Some light suggestions for a beginner.

Slopy Joe

Slopy Joe

Active Member
I'm going to build a darkroom area for photography in my basement, one of the rooms will be for my photography stuff and I'm thinking of dedicating a separate room for growing. I've read tons of guides but I'm still a little unsure on the lighting. The room that I'll use for growing will be a decent size though I don't know the exact size yet, I'm thinking maybe eight by eight feet. Since this is my first time I'm only gonna start off with two or three plants. So any light suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Oh and since I'm going to be working with chemicals in the other room, I'm going to have good ventilation for both rooms that will suck air out.
 
mannurse801

mannurse801

Well-Known Member
If you are only doing a few plants at first, go with a 600HPS, and a conversion bulb if you like for the vegging temperature light. Begin your plants either under CFL's or fluoro tubes, T5's.....
the 600 will give you more than enough light for now, but you can always add a second 600W tht will illuminate your whole room when you start to grow more plants... and yes, you will want to grow more...
 
Acidburn999819

Acidburn999819

Well-Known Member
mannurse801 said:
If you are only doing a few plants at first, go with a 600HPS, and a conversion bulb if you like for the vegging temperature light. Begin your plants either under CFL's or fluoro tubes, T5's.....
the 600 will give you more than enough light for now, but you can always add a second 600W tht will illuminate your whole room when you start to grow more plants... and yes, you will want to grow more...
Click to expand...

if you have the money this is the perfect idea
 
GoldenGanja13

GoldenGanja13

Well-Known Member
Slopy Joe said:
About how much would a set up like that cost?
Click to expand...
I am getting ready to start my own First garden and I am going with 4 foot 8 bulb t-5s the cost is 250 with the bulbs/blue
And I am getting a digital 600 watt balast the cost there is 200, now I need reflector, cheap one is 40. and a bulb 100.
Now all I need is the basics.
This is all from my local hydro shop, but online I could of saved around 80$
 
Brick Top

Brick Top

New Member
Slopy Joe said:
I'm going to build a darkroom area for photography in my basement, one of the rooms will be for my photography stuff and I'm thinking of dedicating a separate room for growing. I've read tons of guides but I'm still a little unsure on the lighting. The room that I'll use for growing will be a decent size though I don't know the exact size yet, I'm thinking maybe eight by eight feet. Since this is my first time I'm only gonna start off with two or three plants. So any light suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Oh and since I'm going to be working with chemicals in the other room, I'm going to have good ventilation for both rooms that will suck air out.
Click to expand...

My suggestion would be to think about the future and not just what you initially plan to do. You may only plan to grow two or three plants now but unless you have major problems and get really frustrated with growing and give up you will grow more in the future and you will then need more to do it with.

If you have the bucks I would buy a light setup to handle the largest number of plants you would consider growing. If you buy small low wattage lights and then want to add numbers of plants you either need to buy and run multiple lights or replace what you already have with something totally different.

So my suggestion would be buy a metal halide light for vegging and a high pressure sodium for flowering. If you can only buy just one light for reasons of cost buy one HPS in a wattage that they make conversion bulbs for so you can then run a MH bulb for vegging and then later just switch bulbs to veg your plants with.

Your ventilation needs will depend mainly on your heat levels from whatever wattage light(s) you go with. You can go different routes and buy lights with glass that boxes in the reflector and has places to attach flexible ducts to and with an inline fan draw out the heat so your room temperature does not get high to begin with, or you could buy another version of that sort of ventilated light called a Cool Tube.

But again think towards the future and build according to that. It is far better to only buy one setup than to buy one and then in a year have to upgrade or replace it. You can never have to much light or to much ventilation so it is not as if you can cause a problem for your first grow or two by having a higher wattage light setup or more ventilation than would be needed. All you would be doing is wasting some light. Of course that also does mean wasting some electricity running the higher wattage light and higher volume ventilation system but then it won’t cost you more then if you go small to begin with and then have to upgrade or replace everything in a year. Plus the few extra dollars you pay per month for electricity will be an easier pill to swallow then buying everything you would need in the future to upgrade or replace what you have and paying for it all at once.

I sometimes use for an example how I used to be in the boat business and would get first time boat buyers who would come in and say they want a small lower powered boat. I would tell them that they will not be happy and would be better off with something larger. I would be more tactful and of course explain why I said they would be unhappy and most times they would listen and then they would later say I gave them good advice. Of those who did not listen I would see them again, sometimes before the end of the first summer, and they would say they should have listened and bought a bigger more powerful boat because they were not happy with what they picked.

Most new growers think to small. Unless someone is doing a cabinet grow or a small closet grow and will not expand and always have certain limitations that will keep their needs very small it is smart to think to the future and then build for that.

I am not saying that you have to go out and buy 1000 watt lights but you shouldn’t be thinking 150 watts or 175 watts or 250 watts either. The same goes with an air intake/exhaust system. You don’t need something that will suck the plants out of the room but be sure to get something that will do the job for whatever heat and odor you may encounter in the future.

Just think it out very carefully and like I keep repeating think about the future and not what you will initially do and build for the maximum you feel sure you will ever need and you will later be happy that you did.

You can find some good deals on lighting at the site below.

http://www.htgsupply.com/growlightsubcategories.asp?categoryID=1
 
CaptainCanabis

CaptainCanabis

Well-Known Member
Awesome post Brick Top! Too bad I already started my set up and will have to upgrade in the future if I really get this thing going.
 
Slopy Joe

Slopy Joe

Active Member
I would love to grow a large amount, but unfortunately my grow room will also be a storage room for photography equipment. I know that it is best to dedicate a room strictly for growing, but I can't. The space that I am setting aside for growing will only be able to accommodate a few plants at a time. The reason my darkroom area will double as a grow room is because some of the chemicals that I will be working with have a strong smell. If anyone ever asks about any "strange" smells coming from my grow area I'll simply say that it is the chemicals. Also the fact that I'm working with chemicals will give me an excuse to set up a vent system, and I will be able to completely lock the area when I am not around.
 
Brick Top

Brick Top

New Member
Slopy Joe said:
I would love to grow a large amount, but unfortunately my grow room will also be a storage room for photography equipment. I know that it is best to dedicate a room strictly for growing, but I can't. The space that I am setting aside for growing will only be able to accommodate a few plants at a time. The reason my darkroom area will double as a grow room is because some of the chemicals that I will be working with have a strong smell. If anyone ever asks about any "strange" smells coming from my grow area I'll simply say that it is the chemicals. Also the fact that I'm working with chemicals will give me an excuse to set up a vent system, and I will be able to completely lock the area when I am not around.
Click to expand...

I understand but you did say you thought you would have about 8ft. X 8ft. to grow in.

Look at the info below and think about your 8ft. X 8ft. and then decide for yourself.

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
That may be enough to tell you that if you were thinking low wattage that you may want to think a little higher wattage since you would end up with about 8ft. X 8ft. to work with. You may not fill the entire space with plants but as I said consider the future and what you might likely do and build for that instead of what your initial plans may be that might work well with a low wattage light setup but not work at all well for anything larger.

Just something to think about. But just ignore it if it doesn't seem to be the way for you to go.
 
Slopy Joe

Slopy Joe

Active Member
Brick Top said:
I understand but you did say you thought you would have about 8ft. X 8ft. to grow in.

Look at the info below and think about your 8ft. X 8ft. and then decide for yourself.

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

That may be enough to tell you that if you were thinking low wattage that you may want to think a little higher wattage since you would end up with about 8ft. X 8ft. to work with. You may not fill the entire space with plants but as I said consider the future and what you might likely do and build for that instead of what your initial plans may be that might work well with a low wattage light setup but not work at all well for anything larger.

Just something to think about. But just ignore it if it doesn't seem to be the way for you to go.
Click to expand...
The room I'm using is about 8 by 8, however it is not only for growing. I was definitely thinking of going with 400 or more initially. I looked at the link that you suggested and I found this http://mathpartyanimals.com/dahr.php?q=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5odGdzdXBwbHkuY29tL2dyb3dsaWdodHMuYXNwP2NhdGVnb3J5SUQ9MSZzdWJjYXRlZ29yeUlEPTE1NSZ0eXBlSUQ9NTU= Would that be a good start? Or am I looking at something completely different?
 
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