Light Selection Question

I

infdjedi

Well-Known Member
Hey All,

A few quick questions for all you grow-guru's out there about light selection. I am about to build a stealth flowering room from either of the following dimensions:

A: H: 4FT, W: 2FT, L: 2FT
B: H: 3FT, W: 2FT, L: 2FT

What are the ideal lights I should use for either A and B?

Should I use a 250WATT MH/HPS digital switchable ballast or a 400WATT MH/HPS digital switchable ballast?

I know that the 400WATT will obviously give me a higher yield.. but I am paranoid about thermal/power footprint.

Is that too small of a space to use a 400 WATT?

Lastly.. assuming all conditions are good how many plants should I use in either A/B and either light?


Thank you for any advice you can give.

-Newb
 
Brick Top

Brick Top

New Member
infdjedi said:
Hey All,

A few quick questions for all you grow-guru's out there about light selection. I am about to build a stealth flowering room from either of the following dimensions:

A: H: 4FT, W: 2FT, L: 2FT
B: H: 3FT, W: 2FT, L: 2FT

What are the ideal lights I should use for either A and B?

Should I use a 250WATT MH/HPS digital switchable ballast or a 400WATT MH/HPS digital switchable ballast?

I know that the 400WATT will obviously give me a higher yield.. but I am paranoid about thermal/power footprint.

Is that too small of a space to use a 400 WATT?

Lastly.. assuming all conditions are good how many plants should I use in either A/B and either light?


Thank you for any advice you can give.

-Newb
Click to expand...

Primary light (no natural light) coverages for the different grow light wattages are as follows.
  • 100 watt lights: 1.5FT x 1.5FT growing area
  • 150/175 watt lights: 2FT x 2FT growing area
  • 250 watt lights: 3FT x 3FT growing area
  • 400 watt lights: 5FT x 5FT growing area
  • 600 watt lights: 6FT x 6FT growing area
  • 1000 watt lights: 8FT x 8FT growing area

You can go with a higher wattage light than the information above says is needed for each area size if you can deal with the increased temperatures that will go with increasing wattage.

If you are concerned about a thermal footprint and have the money to spend use the following for your reflective material.

C3 anti-detection film:

A specialized type of mylar that exhibits the same properties as the 2mm thick mylar, but in addition to reflecting approximately 92-97% of the light, it also is 90% infrared proof, making your grow room all but invisible to IR scanning. This can also be attached in the same manner as foylon or mylar, and the same caution should be used to avoid creating hotspots in your room.


 
Z

zenbuddhist

Member
i recommend using t5's they make a dour bulb that is 2 feet long and 10 inches wide. in a 3x4 room you can fit 12 bulbs overhead and use strip lighting on the sides. I recommend this for the heat factor of your room. hps would provide a lot of heat for such a small room. you need really good ventilation. with t5's lower overall heat so less is needed for ventilation
 
Brick Top

Brick Top

New Member
zenbuddhist said:
i recommend using t5's they make a dour bulb that is 2 feet long and 10 inches wide. in a 3x4 room you can fit 12 bulbs overhead and use strip lighting on the sides. I recommend this for the heat factor of your room. hps would provide a lot of heat for such a small room. you need really good ventilation. with t5's lower overall heat so less is needed for ventilation
Click to expand...

A key point to growing herb is the total amount of grams produced to watts used and HID lighting by far beats any type of florescent grow lights made when it comes to grams produced to watts used.

I would suggest he pick the correct HID wattage light for the area size he will be growing in and then deal with the temperatures through adequate ventilation.

It will be more that just worth it to him in the end.


 
I

infdjedi

Well-Known Member
Thanks Brick,

So would you suggest the 250WATT then? It gets pretty cold in the winter where I live and I think that I could slowly create more ventelation if temps were too high in the 2W X 2L X 4H space.
 
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