Enough lumens for 56 sq ft?

[sociobud]

My closet is 56 sq ft. I have a 250W MH light already. I'm about to buy a HPS light as well. A guy I know is selling a 150W & 400W HPS light. The 150W comes with a bulb for $75, the 400W has no bulb for $150.

Here's my question..should I buy the 150 or 400W light? Would a 150W HPS & 250W MH throw off enough lumens for 3-4 plants in my 56 sq ft closet?

Thanks to all who answer!

[Zcomp]

56sqft floorspace? a couple 1000W HPS should cover that.
But if you just want 2-3 plants, I'd say go with the 400W. For what you invest, it has a much greater return.
The MH, I hope your using that for you veg room. Otherwise it has very low Lumen per watt conversion. CFL's have topped MH in efficacy I believe.

[xcrispi]

Are you talking cubic feet , or square feet ?

length x width = square feet .
length x width x height = cubic feet .

56 square feet of floorspace = 56 ft x 50 w. per square foot = 2800 watts .

How big is your space length and width ?
Crispi :jointsmile:

[Zcomp]

That was my point as-well. 56 sqft is like 11' * 5' floorspace. Thats enough room for about 12-24 plants depending on veg time.

[sociobud]

I'm sorry, its 56 CUBIC feet. (5" wide x 7.5" high x 1.5" deep).

Zcomp, I don't have a veg room. I'm a small operation. I have one closet. I guess I could convert another closet into a veg room, but I'm not sure I want to have a continuous operation right now. I'm only growing for myself, and I don't smoke that much. I just wanted to grow some of my own grass to smoke. Something about ingesting something you grew yourself makes it so much better! Besides, seeing my little babies grow makes me so proud!

[Zcomp]

in that case, Either the 400 or the 150 would work, Warning though about the heat put off by the 400. You've got a small closet so I'd go 150 unless you've worked in a real good exhaust system.
I started with one closet too. But once I smoked the first batch, I said "I can't run out of this!!"
I'll tell you now, I cut a 4" hole in my ceiling to cover 2*150W HPS, Hooked up a couple PC fans and that wasn't enough. I'm shopping today for an extractor fan.

[Roughrider]

If I were you, I'd try to split the closet up into two parts--one area that's 30" to 38" x 18" for flowering, one that's 22" to 30" x 18" for veg. Put up a wall...you can get a piece of sanded plywood at a lumber store, and have it cut to fit your area for pretty cheap. Line it (and the other walls) with mylar, or paint them flat white. Install it as a divider (there are lots of ways that will work well enough). You can get 2 or 3 plants in the flower area, and theres plenty of room for vegging 6 to 8 in the veg area.

At any rate, here's the bad news...I'd go with a 250w pretty much no matter what. Even if you use the 400w, the dimensions of the room will keep it from being as effective as it should be. Lights cast their lumens in pretty much a squarish/roundish pattern. The farther you are from the lights, the less lumens/light energy you get. Because your room is so much wider than it is deep, the plants on the far edges will be much farther away and won't get adequate light. IMO, a 400w is great for up to about a 3.5' x 3.5' area. a 250w, on the other hand, is good up to about 2'6" x 2'6". With mylar or flat white paint, you can probably get enough reflection to cover an area that's 3' (or even a bit over) wide.

I'm a light guy, and my basic rule is anything over 4,000 lumens per sq. ft. is good; over 5,000 is really good. There are all sorts of theories about PAR lights and other stuff, but I haven't seen much to suggest that estimating using lumens isn't damn accurate. A 39" x 18" grow area is 4.875 sq. ft. A 250w HPS puts out around 25,000 lumens. That's 5,128 lumens per sq. ft. You'll also have fewer ventilation and colling issues with a 250w as opposed to a 400w.

The 150w? It'll be okay if you supplement it with CFLs. Set up a 30" x 18" flower area, and get a couple of hanging/clamp lights with Y-adaptors and 4 26 watt CFLs. That's enough space and light for two plants. 150w = 15,000 lumens; 4 26w CFL = about 6700 lumens. 30" x 18" = 3.75 sq. ft. That's 5786 lumens per sq. ft.

Side note...and please remember that all of this is just personal opinion and that other better, smarter growers might disagree. Pretty much every 150w HID I've seen has the ballast built into the bulb area. Ballasts generate significant heat (and weigh a lot for hanging, too). If you get a separate ballast for a 250w, you'll reduce the heat in your grow area...IMO a 250w bulb generates as much or less heat than a 150w bulb/ballast combo. That's a plus.

You can go to Discount-Hydro (my favorite light shop), and pick up a 250w Valuline ballast

Discount Hydroponics - ValuLine Lighting (http://www.discount-hydro.com/productdisp.php?navid=53&pid=480)

Stuff on ebay isn't that much cheaper, and this is a switchable ballast that allows you to use either MH or HPS. It's around $180 delivered, which isn't that much more than the 150 you were going to spend for the 400w...and the 400w isn't ideal for your space. And you get a new, switchable ballast system.

If you want to stick with the 150w, make your grow area smaller and get the CFLs...it will probably be less than $40 total, added to the $70 for the 150w HPS. Like I said, an 18" x 30" area is plenty for two decently sized plants (3' to 3.5' or maybe even a big bigger). If you squeezed it, you could make an 18" 24" grow room and just use the 150w...it would probably be enough light to flower two slightly smaller plants. Good luck!

[sociobud]

That's a nice idea about splitting the closet up. My question, would it be better to split it in half side-to-side (2.5Wx7.5H), or top-to-bottom(5Wx3.75H)? There's advantages to both. If I split them up, I could use cuttings and keep a few going all the time.

I don't understand the ballast stuff. Maybe I should google the innerds of a HID lamp!

Lastly, I have some CFL's now that produce around 10,000 lumens. I could easily suppliment the 150W HPS with those. So if I split the closet up, then I would use the 150W HPS + CFL's on the flowering side, and my 250W MH on the veg side?

[Roughrider]

I would absolutely split my closet from side to side. Again, a long, thin closet is not ideal for lighting. The farther light has to travel, the less effective it is. If your grow are is more than twice as wide as it is deep, you're losing efficiency. If you've got a 5' wide by 18" deep area, divide it side to side. No question. If you divide it so you've got 36" x 18" deep on one side, and 24" x 18" on the other, you'll be able to flower three plants while you veg a bunch of others. It's pretty much a constant system. Just my .02 on that.

On a HID (High Intensity Discharge) light, the ballast is the machinery that keeps the power flow constant and level. This is very important with HID lights. Any variance in the current flowing to the bulb will cause it to shatter and may short out the light assembly. Since ballasts regular power, they have current flowering through them. That means they heat up. If your ballast is with your light bulb assembly, you've got more heat in your plant area. If you have a separate ballast, you can keep it outside your grow room, which means less heat.

Yeah, you could use the CFLs with the 150s and get enough light for 3 plants. And it's just my opinion, but I'd use CFLs in veg at first, too...they're cheap and they're better for the first couple of weeks. MH is pretty hard on plants at first.

[Zcomp]

Yes I use the 150W Security lights(paid $48). I just took it apart and re-ran the socket wire, Now my ballast sits on the top shelf of my closet while the bulb is attached to a DIY reflector.
To roughrider, I think you may have overlooked the MH light he already has. That plus a 150W HPS should do the trick.
I'm a light hog as well, I've found that although your space may be 2'*3', You may only use 1.5'*2'. I've solved that wasted light issue.
I've used big posterboard setup like a tabletop pictureframe. This way I can move the walls closer or farther. The posterboard is white so it reflects without heating up(meaning my leaves can be touching this type of reflector).
I use 2 150's in my 3'*6' closet, But my girls never take up more than 2'*4'. I LST to create 2'*2' girls.

[sociobud]

I think I may have an idea about splitting up the closet! I posted this in my grow log http://boards.cannabis.com/closet-cabinet-growing/142855-1st-grow-check-out.html

Check it out. There's pics of my babies too!