My grow plans, help needed*

[Lady Vapor]

Howdy t3chyo, I would recommend you go the route of two 400 - 600 watt lights to spread the light around unlsess you go with one that moves around. If it was me I'd go with two 400 watt systems that will do both kinds of bulbs. Or you could go the way I did. Two 400 watt hps and 2,000 watts of CFL bulbs which only pull 520 watts. I don't know if I'm using more than I have to - I'm even running one 175 watt mercury vapor lamp. All I know is I didn't get these results when I did it with 2 - 400 hps and 1 - 175 watt mercury vapor. Check out my grow space at: http://boards.cannabis.com/showthrea...ght=lady+vapor
I'm so glad I have this summer to enlarge from 5X9 foot to 8X9 foot as I've found the CFL bulbs work real well with the hps. I'm glad I went with the CFL additions as the cost of electric is at least 150 dollars a month to run this way. Looks like you're in for some fun!

[t3chyo]

I'm pretty set on picking up these two lights: for my flower room, and for my veg room. What do you guys think? Does my choices make sense? Thanks,

[t3chyo]

I'm trying to make a list and see a final price for all of this, below is what I have added up so far, let me know if I'm missing any items!:

400watter: $320
1000watt : $410
oceansoil: $40-60(2-3 bags)
twotimers: $30
phupdown : $15
ph tester: $10
temp/hum tester: $10
clonekit : $16
clonegel : $10-20
nutes : $30
superthrive: $10
mylar : $25
seeds : $60
plastic pots: $20

this all totals about $1020, is this a good complete list? thanks

[hazeywonder]

Buying on a budget is hard what you need to do is start making list very long detailed ones.. if your going soil i recomind the soil bags 25-50 cents per insted of 2 per pot.. e-bay has been awsome to me.. look for local sellers and contact them for a cash off site transaction that way there is no shipping and no trail... but i still buy using paypal too.. the best advice i would say is stick to the basics light, soil, nutes, vent its going to go quick but will be worth it in the end. I say save yoru money one the veg lights and use fluros. go to home depot pick up the 8 dollar shop lights rip out the shitty ballast and overdrive it with the 18 dollar electric advanced one... super cheap barely any heat and lots-o-light. your going to need your money on a fan that will cool that 1000w.. and all the other little stuff

[hazeywonder]

there is so much other stuff your going to need that you have to factor in.. such as.. weather striping to light proof.. i dont see a fan listed. tape, screws, chain, ducting, tubs for the pots, tools, wood to built the box.. just make sure you dont get half way and realize you need more... shipping cost if your not just going to the hydro store.. tips for saving... EBAY, target has heavy duty timers for 8 bucks, mylar use emerceny camping blankets 2 bucks for a huge sheet, pot use the bags, clone make your own cheap wick cloner, and maybe re think the 400 your gunna get into heat issues with now FAN you need a FAN to cool those lights... a rather large one for the 1400w maybe a good 6"

[t3chyo]

Buying on a budget is hard what you need to do is start making list very long detailed ones.. if your going soil i recomind the soil bags 25-50 cents per insted of 2 per pot.. e-bay has been awsome to me.. look for local sellers and contact them for a cash off site transaction that way there is no shipping and no trail... but i still buy using paypal too.. the best advice i would say is stick to the basics light, soil, nutes, vent its going to go quick but will be worth it in the end. I say save yoru money one the veg lights and use fluros. go to home depot pick up the 8 dollar shop lights rip out the shitty ballast and overdrive it with the 18 dollar electric advanced one... super cheap barely any heat and lots-o-light. your going to need your money on a fan that will cool that 1000w.. and all the other little stuff

so you believe using fluros for veg and a 1000watt hps for flower will work out well? hows this for fluorescent lighting?, thanks

[hazeywonder]

First I would say how handy are you? Where do you live? thats alot to pay for fluros.. I come from the fish world which is were i learned about overdriving lamps if you feel that you can work safely with electricty wiring in the off stage i say look into that.. For 150 bucks i could have 5 100w fixtures. no problem but very little heat.. right now I run 2 2-light fixtures that hold 2 40w overdriven.. dont belive it makes a diffrence.. check this out.. one side done one not.
I think you know which is overdriven.. i search real quick and give you the percentage that it bumps them. it does make the lights go quicker but i could probaly still pick up 10-18 lamps cheaper than one 400w mh horti bulb.

[hazeywonder]

I really should think all these post though rather than just posting like 5 times in a row but wheres the fun.. i found this and a link to help you understand
"The bulbs are limited by their design to draw only so much current and no more. If you double the amount of current, you wonâ??t get a bulb thatâ??s two times brighter because the efficiency drops off a bit. So even after the increased current is made available, a bulb driven by a factor of two times its normal supply, only gets 1.7 times brighter." http://www.geocities.com/teeley2/overdrv1.html

so for my application i over drove 4 40w lights which become 68 watts which is 272w of fluros cooled with only a computer fan keeping it in check. Or 136 for every 2-light shop fixture i overdrove.. cost... 7. for the shoplight 18 for the ballast

[t3chyo]

I really should think all these post though rather than just posting like 5 times in a row but wheres the fun.. i found this and a link to help you understand
"The bulbs are limited by their design to draw only so much current and no more. If you double the amount of current, you wonâ??t get a bulb thatâ??s two times brighter because the efficiency drops off a bit. So even after the increased current is made available, a bulb driven by a factor of two times its normal supply, only gets 1.7 times brighter." http://www.geocities.com/teeley2/overdrv1.html

so for my application i over drove 4 40w lights which become 68 watts which is 272w of fluros cooled with only a computer fan keeping it in check. Or 136 for every 2-light shop fixture i overdrove.. cost... 7. for the shoplight 18 for the ballast

thanks for the link, bookmarked it, pretty tierd to read through all of it but it all looks duable!

[mobay]

whats up there T3, nice to see that you have everything in order. here is the place that i get all of my grow equipment from. a whole lot cheaper. www.hydrowarehouse.com . good luck on your ordering, and will be checking your grow out.
ps if your gonna have 2 seperate rooms i would try and use the 125w cfls to veg your plants , 2-3 of those will cut down on you electric bill as well. less heat. and does a hell of a job.