Does watts have anything to do with potency?

[Noobian]

I'm not the person to be asking about wpsf numbers as all that tends to make my head spin but from the looks of your cab the 150 should be just fine in there. The goal you want is 50 watts per square foot (again I don't know how they get that calculation) but it looks like it would be more than enough. Is that the 150 you are planning on using? If so you might not even have to use a cooltube since that model light is not remote ballasted. Remote ballast means taking the ballast out of your grow area and locating it in a different place. The reason you do this is because the ballast is the part of your light that makes the majority of the heat. If you can move that outside of your intended grow area you will take your heat down at least 50%, maybe more, making a cooltube unneccessary. West if I were you I would go check out the Micro forum here on IC and see what some other people are doing, that was where I got introduced to this place and where I learned A LOT of what I know today. There's even a thread dedicated to 150 watt lights that's about 300 pages long so there has to be something you can use in there. Micro forum is located under Grower's Forums...

 

[Dr.Greenthmb420]

Watts usually are a pretty good indicator of Lumen output and with the extra output comes bigger growth, with bigger growth comes bigger buds and with bigger buds comes more resin glans, not that they are more potent, but there is more of them to have a greater result. This is out lined in Jorges Cervantes Medical Marijuana Bible. Revised edition

 

[SmilinBob]

Stick with the 150 for that space.

Definitely do some reading in the ventilation threads. Here's a link you need to check out:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=40637


I'll just say adding intake that is two times the exhaust area is a backwards bare minimum. Read ventilation threads to understand.

If you can remote your ballast it will reduce heat also. Magnetic ballast get pretty hot.

 

[WESTCRAZY1]

I'm not the person to be asking about wpsf numbers as all that tends to make my head spin but from the looks of your cab the 150 should be just fine in there. The goal you want is 50 watts per square foot (again I don't know how they get that calculation) but it looks like it would be more than enough. Is that the 150 you are planning on using? If so you might not even have to use a cooltube since that model light is not remote ballasted. Remote ballast means taking the ballast out of your grow area and locating it in a different place. The reason you do this is because the ballast is the part of your light that makes the majority of the heat. If you can move that outside of your intended grow area you will take your heat down at least 50%, maybe more, making a cooltube unneccessary. West if I were you I would go check out the Micro forum here on IC and see what some other people are doing, that was where I got introduced to this place and where I learned A LOT of what I know today. There's even a thread dedicated to 150 watt lights that's about 300 pages long so there has to be something you can use in there. Micro forum is located under Grower's Forums...

Yes this is the 150w light i was planning on using, but i didnt quiet get what you're saying about the ballast part? This 150w looks like it has a built in ballast so wouldnt this mean it'll get hotter in my grow box since the ballast is also in my grow room?

 

[SmilinBob]

Yes, you're ballast will contribute to the heat. Depending on the exhaust system you plan on using it may or may not be a problem.

How many CFM is your fan rated for?

If your snap on type carbon filters actually work to remove odor you can easily cool that space buy using the 2 intake fans as exhaust and having passive intakes.

Which is the best route to take so you don't have to calculate in pressure and out pressure. KISS, right?

 

[WESTCRAZY1]

Each of the 5" fan is rated at 90 cubic feet a minute. Is this enough to pull cool air in and vent the hot air out?

 

[Yes4Prop215]

some of the best weed i grew was under a 150watt HPS...there was only three ounces of it...

 

[SmilinBob]

Ventilation 101:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=112862

Crash course in airflow:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=100823

DIY Link O Rama:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=40637

Passive intake is your best route. You don't need to pull air in. Your exhaust pulling air out will create negative pressure. Which we learned in the ventilation threads, is basically a void that needs to be filled. This void is automatically filled because of the negative pressure combined with passive intakes.

Trust me it's a lot simpler to understand by those who took the time to think it out and construct it carefully for everyone to understand.

 

[mriko]

I'd rather go with the 150w hps, more lumen than with the 8 CFLs. If you fear too much heat maybe you can set your bulb with a ventilated cool tube ?

Irie !

 

[olddirtybastard]

if youre going the cfl route, it has been proven that multiple 23-32w bulbs put out more lumens over a single high powered cfl. hope that helps

 

[mriko]

haven't tried multiple CFLs, but ran my first grow with a single 250w cfl bulb. 150w hps prooved superior, producing larger, longer, thicker buds.

Irie !

 

[hazemaker]

IVE READ THE PLANT DOES BETTER WITH 1 LIGHT VERSE SEVERAL. HOWEVER i HAVE 10 BULBS AND I GET NICE BUDS, IN SMALL SPACE! I NOTE THAT 23W IS THE CHEAPEST ON THE MARKET AND U CAN BUY EM 4 8.99PACK OF 3, SO IF MONEY IS ISSUE 30BUCKS U GOT LIGHTS! IF NOT I WOULD JUST BREAK DOWN AND GET A 250W FLORO! i HAVE AND A FRIEND HAVE BEEN VERY HAPPY WITH MANY BULBS!

 

[zen_trikester]

Hey West, a few things.

As has been said, wattage won't make your buds more potent, but your skills will. You are in the right place so read, read, read!!!! The biggest thing I did to increase potency and weight was to let my buds finish. watch your trichromes and get a good 20% amber +/- to taste.

As for the lights, I'm a cfl guy. I have a cab that is 19w x 14d x 30h. I run 6 @ 42w (actual wattage) cfl's and cool the cab with a single 5" pc fan. I pull about a zip a month out of that cabinet and after about a year and a half I am just starting to dial things in. I hope to double that in the upcoming months.

From what I have read, lumens don't simply add up to be the same. From the standpoint of penetration you will get more from a brighter light source. That is to say 2 @ 20w cfl's won't give you as much penetration as 1 @ 40w. That is my understanding anyways. I recommend using the 42's for this reason. The lower the wattage however, the closer you can get the bulb to the plant because they emit less radiant heat. With my 42's I keep my plants 2 - 4 inches away. The way my cab is set up, I have 3 bulbs on each side wall facing in. The right side is about 6" lower than the left. I run perpetual, so I always have plants near finishing and some just starting. I use blocks of wood or whatever under the pots to get my canopy near even and plants that are getting close to finishing get the middle area of the cabinet which allows the lower lights on the right to provide a ton of side lighting to the taller plants in the middle area. some people have bulbs on the cabinet sides specifically for side lighting, but I prefer to have my cabinet stuffed full and there is no room for side lighting except for how I am doing it. This works very well for me. All my friends want to meet "my guy" so they can get this bomb ass weed I always seem to have! lol

as for fans, if you don't want your house to smell like a pot farm, be very careful using intake fans. There is no need for them really. Just use a stronger exhaust fan. FME, a 90cfm low-db coolermaster or silenex pc fan can cool 250w of cfl through a carbon scrubber no problem. I even run mine at 7.5 volt instead of 12 to keep it a little quieter and it is still pulling enough air to get the job done. I also run my lights from 10pm till 10am to help with heat issues in the summer, and that works out well for my schedule.

As was implied by an earlier poster, growing weed is a completely different thing than using it. I know that weed is not addictive, but I also know that growing weed most definitely is! I started my little adventure well over a year ago and I STILL just can't wait to open my cabinet up each night after the lights go on. Growing is a really enjoyable hobby!!! Good luck!

Jed

 

[WESTCRAZY1]

Zen, so do u think i can get away with running just 1 5" intake fan and then run 2 5" exhaust fans? Plus i'll have a 4" circulating fan inside my cab cooling the air inside. Do u think i can get away with running a 250w hps in there with what i mention? Or do u suggest just sticking to the 150w hps for better yield based on my grow measurements?

 

[SmilinBob]

All the information you need is in those links I posted for you. All these questions have already been asked an answered. I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but it's there..

 

[hazemaker]

AMEN to that my brother, Growing is like a full on heroin addiction!

 

[headband 707]

So im under the impression that less watts will produce less potent buds, is this true? What i want to know is if i grow some buds using 150w or 250w hps, will the buds be just as potent as the same buds that was grown in a room with 400w-600w hps? The reason why im asking this is my current living situation will only allow me to grow using 150w or 250w hps because of the size of my grow room but if this will result in less potent buds then i would rather not go through with it. I am a legal mmj patient and im sick of buying overprice meds at the dispensaries and i figure i'll just grow my own meds. But like i said if growing under 150w or 250w will not give the buds its full potency then i would rather just not go through with it.

Well yes and no lol.. For example if you have an amazing cut and you grow it under 400watt you still get pretty high. If you have that same cut and you grow it under 1000watt your going to get more out of your bud and perhaps see more potential out of the bud hence stronger..More is always better in this case.. peace out Headband707

 

[hazemaker]

1.) Super crop
2.)keep your canopy even so that your plants get the most from your bulb(s)
3.) READ EVERYTHING YOU CAN, and question question question!
4.) you will have good grows and bad grows, you will overfertilize u will under fertilize you WILL OVER WATER, you may or may not underwater, you will shear panic and you will have overwheling elation, but whatever you do, learn from your mistakes! keep your plants happy and they will keep you happy and medicated. Whatever you want to do there is multiple ways of doing it, LEARN THEM ALL. Now im off to take my own advise and get back to learning, GOODLUCK.

If i may appeal one more time to you : GO CFL you can hold me personaly accountable! offcourse i smoke to much haze and will likely forget!

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Zen, so do u think i can get away with running just 1 5" intake fan and then run 2 5" exhaust fans? Plus i'll have a 4" circulating fan inside my cab cooling the air inside. Do u think i can get away with running a 250w hps in there with what i mention? Or do u suggest just sticking to the 150w hps for better yield based on my grow measurements?

You shouldn't need intake fans. You'll run cooler with 2x passive intake per exhaust fan. Try one exhaust fan with 2x passive intake first. A fan blowing between the lamp and canopy helps loads.

 

[Greenheart]

4.) you will have good grows and bad grows, you will overfertilize u will under fertilize you WILL OVER WATER, you may or may not underwater, you will shear panic and you will have overwheling elation, but whatever you do, learn from your mistakes! keep your plants happy and they will keep you happy and medicated. Whatever you want to do there is multiple ways of doing it,

This should be on a T-shirt.

It is all how you want to start.

t5 hood
multiple cfls
150w hps

the 150hps and 4 bulb 4' t5 (193w?) both put out similar lumens and with cfl's you would need 4 of the larger 69w (4200 lumen) twisties. HPS is efficient, cfl doesn't put out the heat and has more range in spectrums it's a trade-off.