Shockeclipse said:Make sure you keep your lights as close to your canopy as your temps allow. You are going to want to have 5000 lumens per sf. Are you flowering with cfl's too? Isyour res in a closed off room with no light? Your res needs to be light proof or you can have algae growth. I would fine a way to wrap it in something light proof and keep that cover on as well
Shockeclipse said:Make sure you keep your lights as close to your canopy as your temps allow. You are going to want to have 5000 lumens per sf. Are you flowering with cfl's too? Is Your res in a closed off room with no light? Your res needs to be light proof or you can have algae growth. I would fine a way to wrap it in something light proof and keep that cover on as well
MickFoster said:CFL's are compact fluorescent lights. However you don't have those - it appears they are either 3' or 4' fluorescent tubes. If they are 4' - each bulb probably puts out about 3,000 lumens - the package the bulbs come in should say what the lumen output is. If you are using those fixtures throughout your grow I would suggest cool white bulbs for veg and warm white for flower. One last thing - I would definitely either paint or tape the container you are using for your reservoir.
The light that doesn't hit the plants is pretty much meaningless. When the plants are small, they need less light for two different reasons. First, they aren't at their full growth speed and require less light per/sq ft and secondly, they occupy less square feet and it takes less total lumens to make the 5000 per/sq ft.Shockeclipse said:I think two people are referring to sf and light requirements in different ways. THG is referring to room size and Stoney is talking about the space the plants take up. Now I am confused too. I always thought it was room size and not plant space that matters lumen wise.
It sounds like you understand what's up with the lights now. Also, keep in mind that if you have your lights arranged so that half the light *isn't* on the plants, then that light is now outside the equation. The light that *hits* the plants is what counts. I have two configurations for the hooks that support my lights. One is for the single 430 to hang in the center over the canopy and then, later, I use the other hooks to move both lights to be centered over the plant canopy. Using the height to span the size of the canopy is also a trick you can use. Moving the lights *slightly up or down will move the distance the light covers inward or outward as well. Sometimes it's necessary to alter the size of light to accommodate the size of the grow area also. Some people do this by moving from CFL's to Halides or HPS's, or even from linear Fluorescents to MH or HPS.Shockeclipse said:Thank you Stoney, I get it now. So it always helps when choosing your space size in accordance with the size plants you want to grow and the amount of light needed. I would think if your planning on filling the grow area then you should plan for that amount of needed lumens. I get that it doesn't matter in the beginning but down the road it does. I think that prolly means I am running around 6000 lumens per sf in my setup based on canopy size.
Timmyjg6 said:Hay bro, nice setup.. I am sure yours is a lot moor thought up than our first's.. But that's where you learn from your mistakes. This first grow might not be done perfect and you might not have a great harvest but you will make up for that in knowledge. Also i started out in a little closet like this, but thin decided to go bigger after first grow.
I have a couple things to say..
1. It looks like you are in a 3'x3' closet. But you are only going to be using about 4sq feet id say.
2. For lights you are using two, 2-foot 2-bulb Florescent light's. Which really are not going to give you great results once you reach your flowering stage. But id just finish the grow and i have a feeling you will upgrade after this grow. Thing is anything bigger and you will have heat problems. Just something to think about.
3. Some suggestions i would have is i would read up on LSTing and i would performe that on your plants to get a nice thick canopy. Also i would switch them to flower pretty soon, by the looks of it your plants are already about 2' tall and i am not sure exactly how much room your lights, pots, and rez take but looks like a good bit of room. And knowing your plants will probably double in size once you switch to flower id think you would be almost out of room. Just looking out for you bro. good luck. Any questions just let me know.
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