is 2 1000w light anuff
- Thread starter ausguy
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IllusionalFate
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You would need at least 4000W to light that area sufficiently, and that would be about 45W/ft^2. You want at least 50W/ft^2 so the best idea would be to go with five 1000W ballasts, though four would work too.
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ausguy said:
First, the formulas I have are in U.S. Feet measurement so I have to convert the numbers:
4 m = 13.1233 ft
2 m = 6.56167 ft
2.4 m = 7.87401 ft
You need a minimum of 3,000 lumens per/square foot of canopy area.
5,000 lumens per/square foot of canopy area is preferred for maximum growth.
50 watts per/square foot is close, so we'll use that since you didn't post the lumens your lights put out.
You have 1,000 watt lights.
1,000 divided by 50 = 20
You have two 1,000 watt lights, so it would be 40 square feet of area you can cover.
Your area is roughly 13 x 6.5 if those are your width and length.
13 times 6.5 = 84.5 square feet of area.
84.5 times 50 = 4,225 watts
You see by the math that you need 4,225 watts to provide proper lighting to your plants.
Spreading the light out evenly is a good idea. 10 of the 400 watt lights would provide you with a much better light for your plants than four 1,000 watt lights.
The lights can be closer to the plants and the light spread would be much better.
smokybear
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Hi there. Welcome to MP. This is a great place to learn how to grow mj like a pro. It's also filled with members that are more than willing to help you out in any way possible. Make sure to do your research. Read, read, read and it will answer most of the basic questions that you are having. Take advantage of all the resources on this site. Just my thoughts. Good luck. Take care and be safe.
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ausguy said:
You need to do a lot of reading to understand the entire process.
All the information is available here on this site already.
Just start reading what is already there.
If you hurry up and start without learning, your plants will die or not be worth the effort. Slow down and learn first by reading this site.
Buying a grow book and reading it would also be a good idea.
It's not something you can learn over-night.
According to my maths, 8 sq m = about 86 square feet.
5,000 lm/sq ft for flowering, that means you need a total illumination of about 430,000lm.
Now, most 1000w High Powered Sodium lamps (i'm assuming you would use 1000w lamps) put out about 130,000 lumens. Likewise, 1000w Metal Halides put out about 110,000 lumens. You can pretty easily find bulbs that put out more than this, up to 150,000 for HPS and 130,000 for MH.
But with the standard rates, that means you will need at least 3 1000w HPS lamps and another 400-1000w lamp.
My personal reccommendation would be to get 2 metal halides and 2 high powered sodium lamps to ensure you have both spectral outputs for the entire grow. Ideally, they would all be 1000w, giving you a total lumen output of about 480,000 lumens, which puts you well over your required amount. But you could easily replace one of the 1000w Metal Halides with a 400-600w lamp, and save yourself some pennies.
With this kind of output, its important to note that you will need some fantastic reflection on the walls and cieling. You don't want to be wasting the light you have, even if you're well over your lm/sq ft count. If you do, all the heat from those extra lumens will be absorbed into walls and cielings, making it a bitch to cool.
A 10ft x 4ft room is 40 sq ft. That means you need approximately 200,000lm to achieve maximum growth. 200,000lm can easily be reached with a 600w metal halide and a 1000w HPS, which is my reccommendation so you can again put out both spectrums for the entire growth.
Or, if you wanted to be a total badass, you could buy 400,000 LED's and grow with them instead.
5,000 lm/sq ft for flowering, that means you need a total illumination of about 430,000lm.
Now, most 1000w High Powered Sodium lamps (i'm assuming you would use 1000w lamps) put out about 130,000 lumens. Likewise, 1000w Metal Halides put out about 110,000 lumens. You can pretty easily find bulbs that put out more than this, up to 150,000 for HPS and 130,000 for MH.
But with the standard rates, that means you will need at least 3 1000w HPS lamps and another 400-1000w lamp.
My personal reccommendation would be to get 2 metal halides and 2 high powered sodium lamps to ensure you have both spectral outputs for the entire grow. Ideally, they would all be 1000w, giving you a total lumen output of about 480,000 lumens, which puts you well over your required amount. But you could easily replace one of the 1000w Metal Halides with a 400-600w lamp, and save yourself some pennies.
With this kind of output, its important to note that you will need some fantastic reflection on the walls and cieling. You don't want to be wasting the light you have, even if you're well over your lm/sq ft count. If you do, all the heat from those extra lumens will be absorbed into walls and cielings, making it a bitch to cool.
A 10ft x 4ft room is 40 sq ft. That means you need approximately 200,000lm to achieve maximum growth. 200,000lm can easily be reached with a 600w metal halide and a 1000w HPS, which is my reccommendation so you can again put out both spectrums for the entire growth.
Or, if you wanted to be a total badass, you could buy 400,000 LED's and grow with them instead.
