600Watt HPS/MH Grow Space QUESTION...

First off, hi and thanks for stopping by my first grow post! I may post pictures of this grow but for now I'm still working on gathering materials and planning so that's what I'll leave this post for. I'll most likely do a log on the grow in about a month. (Waiting for April 4th so it's legal!)

I am a caregiver for a MMPatient here in Michigan. I want to do 12 plants, most likely in 5Gal. grow bags as they are easier to work with compared to buckets. Hydro is out of the question. I don't have the patience for the extreme needs of a complete 12 plant hydro system (know people who'v done em'.).

The TOTAL space I have to work with is an 8.6FT(L) x 6FT(W) x 6.5FT(H) room in a basement.

Now given the basic 3000Lumen per sq. ft. rule, I calculate that a one ballast HPS/MH setup should be able to effectively utilize a grow space of about 4FT x 4FT. That would yield a 48000 Lumen requirement. We'll say that a 600Watt HPS/MH will yield effectively ~ 87000Lumen.

I will be using Mylar for all 4 sides of the 4FT x 4FT section in the room. (as well as the cieling and floor) The mylar will be hung from the cieling and tightly tensioned up and secured to the floor on all 4 sides. One side will be removeable/moveable for access. (Technically I'll have access to all sides as the 4FT square will be in the center of the room, so..) Corners will be taped for light proofing.

Now when I say effectively, I mean Effectively. I want dense flower production and as little light problems as possible. Heat shouldn't be an issue but if it becomes an issue, it's in a basement and the facility has central air conditioning so the grow space temps will be effectively controlled accordingly. Also, there will be ventilation at the top of the grow space. Most likely a Y pipe on the actual dryer vent tube with a nice blower fan. (<- any suggestions?)

My question to some of you more experienced cultivationists is would that light output:grow space ratio be sufficient or would I require more space for 12 plants??

I know a lot of it is strain dependant so an FYI, the strain will most likely be of heavy Indica decent but I do not know specifics at this time. A bigger light is out of the question as the budget has to be kept somewhat low. (<$450USD)

Any ideas and/or input/suggestions is greatly apprciated!

I do beds of 20, with 2 600 watts over each bed so thats 75 watts per sqft. so from what i read your space is about 8 by 6 thats about 48 sqft with one 600 watt thats about 12 watts per sqft assuming your filling the whole space with plants. thats no a very good ratio. youve got quite a bit of room but your gonna have to pick a corner or sumthing so you can concentrate your light. you can do any ratio you want though it all just comes down to how big(dense) you want your plants to be in the end. if i only had a 600 watt i would do 6 med sized plants in a bed so they have all the room to grow there roots that they want. if you tailored everything correctly you could expect like 12 ounces or so, thats what i would look to expect, thats not any sort of standard, this is all dependant on your style of garden, how well its set up, how much time(love)you put in, etc.

Off subject a lil bit high tech garden supplies has good deals on 600 watt lights right now, there just bare ballasts there only a hundred bucks though, or there digital ballast are sweet and there only 75 dollars more. now you can spend money on a cool in-line hood er sumting so you can get the most ouuta your space. They sell ballast boxes on bghydro.com for like 20 bucks, if you wanted sumthin to put one of those bare ballasts in for cheap. can also get spare parts from sun light supply so you can put all the upgraded plugs and receptacles and such on your box!!! This is where i build all my lights from, theve got 3 year warranty's on them so if you ever have a problem you can send it back for repairs or a new one!! there under ballast rebuild kits on high tech garden supply. much luck.

Please read the entire post before you put forth your opinion. Although it is greatly appreciated and I'll take some of your useful information into good consideration.

To clarify, I never said I was using the entire room for the grow space...4FT x 4FT is what I figured would be a large enough space. And I'm not suggesting that I'm growing full grown Sativas or anything either. Plants will be Indica dominant and will most likely be trained in some way.

I'm not asking how much I'll yield either. I will make sure I yield what is necessary.

I'm basically asking from experienced growers if the alotted "space vs. light" situation here will be sufficient to eliminate the plants not having enough light...I know a good deal about growing, mostly from research on awesome forums like this one. However, I'v only made a few puny attempts at indoor growing.

If I can go with a slightly larger area and still retain good usable light over the distance then that would be awesome, but I'm not sure I can do that, or should rather. Based on your response it wouldn't be a good idea.

Better yet, I'll reword the question.

Using a 600Watt HPS what is the LARGEST sq. footage you would RECOMMEND trying to grow with, based from experience?

Of course you can flower 12 plants in that space. In SOG grows people flower 4 plants per sq ft. In my opinion 5 gal containers are gonna be way bigger than you need for that many plants in that amount of space. 3 gal square pots seem like a more appropriate size to me. I would top them once and train them to 3 or 4 branches. Flower your plants at about a foot tall depending on how much you think they'll stretch. Good luck.

Using a 600Watt HPS what is the LARGEST sq. footage you would RECOMMEND trying to grow with, based from experience?

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If you search the forum for 600W grows, you will find many different real examples.

But 4X4 would be as big as you would probably want to go, many people go 3x3 with a 600.

I would say that a 4x4 area will work well enough. But I would keep your plants pretty short as you want to try and get as much light penetration as you possibly can to the entire plant and not just the top portion. I would say that you would want to finish them at no more than 18 to 24 inches tall each (max). depending on what kinda pots your using, you could really pack em in there if your using 1 gal buckets...say five rows of five easily. And with a great weight producer you should be as gold as gold.
Hope this helps some!
Peace

Awesome! Thanks for the information everyone!

I MAY be able to get my hands on a 1000watt system!

If I was able to I was thinking 6FT X 4FT...

What do you guys think?

Anyone.... ?

If you are wanting to go with 6x4 foot area I would add a light mover so that you can get proper coverage.

kansasgrown said:

If you are wanting to go with 6x4 foot area I would add a light mover so that you can get proper coverage.

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I was thinking about that as a matter of fact. Because I was looking at different hood types for the bulb sockets and from what I can see not many would even come close to covering a 6ft. wide area. Especially since the light should be kept within 2-3ft from the plant canopy.

But see if I went with a 1000watt I'd use a cool tube for sure. So a track-mover setup would be almost necessary to get proper coverage like you said...

I'll have a look around.

Man this indoor growing can get intracate and tedious fellas!

Blessed love and greetings L Thrit33n, I would say stick with the 600 and get the light rail on that in a 3x7 or 3x6 space. Temps will be cooler and u can keep the light closer to the canopy gettin better light penetration for some nice dense buds!

Well hi there Lion. Well if I'm going to use the 600 watt I'm going to use a 4x4 space. It would be slightly more efficient IMO.

600w x 16 sq/ft(4x4) = 37w sq/ft.. that ok but to really pump up your harvest and see real dank nuggs id go with 50+ w per sq/ft atleast! = 3'x4' or 3'x3'with a 600w.. or put a 1000w in a 4x4-4x5area for the real deal setup.. 1000w in 4x4 area gives you little over 60 w per sq/ft an would grow some monster dank nuggz as long as you have everything else dialed in.
goodluck

Yo L13
1000W 4 sure, no questions... ive used 400W and my thought afterwards was, this needs to be at least 1000w, use the light thats sealed with 6" vents. that way you can keep the light down close to the tops, move it as they grow... this is what drove me outside!@!@!@

Jiu Jitsu Playa said:

Yo L13
1000W 4 sure, no questions... ive used 400W and my thought afterwards was, this needs to be at least 1000w, use the light thats sealed with 6" vents. that way you can keep the light down close to the tops, move it as they grow... this is what drove me outside !@!@!@

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I know it! That's what I'm sayin. Never been much of an indoor cultivator. Although I have researched and attempted quite a few times. I did ok...It just never seemed worth all the troubles when I could do less work, spend less money, and get more from it, simply by growing outdoors! It allows you to focus more on caring for the plants as well, IMO...A tad bit more risky I must say...But WELL worth it IMO.

I'm still doing my normal outdoor crop this year. But I signed up with this guy I'v known for a long time. He had/has (I don't know much about it or the actual name for it.) Degenerative Hip Failure/Disease for a looonng time. He had his hips replaced but he will still live in pain for the rest of his life. Well he's been on pain pills GALORE for YEARS. Well eventually they stopped working. So he's been telling his doctor for a good 2 yrs that they don't work. He tells the doctor that the only thing that has been working for the pain CONSISTANTLY is Cannabis. The doctor just says, "nonsense, here, try these"... And basically just prescribes him some other worthless pain killer... Well with the recent happenings in Michigan with the legalization of Medical Cannabis he had a legitamate opportunity and asked his doctor for MedicalMJ. The doctor refused. It took a while but he found a doctor that understands. Now he's a Medical Cannabis patient and should have his card sometime in April.

I definitly want to help, obviously but it's such a tedious calculatory JOB...The indoor scene is so unappealing to me anymore. I give credit to those who do it successfully year round. It can be tough. Though it is fun to see all the different creative ways people set up grow rooms/cabinents and what not...

Basically he wants me to set up his grow room, get it going, and help him through it...The benefits are a bit obvious...Plus he's a good friend of mine. I'll most likely do it simply because he's funding everything! Only thing is, he gives me a budget and then I have to piece it all together...It's kind of fun though.

I was definitly thinking 1000watts though. It seems like the only logical way to actually make it worth it. He agrees as well. So I concur Playa...

1000WATTS it is bro...