Need some help with light

[Blackmidget]

Hello!

Im currently growing 10x Pineapple express auto, But i bought a new tent on christmas sale

The tent is L 240cm, W 120cm, H 200cm

and i was wondering about the lights in it, wich setup would be best? The plants in this tent Will Only be in "veg stage" the flower tent is 3x 600 W HPS..

3x 125 W LE?
3x 200 W LE?
3x 150 W MH?
2x 400 W MH?
LED"S?

As i wrote before, the plants in this tent Will Only be plants that are in "veg stage"

is it a big diffrece between 3x 125 W and 3x 250 W lights in veg stage?

[starramus]

Wow Blackmidget I'd hate to have your electric bill with three 600 HPS! I when growing indoors usually veg with a (8) T5 fluorescent tube fixture which furnishes sufficient light for 8 plants at 432 watts. The T5s run nice and cool, and venting is not a problem. With that 8' X 4' X 6.66' grow tent you might run into a cooling problem with 750 to 800 watt MH. I think it might be overkill. What is your cooling arrangement?

[Blackmidget]

I have a really advanced cooling system, its called "The north norway" 2 meters of snow and - 20 outside, so i dont have any problems with the heat, but i have massive problems with the cold, this morning i had 13c in the tent with 2x600 W

The eletricalpart isnt so big deal here, with 2x 600 W u had to pay around 30 US dollar more in a month

[starramus]

OK i was operating with insufficient data. 750 watts would be just fine for the added benefit of the heat as well. I figured you were in Europe, but didn't know where from your use of the metric system. You live in a beautiful part of the world, but far too cold for my liking. I'll stick to visiting from the comfort of my sunroom on the computer. How far are you from Tromso? Beyootifull! Beyootifull! Beyootifull! https://vimeo.com/21419634

[starramus]

I am an American, but i still can spell beautiful correctly.

[KingKush]

I rock TWO 1000w hps for bloom and 1000w mh for veg so I pull 3000watts for parts of the day. That's not as bad as my Grow Guru who uses THREE for Bloom and two for veg so he pulls 5000watts. We are using 240v so it's half the amps but yea definitely high power bills. Like an extra 200/mo on top of what it already costs for me. Once you reach a certain amount each kw costs more, so it can get a little unruly once you hit "power block price level 3"

With the the amount of light available for blooming, I would give them maximum amount of veg light, one 600w metal halide bulb would be my suggestion. This way, when you flip tents, the plants won't be shell shocked into 1800watts overnight. Give them maximum amount of light in veg, that way, you can just continue to hammer them hard and grow them fast. You'll never wish you bought a smaller bulb, I promise. I sometimes think my 1000w mh veg bulb is a little overkill, and it's only a single point of light so coverage isn't great, so 600w are more versatile.

*one 600w mh for veg

[starramus]

Your power company must be in love with you. I have weed coming out of my ears vegging with just 432 watts.

[Blackmidget]

So just push all the plants in a pile in the middle and have a single 600 W over them should do the trick?

I know that flowering plants wants alot of light, but i dont know so much about the veg stage!

[KingKush]

I'm in error above. You will need more than a single 600w mh to cover the 240cm. It's good for 120cm x 120cm
So 2 would be perfect. I went in depth in a post below.

[starramus]

[KingKush]

Wow that's nice! It seems like that's a higher-end t5 fixture. Going back I would think about something like this for my setup, the coverage looks great. Plus, I like how everything is built in: reflector, ballast, sockets.

Nice plants, but I would be interested in a pic of the actual light and how you have yours set up?

[KingKush]

Oh and we grow photoperiods too so like 4-6wk in veg and then 7+ weeks in bloom so that's a while to soak in some kilowatts...

A 432 watt t5 fixture is still impressive and puts out quite a
bit of light on veg. Plus you don't need an additional ballast. But it's not a whole lot less than a 600w mh, which is a great option too.
Great point about the heat! Metal halides make a ton of heat.
T5's run cool.

But all this this just makes leaves and stems, not actual buds so... It's a topic of debate as to how plants respond to different light intensities for different growing styles, but also TIMING. How long do you want to veg for and what is your goal of plant size?
Blackmidget, it appears like you are trying to fill a Bloom tent with x3 hps bulbs with this one veg tent? And your setup is x10 autos.

I think the "hit em hard and grow em fast" works great with this setup, but take everything I say with a 'grain of salt'.

[Blackmidget]

Yeah, the current grow is 10x Pineapple express autos in a tent..

But now i have Another tent i need to fill up..

The autos im currently growing is so small and feel that i need bigger plants "Photo not autos"

These auto plants was so damn fast, and grown to like 30 - 40 cm and just stopped and now they are making buds..

I want plants that can be alot bigger and give some more yield.. and of Course Im a Newbie grower so i want to learn more and explore "photos"

The Pineapple's are in 24/7 light Schedule and maybe thats why they didnt stretch any?

[starramus]

OK i was operating with insufficient data. 750 watts would be just fine for the added benefit of the heat as well. I figured you were in Europe, but didn't know where from your use of the metric system. You live in a beautiful part of the world, but far too cold for my liking. I'll stick to visiting from the comfort of my sunroom on the computer. How far are you from Tromso? Beyootifull! Beyootifull! Beyootifull! https://vimeo.com/21419634

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sic beautiful

[KingKush]

So like 8x4 & 6.5ft tall for us wacky Americans.
You need more than a single 600watt mh for that tent, I just guessed at what 240cm was.
I truthfully can't conceptualize it in my brain like I can 8ft. I don't even know my height in cm... okay I'm not making a case for my intelligence... back on track.

Your biggest constraint is really budget. With hid bulbs 400watts and larger you will need a ballast too. Do you really want 2
more ballasts to run this tent? The real question is how much are you willing to invest? It's just a veg room but it's important to give the plants lots of light. Autoperiod strains as well as photoperiod strains will grow more robust, short, and compact in a shorter amount of time. Most people underestimate the amount of light cannabis likes during vegging. I guarantee it will be impossible to have too much light with only 1 fixture in that tent, you will have just enough light at best.

2 400watt mh in a 240x120 (8x4) would be great.
2 t5 fixtures would be great
2 600watt mh would be better
2 led fixtures would be better

There is no "best" as we all have some pretty great ideas around here. We can all point you in a good direction, even if they point different ways.

[KingKush]

starramus
Do you think your particular t5 would cover a 4x8 room? I'm thinking so but that's just a guess, you have actual experience with vegging under these lights. How many bulbs are in that thing?

Are there bigger ones or other sizes you have used? 432watts is the biggest I've heard of.

[starramus]

You'd need 2 of these T5s in a 4'X8' area. 8 bulbs are in a 48" fixture. The above photo is of 7 remaining of 8 plants grown in area of 13.33 square feet. I wouldn't need an additional 18.6 square feet to grow an additional 2 plants. You can well see I did more with less space and less power consumption.

I tend towards efficiency driving a Prius my best ever car. I use a 600 watt HPS for flowering though, or good ole Sol. Sol has never charged me a dime.

I think you might actually be able to get 20 plants into that new tent.I researched Norway's marijuana laws, and although use has been decriminalized MJ is still illegal in your country. Apparently anything over 15 grams the penalties get larger. You might immigrate to the U.S. Last I heard Trump wants you to come. Stay safe!