hps wattage?

[rush]

i'm a first timer researching the process. i'll be growing in a closet that's 8'x6'x2'. veg growth will be on the top shelf with flos. i want to have two shelves below (to get more plants in) below for flowering. if i do this, should i use 250 watt hps for each level? it seems 400 watt would be too hot for two levels in this space. help please.
(fyi-hydroponics)
thanks

 

[Eggman]

Ultimately, if you can, put your light above the room shining through glass, keep the light about an inch form that glass and your grow room will heat to only room temperature. Of course, no one does this, but if you do, you wont have to worry about heat anymore.

 

[GanjaGuru]

Eggman, that won't work unless the light hood is sealed and has intake/exhaust and a seperate fan to power it.
If you just stick a piece of glass in a growroom it won't do a thing to lower the temps.

 

[rush]

thanks eggman and guru,
i read the suggested newbie reading and i'm trying to envision the whole thing.
i want to keep my veg growth on the top shelf as i said, and i want two shelves below for flowering. the book says that if you are doing the sea of green method, you need less light. i'm looking now at buying two 150 watt hps-- one for each shelf. it's hard to find anything below 250 watts on any hydro site i go to. i found 150 watt lamps from lowe's but my next conern is that these lamps do not come with any type of reflector. if i put the lamp in the middle of the shelf, how can i assure equal coverage from one end of the shelf to the other. will i have to rotate the plants?
i've seen some light movers and hangers but i can't afford that right now.
so first, i want to make sure that 150 watt hps is good for each shelf; and second, how do i get good light coverage for the entire shelf? should i buy seperate reflectors from somewhere? this seems to be an important factor as i read about moving lights etc.
thanks ---i'm so excited to get started!

 

[Eggman]

Good call Ganja, I know what i'm saying, but it seems I didn't type it well. My bad. If you want bulb that's under 250 watts go to any electronics supplier with a computer. If they don't have a computer, you're going to ahve to buy bulk. Rush, any chance we can have a picture?

 

[rush]

i'm looking on ebay and i see a 125 watt flourescent light with FULL RED spectrum.
it's like $69.00. seems like a good deal. wondering if this will be as good as hps; i thought the only difference was that average flouros don't have the full red spectrum.
using the sea of green, the book says you can use as low as 75 watt hps.
seems like if i get full red spectrum. that's all i need. is there something else the hps can offer that i'm not considering?

 

[rush]

p.s. eggman,
picture of what? i dont have the closet set up yet. i'm working on all of that.
it's a typical closet space 8x6x2.
the hps i saw at lowes doesn't have a reflector which concerns me and buying one seperately seems like a hassle. i'll use it if i have to.
just wanting to know what others are using in this size closet space for shelf growing.
thks all for the help!

 

[gqone333]

400 watts do get hot ,i upgraded to a 1000 watt in hung it 3 feet ,now my temps stay at 85 being the lowest 89 being normal and 93 being high. i guess the theres a way by like you say by putting a glass dome over with holes ,connect a air holes inside and put a mini fan in for air output or two mini fans one air going in and air going out .again i never treid this but i thinking of it in the future .a 150 is preety good for a tall grow box for temps.

 

[dank]

hey rush,

i'm a lil hung up on your dimensions, 8x6x2. do you really only have two feet of height? if thats the case, i would call this a no-grow until you can give your lady at least 4' of headroom - not including the height of your buckets.

to chime in on your best choice of light, it'd turn to the ol grow bible and scope out how many lumens/sqft you want - which turns your attention to your planned sqft (length x width) and the lumens offered by diff lights (my 400 HPS gives me 51,000 lumens). generally 6000-8000 lumens/sqft is recognmened. get the biggest light possible that you dont think will kill your cab with heat - or look into a cool tube to reduce your temps by 10*ish. either way, get some kind of HPS for flower, you'll thank yourself come harvest best of luck, dank

ps: if you line your closet with mylar, you dont need a reflector hood. it'll reflect some 98% of the light for ya

pps: you can find some good lights and prices at insidesun and 1000bulbs

 

[Hick]

rush..a suggestion.
Rather than divide your closet horizontally(2 sections, 6'Lx2'Wx4'T).Divide it vertically(2 sections 3'Lx2'Wx8'T) Reasoning..it's going to be pretty difficult to "efficiently" kight an area 6 ft long and only 2 wide. Unless you plan to use two lights. One near either end of the room.
Regardles of your reflector hood, mylar, ect. As light distance from the source increases, intensity decreases.(Inverse square Law) I don't feel that a "low wattage" light as you're speaking of, will provide the intensity needed by the time it reaches to both ends of the room.
IMO, in a space of those proportions, 2-250's would be the minimum that I would recommend.(still les than the optimal, 50 watts p./sq/ft.)

using the sea of green, the book says you can use as low as 75 watt hps.
seems like if i get full red spectrum. that's all i need. is there something else the hps can offer that i'm not considering?

If your book states that a 75 watt hps will provide enuff efficient light to grow in 12 sq ft area...."IMHO" get another book. That works out to about 6 watts per sq ft.
"Red" spectrum isn't all that is needed. Plants require a "full" spectrum for the best results. HPS provides the widest spectrum available, I believe. Especially if you go with some of the "enhanced spectrum" models.

If you want bulb that's under 250 watts go to any electronics supplier with a computer. If they don't have a computer, you're going to ahve to buy bulk.

??
Lowes/Home depot carry a variety of hps fixtures and bulbs...ALL under 250 watts. In fact I believe a 150 is the largest they carry in my area. The problem with these, the ballast is part of the fixture, which adds a lotta' heat to our area. BUT, those ballists can be rewired to a "remote" location.