Is one 600 watt enough for a few trees?

I'm in the process of building my new room and I've decided to do a vertical tree setup similar to heaths. I recently bought a solis tek 1000 watt ballast but I still need to pick my bulb.

The question is will a 600 watt hps be enought for 5-6 trees surrounding the bulb and trained to hug it more so each bud is around 10 inches from the light? Or should I just get a 1000 watt bulb and keep them a little further away?

Any advice is appreciated and anything solid will get you some +rep thanks

Room will be about 5x7 and 7' high

Hell naw man.... if you are going to do it, then do it right... get the 1000 and grow them bitched and plus you will be growing in a larger space, you will need the extra wattage to penetrate the leaves.

Was thinking that but with a 600 I can keep it a couple inches closer and and get about the same out of it plus I'll need to run another outlet to the room because the 1000 will trip the breaker

Anyone know of any comparison out there?

aww, didnt know that you had to do more work for the 1000... and true about the 600, but you will not be using the whole space you have. A 600 is just not enough for a 5x7 in vert if you plan on lining the walls, but if you plan on close proximity then the 600 would be fine

Unless to could decrease the area to 4'x 4' by hanging reflective screening. I don't know anything about vertical but my brother thinks he's gonna make it in the vegetable greenhouse biz with this vertical thing

2x 600w's i think would be great, with the traditional box fan at the bottom , the reason i say 600> 1000w is because they have a higher output to lumen ratio, meaning a higher gram per watt (if things are done correctly)

I do have a 400 watt I could use along with it too but no way I'm buying another ballast for 2 600s. At least not now anyway.

I was actually thinking of doing a little sog or single plant under the 400 in the same room as the vertical tree setup. That would make a 5x4 for the trees, and about 3x4 area with the 400.

That is unless someone else has a better idea with my space and lights.

Yeah dude either do that or do a bigger single stage flower with both. I like your idea better though, so you can toy around with both
. But I think doing a 400 & 600 vertical in the same room would be better than 1000w

U mentioned in the same room...u can try a flip box so you can use one ballast and two bulbs. Run the ballast 24 hours

Rule of thumb bro 100 wattsand per plant is great also a 6 wont get as hot and u save money 5or6 under 1000w is a waste of Edisons time and ur money

home is where you make it. you can grow trees with either bulb. For all the people saying "you HAVE to use 1000w" just remember that heath rocks 600s and kills it. They're the most efficient bulbs as far as lumens/watt goes.

Just remember your lumen charts. If you keep a 600w closer, it will do the same job as a 1000w.

Going 600w vs 1000w is really a function of the number and size of plants you decide to grow. If you have a real job and can afford the extra electricity/have a handle on cooling, go ahead and rock it on 1000.


Also, sorry.
No offense to anyone, but please disregard rules of thumb such as X watts per square foot or x watts per plant. None of those rules of thumb account for plant size or lumen exposure, light distance, etc. for instance you can sog 64 plants in a 4x4 no problem under a 1000w. You can also grow one giant tree under 1000w that will yield the same. it's apples to oranges. Try to read up (not on weed forums) and develop an understanding on lumens and plant nutrition, and you'll be a lot better off.

I love a 600w bruh. Only 5-6 plants, you'll be fine w/ that. Pros: Better temp regulation, lower bills & Cons: Less light

None taking the rule of thumb is wat works in my environment I dnt sog. Or scrog I fit frm 9 to 10 2 mth veg plants 3 to four ft depending on strain and. Get3-4 HQ meds but as I said earlier its a lot to pay they get HOT and in a tents hotter but i was just sharing my experience and if u use a new bulb the lumens in tht 6 would be ideal I agree as to a closer 600maybe almost =to a 1000

2 600 watts > 1000 watt

Wow thanks guys some great answers in the past day or so. I decided to do the 600 since the reduced heat allows me to keep it closer, and my room isn't real big. One day I'll replicate or at least try to do what Heath is doing with two or three 600's.

ive also always wondered how much does rotating plants actually help. Since I'd only do one 600 all 6 plants or so would lack light penetration on some farther leaves. Is it worth rotating them or do they just waste energy trying to constantly angle their leaves to the light? Ahh I don't know why I'm even asking I'm just gonna spread the branches out so I don't have to move them.

+ rep to ya guys

From what I recall reading, most of the people who do trials with rotating say rotating isn't worth it. Personally, I just pruned shoots that weren't growing towards the light.

Clown Baby said:

From what I recall reading, most of the people who do trials with rotating say rotating isn't worth it. Personally, I just pruned shoots that weren't growing towards the light.

Click to expand...

Ok that's what I'm beginning to think too, so many people say rotating is necessary but, if anything pruning and training would be a much better use of the plants energy.

A single 600 starting at 18-20" away hung vertically without a cool tube is my decision. I'm goin to use bamboo stakes to train 5-6 topped plans somewhat fanned out so light hits all the buds. I've become obsessed with trying to become as efficient as possible and this should be one of the best ways.

In the end, those inches don't matter since you can grow nearly double the amount of plants. Definitely go with 1k. Unequivocally. Damn your logic lol... It's about to fail you.

ilovebush has a great point a flipbox is a great little invention. most commercial/large scale growers i know use flipboxes. u dont need all of the lights on all the time, it also helps with heat,i suggest a inline fan that will be able to cool the bulb allowing you to put the light closer,another solution is a light mover. i also tried a splitter that turns a 1000 watt ballast into 2 600's. 600's are the most efficient for lumens per watt. i like the dual arc bulbs for 1000's they are a 600hps and a 400 mh in same bulb.