2 x 600w HPS VS. 1 x 1000w HPS What will yield more?

BCtrippin said:

Thats a bit off topic. I dont want to get into another debate over that now too.

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Haha...how is THAT off topic? Do you look at the topics?

It's just a matter of doubling what you're talking about.

laserbrn said:

And where's your 1000w grow to compare it to? I know growers personally that swear the 1000w is better. And I've seen there grows with my own eyes with both setups.

The only people that ever make the argument that 1000w is better than 2 600w's are those that have tried both.

I've never ever met or spoken to anyone who has run both claim the 2 600's are better. Find me THAT guy.

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wit 2 600's you can cover more area more plants and oh yeah that whole lumen count seems to be higher wit 1200 watts(190000) as opposed to the 150,000 lumens wit the 1000w. but dont worry im upgrading to 2 1000 watt setups and then i will say that 2 1000 watt set ups are better b/c more watts more lumens 300,000 lumens as opposed to 190,00.. but hey i could be wrong.

laserbrn said:

. I would rather have fat buds than a bunch of popcorn crap ore resort to strictly lollipopping. 1000w light penetrates a good 3 feet into the canopy while 2 600's won't. Even if you add them together, there penetration does not increast.

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Dude, if you grow popcorn buds with your 600s then you need to learn to grow weed.

The Biggest bud I have ever seen in my life was grown with 5 x 600w lights. Not a single 1000w in the grow room...Health Robinson is a God of growing..


This is a 1 pound bud grown by a member known around here as Health Robinson. He grew it in the "critical mass tree project" with 5 x 600w lights.
View attachment 380057


So are you still going to try and tell me 600w lights cant grow big fat buds? I think you just had a bad experience, it doesnt mean that a single 1000w is better then 2 x 600w because of a bad experience your or someone you know had.

laserbrn said:

Haha...how is THAT off topic? Do you look at the topics?

It's just a matter of doubling what you're talking about.

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Do you not read before you post?

Not only is it doubling, its adding a whole new factor into the equation....Light Rails.

laserbrn said:

That's assuming that light intensity from 2 seperate sources would really add to the increased intensity. It doesn't. The single source of intensity works better from what I've experienced. It's not that the 600's can't grow as much as a 1000w it's the quality of the buds and the WAY you get your yeild. I would rather have fat buds than a bunch of popcorn crap ore resort to strictly lollipopping. 1000w light penetrates a good 3 feet into the canopy while 2 600's won't. Even if you add them together, there penetration does not increast.

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I can't argue with your statement about the penetration of the light because the intensity of two 600w lights is dispersed over a larger area.

There is a simple soultion to this though. Grow a larger number of shorter plants. You will yield more in a shorter time period. That would be the most efficient.

However, if one wants to restrict their number of plants due to state laws then it appears a 1000w would be best if they like larger, more dense nugs as you described them. I would rather have a larger total weight because I am interested in the money more than the herb, but that is just me.

more light more yield.. 2000 watts opposed to 2400 watts.. 1+1 = 2

laserbrn said:

That's assuming that light intensity from 2 seperate sources would really add to the increased intensity. It doesn't. The single source of intensity works better from what I've experienced. It's not that the 600's can't grow as much as a 1000w it's the quality of the buds and the WAY you get your yeild. I would rather have fat buds than a bunch of popcorn crap ore resort to strictly lollipopping. 1000w light penetrates a good 3 feet into the canopy while 2 600's won't. Even if you add them together, there penetration does not increast.

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I must say honestly, its comes down to opinion. Yes a 1000 watt HPS light will penetrate deeper to reach more buds, and create huge cola's, But If you are just interested in a larger yield then of course 2 x 600 watts are going to give you that. You can cover more space and distribute more light creating more bud sites, due to about an extra 15,000 lumen's or roughly around that. There would be more buds that are smaller, but more of them. Also you can move the lights closer to the plants which aid in everything I said above. Just stating the obvious and yes I have used a 1000 watt set up but I have no digital pics for the site sorry. It was about 2 years ago. I still think 2 x 600 watt lights are going to give you more.

Higher Education said:

However, if one wants to restrict their number of plants due to state laws then it appears a 1000w would be best if they like larger, more dense nugs as you described them. I would rather have a larger total weight because I am interested in the money more than the herb, but that is just me.

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Read 2 posts up....lol. If you really want to stay low on plant numbers use 5 x 600w over a couple TREE's and grow 1 pound BUDS.

so i was talking to a friend about this thread. The response was

"that's like arguing that the sun came out today"

sorry. I LOL'd and had to post.

continue...

it would be most efficient to get two 400W hps instead of the 1000W because the 400W will be able to provide more plants with more energy as it is able to be positioned closer to the plants. The 1000W hps will give off quite a bit of heat and for its coverage of a 10X10ft area will require a motorized track for it to be conveyed around, plus it will have to remain further away from the plants because of the heat and thus giving less lumens to the plants.

p.s. it will be cheaper too!

BCtrippin said:

Read 2 posts up....lol. If you really want to stay low on plant numbers use 5 x 600w over a couple TREE's and grow 1 pound BUDS.

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Oh, I completely agree. I was just speaking in respect to the amount and intensity of light a plant could get from one source. If I had the experience, I would grow some trees, lol. All I have is seedlings right now.

laserbrn said:

You think a new thread is the solution to your problem?

The only way to know is to compare side by side and no one here has provided that. Just more speculation.

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You really don't understand do you? There is no need to do a side-by-side, all you need to do is out do the gram/watt ratio of a 600w with a 1000w and you have proven a 1000w is more efficient. The problem in the other thread is that you had someone claiming he does better with the single 1000w but without providing details of the setups and what he did (or did not do) to maximize yield potential in the double 600w grow.

More watts=more lumens=more footcandles=more vegatative growth=more flowering sites=more bud.

That is my final argument about efficiency when efficiency is referrencing to bud production. The quality of those buds I do not know because I have never tried both methods.

mindphuk said:

You really don't understand do you? There is no need to do a side-by-side, all you need to do is out do the gram/watt ratio of a 600w with a 1000w and you have proven a 1000w is more efficient. The problem in the other thread is that you had someone claiming he does better with the single 1000w but without providing details of the setups and what he did (or did not do) to maximize yield potential in the double 600w grow.

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A gram to watt ratio of a 600w and a 1000w is, in essence, a side by side comparison. Define what you mean by efficiency. Just because you would yield more with one 1000w than one 600w does not make it more efficient in terms of bud production. You have to divide by the wattage difference.

Higher Education said:

A gram to watt ratio of a 600w and a 1000w is, in essence, a side by side comparison. Define what you mean by efficiency. Just because you would yield more with one 1000w than one 600w does not make it more efficient in terms of bud production. You have to divide by the wattage difference.

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That's exactly what I'm saying it would be essentially the same as a side-by-side comparison. He was implying the side-by-side must be done by the same grower and I was pointing out that's not true, we just need to know what the various yields are between growers to be able to compare efficiencies.

Oh, ok. I didn't understand what you meant. I agree.

it costs me 7.38 a month to run my 600 hps and an additional 4.70 to run my 400hps.
way better coverage and more yeild with 2 -600hps lamps, obviously the 1000 hps is gonna be cheaper to run for the month but the cost differrence is only about 2 bucks. the electric co in my city has a thing on their web site where you type in the wattage and then the hours run and it tells you exactly what it costs for the month. i was really suprised to find that its sooo cheap to run these lights....you must have a really big grow for the feds to catch on. if i leave my bathroom light on 24 hours and my 600 12 hours. the bathroom is using just as much electricity as the 600 in that 24 hour period.

i thought this argument came down to space availiable? if you have all the room in the world 600s are better, but if you are tight on space then 1000s.

i have seen one room with 6 600s and 3 1000 in the same room side by side. every single round the 600s look so much better till the last few weeks and then the 1000s just blow them away on size. the yeilds come out very close.

jordisgarden said:

it costs me 7.38 a month to run my 600 hps and an additional 4.70 to run my 400hps.
way better coverage and more yeild with 2 -600hps lamps, obviously the 1000 hps is gonna be cheaper to run for the month but the cost differrence is only about 2 bucks. the electric co in my city has a thing on their web site where you type in the wattage and then the hours run and it tells you exactly what it costs for the month. i was really suprised to find that its sooo cheap to run these lights....you must have a really big grow for the feds to catch on. if i leave my bathroom light on 24 hours and my 600 12 hours. the bathroom is using just as much electricity as the 600 in that 24 hour period.

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this makes me cry, we pay almost 200 per 1000 per month......

ok, well i have grown with 1000s and 600s so i can tell you from experience the truth to this argument.

first of all a 600w is more efficient than anything else out there period. you can figure this out yourself by comparing the lumen to watt ratio of each bulb.. the difference is small but it is there.

now as far as will you yield more on a 600 or a 1000, the answer is..... (drum roll please)

it depends. now let me explain.

if you are growing massive trees (not in a vertical setup) then a 1000w is going to outperform a 600w hands down. it will be able to penetrate deeper into the canopy, and in turn give you larger buds, further down the plant.

this is THE ONLY way that a 1000w is better than a 600w.

if you are growing plants less than 3 feet tall then 2 600s will outperform 1000w 100 percent of the time, all other things being equal.

now the 1000s may give some of the plants larger colas, but those will only be the ones getting the most intense light. the rest of the canopy will suffer
2 600w lights will spread light over the canopy, giving a much more uniform crop.
the plants on the sides of the canopy of a single 1000w will be smaller, and the larger plants in the middle will not compensate for the smaller plants on the sides of the canopy.
in the end the crop with the 600s will yield more

so that is the answer for the heated debate.

a 600w is more efficient than a 1000w

there are limited applications where a 1000w will outperform 2 600w, but it can be done.

end of story

So what would you say is the preferred method for growing under two 600's? What I mean is, what's the optimum square footage, distance the lights are spaced, and reflector style you'd recommend for that type application? I'll be using rooted clones in 4 inch cubes sitting on top of cut rockwool slabs with a top feed drip system fed twice a day draining into a large resevoir.