Whats goin on everyone? I am beginning my cultivation, and I have been doing much research on the subject. Come to find there's so much contradicting info on the internet. I went out and baught a 80 watt, 3200 lumen fluorescant plant and aquarium light fixture. I read that this isn't the right light, but I also read that it would do the trick. Do I need HID lights, metal halide for the vegetation stage and a high pressure sodium for the flowering stage. I read these should be 1000 watts each. Does one work better than the other? Does it specifically need to be one or teh otehr. Basically if anyone could help me out and tell me the right light I need. Thanks! Peace.
otherone, The light you would need depends on several things. 1)the size ofyour grow area 2)the size of your wallet 3)How fast you want to grow and how much While floros will get the job done, HPS is the best bet for indoors. Remeber half the trick to success when growing Kannabis is DONT TELL ANYONE! Be safe out there MADMAX YOUR LOCAL CRAZY DRIVER!
im going to have a 4 foot by 4 foot setup. Not worried about the money, i just want to have the ideal light. I am not to worried about speeding through the process, but definitely don't want to be waiting to long.I am down with it taking an average amount of time, inorder to get the lagest possible yield. I was offered a good deal on this two in one metal halide and high pressure sodium lamp, eitehr in 1000 watt or 400. Isn't a metal halide lamp good for the vegetation stage and high pressure sodium for the flowering stage? What size light is neccessary and which type: HPS or MH or both? Thanks everyone!
High otherone5b4 and welcome to growkind. Lights are rated in lumens (light output). You need 3000+ per sq/ft.(at least, more is better) for vegatative growth, and 6000+ per sq/ft. for flowering. MH and HPS put out approx. 120 lumens per watt. Therefore, in a 4' x 4' growspace you need (16 sq/ft x 6000 lumens per sq/ft) 96000 lumens which equals (96000 divided by 120) 8000 watts MH or HPS. If you put a 1000 watter in there, that's more than you need imo (esp. for a beginner. However, I you use only 3' x 3' (9 sq/ft), that's almost ideal for a 400-watter. That's how I would go if I were you. Lately indoor gardening experts have found that HPS outperforms MH in all phases of plant growth. The 200MH/200HPS set-up you mentioned is ok, but better if you go with straight HPS. 1 very important factor that many noob's don't consider is ventilation. You need flo-thro ventilation for heat control (HID lights put out a lot of heat) and to bring a constant supply of CO2 to the plants.
thanks a bunch! I now know what i need, which is awesome, i can get this underway. One last question though! How many plants can fit in a 4 foot by 4 foot grow area, and in a 3 foot by 3 foot grow area. Now that I know what wattage ill need for both setups, im just wondering how big of a setup would I need to fit my 5 clones.
There are a lot of different styles of growing: SOG, SCROG and JOG are 3 popular types (descriptions available at FAQ). For a beginner I'd go with 1 plant per sq/ft. There's a lot to setting up a growspace. I recommend reading as much as possible about the subject.
Sounds like everyone already answered the question, but Id recommend checking out the faq and searching the forums for more answers. You will find that almost every question you can ask has had a thread on it before, and tons of great advice for you. Good luck with your new grow and im sure you will succeed as long as you keep reading on growkind!
While the lumens measurement is based on the sensitivity of the human eye to light, PAR Watts objectively measure the total watts of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) emitted by the lamp. It accounts for the nutritional value and is a direct measure of light energy available for all-important plant photosynthesis...ie..Lumens for people..PAR for plants.. .....and here's a comparison chart with all the info... http://www.overgrow.com/growfaq/945 (Edited by Hicountry2 at 4:00 am on Oct. 30, 2003)
Great resource HiC. Over this hippie's head however. I had a friend who works for NASA who told be the correct way to measure light is by 'radiant flux'. Again, over my head.
lol ranger..I can relate. OG has IMHO, the best faq around.But like you, it often goes by me like a 104 mph fastball from Roger Clemens. I sometimes wonder if the www is a blessing or a curse..hee hee. Sometimes makes the "KISS" method seem improbable, if not impossible. Regardless, whenever I encounter a problem while "tweaking" things in an attempt to improve, I always return to my basic 'simpler is better' theory, and things usually work themselves out.
