Should I use 600w or 1000w?

My system is a perpetual grow. The trays are 2x4, so I was figuring 8 plants on each tray. I will have 3 2x4 trays beside each other, all flowering, in different stages. Should I use 600w or 1000w over each table? The better question is, can 600w provide the amount of lumens necessary for 8 plants, or should I just go 1000w? How many lumens are necessary per sq foot?

My guess would be 1000 watt. Really it depends on how big they are when you pull them out of veg.

jazlm said:

My guess would be 1000 watt. Really it depends on how big they are when you pull them out of veg.

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Yeah, that makes sense. They'll Veg for about 4 weeks, so they'll be a decent size I guess

I say 600s bro because you will get WAY more lumens with 2 600s than 1 1000 IMO if your only going to veg 1-6 weeks 600s especially if your going to be topping them , 1000s are for monsters 600 will penetrate just fine on a 3 foot lollipopped plant, But if you got the cash for the energy and light then 1000s, My future perpetual grow gnna be 9 600s(5600) watt

More light coverage too

I have 3 flowering tables, and I'm putting a light over each table. With 8 decently vegged plants on the table, is 600w enough for those 8? They're also not going to be lollipopped, as they're getting a little more than 4 weeks of veg time. Your inbox is full too, btw

600 will cover 9-12 sq ft, 2x4 is 8 sq ft. is say put the 3 tables together if possible (put wheels on bottom legs to move faster) and itd be 6x4 24 sqft 3 600= 27 sq ft so yea,id try and get another table to make a 8x4 and blast 4 600 watts over them and make the harvest times 2 wks instead of 3 running 4 600 is only 2400 watts, thats like having only 2 1000s

I can't really put all the tables together, because I want to be able to get in between the tables and manage them, and if they're all pushed together that'd be difficult. I like the idea of having wheels on the bottom, I didn't think about that I'm gonna have to stick with just 3 flowering stages for right now, after a harvest or two I can definitely upgrade, that's a good idea as well I bought the Lumatek AC dial-a-watts so I can use either 600 or 1000, I just don't want to use 1000w if it's not going to help any. In that small of an area (6x8ish?), 3000w does seem a bit like overkill

Honestly tho if im only going to use 1 light per table id do 1000 because the 6 hundred will only spread out to 3 feet for good results after that its not As great but still will hit, so i guess it comes down to would you rather pay 200 dollars on the pg$e ,1800 watts plus fans etc.(just throwing #s idk ur energy bill) or pay 350 on 3000 watts plus fans etc.900-1100 in energy a grow(3 mths) or pay 500-650 a grow , so its up to you if it were me id go for 1800 to save on bill , but if the bill isnt an issue then i say 3 1000s

My opinion
600 Watts would be more than efficient for a 2x4 table. 600 can handle a 4x4 area. Lots of people are using 600 in 4x4 rooms.
Id only upgrade to 1000s for more penetration.
If you can control the heat I'm sure 1000 Watt bulbs wouldn't hurt, but that 400 Watts creates a lot of extra heat.

Im currently running a 1000W but I have a 5x4 area. If I had your set-up Id run 600's though.

Have you considered a light-mover? I use one in a 5x7 room a light-up 8 plants with a combination of a 400w MH and a 600w HPS. No light deficiencies at all....the plants in the corners are just as happy as the ones in the middle.

lilroach said:

Have you considered a light-mover? I use one in a 5x7 room a light-up 8 plants with a combination of a 400w MH and a 600w HPS. No light deficiencies at all....the plants in the corners are just as happy as the ones in the middle.

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A light mover sounds interesting for my grow, is there one you'd recommend? Would a single 1000w on a mover work for all 24 plants?

you could get a 6 foot light track(lightmover) anywhere amazon,homedepot, or sometimes hydrostore(mine does) ,a single 1000 for 24 plants vegged for no longer than 3 weeks probably

I would go with more light more lumens More light=more yield like 3 600s or 2 1000s on light tracks if your gnna go with light movers

One thing is that each stage of the flowering will be at a different height, so the moving light will be closer to some than the others, so wouldn't it make the new batch stretch quite a bit?

If 600 is sufficient to grow, I would get two, one for veg and one for flower. I have unlimited space and want to start some seeds a little earlier than the rest to learn what to do and what not to do. Two 1000s would be expensive for me at the moment

For my veg I already have t5s, I'm just wondering about flowering

A light mover sounds expensive too. I'm the light mover around here

A light mover is ~$150. The ballasts I use are $200, so a Light mover would be much cheaper than 3 ballasts

Bwpz said:

One thing is that each stage of the flowering will be at a different height, so the moving light will be closer to some than the others, so wouldn't it make the new batch stretch quite a bit?

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I have my plants on various sized plant stands and adjust as needed.