Mothers gone BIG

I am going to attempt to grow 3-6 LARGE mothers. The grow area is around 9'L-5'W-7'T. I was wondering hat type of light you all would recommend, CFL, T5, HID? Electricity is of key concern. The growth doesn't need to be remarkably fast, but the bigger the better.

Also, how many cuttings (clones) do you think I could get out of a 9'-5' space?

a large number of clones. very large. the space is huge so if electricity is a concern i dont know what you can really do. it seems like your electricity is what is limiting you. HID is the best option for growth but t-5s are more efficient. but to cover that space you will need many of them. there is a lot to this equation. perhaps a couple 600w or 1000w HIDs with light movers.

MagusALL said:

a large number of clones. very large. the space is huge so if electricity is a concern i dont know what you can really do. it seems like your electricity is what is limiting you. HID is the best option for growth but t-5s are more efficient. but to cover that space you will need many of them. there is a lot to this equation. perhaps a couple 600w or 1000w HIDs with light movers.

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Nah...I am thinking t5 for the electricity issue. I suppose $60/month is what I'm not wanting to exceed. I think I can run 15-18 t5s for that much electricity. 1 600w HPS would cost about the same I think, maby a little more.

How many clones are we talking about here? I know this is a question with little info, but under normal/responsible conditions...

um, i have no idea. do you mean how many clones off of three-six plants? or how many you can fit in this room? 15-18 t-5s is going to be mad expensive actually. the equipment alone will be thousands. i dont see how that saves any money at all when you can buy a 1000w HPS for less than 300.

MagusALL said:

um, i have no idea. do you mean how many clones off of three-six plants? or how many you can fit in this room? 15-18 t-5s is going to be mad expensive actually. the equipment alone will be thousands. i dont see how that saves any money at all when you can buy a 1000w HPS for less than 300.

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I am not trying to save money. Start up costs are not a concern. I am trying to reduce the electricity bill for both financial and other purposes.

MagusALL said:

15-18 t-5s is going to be mad expensive actually. the equipment alone will be thousands.

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Is it really? I am just throwing numbers out there. I really have no idea just how many bulbs is required, let alone what is ideal.

I am trying to find out how many clones I can get in a couple months from a 9'x5'x7' sea of green. I was thinking hundreds, but it sounds like maby thousands.

That's generally how the cops catch people right? Looking at their electricity output? Smart to keep an eye on it then. Good thinking.

EarthlyPassions said:

That's generally how the cops catch people right? Looking at their electricity output? Smart to keep an eye on it then. Good thinking.

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Well, yes and no. Either way, that is what they ant you to believe. At any rate, that is ONE of the factors to the electricity bill, but only one reason. Recurring costs add up much more than the cost of the bulbs, too. There are other reasons.

I wouldnt be concerned about the electric usage...unless you are trying to hide it from mom and dad or you have roommates that have no clue you are growing......it shouldnt be an issue. People run air conditioners and space heaters that use the same amount of electricity as say a 400W HPS....

jonnyblaze24 said:

I wouldnt be concerned about the electric usage...unless you are trying to hide it from mom and dad or you have roommates that have no clue you are growing......it shouldnt be an issue. People run air conditioners and space heaters that use the same amount of electricity as say a 400W HPS....

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Oh I understand. Let's just leave it at "I want to be energy efficient while producing an ENORMOUS amount of clones. Any verdict on how many clones can fill a hydro hut deluxe?

Cuttings can be produce in hydro hut, sorry.

ok, so are you trying to grow mother plants to get clones for a SOG grow? im a little confused as to what you mean by "how many clones can i get...from a SOG?" a sea of green is usually referring to the flowering stage of the plants, and clones are what are taken from mother plants and then rooted and placed in a sea of green grow. a SOG wouldnt be a grow to get clones but rather to grow clones into flowering plants with one main cola. can you clarify this and ill try to give you some more info.

MagusALL said:

ok, so are you trying to grow mother plants to get clones for a SOG grow? im a little confused as to what you mean by "how many clones can i get...from a SOG?" a sea of green is usually referring to the flowering stage of the plants, and clones are what are taken from mother plants and then rooted and placed in a sea of green grow. a SOG wouldnt be a grow to get clones but rather to grow clones into flowering plants with one main cola. can you clarify this and ill try to give you some more info.

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Ok my bad your right. I meant sea of green as in..the room is tucked away with mothers. i wasn't aware that term applies to flowering phase only. I just was wondering how many clones I could get in that space (the hydro hut deluxe).

I believe I could get thousands ever couple of months, based on what I was told. That sounds a bit high to me, though. I want to produce clones for others, as well as myself.

im not familiar with the hydro hut deluxe. do you have a link. anyhow, with that area you will have ample room for vegging mother plants and producing clones. you are planning on flowering these clones right? if your doing a SOG grow under hydro I have heard you can grow four plants per square foot using rockwool and an ebb and flow system. there are diagrams in the GrowFAQ. im a soil grower but Id def like to upgrade to hydro for a SOG grow myself. If you can separate the room into a veg and flower room. grow your mothers under 24/0 lighting, flouro (T-12 or t-5) would be fine and save electricity. you can use cfl's but i dont like them. t-5s are the shit for vegging. then when your mothers are clone worthy try to get at least 16-20 from each mother and put them into rockwool cubes and them root them under t-5s also. when they are ready to be transplanted put them into 6" X 6" rockwool cubes for the SOG flowering stage. that way you will be able to put four in a square foot. grow these into nic plants with only one bud site (cola.) you will get amazing yields this way. right now I use SOG but it isnt a regular sog grow. Im topping my plants so I get two colas cuz my space is a little bigger and plants are a little more spread out. I figure the more light to the fan leaves the more space for photosynthesis and therefore more sugar in the plant. plus like I said I use soil so it would be kinda hard to water and feed so many plants. I have 25 plants under 2 600w HPSs for flowering in a 4.5' X4.5' grow closet. I have a separate vegging area where I grow my mother plants and I just use a cheapo t-12. I plan o upgrade to a t-5 ASAP. and then move to a ebb & flow hydro table for my flowering area so I can put in like 80 plants each getting hypothetically 1/4 to 1/2 oz each yielding between 20-40 ounces (1.25 to 2.5 pounds.) again this is hypothetical but I think very doable. Since veggin will be basically no time at all since the chambers are separate I can yield this once every 8-9 weeks which is sick. or you can stagger the flowering so you have half this yield every month. or you could even split it into four different stages of growth and have a yield every two weeks of a QP to half pound. for me, thats maximizing space for great yields.

id reccomend 1 600w or 1000w mh light that would be perfect for lets say 6 - 10 mother plants....start them from seed and wait 2 months from when they germinate....take 5 - 20 cuttings per plant depending on size/strain ect....wait 4 weeks agen and take maybe 20-40 cuttings per plant depending on size/strain....wait another 4 weeks and then clone your heart out as they will be big and bushy as hell, providing anywhere between 50 - 150 cuttings per plants every 4 weeks.....150 x 10 plants = your thousands....lol
but be prepared as they will drink like mad and fill your growing area rapidly.....but i reccomend MH lights all the way for mothers....electric will probs be bout £10-£20 per week considering you have the lights on 18/6....but then youve got to get another light for your clones.....clones need extra special care if there to servive and live a good strong life...keep us posted on your decision m8ty