Light Choice

Hoping some can help me make a decision. I am new, still growing my first grow, but when I find a hobby I like I tend to go all in. I currently have a 5x5 tent with a 315 CMH, I know the CMH is somewhat undersized for my space, so am already planning on a light upgrade for the next grow.

I was planning on going 630 CMH, even found a fixture I like. Grower's Choice 630 NS.

But looked at a Timber Grow Lights Fatty VS the other day and am kinda interested. The Timber is twice the price of the CMH. But in the long run which in your opinion is the best bet? Trying to keep temps and overhead low and looking to maximize my space.

I got a month or so to make a choice and I plan on using the 315 CMH in a smaller tent for veg or autos.

Thanks

Im not sure a 630w cmh will cover the full 5x5 footprint.

Timber is also very good lighting, @RainDan is the rep here, very good dude. They are one of, if not the best in the COB game.

If i was choosing and money wasnt part of the conversation , i would buy the Timber all day.


Do you have any interest in DIY? you could build better for cheaper, but it obv requires some DIY skills and patience lol

I have skills and patience, I build custom liquid cooled PC's, another hobby. But honestly would just rather buy it outright and be done, plus is there any warranty on DIY stuff?

Flatrate said:

I have skills and patience, I build custom liquid cooled PC's, another hobby. But honestly would just rather buy it outright and be done, plus is there any warranty on DIY stuff?

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There would be warranty on the drivers and maybe even the strips/boards, but obv your doing all the work.

I hear ya on just buying what you want. Im going through this right now. I wanted 2 of those Fattys but the cost keeping putting me off, i eventually landed on DIY strip build. Saved a bunch of money and got as good or better lighting, but waiting on parts and then finding the time to build everything is a nuisance.

That fatty vs is a beast of a light. You wont be disappointed with that in a 5x5.

Thanks for the replies everyone, tomorrow I am going to do more research on the Fatty.

coreywebster said:

That fatty vs is a beast of a light. You wont be disappointed with that in a 5x5.

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Yep. If I was looking at a complete fixture for your space this would definitely be on the list.

You might check out the Scynce SL light for the same price as the Fatty.

nxsov180db said:

wow.. that's not much light.. 315cmh is for a 3x3 area max

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Yea I know, I bought the tent for the future plan, right now I just got a few autos off to the side, not using the full size of the tent yet. This was just a basic set up run, call it an experiment if you will. Its helped me figure out my weak areas. I knew from the get go the current light was not going to be staying long.

Thanks for the tip nDanger, I will look into them right now.

nDanger said:

You might check out the Scynce SL light for the same price as the Fatty.

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coreywebster said:

That fatty vs is a beast of a light. You wont be disappointed with that in a 5x5.

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I’m about to buy a 5x5 tent and considered the fatty vs from timber. Seems like a great choice over the hog 550 v2. Only other choice I was thinking about is a gavita 1650 led. What do you recommend? Never used hps before though.

Project Ponics said:

I’m about to buy a 5x5 tent and considered the fatty vs from timber. Seems like a great choice over the hog 550 v2. Only other choice I was thinking about is a gavita hps. What do you recommend? Never used hps before though.

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I used HPS for years and in all fairness I don't mind admitting that it was the reported GPW that swayed me to LED, never regretted it either. But one thing I havn't tried it the Gavitas, I understand they are a whole different kettle of fish so I cant comment except to say I believe you do need good ceiling height for them.

The timber is a beast, im a hlg guy to be honest, I hear a 550 is awesome in 4x4, I ran multiple 260s in that space so I know that rocks. But for a 5x5 I would want more power and that's where the Timber shines. Though im damn sure I wouldn't try and run it in a 4x4 either.

The new HLG rspec I haven't tried either so it wouldn't be fair of me to discount it.

For a 5x5 I would consider a 1000 watt DE CMH.

coreywebster said:

I used HPS for years and in all fairness I don't mind admitting that it was the reported GPW that swayed me to LED, never regretted it either. But one thing I havn't tried it the Gavitas, I understand they are a whole different kettle of fish so I cant comment except to say I believe you do need good ceiling height for them.

The timber is a beast, im a hlg guy to be honest, I hear a 550 is awesome in 4x4, I ran multiple 260s in that space so I know that rocks. But for a 5x5 I would want more power and that's where the Timber shines. Though im damn sure I wouldn't try and run it in a 4x4 either.

The new HLG rspec I haven't tried either so it wouldn't be fair of me to discount it.

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I run gavitas on standard ceilings an dont see a issue... I def think the idea they need extra height is way overstated and wrong. If you've in your life ran a small open ballast your ready to run a gavita.

Flatrate said:

Hoping some can help me make a decision. I am new, still growing my first grow, but when I find a hobby I like I tend to go all in. I currently have a 5x5 tent with a 315 CMH, I know the CMH is somewhat undersized for my space, so am already planning on a light upgrade for the next grow.

I was planning on going 630 CMH, even found a fixture I like. Grower's Choice 630 NS.

But looked at a Timber Grow Lights Fatty VS the other day and am kinda interested. The Timber is twice the price of the CMH. But in the long run which in your opinion is the best bet? Trying to keep temps and overhead low and looking to maximize my space.

I got a month or so to make a choice and I plan on using the 315 CMH in a smaller tent for veg or autos.

Thanks

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Maybe add another single 315 CMH if you already have one. Then you can position the lights different if you want. I have 2 in my 3x8x8 closet, and am happy but the plants might like 1 more. I'm really impressed with these lights. Here's a pic of my 2 light closet.

4 315s in that 5x5 would give you some killer results.

Is the tent 6ft tall? And what are you doing for cooling? Those both influence the choice. You could always do a mix of cmh and cobs or strips. I personally feel like cmh puts out the best quality compared to any other lighting. But I’m not sure 630 is enough for the 5x5. I mean you can grow some fire with 630 in there just not sure you will get max yield from space. Also I would prob look at the phantom 630 instead where it has two seperate reflectors. Or just use two 315s.

Honestly though a 1000 watt single ended air cooled is prob the best bet for full coverage of the tent and still being able to cool it. I know it’s not the highest tech but it still works and has worked for a ton of people. If you got a lil extra height you could always use an ac/de hood and go with double ended 1000. I ran my 630 cmh de in one they are a nice hood.

Flatrate said:

I got a month or so to make a choice and I plan on using the 315 CMH in a smaller tent for veg or autos.

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If you have a month of flowering left, wouldn't it be a good idea to get the light asap and start using it for this crop? You've still got plenty of time for it to make a difference.

Lots of good info flowing my way and I appreciate it all, thank you everyone. Renfro got my attention with the 1000 DE CMH idea, and I am looking at those now too. I am just trying to grow as efficient as possible, keeping the electric down as well as the temps. I do not have central air, and will probably putting in a window unit in the room the tent is in. I honestly never even looked into led till the other day. Some thread have a link to Timber, curious I gave it a look.

Saw the Fatty VS, not going to lie kinda fell in love as it is sexy as hell IMO. Started looking more into it, and here I am really considering it.

olafthegreen said:

If you have a month of flowering left, wouldn't it be a good idea to get the light asap and start using it for this crop? You've still got plenty of time for it to make a difference.

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I get what your saying Olaf, this first grow I am ending with what I started with. I didn't top, lst, nothing just put some seeds in soil to watch them grow. I've been doing a lot of reading and will be putting my new learned knowledge into the next grow. This is my experiment.

Make sure you have enough height to run a de 1000 whether it’s cmh or hps they get hot.

And yeah those timber lights are sexy I wish I had ordered that instead of my hlg quantum boards as I don’t really care for them.