How many watts for 6 plants?

[RollingDope708]

I'm planning on increasing my garden from 2 to 3 plants to about 6 plants in 2 months and I wanted to know would it be better to ditch the CFLs and go with a 250w HPS light or higher or should I make do with the CFLs?

And if I do make the switch how many watts should I switch to?

My growroom/closet is 3ft long 2ft wide and about 4ft tall.

 

[Myles117]

i say 100 watts per plant minimum but this depends entirely on plant size.

id prob get a 400 watt HPS for that space n row 4 plants at a time

if its either CFLs or the 250... def grab the 250. HID is so nice after growing with CFLs

 

[RollingDope708]

I read additional plants need 30-50 watts is that correct? So I would need to purchase a 600w for 6 plants according to what your saying right?

 

[Myles117]

600 watts for 6 plants unless the plants are flowered very small. this is why answering isnt so simple.... plant count doesnt much matter as much as total canopy "volume"

i flower about 20 plants under 2500 watts and the plants are about 30 inches tall and 18 inches diameter. i have the space and cooling to pull this off though. lots of heat to address

 

[RollingDope708]

What do you consider small? 30cm or a foot? and I'mma reconsider the design since I have this in mind

 

[Myles117]

if my quick math is correct, 6 plants will have a square foot of space each in your space. height you would want to keep low with CFLs/low wattage HID. maybe 24 inches tall max? taller will just mean more veg time and more popcorn

 

[profterpen]

I'm planning on increasing my garden from 2 to 3 plants to about 6 plants in 2 months and I wanted to know would it be better to ditch the CFLs and go with a 250w HPS light or higher or should I make do with the CFLs?

And if I do make the switch how many watts should I switch to?

My growroom/closet is 3ft long 2ft wide and about 4ft tall.

I say this over and over, the 600w hps is the best light you will ever get. Get a good dimmable ballast and your set. Light should really be calculated by the canopy size and not the number of plants.

My friends call me Bunny

 

[RollingDope708]

I won't be able to vent 600w as good as I would a 400w and by canopy size u mean the height of the bud sites? I'm looking at about 2 ft during flowering(inducing flowering around 1ft) if this is what your referring to.

 

[Myles117]

by volume i mean the square footage of the room'. depth x width of room. you could have 1 plant fill your room or 6 small plants and any number in between. the canopy can still only be 12 square feet. the canopy height is also a variable with your 4 ft tall space. i wouldnt let em get more than 24 inches tall in there

 

[Ou8aCracker2]

In a 3x2 (6 square foot area) the max you should use is 400w otherwise cooling/ventilation will be a costly bitch.

General rule of thumb is to use a minimum of 50w per square foot and a maximum of 66w per square foot of canopy area.A 400w HPS will put you right at 66.66w per square foot.

I'd also suggest a 6" 440cfm inline centrifugal exhuast fan and 6" carbon filter as that fan is bestbsuited for both cooling and ventilating.

 

[m3d1c1n3man]

you say your grow height is about 4 feet tall? That is seriously going to damper your ability to run a high-powered HID in there. you need 1 foot for pot, 1 foot for light, and 1 foot distance minimum from light to top of plant, so you're looking at a 1 foot tall plant? Plus, you will need to vent a lot of heat. For a grow room that small (you said 2' x 3' x 4') I would go with CFL's but get a lot of them, 250+ watts. The number of plants is quite irrelevant, only the grow space and canopy square footage of the plants really matters.

 

[AFaQ]

honestly i know people that use 1000s for 2 plants so yeah it just depends how big and how much you want

 

[dajosh42069]

HID's are always the best way to go. But the heat they put off is no joke. Make no mistake, CFL's make a lot of heat as well, but you can get them a lot closer to the plants... and in a situation where space is a serious issue, I would go with CFL's. You can virtually fill the tent with them and as long as you have some powerful ventilation, you'll be able to handle temps.
If you're lucky, you live in a cold climate that will easily help you combat temps. I personally live in a super arid place. Where it gets 110-115F in the summer. Battling temps is always my primary concern.
Go with a few high powered CFL's, and like 10 or so 23-26 watters to help you provide supplemental light on the sides and under the canopy. You won't be disappointed. I was growing 5 plants and I used about 17, 26W CFL's, and 1 55W CFL. So all in all, I was running about 500W of CFL's, and primarily due to the under-lighting I used, I had gorgeous results.

Here's some pics.
It was stupid complicated, but only because I was on a budget and couldn't afford all the things I needed to make it work right.
If you're considering getting a 400W HID, you can afford to do this, and do it right.



After vegging, I switched to the simplicity of a 400W HPS for flower, with a few supplemental 2300K CFL's for good measure. They were beautiful.
Sadly... this grow was busted. :\ Nothing to do with lighting obviously. But, things happen sometimes... Anyway, I'm not sure you'll have enough room for an HID in there, unless you do consummate LSTing and pretty much have them go 12/12 from seed.

Anyway, good luck with the grow! Be sure to shoot us a link to it so I can sub!