12 plants. how many watts?

Hey everyone. As you might be able to tell, i am new to all of this. But i was wondering how many watts i need to have 12 healthy growing plants. Space may be a bit tight in my growing room however. Thanks!

how big of a area?

if you could fit them all under a 1000w hps should help, but if you had two and 6 under each that would work lovely

How many watts? well.... hummm.... Whats the area size? How big is the pots that the plants are in?
You know I might have a link to help you
> http://www.littlegreenhouse.com/guide3.shtml#flu <
Here this page should help you answer you guestion very well.
Good luck

Thanks for all the responses guys! There is actually two small compartments in which i am going to be growing. However the ceiling of these compartments are slanted. so, at its highest point, it is about 4 feet, and at its lowest, it is 1 1/2 feet. And i believe it is about 1 1/2 feet wide. Hopefully i can get some pictures sent to me in the next few hours so i can actually show you guys the space.
Btw, thank you for that link, it was pretty helpful!

well if your tallest point is 4 feet i wouldnt go with anything over a 400watt bulb and as far aas 1 1/2 feet i dont know man you might have to settle for some low floresents.

How do you plan to ventilate and cool this tiny space? That will help determine your bulb.

Also, you have much less than 4', considering if you use an HID bulb, the reflector will come down 12" and the plants will start up at least 6" from the floor. The leftover distance is the max size your plants will get. Two and a half feet tall, max. You are already down to a 250W HID or CFL's based on these limiting factors in your grow.

MendelMaster said:

How do you plan to ventilate and cool this tiny space? That will help determine your bulb.

Click to expand...

There will be small fans to regulate temperature. Also i was thinking of drilling a hole in each compartment for ventilation. But, regarding the 250 watt maximum i will have... do you think that is not going to be enough light to grow some decent plants?

That could make for an interesting grow. I would estimate you would have to stick with CFL's and incorporating some LST to your grow for any chance of success. Completely just my $.02

Do a 250w HPS SCROG grow. Most bud in the shortest time. If you could flower from seed you could have a couple ounces from those plants in weeks. You can buy HPS security lights from Home Depot, lowes, etc.

Attics, from what I have seen, are usually NOT good places to grow. They are hotter by nature; temp. fluxs alot; inbound air is dirty unless your grow area is sealed; and the helicopter seem to find them easier.

Might be different in your case, but this is just what i have seen.

Lowryder plants seem to be what your going to be looking at.

Good luck with the grow.

In an attic I'd also suggest a 250w HID or less. Be prepared to get your ventilation/exhaust setup dialed in or expect issues. I have a friend with a 400w in a 4w x 4h x 2d (32 cu. ft.) closet grow cab and he's doing ok but he had to tweak it like a mofo to get the temps right.

Also, keep in mind attics can get ridiculously hot. You may need to spring for a portable AC but it'll be worth it.

Good luck bro!

My growing compartment isn't in an attic, but it is on the top floor. My setup is basically 2 small compartments that were built into the walls when the house was built. Boolean, what sort of ventilation/exhaust setup did you have in mind? I was just planning on having a fan in the compartment and maybe a small hole for air circulation.

But anyway, how could i mount these 250w bulbs onto the ceiling? Any ideas?

Team7040 said:

Thanks for all the responses guys! There is actually two small compartments in which i am going to be growing. However the ceiling of these compartments are slanted. so, at its highest point, it is about 4 feet, and at its lowest, it is 1 1/2 feet. And i believe it is about 1 1/2 feet wide. Hopefully i can get some pictures sent to me in the next few hours so i can actually show you guys the space.
Btw, thank you for that link, it was pretty helpful!

Click to expand...

No prob, but in that samll of an area I dont know what to say about lighting. I mean I guess you could put any light you want in it but you will need to cool that like 24/7. So for good prices on fans and such go to > www.htgsupply.com < they got all kinds of deals on fans and blows.
Any more question get ahold of me.
Good Luck

Let me say that they're are a lot of wisemen on this site that have forgotten more than I'll ever know. I;m a noob and I don't even grow.

Anyway, as far as mounting the light screw some circle hooks into the ceiling and let gravity straighten out the rest.

With height in mind I'd def go with an autoflower strain. Auto AK47 x Auto Blueberry or Auto White Moscow both finish on average bewteen 10-18 inches. Obviously with diff phenos shit happens and they can get big but you get the point.

The way I look at it is you don't have a 10x10 room so you're not expecting pounds. Find you some good autoflower (short height/fast finish) strains that you like and SOG them under a 150w HID. I think you may be able to get away with a cooltube and a couple inline booster fans. Or splurge and get a small can fan and be set. That will require some planning on where to cut but you won't be able to get away with not having good air flow to keep the light cool.

I'm a huge HID advocate and I don't think I'd (hypothetically) grow unless the conditions supported them but if I were to drop out of society and live in an RV I could see the need to change my mind and go CFL!

In all honesty you're working with such little space you may want to go the CFL route. They require minimal cooling/ventilation and with such a tight space you could probably grow a couple ozs every couple months or so.

Sorry for the ramble. Hope this helps.

400 w

They sell 70 watt HPS lamps in Lowes for $35. You could get a pair of them and do some LST/scrog. Augment with UVB fluoros from pet store/ebay.

Working with a 4 foot ceiling, you could get those 70w lamps within a few inches of the ceiling and depending on the max air temps, within 8 inches of the canopy. You'd have enough height to grow any strains including sativas.

When they reach for the bulb, just bend the stem down or tuck it under another stem. Once they stop stretching you will have a nice canopy to beam the lamps into.

Good luck!

Ummm you can go the cfl way but venting is a must ether way. Stail air is BAD!!!
This is just my opinion my I would not go the auto flower route because there is not garuentee the plant will start flowering when you want so just get a nomal set of seeds and introduce 12/12 cycle early.

600 w will do 8 m8