CFL, since I'll have them 2-3 inches away from the plants at all times. But if this information is correct, is it suggesting that for 15,200 lumens, my grow space can only be 2'x2'? (4 sq. ft.) I'm sure there are factors such as if I'll being doing SOG or LSG or SCROG, but I still haven't decided, since it's my first grow. Anyhow, I'll being doing this in a closet, where stealth is not an issue, and my budget is spent. The closet is 16 sq. foot. I'd like to utilize the entire closet so to leave room for growth, but, figured I ask for advice. I have a 10'x25' roll of Panda film, so I have some choices here. Given the fact that I'll have 4 CFL, Dual Spectrum lights, 15,200 lumens, what size would you suggest I build my grow room? Also, I wont bore you with a first-time grow journal, but if you have any advice for my particular set-up, or specs on a suitable grow room, I'd really appreciate it. For other advice, I'll search the boards since I'm sure all my Q's have already been answered there. Lol.
Im not sure about lumens per square foot, but I do know at least 3,000 lumens per plant if you wanna grow good...
I'm pretty sure.. I read some books on growing and watch a video on it. Now for CFL's I've heard you want at least 100watts per plant for vegging and at least 300 watts per plant during flowering.
See, Ive always heard that watts don't matter so much as the (k) Kelvin temp. But the lights I bought claim they can be used from seed to smoke. Im so confused right now... lol
My main concern, I suppose, is the size I can make my grow room with the lights I already have. Lord knows I cannot afford any more lights at this point.
Well, I'd follow the 3,000L per plant for HID lighting... I'd follow the 100/300w per plant for LED/CFL.
Another way to determine how much light you will need is that with CFL`s you want 100 actual watts of light for the first plant, not equivalent watts and an additional 50 watts of CFL light for each additional plant.
Again, whats done is done as far as lights go. The lights I have are going to have to do. My question remains, what is the allowable size for a grow room using the light I have. I haven't built it yet, and don't want to make it too big, but I also dont want to run out of room once they start to get big. Im not buying any more lights. The lighting is not in question, its the square footage.
Well, in my opinion a 16 sq ft area would be a liiiittle too big for your lighting... If you're running that much you might want something like a 400w-600w-1,000w HPS/MH... Since you don't have that, I would go with something smaller man. Its not bad to go smaller and have less plants though, the plants you do have could grow just as big and yield as much as a bunch of plants in a big space with not enough light. Just my opinion though..
I'd go for the 2'x2', that way your 4 lights w/ reflectors can fit in pointing straight down. Then you could do a 2 plant SCRoG... that's probably what I'd do.
Here's a rundown of my current lights... I have.. (2) Dual Spectrum II's & (2) Dual Spectrum 65's 4 bulbs altogether. So with this lighting setup, what would you suggest the square footage of my grow area be?
Another rule of thumb is one plant per sq foot, so no point to parsing the rules about lumens down to sq ft vs. per plant, it's the same thing (as far as the rules of thumb go). And yes another of those rules of thumb is a bare minimum 3,000 lumens per ft/plant. For comparison's sake, the sun is about 10,000 lumens. All of this is generalizations because it depends on how close your lights are and many other factors. Regardless, 15k lumens in 16 sq feet is nowhere near enough. And most will tell you (I agree) that it doesn't make sense to try to cover an area that large with CFLs, by the time you cover it well you will be burning hundreds of watts, generating heat to deal with, and all at a lower lumens/watt conversion than HID will give you (in fact only about half). CFLs can be good for 1-2 plants, but once you get bigger than that most growers will tell you that HID makes a lot more sense.
Ahh, thank you sir! That sounds like a good plan. Have any fav. threads on DIY SCRoG's, or how-to's? Also, you dont think that a 2 plant SCRoG in a 2x2 under those lights will out grow the space? Thanks!
No, it's up to you how big you let them get. You could do 4 smaller ones if you wanted and just flower them earlier. Here's a sticky about SCRoGing... but it's just a net screen you train the plants under to maintain an even canopy, which is handy when using CFLs as they don't penetrate far.
You could get away with 4 small ones, that's one per sq. ft, in a 2'x2' room. I think the point to remember is.. the number of plants you use is irrelevant, it's the amount of light that matters. You could grow 4 small plants or 2 bigger plants and you'd end up with the same amount of bud at the end (generally).
Cool, well I'm pretty sure you just cleared it up there. See, I was only wanting 3 plants in the kit at a time, with a possible SCRoG (maybe not for very first grow) so this answers it. I'll definitely take your advice and make it 2'x2', and keep it between 2-4 plants at a time. Thanks a lot tho Optical, it's people like you who make this such an awesome site!
No worries If you're not using a SCroG I'd suggest doing 4 plants (one per sq. ft), that way you can spend less time vegging them and they'll be shorter to make better use of your lights. Keep the plants at the same height and the lights as close as possible! However it turns out you'll learn a lot from the first grow, so the second will be even better!