250 HPS

[Slimpickuns]

Hey peeps, quick question,

Is a 250w HPS system enough light for 4 plants?

Slimpickuns Reviewed by Slimpickuns on 04-15-2005. 250 HPS Hey peeps, quick question, Is a 250w HPS system enough light for 4 plants? Rating: 5

[GTC21]

Yes, plenty. I'm currently growing 6 plants each in a 12" pot under 250w lamp. I'll let them get to about 1 foot tall before I flower them. There's no point growing them any bigger than this because the light from 250w doesn't penetrate foliage very far, it would be a waste of time and effort. You can grow about 24 plants under 250w but you'd have to grow them in 6" square pots and flower them when they're about 6" tall and left unpruned so they have just one main cola. You'd probably have to swap the plants on the outside with the ones directly under the lamp every couple of days or so, so that they all get their fair share of light.
4 plants is a good number to grow under 250w.

[Slimpickuns]

GTC21,

Thanks for your reply!, The plants are about 2' tall now, started flowering them on easter day and they were 18" back then. I see what you mean by the foilage on the bottom barely getting any light at all. I placed Mylar at the bottom of the plants for a little added reflection, do you think this is helpful at all?

How much yield do you get per plant with your discribed set-up?

[GTC21]

There's not much point in putting mylar at the bottom of the plants because the leaves at the top will block the light making it impossible for the mylar to reflect any back up. The best place you can put the mylar is at the sides of the plants. What you've got to think of also is your headroom, the plants will double or even triple in height by the time they've finished flowering, have you got enough height in your grow-space? What size pots are you using? I use 12 inch pots and when the plants have grown a bit and got bushy, I prune all but the 4 strongest branches on each plant (so I have 4 main bud sites on each plant). If the pots are any smaller you should have less main branches like 2 or 3. Or a better idea would be to transplant into 12 inch pots or bigger so you can have more branches.
You can't really say what the yield will be, there are many factors which affect the yield- genetics, strain, soil quality, nutrients, light etc. so it's impossible to say. What strain are you growing? I grow Afghani. I couldn't say exactly what the yield of my last crop was because it wasn't weighed and I'm no good at eyeing it, but I had a shoebox full of buds from 4 plants. I know this isn't much but it's not bad for only 250w.

[Slimpickuns]

GTC21,

The growroom can fit two 5' 5" humans inside. I have mylar lining the whole room and floor. I have 3 fans going so ventalation is good. Temp around the mid 80's, humidity around 50% with lights on. Using master nursery bud & bloom ferts 10-52-8. I also have fox farms big bloom mix but i'm not to sure i like it more then the other stuff i'm using. I have the plants in 5 gal pots right now. I also have 4 4' shop lights with warm and cool flouro bulbs in each one of the lamps positioned at each corner of the growroom for suplemental lighting (not sure if this is helping much). The strain i'm growing is called Pineapple Bigbuds, cross between trainwreck and big buds, very tasty. This is the 3rd generation from clones, all from one seed. The next gen is in the cloning oven right now. All my previous grows were stricky fluoros, looking forward to seeing some good results with the addition of the HPS light.

My previous grow was done with 6 shoplight fluoros and i was able to get about two ounces outta 4 plants. Not too impressive.

[GTC21]

Sounds like your all set then, you shouldn't have any problems. Good luck and keep us posted. Do you have a camera?

[rapid88]

4 plants with that space, and that light, tie your plants down, double your yeild.

[Slimpickuns]

rapid88,

It pretty much looks like a jungle in there right now, not much space left to do anything. I've tied down as many fan leaves as possible and that helped a little but still...Next time i'm gonna flower earlier.

I would love to take pictures and show you guys but all I have is a celll phone and it doesn't take very good pictures at all.

Heres another question, after harvest can i reuse the soil i already have or does each new grow require new soil?

[GTC21]

Use new soil. Old, used soil will be depleted of nutrients and have a build up of salts from fertilizers, and the roots from your last plants will still be in there aswell. Always start fresh and clean your pots thoroughly too.

[DPoisen]

250 is perfect....mine are under a 250