Total Newbie with several questions

[tolmarex]

ok first time ever growing cannabis, it is technically legal where I live, you can own and use, but not sell, barter, trade, or transport. So only legal way of course is home grown.

Now comes the strangeness if you will.
I am currently preping an area for a hydroponics set up. It is a specialty build Giant Iguana Enclosure, no more iguana so figured use it for something.

Reason I state this is to point out the enclosure is able to be controlled for humidity (55 up to 98%), Heat 24C up to 40C, and multiple adjustable lamp sockets.
Since optimum humidiy and temp as I calculated to date is 23c to 24c or about 75F and 40 to 60% so average 50% humidity this should work well , yes? No?

It is constructed of thick plexiglass so once the reflective liner is placed inside will be also light tight and able to handle the heat lighting produces and has access holes to allow for fan forced and natural airflow and bottom to top heat ventilation air flow.

Dimensions is the important issue for now: For Lighting Lumin count do I calculate this per Square foot / meter or Cubic ?

Structure is 6.5 feet long X 6 feet high X 3 feet front to back deep. Will contain the hydroponic set up in the front half of the enclosure with secondary shelves in the back half for cloning and first stage growths.

Top / Roof and upper half of walls (First 3 feet top to bottom I planned to line with reflective foil to allow for even reflective light dispersal, with lower half of the enclosure walls being blacked out with black foil or some such water proof material.

currently the measurements average at 117 cubic feet or 19.5 square feet of space.

So, calculating at a need for 2000 lumins per foot, do I multiply this by square feet or Cubic feet?

Mind you there will also be secondary rows of lights about half way down the side walls so there is lower light dispersal as well as the plants fill and bush later on.

So which do I calculate Lumins for?
Cubic feet averages about 216,000 Lumins
Square feet averages about 39,000 Lumins

a very distinctive range differance here.

2) Next part, I had planned to use High pressure Sodium bulbs for flowering and Metal Halide for vegative phase is this correct?

that should do it for now.

Tolmarex

[bigsby]

I'm not saying you haven't or aren't doing your homework but my advice is to read read read. You will find some very useful guides in my signature below.

[tolmarex]

thanks off reading........

[Roughrider]

Cubic footage is what you want to think about for cooling and ventilation issues. For lightsâ??it's strictly ground area, so...square feet.

You've got 19.5 square feet of floor space. And you need more than 2000 lumens per square foot...much more. Like twice as much. Really, 5000 lumens a square foot is what you want to shoot for. So, for that area...19.5 x 5000 = 95000 lumens of light. You could do a good job with a 600w setup, especially if you've got secondary lights on the walls.

You have it rightâ??MH for veg, HPS for flower. My suggestion would be either a 600w or 1000w switchable ballast set up. You can pick one up for under $300, complete with ballast, reflector, an MH bulb, and an HPS bulb. A 600w MH bulb gives you about 60000 lumens, which isn't enough to cover you whole 19-20 sq ft. area. ON the other hand, you need more light in flowerâ??and plants are (a lot) smaller in veg. The 600w HPS will put out 85000 to 95000 lumens...even without the secondary lights, that would be enough to do a great job. A 1000w setup would up those number by another 50% plus.

[bigsby]

Also research hanging your light(s) vertically. You get much better efficiencies and penetration. Have a look at this thread: http://boards.cannabis.com/indoor-growing/186396-indoor-grow-box-set-up.html and perhaps ask Khyber to comment on your needs by referencing him to this thread. The guy knows his lighting.

[tolmarex]

ok geat thanks will be able to calculate for the lamp positions and Lumins now, got all the other stuff worked out so far. finished steam cleaning the terrarium today got rid of all the old forecent UV lamp sockets so it is ready to set up for the new electrics and fans.

Will let people know how it goes over time.

[bigsby]

I take it back. I thought that I was replying to a different thread. Good questions. My apologies... Also, given that your space is narrow It doesn't appear that a vertical lights would work well.


Reason I state this is to point out the enclosure is able to be controlled for humidity (55 up to 98%), Heat 24C up to 40C, and multiple adjustable lamp sockets. Since optimum humidiy and temp as I calculated to date is 23c to 24c or about 75F and 40 to 60% so average 50% humidity this should work well , yes? No?

Pretty convenient setup. You are on track with those temp / humidity estimates. You will want to drop the humidity to 30 - 35% during the last few weeks of flower. This promotes development but also reduces likelihood of bud rot caused by mold.


2) Next part, I had planned to use High pressure Sodium bulbs for flowering and Metal Halide for vegative phase is this correct?

Yes. You can use the MH right through the first 5 - 6 weeks of flower - strain dependent.

[tolmarex]

ok have the hydro system working. Germany has no concept nor idea of home use hydroponics so I have had to create everything from scratch and bits and bobs from plumbing and gardening sources.

But it has ran now for 3 days with no overflows, no spillage and continual water flow to each container in the system.

Now I am trying to find lighting which is a serious problem. These people here even at lighting outlets have never heard of HPS or MH bulbs!!!! Seriously!!!

We may have found a mass wholesale outlet for overseas shipping which may have what I need, but have to wait till Monday to go there and find out and he may not sell them to me because I am not a business, sheesss...

I can order the bulbs out of country no problem, but the ballast is the problem since I have to have something which runs on the german specific 220 system with their plug outlets and connectors.

So the next question is, to properly light my 24 squre foot area I need about 9600 lumins which breaks down to average of four 50 watt HPS Blubs. My concern is IF I get a 50watt ballast for the 50 watt HPS bublbs, can I use the same ballast for a 50watt MH Bulb or do they need different ballast systems?

50 watt HPS Per lumins is 3400 x 4 = 13600 well above the selected 9600 range, usually MH bulbs have a denser or higher average of lumins per watt count as well I have noticed so the Lumins will go a bit higher still once I change to the MH 50 watt bulbs.

However the basic question is can I use the same 50watt ballast system for the two different types of bulbs IF the bulbs have the same connector / Screw in size and shape on their ends? Or will I need to have two differnt ballast systems to run each different type of bulb?

Many thanks for all the assistance and advice to date it is working well. Even have my dear old Mother asking me for help with her hydro system in the states, nope she is raising tomatoes LOL!

[rattlingdags]

I can't answer your ballast questions hopefully someone else can but I have brought a light online from a growshop in Germany that I am very happy with.
Perhaps its of some use to you - or for in the future:
Growshop (http://www.head-nature.com/seite?wg=102)

I got their PL-L groei lamp for my kids and they love it. Only one thing, this site is not the cheapest around but I found their service fast and reliable.

[bigsby]

50w HPS? You should be looking at 1 or 2 600w lights. There must be a supplier in Germany. If not and if you are close enough then a drive to the Netherlands should set you up nicely.

Some ballasts will fire both MH and HPS bulbs. Some will also do multiple wattages. Have a look around online and you'll find the info you need.