600w in cabinet?

[herbofwar]

I am going to be growing a scrog soil grow in
a black and Decker cabinet that is 76.75"h x 31.63"h x 21.25"d... This is about 4 sq feet of surface space... Assuming ventilation and temperature conditions are fine (using 480cfm blower sucking out the exhaust end).... Would 600w be overkill fir this space? Or would I see better yield than the 400w hps I was looking at?

My ideal situation is one or two indoor grows per year (during the winter) to meet my personal consumption needs - which I figure would be about a 16 - 18 oz. a year...

 

[RubeGoldberg]

for 2x2 feet you'll enjoy 400w a lot more, in that small of a space you wont see any added gain by using a 600 over the 400

 

[glasseye]

put a dimmable 600W in there and then you have your light after outgrowing the cabinet!

 

[DeoXy]

I *personally use a dimable 600w HPS - (no need for new bulb)..for a 2x4ft tent and at first I thought it was overkill but It works out perfectly, I grow 4-6 massive/trained plants per cycle under it and usually dim it down to 400watts for veg then just bump it up after stretch, ideal light system IMO..

 

[herbofwar]

Thank you for the input... I really appreciate it... I was contemplating the dimmable 600w (sinc I was already looking at a dimmable Lumatek 400w).

I also thought I might alter my scrog screen from a straight horizontal, to a more concave style scrog to give myself a little more surface to grow on...


DeoXy: I love your grows man... what type of yield did you get off those Power kush? I was looking at ordering some of those for my grow this winter....

 

[DeoXy]

Thanks, wish I had a better camera to document them.. owell someday... I'm deff. still working on dialing in my current setup, it can be a pain in the ass but this round I think the 7 week long veg. will pay off..

The power kush yield well.. very little variation and pretty predictable results in the ones I've grown, the afghan kush in the cross really gives it the punch and the skunk #1 gives it the yield that's for sure.. it's deff. a good choice if you want to try something that has the best of both worlds.. I got mine as a 5pack - freebies from the boutique. Do you have any pref. to indica, sativa or mix of both? - which strain(s) have you been thinking about running? did you also think about a possible SoG? smaller containers but more of, shorter cycles = more harvests per year.. might be ideal given the smaller footprint?

I own a 600w lumatek dimable w/ a ushio bulb and highly recommend them, hope to see a grow log up from you soon, I like seeing what others can do, especially with space restrictions.. You have the right idea already on how to increase your end result within the space you will be using.. if I can help let me know

 

[herbofwar]

DeoXy: For strains, since this will be my first run with this new setup, I was going to opt for less expensive and something fairly stable - like a Skunk #1... Id prefer shorter flowering time... was also thinking of an AK variety... I grew that out once and really liked the smoke... I currently have a White Rhino with some bagseed out in the yard growing... hoping to get a nice mother out of that White Rhino... I grew it once and really enjoyed it.

I do have a CFL veg cabinet that Ill root clones in and veg for 4-6 weeks (possibly more).

I had toyed with the SOG idea... and really like the idea of being able to mix in some different strains to give me more variety... still not sure... Im just familiar with the scrog method and thought Id get better yields that way...

Hopefully once i get my cabinet in place and blower mounted int he attic, Ill start a jounral...

THanks for the info... its really helpful.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

A 250 would more than cover your 50wpsf recommendation. It's not just light, it's environment. 600w would be great but 128wpsf would be almost 2.5 times as hard to cool. Your system is as good as the weakest link. If you need the thing to be stealthy you can forget it with a 600 burning the paint off the sides. j/k

Seriously, if noise is no factor then you can up the amps.

 

[herbofwar]

DiscoBiscuit: Good point about stealth... I wouldn't say its not important for me, but it's certainly not the top of my priorities... I'd say "inconspicuous" but not stealthy.... Interesting about going with a 250... Now that we're conversing about this, I think I might just go with a dimmable 400... Mostly because its cheaper, but also because I've been reading of some expert growers hitting 2gpw... If i could even get 1gpw (with more experience) with a 400, that would be perfect for what i need.

Thanks again for all the input.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Have fun and stay safe.

 

[Coco_nuts]

Aah you might wanna consider a cooltube. HIDs in smaller spaces get out of control.

 

[herbofwar]

Definitely getting a Hydrafarm 6" cooltube

 

[cody2white]

I took my cool tube off my600. Wouldn't turn back either I hated cleaning the dust off of it everyday. Plus my temps wernt effected taking it off. I need all the lumens I can get on those babys

 

[herbofwar]

cody2white: what size grow area you working with?

 

[sso]

you dont want to go over 10 000 lumens, the returns in yield after that are neglible compared to the heat you need to cool

and about 7000 lm is just fine. many say you dont want to go over that if you havent got co2.

many do ok with 4-6000.

 

[DeoXy]

lol I don't use cooltubes but I do air cool my hood tho, 1 good wipe down of the glass and the bulb after each cycle helps a lot, other than that the air is pretty much filtered/scrubbed before passing thru.. keeps it cool enough to touch the glass w/o having to worry abt accidents that cost you $140 a bulb .. as far as heat goes, on my end of the map its been hot as tits the last few weeks w/o much sign of relief - 90+F so use of my port. a/c has been unavoidable, but it has a therm. and shuts off and hasn't shown much of an increase in cost thankfully.. the smaller the space the greater the heat buildup so keep that in mind...

You seem to be on the right path.. now just get to it.. btw a higher wattage like 600w - dimable will still allow you to run @ 400w as u desire while giving you the option to bump it up incase you increase your space in the future or just feel ballsy.. GL!

 

[herbofwar]

Thanks again for all the info...Cant wait to get this put together to show off my setup.

 

[cody2white]

cody2white: what size grow area you working with?

1pic my cab 4x2x3.5. 6"fan with phresh scrubber.

2pic I later removed that curtain. Its just not efficient.

3pic is my 4" cooltube.. which did great btw! But I opened the hole to 6" and didn't even need it anymore. Running the same size tube throughout works the best imo

I use lumatek 600 dimmable and id recommend it as well.
Goodluck

 

[herbofwar]

cody2white: ah yes, I remember seeing your grow... its very inspirational to me... thanks for sharing!

 

[BigGreenAL]

Deoxy, Ive run a 600 Lumatek in a 4.5 by 4.5 space, and it was a constant battle with heat even with an air cooled hood and vortek inline ventilation.

I believe the future of cab/small space grows is going to be a mixture of HPS and LED. Why not use an air cooled 400 CMH or HPS along with three or four 90watt LED units. You should be able to pull comparable weight with this setup as aposed to a 600, and not have the heat issues to deal with. Once I had my 600 dialed in I was pulling 14 0z a run with a chemdog x sourd scrog.