5x9'6x7 area,2 1000's,how many Plants?

[steezyd]

Hows it going, Ive recently bumped up my system to 2 1000 watt HPS lights.Ive only used smaller(400 watt lights before) in telephone booth likes spaces. The space I'm using now is 5 feet wide-9 and a half feet long- and 7 feet high. I'm going to put them on a 3 months cycle(1month veg, 2 month flower). I was thinking 6 plants under each 1000 originally and I still think it will probably be the best way to go. If i stack three plants under the middle(of the light) to the left and three plants under the middle to the right that leaves me with about 13-15 inches of space on both sides...If I really cram them in there i might be able to put 6 on each side, meaning 12 under one 1000 watt light....but Im afraid they will be too crammed once heavy flowering will start(not to mention It will make maintenance a litter rougher. But I dont want to waste any space. How many plants should I put under a 1000 watt light with my room specifications?

Thanks in advance!

[GanjaThump]

Sounds like you've already figured it out, but just needed to hear it from someone else. You're correct. 12 plants is about the point where any more than that would start crowding each other and competing for light space. :thumbsup:

[steezyd]

i see, so you really don't think i could fit at least 9 plants under each light comfortably? My main concern is yield, If I only have 12 plants, I have to get at least 1/4 LB per plant to yield 3 LB's total(3-4 LB's is my goal)...and if I get any thing less from each plant say...3 ounces per....that's barely over 2Lb's.:wtf:...so I figure if i can get 9 under each lights, 3 ounces from each will produce a nice yield, 3.5 LB ....I have a A/C Wall unit in the space, along with a 8 inch vortex fan w/ 600 cfm or so for exhaust at the point of exit, with 8"duct running from exit to room, through the lights to the monster charcoal filter(30"long 17"w)....so do u think I could fit 9 plants under one 1000 watt light w/ a 3 month grow cycle?(1 month veg, 2 month flower)

[steezyd]

ok....so now I'm thinking eight plants under each light,lol...the light can comfortably cover 4 feet long and 3 feet wide cant it?

[GanjaThump]

The whole idea is to get the maximum amount of lumens on the maximum amount of buds to get the maximum amount of yield.

The closer your lights are to your plants, (without burning them) the more lumens you will have on your buds, but you will have less square footage of floor space covered by the light cause the light is closer to the floor.

The farther your lights are from your plants, the more square footage you can cover, but you will have less lumens as your light is now farther away from the tops of your plants and your buds will be airy and not compact and you'll have fewer bud sights as the plants try to stretch toward the light and get stringy.

I'd rather have a less number of plants with thick, heavy, compact resiny buds, than a lot of plants that are airy, see-through, and popcorny from stretching too much for light.

The number of plants you can put under the light also depends on your pruning method. If you go SOG (Sea Of Green), meaning you have one main cola and maybe 4 laterals at the most, you can get more plants huddled together under the light.
However, if you super crop and pinch your top meristem so the laterals can grow up all together to make them bush out equally to the top, then you are going to need a minimum of at least 2 sq ft of floor space for each plant.

This is about the best way I can explain it without going into the math involving the inverse square law: Intensity = light output / distance(squared).

Hope this helps.

Happy growing!