Was thinking about setting up my grow tent 1.8x3x5 with a 400w digital ballast along with 4 54w 4' T5s on all the corners. For ventilation 2 6' fans and a carbon filter. Before you ask why add the T5s, from months of reading I've learned that the more the light can penetrate the more bud sites. And more watts = larger plants right? I hope someone can tell me if my plans sound good or stupid thanks for reading!
I'm guessing money isn't a problem... why not a bigger bulb? or two? vertical? all these could do similar things or BETTER
[quote name='"Trewarin"']I'm guessing money isn't a problem... why not a bigger bulb? or two? vertical? all these could do similar things or BETTER[/quote] The question is Basicly does more light from more direction = more and better buds? Edit: for example the degree with just an hps is just up, so let's say 90-120 degrees With t5s on all corners it would be 360 degrees. Which would work better?
thats a small tent dude, a 400 should be plenty, but aslong as you can manage your temps i dont see it hurting,
[quote name='"LilJ86"']thats a small tent dude, a 400 should be plenty, but aslong as you can manage your temps i dont see it hurting,[/quote] It's a small tent with 2 6in inline fans and to make sure the temps were amazing I was planning to get a cool tube 6in. Would heat be any problem you think?
Heat can always be delt with, ALWAYS. More airflow = lower temps.. hot air our and cool air in.. a 400 doesnt get that hot and niether will a few 65w tubes
[quote name='"LilJ86"']Heat can always be delt with, ALWAYS. More airflow = lower temps.. hot air our and cool air in.. a 400 doesnt get that hot and niether will a few 65w tubes[/quote] Would you suggest 4 or 6 plants? The bags would be 3 gallons
well lets see, what are the sixe of your bags? i think my 3 gal smart pots are 10" leave yourself lots of room for flower.. sucks to be cramped.
Heat cannot always be dealt with. Stick a 1kw lamp in there and tell me that. There isn't much you can do about radiant heat. Stick with just the 400w, if you want to add something, maybe a UV light. In that size of a tent, 400 is more than sufficient, with proper training/pruning you'll maximize your yields, those t5's you want won't make much of a difference to offset the cost of them. T5s lack penetration, so they wont light up much more than the outside corners. Your best bet would be to trim off the lower parts of the plant and focus energy into producing large, solid colas with that 400w and invest the money for the t5s elsewhere.
Not ridiculous. And yes, I saw. All I was implying was to not try and put too much light in a small area as people frequently do. Not worth the headaches or loss of efficiency. For example, I did am experiment years ago in 4 x 4 tents, from clone, 600w in one, 1000w on the other. While the 1kw did yield more, it did not offset the cost to operate the extra 400w, the difference was less than an oz. I deducted that 1000w should not be used in less than a 5x5 area. Too many people fail to achieve 1g/w by simply lighting too small of an area to get a higher w/sqft, lumens/sqft or whatever. Get the most out of your light, and in return have a much easier time controlling your temps.
precisely why i use 1k digital/dimmable ballasts in my 4X8. 2 1k lights runnin at 750w each. good shit.
[quote name='"HighOnTheHill"']Not ridiculous. And yes, I saw. All I was implying was to not try and put too much light in a small area as people frequently do. Not worth the headaches or loss of efficiency. For example, I did am experiment years ago in 4 x 4 tents, from clone, 600w in one, 1000w on the other. While the 1kw did yield more, it did not offset the cost to operate the extra 400w, the difference was less than an oz. I deducted that 1000w should not be used in less than a 5x5 area. Too many people fail to achieve 1g/w by simply lighting too small of an area to get a higher w/sqft, lumens/sqft or whatever. Get the most out of your light, and in return have a much easier time controlling your temps.[/quote] I was wanting to do auto flowers. Don't their genes just need as much light as possible? Now on regular strains I understand the trimming and what not but from my understanding autos are a different world right?
Hmm that's something I'd be interested in trying out. At the time I only had magnetic ballasts. I like to cover a 6x6 area with 1kw amped up to 1100 or whatever the turbo setting is. Tom Hill uses a single 1kw for 8x8 tent!
[quote name='"HighOnTheHill"']Hmm that's something I'd be interested in trying out. At the time I only had magnetic ballasts. I like to cover a 6x6 area with 1kw amped up to 1100 or whatever the turbo setting is. Tom Hill uses a single 1kw for 8x8 tent![/quote] And my ballasts is digital and dimmable
[quote name='"Infamous Smoke"']Can anyone answer on the auto flowers question?[/quote] Depends how big they get.. Had em stay as small as 18". Have a Barney's blue mammoth that's a tad over 4'..
[quote name='"LilJ86"'] Depends how big they get.. Had em stay as small as 18". Have a Barney's blue mammoth that's a tad over 4'..[/quote] I've got blue mystic and jock horror