1800 watts in 4x4x7 tent???

that is what im asking. thank you just wanted to know if it was a bad idea or not. what about 1200 watts 2 400 watt hps and a 400 watt mh in the 4x4 tent? would that be worth the $ spent on electricity?

here are a couple pics of 3 air cooled hoods in a 4x4 tent. so they will fit....

HeartlandHank said:

Wow. 110 watts/sq ft. You are pulling it off. Is it efficient?

It still is 1750 watts in a 4x8. Even though it is moved to a side, your enclosed space is 4x8.

OP is talking about 1800 in a 4x4.

If the chiller will control it though, do it. Would be sweet to see.

Efficiency is only part of the puzzle, imo.
Amazing buds are what drops jaws.

from my book understanding, not experience, you might need co2 to reach potential.
even then, you be getting diminished returns on your wattage.

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well to be honest this is the first time ive done this with 2 reflectors over a 4x4 grow area. and this will only be like this the first 30 days of flower because in just a couple weeks i have another 7 plants going in the other side.. but YES as long as you can cool it.. it can be done.. and its providing much better coverage because each reflector is only responsibe for covering a 2x4 area. we all know the corners of those 4x4 tents dont get the light they need, but that might be curable by using one of those huge 3x3 big kahuna reflectors.. which i never have. like i said this is only temporary, i probably wouldnt design a system like this to be used going forward b/c there are better ways.

i gotta be dead honest though, i have been growing for 3 years and only in soil less mix and ive never seen such explosive growth.. im only 14 days into flower and i have TONS of new healthy bud sites which im not use to seeing at this juncture. if i were to keep it this way til harvest i would know how much more i will harvest, it does look like it could be twice as much at this point.... and if it is, then yeah that would determine efficiency, but im going a different route because i want to throw my first DWC attempt on the other side of that tent.

bottom line is even though my tent is 4x8, my grow area is only 4x4 so its basically the same thing. if you can afford a 1 ton mini split a/c (around 1k) it will work.

xX2FaDeD247Xx said:

Pics or this shit never happened sorry to say. I mean seriously you've asked a pretty outlandish question, and ok you've gotten some pretty outlandish answers, but no need to abuse the people trying to help you out or even just stating their opinion like duder, which wasn't that offensive anyway so just relax.
4x4 is my tent specs, and I run a single 600w mh/hps in there with minor heat issues over the summer if it's a really hot day. You're adding 1200W to the equation?? (not to mention you haven't stated whether they're in reflectors/air cooled hoods?) and even if they weren't, there's NO WAY you have space for 3 lights, a 12 spot ENF, a "air cooler"(whatever that may be?) and sufficient amount of air induction in there buddy have a good one.

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reflectors are available in a multitude of sizes.. you could fit 3 or even 4 smaller ones in the 4x4. if you think running a 600watt inside a 4x4 is the most efficient thing you could be doing is dead wrong... check the corners of your tent.. and down low. more light sources increase your footprint.

ive seen lots of large capacity DWC grows with a single 1k light PER PLANT and tons of lights and plants tucked into a room with a monster 5ton (or better) commercial a/c systems.. its the same logic on a smaller plan.

i hope everyone knows that using watts per sq/ft is a very basic and loose rule for planning.. these number should be converted to lumens/ft2 and even then if you have only one reflector you arent getting the sames lumens to the plants in the corners as directly underneath the bulb

im currently running 16k lumens/ft2 if i added co2 im sure this tent would be busting at the seems,

gotta consider other things besides just light, but yes increasing everything else in balance would definetly be extremely efficient and growth would actually be exponential if everything was dialed in.

adding the MH bulbs would definetly increase efficiecy as the dual arc bulb does by providing much more spectrum (hps only works well but is far from ideal)

what i would probably do if i were planning a build like this that had to remain at 4x4 is put one 1k aircooled overhead and then get 3 sets of 6 or 8 bulb t5ho fluros (which will give 30k-40k lumens each, consuming 330-440 watts each) and run them vertically on the sides and back. that would be awesome, your lighting would be coming from virtually all angles adding an entire extra dimension to your grow total power consumption would be in the 2000-2300 watt range

finally some good intelligent responses. thanks

DAY 15 with 16k lumens/ft2

this is only 7 plants in soilless mix using GHflora

as you can see im diligently monitoring temps and the trellis is hanging on to the pvc frame for dear life. i think the legs of the SCROG are starting to lift and will need to be anchored soon


btw, with this dual light setup its pretty interesting to see how much light there is reflecting off the corners and side of the tent, normally it was always darker in those areas. you can go with lower wattages.. say 2x 600w and i think that would definetly increase efficiency by more than 20% increase in power consumption, assuming again the rest of the setup is dialed in and can benefit from the added lumens

Posting pictures of another person's grow is not cool. Just because they can afford, and have the know how to pull it off, doesn't mean you will. Also, without respect, all you will receive is rude answers from most. Why would I, or anyone else share decades of experience with a douche that doesn't respect who he's talking to? You come on the scene with crazy questions like you already know your answers and you simply want to argue. If you have so much experience and money to pull it off, then do it and post a journal so we can all see the bullshit, rather than just smell it.

-His Dudeness

TheDuder said:

You're right, I know nothing. Try research over stupid questions; maybe you'd get better answers if the questions were worth reading. Good luck, you need it.

-Dude'r

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why you so upset? yeah guy came off a little wierd.. but you are kinda guilty of spouting off mis information saying a setup isnt possible.. when its more than possible. if you have experience or not, its not good habit to just go around the board giving blanket statements. if someone calculates cooling and lighting possible along with all the other factors that go into a succsful grow. kinda made yourself look silly by saying you would laugh at the thought.

bdt1981 said:

just wanted to know if it was a bad idea or not. what about 1200 watts 2 400 watt hps and a 400 watt mh in the 4x4 tent? would that be worth the $ spent on electricity?

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*sigh* again, that's just stupid. You obviously haven't done any of this before.


Now get back to sketching up some other ridiculous fantasies in the back of your Mead notebook. Third period is almost underway...

bdt1981 said:

that last one was to the dudoer. i mean how much is the sun producing? tryin to get as close to the sun as possible, rite?

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Yeah but the Sun's distance compared to any grower's set-up is no comparison! 0ne thing I noticed by observing the Sun is that@any angle it hits the whole plant just right. So it got me to thinking, why do most of us place 0ur plants directly under 0ur bulbs when knowing that the tops are mostly hit due to top fan leaves covering up the bottoms. I'm sure a lot of people know of this and place some lights near the sides(which I've seen), but just proving a point! All of those lights in that small tent will just generate lot's of heat and trying to cool it down with all that crap is to me, a waste of time when you can avoid having to do so by obtaining less wattage lights and placing them in the right areas. But whatever you decide to do, right! just as long as you get to your goals....
Does anyone know if it's normal for some of the pistols(I believe that's what you call them)to turn brown almost as if they got burnt, preferably around the mid-bottom section of the plant? Here is some pics - View attachment 2218893View attachment 2218896

Cnt rlly see but you get the point!

bdt1981 said:

here are a couple pics of 3 air cooled hoods in a 4x4 tent. so they will fit....

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Very Nice set-up by the way, let alone it being in a tent - Wow! If you can get the resources and don't mind going through all of that then go for it! Keep it up, I likes!

It's funny how people will try to be a smartass or be rude then get offended when they get the same in return. Thanks to the intelligent people with intelligent responses.

id probably put the 2x 400s in one tent (flower) and the other 400 in another 4x4 tent and use it as veg. The way i look at it is that even if you did get it all dialed in and properly cooled, it's highly doubtful that you would get a better product margin with your plan then you would with spacing the lights outs.

IE. Best case scenario, you get it all installed and cooled (no small issue) then you produce lets say 10-20 grams more then a good 600w setup. Unless what you produce above what a good 600w setup would produce (that 10-20grams) is more then double you are just going to be wasting lots of time and money.
However, if you spaced it out over two tents you are doubling your possible yield, basically, lets say you get an extra 10-20grams from all that work and money, where as you could just throw another tent up, put some more plants in there and easily get that 10-20g from just one of them...

You could by a scooter and spend countless hours and money upgrading it and making it go 100mph (your plan) or you could just buy a motorcycle that goes 120mph for half the price and even less effort (another tent)...

webguy16 said:

You could by a scooter and spend countless hours and money upgrading it and making it go 100mph (your plan) or you could just buy a motorcycle that goes 120mph for half the price and even less effort (another tent)...

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Good analogy.

thanks man ill keep that in mind. think im going to try the1000 hps and a 400 mh first-

1kw is plenty for a 4x4.

the chiller is a ecoplus 1hp commercial grade chiller. it will cool a res and 4 1000 watt lights with ease. an ice box is a cool little piece of equipment you should check it out.

bdt1981 said:

that is what im asking. thank you just wanted to know if it was a bad idea or not. what about 1200 watts 2 400 watt hps and a 400 watt mh in the 4x4 tent? would that be worth the $ spent on electricity?

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I mean, I'm not sure what conversation we are having here.

Are you trying to do something unusual for kicks?

What is it that has you wanting to try these unusual light setups? What's your goal here?

The simple answer... IMO, it is a bad idea.

Does your bong involve flicking a row of dominos, a gerbil on a wheel and a pully system?

If that is your style, go for it.

IMO, If you want the best buds for your buck, 600 or 1000 is the way to go in a 4x4.

pretty much just wanted to hear other opinions. seems like more lumens or foot candles whatever you want to call it would = more trees.

bdt1981 said:

pretty much just wanted to hear other opinions. seems like more lumens or foot candles whatever you want to call it would = more trees.

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There comes a point of diminishing returns. It depends on your goal: bud per kWh, or bud per square inch. Most choose and work toward the former. Jmo. cn