Best Economical Light for My 4x4 Tent?

chuckeye

chuckeye

Well-Known Member
Just how much $ is too much ? :mrgreen:

This is five auto's @ day 72 in a 4x4 for ~$250.

The Girls 23 Mar Day 72.jpg

Au Natural Gelato @ day 65 hiding in the back left !

PS Gelato 14 Mar Day 65.jpg

Her top @ Day 84.

Gelato 31 Mar Day 84.jpg

For personal use I couldn't justify spending +$1000.

Cheers
 
chuckeye

chuckeye

Well-Known Member
DoubleAtotheRON said:
Well... let us know what your yield per watt is when you finish/dry/cure this plant.
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For a commercial grower I can see how this "measurement" may be relevant.

But a personal grower with a limited budget ?

My last grow was two photo's vegged for 50 days with just a wing reflector and the 600w light.

Eight oz from one and nine from the other. Over a pound. In 3 gallon fabric pots and Advanced Nutrients.

I'm good for quite a while !

Black Indica web name.jpg

White Widow web name.jpg

Before that I grew one auto. Actually an Early Miss from Crop Kings ;) Hay, it was a seedling I was gifted...

In a two gallon plastic pot with AN.

13.2 oz.

Betty one 16 Jan 2021 web.jpg

There is more to it than the light. I'm currently growing in 3 gallon fabric pots using Mega Crop.

All grows with ProMix HP. The latest with hard well water with a ppm of 500/~7.6ph and Not using ph down.

How many times have you seen growers (with decent LED lights) post pictures of their dinky little 12" plants ?

And not having a clue about mediums and nutrients ?

Cheers
 
chuckeye

chuckeye

Well-Known Member
Treecutter2003 said:
The op asked for the most economical.
So now we're up to 700watts @ 2.9. We forgot about 22,000 btu 6 burner for a 4x4 and how many grms per watt were going to get on our first grow. We even forgot about tissue cultures and protocols so he doesn't have to buy seeds for his next grow.
Anything else we can make his first grow be fire?
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KISS works best !

Back in the day ;) I cloned a plant for over eight years.

But, it was difficult to buy/find seeds then. This was a Black Indica seed a friend smuggled back from a trip to Los Angeles !

Nowadays there is such a wealth of strains readily available I can't see cloning the same strain over and over.

There isn't enough time left (for me) to try all of them !

And one thing we don't hear much about. Now that I have a choice I've begun to analyze the effects of each strain on me.

Early Miss can cause a half hour couch lock with one too many tokes but it reduces the pain from my tendonitis by 50%.

White Widow is sneaky. You don't realize how loaded you are until you try to do something, like cook supper :D

The current Black Indica I grew is the lowest in THC but, no couch lock, movies are funnier, food is tastier and total pain relief from a condition Preparation H doesn't help much with :eek:

So I don't recommend diving in to organic growing or soils that contain unknown amounts of nutrients unless you know what you are doing.

I'd recommend something like ProMix HP with has 0 nutrients, is easy to flush, is ph buffered and You totally control the feeding.

Go with a simple feeding system such as Jack's or Mega Crop.

Learn how to water properly and "read" the plants needs.

Fabric pots help with developing a good root system. Plant elevators and saucers keep the pot out of the feeding run off.

AND keep a journal.

Cheers
 
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grotbags

grotbags

Well-Known Member
automanLST said:
Is it ok to buy lights in used condition, or is that a no-no in your book?

Also, what's the best economical grow light for my 4x4 tent in your opinion? I was looking into some used Spider Farmer 2000 Watt LED's, but only because the guy I bought the tent from recommended them as his favorite brand for LED lights.

I saw a guy selling a Full Spectrum 2000W LED on Craigslist, but that price was so much cheaper than the Spider Farmer, that I couldn't help but be suspicious about it's quality, or lack thereof.
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personaly i wouldnt buy used led lights unless i knew the seller and the history of the lights ect.

if budget is a priority keep an eye on the best deals thread like @HydoDan suggested.

if this is your first go with led you dont need 650watt of light, you could start with a cheap 200watt light that will get you through veg and into flower then add another once your a week or so in flower. 400-500watt of reasonable quality led lights will flower a 4 x 4 just fine.

yes you can use more light (600watt+) in a 4 x 4, and if budget wasnt an issue i would suggest you just buy a good 600watt ish light and dim until (if ever) you can use all the power. but unless everything else is on point (temp,humidity,vpd,co2,nutrients,feeding frequency,grower competence) you wont see any difference.
you could always add a third light as you get more experience and get your tent dialled in if you want to go hunt for every last gram...
 
speedwell68

speedwell68

Well-Known Member
grotbags said:
perfect example of unused photons/watts...
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Who said I run them at full power?

Having 4 means I have greater control. I start my seeds in cardboard plugs and they live perfectly well under a single lamp at 20%. Then they go in 2L pots, under 2 lamps at 50% for a few weeks. Then they go into 17L pots for the last couple of weeks of veg with all 4 lamps at 75%. Then they flower and make it to 100% for the 3rd week.
 
grotbags

grotbags

Well-Known Member
speedwell68 said:
Who said I run them at full power?

Having 4 means I have greater control. I start my seeds in cardboard plugs and they live perfectly well under a single lamp at 20%. Then they go in 2L pots, under 2 lamps at 50% for a few weeks. Then they go into 17L pots for the last couple of weeks of veg with all 4 lamps at 75%. Then they flower and make it to 100% for the 3rd week.
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yer all good man, im just sayin it doesnt take 600watt of led to grow 20 slice in a 4 x 4...
 
coreywebster

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
Well you said economical light, meaning cheapest to buy and not cheapest to run?

If I were setting up a new grow on a budget in a normal environment, not somewhere where heat is a major concern, I would just pick up a 600w digital dimmable ballast, one that can be run 600w, 400w, 250w. Get a 600w hps bulb and a 400w metal halide bulb. Maybe an air cooled hood if needed.

Job done. Save your money for a few grows and you can upgrade to a top end LED if you see fit. Or not if you don't.

That get you up and running. Learning the ropes and growing some great weed.

In the UK I can pick up a 600 digi dim with bulb and reflector for like £80 , or second hand they are almost giving them away!

I'm an LED guy but hey if you wana grow for least outlay from a point of having a small budget then that's the route I'd go.


EDIT I DID NOT NOTICE THIS WAS IN THE LED SECTION SO DONT BUGGER ME FOR SAYING HPS
 
O

oill

Well-Known Member
automanLST said:
Is it ok to buy lights in used condition, or is that a no-no in your book?

Also, what's the best economical grow light for my 4x4 tent in your opinion? I was looking into some used Spider Farmer 2000 Watt LED's, but only because the guy I bought the tent from recommended them as his favorite brand for LED lights.

I saw a guy selling a Full Spectrum 2000W LED on Craigslist, but that price was so much cheaper than the Spider Farmer, that I couldn't help but be suspicious about it's quality, or lack thereof.
Click to expand...
The cmh 630w is a really good shout imo
 
A

automanLST

Member
I'm starting to lean towards trying to find a used LED that pushes true 600 Watts and at least 1100 PPF. I don't want to miss out on the benefits of LED. My budget for my initial equipment buy was to try to stay under $500, and I'm already $100-in with the tent I bought yesterday.

I've read where some that have went with HPS have had fire hazards from them running hot, and a few hundred bucks isn't worth the added concern about that, plus the energy savings are very attractive as well.

I understand that it's a trade-off economically, comparing HPS vs LED, so finding a used LED at the desired specs seems like my best move for right now.
 
coreywebster

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
automanLST said:
I'm starting to lean towards trying to find a used LED that pushes true 600 Watts and at least 1100 PPF. I don't want to miss out on the benefits of LED. My budget for my initial equipment buy was to try to stay under $500, and I'm already $100-in with the tent I bought yesterday.

I've read where some that have went with HPS have had fire hazards from them running hot, and a few hundred bucks isn't worth the added concern about that, plus the energy savings are very attractive as well.

I understand that it's a trade-off economically, comparing HPS vs LED, so finding a used LED at the desired specs seems like my best move for right now.
Click to expand...
Well I don't want to be rude but that's BS about a fire hazard.
Any electrical device can cause a fire if its not used properly.
Yes people have grow room fires, mostly because something isn't plugged in right which causes arcing or people haven't got the common sense to keep water and electricity apart.

Recently I've seen someone report a fire hazard from an LED which was caused by a dodgy connector.

If your going to buy a second hand led run it past folks here because there's literally a million of them with fake ppfd charts , make sure it's a reputable light or your wasting your money.
Also ask how long it's been in use because they do lose efficiency over time as migro has shown on his YouTube channel
 
T

Treecutter2003

Member
chuckeye said:
For a commercial grower I can see how this "measurement" may be relevant.

But a personal grower with a limited budget ?

My last grow was two photo's vegged for 50 days with just a wing reflector and the 600w light.

Eight oz from one and nine from the other. Over a pound. In 3 gallon fabric pots and Advanced Nutrients.

I'm good for quite a while !

View attachment 5112858

View attachment 5112859

Before that I grew one auto. Actually an Early Miss from Crop Kings ;) Hay, it was a seedling I was gifted...

In a two gallon plastic pot with AN.

13.2 oz.

View attachment 5112860

There is more to it than the light. I'm currently growing in 3 gallon fabric pots using Mega Crop.

All grows with ProMix HP. The latest with hard well water with a ppm of 500/~7.6ph and Not using ph down.

How many times have you seen growers (with decent LED lights) post pictures of their dinky little 12" plants ?

And not having a clue about mediums and nutrients ?

Cheers
Click to expand...
Your right.
You would have to be growing the same strain under the same conditions, nutrients etc. multiple times to see if your grams per watts is relevant or measurable by changing one of the conditions or the light.
 
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