lighting and area

[Peacock]

Hi All,
I have not posted for awhile, so I'd like to ask a couple of questions

I have two rooms. Both are 7' X 8'. One room has a 6' ceiling and the other is 8'.
At present I'm using a 400 MH in the Veg state.
I'm in the process of buying lighting.
The plants will be ready for flowering soon.
So, I was thinking of buying Three - 600 switchable(MH and HPS), for the flowering area or maybe 2 - 1000 will be better since Lumatek has just made a 120 V - 1000 switchable.
In the other area what should I use (Veg.). I have 400 watt MH(old style) .
Use the 400 MH with a 1000 watt or buy another 400 switchable.
How long is a rule of thumb, you use for Veg.?
If it only a week or two maybe the 400 Watt MH would be enough.
I have also heard that some use HPS for both veg and bloom.
Just starting, so have lots of start up question.
If you have a link on this forum to read that would be great.

Thanks everyone.
__________________
Grow and help the world grow too.

 

[Damagoman]

Howdy and welcome

Me,
I'd go with more fixtures to spread over a larger area
rather than a big light to try and cover the same amount of space.

How to Grow Marijuana Everything You Need to Know

 

[tonystarks]

I would invest in multiple fixtures and if you have it in your budget a few light movers. Do you plan on making one room your VEG room and the other a flowering room? If so, I recommend MH for veg and HPS for flower. My previous setup was 2-400 mh for veg and I could easily have 12-15 3 foot plants in 6-8 weeks. Once you feel that the plants will give you a decent yield then switch to flower mode. Start a large scale perpetual harvest. I'm living the condo life now so I have a single 1000 HPS and it can easily cover 53 square inches with dense and potent buds I would use the 8ft room as my flowering room and focus on a few LARGE plants. I currently have been vegging for only 3 weeks and then placing them in my flowering tent. They are usually this size when switched to 12/12 (in the 2 gallon pots, not the 1 week old seedlings) :

I do this because I don't have the room nor the lighting to veg plants much larger. This kinda sucks because I don't yield any more than 1.5 ounces per plant and usually average 25-30 grams dry weight per plant in a 2 gallon pot. If I had the space you describe I would push for a minimum of 1lbs. per month with only 12 plants flowering at any given time. Veg as many as possible and after 4 months you can begin perpetually harvesting plants and schedule yourself for 2-3 plants per month. The longer the veg time the more herb you get, so don't forget that. I am doing the opposite by vegging for shorter times to cut down cost of growing and having absolutely no patience

Good Luck !!!

 

[McBudz]

3 x 600's will do you better than 2 1000's IMO. You can spread light over a better area if you are growing in a larger sq area. Lumatek is a nice product. I use them.

As far as vegging you can go as long as you want. Just bare in mind the plants can stretch out up to 4 times its height during the flowering period if it is sativa dominant. 2-3 times for Indica usually.

 

[Peacock]

I would invest in multiple fixtures and if you have it in your budget a few light movers. Do you plan on making one room your VEG room and the other a flowering room? If so, I recommend MH for veg and HPS for flower. My previous setup was 2-400 mh for veg and I could easily have 12-15 3 foot plants in 6-8 weeks. Once you feel that the plants will give you a decent yield then switch to flower mode. Start a large scale perpetual harvest. I'm living the condo life now so I have a single 1000 HPS and it can easily cover 53 square inches with dense and potent buds I would use the 8ft room as my flowering room and focus on a few LARGE plants. I currently have been vegging for only 3 weeks and then placing them in my flowering tent. They are usually this size when switched to 12/12 (in the 2 gallon pots, not the 1 week old seedlings) :

I do this because I don't have the room nor the lighting to veg plants much larger. This kinda sucks because I don't yield any more than 1.5 ounces per plant and usually average 25-30 grams dry weight per plant in a 2 gallon pot. If I had the space you describe I would push for a minimum of 1lbs. per month with only 12 plants flowering at any given time. Veg as many as possible and after 4 months you can begin perpetually harvesting plants and schedule yourself for 2-3 plants per month. The longer the veg time the more herb you get, so don't forget that. I am doing the opposite by vegging for shorter times to cut down cost of growing and having absolutely no patience

Good Luck !!!

I'm thinking of doing the following:
4-600 lumatek digital ballasts (two for the 8X8 room - which will be the flowering room, only because it is out of the way and the plugs are closer. the veg. will have a 18x18x48 glass aquarium for clones - two t5 4 foot 6700K bulbs). A back up 400 old style MH ballast. small area for storage and a work area)
4-supernova chrome reflectors (these are super reflective)
Both rooms will be covered with poly (one black side the other reflective white).
One Atmosphere Vortex 6" L fan 275 CFM vented to the sewer. Does anyone do this?

What do you think.
Grow and help others grow.

 

[tonystarks]

That sounds like a good plan. Think about investing in a Reverse Osmosis water filtration system before you buy that back up light. It will be the best investment you will make on your setup. Now get growin and tokin

 

[McBudz]

^ agreed. You can find them cheap enough if you look hard enough.

 

[09bigbud09]

does anyone here use a motorized light system? the ones where the light is on a track constantly slowly moving from side to side lol

 

[Peacock]

light movers are becoming very popular. The replace about half a light.
Say you are running two - 600's. The light mover will replace a 600 and say a 400. Advantages:
You can keep your light closer to the plants. Save on power.
There are other advantages as you start using one.
Grow and help other grow too.

 

[09bigbud09]

say i have an area of plants dedicated to 1 - 400, in adding a light mover to the 400, in your theory, i could then increase that area by original area x .5?

 

[Peacock]

Yes, In theory that is true. Each area will be different. Reflective material and other conditions will apply. The light mover is 8'long, so your space needs to be that long. You can shorten the travel on the light mover but the 8' is what you will need to install it.

Grow an help others grow too.

 

[Racefan]

does anyone here use a motorized light system? the ones where the light is on a track constantly slowly moving from side to side lol

I've had and used one for years. I run my 1k hps on it and the light sits about 5 to 6inches above my plants. I wouldn't grow without one now that I've become accustomed to them. My yield almost doubled from using them too.

 

[Farmer Rich]

I'm considering movers. I use 2 1k HPS w/4' Sun Soaker reflectors in my flower room, which is 13' x 6.5'. Seems like both light on one extended mover would cover the entire area very well. Right now I have about 9' x 5' coverage with 2 lights. I could probably spread them out just a little too, because the overlap zone of the reflectors seems to be very good.

Peace,

Farmer Rich

 

[paul1791]

I use a 600 hps rigged to a 6 ft linear track. I only allow it to travel 4 ft to achieve my light requirement , 2 ft either way from dead center. The best part of a light mover is that it allows the lower part of the plant to receive light a different angles. Well worth the added cost. I have a 4 ft hood thus I my grow area is 4x8= 32 sq. ft. I read that a linear light mover can add 1.6 grow area factor.

 

[09bigbud09]

hey paul your setup sounds pretty similar to what i want, how many plants u got goin on in that