Article 4-1 Do I Need More Light

Hello. I’m wanting to know would you recommend adding more light in my 10×12 area because I’ve read that more light means more yield in the end? I’m working in a 10×12 room with around 16 plants in a 4×5 area just under the light which is a 1000 watt HPS lamp. The area is well ventilated and has plenty of CO2. What’s your advice on this. Thanks for your time and energy,
Brian.

Thanks Brian, sounds like a nice little set up. You have a large volume of air to buffer temperatures, etc. which often means healthier plants.

If you only intend to utilize 4’x5′ of your space, your current set up would supply you with high light intensities (the light should be about 18″ above the canopy), resulting in greater yields, larger flowers, more marketable plant material, etc. If you are still in the vegetative stage or have just begun flowering (and you have an unquenchable appetite for your produce), you might consider adding another light and spacing the plants further apart, using more of your space. I would recommend that you simply set up another 4’x5′ area. If you need 8 weeks of flowering, space the two areas 4 weeks apart (a separate light tight area for vegetative growth is required) and you will be harvesting every month. Add a third station and you can harvest every 20 days, etc. Or mount the three lights to a three arm SunCircle or SunTwist, and harvest the mother load all at once. You can still use the light movers for perpetual harvests, just make sure that your “stations” can be adjusted to the fixed height of the lights.

Also remember that as more lights are added, more heat is generated which must be exhausted or exchanged.