light overkill for a small setup?

Vedder6

Vedder6

Well-Known Member
Quick question to you vets, but im wondering if I'll be doing a little light over kill w/ my plants.
Im growing 1 plant right now under CFL's (3 daylights&3 soft whites), just started 12/12 a few weeks ago... But i was thinking of buying a 400wat HPS light.
im wondering if that would be overkill for my 1 to 2 plants (max), and also overkill on my electric bill and overly heat my closet??



info:
closet setup;2 plants, 3day light&3 soft white CFL's. started 3/15/11. temps are around 82deg w/ 55% hum.
 
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crashbog127

Well-Known Member
well to determine the heating issue and such we would really need to know the dimensions of the room your growing in
you jumped right into a 12/12? or started them on 18/6?
and with just two plants you could most liekly lose the CFL's and do just fine with the 400w
 
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crashbog127

Well-Known Member
i use a 600watt and my bill jumps up about 60$ more then having no lights running for a month when on a 12/12 cycle when on a 18/6 cycle its jumps about 100 dollars more then having no lights running
 
darkdestruction420

darkdestruction420

Well-Known Member
for all 900 or so watts i use running 24/0 adds $15-20 max. Do you still use halogen bulbs in your house at all? If not go buy 13w cfls and replace them, that will help offset some of the wattage you'll be adding w/the 400w hps. If you can control the heat i would say for sure get the 400w. Using a remote ballast will allow you to keep it outside of the grow area. it's a good chunk of the heat the hps puts out overall. so removing its heat from the equation makes things easier, you might want to get a cooltube as well(not only to control the heat in the grow area itself, it also allows the plants to be closer to the light since the heat from the bulb is being sucked out right away.) If you get an hps get a bulb with an added blue spectrum if possible.
 
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doc H.

Member
400 watts would be cool for one or two plants if u can control the heat factor, I would suggest training those one or two plants so they have more surface area facing the light source. That way your using all 400 watts and the buds you get are consistent and not nice dense buds on top with fluffy loose buds on the bottom. if your worried about heat but want more light u could try 250 watt, or get a led light for veg and 400 hps for flower, good luck.
 
Vedder6

Vedder6

Well-Known Member
well this is the space im working with right now in the picture. the space is perfect for 1 to 2 plants inside my closet.
i think if i go w/ a 400w HPS does it look like it will cover more than plenty of the surface areas??
6-1-11-10.jpg

{ps: cfl's lights arent on. used: closet light + camera flash)
 
itsahobby

itsahobby

Member
When I set my grow up.. I will have 2 plants and I'm looking at using my 400w in there so good luck and I'll be checking back to see how you get on :D
:peace:
 
Vedder6

Vedder6

Well-Known Member
sounds good my friend. check out my 1st grow link in my sig. i'll be updating that one the most.

im probably going to go w/ the 400w HPS. i'll probably still use my cfl's for new seeds/sprouts, but more than likely its looking like when i get some more money im going to order that 400w HPS and use that for my girl until shes ready to be chopped.
heats probably going to be a big issue and my gf is probably going to kill me but oh well. I might have to order a Cooltube 6 reflector to go with it :( i really wanted to keep cost down on my grow(ing) but the pro's are saying i'll have better results if i go the 400w rout. so i think i'll give it a shot
unless i keep my plants short and bushy.. then maybe i wouldnt have to get the 400w, keep the electric bill down a big... augh i dont know im too high. im thinking too much into it. lololol :D
 
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crashbog127

Well-Known Member
Vedder6 said:
@darkdestruction420 - I was thinking of getting this 400w HPS: http://www.htgsupply.com/Product-HTGSupply-400-watt-High-Pressure-Sodium-Grow-Light.asp# with either the growbright 400w bulb, or the standard 400w bulb. would that be good or could u recommend something?
Click to expand...
i hear that the GrowBright Bulbs are really bad. they over heat a lot more then the other HPS Bulbs. also when they are hot and if you touch them they can easily break. just a couple of problems ive heared.
if you can get the extra $$ up, go with AgroMax or Hortilux
as far for the heating.. if you dont want to go with the cooltube. if you get 2 fans in there you should be prety good. but would defly be better off with a cooltube, but you would need a place to vent it out... idk if you have that option in that closet
 
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