Grow Room Lighting - Weed and Vegetables

[BC21596]

There are a lot of topics on lighting, but I have some unique circumstances they don't cover. I have a 3x3 grow tent from when I lived in a condo. I now have a basement with a 4x8 room that I'm going to set up for indoor gardening. Initially I'm only setting up 4x4 but will grow to 8' if I want to grow more veggies this winter. Since I'm only growing for personal use, a 3x3 is plenty for weed. I want to grow some additional plants in the extra space such as hot peppers, herbs, etc. I am planning to keep the grow tent so I can separate veg and flower and get a plant every two months instead of 4 for more variety of strains. First, I think most veggies are happier with 12 hrs on, 12 off for lighting so the 4x8 room would make the flowering room and the tent would be for veg. Correct me if I'm wrong on this since I'm not sure.

My main question is about lighting. I am going to put up mylar on the walls but not the floor/ceiling. I am looking at a visparspect 1200w for 4x4 area. This has coverage listed as 3.5x3.5 for flowering but the room is not quite 4' wide so that's fine. A 600w MH/HPS is also listed to cover a 4x4 area. Since they have similar power draw, which would be better also considering that I want to grow other plants. The weed can go in the center under the light and the rest will be wherever they fit around it. Huge yield is not important since I got more than I can use out of the 3x3 tent. I do care about quality and terpenes though. My previous experience is only one grow since it took a long time to run out. I also buy grams from the dispensary to try out new strain varieties which makes it last longer.

 

[BigCube]

There are a lot of topics on lighting, but I have some unique circumstances they don't cover. I have a 3x3 grow tent from when I lived in a condo. I now have a basement with a 4x8 room that I'm going to set up for indoor gardening. Initially I'm only setting up 4x4 but will grow to 8' if I want to grow more veggies this winter. Since I'm only growing for personal use, a 3x3 is plenty for weed. I want to grow some additional plants in the extra space such as hot peppers, herbs, etc. I am planning to keep the grow tent so I can separate veg and flower and get a plant every two months instead of 4 for more variety of strains. First, I think most veggies are happier with 12 hrs on, 12 off for lighting so the 4x8 room would make the flowering room and the tent would be for veg. Correct me if I'm wrong on this since I'm not sure.

My main question is about lighting. I am going to put up mylar on the walls but not the floor/ceiling. I am looking at a visparspect 1200w for 4x4 area. This has coverage listed as 3.5x3.5 for flowering but the room is not quite 4' wide so that's fine. A 600w MH/HPS is also listed to cover a 4x4 area. Since they have similar power draw, which would be better also considering that I want to grow other plants. The weed can go in the center under the light and the rest will be wherever they fit around it. Huge yield is not important since I got more than I can use out of the 3x3 tent. I do care about quality and terpenes though. My previous experience is only one grow since it took a long time to run out. I also buy grams from the dispensary to try out new strain varieties which makes it last longer.

I think growing vegetables in the same tent as cannabis is a very bad idea. It's a massive invite to every pest in the house, and whatever can get in fron outside.

Cannabis alone isnt much of an attraction to most pests. But Vegetables, berries and other juicy things draw in pests. You can do it, but you must be very meticulous with cleanliness. Things that have trouble living on cannabis can live on other plants, and still do damage to your cannabis.

I would suggest different tents, filters on intake and exhaust if they are in the same room. Also you would want to wash your hands and maybe even change clothes before handling your cannabis after handling the vegetables, as if it was an outdoor garden.

Whatever you choose, keep us posted would be interesting to see.

As for lighting, if you're going to have cannabis flowering in a tent, 30 - 35w per square foot is what you need for led. A bigger footprint is better, as opposed to a single small light source.

If you're buying a fixture, check out quantum boards. Kingbrite make some good cheap options that run top of the line leds. I'd suggest 2 x 240w models. Your 4x4x30 = 480w exactly. Spread the 2 fixtures evenly in your tent and Bob's your uncle.

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I pulled just over a pound out of a 3x3 with 2 of those and they were dimmed a bit.

I would go with the 600w er of the 2 you listed. As long as heat isnt an issue for you. Not knowing the specs of the visparspec I cant commit to it.

 

[BC21596]

Thanks BigCube. I meant Visparspectra if that makes a difference. I have a smaller one for my 3x3 tent and I thought it worked fine. I don't have anything to compare against though except what I get from the dispensary. I'm pretty sure that light is spectrum tuned for cannabis, although that would probably work just fine for other veggies as well. I don't think I'll have a heat problem since I'm ventilating the room and it also has pretty high ceilings which will help distribute the heat. Also, the ventilation will go into an air-conditioned room and then be pulled back in. This room needed ventilation whether I set it up as a grow room or not.

What you say about bugs makes sense. I live in the woods and bugs are a real problem, especially with winter coming up. It may make more sense to do one herb or veggie at a time starting with cannabis.