Advice with grow lights please!!

hi everyone!! .. i made a grow box with cfl lights.. and the harvest was good but not enough for me and my wife!!

so i want to change to HPS for flowering. i have a small space... 2.5 x 3 ft...
at first a tought in buying a 400 watts.. but then .. i was wondering that maybe i could buy 2 lamps of 150 watts each ...
which setup do yo think its better.???. i just want to have 2 or mybe 3 plants.. but want to have the maximun yield possible.

ill apreciatte any help,! thanks!,

might as well get a dimable 400 watt for 100 bucks.

400's will probably give you more the type of yield your looking for. But in that small of an area, you'll have heat issues that you didnt have with CFL's. Mainly, you'll have to find a way to be exchanging the air in your space. You didnt mention how much height you have to work with as well.

Buy an LED. For your space, 135 watt would do just fine. A 90w would work as well.

I'm running about the same size space ,it was going to be temporary (lol) been
running 600w about 3 years or so.This has been the first year I had to turn it,
down so much running 400w most of time.
If I had it to do over I would go cfl I believe. Can't believe I said that but after Roseman's tutorial
he made it look real good.
GL!

mimilo said:

i have a small space... 2.5 x 3 ft...

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Hiya mimilo, 2.5' x 3' x?

Just a Rough Guide to what you get for your $$$ with 2x 150w you will be looking at about 28000 to 32000 Lumens and with a 400w you get maybe between 50000 - 55000 Lumens..IMHO with limited space for Bulbs/Reflectors and Heat issues I agree with OP(TWS,Cobnobuler) and would plump for the 400w Hps..what sort of Cooling/Vent/Exhaust system will you be running?

150w HPS = 14000 lumens
250w HPS = 28000 lumens
400w HPS = 50000 lumens
600w HPS = 90000 lumens

Peace & Happy holidays

not enough for me and my wife!!

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Sounds like you had your ass kicked because of your innadaquate impotent flimsy harvest. You need to Man up.

Time to use HID and cooltubes, plus top quality soil.

thanks for all your comments!!! .. my old growbox has 1.24 mts height....
but this new one.. it would be as tall as the rough ... 2.24 mts i think...
actually im gonna kind of install in a shower area of the bathroom... using the walls and and using some wood to close the area..

about the cooling ventt exhaust.. im not shure right know... i saw the exahusting fans that everybody use in growing tends.. what size do you recomend??..or maybe make an creative exahust using some 6" fans... maybe 2 for intake, and 2 more for exahust...i have a window that is near..and im using it for intake air... placing the air ducts there..

now is cold where i live... if a turn to 12/12 next week.. ill be harvesting in march.. thats the last cold month... then comes the fckn hot... that in may or june the temp rises till 40'C .. by that time i ll be buying an A/C .. for the entire room..that have an area
more or less 5 x 2 mts

im just planning and getting prepared.. i haven bought any thing yet..

by the way i see.. most of you recomend the 400watt lamp.. and also mentioned that the heat issues its something that i need to consider.

thanks for your hela , i really apreciatte!! and sorry for my english!

*BUDS said:

Sounds like you had your ass kicked because of your innadaquate impotent flimsy harvest. You need to Man up.

Time to use HID and cooltubes, plus top quality soil.

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thats true!!! and we smoke like if theres no tomorrow,! jajaj... by the way im using Hydro system.

As long as you can keep it cool, go with 400.

Use 3 gallon size pots, veg for 3 weeks, and you can pull between 1-2oz per plant.

Just keep your temps and humidty in check, keep fresh air or c02 moving across the leafs like a light breeze.

thanks for your answers!! its decided.. a 400watts lamp.. now i have another questions

what reflector do you recommend??.. i was thinking about the air cooled reflector with 4 or 6 " air ducts.. with an inline exhaust (424cfm).. maybe one of those combos from htg supply...
what would work for me 4" or 6" air ducts??

mimilo said:

what would work for me 4" or 6" air ducts??

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Either one would work fine in that small of a space. Most cooled reflectors are 6" so if you go with 4" your going to have to buy reducers. Though more expensive I'd go with a 6" fan and ducting with a speed controller. You can idle that thing down low, it will be quiet and last a long time.

One ventilation fan set up correctly is all you need for that size.

I run a 400w HPS in a closet that is about 2' deep x 7' wide x 8' tall.

I have it in a cool tube - http://www.amazon.com/Flora-Hydroponics-Digital-System-Control/dp/B001GL03LS/ref=sr_1_3?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1388086902&sr=1-3&keywords=400w+cool+tube

and I have hooked up to one of these drawing the air out.

http://www.amazon.com/Vortex-449-CFM-1-2A-136w/dp/B001JKYTLG

in the winter if I leave the window in my grow room open a crack, my temps are like 75 lights on and 68 lights out. in the summer you will definitely need an A/C unit, but that's not for a few months yet.

ok,!!, thanks!!! i think ill get that Vortex... one last question.. what speed fan control do you thing its good to buy.??? a heavy duty one

also which is the best 400 HPS bulb for flowering???