800 watts for 8 plants, will this work?

[tekneeqs]

I was planning to fit 8 plants into a confined space of 3x2ft. Hanging above are 2 x 400W metal halide lamps, so that's 800W of power in total. My question is, with this much light, will I be able to saturate all the plants even though they're going to be touching and layering eachother?

[tekneeqs]

ignore this.. sry..

[BlueBear]

Light isn't the problem, the heat will be the problem in that area. What is your plan for that?
Adieu

[tekneeqs]

Oh I been running those lights for a while now with an exhaust fan and heat is ok.. not a big deal.. So it would be ok? I mean my plants will get all the lights needed even if they're stacked and layered?

[slave2thagroov]

the MH are gonna give you wispy herb. 2 400 HPS w/ 8 plants, in a small place would be perfect.

[babystarbud]

the plants will be very crowded, im growing 6 in a simmilar space with 1 400w HPS and its packed out in there, they are growing fine, but theres literally no more space.
im surprised you had the room to hang two reflectors to be honest!

[jamstigator]

Heh, here's just three plants, in a space larger than that. They were vegged quite a while though. But still. Eight plants can be a lot of plants!

[stinkyattic]

That's plenty of watts. Go with the HPS for flowering though.
I'm only using 800w total -one MH, one HPS- to illuminate 32 plants in my flower room and they are quite happy, and so am I. Bud density is fine. Don't worry that the leaves overlap a bit. Just arrange your plants so they don't shade each other: shorties in the middle, lanky ones around the edges.

[tekneeqs]

babystarbud, actually there are no reflectors, only 2 lights hanged in there with a socket and bulb, but speaking of which, I should make one huh.. yes I should..

stinkyattic, even if i got a HPS I wouldn't even be able to fit it in the grow room since there are already 2 bulbs, and with 3 lights I would probably have an issue with the heat unless I add another exhaust. Besides, I can't remove just one of the MH light since those 2 MH's are running off 1 ballast.

jamstigator, damn those 3 plants are looking nice as hell.. What was ur growing schedule, how long did you veg. and flower for? How much do you yield?

Oh I forgot to mention, in my space if I grew 6 plants, like I have now, I think it would be ok, not much overlapping and such. But my goal was to yield 1 pound each harvest and this decision lead me to grow an extra 2 would mean I would be using pots which are smaller to fit in the area of 3x2. The pots are about 1 gallon, maybe less. That's another problem, should I or not? Would I get more yield in 8 plants in smaller pots or 6 plants in larger pots if given the same grow time? 1 week veg. 8-10 weeks flower. Thanks

[BlueBear]

Don't worry about the wispy buds. There are still old school growers that use MH all the way through the grow. HPS will give you a quicker flower time, but bud density will be a very little difference. Also, 8 plants will be allot for that space unless you grow SOG meaning you only veg for about a week and then switch to flower. You could use 6 plants PSF in a SOG, and even with that some EXP growers use 8 which is too much IMO, but can be done. Over on another board there is a member that grows 36 plants in a 4x4 area with stellar results.
I have even read Zandor saying that he knows growers that still go MH the whole way. I have 2 1000w MH grotech ballasts and a 1000w digital ballast with a Hortilux mMH and HPS so I can pretty much use what I want except for the fact that I don't have the room to use everything right now. Maybe I will have to actually do a side by side grow with pics and post some day a full MH grow. The reason I don't post pics is because my vision is so bad that my wife would have to do all of the work and with my sight problem she does enough work right now with helping to maintain our babies as it is.

Adieu

[tekneeqs]

Im seriously reconsidering the "8plant grow project" because I stroll over to my closet and damn.. The 5 plants (one died) I have in there right now are nicely tugged in, Im not sure if I could fit another 2. Once my xfriend comes over with her camera I'll take some snaps cuz my bullshit phone I bought overseas won't let me send pictures to my email for some reason. Anyhow, if i proceed with 8plants should I really consider SOG? I really dont want to but if that's going to let me grow 8 plants then I might have to, but why since I have sufficient lighting to saturate them? SOG is for people who dont have enough lighting?

BlueBear, can u direct to the member who grew 36 plants in that space? I'd like to see how he does it. Yeah, Im just growing with MH all the way, I think the huge watts will compensate for the not-so-optimal spectrum. Sorry to hear about ur sight problem, seems like its not so bad if you're able to read these posts? =D Btw, if its not too personal, what's Adieu? cuz that's chinese for 'fukker'.. lol

[babystarbud]

if its any help, this space is 2 feet by 2 and a half feet, 6 plants are average 25 inches not including pots, about 1.5/2 weeks into flowering.

[tekneeqs]

Hmmm.. Those pots are about the same size of the ones I want to use to grow 8 plants with.. How many litres are they? If you're growing in them and they're big and no rootbound then maybe I should re-reconsider =D

[BlueBear]

Im seriously reconsidering the "8plant grow project" because I stroll over to my closet and damn.. The 5 plants (one died) I have in there right now are nicely tugged in, Im not sure if I could fit another 2. Once my xfriend comes over with her camera I'll take some snaps cuz my bullshit phone I bought overseas won't let me send pictures to my email for some reason. Anyhow, if i proceed with 8plants should I really consider SOG? I really dont want to but if that's going to let me grow 8 plants then I might have to, but why since I have sufficient lighting to saturate them? SOG is for people who dont have enough lighting?

BlueBear, can u direct to the member who grew 36 plants in that space? I'd like to see how he does it. Yeah, Im just growing with MH all the way, I think the huge watts will compensate for the not-so-optimal spectrum. Sorry to hear about ur sight problem, seems like its not so bad if you're able to read these posts? =D Btw, if its not too personal, what's Adieu? cuz that's chinese for 'fukker'.. lol
Well, my sight is now so bad that I can't even read these post without some assistive technology, but that's life. The member that I referred to is on IC Mag and I will have to take some time to do a search over there to find his posts. If I were you I would really consider SCROG, look for the thread "Lovely Ladies" by Justaseed on this sight. He has pulled off some harvests of over a QP using a lot less light than you have and with similar dimensions.
Also, there are plenty of people using 1000k plus for sog set ups, there is one on the board right now by Trainable I think the name is, really informative thread, maybe someone can link us to it. Sog can be used for height restrictions, fast turn overs and low light set ups.
In regards to getting a hood, I would just miler the whole area rather than use hoods if your not having heat issues and because you have so many lums with the two 400w's you should be in really good shape. I believe that Zandar uses no hoods on his grows and his results should speak for their self. The hood material will generate more heat down on the plants and it may cause heat issues that you don't have right now.
Adieu means good day in French.
Adieu