250 watt scrog grow

After careful deliberation, I have come to the conclusion that a 250 watt setup, over a 3x2' screen will be sufficient to give me a decent yiled.

A 3'x2 ' scrog with a 250 watt hps will supply about 4500 lumens per sq ft (27000/6sqft). I know that 5000 lumens/sqft is optimal but I don't need my buds to be monsters even though I do want them to have enough lighting for relatively dense bud formation. I am going to set up a 50cfm exhaust fan on top of my grow box and probably the same cfm intake at the bottom of the box, directed up toward the lights (to bring cool air up from the shaded portion of the box).

So far, I have a bubbleberry and 2 GDP that I have just topped at about 4" and am waiting to start LST. These are two of the strains that I grew with outside, so I have an idea of how they grow and what nute mix worked well (outside anyway). I will use this as a foundation during the indoor grow and watch my plants adjusting the mix and training based on my observations.

I would like to know if my current plan of action seems like it is logical and sensible, or if I am missing something? Should I only use two of the plants instead of 3? when should I start flowering?

It sounds like a great setup. Dont get too caught up in lumens per square foot. Your light puts out 27000 at the source and at 12" from the plants that is half. Most people with HID's think they are giving there plants crazy lumens really arent. My plants are absorbing more light from the T5 I hang 2" from the tops that a 250 w HID at 6-10" from the plants. FYI I also run a 2x3 scrog and yield around 10-14 ozs. I will attach a light distance chart.

bigv1976 said:

It sounds like a great setup. Dont get too caught up in lumens per square foot. Your light puts out 27000 at the source and at 12" from the plants that is half. Most people with HID's think they are giving there plants crazy lumens really arent. My plants are absorbing more light from the T5 I hang 2" from the tops that a 250 w HID at 6-10" from the plants. FYI I also run a 2x3 scrog and yield around 10-14 ozs. I will attach a light distance chart.

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Thanks for the response. I did not know that t5's would actually give more lumens to the plant. I would go with one of the t5 units, but they seem to be so expensive that the 250 watt hps just looked more appealing (I can find them for 100-120, including bulb). However, I was not incorporating cooling costs into this. T5 may be a good way to go, if I can negate the rather large cooling cost by just putting a single small vortex fan in the bottom of the box? I dont know if this would work though? Any suggestions, or do you think that a 250w hps (with the cooling fans) would be more cost effective. I can probably get the fans for less than 20 each (at home depot) and have a 160 dollar total set up. I am definitely open to suggestions, and thanks again.

I would love to pull 10-14oz per harvest. That would be enough for me, with a lot left ove3r to supply my coop with.

Thanks again for the response info.

good luck pulling that with just a 250. You would need to be a really good grower to pull 10-14 oz. out of even a 400. You would be getting over a gram per watt which even some of the most veteran growers can barely pull .75 per watt. I would say a good solid half pound is a good chunk for a 250, but is possible. I'm hoping to achieve a qp with my little 150 watter and 1ft x 2ft screen.

Thanks for the wishes of luck. I was really just saying that I would like to get that amount based on what was written in the previous post by bigv. I have no idea how much I will get, but I know it will be enough to sustain myself. I am just kind of excited to try a new way of growing. I am sure I will tweak my growing conditions until optimal harvest is attained. It will probably take a few grows, but I figure I will hone my techniques until I achieve what I am looking for. Good luck on your grow