New Live Intros Thread Maximum plants for 1 x 1000 HPS in SOG

[OGWallyAZDesert]

Hi All,

"OGWallyAZDesert" here. Just want to introduce myself. I am a 60 year old, old-school pothead, who started (actually was forced into it by pothead roommates) using in college in 1977 @ IU Bloomington. I have loved it every since. I have been clean for about 2 years & MJ free (since 11/25.2017) due to an asshole brother-in-law and some issues he had with my heavy use & stash. Have never tried feminized AFs and want to give them a try. I read a lot of AF reviews, opinions & decided to buy my beans direct from Mephisto Genetics USA (M.G.), recently. I paid for (ordered) 36 beans (2 x 18-packs) and received a total of 69 beans, with the freebies Mitch included with my order. I paid via CC & received order, via USPS Priority mail in 5 days from time of order. VERY FAST. THANK YOU MITCH & MEPHISTO, as it is greatly appreciated with the generosity & quickness. I spent $317.23 USD (beans) + 11.02 USD (S/H), for a total CC purchase of $328.23 USD (or 298.00 EUROS) I believe). I came out to $4.76 per bean! WOW! What a great deal from Mitch & for this reported bean quality!

I have the following beans (I paid for):

*22 x '24 Carat' beans (100% indica) - bought
*20 x 'Straberry Nuggets' (85% indica/15% sativa) - bought

I received the following 'freebies':

4 x '24 Carat'
2 x 'Strawberry Nuggets'
10 x 'Chemdogging x 3BOG'
2 x 'CDLC x 3BOG'
5 x 'DBC x 3BOG'
10 x 'Auto Blues x Strawberry Nuggets'

Total of 33 freebies + 36 bought beans = 69 total beans!

My questions & where I need help are as follows:

Q#1: What is the maximum # of plants & best spacing, for SOG (sea of green) setup for 400 watt MH light system (with 36,000 lumens output) ?

Q#2: What is the maximum # of plants & best spacing, for SOG setup, using the 100O watt HPS (with 140,000 lumens & new bulb)?

Q#3: Who has grown Mephisto strains above and what sort of yields, smoke quality, days to finish?


To help you answer my question, here is my current potential set-up onhand:

*Location: Indoors 20' x 30' (single room)

*Light Systems: 1 x 1000 watts HPS + 1 x 400 watts MH (metal halide) system (from circa 1998 SunLight Supply - both lights are old-school type, not digital, and mint condition & in 100% perfect working order).

*Ventilation & Odor Control: 1 x Phresh carbon filter (#701025), 10" (diameter) x 39" (tall); with a 1400 CFM matching exhaust fan, that vents into the attic. Cooler air enters room, from the attic also, with a micro screened opening of 2'x 4' (for fresh outdoor air). Room temps with ventilation on, range from 60 degrees to 70 degrees, in room, 20 feet from the HPS light. At plant level with 1000 watt HPS light on, temps are much warmer (75 to 81 degrees F); depends on outdoor temp in attic. In Phoenix, Arizona (USA), winter outdoor temps range from 40 degrees (night) to 70 degrees (daytime); and the HPS light puts out tons of heat, to counteract cold air coming into room from unheated attic. Attic air temps same as outdoor air temps same as fresh air into room, at rate of 1400 CFM. Air intake & exhaust out take are same at 1400 CMF.

*Reflector Type: 2 x SunLight Supply 4' parabolic reflector (#BB009I63MC - per Amazon info)

*Soil Medium: 2 x Pro-Mix HP-CC, 3.8 cu.ft. bales (bought locally as a special order - takes a week to arrive at store here in , Phoenix, Arizona, USA)

*3 gallon (12 liters) black pots, round - per recommendation on 'Mephisto 2017 Grow Guide, Version 1.0', off their website - plan to direct seed into these pots with 400 watt metal halide SunLight Supply light system (bulb, reflector, separate HD ballast (not digital), light fixture - it's an all-in-1 system)

*Liquid Nutrients on hand from previous gardening and to be used: All from P.V.F.S. (aka Peaceful Valley Farm Supply, Grass Valley, CA, USA - www.groworganic.com ), all bought in GALLON form, at great prices, low & fast shipping costs , IMO. I do not work for PVFS! - are as below:

*PVFS's HUMAX (organic liquid humic acid 12%)
*PVFS's Organic Liquid Bloom (0-6-0), w/6% calcium
*Organic BioLink liquid Bloom (1-5-5)
*Fert-All Calcium 12 (liquid calcium) - not OMRI approved
*Earth Juice's Catalyst (0.03N-0.01P-0.10K) - not OMRI approved
*Aqua Power Liquid Fish (5-1-1) - not OMRI approved
*PVFS's Liquid Fish (2-4-0.2)
*Earth Juice's liquid GROW (2-1-1) - not OMRI approved
*PVFS's Organic Liquid Kelp Extract (w/Humic Acid)
*Organic BIOLINK Micro-Nutrients (w/Fe, Mn, Zn mainly - and also with K2O, Mg, S, B, Co, Cu, & Mo - 10 total micro nutrients)

Thank you AFN members for your help in advance & great luck on your current or next project!!!!

 

[Machamillion]

good luck and tag me in when you get started. easy as putting a @ sign in front of my handle in case you were not aware. @Machamillion
edit= you have some fire there. Mephisto will not disappoint.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

Ideally you would run 4 plants per square foot that are clones or seeds or the same type. The issue with so many strains is no uniformity so you can do it but it might be a mess.

Under a 400 you could run 16 plants in a 2x2 space. In a 4x4-5x5 you could run 36-45. @stan_mephisto could probably better tell you for his strains.

 

[OGWallyAZDesert]

good luck and tag me in when you get started. easy as putting a @ sign in front of my handle in case you were not aware. @Machamillion
edit= you have some fire there. Mephisto will not disappoint.

Thanks for the input "@Machamillion"! Which are the most fire strains I have in my collection, per your smoke tests? Good luck with your recently started new grow.

 

[Arthur]

A thouie (with a new bulb) will cover about 4.5 X4.5 square feet in flower.
You've got a selection of smaller plants (auto blues and strawberry nuggets) and some potential for large girls with the 3 bears.

Currently I'm running 9 in a 4x4, in 1 gallon bags to keep them on the smaller side. But have had several mephisto strains that get very large, and a couple that can fill the 4x4 on their own. GWK and Hubbabubba Haze come to mind.

In 3 gallon soil, 9 small strain, about 5 medium, or 1 or 2 large strains should fill your lighting footprint well.
The 400 MH will be perfect for the first 4 weeks or so.

 

[Arthur]

A thouie (with a new bulb) will cover about 4.5 X4.5 square feet in flower.
You've got a selection of smaller plants (auto blues and strawberry nuggets) and some potential for large girls with the 3 bears.

Currently I'm running 9 in a 4x4, in 1 gallon bags to keep them on the smaller side. But have had several mephisto strains that get very large, and a couple that can fill the 4x4 on their own. GWK and Hubbabubba Haze come to mind.

In 3 gallon soil, 9 small strain, about 5 medium, or 1 or 2 large strains should fill your lighting footprint well.
The 400 MH will be perfect for the first 4 weeks or so.

As far as yield goes, if you've packed the space well, about .6 to .8 grams per watt is doing well under HPS, mephisto is pretty good about giving grams per sq meter on their site.

 

[OGWallyAZDesert]

Ideally you would run 4 plants per square foot that are clones or seeds or the same type. The issue with so many strains is no uniformity so you can do it but it might be a mess.

Under a 400 you could run 16 plants in a 2x2 space. In a 4x4-5x5 you could run 36-45. @stan_mephisto could probably better tell you for his strains.

Thanks "Damien50" for your inputs. Per Mephisto's website it states, for small strains, 36 plants per per 4' by 4' area with 1000 watts HPS, SOG, giving each plant 1,000 watts divided by 16 ft2 = 62.5 watts per ft2. But is that not cramming them in like sardines! My room is not a tent, but is a 20' x 30' x 8' ceilings & an open space that is well ventilated.

The coverage for 1 x 1000 watts HPS with a 4' diameter parabolic reflector is = Per the 'Grass City' forum formula....A 1000 watt grow light can light up an area of about 7 feet square (7x7=49 ft2) when the light is suspended 2 feet above the plants - But that's only 20.4 watts per ft2 & MJ needs 50 watts per ft2, minimum, for max yields. So Grass City formula is off & optimistic, IMO! A 400 watt light would work for an area of about 4 feet square (4x4= 16ft2).

It's a definite quandry on the spacing & quantity of seeds to start when I have 69 AF seeds and want to do one HUGE grow. Is my 1000 & 400 enough light for a great yield, crammed in like sardine.

 

[Arthur]

4 mephisto girls in a 4x4. In 3 gallon bags. 2 coulda filled it had I been able to train them out. Girl on the back right came in with 10.5 oz dry.

9 girls, 3 mephisto, 3 mephisto crosses of my own, (gold glue X sour stomper) and 3 from a different breeder. All in 1 gallon bags. With 5 weeks left.
I went this route for a seed run, these have been culled down from an original 20.


4x4 is 16 sq feet or about 62w per square foot with the 1000. The MH, isn't going to give you good results in flower. It is a great vegetative light tho.
Sounds like you've got an old photo setup, MH for the "veg" tent and hps for the flowering.
I'd still run hps, but am in California, can't afford over double the electricity costs... loved the end product under 1000s...

 

[Death The Cultivator]

Thanks "Damien50" for your inputs. Per Mephisto's website it states, for small strains, 36 plants per per 4' by 4' area with 1000 watts HPS, SOG, giving each plant 1,000 watts divided by 16 ft2 = 62.5 watts per ft2. But is that not cramming them in like sardines! My room is not a tent, but is a 20' x 30' x 8' ceilings & an open space that is well ventilated.

The coverage for 1 x 1000 watts HPS with a 4' diameter parabolic reflector is = Per the 'Grass City' forum formula....A 1000 watt grow light can light up an area of about 7 feet square (7x7=49 ft2) when the light is suspended 2 feet above the plants - But that's only 20.4 watts per ft2 & MJ needs 50 watts per ft2, minimum, for max yields. So Grass City formula is off & optimistic, IMO! A 400 watt light would work for an area of about 4 feet square (4x4= 16ft2).

It's a definite quandry on the spacing & quantity of seeds to start when I have 69 AF seeds and want to do one HUGE grow. Is my 1000 & 400 enough light for a great yield, crammed in like sardine.

36 per 4x4 isn't a true SOG but using seeds rather than clones isn't a true SOG anyway. The 1000w can cover a 7x7 for vegging but ideally can only make out a 5x5 for flowering. I've ran a 600w in a 4x4 space, a 400w wouldn't be strong enough to flower much more than a 3x3. A 600w is more efficient than both the 1000w and the 400w but the 400w is far less efficient and won't have the penetration needed for a 4x4.

If you want to do a large grow you can cover 34sqft with those lights combined. A SOG for that would be 136 plants. If you message Stan from Mephisto he will be able to answer your questions perfectly.

 

[OGWallyAZDesert]

4 mephisto girls in a 4x4. In 3 gallon bags. 2 coulda filled it had I been able to train them out. Girl on the back right came in with 10.5 oz dry.

View attachment 1131361


9 girls, 3 mephisto, 3 mephisto crosses of my own, (gold glue X sour stomper) and 3 from a different breeder. All in 1 gallon bags. With 5 weeks left.
I went this route for a seed run, these have been culled down from an original 20.


4x4 is 16 sq feet or about 62w per square foot with the 1000. The MH, isn't going to give you good results in flower. It is a great vegetative light tho.
Sounds like you've got an old photo setup, MH for the "veg" tent and hps for the flowering.
I'd still run hps, but am in California, can't afford over double the electricity costs... loved the end product under 1000s...


View attachment 1131362