so I am new to led lights and I just got a 10 by 5 tent and bought 3 1000 wtt led lights by sunrise. Been doing alot of research and thinking I might not have enough light for 12 plants. Idk if anyone can shed some insight on if i will be okay with what I bought or should I buy some more of the same light or perhaps just change them out completely for somthing else. Or even just try and run what I have for a first time led grow? Thanks for any ideas or info regarding this thanks!
bk78
Well-Known Member
What’s your budget?
Well actually unfortunately my time i guess expired to return those lights through Amazon so I think I may be stuck with them unless I can contact the seller and they will still take them back that Im not sure but If I can it would be about 400-500 dollars if they won't its like 200 I can probably swing. Bought them not doing my research and im kicking myself lol. And ideas you have it would be great or any advice on what you would do in my situation would be very much appreciated
BurntByFire
Active Member
I'm running 2 x 720w Raynold GLM720 lights and its more then enough if not too much...
I'm also in a 5x9 tent
I'm also in a 5x9 tent
That's actually not a bad idea maybe thats what I'll end up doing.
You have any recommendation on what the one proper light would be for that size tent? Maybe ill end up sucking it up and dropping the money on it? I'm gonna try and get my money back hopefully I will be able to.
NukaKola
Well-Known Member
Amazon is pretty good about returns, I would contact them and spend that $400-500 on Kingbrite or Meijiu lights. You should be able to get 4 240w’s. That would cover about 3/4 of your tent. Ideally you’d want at least 1500w.
graying.geek
Well-Known Member
The general rule of thumb is ~50W/sq ft for optimal results during flower, so depending upon how you arrange your access aisles you're looking at around 2000 watts total. Your lights -- typical for ~$100 LED grow lights -- cleverly use 1000w in their name, giving the impression that is the light's output, but it's just a ruse to entice new growers. The typical output is ~130W in reality. I fell for it myself in the beginning so I have a couple of cheap burples for ancillary lighting, cloning, etc. Candidly, if you can use a screwdriver and drill, and lookinug to save some money, you can build your own killer light about 1/2 the cost of purchasing a prebuilt. Just sayin'.
NukaKola
Well-Known Member
50w per sq ft is more of a general rule for HPS, 30-40w per sq ft for quality LED's or CMH is plenty adequate.
The marketing tactics they use for those cheap LED's is pretty messed up but I guess it's not much different than LED bulbs comparing equivalents to CFLs or CFLs to incandescents. I know I would definitely never buy a grow light that uses false advertising like that though.
Bosgrower
Well-Known Member
Well, you'll need 2 proper lights for a 10 x 5 but baby steps
.There are tons of choices out there and whatever I suggest will bring an avalanche of why something else is better ... but ... there are really 3 general ways to go for a 5x10 space
2 x double ended 1000w HPS
4 x 315w CMH (on light movers if possible)
2 x 600-8000w LED fixtures
Unless you're going to get involved in building and supporting your own custom fixture, plan on the LED fixtures running between roughly $750 - $1,500 apiece. At the low end you have fixtures ordered off Alibaba, and at the high end you've got Fluence and Gavita. There are dozens of options in between.
You can certainly grow nice cannabis with less capable lighting, but if your goal is to maximize the output of your grow space that's what you're looking at.
graying.geek
Well-Known Member
Nice that you can return the lights. If you run your girls in a scrog and are considering DIY LEDs for lower electric costs, check out the bridgelux or samsung strips. With the strips you can spread out your lighting to provide even lighting across the entire canopy. If you grow xmas trees, the quantum boards would be the way to go.
jonnynobody
Well-Known Member
8000w of LED eh? Made me smile. 'Preciate thatWell, you'll need 2 proper lights for a 10 x 5 but baby steps
There are tons of choices out there and whatever I suggest will bring an avalanche of why something else is better ... but ... there are really 3 general ways to go for a 5x10 space
2 x double ended 1000w HPS
4 x 315w CMH (on light movers if possible)
2 x 600-8000w LED fixtures
Unless you're going to get involved in building and supporting your own custom fixture, plan on the LED fixtures running between roughly $750 - $1,500 apiece. At the low end you have fixtures ordered off Alibaba, and at the high end you've got Fluence and Gavita. There are dozens of options in between.
No need to steer this fella down the wrong path. The first half of your recommendation wasn't bad. 2x 1000WDE HPS would be a great option. I was even onboard with the 4x 315w CMH for veg only, but you got into the weeds after that.
8000w of LED fixtures? Not a chance in that space. I assume you're using idiotic "LED equivalent" conversion numbers that are meaningless and should be referenced by no one because they aren't real numbers. Now that we've addressed that let's talk about telling this fella he needs to spend $750-$1500 for a quality light. One word: Absurd. He could install 2 SF-4000's in there for about $600/each and be done. That's considerably less than $750-$1500. To dig into that further let's discuss Alibaba. I ordered a 660w Q board that I presently have mounted in my flower room with 2600w of HID lighting. I paid $504 for the unit from Alibaba. It arrived faster than the SF-4000 I ordered from Amazon by 3 days. It pushes considerably more power than the SF-4000 and has the same LM301b diodes and mean well drivers, but don't allow that to skew your predisposed notions about the legitimacy of merchandise for sale on the platform.
$504/with shipping. About $264 cheaper per unit than the $750 quoted above.
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Shenzhen-sunlight-lm301b-quantum-Bar-grow_62551149687.html?spm=a2756.order-detail-ta-bn-b.0.0.46192fc28th0fy
660w Q board from Alibaba
![20200904_191517[1].jpg](/data/attachments/3778/3778588-4ab85f9323039f09f67dc4fa3815a359.jpg)
And the SF-4000 from Amazon in my nursery @ 80% power
![20200907_094704[1].jpg](/data/attachments/3778/3778591-a754546ce4d4cc21d9759b4056ebab51.jpg)
So in your opinion I should go with 2 of the 660w q board from Alibaba? Or do I go with the sf 4000. I'd love to hear you honest opinion. thanks!8000w of LED eh? Made me smile. 'Preciate that
No need to steer this fella down the wrong path. The first half of your recommendation wasn't bad. 2x 1000WDE HPS would be a great option. I was even onboard with the 4x 315w CMH for veg only, but you got into the weeds after that.
8000w of LED fixtures? Not a chance in that space. I assume you're using idiotic "LED equivalent" conversion numbers that are meaningless and should be referenced by no one because they aren't real numbers. Now that we've addressed that let's talk about telling this fella he needs to spend $750-$1500 for a quality light. One word: Absurd. He could install 2 SF-4000's in there for about $600/each and be done. That's considerably less than $750-$1500. To dig into that further let's discuss Alibaba. I ordered a 660w Q board that I presently have mounted in my flower room with 2600w of HID lighting. I paid $504 for the unit from Alibaba. It arrived faster than the SF-4000 I ordered from Amazon by 3 days. It pushes considerably more power than the SF-4000 and has the same LM301b diodes and mean well drivers, but don't allow that to skew your predisposed notions about the legitimacy of merchandise for sale on the platform.
$504/with shipping. About $264 cheaper per unit than the $750 quoted above.
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Shenzhen-sunlight-lm301b-quantum-Bar-grow_62551149687.html?spm=a2756.order-detail-ta-bn-b.0.0.46192fc28th0fy
660w Q board from Alibaba
View attachment 4676600
And the SF-4000 from Amazon in my nursery @ 80% power
View attachment 4676603
jonnynobody
Well-Known Member
If I ordered another quantum board I would buy the same 660w unit I bought from Alibaba for $504 with shipping. I took measurements when I compared the SF-4000 with the 'baba board a couple months ago when I received them. The 'baba board was around 2.5" longer and wider if I remember correctly. It has more diodes and more wattage pushed to each diode. The 'baba board has 3 of the same mean well drivers that the SF-4000 unit has only 2 of. It is a more powerful unit and offers a better value to the consumer. There's nothing wrong with the SF-4000, but it has less power under the hood than the 'baba unit and is about $125 more per board. 'baba has something called "trade assurance" that provides a full refund to you within 30 days if you have any issues with your order.
Awsome! thanks alot for your help I really appreciate it! So glad the junk I bought is going back hahah