4 1000W or 8 600W?

Hi all,

currently working on a 5m x 3m x 4m(or so in height). I keep changing my mind between an L shape reflector lay out with 1000's or 8 600's, 4 on each side of the room allowing for a passage way in the middle.
I personally prefer 600W due to light dispersion and it makes it a bit easier to get that even canopy. However i am a bit worried that the narrow passage way between the corridors of plants might start to annoy the gardener since it would roughly be of around 50 cm. Having an L shape with 1000's allows for similar wattage but with more space to work, however perhaps a bit too much...
All hoods would be air cooled. I think that 600's cover 1,2m2 and 1000's 1,5m2 hence the 60 cm passage way with 600's and the 1,5m by ~3m unused space with 1000's.
I keep thinking that 1000's are only worth for bigger projects, but i know how annoying it is to not be able to move freely and such in a garden.

Any input would be much appreciated folks, i keep changing my mind and everytime i change it im so sure of it.

Thanks

Your ultimate goal should be 1gram per watt. (not easy to achieve by many) 1000w covers a 5x5 area well, and a 600w covers a 4x4 area well. I guess it depends on how many plants you are going to grow, how long you veg them for, etc. Just think about how many plants you want under each light. From everything I've read I have not seen anyone with harvests over 1g/watt.

Theres another veg room where plants will be vegged for about 1 and a half to 2 months. Planning on 4 under 600's and maybe 9 under 1000's.
Im just wondering what the most practical choise would be to take advantage of the space. Both seem viable in my head but the unused space with 1000's seems a bit of a waste...

8 600s is more light anyway you look at it. Im not familiar with an L shape pattern but ive always set up my rooms with a foot of walkway on any side of the table for better airflow and a walkway if i need to get in anwhere. Im used to running 2 1000s over a 4x8 tray with one base facing north The other base facing south(not inline). Im upgrading to 4000w and will add another tray with Two foot walkway inbetween trays and everything else the same. But my water and everything else is outside the room.
If your room is 15'6x 9'something i would suggest running the tables running there length down the width of your room with 600s 3 per tray that way you can fit more trays have room to walk around possible workroom. But instead of 8 foot trays build them 7.5 for more walkway, run the lights inline and you should be rockin

haulinbass said:

8 600s is more light anyway you look at it. Im not familiar with an L shape pattern but ive always set up my rooms with a foot of walkway on any side of the table for better airflow and a walkway if i need to get in anwhere. Im used to running 2 1000s over a 4x8 tray with one base facing north The other base facing south(not inline). Im upgrading to 4000w and will add another tray with Two foot walkway inbetween trays and everything else the same. But my water and everything else is outside the room.
If your room is 15'6x 9'something i would suggest running the tables running there length down the width of your room with 600s 3 per tray that way you can fit more trays have room to walk around possible workroom. But instead of 8 foot trays build them 7.5 for more walkway, run the lights inline and you should be rockin

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I was getting more and more tempted with the 600's. There is a designated area outside the room for water and etc.. You think a 2 foot walkway betweem trays is enough? you dont get annoyed or are you a skinny guy?

600's kick 1000's ass for watt per watt yield, hell i get more from a 600 than most of the people i see using 1000's do.

it's like a v6 turbo diesel versus a v8, you may like the extra performance but will you be happy to pay for it?. at least it seems that way to me, i have never used a 1k and i doubt i will any time soon.

if plant numbers are a concern you may be better doing smaller numbers with bigger plants under 1000w lights as they do get better penetration. if you aren't restrained by the amount of plants you can grow then growing lots of small plants under 600w lights will be far more productive!.

Vertical growers can get up to 2 grams per watt. Just saying...

2x the hoods, 2x the ducting, 2x the noise, 2x the setup cost. If you do it right you'll be re-lamping 8 fixtures instead of 4 every 6-9 mos. 600 bulbs cost more.

That's what pushed me towards 1k's, plus all of those hoods! I'd be knocking into them constantly.

KLITE said:

I was getting more and more tempted with the 600's. There is a designated area outside the room for water and etc.. You think a 2 foot walkway betweem trays is enough? you dont get annoyed or are you a skinny guy?

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yeah im about 150 lol

haulinbass said:

yeah im about 150 lol

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I bet you can walk through rain and not get wet

it seems like both sides of the argument have pretty valid points. lol it almost seems like religious afilliation, im liking it!

ghb said:

600's kick 1000's ass for watt per watt yield, hell i get more from a 600 than most of the people i see using 1000's do.

it's like a v6 turbo diesel versus a v8, you may like the extra performance but will you be happy to pay for it?. at least it seems that way to me, i have never used a 1k and i doubt i will any time soon.

if plant numbers are a concern you may be better doing smaller numbers with bigger plants under 1000w lights as they do get better penetration. if you aren't restrained by the amount of plants you can grow then growing lots of small plants under 600w lights will be far more productive!.

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Ye i did get a bit concerned with light penetration too. I make my own supersoil heavily based on subs just a few different tweaks, hence i cant just fill 9 or 16 small girls under a 600 and hope they dont burn. Though i havent yet tried halfing the amount of supersoil and doing a SOG, anyones tried that? I doubt itd make a difference since its still the same strong soil just less of it in it...
I thought i had my mind almost made up on the 600's due to light dispersion and that 2 coridoors of plants is easier to cool the lamps than with an L shape allocation, but now leaning more towards the 1000's like i had in mind at the start, more space to move and perhaps better suited for using supersoil with bigger plants and not worrying about burning. Also ye much cheaper to start and maintain like budley doright suggested. Any further thoughts?

if you follow subs style you may as well go the whole hog and replicate his grow room.
do yo follow the weed nerd on youtube? he has taken the best part of 3 decades perfecting a style and he gets some big yields.

i'm still of the opinion that smaller plants allow or more productivity but i'm not sure how well that would work in super soil.

good luck in whatever you do.

p.s i can't believe 1000 watters are cheaper to buy where you are, thats crazy, over here they cost double what a 600 costs. they also create way more heat which is why i thought it would be better to use 600's. sometimes it is better t have less equipment in the room, it gives more room for plants and you lol.

ghb said:

if you follow subs style you may as well go the whole hog and replicate his grow room.
do yo follow the weed nerd on youtube? he has taken the best part of 3 decades perfecting a style and he gets some big yields.

i'm still of the opinion that smaller plants allow or more productivity but i'm not sure how well that would work in super soil.

good luck in whatever you do.

p.s i can't believe 1000 watters are cheaper to buy where you are, thats crazy, over here they cost double what a 600 costs. they also create way more heat which is why i thought it would be better to use 600's. sometimes it is better t have less equipment in the room, it gives more room for plants and you lol.

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Ye pretty much grow the way sub does. i have always been an avid hydro fan but a few years back i started dabbing in organics and im much more pleased with the end result in all parameters except yield, which still isnt that huge of a difference. I do find plants growing as fast as in hydro though not bulking up as much. I add bacteria cultures to my soil too. I have tried putting rooted clones with just about 10% supersoil 3 or 4 weeks ago in my shitty test tent ( 3x3 150 W, temperatures reaching 13 C lights off, dont want to overload my curcuit taking better care of it). Ill see how they do but im pretty sure theyre a bit shocked from cold. Also id think nutrient insensitive strains like skunk and what not might not complain that much...
Really what a fucking rip off! Here theyre like around 220 euros or so and they come without any electrical wiring which i really like cause you can make all cable the size you want.. like between 300 and 400 american illegal tender i think. Im a cool hood girl me and i plan on putting an extra inline fan close to the L kink in the cool hood duct to compensate for the extraction lost. Shit i can even get a custom build light cycle controller for just over 100 euros with whatever wattage i want it with 2 year warranty and a guarantee the electrician will come within 24 hours of any reported problem. cannot beat that!

Haha only if i stand sideways i stay dry lol, your pup will be bigger than me in a year haha

Im not sure about klite but locally both ballasts and bulbs for 1000s are cheaper by a good margin, so much so i will run a cheepy 30 dollar 400hallide in my 600 andreplace it every grow than spend 90 on even a cheap 600(stole this idea from legalyflying). For a sog with supersoil you would prolly have to cut with 50% coco and go pretty heavy on the teas wattering once a day.
Basicly everytime i change my room around and decide between sog or 3 foot bushes, it comes down to do i want to water and feed more or spend allot more time trimming after harvest. To quote bubbles from trailer park boys "i fuckin'hate harvesting"