best low cost veg lights?

olafthegreen

olafthegreen

Well-Known Member
Thinking about a small veg chamber, keen keep it as low cost as possible, it's going to be starting 4 plants off so the delay between harvests is reduced. I can continue to veg in my 1.2m square x 2m high secondary tent before flowing so its just for the first few weeks, be good to shave 3 weeks off the next grow.

I'll probably build it into a wardrobe or make a small cabinet.

What would be a good lighting setup, cheap to install and run? I'm running HPS in the other tent, I'm guessing that's just overkill for veg.

Thanks for your help.
 
olafthegreen

olafthegreen

Well-Known Member
I saw a thread on here where people where literally demanding death to all T5s! Not sure why exactly haha.
 
olafthegreen

olafthegreen

Well-Known Member
I was thinking of that Way2-High, am I better with multiple lower wattage ones or one bigger one? What kind of wattage am i going for, also is there a good spectrum to go for?
 
mauricem00

mauricem00

Well-Known Member
olafthegreen said:
I was thinking of that Way2-High, am I better with multiple lower wattage ones or one bigger one? What kind of wattage am i going for, also is there a good spectrum to go for?
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with leds you want 30 watts/sq/ft as far a spectrum goes some high quality 5000k leds should work but good LEDs are not a low cost option.I have attached a nasa report to help you educate yourself about LEDs. avoid the cheap ones sold on e-bay and amazon. they are not very efficient and do not last long. I built this one using 4000k bridgelux strips. this is your cheapest option fora good quality led grow light. hope this is helpful
 

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olafthegreen

olafthegreen

Well-Known Member
mauricem00 said:
I built this one using 4000k bridgelux strips. this is your cheapest option fora good quality led grow light. hope this is helpful
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Thanks for that information, very interesting!

I don't suppose you have plans to make that light, I'm not afraid of a soldering iron, but literally don't know what to buy or how to put it together.
 
A

Apalchen

Well-Known Member
So your just kinda pre vegging right? I’d just get some t5 in my opinion they work great for mother’s and young plants. If you got a lil extra money u could get the led t5 replacement bulbs too, but they are not needed imo. The t5 has been used for a long time for what your trying to do, so i’d just keep it simple and cheap.
 
mauricem00

mauricem00

Well-Known Member
olafthegreen said:
Thanks for that information, very interesting!

I don't suppose you have plans to make that light, I'm not afraid of a soldering iron, but literally don't know what to buy or how to put it together.
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sorry but I just built this light as a test light. I build many of my own lights but do not manufacture them.having tested led grow lights I still prefer T5s or CMH lights
 
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Apalchen

Well-Known Member
mauricem00 said:
sorry but I just built this light as a test light. I build many of my own lights but do not manufacture them.having tested led grow lights I still prefer T5s or CMH lights
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I agree, everyone thinks these new led are so great I got one I don’t even use. 320 watts of quantum boards. It’s def a nice light and I’m sure I could figure it out if devoted some time to it. But I’ve learned on hid (mh/hps) and more recently cmh. And there is something different about the led I found it hard to keep plants happy under. I guess it needs higher temps than what I was running but I don’t have the time or desire to fool around with it atm.
 
olafthegreen

olafthegreen

Well-Known Member
mauricem00 said:
sorry but I just built this light as a test light. I build many of my own lights but do not manufacture them.having tested led grow lights I still prefer T5s or CMH lights
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No worries, thanks anyway.


TintEastwood said:
@ 3feet. These are great for smaller spaces. $15 bucks, 30watt, 4000k. 3000 lumen.
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Don't suppose you just have a model name please, for some reason my european ISP isnt allowed to open that link.
 
PrometheanLeaf

PrometheanLeaf

Well-Known Member
Apalchen said:
I agree, everyone thinks these new led are so great I got one I don’t even use. 320 watts of quantum boards. It’s def a nice light and I’m sure I could figure it out if devoted some time to it. But I’ve learned on hid (mh/hps) and more recently cmh. And there is something different about the led I found it hard to keep plants happy under. I guess it needs higher temps than what I was running but I don’t have the time or desire to fool around with it atm.
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I'd trade my spare sunplix 315 w/ Phillips bulb(18 hour test is all i used it for) for a 320 kit. Probably be better for a 2x4 anyways.but to each their own
 
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