First Time Indoor Led/hydro Setup Questions

[ReeferChief]

What I hope to grow (all autoflowering):
Blue Cheese
Blue Amnesia XXL
White Widow

How I am planning to grow it:
I am planning to run a flood/drain (ebb/flow) hydro system on a drain tray with LED lighting inside this 4x4x7ft tent. Basically thisthis setup but I haven't settled on 3x3 or 2x4.

For lighting I purchased this 300W LED but have since realized it is somehow not appropriate for the flowering stage. After further research I believe I need a at least a 400W light for a 4x4 area anyways. Can anyone suggest a reliable light for less than 250?

What size should the pots be and how many do you suggest I place on a 3x3 or 2x4 tray?

The drain trays I have found are about 4'' in height. I've been told the tray should fill to flood the pots about halfway up. How do I determine how large the reservoir needs to be so it fills to and drains at the right points?

Thanks!

 

[Bannacis]

I see no problem with your light, in fact you can add an additional light to increase over all wattage.
I'm using a Mars hydro 300 (150) watt true. from veg thru growing and I like the results. without IR and UV spectrum.
In a 3x3, and I could add another.
With more than one led light you will get a better spread coverage. side by side with a little tilt towards each other, will cross the light paths.
Since its your first indoor setup just add another LED, till you see whats up. save money.

With autos you really want to put them in pots that they will be in from start to finish. 2-3 gal pot.

To determine your res size, Depending on size tray you use, pour in a gallon of water then measure it. figure out then how much to get to 2 inches. but then you will have say 4 pots in each tray, that will change the amount of water for your level. also what the plants soak up. and whether your using hydrtone or a soiless medium.
This part is going to be trial and error, cause you want enough that it maintains a proper temp, that there's enough water to nutes ratio. make sure to have it that its easy access to your res and to drain/fill it, also to clean it if need to.
just start with a 20 gallon tote and have at it...lol
To get your 2 inch height in your tray is a 2 inch tube attached perpendicular to bottom of tray, your water is pumped in and will fill up to that tube and will return drain to res. key is the gph of water you pump. enough that it fills the tray and drains, but not too much that it can't drain fast enough. you might have to add another drain tube...
That's why I prefer soil/less medium, don't have to worry about pump fails and dealing with water maintenance.
But good luck...

 

[ReeferChief]

Thanks so much for the advice Bannacis!

I am very glad to hear my current light should be acceptable for the flowering stage. I picked up another one and will try crossing as you suggested. Do you happen to understand what makes the full spectrum (12 band) lights better for blooming? I am considering starting with these 2 300W LEDS but adding another 300-600W in the middle later with support for blooming. I also see these red bloom lights around, maybe its better to just use those?

Finally I think I understand how this system needs to be setup! Is there any formula for finding out what size pump I'll need? I think I will try 1 3x3 tray with 3 - 3 gal pots. From what I understand I could grow more plants or I could try to make these 3 larger...

Are there any problems growing different strains in the same tray?

 

[Bannacis]

There are many opinions and some prolly factual about the color spectrums. Blue for veg red for flower... i think both are good, but in veg more blue than red and vise versa.
Of course then the led chips themselves...1 watt, 3 watt, 5 watt and 10 watt. each one the actual wattage is lower than what states, usually the real high end lights are close to stated wattage. I read the 3 watters give overall best light to cost and heat ratio thingy dingy...lol.
led spectrum compared to cfl, hps, mh, plasma... is that a chip spectrum is say 440nm...that is all it is. were as a hps and others have spectrums ranging up and down the color wheel, and some of those colors are not used. which is wasted energy and money.
I'm not sure which spectrum ratio is best, all red? mix red and blue, there's also orange, different levels of red and blue, plus there is ultra violet and infra red. and all white.
With led I have learned that they keep my plants short and bushy, sometimes the internodes are too close so i raise the light to get some stretch. Do be careful to not have the light shine in your eyes, even indirectly...

No formulas or other ideas on pump and all.

You can grow different strains side by side no problem.