4x4 lighting question

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BigBudsNPK

Member
440w Alibaba QB
I want to buy this light for a 4x4 tent. Will it be enough? This is the cheapest qb I could find at $200. My only concern is the "seoul" diodes but the efficiency says 2.7 mmol so it looks alright in the par.

I don't wanna drop $500+ getting a name brand so I'm looking for recommendations on the cheap.
 
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straightblazin420

Member
when you're talking 4x4 space theres no need to cheap out on the light. spend the extra money so you know you have a solid light and guaranteed to get a solid yield, the price will be recovered in the first grow. definitely plan how you're going to handle the heat though. thats something i knew ahead of time but didnt anticipate just how hot those tents get. 19C ambient temp, 600w and 400w hps going hit 37C in the tent with 115cfm exhaust fan maxed out. needed an a/c unit to keep the temps down. i like the combo because you get better coverage on the edges than a single 1000w and the plants can get a bit closer to the light if need be
 
Piper84

Piper84

Well-Known Member
BigBudsNPK said:
440w Alibaba QB
I want to buy this light for a 4x4 tent. Will it be enough? This is the cheapest qb I could find at $200. My only concern is the "seoul" diodes but the efficiency says 2.7 mmol so it looks alright in the par.

I don't wanna drop $500+ getting a name brand so I'm looking for recommendations on the cheap.
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What are you trying to yield in your 4x4 space!
 
SpideyManDan

SpideyManDan

Well-Known Member
PadawanWarrior said:
Get a 1000 watt HPS.
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Over time, like a year, you are literally paying more in electricity. In this day and age I have no idea why anyone would go with an HID unless they already had the set up to do so.

Edit: I'm not trying to be the buzz kill, but unless your getting electricity on the cheap, you WILL end up paying more over time, if that's ok with you, by all means go ahead. It's either now, or later
 
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PJ Diaz

PJ Diaz

Well-Known Member
SpideyManDan said:
Over time, like a year, you are literally paying more in electricity. In this day and age I have no idea why anyone would go with an HID unless they already had the set up to do so.
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It really depends on your environment, but at a $200 budget you aren't going to fill the 4x4 tent with decent LED lighting, so HPS is really the only option at that budget. Personally I'd prolly just go 600watt HPS instead of 1k.
 
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Green Refuge

Well-Known Member
themda said:
1000w double end hps for sub $300. Or shell out $500 for name brand with over 500w. I run an hlg550 rspec in my 4x4 and honestly it’s not enough
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Yeah I got an hlg 550 for my 5x5 and quickly realized it's not enough. It's swimming on an island in middle of the tent so i got a couple cheap 315 cmh. I'm use one next to the hlg side by side and see how that goes.
 
Creature1969

Creature1969

Well-Known Member
Buy an HPS. Grow 4 plants with that. 8oz-1lb. Then you sell the HID cheap, and buy decent a LED with the moneys you saved by not buying weed.

A 400w HPS and a very bad first grow gave me ~7oz of bud. Dunno what that goes for where you live but it allowed me to blow $750 on LEDS without caring about the price. Had so much extra cash from not buying weed I literally gave my old grow equipment away and upgraded everything.

Also, anyone talking about the cost of electricity never considers the much more costly proposition of buying weed.
 
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BigBudsNPK

Member
Piper84 said:
What are you trying to yield in your 4x4 space!
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I typically run 2 plants in 2x2 with 100w of lm301b diodes. My last pull was a QP. I want to multiply that by 4 and run 8 plants with about 400w in a 4x4.

NukaKola said:
I have 2 Kingbrite 240w’s that have been doing just fine. Cost about $300 shipped and use LM301H diodes.
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I think that sounds more reasonable than going HPS. A hundred bucks more and I'm able to adjust my coverage spreading out the two lights.

Haven't seen any advocacy for the light I wanted so now I'm on the fence about it but I cheaped out on my phlizon 100w before and it works amazing. I wanted to get the phlizon pb4000 but it's $550+. I feel like the vanplex is just as good for only $200 and at 480w gives me more than 100w per 2x2 in a 4x4.

Has anyone ever heard of these seoul diodes though? That's my only hangup really. If they're really at 2.7umols/j they're probably lm301bs that aren't top bin.
 
themda

themda

Well-Known Member
Here’s a look at 3 plants and my hlg550 in a 4x4. They were vegged longer than normal but still not enough light to cover, this would be better with hps I think

B79395AF-059A-4FC2-8C63-56B7793CF0B1.jpeg
 
JoeBlow5823

JoeBlow5823

Well-Known Member
straightblazin420 said:
when you're talking 4x4 space theres no need to cheap out on the light. spend the extra money so you know you have a solid light and guaranteed to get a solid yield, the price will be recovered in the first grow. definitely plan how you're going to handle the heat though. thats something i knew ahead of time but didnt anticipate just how hot those tents get. 19C ambient temp, 600w and 400w hps going hit 37C in the tent with 115cfm exhaust fan maxed out. needed an a/c unit to keep the temps down. i like the combo because you get better coverage on the edges than a single 1000w and the plants can get a bit closer to the light if need be
Click to expand...
I could never keep my canopy temps at 80+ while keeping the humidity in an acceptable range. I would basically have to cut off air circulation and humidity would be running 90%+. I need the heat from the HPS just to get the canopy up to 72-75. Imagine the trouble i would have keeping an LED canopy at 80 degrees. My once-per-year winter grow adds about 100$ a month to the electric bill and a good chunk of that is fans. The HPS also helps heat the house so theres a few bucks saved on the propane bill. I just do one winter grow and it satisfies me all year. A few hundred bucks in electric is nothing compared to 70 dollar mediocre eighths from the store.

IMG_6847.JPG
 
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JoeBlow5823

JoeBlow5823

Well-Known Member
TintEastwood said:
Indeed. But a 200 budget.

For sure. But his budget was only $200 ish.
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Yeah. Hps lights come with the added cost of bigger inline fans and higher electric bills too. Lots of factors. Personally if i was super tight on money i would hit craigslist for a used hps hood and ballast and get a new hortilux bulb. Should be able to get all that for $150 total which leaves 50 for a fan or to help with the first electric bill.
 
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