Best way to switch between different watts?

[ftworth]

I have several different wattage lights and am wondering what is the best way to make use of them. I start the clones under 32 watt florescents, then move them to a 400 w Mh to veg. When they are ready to flower I have been transitioning them under two 150w hps. Three to four weeks in I move them to a 400 w hps till finish. I also have a 250w hps that I can throw into the mix. My goal is to get the most efficient perpetual farm I can get going. Is this the best use of my lights ( especially hps) or should I be switching them around more during flower?
Here is a list of the lights:
400 w MH
2 150 w hps
1 250 mh/hps
1 400 w hps
3 2bar 2 ft florescents

Thanks for your help? Ft worth

 

[LEDBud]

If you put the lot of HPS and MH to work for flower you would see larger buds / harvest , if you feed them enough food they will love the increased light.

I have read often that you want around 50w per sq. ft in HID bulbs , for good performance , This is the number you should try for or beat if want max performance.


In flower if you use a MH beside each HPS the Buds will reward you with increased size / cola length without spaces.

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Mmm bulb crazy...

Depends on how far ya want to go with perpetual grow style & off cause how much space ya have ?


Most of us mere mortals have a veg tent & a flowering tent... whilst one is vegging the other is flowering rinse and repeat.

A lot more work when ya have 3 + rotation of plants & could dial it down to a harvest per month.

 

[c526]

I dont understand this,just blast their asses with all you can.

in flower as much light as you can,right from day one,the ONLY time I dont give all I can,is seedlings

 

[ftworth]

I know bigger is always better but I go these lower wattage lights for free and would like to utilize them. I was thinking switch from 400 to 250 or 2 150w during the last two three weeks to mimic fall and get them to finish a little faster as I always have something in veg waiting to go. Here are some pics to show how it's set up now.

 

[LEDBud]

It would be better to just cut the hours to 12hr to mimic fall , and give them all the light you can muster up.
Plants always do better with more light / more sunny days. The Premise behind a greenhouse and why they work so well is to give the plants consistently nice days.

With your small light system you can not afford to knock some light out , Some people will drop the room temperature for the last 2 weeks to induce what would be naturally occurring colors in the Bud.

I myself prefer to keep the room warm the whole time , the root zone likes to be between 67 and 72*f for instance.

If your plants are on the ground they could do better with a insulator under them , a piece of Styrofoam or rigid foam works well. Unless your room is too warm then it would be better if the containers cooled threw the floor.
75 f would be the upper temperature for your containers to reach. I keep a temp probe in the bottom of one of my plants to keep tab's on root temperature in my New 2x4 cabinet system until I get it dialed in with fans etc.

 

[ftworth]

 

[ftworth]

 

[ftworth]

 

[ftworth]

 

[ftworth]

 

[LEDBud]

Many of the photos are repeats , regardless I see you have been busy !

 

[ftworth]

 

[ftworth]

 

[ftworth]

Sorry I keep accidentally uploading the same pics new to site

 

[MassMedMan]

That was a pretty nice egg beater you had there a few posts back. My chickens hate them. Anyway, thanks for your service. I lOve the grow spaces. Welcome!!

 

[LEDBud]

You have a lot of plants on the go , i see why your wanting to use your lights in specific places at specific times.

I would try to grow under the tubes and flower under *all* of the bulbs if I was in your predicament.

 

[c526]

got a good setup man.

I was thinking switch from 400 to 250 or 2 150w during the last two three weeks to mimic fall

as was mentioned,if ya want to duplicate fall,use a diminished light schedule,I back all of my lights,from 3rd week of veg,the timers get a little less each week,I end up final weeks of flower at 10-14,but dont ever cut down on the lights,or wattage,the last few weeks are VERY important,its where a lot of size kicks in.

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

I use 125w giant cfl for veg & when i change the plants to the flowering tent 400w Hps i just adjust/increase hanging height to 18" for the first few days to let the plants adapt/adjust a little before lowering to an average 12" of height.

The only thing i can think off between different sized bulbs is heat generated as each higher wattage bulb will run hotter !


Could be a question of temp between each box & whether suitable ventilation is used ?

 

[ftworth]

Moved some stuff around. Propagation fridge still the same. Moved two 150w into the hydro/ scrog fridge. I put the 250w on the dog kennel. I threw together another grow box out of an old bed and some office partitions and put the 400w hps and 400w mh in. Now all my babies can sleep in peace ( or not ) and I can still use my garage for other stuff. I know the grow boxes are kinda janky but hey, whatever works right? I feel very green peacey since it's all recycled stuff!