Grow Tent with 900w 3W LED

greenline

greenline

Member
I've been fighting in my head about going MH/HPS or LED. Now, my budget for a grow tent, lighting, nutes, pots, ventilation, and everything else I'll need for the setup is about $1500.

I'm pretty set on getting a GrowLab Tent, because I heard the zippers are of decent quality. The model I'm looking at is the GL120 and it's 3'11 x 3'11 x 6'7. The price is about $240 with free shipping.

I have been looking at the 900w 3W blackstar LED for flowering on ebay and it is around $960 with shipping. My problem with this is it says it's meant for flowering. I would actually like to use it for both vegging and flowering, but I don't really know anything about LEDs. Can I successfully use it for both? I don't have anymore space for separate chambers or the budget to get another tent.

Total so far would be around $1200. That would leave me with $300 for the rest of the supplies, which shouldn't be much of a problem. I have another set budget for seeds, but I left it separate to keep things simple.

If I go this route, how many plants would I be able to get going in that space, with the 900w 3W LED and would my yield be affected?
 
Beefbisquit

Beefbisquit

Well-Known Member
greenline said:
I've been fighting in my head about going MH/HPS or LED. Now, my budget for a grow tent, lighting, nutes, pots, ventilation, and everything else I'll need for the setup is about $1500.

I'm pretty set on getting a GrowLab Tent, because I heard the zippers are of decent quality. The model I'm looking at is the GL120 and it's 3'11 x 3'11 x 6'7. The price is about $240 with free shipping.

I have been looking at the 900w 3W blackstar LED for flowering on ebay and it is around $960 with shipping. My problem with this is it says it's meant for flowering. I would actually like to use it for both vegging and flowering, but I don't really know anything about LEDs. Can I successfully use it for both? I don't have anymore space for separate chambers or the budget to get another tent.

Total so far would be around $1200. That would leave me with $300 for the rest of the supplies, which shouldn't be much of a problem. I have another set budget for seeds, but I left it separate to keep things simple.

If I go this route, how many plants would I be able to get going in that space, with the 900w 3W LED and would my yield be affected?
Click to expand...
It will veg fine.
 
Phaeton

Phaeton

Active Member
The flower setting vegs fine as was said. I just wanted to add that while my sativa vegs OK, my indica seems to prefer the extra red. On its tenth year as a clone, maybe something changed. It was a Northern Lights in 2001.
 
greenline

greenline

Member
Thanks for the responses, guys. Repped both of you up.

I researched the crap out of the mh/hps setup, but didn't know how the LEDs would work. As long as I can get 6 plants going like I would under a 600w mh/HPS combo in that space, I'll definitely consider going LEDs. I have until the 22nd before I have the funds, so I'll have some time to think about it.

Also I built a PC grow box using CFLs, would it be fine if I converted it to LEDs? If so, what kind of LEDs should I be looking at for one plant?

EDIT: Never mind about the pc grow box question, checked out another thread in this section addressing that. I think I'll go with the BS 100w LED and see what happens.
 
Beefbisquit

Beefbisquit

Well-Known Member
greenline said:
Thanks for the responses, guys. Repped both of you up.

I researched the crap out of the mh/hps setup, but didn't know how the LEDs would work. As long as I can get 6 plants going like I would under a 600w mh/HPS combo in that space, I'll definitely consider going LEDs. I have until the 22nd before I have the funds, so I'll have some time to think about it.

Also I built a PC grow box using CFLs, would it be fine if I converted it to LEDs? If so, what kind of LEDs should I be looking at for one plant?

EDIT: Never mind about the pc grow box question, checked out another thread in this section addressing that. I think I'll go with the BS 100w LED and see what happens.
Click to expand...
For a single plant I've always wanted to try a Kessil.... it'd be perfect for a PC case...
 
greenline

greenline

Member
Well after looking at the prices, Blackstar would be cheaper, but the Kessils look nice. I guess I'll see what happens with the grow tent and see how much I'll have to work with. I can UP my budget, but I'd still like to stay in a good range.
 
Humbleservantoftheplant

Humbleservantoftheplant

Active Member
If you have $1500 to spend and you are looking at a 4X4 tent, why not just go with a 600W or 1000W HPS? Your yield will be MUCH, and I mean MUCH higher. Many people rave about LEDs, and they are very nice, but I have a dear friend who runs the exact same tent as I do (a 4x4) with 1000W of LED and yields an ounce per plant on 3 foot tall plants. I run a 1000w in the same space and average 3.5 oz/plant.

My entire set up, including the tent, the ballast, bulb, 400CFM can fan, carbon filter, light hangers, reflector, and pots and soil cost me $1300.

With the additional $200 you can by a 2x4 T5 to veg 3 babies to a height of 3 feet each, and then you can run pepetual.

Check my current grow out if you want to see what I'm talking about.

Just throwin' it out there.

Happy growing to you!
 
Humbleservantoftheplant

Humbleservantoftheplant

Active Member
I realize this is the LED/other lighting category, but I have seen this exact set-up from experience, and I really believe this to be sound advice. Not meaning to offend anyone out there. We're all growing bomb weed, and we all love the hobby!

Happy growing to you!
 
greenline

greenline

Member
Well, I wanted to research LEDs because of the energy/heat savings and I don't want the electric company to notice anything or my roommate to go poking around my half of the house.

Can you give me an estimate of how much your bill went up with the HPS?
 
Beefbisquit

Beefbisquit

Well-Known Member
Humbleservantoftheplant said:
If you have $1500 to spend and you are looking at a 4X4 tent, why not just go with a 600W or 1000W HPS? Your yield will be MUCH, and I mean MUCH higher. Many people rave about LEDs, and they are very nice, but I have a dear friend who runs the exact same tent as I do (a 4x4) with 1000W of LED and yields an ounce per plant on 3 foot tall plants. I run a 1000w in the same space and average 3.5 oz/plant.

My entire set up, including the tent, the ballast, bulb, 400CFM can fan, carbon filter, light hangers, reflector, and pots and soil cost me $1300.

With the additional $200 you can by a 2x4 T5 to veg 3 babies to a height of 3 feet each, and then you can run pepetual.

Check my current grow out if you want to see what I'm talking about.

Just throwin' it out there.

Happy growing to you!
Click to expand...


I pulled almost 150g dry off 2 plants with LED...

The ave. yield on the strain I was growing was 1.5-2.5oz per plant, I vegged for 4 weeks, flipped to flower and pulled over 3oz off one of the plants....

Neither of my plants was over 2 feet.



Phaeton replaced 2500W of HID with LED and increased his yield significantly. The amount of light the reaches the bottom of the plants increased substantially, which is odd considering that one of the common conceptions about LED's is the lack of penetration they have.

https://www.rollitup.org/led-other-lighting/485730-woot-led-section-post-your-4.html#post7011305
 
greenline

greenline

Member
48 plants? Wow man, I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure 20 plants would be pushing it for 1000w.

Anyway, I'm still interested in going LED. I was thinking, if I up my budget, would adding a 600w (or a 250w) blackstar along with the 900w blackstar be overkill for my grow space? What kind of estimate am I looking at here for the amount of plants I can grow with those two working together?
 
FranJan

FranJan

Well-Known Member
greenline said:
48 plants? Wow man, I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure 20 plants would be pushing it for 1000w. Anyway, I'm still interested in going LED. I was thinking, if I up my budget, would adding a 600w (or a 250w) blackstar along with the 900w blackstar be overkill for my grow space? What kind of estimate am I looking at here for the amount of plants I can grow with those two working together?
Click to expand...
Some people like the BS 500 series. VMInnovations.com sell them for $542.95. You can get 2 for $1085.90 with free shipping/no tax. Use the coupon code "Facebook" and get 5% off for a total of $1031.90, which ain't too bad. You may be able to find a 10% off code, though they seem rare. Just a thought.
 
Approval

Approval

Member
Yes greenline. An extra 600w or 350 w LEd would be overkill.

As far as how many platn you can grow 4x4is really up to you. It's all about maximizing your space, but personally, I would go for 4 plants.
 
Humbleservantoftheplant

Humbleservantoftheplant

Active Member
greenline said:
Well, I wanted to research LEDs because of the energy/heat savings and I don't want the electric company to notice anything or my roommate to go poking around my half of the house.

Can you give me an estimate of how much your bill went up with the HPS?
Click to expand...

To be honest, I never even noticed a bump in the cost of electricity. Here in Colorado, in the winter, running the heater all the time, in a 3 story house, we pay $160-180/month in electricity. I pull an average of 8 ounces a month, which, as we all now, is worth a lot more than $160-180.

I don't sell any product, as I'm a medical patient, but the savings alone on not buying any weed for the last year plus have more than made up for any small increase in electricity.

That being said, LEDs are more efficient. This is just a fact. They also run much, much cooler. But, an electrical company would never notice the addition of one 1000W bulb. People get air conditioners all the time. They get new fridges, space heaters, etc. Why would they suspect you're growing? You'd need to be spinning the monitor like in Christmas Vacation and splicing power from other sources to get caught for that!

If you're worried about a roommate, the LED would be stealthier.

Happy growing to you!
 
Phaeton

Phaeton

Active Member
Hmph.

24 inch, PAR.jpg4 LED's.jpgUVB at top bud.jpg

I have to say, LED's seem to work OK for me. Weeks old pictures, buds are even bigger now, and smoke just fine, very fine.
I used the sidelights with the HID room also, they help no matter what the overheads are.
 
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