So my friend has this perfect spot. A place underground that his dad owns. AND his dad is totally cool with it. So we have about 120sq ft to work with. We are thinking of cutting it down to about 4ft x 20ft = 80sq ft it is almost 6ft tall. We already have a 1000w MH and i managed to lose my 400w ballast (don't ask big story). we have seedlings started !!! we are using NLxBig Bud, Papaya, White Rhino, and Ice, and 5 really good bagseeds. started with 6 of each. every seed germinated except for the ICE, the ice seeds looked a little premature to me >:-O. they are already about 3 inches tall, the nlxbig bud really shot up fast. gonna use soil and put each in its own container. using 4 gallon buckets I know that we are gonna need somemore light to cover the area, I am thinking another 1000w mh with hps conversion bulb? I was wondering if anyone knows what kind of yields we can expect, I was thinking around the 5-6 lbs mark ( being conservative) if everything goes as planned. And i also thought that moving the plants in a rotation of the light every day might keep them from stretching one way or the other, since they are all going to be in their own pots.
Two 1,000watt HID's is enough to cover about 40sq.ft. very well. If you're going to cover 80sq.ft., you'll only have 25 watts/sq.ft. - not enough! Plus, a long narrow growing area is hard to light with two lights - 4 1/2' x 8 1/2' is more realistic. If you can get five or six lbs. out of one grow at 2,000watts you don't need any advice - my hat is off to you!!! If that's just wishful thinking; then a little reality is in order. An experienced grower, who does everything right, can expect, maybe 4 1/2 lbs. A beginner would be lucky to bring in over a pound.
I know its probably not what you want to hear. But maybe a 80sqft area is too much for a beginning grower. Why not just work with the 1000w light right now, put a half dozen plants under it and see how you do before you crank it up?
Whoa, that is a big project my man! Since you are going big how does your buddy's dad feel about forfeiture of his house? 5-6 pounds is commercial and a felony. I don't grow and won't till its legal (or for medical use) but if I was, I sure would not post it here. Not poo pooing the plan just want to express how quiet you should be about it. Silence is golden! B
We have it broken into four sections, 5ft each with a wooden frame built to hang lights and such. The area is not in a resdential area, so we don't have to worry about neighbors . I was also thinking of maybe going for 4 400w lights and doing scrog except on the nlxbig bud because of how the plants grow. Planning on out of 23 started plants having 1/2 female. so that leaves 12-14 plants fem. Probably going to go ahead and clone one of each. So we can get a good rotation going. Also gonna start some outdoor guerilla stuff. and no this isn't my first grow, learned mistakes from past ones and won't ever make them again. So realistically I think that we are going to be looking at 3.5-4 lbs and after the cloning ans such is done we should be cranking it up a little since there will only be virgin ladies in my growroom
Sounds like scary fun. Wouldn't it make more sense to do the bulk of an indoor op in the winter, when you won't be distracted by your outdoor efforts and can concentrate on one sweet crop at at time?
I personally think that 1000 metal halide is overkill for anything, a 400w metal halide can veg quite a lot of plants. In that space you have, which sounds great, I think you are going to give yourself nothing but problems if you plan to use 1000watters. You have 6 foot of height, your going to do well to get that light closer to the plant that a foot and a half, a decent pot for the plant will be about a foot, so thats 2 and a half foot. So at maximum your going to be growing to 3 foot high, so that puts any sativas out. I know the hassle of having a 6 foot height clearance as contend with this problem everyday and even with 600w's i've had to adapt my growing style so that i can keep the plants as short as possible without an adverse effect on yield
It's all about the floorplan! A long, narrow, grow space is easier to work in than a short, wide, one. However, a short, wide, grow space is easier (and much more economical) to light up. Either way, it's a compromise over what works best for you - in the longrun."I was also thinking of maybe going for 4 400w lights". 20sq.ft. for each 400watt light? Good luck!!! Have you done the math? That's only 20watts/sq.ft. - not even half enough light for a proper job. Four 1000watt HID's will give you 50watts/sq.ft. (just the right amount). Do you think that will go unnoticed on the electric bill? Even if they don't turn you in, they will be charging you at least $300. a month. 50watts/sq.ft. is a good rule of thumb, do you really think you can get by with only 20? It seems to me that you are planning a large grow area that will leave most of the space very poorly lit. A top notch grower should be able to get 3 1/2 lbs. out of 4 400watt lights in 32sq.ft. of well lit area.
