Quick question

[smoking habit]

would a 1000 watt light in a 2 bedroom apt. arouse any suspicion from the elctrical company if growing any plants. on top of normal shit.

[Volker]

1000W = 3 PCs. Kinda borderline in a small or older 2 bedroom. If it's a newer complex it'd be ok. (I think) Personally, I'd go 600 instead of 1000. But if the 1000W is already bought & paid for...

Also, one thing they look for is a large (1kW+)(?) pull on very regular 12/12 cycles in residential services. If you "flip-flop" the ballast (2 bud rooms: run one bulb while the other one's off) there's no fluctuation, and less suspicous. You would also get much more production with 2x600W than with 1x1000W.

[smoking habit]

thanks. so 2 600 watt flower rooms with them on opposite cycles, and a mother room to take clones (what is the minimum light you need to sustain a healthy mother?) would be safe?

[stinkyattic]

thanks. so 2 600 watt flower rooms with them on opposite cycles, and a mother room to take clones (what is the minimum light you need to sustain a healthy mother?) would be safe?
Nothing is safe my dear in this tough world of ours... however the 600s are safER for 2 reasons:
1) you are not drawing as much current to ignite the bulb... and if you don't have access to the breaker-box to your apartment, how do you know how many amps each outlet is rated? What do you do if you keep tripping the breaker? Plus the additional cooling draw when you get your a/c going (inevitable).
2) no telltale flipflop between high and low draw

Mothers... depends what you want... I'd go for a MH250 for a smallish setup. Nice little light. Not much heat.

[madeline]

Even a bank of flouro's is plenty to keep a mom vegging, I assume for taking cuttings. But unless you're after a 20+ plant grow 2 400's will do the job nicely while only jumping up the elec bill appx 80/mo during a 20/4 veg. I'm using 2 400's at the moment with 20-some plants in 1gal pots (soil) but still waiting on sex to show on 6 from starting a 36 plant grow. I currently have 15 females that have showed and I expect to end up with 18-20 f's before flowering. If you can, keep a 1kw hps around for flowering. They grow plenty fine under the 400's but you'll get a better end result using higher wattage during flowering.

[smoking habit]

I am finding out this information for a friend who is possibly moving, I think mabe a 100w fluorescant bulb should be fine for a mother, or no?

Does the amount of plants planted really matter, when using around a 600w hps or less? with less plants you'll get more weight on each plant, but with more plants less weight per plant, im sure strains have different attributes and would behave differently. but i always wondered that question

[smoking habit]

hmm

[madeline]

It's not so much the number of plants but the space that is taken up by them. Growers usually plan for W/sq ft and I shoot for 100w/sq ft or higher for flowering, 60W/sq ft minimum for vegging and 40W minimum for keeping a mom long term.

[smoking habit]

mmm

[dusto2k3]

i think 100w/sq ft is alot, but probalbly can't hurt. Most say a 1000 will cover 4'x4'-5'x5'. Personally, i use 1000hps for 52"x52". I think if you go much smaller space than that, you are moving into overkill.