Hi there,
i have an area L 5.5ft,W5.5ft,H6ft. I need some advice on lighting. I want to use halide for vegetative and sodium for flowering. would 1 600w halide for vegetative and 2 600w sont + for flowering be sufficent? I would be gratefull for any advice anyone can give me.

Hi Murran;

My recommends would be as follows;
if you got room for 2 600's, then veg & flower with a 600w MH and a 600wHPS.

Massive amounts of light will be the result and mixing up the 2 types of lamp throughout the entire grow will result in you giving your plants almost the perfect blend of "reds & blues" on the kelvin scale. Contrary to what some believe, having the "bluer" spectrum of lighting as well as the "redder" during flowering will pay back in spades as far as yields are concerned!

Of course, (room permitting) 2x 600w HPS + 1x 600 MH would be ideal. A perfect lighting rig for the entire grow, (IMHO).

Good luck

RD

Thanks for the advice so promptly,what would give me the best? yeld two 600 HPS sont+ or 1 600 HPS sont+ and a 600 halide.Im going to be growing organic using bio bizz with bio bizz feeds. Thanks again. Murran

Hi Murran;

If ya only have room for 2 lamps, and you can deal with a bit of height, (strain dependant of course) I would use the 600 HPS + the 600 MH, both at the same time and for the entire grow.

just be careful how close you place the plants if using seedlings. Clones on the other hand, will relish the extra lumens and pay you back big-style.

I hope this helps bro.

Success!

RD

Thanks again for the good advice,so am i right in thinking the plants will benefit more from having blue in the light spectrum?most of what i have read has said that the plants only use the red end of the spectrum when flowering.
cheers.
murran.

-as I understand it, this whole thing about "red" light for flowering is rather misleading - in fact, where ganja is native, you just don't get "red" autumn light. - having said that, there is no doubt that you can flower under just an hps successfully - but the plants are being deprived of some of the "blue" end of the spectrum that they also need - potency is higher (but yield lower) under just a "blue" metal halide - as my friend the dragon says, ideally a mix of both for flowering is optimum (2 "red" and 1 "blue"). Many people make the mistake of buying the "agro"hps bulbs, which supposedly emit extra blue light - they really are a total waste of time, youre better off with the super son ts.
So, I'd reiterate the advice - go for the mix, ideally 2:1 red/blue, or one of each. Just to be awkward, howsabout 2x400hps, and one 400 halide? - (400 bulbs are not quite as efficient as the 600 watters, but it may afford better light distribution, making up for the slightly lower output!)
The main reason "red" light is avoided during vegging is that it may cause the plants to "stretch" more - not so worrying with indicas, but can be a problem with sativas
Whatever you choose to do, the best of luck, and as someone said most appositely the other day "welcome home!"

Thanks farmweb,
that just goes to show the advice my hydro shop gave me was no good . I dont have enough room for 3 400's so i think i will have to go for the 2 600's. Thanks again for the good advice.
Murran.

Another thougth.
Insted of 1 600 sont+ and 1 halide. would it be a better mix to for 1000 sont+ and 400 Halide?
Murran

I think a 600w HPS and a 400w MH would provide just the right "blend" in a gro-room the size of yours.

Believe me if I had the room, (I will have when my gro-room is built), that is just the mix I would choose for myself!

peace.

RD

-now that sounds good! - howsabout going bonkers and up the halide to 600?
-with the 1000w, that should really boogie! Much as I hate being a party-pooper, 1600w of light could result in 1gm/watt of dried weed - 1600 grams is between 3-4 lbs of puff - every 8-10weeks..............that's a LOT!

Thanks for the good advice guys you have given me food for thought it seems i have a couple of options .
cheers
Murran.

murran a question, is the actual canopy of your plants 5.5 x 5.5 ft and how is it enclosed?

hi ot1
yes 5.5 is the canopy area it is a grow cube with a hight of 6ft. extraction is a inline fan that has a capacity of 1000 cubic meters per hour and i have 2 12inch fans moving the air.
Murran.

I would say one each 600w mh and hps would give you some very good results. To get the best from the mixed lights you need to be able to rotate them. With 600w lamps 35 to 40w per sq ft is fine, with 400w lamps round 50w per sq ft is about the mark and 250w need 60w.

It is best to enclose the canopy with mylar.

My main concern is that 6 ft is not a lot of headroom. To get the spread of light the lamps need to be 2 to 2.5 ft above the plant tops.

There is no doubt that the inclusion of the high energy spectrum while flowering helps any strain to produce more complex psychoactivity, how much depending on the genetic potential of the variety/s you are growing.

I think I have posted about this before here, but it might be a while back.

Thank you ot1,
i will invest in another 600 for my next grow.i seem to cope with the hight ok. Im growing shiva shanti and i have selected a good stocky bushy mother for my next grow to clone from.
Thanks again OT1,
murran