Help!?! Will This Work?

[MJ Breedlove]

Newb grower/ long time toker here trying to figure out if this fluoro setup will work, advantages/disadvantages etc. Well here goes nothin'.
8 4ft standard fluoro fixtures mounted on a 4x4 sheet of plywood. I plan to add 4 to 8 additional fixtures on sides and perhaps 6 to 9 23w cfl's scattered in the center for flowering. I have most everything on hand already and dont have access to a hydro store, nor will i order on-line. I understand that I would be better off with same amount of watts of HPS but I was wondering if anyone knows anything about a setup like this and would be willing to offer any advice. There seems to be some pretty knowledgable peep's here on ICmag, and I would be grateful for any advice I get, cuz by cracky I'm gonna do it anyway, lol

p.s. I'll be growing in soil w/9 3 gal. pots and attempting a scrog as that is probably my best bet for this type of grow (lights)

Thanks in advance MJB

 

[TrustNoOne]

thats a lot of watts in flouro. i'd throw a 1k hps in there. is there a reason you can't use a 1k?

 

[MJ Breedlove]

preciate the response TNO. yeah it's 1100w + but does it have a chance to finish some plants? economics is playing the biggest role right now as far as any major expenditures on lights/vents etc. maybe next grow right. 1000w HPS is def the goal. Peace MJB


p.s. dig the avatar!

 

[GOT_BUD?]

Absolutely rock that light set up. I've seen some fairly impressive grows with just flouros here, and irl.
I would also definitely scrog all your plants to give yourself a nice even canopy.

 

[MJ Breedlove]

Absolutely rock that light set up. I've seen some fairly impressive grows with just flouros here, and irl.
I would also definitely scrog all your plants to give yourself a nice even canopy.

Thanks Got_Bud? Yeah it's what I already got to work with, was just trying to figure if it'll be worth it with mostly standard fluoro tubes ya know what i mean? Like low intensity, less lumens per sq ft than even HO Fluoro's.

Even tho i'm new to the grow scene I've done a lot of reading on these and other forums, and thought I'd give it a try, been wanting to forever anyway.

In fact I've found that everything I thought I knew or had heard about growing was complete and utter nonsense, I mean like lighting, nutes, cloning, the works!

I've got two female bagseed plants going now that I'm learning to clone with. Three tries at cloning failed so far, but I'm seeing excellent results (ROOTS!) in only 7 days too, with a very simple 2 beer cup method (tutorial by Peregrin Took, I think it was?) but any way it really works well, Thanks PT!

Judging by what I've read and learned so far I think scrog from clone is the only real chance I have at making the most of my available light. Was wondering tho, when the plants go from having the screen full or nearly so, about how deep will the canopy be between the screen and the tops? How far will my lights be asked to penetrate in other words, cuz I know they weaken exponentially when pulled further away.

Thanks again for the replies folks, sorry about the long winded post, just anxious I guess, must be time to burn one! Peace MJB

 

[TrustNoOne]

mjb, you'll be able to grow with flouros. i understand about available funds man, been there myself plenty of times. sorry, i missed your line about having all lights on hand(eyes ain't what they used to be).
i would still setup circulation and ventilation even though you're using flouros as you will still get some heat off of thta many of them.
you'll want to think about some way to raise and lower that 4 x 4 plywood easily so you can tend to the plants. i bet it'll be a little awkward
good luck with it.