New Room design-Need advice on lighting

Pats420

New Member
Hello all...new to the forum, and growing in general. I will be starting a new room in collaboration with a good friend who is a experienced grower. We have a 20x20 space to use however we like, as well as a pretty decent budget. If the long term investment makes sense, we're willing to invest up front. Overall, our main concern is yield.

The system:
-24 plant, 12 flower, 12 veg rotation.
-We are going to use a 24kbtu mini split, dehumidifier, and several small inline fans for environment control.
-Hydro grow: 2 separate UC systems: one for veg, one for flower.
-Flower footprint: Not sure. Does anyone have advice on what best configuration would be? Should it be more square, or is rectangle ok? I would like to do 2 columns of 6 plants (~6 x 20), or 3 columns of 4 plants (~10 x 12)...not sure which is best to optimize lighting...which leads me into my main question...

Lighting: Not sure. We definitely want to do LED's for the flower room. As long as we can yield roughly the same as HPS...the lower electric consumption, heat thrown off, and $ saved by not changing bulbs..all well make up for the larger up front cost. The question is: Which LEDs, and how many? As of right now, we are planning on going with the G8 900 watt. Our current design has us using 6 of them, with 6 of the 90w flower boosters you can buy for them. The reviews on the G8 have been great, both in performance, and service. Another option seems to be the Advanced Platinum P-1200. Are there any light guru's out there who can point us in the right direction of the optimal light for our setup?

Veg lighting: We are also debating LED vs T5 for our veg room....which method will perform better in the critical veg stage?

Any input and help would be most appreciated guys...thank you very much!
 

eyderbuddy

Well-Known Member
For a 120SQF space, you should be running around 4000 Watt of high performance LEDs like COBs, Quantum Boards, Bridgelux or Samsung Strips, or a Market grow light built using similar components.

I can't personally recommend the Platinum or G8 grow lights as they seem to be running old tech and overpriced. A good idea would be researching Pacific Light Concepts, Horticulture Lighting Group, and the others LED companies floating around these forums. DIY would be a significantly cheaper option, but also requires basic electrical knowledge

T5 is ok for vegging, no problem there, but you probably want to go LED all the way
 

Monster Gardens

Active Member
Hello all...new to the forum, and growing in general. I will be starting a new room in collaboration with a good friend who is a experienced grower. We have a 20x20 space to use however we like, as well as a pretty decent budget. If the long term investment makes sense, we're willing to invest up front. Overall, our main concern is yield.

The system:
-24 plant, 12 flower, 12 veg rotation.
-We are going to use a 24kbtu mini split, dehumidifier, and several small inline fans for environment control.
-Hydro grow: 2 separate UC systems: one for veg, one for flower.
-Flower footprint: Not sure. Does anyone have advice on what best configuration would be? Should it be more square, or is rectangle ok? I would like to do 2 columns of 6 plants (~6 x 20), or 3 columns of 4 plants (~10 x 12)...not sure which is best to optimize lighting...which leads me into my main question...

Lighting: Not sure. We definitely want to do LED's for the flower room. As long as we can yield roughly the same as HPS...the lower electric consumption, heat thrown off, and $ saved by not changing bulbs..all well make up for the larger up front cost. The question is: Which LEDs, and how many? As of right now, we are planning on going with the G8 900 watt. Our current design has us using 6 of them, with 6 of the 90w flower boosters you can buy for them. The reviews on the G8 have been great, both in performance, and service. Another option seems to be the Advanced Platinum P-1200. Are there any light guru's out there who can point us in the right direction of the optimal light for our setup?

Veg lighting: We are also debating LED vs T5 for our veg room....which method will perform better in the critical veg stage?

Any input and help would be most appreciated guys...thank you very much!
When considering LED lighting yields (or yields in general) you need to use the measurement of gram-per-watt. Some growers produce low numbers under HID lighting and switch to LED finding that they can yield the same (or more), but this is not an indication that LED lighting can out-yield HID or is any more efficient. The greatest yields I've seen (under any lighting type) is 1.5 grams-per-watt.

Now, you are limited with your A/C whichever route you decide to go, a general rule of thumb is 5,000BTUs of Air Conditioning per 1,000 watts. So, the greater the wattage you choose per fixture the smaller your canopy will be.
 

a mongo frog

Well-Known Member
When considering LED lighting yields (or yields in general) you need to use the measurement of gram-per-watt. Some growers produce low numbers under HID lighting and switch to LED finding that they can yield the same (or more), but this is not an indication that LED lighting can out-yield HID or is any more efficient. The greatest yields I've seen (under any lighting type) is 1.5 grams-per-watt.

Now, you are limited with your A/C whichever route you decide to go, a general rule of thumb is 5,000BTUs of Air Conditioning per 1,000 watts. So, the greater the wattage you choose per fixture the smaller your canopy will be.
Are you real familiar with what the Led guys are building around here? This isn't the same old led technology that you might of laid your hands on at your grow shop. No offense i know who you guys are you guys are very nice guys. Ive been to your store, was just wondering how familiar you guys are with this type of led tech.
 

Monster Gardens

Active Member
Are you real familiar with what the Led guys are building around here? This isn't the same old led technology that you might of laid your hands on at your grow shop. No offense i know who you guys are you guys are very nice guys. Ive been to your store, was just wondering how familiar you guys are with this type of led tech.
None taken. We don't carry much in the way of LED because A, you can build your own. B, LED manufacturers have poor business models, hence the reason everything is overpriced. And C, until LED tech can support the "purple" spectrum we'll wait.

Mongo, we have new LED manufacturers and old coming by the shop daily and we inquire with some of the leading light manufacturers in the world about their tech. Nothing truly unique yet.

The marketing attempt that LED mfg.'s use "Will beat a 1000w" is overplayed. LEDs are a great alternative to HID lighting for a number of reasons but production should be at the bottom of that list.

Cheers
 
Top