Lighting. Is it better to add another light of same or to discard original and get a stronger light?

A

Alabamasf

Active Member
This is my first indoor grow. I went with a 1200w led(235w draw) in a 2×4 tent with only 6 plants. So they dont fill up the tent. The led. has worked great. Harvest is soon and i feel the next plants would benefit from a bit more light. The flowers could be a touch more "Full". If i fill up the tent like i should, i will need more light to maintain what i got. Question is, should i get another led of the same and hang them side by side,(that would be 470w draw) or should i get another light just stronger(say 2000w led+) and stay with one light? Or does it matter. I am quite impressed with the led so i dont plan to change it to a differnt kind as many have suggested.
Thanks for any input and ideas.
 
I dont believe its a Chinese knock off its an Exlevence.1200w. Its not some high dollar led though. It made a a top ten list for the price with a couple growers. So i figured i would try it. I do have a 600w knock off and all it is good for is seedlings. But for $48 its ok. This is what i got in week 5 of flowering so far with just the one.
 

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For a $48 grow light I’d say it’s growing some decent bud. I was going to say that yes it’s better to upgrade lighting altogether to a single source but in your situation it actually may be better to just add another panel. Really depends upon your own preferences. Thing about blurple led panels is they don’t penetrate deep canopy so you just gotta keep em short.
It is astonishing how cheap these leds keep getting but what “they” do to try & get you to buy is count the wattage of each diode and add them together which does not equate to the same output as an HID lamp would at similar wattage. A 600w or 1000w hps would kill it compared to your led but at a higher pull and with much more heat thrown off.
If you are happy with what you yield under this light then get another to put side by side to widen the footprint and allow for higher plant count. If you want to grow bigger buds/plants consider upgrading to MH/HPS or high end COB leds that can penetrate thick canopy. I’ve seen some rather impressive diy QB grows around here too but honestly don’t know much about them.
 
If you purchased a true 2000w LED, you won’t be needing your current blurple.

But small LEDS are great to keep around for seedlings, and any plants you just need to keep alive. Herbs.
 
In response to Richard Drysift above, my $48 led is only for seedlings and some veg. But those pics i have up there, those plants were grown with a 1200w exlevence(235 w draw) it was still only $99. But if i added another of the same in my 2×4 tent would it only help the footprint and not help with the penetration as much. I feel like some of the buds could have filled out better, especially lower on some of the plants.
 
Alabamasf said:
... But if i added another of the same in my 2×4 tent would it only help the footprint and not help with the penetration as much ...
Click to expand...
Been there ... done that ... a few things to be wary of.

A second unit will let you harvest some more decent 3" tops from directly under the perimeter of the lights. Outside of that perimeter or below the top 3" of the canopy, you will continue to pull that disappointing LARF.

As one who thought that adding a second blurple was going to increase my yields, I found that it really just increases the internal temperature of the tent. The 190 CFM fan ran full bore to try to control it but the upper 1/2 of the tent was still reaching the mid 80's - too high during flower.
Alabamasf said:
... I feel like some of the buds could have filled out better, especially lower on some of the plants ...
Click to expand...
I will swear on a stack of cannabis grow bibles ( cause I haven't read the real one ... ) that a second blurple will not beef up the buds or provide better canopy penetration. 5 blurple grows and each grow I tried to dicker around with the environment - but it was like shuffling deck chairs on a sinking ship. There was always more LARF going into the compost bucket than smokable bud going into the Mason jars.

If you want to get that chunky bud from top to bottom, you have to look to different flowering lights - COB's, QB's or lower wattage HPS. Fed up with tossing so much of the plants, I'm going with the Quantum Boards for this flower cycle.
 
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