Hey guys, I just want to know the optimum area of coverage for best growth for 400, 600 and 1000 watt MH and HPS lamps. Talk about conflicting advice on the internet! Is it 50 watts per square foot or what? Or express it in lumens, or lux. Anything would be fine. And what about if I cool the bulb and hang it lower? It seems that this would REDUCE the area that a bulb could cover, but illuminate less planted area more brightly. I'm reading that a water-cooled 600 could be hung lower and be as effective as a conventional 1000. This just doesn't seem right when I picture it in my head. Maybe one of the powers that be have already done this, but I'm damned if I can find it. It would make a great sticky. I only want to achieve the magical 1 gram per watt and more that I've read about.
I have not yet found that thread either... I DO know after using a 400w hps on a 3x3 that a 600w would have been better. I am not real happy about the light penetration and have added some fluorescents. From what I have gathered, the 600w is the best bang for the buck as far as power used and lumen output. Lumetek makes a digital DUAL 600w ballast. So far that is my next upgrade - 220v is the shiz for power usage. You will have to use CO2 to achieve 1/1 but you will not get that on the first go around I don't think. I'll be checking in on this thread... Good luck!
Thanks Mahoney, I'll keep looking. I've got time still. The outdoor grow just got going, and I won't go inside until the autumn. So you think 3x3 is proper for real bright sturation under a 600 then? By the way, I'm seriously considering CO2. It doesn't look THAT hard. Those digital ballasts look like the way to go, that's for sure. Cardinal
From what I can gather the smart thinking is two 600s instead of one 1k. You get 190,000 lumes with the two 600s and about 145,000 with the 1k - plus you get two points of light and therefore better coverage and penetration. It helps a lot to be able to 'read' the plants and give the max nute without harming them. That, and learning the other amendments and how they will increase the yield is what I am trying to learn here. I am on my first grow( three weeks flowering) and have learned a lot just from that limited experience. Maybe in a couple of years I will really know what I am doing, I hope so anyway. It doesn't sound like many achieve the 1/1 ratio that is the gold standard, but it is certainly something to shoot for!! I would dearly love growing outside, but living on the populated high plains I can't figgure out where I would do it...
Yes, two 600's. And with the electronic ballasts, you actually use significantly less power, I believe. What kind of system are you using there Mahoney? Ebb & flow? How big is the table? Aren't there ANY farmer's fields for you to plant a couple in?
I am using five gal smartpots and FFOF + worm poo and pearlite, Botanicare nutes. 4x4 cab and a small space under the stairs... I am getting ready to buy the dual lumetek 600 for flowering the nine ladies that I'm vegging. I'll be droppin the dimes this week. I have been searching the interwebs for clues and it seems like the 600s are the shiz. Ya know, I just happen to have a few clones laying around... hmm. Now ya got me thinking.
Cool. I used to go out just after frost danger for corn and much later for beans, to get shorter plants. (Now I live in Spain, so it's legal for personal) Let me know how your lights look, ok?