hmmm....

so I was thinking of how cool it would be to run a SoG with an auto-flower strain. I figured i could use 1'square pots and get 16 plants in a 4x4 cab. Would this work because they're autos and tend to be rather small anyways. And what type/wattage should i use. I want to use minimal electricity but my budget is only about 300.

Thanks

If your wanting to use minimal electricity then why not go with a photo plant because with auto flowers you are going to have at least a 18/6 light cycle the whole way through and some are even better at 20/4 light cycle.

With a photo period you run 18/6 for veg and then flower at 12/12 which uses way less electricity or hell even grow a mother and then clone it and just shove a bunch of clones in there in hempy pots and go to town.

Would it work with auto's sure but you'd have much better results with photo's and use MH during veg and HPS during flowering. There are a lot of good strains out there and ones that flower in as little as 45 days.

If you budget is only 300 for the whole grow that's really kinda pushing it unless you want to do cfls. This shit adds up quick.

i meant mainly for the lighting and yea i guess it would be better to just run a photo. BUT none the less whats the most appropriate lighting for something like this?

I'd run at least a 600mh/hps in a 4x4 space as that's perfect coverage from a 600 for the footprint.

giggles26 said:

I'd run at least a 600mh/hps in a 4x4 space as that's perfect coverage from a 600 for the footprint.

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Hes right.... as long as you have a good bulb.

I jammed 4 x 1000 cooled in a 8x8 tent once... with a 100 plants lol way over crowded hah ...any ways.. If you get a cool tube you can pull a 1000 in there ... the more lumens the better ! although a 600 will be just fine ! electric wise ... put it this way... a regular electric heater is 1200-1500 watts so a 1000 watt is not crazy ... my pc power supply is 500 watts

Grow4tho187 said:

I jammed 4 x 1000 cooled in a 8x8 tent once... with a 100 plants lol way over crowded hah ...any ways.. If you get a cool tube you can pull a 1000 in there ... the more lumens the better ! although a 600 will be just fine ! electric wise ... put it this way... a regular electric heater is 1200-1500 watts so a 1000 watt is not crazy ... my pc power supply is 500 watts

Click to expand...

Actually not true. Anything over 4000 lumens/sq will give you good growth, 5000-7500 lumens/sq will give you extremely vigorous growth. Anything over 7500 is straight overkill and not needed especially in a 4x4 area.

The 600 is perfect, I can promise you that one. Hope over to the 600 club and look at some of the bud porn.

Thank you guys, I'm not looking for overkill just enough to keep my plants happy and healthy. What are the best mh/hps bulbs?

Just really depends. Ultra sun makes some good ones. hortilux make some good ones, ushio bulbs are good to. Just depends on how much you wanna spend.

Hortilux are the best imo but they can be a bit pricey. I just use the HTGSupply bulbs good price and they work great.

I was thinking of using the ipower package (http://www.amazon.com/iPower-Premium-Dimmable-Digital-Reflector/dp/B002TNDCVK/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top)
would those bulbs be ok? I didnt see the lumens on there.

If your going to spend that much might as well get a ballast that is decent. Here this one is a lot better then that ipower crap.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00725XJ0O/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00

would that reflector be alright or should I try and find one with a air cooled hood

something like this, same company and everything just different hood
http://www.amazon.com/Cooled-Reflector-Digital-Ballast-Hangers/dp/B00725XLNE/ref=sr_1_13?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1358293840&sr=1-13

Yep that will work bro. The hood you use is really all your choice. I have 2 cool tubes and I love them. I can put the tube right by my plants and they love it.

It's all really a preference and how big of foot print you are wanting to cover. The cool tube will do a 4x4 up to 6x6 but it's optimal foot print is 4x4 with a 600.

how many cfms should i use to cool the light? I dont want something thats noisy though

Depends on if your running a carbon filter or not. If you are just make sure the cfm matches the cfm of the carbon filter. I wouldn't go any less than 250 cfm.

Well I was thinking of hooking a pc fan up to a home made carbon filter because i really cant have a lot of noise. i need something that is quiet. should i just hook up a fan to a controller or what?

A pc fan will work for an intake but to cool a 600 off. Just get a booster fan. A carbon filter will actually help muffle the sound as will ducting connected to the fan.

ok. so what would be the best set up as far as having a filter and the cooltube and what not?