Move up from 600 to 1000 watts

[steelyeyes]

My veg and flowering rooms are identical, 6x4x8 feet. In the flowering room I'm running an air cooled 600 watt HPS in a magnum xxxl reflector. The plants are doing pretty well and the tolerate the light pretty close to them, like between a foot and foot and a half from the tops.

I might have the money to move up to a 1000 watt setup soon and was wondering if the additional 40,000 lumens is going to make a huge difference in my bud growth rates or size or both.

I'm hoping that's the case because I'm running a 400 watt MH in my veg room and the plants seem to hug the thing like they need more light. My plan right now is to either move the 600 to the veg room and just run it or put it in with the 400 and run one or both depending on the needs of the plants...and if need be I could flower in there too.

Ideas, comments, suggestions, guidance, wisdom?

 

[steelyeyes]

Not a light salesman in the bunch?

 

[420OGFarmhand]

running a 1000

I would run a 600 & 400 watt in your flower room to
acheive a total of 1000 watts less draw and it will cover the area better thats what I run its alot cooler burning 2

 

[devious d]

Well its what you want from your lights i run 3 600,s i have a couple of 1000,s but light coverage and temps are better with my 600,s horses for courses as they say!! p.s two grow rooms and a veg room sounds like a good idea perpetual harvests:rasta:

 

[purpleberry]

I ran 600s for a few years and stepped up to 1000s the last 2 rouns. Ill never run a 600 again. Just make sure you can cool the 1000w light.

 

[slimjoint]

i would take 2 600s over a single 1000 watt any day. more coverage

 

[SweetIslandFunk]

This a is an age old question. In soil I would stick with the 600s I dont think you would see big difference in yield but in hydro there is more potential for yield, I would just use a TON of fuckin airstones with that if I were to switch to 1000s In a tent.

 

[farmerjohn]

Sweet may be on to something there. Multiple 600s compared to 1 1000 give better coverage with less heat, without a great deal of difference in yield, it would seem.

Right now I veg with 2 1000W horizontal mount MHs, with footprint reflectors. Works great, but heat removal is a concern. The flowering area is 5 stations manned with 400W HPS vertical mounts with dome reflectors. Less concern with heat removal in that room & RH is easy to control. It stays below 65%, even with the lights off & has been running under 50% RH with lights on. No mold problems to worry about.
:sun2::character0180:

 

[steelyeyes]

My big reflector covers the grow area really well so I don't think that's an issue.

I was thinking that lumen density is what drive photosynthesis that more light is better than less...if you can deal with the heat. My 600 claims 103,000 lumens and the 1000 claims 144,000 lumens if you can believe the package.

I was just wondering when more is better turns into good enough. On paper 30 some percent more light is a good thing but does it yield results in the plant like that?

 

[j wizzle]

1000s have better penetration. you wont have the popcorn bud like you do with the 600s. more light=more penetration=bigger buds


dont get me wrong, the 600s are great, its what i run. but i want to move up to 1000s because of all the popcorn i get below the canopy. cooling is the only reason not use bigger bulbs IMO. a 1000 has a 4x4 spread and a 600 has a 3x3 spread

 

[motherlode]

drop a thouwie in there and dont look back!
no matter how you slice it 1000 watt lights produce bigger buds

 

[rhead]

:wait it really depends on your room dimensions...

I got a 2' x 5' flower room with a 600 + 250 for a lower side light. I wanted to go 1000w but wouldnt get the same coverage.

 

[AbusiveOGK]

1000s have better penetration. you wont have the popcorn bud like you do with the 600s. more light=more penetration=bigger buds

Took the words from me. If you can properly cool a 1k, which with those magnum xxxls it shouldn't be a problem, then I would make the jump.

In the fall, winter and spring, I've been able to run (4) 1ks with (2) 6 inch can fans and keep everything in check temp-wise.

 

[FatBastard]

600 :rasta2:

 

[Thallamus]

I've run close to identical setups with identical recipes 3x over.
Here is what I notice; I can push girls closer to light with 600 and get nice solid, long, girthy colas.
With the 1k I cannot put the girls as close as I do with the 600, obviously it burns the colas:(
I also notice that with the 1k i can pull more weight. Of course it makes more sense because there are more lumens and better penetration. HOWEVER, I notice that running the 600 the quality is much better all around. This is due to overall effectiveness of the lumens (girls closer to source).
IMHO if you are looking for volume/weight then 1k, if you want quality then 600.
You can always run both 400 and 600:)

-T

 

[paulycali]

I got a 1000 watt in a magnum xxxl hood and the plants just love it!

On my digital ballast i can switch from 400 watt, 600 watt, 1000 watt and even super lumens and when i click 600 watt the lights great but when i switch back to 1000 watt the coverage and light gets bigger and brighter. Def the 1000 watt is the way to go, but each light is designed for certain spaces. There is such thing as too much light or just wasted light.

I went from a 400 then to a 600 and now to 1000 and love the 1000 watt way better.

Whatever floats your boat too! If you like one thing over the other go with it

 

[KUSHMAN901]

True 1000w give you penetration but 600w give you the best lpw i my self run 2 600 watters verses 1 1k watt but i also top for 4 main branches also but i say if you can take the heat in the kitchen then go ahead with the 1k but if you wanna cover more area run either 1 600 and 1 400 (i did this also) or 2 600w

 

[steelyeyes]

What I'm seeing so far is a lot faster bud development. I did a couple things different in veg stage but nothing drastic and I'm seeing a lot more bud size than I had before and they seemed to start forming about 4 days sooner too. Heat is an issue on hotter days but I run my lights 10p-10a and run my fan continuously even when the light is off. So far I haven't seen any temps over 88-90 and the plants look good, except a bit deficient in Ca and Mg but I was on vacation for a week. Changing my res. later today and I'll cure that problem.

 

[NugNation]

I love when people talk about 600's being more lumen efficient. Awesome, it costs nearly double to buy 2 600's as opposed to a single 1kw setup. 2 ballasts, 2 hoods and 2 bulbs. At my local shop they give you a free bulb with any 1kw digi ballast, it ends up only being about 50 more bucks to upgrade from a 600 to a 1,000w. I've never owned a 600 and don't really plan on it, unless i was using them strictly for veg. Spend a little more money initially and on electricity and it will pay back in the first run, guaranteed.

 

[cheyenne]

I love when people talk about 600's being more lumen efficient. Awesome, it costs nearly double to buy 2 600's as opposed to a single 1kw setup. 2 ballasts, 2 hoods and 2 bulbs. At my local shop they give you a free bulb with any 1kw digi ballast, it ends up only being about 50 more bucks to upgrade from a 600 to a 1,000w. I've never owned a 600 and don't really plan on it, unless i was using them strictly for veg. Spend a little more money initially and on electricity and it will pay back in the first run, guaranteed.

what grow store is that? im getting ready to pick up another 10 pak of 1k watters and that would save me like $1200!