9000 Cfl Lumen Per Indoor Tree?

[tj Wise]

How many lumen does an indoor tree in soil need to produce 4 lbs of flower in 6 months? I can grow 24 plants over the winter in my barn's attic. Thanks!

 

[3N1GM4]

13 watt cfls are about 800-900 lumen each so 10 thirteen watt cfls per plant would give you around 9k lumen per plant, I would go for 12k lumen per plant myself..

 

[3N1GM4]

And you would want the lights surrounding the plant on all sides

 

[Midwestjay]

Why cfl, that many won't be cheaper or cooler then a simple hid

 

[3N1GM4]

If you put 9000 13 watt cfls in your barn attic it might keep it warm in the winter.

 

[tj Wise]

Ok HID sounds better. I can hang strands in between plants, quite close to both, in a four-corners pattern. I'm still planning, I intend to frame up a structure in my barns attic - 34 ft long and 9 ft wide. So 24 plants in 45 gallon soil bags, 27 inch diameter. Is that a lot of heat -- getting 24 X 12k lumens from HID lights? Ceiling will be 7 ft. Thanks.

 

[Og Gong]

Have you grown indoors before?

 

[tj Wise]

Um, you guessed it - outdoors only.

 

[tj Wise]

Hey, KillingTime: what?? Okay, my situation: I've done well outdoors for two years, and another coming up. And I realized I can use my barns attic NOV thru APR. How can I get the max value from 24 winter plants?

 

[Og Gong]

Um, you guessed it - outdoors only.

If you do the math 24 plants at 3 oz each is 72 oz.. 64 oz. is 4 pounds. 3 oz per plant is no problem indoors. I would do 7- 1kw lights down the middle of the 36ft x 9ft. Make sure you have an electrician wire everything in properly. Make sure you have total darkness in bloom at lights off. Make sure your temperature and humidity is in check. Good luck and welcome to the farm.

 

[tj Wise]

Wow. I see I've been utterly spoiled by five easy pounds outdoors. Per plant.

 

[Midwestjay]

Wow. I see I've been utterly spoiled by five easy pounds outdoors. Per plant.

You have to scrog to really even get a pound a plant or better.

 

[Savage Henry]

Oh yea, indoor numbers don't come close to outdoors. With the veg time needed to get them to such a size that multiple #s can be pulled you're better off running two three month cycles (one month veg, two months flower).

 

[tj Wise]

Oh yea, indoor numbers don't come close to outdoors. With the veg time needed to get them to such a size that multiple #s can be pulled you're better off running two three month cycles (one month veg, two months flower).

So much for my comfort zone. What can I expect from (2) 3 month cycles with 24 plants? How many square feet would I need?

 

[Savage Henry]

there are quite a few factors to consider. Those that come immediately to mind are:
Strain
Growing medium/style
Co2 or no
Lighting
Etc.

It takes a bit to get the indoor thing right, and it has to be done differently than outdoors especially when it comes to manicuring and training.

If it was me with that space I'd put in 6 1k de gavitas, get 1 or two fans large enough to constantly cycle the air, and run 4 plants per light in 3 gal pots of coco amended with perlite, with multiple feeds daily, drain to waste.

But that's just me daydreaming.

 

[tj Wise]

Ouch, I've got some serious reading to do. At least I've got until mid September to figure it out. I can get the little guys to be 12" tall/round concurrent with my outdoor, so I can be that far along on 01-NOV.... At the start of both cycles. I can do the final harvest on 30-APR. if I plan on 12 oz per plant per cycle, 12x24x2=576 oz or 36 lbs. Is that reasonable?? Too optimistic?

 

[Savage Henry]

To put it in perspective, guys with years of experience are pulling 1+ gram(s) per watt. There's anecdotal evidence of people pulling significantly more with de bulbs and fixtures. But it takes a lot of trial and error to get to that point.

Practice makes perfect. Read everything you can, especially the grow logs of experienced people. Take a lot of notes.

Also worth mentioning is, ime, pests can be a larger issue indoors vs out as you are creating an environment they may find attractive.

 

[tj Wise]

I get to grow 6 adult plants per card, and also 18 plants who have no more that a 12" diameter in any direction. So could nurse 6 babies for three months, pruning them, and hitting them with root enzymes via FPJ. In theory I have big-root monsters with a 12" canopy and then I promote six into the adult class, and let them stretch out -- and hit them with leaf hormone FPJ. Then a week in veg... then finish with three weeks in bloom with bloom FPJ. Harvest monthly, keeping pruned babies on the bench, growing roots. Or harvest every 6 weeks, whatever...

 

[tj Wise]

Imagine (5) monthly harvests, each after 120 days, but with a limitation: I can use the first 3 months as long as I keep the canopy diameter under 12 inches. So for 80 days I use fermented plant juice to stimulate root production, until the last 10 days, when I switch to leaf stimulation. Then I have the final 30 days in bloom, again with fpj to stimulate flowering. After 120 days I harvest. I can harvest 24 plants every month from December thru the end of April: 5 monthly harvests, 5*24 = 120 plants, who each had 120 days to grow. But I don't have many leaves for the first 90 days... snip snip... sound crazy? Four ounces per plant would be 480 ounces, aka 30 lbs. Sounds like a lot of work when I can get 100 lbs from 24 plants over the summer. Can I pay for the lighting and fans?