Please Please Please Please Please Help me with lights!!

Ok so Im currently in the middle of my first indoor grow I just put my girls in for flowering 1 OG KUSH 1 Critical Jack 1 very Small nearly retarded white widow xx Big Bud and 2 that are random seed. Ive been using a 4x4 Plywood cabinet that I made I am using a 4ft T5 florescent fixture with 2 bulbs in it as well as 2 very large 4700k cfls and I have 5 or 6 2700k Medium Sized CFLS and One 3000k CFL. Now I just got offered the space to build a bigger set up in a 12'x10' bedroom. I have a buddy who has at least 20 plants getting ready to go outside and he uses a 600watt HPS! his plants are about the same age maybe a few weeks behind and they are double mine in size. So I want to invest in a better light I really want one similar to my buddys for flower and do a veg set up with my current lights for next round but im afraid my new set up will make the electric go up like crazy! LED lighting looks great very efficient but a good light is 5xs more than An HPS to start. Now if I dish out the cash for LED am I gonna have simmiler results to an hps??? and what is a good LED to get? and I was also wondering how a 150watt or 250watt hps dose on the old electric bill and will it give me worth wild results with like 6-8 plants Im sorry to ramble just don't know what to do next!!! Thanks, Henry

As for the difference between LED and HPS, you can look up some grow journals that used LED fixtures and see for yourself if the kind of qualities they tend to produce are acceptable for your goals. I know that statement doesn't help, so ill just start being honest and say there is no chance that you will get the same harvest weight for the same amount of lamp wattage of HPS. HPS light is king when it comes to final harvest weight. But don't sleep on the quality of mixed spectrum (HPS/MH) either. I've seen some very dense nuggets with mixed spectrum. I have no experience with LED but my old mixed spectrum (50/50) 6-600 (3600w total) rooms pulled a decent yield. I know you didn't ask about MH but I want to give you a broad analysis. The LED journals I've seen never impressed me at harvest time. A 250 HPS will draw about 275-280 watts and if you know your Kwh rate ( sometimes posted online by your utility) just remember to also add the delivery charge (which is also rated per Kwh) and find out if the utility adjusts the rates according to usage. Commercial and residential rates will also be different, but to give you an example... It costs me about 20 US dollars per month for each 100 watts that I use 24hrs a day. Your rate will differ so grab a hold of someone's (with permission) bill to analyze the rate breakdown. It's good to plan ahead and please, by all means accordingly, figure out how you're going to vent the heat and simultaneously eliminate odors. Once you figure out all the light, growing method, strain , size of cabinetry etc etc ... You will need to properly remove all the heat or else you won't get good growth. Heat extraction is almost always done incorrectly by noobs and it will haunt you if done incorrectly. There... I said too much.P.S. Avoid cool tubes because they distort the light spectrum of your lamp. P.P.S. If you're just using 250 hps ( if that's what you decide) just put 1 or 2 into flower. You'll get less popcorn bud.

Thanks that was very helpful heat has been a pain in my ass from day 1 in my cabinet.... Even with fluorescents.... I am definitely going to get an hps/ms set up LED id like to try some day but its not for me.... If my understanding is correct I can grow more in a short period of time so whats the point Of led other than efficiency but what im saving in buying bud is going to make up for all the extra electricity.... None the less Its been a learning experience and its been fun so im happy and thanks for the help deffinitly made my mind up for me thanks

I would love to help out but I cant read a solid block of text like that.

Paragraphs and double spaces will get you more responses.

Read the bottom, no 250w hps will not work for 6-8 plants and get good yield u need at least a 600w for 6-8 plants

You want HPS for flowering, 40-50W/sqft. Stick a powerful blower for exhaust out the top of the growbox and make some intake holes and you're all set.

Look up the stanley blower.

If you're going to be growing in a 12'x10ft area (120sqft), you're going to want around 6,000W of HPS

For your 4'x4' area (16sqft), you need between 640W-800W to get 40-50W/sqft of lighting.

Just giving you an idea of what you're working with. I think you're overplanning room size for the amount of lights you want to use.

Also, HPS aren't really hotter than fluorescent watt per watt. It's only hotter when you're using fewer watts of fluorescent than HPS. Watt per watt it's about the same. Don't waste your time flowering with fluorescent unless it's just a microgrow. watt per watt, HPS will yield more, faster, and is easier to raise and lower than a ton of fluorescents.


That being said, I think fluorescent or LEDs are ideal for veg and that HPS can be overkill.

I have almost the exact same space... my equiptment is 3-600 watt HPS, 1 light mover... makes all the difference, 1 oscilating and 1 non oscilating 8" ducting with 8" fan and filter outtake and a 6" intake duct and fan as well as a dehumid ... now my mover only moves about 3' and i only use half my room .. I could very literally double my light and throw up another mover and get the whole room but this is the thing... In a full room you dont worry about number of plants in fact in mine right now i have 5 plants that vegged 2 months... those 5 plants take up every bit of coverage for light in that room and if Im lucky i could nail down a 32 ounce yield... You just have to remember that with bigger space you dont need more plants. You can pack them in like sardines and do a SOG or ScrOG but i really dont suggest that on your first grow in a new room.. Those things do have potential for yield... also have potential for tons of work, and failed crops with mold tougher to control in a packed in environment... Just remember in a space that large if its packed you can plan on 4 hours days consistently to trim and water and removed excess and drain dehumids.... Its alot of work so consider how deep you want to get on your first go. Good Luck!!

MYOB said:

I would love to help out but I cant read a solid block of text like that.

Paragraphs and double spaces will get you more responses.

Click to expand...

You're right. I have to be more mindful of that in my upcoming posts. Thanks for the reminder.

Cant beat HPS and if you can go 1k as youll want it later...Trust me, this grow thing just gets more and more habbit forming.