I have an area of 16M long x 10m wide x 6m high. Grow area is 160sq/m.
Does anyone have a lighting plan for how many lights. Type of light. Have tried everything from Fluence LED , a number of others in a proto type situation and the best result was from HPS digital 600 using Indoor sun pro bulbs. From 3sq/m x 3 600s = return of 4lb dried bud using sea of green. Obviously with the new room size i can not use SOG due to the number of clones needed so am thinking 4 to 5 planets per sq/m. Also, am looking at different irrigation methods for this crop.
That amount of space you’re better off with a CMH or HPS. LED will have a higher cost up front, but save on the bill.
For that side I recommend a DIY instead purchasing a ready to go fixture. Rapid LED sells kits you wire together, or you could order a lot of quantum boards.
Rough estimate you would need 12 fixtures and each covers a 4x4 area. @sifu
It was the SPYDR 2. The test size was 3 tents, 3m x 1.5m x 2.2m. The grow medium was very course coco which was top feed for the first 2 weeks, then i used fllod and drain. Best fertilizer i found was General Hydroponics.
I tried several bulbs also and the ones that really performed were the Indoor Sun Pro 600. I was surprised as much as anyone. Also, the tests were conducted over 1yr will a crop rotation every 3 weeks.
I would like to see the gram per watt results under LEDs. Mine weren’t better than the HPS.
Had a bit of a look at Mattybears grows. The led’s i used were Fluence, Valoya, and 3 different ones from Alibarba china. I tested these against Hortilux 600s, Indoor Sun 600s and a some 600s from China which I had left over from another order. I also did a mix ratio of 1 led fixture = 1200 watts conbined with 1 Hortilux which also almost gave 1gm per watt.
Heat factory wasn’t that much difference as the drivers for the LEDs if attached and inside the tent were similar to HPS bulbs. The LED light gave very little heat, but the drivers did. Solution to this is have your drivers on extentions outside the tent.
Because the new room hasa 6 to 7m high ceiling i don’t see using either will produce a heat problem.
The cost of fitting out 1sq/m or 4x4 using led fixture is around $500 USD atleast. Remember I have 160sq/m = around 80k. From my calculation and they could be wrong hence the reason I’m asking here for idea’s to do the some with HPS 600 the cost is for 160 hps lights is about 25k USD.
Power usesage was not that significant to offset the cost of the LED, in fact, the pay back ratio rate of return in electricy for the leds was around 10yrs, so not really that viable at this point.
Where are a new company here in New Zealand and its important to keep our costs down while delervering a superior product. So far the HPS system looks best.
Back to my original question does any one have a lighting plan for 160sq.m? Either using HPS 600/1000 or CMH 315 or 615s?
Perhaps the moderator could contact Robert and ask his opinion?
Ah, The bays are going to be 1.2m wide with walking space of 800mm between each bay. Its 16m long . I’m thinking around 16 fixtures for just one run and will have 5 so thats 80 fixtures, Correct me if I’m wrong. Appreciate your input.
In all, its a bit overwhelming trying work out everything for this grow. Amps, distribution boards, irrigation, lighting, strains, drying , grow method. Think 20sq/m is the biggest i’ve done. That was easy compared to this one.
So I welcome all contructive comments. Perhaps once up and running I could post the progress and journal here for all to view.
@sifu
For a room that size you are looking at 50 to 54 HLG 550s. That allows for two 30 inch aisles in a T shape, assuming your plants are all on rolling carts. For a light order of that size you will definitely be given a sizable discount. Ballpark 20k to 25k usd.
At 5.4 amps per fixture you are looking at least 260 amps, plus hvac, plus ventilation, plus fans. Thefore 400 amp panel.
Each light fixture puts off 2200 BTUs of heat, you do the math. Remotely mounting the drivers will for sure eliminate a lot of heat build up in room and help reduce cooling needed.
The room is already built as it was a freezer/chiller factory for fruit. This is just the first room of many as its an old factory. The chillers still work. Whether we use them for tempeture control is yet to be decided. As for humidity we are most likely going to urge on the side of using extraction fans and not dehumidifiers. The other thing is we will be pumping the room with high volume of fresh air so that air will be circulating more than extraction to a point. Too much extraction and not enough intake causes atmopheric pressure problems, so we need to aware of that also.
Once the plants are growing I don’t see that as a problem. Have you grown is a room this size and experienced these issues?
Additional information when choosing your lights.
HPS only
-Lowest investment
-Proven technology
-Higher amount of waste heat/electricity consumption
HPS + CMH
-Slightly higher investment than HPS only
-With enhanced blue, full spectrum light and small UV component gives a higher quality end product than HPS only
LED only
-Much lower electricity consumption (35-40%) with additional lower cooling requirement with further electricity savings.
-High investment cost (4-5times the amount of HPS only)
-Good spectrum with high blue amount yields high quality end product
LED + HPS
-Medium investment
-Saves 20-25% electricity with an additional lower cooling requirement
-High quality end product as we can add extra blue light with the LED
I haven’t grown cannabis or anything in a room that size.
Is electricity extremely inexpensive in New Zealand?
You mentioned that using a SOG was impractical due to the number of clones required. Could you elaborate on that thought process a little, if only for my own edification?