Light advice

[Grass is Always Greener]

I have 2 4x3x6s
A 4x8x6
An 4x2x4 for cloning.

Was thinking using one for mothers
One for veg one for flower and one for clones and germinating.

Open to any and all suggestions.

 

[smokinrav]

Mothers, clones and germination can go in one space unless you're planning on a lot of mothers.
Consider a perpetual harvest with the extra tent?

 

[Lowkeygardener]

That has great potential for a perpetual grow! Use largest for flowering, the 2 second largest for vegging and a mother plant since they require the same light cycle and humidity etc.. the small is good for germ and cloning and id run 24/0 light cycle in the small. Honestly you could probably get away with using one of the 4x3x6’s for begging and the other one you could use as a fun experimental tent for micro grows or something of the sort. Either way I’m a little jealous right now!

 

[Lowkeygardener]

rule of thumb is 32 watts (led) per square foot. That’s minimum. Some advanced LED growers go up to 50 wats per square foot. I’m currently pushing 42 watts per square foot

 

[Grass is Always Greener]

Thanks for the advice. When you say 32W do you mean actual. As a new guy I never know when people mean actual wattage or what the light itself says.
Perpetual grow is definitely the way to go. Appreciate it.

 

[Grass is Always Greener]

Any advice on lights budget is getting tight.

 

[GrowingAbroad]

Thanks for the advice. When you say 32W do you mean actual. As a new guy I never know when people mean actual wattage or what the light itself says.
Perpetual grow is definitely the way to go. Appreciate it.

32w is indeed meant as actual watts.

On the question about lighting it would be good to have some answers to these questions.

1. What's your budget?
2. How much weight are you hoping to harvest per cycle.
3. Are you handy by building your own setup? This seeing DIY is usually always cheaper then building a pre made setup.

I'm not a pro by any means but i can point you in the right direction seeing i did a lot or research about LED seeing i'm about to start my own 800 "actual" 800 watts Cree COB grow on 2,5 square meters (don't know the square foot seeing i'from Europe myself) and i have been growing for a long time under HPS.

Greets.

 

[Lowkeygardener]

Thanks for the advice. When you say 32W do you mean actual. As a new guy I never know when people mean actual wattage or what the light itself says.
Perpetual grow is definitely the way to go. Appreciate it.

Yeah when you speak on LED’s you should always refer to actual watts.. not marketed replacement watts. LED companies do that to try and make their lights seem better than they are and all it really does is confuse consumers . From here on out absolutely ignore the replacement wattage and always find the actual wattage. You want a minimum of 32 actual watts per square foot of grow space, and up to 50 if you want beast buds . For instance in your 4x8, that’s a total of 32 square feet. You would need 1,024 actual watt LED to reach that 32 watt per square foot quota. Most people would do this by buying multiple lower watt fixtures so they could properly light their space as you won’t find just 1 light that can light a 4x8. In this instance I would buy 2 lights that can light a 4x4 with at least 600 watts . Good luck man, LEDS can get expensive but save you money in the long run and don’t run near as hot. Lmk if you have more questions

 

[LEDTonic - Daniel]

I think people in this thread make a fair point about watts to square foot. This principle of ~30W/sq ft gives a decent idea of what flowering cannabis plants need in terms of light. What this "watt/sq ft"-principle doesn't take into account, though, is how the light spreads. COBs, for instance, usually have very high light intensity (hot spot) right underneath the lamp but the intensity quickly diminishes away from the center spot. Comparing a 100W COB which has a poor spread of light to a 100W QB or strip which have a greater spread of light will give you poor data to base your light configuration on.

I suggest you consult PPFD maps (and make sure they are credible, i.e. not Mars', Vipars', Spider's -- see Albo Pepper's video on Youtube for more info) and based on the PPFD you find a lamp that suits your needs. There's absolutely no need to buy a massive grow light if the goal is to maintain a mother plant and grow clones. The mother plant will do fine with around 300-400 PPFD while the clones barely need 100. PPFD is, simply put, photon density or light intensity.
We've written an article on what to look for when trying to decide what lamp is good for a certain grow space. We mentioned the watt/sq ft-principle but again, looking at PPFD maps is far more accurate.
How to find the right LED grow light

I'd also like to mention that our Q7 (320W) lamp performs very well in 2x4' and 3x4' spaces and our smaller Q2 (36W) is great for clones and mothers.
You can read more about them on LEDTonic LED Grow Lights or PM me if you have any questions.

 

[Grass is Always Greener]

Thanks for the info. I gotta be honest I jumped the gun and bought cheap lights. And was fooled by the wattage. I have multiple lights I bought from Amazon. Actual wattage I think is 240 I have 5 total.
Each tent has a 6 in AC infinity exhaust with a carbon filter. The 4x8 has 2 6 in give me a few ill post pics. I have two HPS and two HIDs I did a few grows with. But they are not practical anymore. I can prolly spend another 1000 on lights. The ones I have were about 200 a piece. Don't laugh at me. Lol. They are sunrise.
Always open to guidance should I just use what I got? or return and start over?

 

[Grass is Always Greener]

Again I really appreciate the help.

 

[Grass is Always Greener]

Checking out the articles and video now..

 

[LEDTonic - Daniel]

I'd be happy to share my thoughts on the lamps you bought if you'd link them here.
I'm, of course, biased but the way I see it is that the lamp(s) a grower uses will be with him for years to come. Giving plants the right light intensity is also a top priority. Nutrients, temperature, humidity, CO2, all play a big role but if you have much less light than ideal, no amount of nutrients will make up for it.

 

[OSBuds]

 

[LEDTonic - Daniel]

In case our Q7 is being considered, here's how it compares to Migro's list.

Make - Model - Watts - Price - $/W - PPF/W - PPF - $/PPF
LEDTonic - Q7 - 320W - $450 - $1.41 - 2.55* - 835 - $0.54

*Based on a spectral test inside an integrated sphere (not a tent)

As far as I can tell, the Q7 is both among the most economical and most efficient. In addition, it has a couple of cool features which none of the other lamps have.

 

[OSBuds]

How to find the right LED grow light

Thank you for the very informative write up!
I love the fake PPFD maps details to look for!

 

[LEDTonic - Daniel]

Thank you for the very informative write up!
I love the fake PPFD maps details to look for!

Happy to hear that our efforts are informative and useful. It's incredibly frustrating to be a legit grow light brand in an industry where, I dare to say, all Chinese brands cheat, lie, or exaggerate. I can't recommend enough to watch Albo Peppers Youtube video on the subject. But even there he says "well, these guys are obviously lying and making up facts as they go along but I hope that after this video they change their inflated stats, and then all is forgiven and well."
The ignorance by growers towards lying companies that deliberately scam their customers should not be condoned or supported. Instead, these companies should be shamed until they go out of business.

Albo's video:

 

[Grass is Always Greener]

Here's a few pics the one with green bars is the 4x3 the other is a 4x3 the 4x8 you can tell I zoomed in on the fans.
Any advice welcome.
Also you'll see the auto cloner and a few seedlings that's my 4×2×4 my experiment tent.
Lmk what you think.

 

[Grass is Always Greener]

 

[Grass is Always Greener]