400w LED enough for 3 plants max in 2x4x5 tent?

Just doing some research into LEDs for my next grow. I'm currently running 3 plants under CFLs. Digital HPS systems worry me a little with the RF interference and power consumption. Could go magnetic ballast, but I am not asking about LED vs HPS in this thread.

Is a 400w LED enough for max 3 plants in a 2x4x5 tent? Or would going with 2 x 300w for ~$80 more be much better?


Any info is appreciated. Thanks.

I'd roll 2 lights if it were me.

all information in this post is purely fictional and must be taken as such.

You can't really judge an LED panel's power on it's advertised wattage. But I'd say two panels are better than one as far as coverage goes.
What brand are you looking into? You get what you pay for!

2 lights for sure. Its more than enough for 3 plants as long as they are not moster plants (over 2 feet.) Remember leds dont have the best penetration.

goodjoint said:

You can't really judge an LED panel's power on it's advertised wattage. But I'd say two panels are better than one as far as coverage goes.
What brand are you looking into? You get what you pay for!

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So the 2x 300w then? That is the direction I am leaning.

goodjoint said:

You can't really judge an LED panel's power on it's advertised wattage. But I'd say two panels are better than one as far as coverage goes.
What brand are you looking into? You get what you pay for!

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Looking at Vipar lights. I know they are on the low end, but I have saw some very nice grows with them. Advertised "true" wattage is supposed to be ~190w for the 300w panels and ~260w for the 400w panels. :shrug:

WDIK said:

Looking at Vipar lights. I know they are on the low end, but I have saw some very nice grows with them. Advertised "true" wattage is supposed to be ~190w for the 300w panels and ~260w for the 400w panels. :shrug:

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I own the 300w reflector panels (c300) I use two of them to fill out the shady edges and corners in a 4x4 tent along with two Area 51 XGS-190's. Check my sig to see how they bloom.
And yes, their true wattage is 190. I've tested.
I'm happy with them so far!

goodjoint said:

I own the 300w reflector panels (c300) I use two of them to fill out the shady edges and corners in a 4x4 tent along with two Area 51 XGS-190's. Check my sig to see how they bloom.
And yes, their true wattage is 190. I've tested.
I'm happy with them so far!

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Cool. Checking out your grow right now. What would you think of 2x 300w Vipars as the only lighting in a tent half your size?

WDIK said:

Cool. Checking out your grow right now. What would you think of 2x 300w Vipars as the only lighting in a tent half your size?

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I'd say that's plenty suitable. One of them is rated for a 4' x 2' space, so two of them in a 4' x 2' space would be great IMO.
The guy selling the Vipars on their US eBay account doesn't know shit about LEDs though (go figure)... He said to hang the lights 5 feet away from the canopy. I've kept them within 12-24 inches and haven't had any bleaching or any bad effects. It's probably just some dude sitting at a desk that controls their distribution in the States anyways...

RF interference, heat, and replacing bulbs is the main reason I didn't want to get an HID setup. I heard stories of people having the cable guy knock on their door, asking them WTF they're doing in their house to cause the entire neighborhood a disruption of service. Unwanted attention in your neighborhood would suck!!

I choose LED and am SO happy I went in that direction. Although I might be a little biased since I'm running two of the Area 51's (best on the market IMO) with the Vipars. I haven't ran the Vipar panels by themselves yet.

Id still go with a 400 watt digital ballast as unless its china made non label your fine as the rf signal came years back when the cord used where cheap and not properly RF shielded not from the ballast. LEDs can not compare so for lower costs, better yield same power usage the digital ballast is all around better unless your just wanting to spend lot more money to play with LEDs

WDIK said:

I am not asking about LED vs HPS in this thread.

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FilthyFletch said:

Id still go with a 400 watt digital ballast as unless its china made non label your fine as the rf signal came years back when the cord used where cheap and not properly RF shielded not from the ballast. LEDs can not compare so for lower costs, better yield same power usage the digital ballast is all around better unless your just wanting to spend lot more money to play with LEDs

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So heres my opinion anyway....

FilthyFletch said:

Id still go with a 400 watt digital ballast as unless its china made non label your fine as the rf signal came years back when the cord used where cheap and not properly RF shielded not from the ballast. LEDs can not compare so for lower costs, better yield same power usage the digital ballast is all around better unless your just wanting to spend lot more money to play with LEDs

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Thanks for the reply, I will for sure do more research. My big concern with the digital ballast is that my cable comes in literally 1 foot from my grow space, and my wifi electricity meter is about 6 feet away. I don't have options to move the grow space. Even if the RF issue is mostly under control, I am still worried about issues being so close.

I roll a generic ebay 270w (90 3 watt diodes driven 70% for 180 bucks) on top of one plant in a 3x3 it would actually cover 2 about 90% at about 16 inches above canopy. I will be adding a second soon but with two I could cover 4 plants in that space dropped lower increasing the PAR...albeit crowded. Nice buds growing and super sticky

all information in this post is purely fictional and must be taken as such.