1200w in 4x4 tent?

[Bennyweed1]

I want to pack two 600 watt hps bulbs in 4x4 tent. I run a rdwc sys so stacking the bulbs and plant sites would not really work.


Would there be a problem if these bulbs were side by side about 12" apart? I only plan to run 6 plants at a time.

Ventilation will be all in check. Just more or less wondering if two bulbs side by side will be okay in a 4x4 space?

 

[ipumpon]

if you can cool it, go for it.. i've seen it done before.

 

[dansbuds]

sure you can . check this out benny .

http://www.hydrofarm.com/product.php?itemid=13646

 

[Bennyweed1]

Right on. Thanks. I'm tackling this project this weekend.

I have two 8" 750cfm In lines ill use for intake and exhaust. The tent is only 104cu ft. So I'll get 7 or so complete air exchanges ever 1 min. The intake will be fresh air also thanks to a near by window.

 

[Bennyweed1]

Second thought, These plants are somewhat tall. About 24" before bloom. Would it be better the stack the bulbs or run them side by side?

 

[ipumpon]

if it was me I'd stack em, but that's just personal preference. It'll give you a little extra space for monster buds.

 

[Bennyweed1]

Hey on a side note, the reason I am asking this question is because I have another journal opened here:

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=272283&page=27

documenting a vert grow in the hydro section. As of recent, I loaded a new batch of six into my bloom area from the veg area (two different spots for a perpetual cycle)

And once my 6 large healthy plants left the veg area and went into the bloom area the roots went dormant. No infection or root rot, but just stopped growing. It was super weird.

I flushed a number a times, removed a big aluminum heat exchanger I had in the control bucket thinking it was leaching. The plants were starting to look like they were going to die, so in a effort to save them, I placed them back into the 4x4 veg tent and over night they looked 100% better.

So the problem rest in the bloom area. I dont know what to check out. As of right now I have the system filled with a strong bleach and soap solution. I am going to let this run for 24 hours, scrub and rinse well and shop vac the bottom of every bucket.

I just hope it isnt some component leaching into the nutrient solution which is why I want to scratch that whole bloom area and transfer everything into the 4x4 tent.

Maybe someone can lend some advice here? Thanks.

 

[komboloi]

Six plants that just stopped growing? The only time that's ever happened to me was with a large temp differential I didn't recognize. I was moving plants from veg to flower in the winter. They were getting 18 hours of HIDs and sitting on a table one day; the next day they were getting 12 hours of warm HIDs and sitting on a cold concrete floor. Result: Zero growth for a week.

Aside from a weird atmospheric change (sealed room, no CO2) I can't think of anything else that would just stop healthy plants from growing. With bugs, nutrient issues, or bacteria, you get signs of illness. Possible weird light stress?

What do you feel as though you've ruled out? What all changed when you moved the plants from veg to flower?

 

[Bennyweed1]

Six plants that just stopped growing? The only time that's ever happened to me was with a large temp differential I didn't recognize. I was moving plants from veg to flower in the winter. They were getting 18 hours of HIDs and sitting on a table one day; the next day they were getting 12 hours of warm HIDs and sitting on a cold concrete floor. Result: Zero growth for a week.

Aside from a weird atmospheric change (sealed room, no CO2) I can't think of anything else that would just stop healthy plants from growing. With bugs, nutrient issues, or bacteria, you get signs of illness. Possible weird light stress?

What do you feel as though you've ruled out? What all changed when you moved the plants from veg to flower?

Thats the thing, I dont know. Aside from the veg area and the bloom area begin different, pretty much both are the same. HID lighting (MH for veg, HPS bloom), both are RDWC but different containers (I am using rubbermaid office cans in bloom, maybe the plastic is leaching), both are sitting on concrete floors and both temps are very close (water and atmospheric).

Here is the main difference. I wired a dehumidifier up to run as a water chiller. A lot of people have done this, but instead of dropping the copper coil from the dehumidifier directly in the control bucket (I know copper oxidizes) , I used a aluminum intercooler with a pump directing the chilled water from the dehumidifier bucket through the intercooler.

The only thing I can think of is maybe that aluminum intercooler is Chinese made and the aluminum isnt really aluminum and it was leaching into the nutrients.

Its all very strange to me. Once I scrub everything out tomorrow and clean well, i will put some different plants into the system and watch the roots to see if they continue to grow.

 

[JKD]

Benny - a different style of dual bulb reflector than the other posted.

http://www.hhydro.com/hydrofarm-growzilla-dual-bulb-reflector.html

I plan on using one of those with 2 different spectrum 600w lamps and 2 superspreaders in a 4x4.

I will have both vents in the fitting going to a 'Y' coupling and then through an inline Carbon Filter and to a 10" exhaust fan.

 

[LSWM]

I did 2400 in a 6x6 tent/room I built. Ceiling was ~15' however. Hardest part was keeping the temps UP during lights off.

Anyways, it was a 12 plant oval around stacked 600s, radius was ~18" from bulbs all around. I had to push the side of the oval ito the corner so i could acess the most area around them. Plants were massively overgrown and I didn't get the fat nugs I was looking for. Still turned out well however with almost 3.5#s.

Plant access would be my #1 priority. In that size area. Some sort of lazy Susan could work wonderfully.

 

[Sleeper7784]

Bro I run 1k in a 4x4 tray no prob. I've been considering trying stacked 600s through the summer because I'm having temp issues in my side by side 2k room. We've already had a couple 100 degree days in a row, and my room couldn't handle it. So I'm considering my options so I can try and pump thru the summer.

 

[420ish]

i run 2 600's in a 4x4 x6 foot cabinet.i run them stacked.i like it!i only have 4 plants in there.i have run 1 6 inch vortex style filter fan and 80 inch passive intake and had to drop lights down to 400 sometimes.i have not had to do that since i added a 8 inch fan still running the same passive intakes.good luck!

 

[Bennyweed1]

I have the tent up and running. While I was fitting in the plants, I noticed I had thrips! A good amount on probably 75% of the plants. I sprayed everything, and I mean everything, with monterey garden insect spray with spinosad.

I have never seen thrips before, and now that I think of it, I have had them for probably the past 7 days. Anyway, that spinosad is said to be 100% effective against the lil pricks.

Ill spray every 48 hours for the next 8 days.

Pictures shortly

 

[Bennyweed1]

Here is the tent. Sorry about the picture quality, you know what those HPS bulbs do to a shitty camera.

Everything is a little droopy, I was bending them around and fitting them in the screen.....plus a heavy application of the monatery garden spray.

Temps are 72f and 47RH

 

[Bennyweed1]

Here is the tent. Sorry about the picture quality, you know what those HPS bulbs do to a shitty camera.

Everything is a little droopy, I was bending them around and fitting them in the screen.....plus a heavy application of the monatery garden spray.

Temps are 72f and 47RH @ 1200w

Here is a little 3x3 tent with some organic soil plants. Just a solo 400w, will probably switch to an HPS and flower in a week.

 

[Bennyweed1]

Those lil thrips are gone. Its pretty amazing how well that monterey garden spray works.

The plants look night and day different. Thick green growth is filling in and the plants are now growing through and filling in the trellis.

I think I will will flip them either this Thursday or Friday.



Now onto business. As stated in the original thread headline....im running 1200w in a 4x4. Am I wasting energy, can the plants even utilize all that light? Should I turn both my ballast down to 400w or will I yield a greater amount at 1200?

According to the basic principle of total wattage divided by sq ft @ 1200w gives me 75w per sq ft. Of course that equation is more tailored for your regular run of the mills horizontal grow.........Im just asking the question

 

[Mister_D]

Those lil thrips are gone. Its pretty amazing how well that monterey garden spray works.

The plants look night and day different. Thick green growth is filling in and the plants are now growing through and filling in the trellis.

I think I will will flip them either this Thursday or Friday.



Now onto business. As stated in the original thread headline....im running 1200w in a 4x4. Am I wasting energy, can the plants even utilize all that light? Should I turn both my ballast down to 400w or will I yield a greater amount at 1200?

According to the basic principle of total wattage divided by sq ft @ 1200w gives me 75w per sq ft. Of course that equation is more tailored for your regular run of the mills horizontal grow.........Im just asking the question

The answer to your question depends on what you define as a waste. Generally speaking around 50 wpsf is considered the point where the gains aren't justified when considering the increased power costs. However in your case the added cost is minimal because you only have two lights, and therefore might be acceptable considering the boost in yield and quality you'll achieve. At least provided you can control the environment properly with that much light .

 

[Bennyweed1]

The answer to your question depends on what you define as a waste. Generally speaking around 50 wpsf is considered the point where the gains aren't justified when considering the increased power costs. However in your case the added cost is minimal because you only have two lights, and therefore might be acceptable considering the boost in yield and quality you'll achieve. At least provided you can control the environment properly with that much light .

Thanks for the replay man. I ran it the first couple days at a full 1200w and temps never jumped higher then 78 degrees. But the amount of radiant heat seemed like it was to intense. The plants are around 10" away from the bulbs at the fairest point. In the middle I have plants 8" from the bulbs or a lil closer.

My hand would get hot when checking, so I think it just felt to intense in that respect. I think I will run full power like weeks 3-6 and back down to 800 for the others....or maybe not...ill play it by ear I guess.

 

[Mister_D]

I would run them full power unless the plants begin to show VPD issues from the heat (i.e clawing of the leaves) What's your humidity like with both lights burning?