Light mover questions. Is it worth it?!?!

[BongRipkenJR.]

I have a nice shed that I am converting into a new grow project. I am not a n00b, but have no experience with light movers. The shed is 10'X12' with a ceiling of 6' at the lowest part of the truss.

Now I was thinking about rocking 4X1000watt lights, but thought of light movers instead. I figure I have about 8'x8' of growing space. I was wondering if light movers would allow me to use only 2 x 1000watt lights. Will it save me money in electricity if I use light movers instead of 2 extra lights. Will I still see the yields? I am going to be rocking an all organic soil grow btw, but that doesnt have anything to do with anything. I can put pictures of the shed if anyone wants a better idea. Thanks buds!

 

[BongRipkenJR.]

So I did some research and decided on 2 x 1000 watt lights on a light rail 5 light mover. It should do just fine. Any info and stories of your experience with light movers would be still be nice. Thanks guys!

 

[compost]

Thats a pretty low on the ceiling. Maybe do vertical to get better light efficiency and try to avoid height problems.

 

[BongRipkenJR.]

I am not a fan of vertical grows. My center is actually 8 feet. I am good with training and topping so I dont believe I will have a problem. I have worked with some pretty low ceilings before. These will be in 5 gallons containers also. Thats why I only have an 8x8' area to work with. Should have about 7-8 feet of ceiling height.

 

[growshopfrank]

Most people run very close plant to light clearance when using a mover (a major advantage to using a mover) so to be safe plug the mover into a separate timer than the lights and run the mover for 15 to 20 minutes after the light shuts off to avoid scorching the nearest plants when the mover stops running many a grower has chased phantom problems due to this issue.

ps the light rail 5 is an excellent choice definitely top of the line in linear movers

 

[MegaHermie]

make sure you don't spread yourself too thin and check your watts per square foot to make sure you are good.. i've seen people do this and turn out with a lot of larfy buds, but done correctly you can crush it. lets your lights get closer to the plants too

 

[BongRipkenJR.]

Thanks guys! I never thought of having the light mover keep on moving a little while after the lights are off. I have never been a fan of 1000 watters and have enjoyed the ease of using 600 watt lights.

Do you think 2 1000 watt lights on the light rail five would be good for an 8'x8' area? I was always able to get roughly 4x4' per thousand watt light. If I can rock 4 pounds every 70 days with this set up I will be a happy camper.

My strain selection for this is a supposedly large producing Rascal OG cut and perhaps pineapple express. I wasn't to keen on the P.E., but the dude said they chose the strongest pheno out of about 30 seeds and it was a definite keeper!

 

[BongRipkenJR.]

I also have a lumen detector which I use religiously. An acquaintance of mine up in trinity county, who had the largest and most fantastic garden I have ever seen, told me that it was all attributed to a perfect light spread. He also used 600's and was getting well over a pound per light off of chemdawg. I forgot which variety it was though.

 

[riverrat]

I've been using a mover for several years, the trick is as MegaHermie says. Dont spread yourself too thin. The lights should move about a foot or so back and forth. I was running 3 2x2 trays under 2 600 watt lights on a mover. Before the mover was installed, I'ed get uneven growth. More growth in the middle and less on the ends of the trays. The light mover evened all the growth out. on a staggared cycle I would harvest a tray every 3 weeks. I now with the new house only have room for two trays and don't really need the mover but still use it because I had it on hand, and it still helps for even growth. It will not however make up for not enough lights.

RR

 

[Lazyman]

No, 2Kw is not enough for an 8X8' area. Light movers don't really increase how much area a light can cover (certainly not double) but really work to light the plants from all sides, instead of you manually rotating the plants.

Personally I hate light movers, moving parts in gardens are usually more trouble than they're worth, and aircooling moving hoods SUCKS. Simplest lighting would be 4 X 1KW in a square grid (max light overlap) but best use of space/efficiency is usually a horseshoe of 7-8 X 600W's instead. Have as little walkway and as much lighting as you can fit!

 

[BongRipkenJR.]

I am worried about not having enough light. I will be rocking an indoor air conditioner and c02 so I dont want to exhaust my lights at all really. I also dont want a $350/month electric bill. I figure all I need is to have them moving about 4 feet so that it has an even spread. The original plan was to have 4-1000 watt lights, but cooling all of that would be a bitch. I have people telling me that light movers are great and it should be enough and I have people telling me otherwise. I was also thinking about compensating with a couple led grow lights because I can get them fairly cheap. Not sure if that is a good idea, but it might help.

 

[riverrat]

co2 wont do you any good if you dont have enough light

 

[BongRipkenJR.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJwR91q_Obc

This is a very similar setup to mine. It seems to be about 8x8' and the guy says he gets about a gram per watt.