Should I Increase My Light Or Leave It?

[Badboar]

Greetings! I just switched my light to 12/12. Operating at 450 watts. In a couple of weeks I will be changing my MH bulb to a HPS. At that time I was thinking of increasing my light to 600 watt (the max). Will that improve my grow or do harm? My 3 x 3 area is crowded so that is a concern.

Thanks for your help!

 

[PharmHand]

Greetings! I just switched my light to 12/12. Operating at 450 watts. In a couple of weeks I will be changing my MH bulb to a HPS. At that time I was thinking of increasing my light to 600 watt (the max). Will that improve my grow or do harm? My 3 x 3 area is crowded so that is a concern.

Thanks for your help!View attachment 775575

Raise the light a bit, crank it up and keep an eye for any signs of stress. Looks good!

 

[chemistry]

As above, raise the light and whack that 600 in for flower, just watch your temps.

 

[Badboar]

Thanks for the feedback. I was wondering about the light. How high do you believe is a good range to maintain? I have a light meter too, however it's interesting how the bulb I am using puts out different level readings across the fixture. On the front the lux was 11K but on the back it was above 20K. I love new ideas!!!

 

[Enforcer]

About 18" should be good. You can go to 12" when the plants are big and can take it, but I would let them grow into that. Use the hand test to make sure the canopy isn't too hot.

Just some friendly advice, 6 plants in a 3x3 is going to be crazy packed by the 2nd or 3rd week of flower. I have 4 in my 3x3 and I think I may be pushing it with that. Below is the last run at harvest in my 3x3 with only 3 plants. Vegged for 6.5 weeks from seed. As you can see, it's poppin in there. I'm going to try 4 plants this run with less veg time. But even that may be pressing my luck.

 

[Badboar]

Thank you, 18 inches sounds reasonable. As far as space, I was afraid of it being too crowded. I will have to see how it goes. I am thinking of replacing the MH bulb with HPS now and upping it to 600 watt rather than wait a couple weeks. I had read when time changes to 12/12 operation, a couple weeks of stretching is good before replacing the bulb. I don't need any extra stretching and if it doesn't have a big benefit, I will pass. Thanks again!