New to indoors. Help choosing lights.

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FalNut

Member
Hello.
Had a pretty good outdoor season and deciding to finally take a crack at indoor. Problem is I know next to nothing about lights and the information online is a bit overwhelming and a lot of the guides I have found are either old or geared more to a closet size grow.

I'm looking to set up two rooms, one for veg and one for flower, so I can keep a rotating grow going.

Veg room is 12ftx20ft.
Flower is 15ftx22

I plan on running 30 plants in veg and 30 in flower once I get rolling. The plants are going to get approximated 5 weeks veg and 5 weeks flower, though as I am juggling back and form between seeds and clones that becomes a bit more fluid.

Thoughts on lights? MH/HPS? HID? A friend is recommending LED, but that is a world I really know nothing about. It seems to be the next "big thing" to perhaps it is worth getting in there to start with? See a lot of mention of UV importance as well.

Thanks,

Fal
 
Green2GoldAk

Green2GoldAk

New Member
Do yourself a favor and get double ended light fixtures. Solis tek makes a ballast that will push 1040 watts and the bulbs have some of the best penetration on the market. They also sell commercial style setups where the ballast,hood,and bulb are all in one unit. Don't buy crap that's outdated by new technology. You'll be doing yourself a favor getting double ends vs the traditional single ended bulbs. Just my two cents but I have lots of indoor experience and help dozens of people face to face daily.
 
Green2GoldAk

Green2GoldAk

New Member
FalNut said:
Hello.
Had a pretty good outdoor season and deciding to finally take a crack at indoor. Problem is I know next to nothing about lights and the information online is a bit overwhelming and a lot of the guides I have found are either old or geared more to a closet size grow.

I'm looking to set up two rooms, one for veg and one for flower, so I can keep a rotating grow going.

Veg room is 12ftx20ft.
Flower is 15ftx22

I plan on running 30 plants in veg and 30 in flower once I get rolling. The plants are going to get approximated 5 weeks veg and 5 weeks flower, though as I am juggling back and form between seeds and clones that becomes a bit more fluid.

Thoughts on lights? MH/HPS? HID? A friend is recommending LED, but that is a world I really know nothing about. It seems to be the next "big thing" to perhaps it is worth getting in there to start with? See a lot of mention of UV importance as well.

Thanks,

Fal
Click to expand...
Focus on MH light in Veg and transition to bloom. HPS for blooming. And if you have the extra coin, go ahead ad throw some LED in there as SUPPLEMENTAL light. LED alone will produce a high quality plant, but will lack on the yield. Garanteed
 
F

FalNut

Member
Thanks for the input.
I see the Gavita 1000 DE complete fixtures are available around $450 and have a complete throw of 6x6 when used as a sole light source.

So do you just put in different bulbs for MH vs HPS?
 
SPLFreak808

SPLFreak808

Well-Known Member
FalNut said:
Thanks for the input.
I see the Gavita 1000 DE complete fixtures are available around $450 and have a complete throw of 6x6 when used as a sole light source.

So do you just put in different bulbs for MH vs HPS?
Click to expand...
What are you going to flower at 5 weeks? Not weed i hope lol
To simplify your answer, 6-8 DE gavita pro's will work fine in the flower room, hell they will work fine in the veg room also but at 15x22 i would squeeze in more plants or veg longer. Vegging longer would work better if your growing bud. That way you can actually flower longer and harvest quality bud after spending all that money and dedication.
 
Dumme

Dumme

Well-Known Member
MH (blue light) replicates the growing spring. Yes, you can use MH and HPS in the light, as long as wattage ant type are the same. HPS (red light) replicates fall sunlight.

What budget are you working with?
 
F

FalNut

Member
Thanks for the input.
Budget for the project is around 5k, but I can move around on that number if I need too.

I am limited on the number of plants, but I can certainly grow them larger. Ultimately I can have 30 in flower, 30 in veg, and 30 seedlings/juvenile coming in behind it. So the timeline can be flexible depending on strain needs and maturity.
 
Green2GoldAk

Green2GoldAk

New Member
FalNut said:
Thanks for the input.
I see the Gavita 1000 DE complete fixtures are available around $450 and have a complete throw of 6x6 when used as a sole light source.

So do you just put in different bulbs for MH vs HPS?
Click to expand...
Have you seen the E-Papillon? It runs only off 220-240v but makes a 7x7 spread and are best run in pairs or more. I've seen and used these first hand and average person gets around 2lb per light square . If you have that sort of budget I could easy setup a garden and put all the prices together here at the garden supply store I'm working at. Could send it to you so you have an idea on price. 5k is a lot of equipment done right.
Just let me know
 
SPLFreak808

SPLFreak808

Well-Known Member
Green2GoldAk said:
Have you seen the E-Papillon? It runs only off 220-240v but makes a 7x7 spread and are best run in pairs or more. I've seen and used these first hand and average person gets around 2lb per light square . If you have that sort of budget I could easy setup a garden and put all the prices together here at the garden supply store I'm working at. Could send it to you so you have an idea on price. 5k is a lot of equipment done right.
Just let me know
Click to expand...
Not sure if you know this already, the papillion has half the par of a gavita pro at the same distances and footprint. Most likely from that stupid ass hood.
 
Green2GoldAk

Green2GoldAk

New Member
SPLFreak808 said:
Not sure if you know this already, the papillion has half the par of a gavita pro at the same distances and footprint. Most likely from that stupid ass hood.
Click to expand...
I've seen what my lights and many others have put down so far.. If the Gavita is so good I'm curious why everyone gets the EPap. But mine sure work great. Side by side same strain test I guess
 
F

FalNut

Member
What is the real difference between the two lights? Price seems comparable.

I'm also wondering if I could run a single ballast for 8 lights instead of 8 separate ones.
8 lights would seem to be enough to fill my 15x22, though I'm going to need a new breaker in the box. I think those Gravitas draw four amps each.
 
SPLFreak808

SPLFreak808

Well-Known Member
Green2GoldAk said:
I've seen what my lights and many others have put down so far.. If the Gavita is so good I'm curious why everyone gets the EPap. But mine sure work great. Side by side same strain test I guess
Click to expand...
I've seen it also. Im not knocking on anyone's products. Just stating facts for the sake of more power. Same bulb different hood.Screenshot_2015-11-22-12-13-29-1.png

Look at that loss! Both test done in a 4x4

*edit, the top chart thats cut off is just a single ended super hps (horti) in a magnum xxxl hood.
 
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SPLFreak808

SPLFreak808

Well-Known Member
Green2GoldAk said:
I was just looking for this chart haha Nice! More power is a yes. Maybe its time I upgrade for the third time this year ha
Click to expand...
Incase you dont know, its just the hood causing that. You can grow great bud with any DE. But why cheat yourself you know? Find an AC/DE 8" sun system hood and it will put down tripple the power of the epapillion hood.
 
jacksthc

jacksthc

Well-Known Member
op don't you think it would be a good ideal to start off small, you taking on a large porject with no indoor experience of growing

The veg room is way to big should be 1/4 size of the flower room (just a waste of space ( could use the extra space to dry the buds and keep the clones)

with a 9 week strain and a small space for clones/young plants( first 2 weeks in veg) you only need to use the main veg room for 4.5 weeks and flower them off in half the flower room, this will make it a lot easer to havest the large crops every mouth

under each light ( 1000w hps 6ft x 6ft you need a min of 4 plants) canopy needs to be trainned wide and flat in the veg room, canopy needs to be level under hps to get the best yeild

just saying i can see a lot of problems with your setup

start small and build up over a few crops, it will save you a lot of time and money
 
F

FalNut

Member
Thanks for the input folks! Keep it coming!
The rooms already exist in their current dimensions. I don't have to utilize the entire room for veg it not needed. I already have separate areas for dry, storage, mothers and cloning.

I admit this is a lot to jump in on at once, but I need something obsess over in the off season anyway.

Still wondering about running a single ballast for all the lights instead of 8 individual ballasts.

And any other help/opinions/tips are greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
 
Final Phase

Final Phase

Well-Known Member
If you're considering buying a unit that has the ballast built into the light cowl. I had a 400 watt like that once that was way to heavy for my taste. Consider a digital ballast that is "dimmable." It's great to cut the light down to 50 or 75% when needed - Some have a feature that will push the bulb to put out 10% more lumens...
 
F

FalNut

Member
I'm seriously leaning to the Gavita 1000 DE 240v lights, though I am not certain if I should run eight of them with individual ballasts or if I should try and run them all off one ballast. As I am wiring up the room with a dedicated breaker I did to figure out where to put my outlets pretty soon.
Thoughts on individual ballasts vs one large one?
 
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