Will it matter/How much of a difference will it make that I have 1200 watts above 5 plants in a 10x10 room compared to a 6x6 room? I know I would be getting more watts per square foot in a 6x6, but does it really matter when I will have 2 600w HPS lights that will basically cover the entirety of 5 plants but the room is 10x10 The only difference is that I will be getting more light reflected off walls in a 6x6 compared to losing more light because it travels further away in a 10x10 How much of a difference will it make having 2 600w's above 5 plants in a 10x10 compared to a 6x6? when my plants will only take up about a 3.5x4.5 area in the center of the room with the lights directly above them
You can never have too much light. You should try to get the maximum out of every watt that you pay for. You could make some frames to hold a white, light weight "wall" close to your plants to get the most out of your lights.
I try to go by this chart: I have a 40 cubic foot grow area with 600 watts of light, going by this chart I probably have a little too much light, but in my opinion it suits it just fine. Just try to maximize lumen/sq foot, 3000 would be good. 5-6000 would be real nice. EDIT: in terms of your two grow area options, I would probably pick the 10x10 but honestly if you have no problem controlling the temperatures with your equipment, you could do either one. The only real difference I'd see is you would be allowed a slightly higher yield in the larger tent just because you would be able to use larger containers, and space the plants out more and allow them to get bigger. However if your plan is to grow them exactly the same regardless of what area they are in, go with the smaller one. EDIT 2: according to my math if you plan on growing your 5 plants in 3.5x4.5 space, with 2 600 watt lights, you have 8700~+ lumens/sq foot. You have plenty of light with either option. I'd say it's entirely up to how you want to control the environment
What I was trying to get at is the area would be a 3.5x4.5 space in the middle of a 10x10 room where the plants would be, with the lights directly above them would it really matter that much to have them in the center of a 10x10 room compared to in the center of a 6x6 room and how much light would I be losing that could be concentrated more towards the plants?
Oh, I don't know how to figure out a number for that. I do know though, that the difference won't be that big, but it seems like you want to go with the 10x10 but are worried about losing light efficiency compared to the smaller space. I don't think you'd lose very much light at all, and you could always get yourself a few of those thick mylar sheet/blanket things that look like the inside of a grow tent, to help reflect the light.
Thanks man the answer I was looking for. I was just worried about losing light because the room is so big compared to the plants. But I thought it would be alright because the 2 600's will basically engulf the 5 plants in light no matter the distance outside of the plants, but I will just put up some reflective just in case.
Based on your situation, what you're missing out on is free weed.... If you're paying to turn your lights on, you pay the same no matter how many plants you have underneath it. The more plants you can cram under a light, the higher your yield will be. That being said, you have to cram appropriately, by pruning and training the plants in a shape that allows them to be close together. This requires less time in veg. On the other hand, you can have less plants, trimmed and prepared appropriately, in a SCROG for instance and have killer yields with less plants. In this case, you're spending more time in veg. So the answer to your question is really subjective, based on your desire, time, and effort, to train and veg your plants. This is also an important consideration for people who have a limit on the number of plants they can keep. You can train a single plant to have 16 kolas if you veg it for a few months, or you can have 16 plants with candlestick kolas if you veg for 2 weeks, under the same light and get similar results. Note that in most cases, the more plants you have, the higher the total yield. But if you can't have a lot of plants, then the solution is to veg monsters! There's more than one way to do it! Great question!