Hey guys, total newb here. I am setting up a small stealth cab out of a kitchen cart. The dimensions are 37-1/2Wx18-3/4Dx36H". I am trying to decide between a 250 watt or 400 watt hps. Will the 400 watt be too hot? Someone told me hps will be too hott no matter what, and I should stick with CFL's for somethign this small. THanks for your input.
Well, they are absolutely right. I wouldn't risk trying to jam an HPS in there, maybe if you turned it into a SCROG grow. I would stick with CFLS. I would get like 2 6500 kelvin bulbs(26w) per plant for veg, 4 3500 kelvin bulbs(26w) per plant for flowering. Get some splitters to make the job easier. Remember, there's never too much light with CFLs. P.s That's in actual wattage, not incandescent wattage.
I would really like to get those nice dense HPS nugs though. Should I just pack this thing full of CFL's then? The only CFL grows I have seen in the past only produced really airy buds. Like I said in my earlier post, I am a complete newb. If you could point me in the direction of a good lighting guide to use with CFL's I would much appreciate it. I am hoping to have this cab up and running by the 15th, and I am on a pretty limitted budget, so if they get the job done, I wouldn't mind going with CFL's. Also, I have thought about scrogging the cab, but didn't know if I should take things a little easier for my first indoor grow.
with a 400 watt hps the light should be 18-22 inches from the tops of your plants. from the sound of the size of your cab, your going to have a pretty small plant.. if you want hps you gotta give your plant more room. sorry theres just no way around it
Hmm..an idea. What about just going straight 12/12 from seed with a 250 watt HPS. In your opinion, would it give a better yeild than using say 6 40 watt CFL's? I want to get the best results with this little area for the time being. Thanks.
you wanna veg at least 2 weeks. give it some root structure.. also look into low stress training (l.s.t.) i havent tried this, but if you dont have a lot of room in your cab-it might be a good idea.
im thinking the hps has more lumens, therefor a better yield.. but the problems is, your going to have more heat in your cab
Yeah heat is one of my main concerns. I have a digital thermost I will be using, and was panning on using a bunch of computer fans on the inside, and a carbon scrubber and strong eshaust fan. Would something like that be enough to keep heat down?