250 HPS versus 400 HPS.. air ventilation/long term question!

[SativaDreams]

I'm looking at doing a setup in a stealth dresser this coming year, and I want to do a 250 Watt. I expect NY to legalize within a couple years (medicinally) and I don't want to have to buy a whole new 400 watt when it becomes so...

Should I just go stealthy and get a 250 watt OR try and put a 400 watt in a good size dresser (around 3.5-4 feet tall, 2.5 feet wide, 1-1.5 feet deep) and use good ventilation fans?

This is a toughy for me because I want to have a light I will love in the long term. I originally wanted to do a closet grow with 400 watts, but I don't like showing friends or family my apartment bedroom and having them want to look at the closet then have some lame excuse. If it's medically legal in a year or two (or this year!) then I would have a nice 400 watter to use immediately and run a dang good setup in the closet..

Maybe a 250 watt would be more than enough even. I hope to harvest 1/4-1/2 pound regularly. (I was going to put out alot of $$$ and do a Coco-perlite soilless grow, but I don't have the money to order the Coco and nutes online (coco only costs 40 bucks for 2 bags, but 120 in shipping :-( also the nutes same deal, 110 in shipping for 100 in nutes.. so instead of spending 370 on medium and nutes, ill spend 30 bucks at a local place (5 bucks topsoil +5 bucks cow manure +5 bucks perlite +5 bucks vermiculite +5 bucks bone meal + 5 bucks builders sand) and harvest a little less with lower quality until i find the perfect soil blend.)

What do you guys think

250 Watter or 400 watter?

 

[FreezerBoy]

Using your dresser specs, a 250 is well over the 50 watts per sq ft you need. A 400 is over 100 watts and past the point of diminishing returns. A 400 needs to be hung higher than a 250 and your reflector takes up a foot of space to begin with, your substrate another foot. A 400 needs more cooling. Bigger fans = more money and more noise. My 250 has me buried alive, 3-4 zips a plant water cured (5-8 air cured). I spill weed, I get out the vacuum cleaner.

BUT a 250 in that space will limit you to, say, 4 plants unless you SOG. I'm limited to one as I like Sativas.

How likely are you to grow multi strains? Do you need 4 pots or more? With a Mag ballast, an upgrade kit will cost you $50 (you already have the reflector, cord, ballast box) Wait till the 250 runs its course and a new 400 lamp isn't upgrading, it's maintenance.

 

[SativaDreams]

Okay FreezerBoy, 250 sounds like its more than enough as it is. (maybe even for a small closet grow in the future!) Thanks for the input

The lights I looked at are about 7-8 inches in height counting the reflector (floralux)

So I could use most of the drawerspace.

I'm thinking about doing 2 plants with major training(maybe fimming) and possible scrogging (i've never scrogged before but it doesnt look too difficult).. definitely not 4 plants... but in that case I would buy fem seeds so I don't waste the space.

Ill veg until they take up just under half the drawer space and then flower... atleast that's the plan.

My alternate plan is to get regular seeds, grow 2 out and flower to find female, vege then clone anywhere between 16-30 plants depending on drawer room after i construct it, kill the mother plant and grow out those clones real good size.

my third plan is to get fem seeds, grow out 2 of them, flower and use the better of the two to make all the clones.

I'm hesitant to do cloning though as I don't want to mess around with many little containers with dirt in a carpeted apartment. I'd prefer to have minimal pots (2 pots ideally and use fem seeds) and juts grow them as big as possible with the space available.

Maybe ill even go 150 watt. I'm pretty hungry for 250 though, but in the end its about what's more practical.

 

[FreezerBoy]

I started with a 150. It kept me largely supplied with the occasional dry spell but, that was before coming here. People here are doing some serious shit at 150. Had I not discovered CMH-Ceramic Metal Halides, I'd probably still be at 150.

Check these out
Labtec's 150 watt Lab
150w HPS Club and Resource Guide......
Mills Pride Club
250 Watt Club
The 400 Watt Club

 

[SativaDreams]

I started with a 150. It kept me largely supplied with the occasional dry spell but, that was before coming here. People here are doing some serious shit at 150. Had I not discovered CMH-Ceramic Metal Halides, I'd probably still be at 150.

Check these out
Labtec's 150 watt Lab
150w HPS Club and Resource Guide......
Mills Pride Club
250 Watt Club
The 400 Watt Club

Awesome man, thanks. I checked your linkorama page too which had alot of these in there and other useful links. I'm trying to figure out about if a 250 watt ceramic would work in a regular 250 watt ballast/setup from the local hydro store.

They look amazing and philips has always done quality products by me.

as far as a 150 goes, i dont think for me. I want a 250 that way I can atleast move to a closet in a year or two with the current 250 ballast and still pull good sustainable amounts of smoke in.

Also i'm struggling to find a good source of axial fans online.. just looking for some small 50-100 cfm fans for an exhaust and intake. Preferably quiet ones too!

You've already helped me to the max so i won't ask you but hint at it

But in all seriousness, if you do have some good links on fans/ventilation threads OR company links to buy online I'd be grateful. I can't find them at local shops (not home improvement stores- and local hydro store only has hugemongous fans!)

 

[FreezerBoy]

An axial with a 250 is pushing it. Hang around here with a 250 and your going to get big, fat stinky buds. It's the price we pay. Some low odor strains can be contained with an odorsok style filter but, a real scrubber causes back pressure that an axial will struggle with.

Great Inline Fans (S&P)
Ventilation 101