A question of a fellow grower:
What light should I buy to grow 3 to 7 plants?
600w mh and hps light will do 4 pretty good but it will also depend upon what you are growing in like a room or a tent you want 50watt per square foot for a mh hps light and about 35 or 40 watt per square foot for led lights i use mh hps light and love my results i use 2 in a 4x4x6 grow tent
3 Likes
Currently I’m using two 315 Watt CMH . They’re sort of expensive but they will pay for themselves over time with money you will save on the electric bill. For me it also cut down on heat. So that helped too. Prior to my ceramic metal halides I used to use a 1000 watt HPS and metal halide. My room used to get real hot with those. Good luck deciding. There’s lots of people on this site who use all different kinds of lighting. If you join the Forum you won’t regret it. It’s a great community of people. Enjoy deciding it’s fun shopping for that kind of stuff! Have a good morning
1 Like
You don’t really want to think about some number of plants, but rather a number of square feet. You can SCROG a single plant to fill up a 4x4 space. You can grow 16 (or more) plants in that space if you use SOG technique. Light intensity is on a per square foot basis, as is yield.
So figure out your tent or grow chamber first. Then light it adequately and get ventilation installed. THEN you can think about how many plants you want in that space and what you have to do to fill the space with plants.
1 Like
It depends on how big your plants, Usually I think 4’x4’ tent can grow 4–6 plants. You can buy one about 550W led or one about 300W led to use. If one light is not enough after you decide the quantity of plants, then you can add more plants.
For what it’s worth - I think the heat issue is dependent on the fixture/reflector you choose. I have a 1000 watt MH/HPS setup in an air cooled reflector and it produces VERY little heat below the bulb. I have a 6"x16" carbon filter on the inlet side, with air being pulled through that, then the reflector, then outside the tent to a 6" 400 CFM fan running at full power.
I can put my hand directly below the glass and it feels approximately 5 degrees warmer than the ambient temperature in the tent.
2 Likes
Thats an excellent point. I did not even take that into account. Yeah mine’s the exact opposite at the time. I have my little storage room but had one big, parabolic or what’s referred to as an umbrella hood. It’s older technology. It worked for years but for my situation switching up helped a ton. Great point @TommyBahama. Thank you for clarifying that.
I do not have any air filter system or duct work at all. That probably would have helped the bunch. I just have a couple of fans going around the room. Thanks have a nice morning.
1 Like