Right size light
By Ed Rosenthal - Friday, December 14 2001
I am trying to start a garden and I am looking for some pointers. I have a four foot by four foot area that is about five feet tall. I was wondering if you could provide me with a few suggestions on lights for that space size. How many plants could I grow there? How much yield should I expect?C Hayes,
Norman, Oklahoma
Cannabis thrives on a high light diet. Your area is 16 square feet. An electrical input of 50-70 watts per square foot (psf) of high pressure sodium light provides the kind of intense rays which promote growth and flowering. A 1000 watt lamp over a 16 square foot area has an input of 62.5 watts psf. This is the right size lamp for the space.
The number of plants depends upon the variety you are growing. Some plants are big growers while others are adapted to small sea of green areas. Sea of green gardens use four or more plants psf. Some gardeners prefer to grow larger plants, using one or two square feet per plant.
Depending on the variety and how good a gardener you are, you should expect to yield between 3/4 and 1 pound of bud from a garden under a 1000 watt lamp. Most varieties ripen in 60-80 days.
Readers with grow questions (or answers) should send them to Ed at: Ask Ed, PMB 147, 530 Divisadero St., San Francisco, California 94117, USA
You can also email Ed at AskEd@quicktrading.com, and send queries via his website at www.quicktrading.com.
All featured questions will be rewarded with a copy of Ed's The Big Book of Buds from Quick Trading.
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