Few questions that I can't seem to answer - 400 watt grow space

[ohgravity110]

hello everyone ill try to make this simple, yet im having such a hard time trying to figure out..

I recently just did my first grow ( woooho)and it was successful; not perfect but successful. Im using a 400 watt hps for veg and flower.. i know rookie but thats all i can do for the moment. i plan on building up knowledge and then going out and buying better lighting. i grow three plants in a 5 gallon bucket n my closet didnt , had allot of heat issues , space issues air flow issues you name it and it was due to the small size.

so i plan on moving everything to a bedroom and having my grow there. i know 400 watt does not cover allot of area ( not perfect with exact light measurements) so i plan on using a corner of the bedroom but i just dont know how many plants i can fit in a contained area from the corner of the wall out. i plan on starting them in 1 gals and moving them to 3 gallons to keep everything more controlled and have more plants than my normal fat 3 plants..

Q- from the corner of the wall, what is the best growing space for a 400 watt hps veg to flower .(etc. 3x4long?)

Q- with a 400 watt should i invest in a 4 ft light mover to cover maybe 2 extra feet from the corner out so 3x6long?

Q- i plan on fitting 6 plants in a 3 gals without the light mover and with light mover i plan on adding 2 mroe plants at the end making it 8 plants... ( 2 rows of plants/ 8 plants total with lightmover?

help help help seeds will be here any day now i do not want to grow in my closet which is in my living room anymore. i will sacrifice a bedroom so the airflow is better temperature and space is better but i cannot upgrade to a 600 or 1000 atm... thank you for thos eof you who take the time and respond! will get back to you asap

 

[Weaselcracker]

I use 600 watt hps for flowering. That is, I have the ballasts set to 600, they actually switch up to 1000W+. Each 600 watt light covers an area 38" x 48". This seems about maximum to me, and it happens to fall right in line with the time honored 50 watt per square foot rule. I wouldn't try to squeeze a bigger plant area under those lights because I can see it's a little dim around the edges.
Based on that - 50 watt per square foot gets you 8 square feet. So- 2x4, 3x2.6, 3.2x 2.5- however you want to divide it up.
If you are using a reflector (a good thing to have) it will somewhat determine the shape of your grow by the light footprint it makes.

I haven't used light movers, but they sound like a great thing. My grow is so busy with wires and equipment I don't want to add any more or I would get some.

3 gallon pots are good for flowering plants that are in the 24-30" high range. This means (as a rough guide but depending on strain) that they are vegged to about 12-16" high before put into flowering mode. You could fit about 6 of these under the 400, IMO. Not counting any increase in space from the light mover.
- oops I see you already have mentioned this in your last Q

Don't underestimate a 400 watt light. In that little space you can easily supply all your smoking needs I'm guessing.