# How many plants per light?



## LassChance (Apr 15, 2009)

OK..Im about ready to Bite the Bullet and get a Real Light.  Im looking at a 430w HPS with aSon Agro bulb...it's got a remote ballast and the reflector is 21" X 19". My question is...how many one gal pots can go under it?  and, how far above the tops of the plants? 

Also, the glass cover is optional...do I wat/need it? Since Im going to max out a credit card, LOL, should I spring for a 600w?  What would be the difference in practical terms--more pots, bigger/better buds, what? Cost of electricity?


Lass


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## Dankerz (Apr 15, 2009)

*deciding what lamp you should get is 100% based on what size grow area you have then finding out the rite amount of watts per sq/ft or lumens per sq/ft for that area.. i wouldnt get a lamp and then try and stick it sumplace.. find an area,closet,room,tent etc then look for proper lamp for that area.! goodluck*


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## DirtySouthernAfficionado (Apr 15, 2009)

:yeahthat:
What you are looking is lumens. 5000 lumens per sq foot to be exact. 3000 is the least and 7000 would be bump. You need to decide where you are going to grow, measure the dimensions of your grow area. If you have a light that puts out 30000 lumens, that is 5000 lumens for 6 sq feet. Rule of thumb is 1 plant per sq foot. The bigger lights are going to give you a bigger light coverage area and more lumens. 
Generally, 600 watts are the best bet for an actual room, 1000 watts are boss, but 600 are more efficent.
And how close you get them depends on how hot the light gets, is there a gass shield, is it vented, do you have a fan blowing over the tops of your plants. There are all factors that can contribute to that question. The rule of thumb for that is, how far away is your hand from the light where it can sit comfortably without burning.
Good luck and good smoke
p.s. Though maxing credit cards is a bad idea either way you look at it (I'm betting you're a bit on the young side, been there), maxing a card at a hydroponics store or online on grow lights, well, there is such a thing as a paper trail. I don't know about you, but considering the amount of time and money it cost you were you to get caught and the time and money the government and law enforcment put into catching and busting people, maxing out a credit card in my or a family members name with a bill to my address on stuff used to grow an illegal substance...
I *re-emphasize* good luck my friend
Just a thought, save yourself some possible heartache and debt, work and save up your money, go get a prepaid Visa with no name or billing address, or use cash and a hydro store and keep your **** on the downlow, and not on someone else's dime until you pay it back.


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## LassChance (Apr 15, 2009)

Dankerz said:
			
		

> *deciding what lamp you should get is 100% based on what size grow area you have then finding out the rite amount of watts per sq/ft or lumens per sq/ft for that area.. i wouldnt get a lamp and then try and stick it sumplace.. find an area,closet,room,tent etc then look for proper lamp for that area.! goodluck*


 

OK.  My room is 12' X8' with an 8' ceiling. It's underground, what they used to call a "root cellar".It has two long narrow openings on one side close to the ceiling that run the length of the room.  I expect this was for ventilation when folks stored potatoes down there....I only want to grow 8-10 plants, so neither space nor heat is a problem.

So...?

Lass


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## crozar (Apr 15, 2009)

im not good in advising but for me in your situation if its the first time just get a 400watts HPS , if its your 4th grow and you see you did good , then get another 400watts HPS , have 2 exhaust fan's pulling the heat from the lights by hooking a alaminuduct bendablepipe like towards the light , you wont have heat problems when the heat is pulled away and have 3 fans , 2 to form an X to push heat above , and 1 towards the plants , if you have an icemachine , put 4 bottles of 2liter water in the freezer , and put the frozen bottles on the edge of the room , remember to beat them and make it crack to pieces inside the bottle , make a big hole instead of opening the cover , the hole size should be 80% big , and to inrich cool breeze with co2.
some1 fix me if im wrong. im in my first grow but im getting creative by the time being when sleeping beside my plants


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## slowmo77 (Apr 15, 2009)

man thats a big room. i would suggest building a dividing wall and use one half for veg and one for flowering. if you did that i would use nothing smaller than a 600watt per side. mh for veg and hps for flowering. if you do the whole area i would go with 3 600 watts mh/hps conversions. jmo you'll get alot of different views so just hang in there..

i do agree with the statement above about not maxin out a credit card for grow supplies. work and save. again jmo


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## LassChance (Apr 15, 2009)

DirtySouthernAfficionado said:
			
		

> :yeahthat:
> What you are looking is lumens. 5000 lumens per sq foot to be exact. 3000 is the least and 7000 would be bump. You need to decide where you are going to grow, measure the dimensions of your grow area. If you have a light that puts out 30000 lumens, that is 5000 lumens for 6 sq feet. Rule of thumb is 1 plant per sq foot. The bigger lights are going to give you a bigger light coverage area and more lumens.
> Generally, 600 watts are the best bet for an actual room, 1000 watts are boss, but 600 are more efficent.
> And how close you get them depends on how hot the light gets, is there a gass shield, is it vented, do you have a fan blowing over the tops of your plants. There are all factors that can contribute to that question. The rule of thumb for that is, how far away is your hand from the light where it can sit comfortably without burning.
> ...


 

I was in 8t grade when JFK was shot, so it's been some forty years or so since I was "young". And to tell the truth, buying a light wouldnt really "max"  a card. I should have said, "since Im charging it and incurring debt which always pisses me off because I like to keep my balances at zero", but that's a lot of words. I live in a tiny town and buying such a light locally (even if there were a place here that sold such a light, which there isnt) would raise eyebrows, for sure.  The UPS guy delivering one in a box is infinitely more discreet.

The room is a root cellar, 12 X 8, so size isnt limiting. Id like to grow 8-10 plants.

Advice?

Lass


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## 4u2sm0ke (Apr 15, 2009)

slowmo77 said:
			
		

> man thats a big room. i would suggest building a dividing wall and use one half for veg and one for flowering. if you did that i would use nothing smaller than a 600watt per side. mh for veg and hps for flowering. if you do the whole area i would go with 3 600 watts mh/hps conversions. jmo you'll get alot of different views so just hang in there..
> 
> i do agree with the statement above about not maxin out a credit card for grow supplies. work and save. again jmo


 



:yeahthat:   other then  I would use 1000 watters  ..and pay $$$$   always..just my thoughts


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## Dankerz (Apr 15, 2009)

stick a 1000w hps in a 5'x5' room get some buckets filled with soil plant some seed,get some air flowing in there & .. read read and read some more is the only way it going to happen..nobodys going to do it for you..but you
go search the grow sections etc


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## crozar (Apr 15, 2009)

if your country have malls then they sell this light , its a security light people use it or their gardens and home , its not made for growing but plants can grow with it , they are also called HPS flood lights
you can seperate the ballast and customize a 4meter or more line to the holder , you can make a reflector by a mailbox and cut it and customize it  it gets cheaper when buying it locally , i found out its cheaper locally because their isnt much demand for it , unless people in your country buy these lights alot  , in the US some places those lights are expensive and some local stores in places where no demand will be cheap


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## slowmo77 (Apr 15, 2009)

4u2sm0ke is right. after thinking about it for a few minutes and 3 600watters wouldn't be enough to cover the 12x8. maybe a 12x4. sorry for the bad info. dang i can't always be right


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## Newbud (Apr 15, 2009)

If you wanna use the whole 12 x 8 and its 8ft tall then personally i'd go for 4 1000 hps's over 8 plants and watch em grow lol.
You would end up with some SWEET buds man but you'd probably need aircooled hoods for the heat.

If not then half the room.

Originally wrote 600's but that only 3950 L per sqr ft

You get the point though, you could grow some serious weed in that space lol


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## lordhighlama (Apr 15, 2009)

since you know how many plants you want to grow, now is the time to figure out what sq/ft each plant will take up.  Once you have that figured out section off the room to that sq/ft and get a light capable of producing 5000 lumens per sq/ft.  Simple as mud!


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## LassChance (Apr 16, 2009)

slowmo77 said:
			
		

> 4u2sm0ke is right. after thinking about it for a few minutes and 3 600watters wouldn't be enough to cover the 12x8. maybe a 12x4. sorry for the bad info. dang i can't always be right



Why do I need to cover the whole room? I cant help the size of the room, LOL..it is what it is.  I was thinking in terms of setting a sheet of plywood over two small file cabinets to raise my plants off the dirt floor. One piece of 4 X 8 plywood would easily hold the 8-10 plants, which is as many as I want. I want to hang one light  overabout 9 square feet of plants.

I only need this room for flowering, at least for now.  Possibly will divide the room at a later date for a veg side and a flower side, but for now all I want is a place for flowering and an adequate light source to cover nine or ten sq. feet, give or take.

Lass


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## purplephazes (Apr 16, 2009)

DirtySouthernAfficionado said:
			
		

> :yeahthat:
> What you are looking is lumens. 5000 lumens per sq foot to be exact. 3000 is the least and 7000 would be bump. You need to decide where you are going to grow, measure the dimensions of your grow area. If you have a light that puts out 30000 lumens, that is 5000 lumens for 6 sq feet. Rule of thumb is 1 plant per sq foot. The bigger lights are going to give you a bigger light coverage area and more lumens.
> Generally, 600 watts are the best bet for an actual room, 1000 watts are boss, but 600 are more efficent.
> And how close you get them depends on how hot the light gets, is there a gass shield, is it vented, do you have a fan blowing over the tops of your plants. There are all factors that can contribute to that question. The rule of thumb for that is, how far away is your hand from the light where it can sit comfortably without burning.
> ...


your anwers again


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## The Hemp Goddess (Apr 16, 2009)

LassChance said:
			
		

> Why do I need to cover the whole room? I cant help the size of the room, LOL..it is what it is.  I was thinking in terms of setting a sheet of plywood over two small file cabinets to raise my plants off the dirt floor. One piece of 4 X 8 plywood would easily hold the 8-10 plants, which is as many as I want. I want to hang one light  overabout 9 square feet of plants.
> 
> I only need this room for flowering, at least for now.  Possibly will divide the room at a later date for a veg side and a flower side, but for now all I want is a place for flowering and an adequate light source to cover nine or ten sq. feet, give or take.
> 
> Lass



If you do not section off and enclose a smaller space, your light will disburse throughout the entire room and this wastes light.   

A 4 x 8 piece of plywood is 32 sq ft...  If all you want/need to use is 9 sq ft, then you need to make an enclosure of some kind that size.  A 400W light in a 96 sq ft room gives you 573 lumens per sq ft.  A 400W in a 9 sq ft room gives you over 6000 lumens per sq ft.


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## SmokedtheRent$ (Apr 18, 2009)

*WoW* the most gorgeous of them all>*Hemp Goddess* you did it again. Here I thought I one of the smartest guys is America and even I didn't know that. Makes perfect sense. Although my experience has shown me that those multiple 1000 HPS's setups will heat up any enclosed space like somebody left an oven on (especially in the summer). And the only way to alleviate that is to AC it with plenty BTU's, which means your electric bill looks more like a car note. Seems kinda like a trade off to me.


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