Ok, so I've messed about with fluros/low budget growing in the past. I've been saving my pennies though and have about roughly £700-1000MAX budget, and I want to get serious! Any advice is greatly apreaciated FLOWERING ROOM: Wilma 16 pot (11 ltr) dripper system. Going for organic grown. Each pot has about 1ft sq. space. For a total area of roughly 4x4. Should I go for a 600w or a 1000w HPS for this set up? Also any pointers on the optimum growing style with the space/wattage given would be HIGHLY apreaciated. I'm looking for as big a crop as I can get. VEG ROOM: OK here is were I'm unsure about things. I thought if I bought 16 extra 11ltr tubs, I could veg them and then move them directly into the dripper system for flowering, saving transplanting ect. BUT I literaly have no idea what lamp to use to veg 16 plants. I know MH, just no idea on wattage. Also could anyone advise the most efficient, cheapest way of vegging my plants with a soil pot set-up? I do NOT want to have to fork out for another Wilma system just for vegging. CLONES/MOTHER PLANT: OK so I've read a million guides on cloning. Seems like an awesome idea to me. I understand the whole process perfectly, it's just some timings im confused with! OK so I take cuttings from all of my first grow during right time of veg, root them all and then start vegging them. Then when I find that "one special lady" after harvest, I train the clone into a mother plant and discard the rest. Take cuttings from the mother and there is my next grow. Right? Well, firstly, wouldn't all these vegging clones start to get way too big waiting through all the flowering period? Isn't using 16 pots worth of soil, to ultimetly only use 1 plant a waste of expensive soil? If you wait till after first harvest, then taking new cuttings from selected mother, rooting them, vegging...well damn that would surley take an awful, awful long time between your first harvest and 2nd one? Also once I can start taking my cuttings, at what rough time before harvesting my bloom room should I be getting them ready/vegged. I don't want massive vegged plants if their not going to fit my flower room. Lastly, could I keep my mother plant(s) in with the rest of my vegging room? OK lot of stuff there. Maybe someone can take some time and help me out, it would be VASTLY apreaciated. I really don't want to fuck this up Thanks again. Edit: How rude of me, I didn't even introduce myself! Hi to everyone, I've been lurking about here for months and months now, so yeh, hi!
600w for that space definitely, also, if no intake fan and having passive airflow I'm sure you need 4 x area for intake holes, like with a 8" extraction you'd need 4 x 8" holes just for 'adequate' airflow. Also my mate takes cuttings 2 weeks into 12/12, gives 14 days to root + 4 weeks veggy time before going in the bloom tent... Mh are hotter than HP's and tbh I've saw no improvements when my mate switched to mh, although he's using hydro so could be effecting root/res temps... Hope this helps a bit