New to growing

[Kevinhayes]

Hey everyone

Been medicating with herbs for many years, tried a few times to grow outside but with very little luck. So I've decided to try my hand at indoor in a tent. Done my research and gonna go LEDs.

So my question is how many true watts will be good for a 2ft\4ft)5ft with 4 plants. Going to try some auto flowers at first

My guess would be a 600W_800W. Am I close.

Thanks for the advice. So glad there this type of forms out there to pass on and expand ones knowledge.

 

[Liam5677]

I’m new to this but I would suggest the 800w if it’s in budget. I think the 600w would work but I’m not sure for that many plants and space. I would also wait for more opinions.

More watts = more bud .

 

[goofyfoot]

Howdy Kevin, ... just my opinion and with 4 Autoflower grows basing this on. The bigger the wattage the more productive your plants will be. Auto`s don`t give you any time to play with, meaning a regular photo-phased feminized plant. Can be held at 24 hours on for a year. To allow it to stay in a vegetative state, not flowering and only building in mass. So weaker lights can be made up for with added time.

Auto`s start going into per-flower by themselves so I found what ever you can give them right from the start they will suck up. Like a drag racer on the starting line wide open and waiting to take off. Be noted that what ever the LED`s say they are is a comparison to a regular / standard grow light. Like comparing CFL bulbs to old school condescend bulbs.

My Vistpar 600 Watt is actually consuming 278 So I added another 1000 watt that is pulling 476 watts. I have a total of 3 in use. 2 1000W and the 600W. But please note they DON`T add together, I don`t have 2600 watts total. But have the most powerful output area the 3 LED`s combined can offer.

It is best to think about LED`s light output in zones. Imagine a wire frame boxes, each one doubling in size every 16 to 20 inches from the bottom of the LED. That 1st BOX has the most grow energy available to the plant and every box that is added has a fall off. Think of a shipping palette of rectangular boxes stacked like a pyramid. So one 800 or 1000 watt LED`S great, but as the plant grows it is also growing away from the best source for it. Raising the light UP doesn`t help the outer most branches.
So with 2 spread out, dividing the grow space in half, occupied by the plants assures even light for all the branches. Also I make it possible for me to spin my pots 180 degrees every other day. So the outer most growth shares the more intense power zone.

There are a ton of "brands" out there look for ANY unit that has 800 to 1000 watts rating but most important is that they are 10 watt dual chip LED`s. The earlier ones ( and newer cheaper ones) are 3 and 5 watt LED, this relates to the actual little led itself and the dual chip means they are more efficient. Like your computer using 2 cores instead of one to process your info. Hope it helps and AUTO-FLOWER`S are great plants to learn about. My 4th grow and they TEST your and your ability to grow, but your are rewarded in 2.5 months instead of 6 to 8 months.

I try and keep them between 12 and 16 inches off the tops and have HEAVY air blowing on them. So my plants branches are always swaying, shaking a bit. They don`t get red hot like bulbs but you can get them very tight. Most of the manuals and other here will say 16 to 20 inches from the tops, but like I mentioned earlier Auto`s have a different set of rules, you have to grow by. This is only what worked for me and I can`t argue with what anyone else may have come across or can provide.

Good luck with them and keep`em green ........

...Peace.....

 

[Kevinhayes]

Beauty. Thanks for help. I little change of plan. My buddy gonna let me put up a 5ft w x 6ft L by 6ft greenhouse. Got some 10 gallon cloth pots I bought a couple years back never used them. This will keep the cost way down. Will save at your info into my note pad for future.