600w or 1000w?

[Shluppy]

Hey! I am setting up a indoor grow room. I've grown outside but I am tired of al the problems associated with the great outdoors.....rabbits, bugs, rogue pollen, etc. Everything seems to be in order except I can't decide which lights to use. Except that I will have to use air-cooled hoods in my setup.

My question is 600w or 1000w lights. My main concern is whether I have enough height to use a 1000 watt light. From the top of my pots to the ceiling is about 6 feet (2 feet of table/pots and an 8 foot ceiling). I am growing indica and indica hybrids such as AK47, Northern Lights, Afghani #1, Blueberry etc.

I really want to use a 1000watt with a Radient air-cooled hood. I don't want to do a lot of training except topping. Will this setup work or will my plants end up too close to the light and burn? I'm really unclear about the required distance between the light and the plant with a 1000w.
Any help?

 

[AwesomeDave]

Hey! I am setting up a indoor grow room. I've grown outside but I am tired of al the problems associated with the great outdoors.....rabbits, bugs, rogue pollen, etc. Everything seems to be in order except I can't decide which lights to use. Except that I will have to use air-cooled hoods in my setup.

My question is 600w or 1000w lights. My main concern is whether I have enough height to use a 1000 watt light. From the top of my pots to the ceiling is about 6 feet (2 feet of table/pots and an 8 foot ceiling). I am growing indica and indica hybrids such as AK47, Northern Lights, Afghani #1, Blueberry etc.

I really want to use a 1000watt with a Radient air-cooled hood. I don't want to do a lot of training except topping. Will this setup work or will my plants end up too close to the light and burn? I'm really unclear about the required distance between the light and the plant with a 1000w.
Any help?

Im assuming youll be using hps lamps?

well if it were up to me, Id go with the 1000watt simply because it produces more lumens. and a good way of measuring whether or not its too hot for ur plants is to hold ur hand at the top of your plants. if its too hot for your hand, its too hot for your plants. height shouldnt be an issue at all if you have 6 feet and are going to top them.

Im setting up a 600w hps grow in a couple of weeks, and I went with the 600w because Ill be growing in a closet...and 1000w just feels like over kill. but, if I had a small room or something Id def go for a 1000W hps.

note: Im still learning myself and if any of what Ive posted doesnt seem right to the more experienced growers on this forum, please correct me. 99% of my current knowledge is derived from reading material.

 

[ceestyle]

I would probably go with the 600, but it really depends what type of grow you plan to do. If you want to grow big plants, I would go 600. If you want to go SOG and maximize area, 1000W is probably best, as your plants will be short. What is your plan?

 

[Shluppy]

Thanks for the reply.
Yes, I will be using HPS bulbs for flowering.

Here's a few more notes about the room:
Flower room is 14' x 5', looking at three HPS 1000w
5000 btu window air
8" inline exhaust fan with carbon filter

I agree with you dave, a 600w would be the way to go in a small (closet) space.

 

[Shluppy]

I would probably go with the 600, but it really depends what type of grow you plan to do. If you want to grow big plants, I would go 600. If you want to go SOG and maximize area, 1000W is probably best, as your plants will be short. What is your plan?

My plan is to grow big plants. If I use a 600w, won't that decrease my yield due to the lack of light penetrating the canopy? I may do a SOG sometime, but I want to get a few indoor grows under my belt first.

I just don't want to purchase a 1000w and find out that my plants keep burning and turnaround and have to purchase a lower wattage, and vice versa, I don't want to purchase a 600w and find out that a 1000w would've been better.

 

[ceestyle]

600W is a lot of light. if you want big plants, go with the 600. with the 1000, you're looking at needing 18" or more from your tops, meaning, you can only grow like four-footers. throw in the fact that taller plants need bigger pots, and it's getting tight.

think about it this way - if you don't need to cover a huge area, you can always lower the 600.

penetration may actually be worse with a 1000W, as you'll have to pull up the light farther to avoid burning your tops.

 

[Shluppy]

Thanks Ceestyle!
I was leaning toward the 1000w, but you are on to something here. Since I have 6 feet of height from the top of the pots, include the reflector which I assume will take up about 18", that leaves me with 4.5 feet, add another 18" of distance between reflector and top of plants for a 1000w and that leaves me with 3 foot plants. Great for a SOG, as you said, but for big plants probably not so much.
I've seen pics on this site where people have their plants almost touching the relector with 1000w because they use a fan between the lamp and the top of plants to throw the heat away, and they weren't using air-cooled reflectors. But you are convinced that 600w is the way for me to go?

Also, looked at your DIY Drip Irrigation link. Cool....That is very similiar to what I'm building now. It brought up a couple of points that I had ignored. Thanks!

 

[ceestyle]

Thanks Ceestyle!
I was leaning toward the 1000w, but you are on to something here. Since I have 6 feet of height from the top of the pots, include the reflector which I assume will take up about 18", that leaves me with 4.5 feet, add another 18" of distance between reflector and top of plants for a 1000w and that leaves me with 3 foot plants. Great for a SOG, as you said, but for big plants probably not so much.
I've seen pics on this site where people have their plants almost touching the relector with 1000w because they use a fan between the lamp and the top of plants to throw the heat away, and they weren't using air-cooled reflectors. But you are convinced that 600w is the way for me to go?

Also, looked at your DIY Drip Irrigation link. Cool....That is very similiar to what I'm building now. It brought up a couple of points that I had ignored. Thanks!

I'm interested to see pics of people with 1000W touching their plants. It is the radiation from the bulb that toasts the plants, so using a fan should not be able to eliminate this problem. The thing is that if you have your plants that close, you might as well have a 600, as you won't get the coverage with the tops right next to the bulb anyway.

People use light-movers specifically to avoid the effects of increased intensity resulting from putting bulbs too close to plants - this is especially the case with a 1000W.

18" seems like a lot for a fixture. A tube or air-cooled reflector shouldn't take up more than 9-12".

 

[Shluppy]

This is a pic posted by "MyGirls" with the caption
"well i no i can put my 1000wtt on top of my 6 girls"
I didn't realize that radiation is the cause of burning, I thought it was the heat generated from the bulb itself.

9 - 12" for a reflector? Cool, that makes me breath a little easier! The additional 6 -9" is huge!

 

[ceestyle]

This is a pic posted by "MyGirls" with the caption
"well i no i can put my 1000wtt on top of my 6 girls"
I didn't realize that radiation is the cause of burning, I thought it was the heat generated from the bulb itself.

9 - 12" for a reflector? Cool, that makes me breath a little easier! The additional 6 -9" is huge!

well, look up cooltube or hydrofarm hoods; i'm sure they have specs.

the heat is radiation. think about it like this: if you were standing out in the sun, the wind won't prevent you from getting a sunburn. it's a little different with IR, but you get the point.

 

[AwesomeDave]

This is a pic posted by "MyGirls" with the caption
"well i no i can put my 1000wtt on top of my 6 girls"
I didn't realize that radiation is the cause of burning, I thought it was the heat generated from the bulb itself.

9 - 12" for a reflector? Cool, that makes me breath a little easier! The additional 6 -9" is huge!

lol, is that veg?

 

[Shluppy]

well, look up cooltube or hydrofarm hoods; i'm sure they have specs.

the heat is radiation. think about it like this: if you were standing out in the sun, the wind won't prevent you from getting a sunburn. it's a little different with IR, but you get the point.

Thanks for your help! I think I will go with the four 600w instead of three 1000w. That would give me 60w psf on the one long side and 50w psf on the other table. My flower room is "L" shaped.
I appreciate you help Ceestyle! I will smoke one for you soon. I have to stay clean for a little bit longer due to the dreaded bladder cops that I have to visit for my new job, which is why I'm moving and setting up this room.

 

[ceestyle]

Thanks for your help! I think I will go with the four 600w instead of three 1000w. That would give me 60w psf on the one long side and 50w psf on the other table. My flower room is "L" shaped.
I appreciate you help Ceestyle! I will smoke one for you soon. I have to stay clean for a little bit longer due to the dreaded bladder cops that I have to visit for my new job, which is why I'm moving and setting up this room.

cool man. good luck. if you still run into vertical space issues, consider a light mover.

 

[honkeytown]

that's what I was gonna say...light mover all the way man...you could cover your whole room with two 1000w's and have an even canopy...btw...my 600 is 15 inches from my biggest plant and doin just fine...check it out...I think you will be fine with a couple of 1000 watters

 

[ceestyle]

that's what I was gonna say...light mover all the way man...you could cover your whole room with two 1000w's and have an even canopy...btw...my 600 is 15 inches from my biggest plant and doin just fine...check it out...I think you will be fine with a couple of 1000 watters

yeah for some reason i thought this was a question of what ONE light to buy, not for a multiple-light system.

 

[Shluppy]

yeah for some reason i thought this was a question of what ONE light to buy, not for a multiple-light system.

OK, if I got this right, I could use four 600w without a light mover or three 1000w if I use a light mover. Right?

I friend of mine used a light mover and his buds were fluffy, not dense. I think he had it traveling too far though. Plus I would have to buy 2 llight movers since my flower room is "L" shaped.

 

[ceestyle]

yeah, i'd probably go with the four 600W, all factors considered.

 

[Shluppy]

OK, four 600watters it is. Thanks for everyone's help on this subject. I like this community!

 

[honkeytown]

no way dude...3 1000 watts and 3 light movers...the trick is the way you set up the one in the corner.....lemme see if I can paint some shit for you so you can see what I mean...hold up

 

[ceestyle]

no way dude...3 1000 watts and 3 light movers...the trick is the way you set up the one in the corner.....lemme see if I can paint some shit for you so you can see what I mean...hold up

three light movers is at least $300, and the one in the corner would be tricky. having four is a more versatile setup too.