600w HPS in a small space, can it be done? help?

ok well i am growing in a small storage space almost like a closet but larger. we have 6 plants in 7 gallon buckets. our last grow was with a 250 watt sodium light and we got about a quarter ounce per plant, but it was very fluffy and not that great.


so now we got hooked up with a 600 watt light but it has atachments for fans and air filters and such for ventilation.

My question is, is in such a small grow area, can i use a 600 watt HPS or is it going to give off too much heat? if the plants are 2 feet tall there is probably a solid 5 feet between the plants and our current light.

do i need to hook up the fans or can i just equip are area with our own house fans? the area is L shaped and the the opening is like 4 foot squared on one end of the L. So is this going to be enough ventilation if kept open?

SOrry its so long

 

6sqft? by your clue of 6 one gallon buckets? your screwing me up. with this size. But 600 mh/hps isnt much hotter than a 250 in my opinion. good air circulation is needed no matter what size lamp you use, Plants use up co2 in confined space. But as far as your heat in a closet.. if its at least 2 feet deep as a closet is the lamp difference will be more in lumens per area and heat is a not a big issue with good air movement.. not with the size bulb you say or the space Im guessing your using.

 

so where do i position my fans to get max air movement? how big of a fan should i use? where do i place it? we have been discussing this at home lately...

 

wheres the door or opening to the room.?. does it get outside air. Even if its a large room with the closet in it, and the large room door is closed it still cuts in on good air quality. While this is arguable still best to have full circulation. Place fan where you see it fit comfortable. monitor temps.

on my small cabinate air is moved in on the bottom and blown out of the top. With two small 8'' fans and temps are fine. a little high in summer months...
other larger rooms air is moved with osculating fans.

 

I position my circulation fan pointing in the same direction that my exhaust fans blow air out. i.e.. my exhaust fans are mounted/blowing air out of the east side of the cab......so i position my circulation fan facing east. Then i have my intake fan blowing directly behind my circulation fan. This lets the fresh air come in, blow on the plants, then get exhausted out of the cab. Does this during the whole lights on cycle and works great IMO. During lights off i only leave my circulation fan going to prevent mold and stale air. IMO this is a great way for excellent air flow. An alternative is to just put it in a corner of the space while kind of facing the area where your hot/stale air is exhausted.

This totally depends on a few factors.....the biggest ones being how big your grow space is and how hot your temps are with the light your using. Also if its a circulation fan or an exhaust or intake fan. If it's just the air circulation fan.....just a standard oscillating fan is fine. Just use your best judgement......you don't want it like a tornado in there but you want your leaves to always be moving.......hope this helps abit!

- 42o -

 

If you can, consider putting a hole in the ceiling for a vent fan or exhaust for venting the lamps hood. A 600 will light a 4' area nicely and as long as you can get air in and out and keep the ambient air temp ~ 70's F you will be fine. Its if the house itself gets warm during the summer that will complicate things. If your house is in the 80'sF + venting will become critical.

 

alright well the plants are at one end of the L and the doors are at the other. I cannot make a hole in the top because the space is under a staircase. right now i just have an 8" desk fan besides the plants blowing in air and i have a slightly larger one blowing directly on the plants. I guess i need to know about intake/exhaust fans b/c right now ive just been trying to get air to circulate i havent though much about it. Is there a certain way to position my fans to have intake/exhaust? should one of the fans be pointing one way then have one fan backwards facing the opening so air will circulate out? im just using desk fans at the moment but i can get a different type of fan if needed. i have not checked the temperature of my grow room, it will be summer when they are budding and its pretty hot here.

 

Squirrel cage fan and dryer exhaust kit perhaps.