20 light, 25 plant, Screen of Green

cheech · Aug 26, 2012

Really cool grow bc farmer. I'm curious what your room dimensions are so I can estimate your watts per square ft.

true grit · Aug 27, 2012

absolutely stunning! I say stick with 600ws and see what ya can get outta them. I run screens too and am seriously considering switching to 600w's from 1k's for better heat control and more spread light intensity.

ttystikk · Aug 27, 2012

There's Sea of Green... and now BCfarmer shows us the OCEAN... now, just I gotta get me a stone boat to sail on it...

Fuckin' fabulous, guys- showin' us how it's DONE!

BC farmer · Aug 27, 2012

cheech said:
Really cool grow bc farmer. I'm curious what your room dimensions are so I can estimate your watts per square ft.

Hi Cheech,
We calculated it a while back, forgot the numbers but believe around low 30's..
Dimensions for the actual grow are 19x19
Build out ( control room) are 17x15.

silverhaze · Aug 27, 2012

Exceptional work...

cheech · Aug 28, 2012

Oh wow.. That's awesome man. Have you ever run 60+ wsf, or do you usually run it that way? Any thoughts on watts per square foot? Ie - why it might or might not be advantageous for some rooms to utilize higher wsf than others.

ttystikk · Aug 28, 2012

cheech said:
Oh wow.. That's awesome man. Have you ever run 60+ wsf, or do you usually run it that way? Any thoughts on watts per square foot? Ie - why it might or might not be advantageous for some rooms to utilize higher wsf than others.

Texas Kid had an old thread on various setups he ran, and the watts per square foot of each- and his results. An interesting read...

Long and short of his findings; better results as you get more light intensity, and cooling problems grow as the square of the area involved.

true grit · Aug 28, 2012

I definitely hear that ttystikk, but i can say from personal experience in friends gardens that good and well placed digi 600's and a solid canopy throw just as large/dense buds as any i throw with 1000's. I found that out as well when i had too much light in a 1000w vert set up...had to stagger my on/off with 1k's and drop intensity some to get consistent growth.

cheech · Aug 28, 2012

Cooling problems shouldn't be a problem. If we can spend 400 for heavy 16 base nutes (I don't) then you can cough up the extra money for a mini split. I'm curious at 30 to 50 wpsf compared to 60-80 wpsf.

hort-hog · Aug 31, 2012

flowamasta said:
I like the sound of 1 600 per plant...adding 1000's would be a very difficult task to calculate in itself. and where to put them to gain sufficient value. 600 per plant is ideal in your system in my opinion, if you want to play with adding more yield you could either veg for a tiny bit longer, keeping the plants a little lower and spreading them further in the screen. I also top a few days before flowering to increase my canopy size to let lower stuff come up and join the heads. I think you will surprise yourself (and everyone!) with what you can do here.....with the tiniest variations in veg-time and scrogging.
I only veg for 4 weeks. I have mates who veg for 3 weeks and still get over half lb per plant... :) including perpetual grows.

That is precisely what the plan is and I think it will really show when you see some of our current pics and pics still to come...

hort-hog · Sep 2, 2012

On the topic of wsf we are just a hair under 40.

hort-hog · Sep 2, 2012

One more row of 5 600's would put us at 50 wsf.

Which would be cool to try.

I would be inclined to implement the extra lighting in bud when lower humidity is acceptable, due to higher run fractions of the a/c.

For now I feel the efficiency is good but yield numbers could definately be improved upon.

ttystikk · Sep 2, 2012

4x1000w hps = 4000 watts
8 feet square = 64 sq ft
4000/64 = 62.5 wsf ...and results are pretty good at this intensity.

While this may seem like a simple enough yardstick by which to make comparisons, there are so many variables unaccounted for that I can't recommend using this scale. Just two of the variables that come to mind immediately include the efficiency of the bulb/ballast combo (which itself depends on many factors) and the distribution pattern of the reflector.

To be at least a bit more precise, I suggest the use of lumens per square foot- or centimeter, if you prefer. This would at least account for efficiency differences in the lighting, although it wouldn't eliminate the hood as a variable unless you're taking actual measurements as opposed to just using numbers from a chart.

Shady · Sep 2, 2012

Phenomenal photos and another great start for the next round!

BC farmer · Sep 7, 2012

This is after 60 hours with three guys and about twenty with two, training and pruning. Most holes in the mesh have at least one bud site. Tunes cranked, good times:)
Yesterday Nematodes were watered in to help against the RA battle and today we watered Caps bennies in.
PPM is 1300 and RH 60%.
We are two weeks in.