do i use my light efficiently?

[silent-toker]

G'day folks! have got an air cooled 1000W hps and have been using this in a 4ft x4ft x9ft frame last few grows and getting good enough results. a few things have changed for me recently though so im rebuilding and now i have more space which got me thinking bout grow room size and my lights efficiency.

would i get a better yield and maintain qaulity by having a larger room with bigger/more plants but obviously less light concentration or am i doing better by sticking to the at least 50watts/sqft rule ( 62 watts/sqft for my case). is the high watts/sqft helping me get bigger, more solid buds or will they be similar with the light spread out a bit more. I fully understand that yield,quality depend on plant,system,technique etc as well, am happy with all that for now, but can i use my 1000W better?

[Frazz]

Well in my opinion keep the same size grow but put it under netting (scrog), this can increase your

harvest if done right

[silent-toker]

yeah, have got a scrog set up in a way. i LST the outside plants up a vertical screen and keep the middle ones low on a horizontal screen. its just i have read about people using 1000w in rooms much bigger than mine and wonder if i could get more out of the light?

[Gazza2001au]

i was using my 1000 hps to cover 4x3 foot i dont really see it covering anymore than 4x4 without being in a chinamans hat

[silent-toker]

thanks for the replies guys! i'll maybe use the old set up and stop being greedy eh!

[SukonmiSkunk]

when I first started growing the recomended size for a 1000watt light was about 1700x1700mm... the first grow box I built was 1500x1500mm. I would put 4 pots under my light and 1-4 clones perpot. Usual grow was 12 weeks with a yeild of about 3 pounds with a second pick.

 

If your growing in a square area then the parabolic shades are the best for luminal distrubution.. the retangular shades are really for a retangular room... sure they put more lumins to the center but the edges suffer dramatically. this is my opinion. and from charts ive seen.

so to answer your question you could comfortably build your room 1500x1500mm using a parabolic shade your quality shouldnt suffer that much and your yeild will increase. Another way to increase yield is faster turn around, more crops per year = more yeild... I went from a 4 pot setup to a 9 pot setup and with 4 clones in each pot,the room only takes a week to fill then you are flowering.. instead of the usual 3-4 weeks grow time youll find you will get an extra crop every year.... but then its up to you how many plants you want to do.... so with 9 pots each crop is out under 10 weeks and you will yeild just as much if not a little extra....

Edited March 28, 2006 by SukonmiSkunk