Hello guys, new girl into growing!

[Trich_holmes]

I already know all about timber, and all about all the Cree cobs and also know that unless you have the coin to build a light that's putting off 50 W per square foot then you're never going to produce the type of bud that HPS, or CMH or LEC will do. If you want to drop a stack building 1 light for a small tent then by all means. The build out for the cob light I was going to build last summer was $1200. I can buy a couple Gavitas and a CMH for that. Like I said before, serious LED is expensive as shit. Not for someone getting into this hobby.

 

[BabyAndaconda420]

I already know all about timber, and all about all the Cree cobs and also know that unless you have the coin to build a light that's putting off 50 W per square foot then you're never going to produce the type of bud that HPS, or CMH or LEC will do. If you want to drop a stack building 1 light for a small tent then by all means. The build out for the cob light I was going to build last summer was $1200. I can buy a couple Gavitas and a CMH for that. Like I said before, serious LED is expensive as shit. Not for someone getting into this hobby.

Black dog any good?

 

[Owlett]

Okay, so I spent the evening eating basically the entire Internet with my eyeballs and concluded that the cheapest reputable COB lighting I can afford is probably from tasty led. It's still a pretty penny though, so I'll probably wait as long as I can.

Meanwhile, my silver haze right smack in the middle of the lighting I have is being... Well, a weed? Lol it's growing like crazy already!! The other two which are are to it's left and right, are growing at a slower rate. Clearly I will need stronger light as you guys suggested.

Meanwhile, here is a picture of my silver haze being an overachiever. The little insert picture is when I stuck it in the dirt. The big picture was today!

 

[Trich_holmes]

Black dog any good?

Ya, Blackdog is straight!

 

[Dr. Who]

Haha, thank you. So, the nice thing is that I honestly have an entire unused spare room of bedroom size I could utilize if I needed to. So space, not really an issue, but I only have three plants so I don't think I'll need to light the whole room like a tanning booth, lol. (though I could probably use a tan myself, stupid Maine winters)

Anyhow, from what I gather so far, HID lights seem popular for veg grow, and then people switch to led?

If you could choose one type of lighting for both veg and flower, led or hid, what would you choose?

P. S. Those mars lights are a good price!

You have truthful FOX - pointing to COB LED's.......Right now, if I could start over.....I would do my whole building in COB lighting...

For you, spending the money once....it maybe a tad stout but, it'll run cooler and for less electric use.....Of course there's the quality and intensity of the light......I say buy a COB set to cover the needed space you plan on growing in..

1 and done. No bulbs to replace......COB

 

[Axle4worc]

I started with a thousand watt MH, switched to HPS after a month. Got the first electric bill. Started researching COBs. Got my second electric bill. Ordered 12x3000k citizen 1818s. + 3 hlg drivers +133 pin heatsinks. All for about $800. Passive heat sinks are running around 109°f w/low air circulation. Cut my power usage in half. Won't take long to recover that money in power savings. I can also run cooler through the Summer saving AC.

Cobkits ftw

 

[Axle4worc]

8 for flower. 4 for veg.

 

[BuD_DizZLe]

Hope to advance on to COB's

 

[Owlett]

8 for flower. 4 for veg.

Ooo! Did you build those yourself? I'm totally electronic build retarded sadly . Would probably electrocute myself then burn the whole house down. My only experience with electrical was installing a light fixture once, and I was amazed when nothing exploded and my whole apartment didn't go dark hahaha.

So I'll have to buy a pre-made jobber thing. But man I wish I had the guts to build one!

 

[Axle4worc]

it was very simple to put together. I actually wired the first 11 correctly and wired the last one backwards. Fortunately the only thing that happened is it didn't lite till I flipped it around.

Drop ceiling rails, zip ties and about 8 hrs work/learning. Growmau5 has a series of videos that shows you exactly how to do it. I was lucky to have a friend point me in the right direction and told me what equipment I needed.


What I need now is to find the best UV solution. Maybe growmau5 has some information on that also. Anyone here know about UV?

 

[Owlett]

it was very simple to put together. I actually wired the first 11 correctly and wired the last one backwards. Fortunately the only thing that happened is it didn't lite till I flipped it around.

Drop ceiling rails, zip ties and about 8 hrs work/learning. Growmau5 has a series of videos that shows you exactly how to do it. I was lucky to have a friend point me in the right direction and told me what equipment I needed.


What I need now is to find the best UV solution. Maybe growmau5 has some information on that also. Anyone here know about UV?

Oddly, I do know about uv. You can get uvb/uva bulbs at reptile supply places online. (I have a turtle so, she needs it too)

 

[Axle4worc]

Oddly, I do know about uv. You can get uvb/uva bulbs at reptile supply places online. (I have a turtle so, she needs it too)

Are those the ones that are harmful to humans? I know you need very strong ones that you have to shut off before entering when you use it in a grow room.

 

[Owlett]

Are those the ones that are harmful to humans? I know you need very strong ones that you have to shut off before entering when you use it in a grow room.

Oh they probably aren't that strong. For that much uv, you'd probably want tanning booth bulbs. Those are typically just tubes so all you'd need is the fixture for it, should be cheap. Just Google tanning booth bulbs. They come in, "tan color" like, dark brown is probably strongest.

 

[Yodaweed]

Okay, so I spent the evening eating basically the entire Internet with my eyeballs and concluded that the cheapest reputable COB lighting I can afford is probably from tasty led. It's still a pretty penny though, so I'll probably wait as long as I can.

Meanwhile, my silver haze right smack in the middle of the lighting I have is being... Well, a weed? Lol it's growing like crazy already!! The other two which are are to it's left and right, are growing at a slower rate. Clearly I will need stronger light as you guys suggested.

Meanwhile, here is a picture of my silver haze being an overachiever. The little insert picture is when I stuck it in the dirt. The big picture was today!

Don't buy LED's they aren't full spectrum growing lights no matter what people tell you. They don't have UV light , they don't have IR light, they lack far red light , they are colored LEDs coated with phosphor to make them appear white. Nothing grows buds as good as a super heated gas (like the sun or HID grow lights[i prefer mercury gas]) . Not to mention LED lights are massively over priced and grow ounces when you can grow pounds for cheaper.

 

[nfhiggs]

I already know all about timber, and all about all the Cree cobs and also know that unless you have the coin to build a light that's putting off 50 W per square foot then you're never going to produce the type of bud that HPS, or CMH or LEC will do. If you want to drop a stack building 1 light for a small tent then by all means. The build out for the cob light I was going to build last summer was $1200. I can buy a couple Gavitas and a CMH for that. Like I said before, serious LED is expensive as shit. Not for someone getting into this hobby.

Actually, you can do a 12 light, 600W Citizen 1212 build for around $250. Peeps go about their DIY builds all wrong, IMO. Constant current Meanwells, huge passive pin style heatsinks, fancy solderless holders and Angelina reflectors are pretty an all, but you just don't need them.

 

[Axle4worc]

Actually, you can do a 12 light, 600W Citizen 1212 build for around $250. Peeps go about their DIY builds all wrong, IMO. Constant current Meanwells, huge passive pin style heatsinks, fancy solderless holders and Angelina reflectors are pretty an all, but you just don't need them.

Please post links to items for setup. Would like to see the spectrum info.

 

[nfhiggs]

Please post links to items for setup. Would like to see the spectrum info.

You can get the Citizen 1212's on Ebay 5 for $50 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/222366269603)
The heatsinks and fans 10 for $27.56 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/361536790279)
400W 36V power supply for $25.58 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/222167566598)
That's pretty much all you really need. A few odds and ends, wire, thermal paste, screws, some 5W 1 ohm resisters and your set.

Another 3 bucks each will get you some little digital current voltage monitors (http://www.ebay.com/itm/152370084716)
Rated for ten amps, but I'd only put 5 or so through it. I use one for every three chips since I run them all in parallel.

And if your girls are bothered by the warm fan wash, you can add some aluminum disks between the cob and the heatsink to deflect it sideways. (http://www.ebay.com/itm/201795343858)

The auction above has a link to the Citizen spec sheet with efficiencies and spectrums for the various models.

I use a 12V wall wart type universal power supply to run the fans. A 1 amp model will run 6-8 fans easily.

 

[Axle4worc]

Looks good. Little more soldering than I am comfortable with. Guess you pay for easy.

I am thinking of upping the wattage on my 8 cob array. Put some fans on my heatsinks. 9x1818's 3 cobs per driver instead of 4. That would put it at 720w. That should be plenty for a personal grow.

 

[nfhiggs]

Looks good. Little more soldering than I am comfortable with. Guess you pay for easy.

I am thinking of upping the wattage on my 8 cob array. Put some fans on my heatsinks. 9x1818's 3 cobs per driver instead of 4. That would put it at 720w. That should be plenty for a personal grow.

Sounds like a nice setup.

 

[BabyAndaconda420]

Okay, so I spent the evening eating basically the entire Internet with my eyeballs and concluded that the cheapest reputable COB lighting I can afford is probably from tasty led. It's still a pretty penny though, so I'll probably wait as long as I can.

Meanwhile, my silver haze right smack in the middle of the lighting I have is being... Well, a weed? Lol it's growing like crazy already!! The other two which are are to it's left and right, are growing at a slower rate. Clearly I will need stronger light as you guys suggested.

Meanwhile, here is a picture of my silver haze being an overachiever. The little insert picture is when I stuck it in the dirt. The big picture was today!

Rotate the plants switch them up put a diffrent one in the middle everyday.