how many lumens is appropriate for a 4x4 tent with 3-4 huge plants??

Discussion in 'Lighting' started by JabbaTheBlunt, Feb 3, 2012.

  1. before i get started, im growing with cfl's because i dont have the money for HID lighting, and im planning on growing 3-4 kalichakra plants in a 4x4x7 tent. Ok so I read on the internet that the sun produces about 10,000 lumens per square foot on average in the summer, which is what weed naturally grows with. First, is that why outdoor plants are so huge?? Also, that would mean to match that intensity i would need about 160,000 lumens in there:eek:. To me that seems a little overkill as i have 4 plants growing really well right now with only an 8,000 lumen setup (they are all about 2 feet and growing well). the way i see it, that many lumens could either be too much for the plant and itll die/wilt basically not good things, or ill just have 3 REALLY HUGE PLANTS. any information you can throw in is appreciated since im still a fairly new grower, ive only been growing for 2 months.
     
  2. Outdoor plants are big due to more/higher quality light, long veg times, and potentially unlimited root space. As far as lighting goes for a 4x4 a 1000 w hps is ideal, which is around 150,000 lumens. For just 3 plants though you likely won't fill the entire 4x4, so you won't need as much.
     
  3. Yep. But that doesn't necessarily mean that you need that much light covering your entire tent footprint, just the footprint of the plants. I doubt your plants are covering 16 sq ft. A rule of thumb for indoor lighting is minimum 5,000 lumens per plant.

    Beyond 1-2 plants you will not save money going CFL. By the time you buy all the bulbs, set up the multiple light fixtures, wiring, etc, you might as well have bought the HID. Plus, CFLs are only about half as efficient as HIDs at delivering lumens per watt -- in other words, you will need double the wattage in CFLs as you would in HID to end up with the same amount of light. And that's actual wattage of CFLs, not the "replacement" or "equivalent" watts.
     

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