MidniteGardener
- 71
- 18
Hi, I'm a long time lurker but this is my first post. Sorry for the long text but I feel the details are important in helping me choose my next move.
First, a little about myself and my setup:
I started off a few years ago with a 400w magnetic HPS, Super Sun 2 air cooled reflector, Vortec fan, Can filter, and a Secret Jardin DR120. I spent the first year just experimenting with different strains growing in soil and learning to clone. After that I upgraded to a 600w Lumatek. Huge difference in quality and yield in my setup.
Fast forward a couple years and I got a second DR120, bought a 1000w Lumatek adjustable ballast, and a Sun Systems Blockbuster with an 8" Vortec. I currently have the two tents set up in the same room with an 8000btu window a/c cooling it all. I use the 400w magnetic for my preveg/mother tent, and the 1K for my flower. Oh and I'm growing in coco, hand watered with Canna nutrients. I love coco and I feel like I have it fairly dialed.
......
SO, one would think I'd be happy with all of that, but I want to move to a setup that will yield more at once instead of doing small runs in a 4x4. I'm trying to decide on going with either a 4x8 or a 5x5 for my flowering tent. I'm trying to keep things kind of stealthy as far as power usage goes, so definitely under 2000 watts. The only thing is with a 4x8 you need multiple lights to cover it. Now, I could go with 2x or 3x 600w, but that would mean a lot of extra equipment, or I could just run 2x 1kw, but I think I would be running too much amperage on my 120v 20 amp dedicated circuit since each 1k uses about 9 amps.
I know this has been debated a lot, but in my experience the 1k produces better quality buds than the 600. And this is with the same cut, monocropped, same nutrients and same environment every time. The 1K produced the best product bar none. It's just that they use so much damn juice! I tried doing a perpetual garden with a 600 in each tent with offset flower cycles so I could harvest each month, but that seemed like constant work.
I 'd like to hear any advice you guys have. Tell me your experience with either of these spaces or light combinations, or even suggest something else you know could work out. I'm open to suggestions.
Thanks for reading.
First, a little about myself and my setup:
I started off a few years ago with a 400w magnetic HPS, Super Sun 2 air cooled reflector, Vortec fan, Can filter, and a Secret Jardin DR120. I spent the first year just experimenting with different strains growing in soil and learning to clone. After that I upgraded to a 600w Lumatek. Huge difference in quality and yield in my setup.
Fast forward a couple years and I got a second DR120, bought a 1000w Lumatek adjustable ballast, and a Sun Systems Blockbuster with an 8" Vortec. I currently have the two tents set up in the same room with an 8000btu window a/c cooling it all. I use the 400w magnetic for my preveg/mother tent, and the 1K for my flower. Oh and I'm growing in coco, hand watered with Canna nutrients. I love coco and I feel like I have it fairly dialed.
......
SO, one would think I'd be happy with all of that, but I want to move to a setup that will yield more at once instead of doing small runs in a 4x4. I'm trying to decide on going with either a 4x8 or a 5x5 for my flowering tent. I'm trying to keep things kind of stealthy as far as power usage goes, so definitely under 2000 watts. The only thing is with a 4x8 you need multiple lights to cover it. Now, I could go with 2x or 3x 600w, but that would mean a lot of extra equipment, or I could just run 2x 1kw, but I think I would be running too much amperage on my 120v 20 amp dedicated circuit since each 1k uses about 9 amps.
I know this has been debated a lot, but in my experience the 1k produces better quality buds than the 600. And this is with the same cut, monocropped, same nutrients and same environment every time. The 1K produced the best product bar none. It's just that they use so much damn juice! I tried doing a perpetual garden with a 600 in each tent with offset flower cycles so I could harvest each month, but that seemed like constant work.
I 'd like to hear any advice you guys have. Tell me your experience with either of these spaces or light combinations, or even suggest something else you know could work out. I'm open to suggestions.
Thanks for reading.