Can you put too much wattage on your flowering plants?

[Wazoo]

I will have a 4’x4’ Botanicare tray with 16 holes for 16 flowering plants. It appears that 1 1000 Watt will give me enough wattage i.e., 62.5 Watts per Sq Ft. Yet, I am told by a long time successful grower that more is better. He told me “ Go with 3 600 Watters with CL Hoods and your yields will be off the hook.” That is a whopping 112.5 Watts per square foot. Was he high when he gave me this advice? Is it true that more is better, or are their diminishing returns. I retorted back to him “Well, shit, why don’t I go with 2 1000’s and he responded by saying “You can’t get that set up low enough on the plants…..go with 3 600’s.

What is the REAL SKINNY on this subject?

 

[habeeb]

yes there is to much, its called light bleaching if the heat doesn't get them first

use what you have, get the light as low as possible is the best step before upgrading

 

[FreezerBoy]

I don't think it's the amount of light as much as excessive heat and IR. After all, what they're built for is ...



My jump from 34 to 56 wsf made a HUGE difference. While, I've never approached 100 wsf, the reading i've done here suggests past 100 wsf you get the diminishing returns you spoke of earlier.

 

[Wazoo]

Thanks. So if I use two 600 watt lamps on my 4x4 flowering trays I should be okay,right? That would be 75 watts a sq ft

 

[homerjay]

I also am debating if I want a second 600w hps in my 4x4 tent. My temps peak out at 87-88 and now the weather is getting colder I can handle the heat. I just thought 75w per sq ft was too much but what do I know. This is my first indoor grow in over ten years so it's all experimental for the next 2-3 years for me.

 

[sns_stealth]

Thanks. So if I use two 600 watt lamps on my 4x4 flowering trays I should be okay,right? That would be 75 watts a sq ft

whats your a/c, vent and fan situation and is this a tent or open air? heats gonna be an issue depending on your setup.

 

[Wazoo]

My room is 9x7x12H. Have not decided on which AC to buy or venting system. I am installing a self venting skylight (stealth) which is going to be split up underneath into two seperate exhaust/intake Chambers sealed off from each other so one doesn't bleed into the other. I am thinking I will run my intake to my a/c and cool tube my lights drawing air from the room through the charcoal filter__through the lights__up and out the exhaust. This is a question as much as it is a response.

 

[VerdantGreen]

it depends on how you measure yield - your grams/watt certainly will not go up!

60 ish w/ft is about optimum for max yield per watt. higher watts per square foot may increase your yield but not proportionally to the extra wattage used.

eg. 3x3 with 1200 watts wont yeild nearly as much as 6x3 with 1200 watts.

 

[ItsAllOver]

The consensus answer for ICMag that I seem to have put together in my head is that at around 75 w/sq ft you begin to get diminishing returns.
In addition, you're going to have to make sure heat is taken care of. Get that ventilation system going big time. Make sure that you can put your hand right over the plants and not feel any real discomfort. That's about when you'll know the light is far enough away.

Hey FreezerBoy, on your point about the sun. It is really far away, though, and the earth has a sweet ventilation system. I think the sun makes equivalent energy of about 1000 w/sq meter, btw.


I once used 600w over a 24 plant 2'x2' tray. (300w/ sq ft) It was a waste of electricity and heat. I got 10.5 zips. Terrible. With the same 600w setup, I used it over 3 bushes (a typically "less efficient" grow method, in watts/sq. ft, and on my first grow ever) in 2'x3.5' and pulled 12.5 zips.

So yea

 

[qbert]

Thanks. So if I use two 600 watt lamps on my 4x4 flowering trays I should be okay,right? That would be 75 watts a sq ft

That sounds like the right idea.