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View Full Version : Lighting decisions for my cab



sobekobe
05-14-2009, 03:41 PM
Hello everyone!

I'm a long time lurker, few time poster and am amazed at the amount I have learned and still have to learn on this art of growing. And now I have a small grow box of my own and I need some help deciding on light options.

The grow box is 20"deep x 36"wide x 32" tall, so it has about 5sqft of floorspace. Seems to be pretty decent once you look at it. Variables that will play a part in lighting include my room staying a constant 78-82 degrees F in the summer, the power to the room is used to running a 600w power supply for my recently burnt out gaming computer, and now I have a 200w laptop and have a little extra power to spare before the energy bills show a noticeable spike.

Option 1 : Use a lot of CFLs(probably 8? 26w or a few 67w) for a 2/3 part of the box and use the rest of the space for future grows, a veg chamber, or just when I need it.

Option 2: Get a 250w HPS/MH system with a cool tube for either the whole box,

or...

Option 3: 250w HPS/MH for 2/3 of the box and use CFLs for a smaller veg chamber.

FWIW: I plan on growing these Auto White Russian beans my friend bought (why???) and will start a real strain within a couple of months. Depending on what light setup I decided to use, I will do all of the AWR at the same time (10 seeds, non fem) in the whole or most of the grow space and go from there. Cooling will be provided depending on needs of lighting.

Thoughts, comments, concerns? Thanks a million!

tinytoon
05-14-2009, 11:01 PM
250w hps/mh cooltube :thumbsup:

sobekobe
05-16-2009, 02:16 AM
But with the 250w HPS w cooltube will I have enough room to grow a decent plant(s)?

Not to kill your imput, Tinytoon, but after doing some reseach and "window shopping," its not sounding feasable. :wtf:

From what I can figure:

I have 32" of height, and from what I've seen on spec sheets of 250w HPS lights, they are gonna eat up at least 7 inches of head room, leaving me with 25inches without taking into account the cushion of room I would need below the lights (10-14 inches) so I don't burn.

I'd love to do HPS, but it sounds almost impossible in my current setup :(

Someone please tell me I'm all wrong about not having enough space and correct me :rastasmoke: