4x4 1200w HPS overkill or not?

[Stoneisland]

I’m currently growing with a 4x4 loft tent with 2x600w HPS in it. Is this overkill? I’m not in touch with the technical side of things such as lumens, PAR, spectrums or anything like that. Will it yield more than a single 600w HPS or just waste energy.. So what’s your opinion people? Overkill or not

 

[Mayne]

yes, definitely. half of those watts would crush it with LED lighting. Plus less cooling. You would cut cost in half instantly. How tall is the tent? That is a huge factor also.

in a 4x4, you would be crushing it with viparspectra P2500's,
BUT, what i would do honestly, Get 4 of the Viparspectra P1500, Like $100 a peice, and build a frame to put them all on so they are level, and adjustable at one time. Would be easy. $450 have a heck of a light for a 4x4, lol

 

[Emilya Green]

lol... I used to run exactly that... I ran a 600w HPS and a 600w MH, both installed into a large AC Raptor hood. It was not overkill... it was just right. Sort of expensive to run and the heat was a bear to manage sometimes, so now I run LED. It's a different light, but I am getting used to it.

 

[Weaselcracker]

Mostly wasting energy. I can cover a 4x4 space with one 600w HPS. Well- almost. About 750w would be a little better. And unless you live in an even colder place than I do you’re wasting a bunch of energy on creating heat and venting it.

 

[Chuckeye]

If you can manage the heat, two is just right

And no need to be turning the plants on a regular basis to keep the canopy even.

But, I will admit LED's are more expensive to buy up front but less expensive to run over time and easier to cool the space.

Cheers.

 

[Stoneisland]

I live in the uk so it’s typical cold weather. I run them at night time. Temps never go above 28°c inside the tent. My outtake is venting outside. The tent is 1.8m tall.

so would the yield be any different using 1200w or be the same as using a 600w? I’m under the impression that GPW would be more, more light more weight?

 

[Chuckeye]

I live in the uk so it’s typical cold weather. I run them at night time. Temps never go above 28°c inside the tent. My outtake is venting outside. The tent is 1.8m tall.

so would the yield be any different using 1200w or be the same as using a 600w? I’m under the impression that GPW would be more, more light more weight?

Well, there is a lot more involved than total light but the yield could be substantially more than one light.

Assuming you fill the room with two plants and use one light, half of each plant is far enough away from direct light that they will need to be turned (I would do it daily). With two lights the light is directly above.

I just finished a grow with two plants and one light. I only turned the plants every three or four days, misjudged the stretch and ended up with an uneven canopy and potentially a slight loss in yield. Will let you know, they're hanging right now

This is about a week before harvest...

Cheers.

 

[Stoneisland]

Well, there is a lot more involved than total light but the yield could be substantially more than one light.

Assuming you fill the room with two plants and use one light, half of each plant is far enough away from direct light that they will need to be turned (I would do it daily). With two lights the light is directly above.

I just finished a grow with two plants and one light. I only turned the plants every three or four days, misjudged the stretch and ended up with an uneven canopy and potentially a slight loss in yield. Will let you know, they're hanging right now

This is about a week before harvest...

Cheers.

they look really good and heavy! What did they harvest? I’m hoping for 6z+ each plant on my current yield. I have a big enough fan to cope with the heat and electric so that isn’t an issue.

 

[SmokeyB]

I had one 600 HP's in a 4x4 in loft and got some good bud and really good yeild 1s good for that space temps must be mad high aswell

 

[SmokeyB]

I live in the uk so it’s typical cold weather. I run them at night time. Temps never go above 28°c inside the tent. My outtake is venting outside. The tent is 1.8m tall.

so would the yield be any different using 1200w or be the same as using a 600w? I’m under the impression that GPW would be more, more light more weight?

Me to I use a heater up there at night bud

 

[Stoneisland]

I run mine at night so no heater needed during the day/lights off. Temps max at 28°c

 

[Stoneisland]

lol... I used to run exactly that... I ran a 600w HPS and a 600w MH, both installed into a large AC Raptor hood. It was not overkill... it was just right. Sort of expensive to run and the heat was a bear to manage sometimes, so now I run LED. It's a different light, but I am getting used to it.

Is your yield now better since you switched to LED

 

[SmokeyB]

I run mine at night so no heater needed during the day/lights off. Temps max at 28°c

I ran mine in day back then but only 1 u should have monster buds thou using 2 lol

 

[Stoneisland]

I ran mine in day back then but only 1 u should have monster buds thou using 2 lol

I’m hoping for 6oz per plant/24oz in total. That will be just over 0.5GPW. Anymore will be an added bonus!

 

[Emilya Green]

Is your yield now better since you switched to LED

about the same actually... LED light seems to penetrate deeper into the canopy

 

[Skunksta]

about the same actually... LED light seems to penetrate deeper into the canopy

Tend to agree led lights of today have come along way.

 

[Mustang92]

i run both hps and led, the hps have way more spill over light (2x600w is awesome set up) than a LED but the LED don't bleach the bud like an hps so you can go way lower on canopy so you'd think that would effect light penetrate on canopy a little. i think the canopy itself is biggest factor in light pentration, so you can change that no matter what light.

Is your yield now better since you switched to LED

I think its more a money thing; power bill, new hps bulbs every year.

 

[Skunksta]

In my time with hps I can honestly say they do a GREAT job my hps 600 watt digital unit Was a star.
And when I switched a few years now and I went to two 300 watt led did a see A drop in my harvest yup
buds looked fatter on the hps and never really had to worried about Canopy to much but the small lose was made
Up by cost to run led being able to turn a 6inch Intake fan of and replace with a 4 inch which only came on
a few hours a day. Heat now is not an issue at all in fact I could turn The intake of all together but the girls love some fresh air. And I now grow in summer In doors which I could not do with out air con With hps.But with these new led
lights its a much closer deal and as said traning really does help yeild wise hps or led.If u have that extra time
to wait in veg.

 

[Nunyabiz]

Just wattage is not the metric you need to go by.
And just raw intense light isn't the only thing leading to good yields.

For instance you could have one plant in a 4x4 with one 600w HPS and if you LST that plant properly you could fill that 4x4 with a flat canopy and get the light to where you get the very best coverage you can of at least 500 PPFD and could end up with better yield than 4 plants with two 600w HPS just allowed to grow with zero training.

In general what you're looking for to get optimum yield is the space, in this case 4x4 or 16sq/ft filled with as many colas as it can fit.
I am in a 2x5 so just a little over half the size you're in and I usually grow two plants and average somewhere around 50-60 colas and my average per plant is 8.65oz.
In a 4x4 I would grow 4 plants.
I would build two LEDs of 2x4 in size and 325w each.
For 650w of very even coverage I would expect to get about 35+ ounces from a 4x4.
Very even coverage across the whole canopy is more beneficial than really intense light in the center.
And a PPFD of 300 for two weeks then 500-600 for 6 weeks then 800-1000 as evenly as possible across canopy is what you're looking for, watts is pretty much meaningless.

 

[Stoneisland]

Just wattage is not the metric you need to go by.
And just raw intense light isn't the only thing leading to good yields.

For instance you could have one plant in a 4x4 with one 600w HPS and if you LST that plant properly you could fill that 4x4 with a flat canopy and get the light to where you get the very best coverage you can of at least 500 PPFD and could end up with better yield than 4 plants with two 600w HPS just allowed to grow with zero training.

In general what you're looking for to get optimum yield is the space, in this case 4x4 or 16sq/ft filled with as many colas as it can fit.
I am in a 2x5 so just a little over half the size you're in and I usually grow two plants and average somewhere around 50-60 colas and my average per plant is 8.65oz.
In a 4x4 I would grow 4 plants.
I would build two LEDs of 2x4 in size and 325w each.
For 650w of very even coverage I would expect to get about 35+ ounces from a 4x4.
Very even coverage across the whole canopy is more beneficial than really intense light in the center.
And a PPFD of 300 for two weeks then 500-600 for 6 weeks then 800-1000 as evenly as possible across canopy is what you're looking for, watts is pretty much meaningless.

How is ppfd measured and maintained?

8oz per plant is a huge yield! What kind of veg times you giving them to achieve that?