How to maximize efficiency on 1000w hps?

[SweetIndica]

Hi, i recently picked up a 1000w hps with hortilux. It's aircooled, the reflector is 21" X 23".

I need to know what growing technique will give me the biggest yield and what style of growing i should do.

the reflector has a glass lens and will be aircooled so i will try and get the light as close as possible (i'm shooting for 12" away if possible)

I have been looking at sog's, scrogs, lst'ing, etc. If i do decide to lst, how many plants should i do? 9 big plants in 5 gallon pots, or 36 under a sog/scrog in 1 gallon pots.

What size area will my light be able to cover? I'm hoping it will be able to cover a 4' x 4' area.

The maximum height of the plants has to be about 4 feet. I want to be able to yield over 20 oz's with the 1000w.

So someone please just give me their best idea's on how to maximize yield and ANY info on how i can increas yield.

Also, i will be using the following nutrients: Pure blend pro bloom, pure blend pro grow, superthrive, blood meal and bone meal will be mixed with the soil every transplant which will be once during veg and at the beginning of flower.

 

[Space Ghost]

20 zones will be very do-able if you've got some growing experience with the strain. If plant count is not a concern, sog would be a good option, but don't lst them, let them grow one main cola. Instead of 1 gal. pots I would recomend grow bags as you can pack more in the same area because they are squarish. If you want to keep your plant #'s down, 4 large lst'ed bushes would be good. If you do 4 large plants 5 gallons of mix will not be enough, 10 or even 15 would be much better for plant health and yeild. Keeping your temps and humidity down will help you a lot too.

some other thoughts:

don't over of under feed

don't use superthrive durring flower

12" is pretty darn close for a 1k, shoot for 18-24"

4 x 4' is perfect for a 1k


any other questions?

 

[SweetIndica]

i know not to use superthrive during flowering, and not to over and underfeed. I knmow 12" sounds close, but with the proper exhaust system i think it's possible, even 16"-18" would be fine with me. If i used say 7-10 gallon pots and grew 4 plant around 3.5-4 feet tall, how much do you think i could yield from each one? I would also be doing lst'ing as well.

 

[Space Ghost]

well, again yield is totally dependant on strain and grower skill... so it's not really an exact science, but with an average yeilding strain 4-7 oz's per plant would be normal.

 

[SweetIndica]

I realize it's mainly skill..i have a good amount of experience. I will soon be starting my 4th grow.

 

[Space Ghost]

3 grows? you're still a greenhorn buddy...

what strain(s) were you planning on using?

 

[SweetIndica]

well my 4th serious grow. I'm not counting my first 2 grows which were a fluro grow and a 400w hps grow. I may not have a ton of experience, but i sure know my shit. I do nothing bud reading up on growing information. I mean, my second hps grow (400w). I yielded over 2 oz. per plant using lst and can show pics of the colas. The plants were flowered in only 3 gallon pots also. The main cola on my biggest plant was 18 grams dry. I have a bunch of strains to grow this time: paradise sensi star, serious ak47, brainwreck from highgrade (trainwreck x white widow), hashberry from mandala, g13 x yumbolt from motarebel, sour diesel x jack herer (got from GSA, a seed store in the netherlands), troublemaker (hindu kush x master kush, from drchronic, i have 2 packs of this), mind boggle x nycd from annac seeds, and i also plan on ordering some lui or blockhead in a few days. Not exactly sure which ones i'm growing to grow yet, i know sensi star for sure, haven't decided on the others.

 

[Space Ghost]

If you're going for yield, I'd use sensi star, ak, and hashberry. Do a grow to look for mothers and then do a clone run for yield.

Also, buy the blockhead, it rocks my socks....

 

[SweetIndica]

that's exactly what i was planning on..picking the best mother from each strain and cloning here a bunch. I know for hashberry and sensi star i want to look for the most indica pheno with the widest leaves and the tighest nodes. But for the ak since it's about 60% sativa, what is a good pheno to look for? I am definately going with blockhead and probably lui also. Blockhead is awesome, and i finally found a place that has it in stock for like $57 a pack. Hopefully seedbay has a few more packs of it because they were selling 12 packs instead of the 10 packs for only $55. I also hope they get deepchunk back in stock, because i couldn't afford to bid on the few packs that were on seedbay. I want to try a ton of indicas to see which ones i like best. So far the sensi star i smoked a few times was the best i've tried, that's why i am growing it.

 

[Bermyboy]

Use a lot mover.

 

[SweetIndica]

I see alot of people suggest them, how exactly does it help alot? Explain how it works please.

 

[Space Ghost]

movers are nonsence imo, I've never bothered with them.

For the ak you want to look for the one that has medium stature, smells like rotten cherries (in late flower), has high yield, and has a knock-out punch of a stone.

 

[SweetIndica]

The thing is i want to take clones from the mother during veg and flower them a few weeks after they root, so i won't be able to tell which one is the cherry pheno.

 

[sm0kateer4204]

i would do a sog all the way. you would probably yield more in one run from lst'd plant's. but if you had a sog you could be harvesting every 8 week's instead where as with lst it would take you atleast a month to get 4 female's a worthy size to take up all the room under the hps. so if you harvested every 12 week's with lst and it yielded (guess) 20% more than sog method it would still be worth it in the long run to sog.

 

[SweetIndica]

what would be a good yield to shoot for total from a 1000w hps? I just want to get over 20 oz. of dried bud or more. I'm assuming this is possible, not sure how difficult it will be though.

 

[Guest]

S indica its important not to make your final choice of pheno's from the veg phase,you want to make it from the flowered clone.The flowered seedplant may give you a good idea which one to keep,but I always grow out at least 1 set of clones from each seedplant because after all,its the clones you will be perpetuating.When it comes to things like finishing time,you'll want to know what the clones do.It takes awhile,I just drop a pheno here and there until I'm left with the pheno I want.I've been growing blockhead this way for about two years now.Also,take all your cuttings in the veg phase before 12/12 starting with the orginal seedplant,taking cuttings after 12/12 just doesnt work out when you're perpetuating a pheno for any length of time.Dont choose a mom in veg cause she has pretty leaves bro,choose from the finished product always and thats the flowered clone not the flowered seedplant

 

[SweetIndica]

Alright, here is what i'm thinking. I will grow 16 plants in 1 gallon pots. 5 plants from most strains, 6 from one. The best female from each strain will be selected as mothers, i will then decide when to take clones and take about 9 clones from each mother. The 3 clones who show the faster rooting, will be put to veg under the 1000w. They will All be lst'ed at a few weeks old and transplanted into 5 gallon pots, up until they have been vegged for about a month, maybe a week or two more. I will then cut the ties off when i choose to flower them, and they will be put into flower. I will be using pure blend pro veg and pure blend pro bloom all through growth, some superthrive at early growth, and when they are transplanted blood meal and bone meal will be added to the mix for an extra boost. The light will also be as close as i can get it. So there will be 9 full size female in 5 gallon pots which i'm hoping will be big enough. The space will be a little over 3' x 3'. In order to get 20 oz. total of bud i will need to yield about 2.2 oz. per plant (62 grams per plant). I think this is definately possible. If anyone feels like adding anything else, by all means go ahead. thanks for all of your help.

 

[SweetIndica]

S indica its important not to make your final choice of pheno's from the veg phase,you want to make it from the flowered clone.The flowered seedplant may give you a good idea which one to keep,but I always grow out at least 1 set of clones from each seedplant because after all,its the clones you will be perpetuating.When it comes to things like finishing time,you'll want to know what the clones do.It takes awhile,I just drop a pheno here and there until I'm left with the pheno I want.I've been growing blockhead this way for about two years now.Also,take all your cuttings in the veg phase before 12/12 starting with the orginal seedplant,taking cuttings after 12/12 just doesnt work out when you're perpetuating a pheno for any length of time.Dont choose a mom in veg cause she has pretty leaves bro,choose from the finished product always and thats the flowered clone not the flowered seedplant

From what i understand, taking clones from a plant well into flowering doesn't work alot of the time, and the clones have a very low rooting %. I may be wrong though, but i've read about alot of people having this problem. A few strains i'm growing i will be able to pick the good phenos before flowering, i've been told look for the sensi star with the tightest nodes, and most indica genes.

 

[Guest]

You are misunderstanding me.Always take your cuttings before 12/12,this usually involves labeling the seedplants and clones then discarding male seedplants and clones.Now you're left with female seedplants and clones.Grow out the seedplants and veg the clones taking cuttings from them BEFORE you go 12/12,these are what you want to make your decision on.You see what I mean?You're misunderstanding about taking cuttings during flower,never do that.My whole idea is I will have sampled all the flowered clones,know all about their finishing times,etc etc before I make my decision on which pheno to keep.Do you see what I'm saying now?

 

[SweetIndica]

EDIT: i think i got it now, clones will be taken from the seedplants, right afterwards the mothers are put into flower,. The first clones you took will be grown out and by the time it's ready to take clones from them the mothers will be fully flowered so you know which clones to take from the original clones? Is this right?