5 medical plants? what do i need?

[2absolute2purity2]

What size of tent for 5 medical plants total? what is the cheapest possible best light for best quality and max yield of flowers? plz help the less i have to spend the better

 

[mysticepipedon]

A 4' x 4' or 5' x 5' would work well. If you have a 5 plant limit, you'll want to veg them long enough to fill either tent size.

 

[ImpulsiveGrower]

Depends how you wanna go about it. You want to grow out 5 plants or maybe break it up? Grow 3 and when you flip to flower pop 2 more seeds. That way you have some vegging and some flowering and can harvests every 8 weeks or so. 2x 2x4 tents would work for this. There’s a lot of Black Friday specials and if your completely new maybe grab a grow tent kit from Mars or Spider farmer. This hobby needs plenty of research. My friend spent thousands and bit off way more than he can chew. Shitty yields and shitty quality and a huge electric bill but was unable to move his product. Don’t be that guy lol. Hell he might be selling all his stuff now I should ask.

 

[totamus]

When you buy lights, you will find a lot of conflicting info. Stay away from the blue/purple lights, they do not work as well as full spectrum, are hard on your eyes, and yield is less. The "Hot" setup is full spectrum lights that are dimmable and use Samsung 301h (or 301B) diodes. There are quite a few manufacturers that supply this setup. Personally, I like Bestva - they are well built, perform well and price is good. Here is an amazon link https://www.amazon.com/BESTVA-Dimmable-MeanWell-Greenhouse-Hydroponic/dp/B08PD35XP2?th=1 . For 5 plants, I would use 4000 - 6000W.

You might also want to reconsider 5 plants on your first grow. You can cut your costs tremendously by starting out smaller and will lose fewer plants as you go through the learning curve. The aroma from 5 plants can be pretty overwhelming at times too. Everyone goes through the learning curve. When I started, I planted many plants, got small yields (1-2 ozs/plant), and thought I was on top of it. Now, a couple years later, I plant one or two at a time and get yields that approach a lb/plant. You will find that there are many variables and controlling them all is difficult. Eventually you figure things out and are good to go. Once you reach that point is when you might want to increase the number of plants, once you are sure you know how to care for them.

 

[growsince79]

What size of tent for 5 medical plants total? what is the cheapest possible best light for best quality and max yield of flowers? plz help the less i have to spend the better

Totally depend on how big of plants you want. How much bud do you want to make?

 

[Ponky]

Cheapest set up.

Air cooled HPS with fan and ducting. About 275. A 5x5 tent. About 125. A charcoal filter combo with fan. About 120. 5 pots. About 15.
Maxi grow and bloom . Watering jug. 5.

Can yield 2 lbs or more. Can make a Amazon list if you want.

 

[growsince79]

When you buy lights, you will find a lot of conflicting info. Stay away from the blue/purple lights, they do not work as well as full spectrum, are hard on your eyes, and yield is less. The "Hot" setup is full spectrum lights that are dimmable and use Samsung 301h (or 301B) diodes. There are quite a few manufacturers that supply this setup. Personally, I like Bestva - they are well built, perform well and price is good. Here is an amazon link https://www.amazon.com/BESTVA-Dimmable-MeanWell-Greenhouse-Hydroponic/dp/B08PD35XP2?th=1 . For 5 plants, I would use 4000 - 6000W.

You might also want to reconsider 5 plants on your first grow. You can cut your costs tremendously by starting out smaller and will lose fewer plants as you go through the learning curve. The aroma from 5 plants can be pretty overwhelming at times too. Everyone goes through the learning curve. When I started, I planted many plants, got small yields (1-2 ozs/plant), and thought I was on top of it. Now, a couple years later, I plant one or two at a time and get yields that approach a lb/plant. You will find that there are many variables and controlling them all is difficult. Eventually you figure things out and are good to go. Once you reach that point is when you might want to increase the number of plants, once you are sure you know how to care for them.

That light is might work but beware! The PAR claimes and coverage are absolute BS. The 2000 is way too small for a 4 x 4. The 1000 will barely be enough for a 2 x 2.

 

[totamus]

That light is might work but beware! The PAR claimes and coverage are absolute BS. The 2000 is way too small for a 4 x 4. The 1000 will barely be enough for a 2 x 2.

I bought a PAR meter. The par claims are good. The bestva uses the same drivers and leds as HLG, at a far less price. The Samsung diodes are what everyone is going to because they work well. I have 6 of them and am very pleased.

As a rule, i use 2000w per plant. I like to use 2 1000s instead of a single 2000 for better canopy penetration. You are right that a 2000 is small for a 4x4. Again, about 2000w per plant works well for me.

 

[Anthem]

I bought a PAR meter. The par claims are good. The bestva uses the same drivers and leds as HLG, at a far less price. The Samsung diodes are what everyone is going to because they work well. I have 6 of them and am very pleased.

As a rule, i use 2000w per plant. I like to use 2 1000s instead of a single 2000 for better canopy penetration. You are right that a 2000 is small for a 4x4. Again, about 2000w per plant works well for me.

let me share a 100 percent true story and make a few comments.
#1. Bestva, this company is flat out fraudulent. Here is a 100 percent true story. I had a couple Mars Hydro TS1000 I believe that I was using for vegging mother plants. They were about 6 months old. One goes down, comes on but very low power. Long Story short I have to take picture prove the driver is bad and then they tell me the driver has to ship from China. My hands were tied on that one. So I like many go to Amazon and do a search on best LED grow lights, there pups up Bestva with like a 4.9 star rating. So I purchase a light for a 4' x 4' coverage. I am working and I get a test that my Amazon shipment had arrived, it included a picture. I was looking at the picture and was like wait a minute. That box is way to small, about 14" x 14". I get home that evening and sure enough the box is that size. I am still optimism the light will preform based on the reviews. I hang the light and I am like I do not know not very bright but let's see how things go. Well it only took about 3 days for the plants to start streching to the light like no tomorrow. So I returned the light to Amazon and I wrote and accurate review of the light. Here is the really bad part. I was contacted by Bestva and they specifically stated that if I would change my review to 5 stars I could get my money back and keep the light. They reached out to me repeatedly and I kept my review the same.
#2. Totamus, I really question someone getting close to a pound of buds off of any plant in an indoor environment. Sure you can veg the plant for months and fill in a whole 4' x 4' tent or even a 5' x 5' tent and you might be able to do it. But do something more oriented towards efficiency. 5 or 6 week veg and then into flower and there is no way you are going to get anywhere close to a pound of good quality trimmed cured buds out of a 4'x4' with one plant. I have been doing this long enough to understand what it possible and that is not realistically possible and being efficient. Sure you could do a high yielding strain like blue dream but still no way for 16 onces of dried, cured, well trimmed buds is going to happen. It almost seems like you are trying to say I have a bigger Win___ than you thru all of this.
#3. Lastly, par meters are not intended to be used with LED lights. This is the device you are looking to purchase to measure light output with LED's. https://www.apogeeinstruments.com/quantum/.

I have to question the validity of someone that states #1 they are getting close to 1 pound of dried, well trimmed and cured buds out of one plant. #2. I have to question someone using a par-meter and stating the numbers are the same as Bestva, because the tool being using it not correct for the type of light. #3. I have to question someone stating that Bestva is an economical alternative to HLG. HLG does do independent testing of their lights.

 

[growsince79]

I bought a PAR meter. The par claims are good. The bestva uses the same drivers and leds as HLG, at a far less price. The Samsung diodes are what everyone is going to because they work well. I have 6 of them and am very pleased.

As a rule, i use 2000w per plant. I like to use 2 1000s instead of a single 2000 for better canopy penetration. You are right that a 2000 is small for a 4x4. Again, about 2000w per plant works well for me.

What's your ppfd with one light read at 14"? Bestva claims 1356 @ 12" and 816 @ 18:" Migro says 880 @ 14"

 

[totamus]

let me share a 100 percent true story and make a few comments.
#1. Bestva, this company is flat out fraudulent. Here is a 100 percent true story. I had a couple Mars Hydro TS1000 I believe that I was using for vegging mother plants. They were about 6 months old. One goes down, comes on but very low power. Long Story short I have to take picture prove the driver is bad and then they tell me the driver has to ship from China. My hands were tied on that one. So I like many go to Amazon and do a search on best LED grow lights, there pups up Bestva with like a 4.9 star rating. So I purchase a light for a 4' x 4' coverage. I am working and I get a test that my Amazon shipment had arrived, it included a picture. I was looking at the picture and was like wait a minute. That box is way to small, about 14" x 14". I get home that evening and sure enough the box is that size. I am still optimism the light will preform based on the reviews. I hang the light and I am like I do not know not very bright but let's see how things go. Well it only took about 3 days for the plants to start streching to the light like no tomorrow. So I returned the light to Amazon and I wrote and accurate review of the light. Here is the really bad part. I was contacted by Bestva and they specifically stated that if I would change my review to 5 stars I could get my money back and keep the light. They reached out to me repeatedly and I kept my review the same.
#2. Totamus, I really question someone getting close to a pound of buds off of any plant in an indoor environment. Sure you can veg the plant for months and fill in a whole 4' x 4' tent or even a 5' x 5' tent and you might be able to do it. But do something more oriented towards efficiency. 5 or 6 week veg and then into flower and there is no way you are going to get anywhere close to a pound of good quality trimmed cured buds out of a 4'x4' with one plant. I have been doing this long enough to understand what it possible and that is not realistically possible and being efficient. Sure you could do a high yielding strain like blue dream but still no way for 16 onces of dried, cured, well trimmed buds is going to happen. It almost seems like you are trying to say I have a bigger Win___ than you thru all of this.
#3. Lastly, par meters are not intended to be used with LED lights. This is the device you are looking to purchase to measure light output with LED's. https://www.apogeeinstruments.com/quantum/.

I have to question the validity of someone that states #1 they are getting close to 1 pound of dried, well trimmed and cured buds out of one plant. #2. I have to question someone using a par-meter and stating the numbers are the same as Bestva, because the tool being using it not correct for the type of light. #3. I have to question someone stating that Bestva is an economical alternative to HLG. HLG does do independent testing of their lights.

No need to be defensive. I have had good luck with Bestva, and I am passing my experience on to a newer grower. I have never gotten a lb (yet) but ha e been getting closer each grow. My current grow may make it though. If you like HLG you should like Bestva. Same diodes and drivers, same output.

 

[growsince79]

let me share a 100 percent true story and make a few comments.
#1. Bestva, this company is flat out fraudulent. Here is a 100 percent true story. I had a couple Mars Hydro TS1000 I believe that I was using for vegging mother plants. They were about 6 months old. One goes down, comes on but very low power. Long Story short I have to take picture prove the driver is bad and then they tell me the driver has to ship from China. My hands were tied on that one. So I like many go to Amazon and do a search on best LED grow lights, there pups up Bestva with like a 4.9 star rating. So I purchase a light for a 4' x 4' coverage. I am working and I get a test that my Amazon shipment had arrived, it included a picture. I was looking at the picture and was like wait a minute. That box is way to small, about 14" x 14". I get home that evening and sure enough the box is that size. I am still optimism the light will preform based on the reviews. I hang the light and I am like I do not know not very bright but let's see how things go. Well it only took about 3 days for the plants to start streching to the light like no tomorrow. So I returned the light to Amazon and I wrote and accurate review of the light. Here is the really bad part. I was contacted by Bestva and they specifically stated that if I would change my review to 5 stars I could get my money back and keep the light. They reached out to me repeatedly and I kept my review the same.
#2. Totamus, I really question someone getting close to a pound of buds off of any plant in an indoor environment. Sure you can veg the plant for months and fill in a whole 4' x 4' tent or even a 5' x 5' tent and you might be able to do it. But do something more oriented towards efficiency. 5 or 6 week veg and then into flower and there is no way you are going to get anywhere close to a pound of good quality trimmed cured buds out of a 4'x4' with one plant. I have been doing this long enough to understand what it possible and that is not realistically possible and being efficient. Sure you could do a high yielding strain like blue dream but still no way for 16 onces of dried, cured, well trimmed buds is going to happen. It almost seems like you are trying to say I have a bigger Win___ than you thru all of this.
#3. Lastly, par meters are not intended to be used with LED lights. This is the device you are looking to purchase to measure light output with LED's. https://www.apogeeinstruments.com/quantum/.

I have to question the validity of someone that states #1 they are getting close to 1 pound of dried, well trimmed and cured buds out of one plant. #2. I have to question someone using a par-meter and stating the numbers are the same as Bestva, because the tool being using it not correct for the type of light. #3. I have to question someone stating that Bestva is an economical alternative to HLG. HLG does do independent testing of their lights.

I think I can grow a 1lb plant in my 2 x 4 if I tried. In a 4 x 4 its easy to do. Idk why anyone would want to do that, but it can be done in 5 months.

 

[totamus]

What's your ppfd with one light read at 14"? Bestva claims 1356 @ 12" and 816 @ 18:" Migro says 880 @ 14"

What's your ppfd with one light read at 14"? Bestva claims 1356 @ 12" and 816 @ 18:" Migro says 880 @ 14"

I just measured at 12", and it reads 1380 uMols/m². The light is in use and I am unable to remove it right now to make a better measurement. There is another light in the same grow area, and the walls are reflective. From what I have seen in the past, I would estimate that the reading is inflated 100-200 by bleedover from the other light. It could be more though, I wont know until I can get the light out and isolate it. The reading is taken on a quantum PAR meter.

I had no idea that talk of light brands were so controversial! Any brand that uses meanwell drivers and 301 diodes would perform similarly. I like the heat sink and construction on the Bestva. As an Electronics Engineer that worked with production for years, my opinion is that the construction is quite good.

I bought a Vipar Spectra also, for a temp need, and found it to be of far less quality than the Bestva (general construction, simple Aluminum plate vs finned heat sink). I expect the Vipar would work just as well, but it feels/looks cheap.

 

[growsince79]

I just measured at 12", and it reads 1380 uMols/m². The light is in use and I am unable to remove it right now to make a better measurement. There is another light in the same grow area, and the walls are reflective. From what I have seen in the past, I would estimate that the reading is inflated 100-200 by bleedover from the other light. It could be more though, I wont know until I can get the light out and isolate it. The reading is taken on a quantum PAR meter.

I had no idea that talk of light brands were so controversial! Any brand that uses meanwell drivers and 301 diodes would perform similarly. I like the heat sink and construction on the Bestva. As an Electronics Engineer that worked with production for years, my opinion is that the construction is quite good.

I bought a Vipar Spectra also, for a temp need, and found it to be of far less quality than the Bestva (general construction, simple Aluminum plate vs finned heat sink). I expect the Vipar would work just as well, but it feels/looks cheap.

In my garden, the "bleedover" is about 20-30% depending on height. I believe bestva lies and the migro tests are accurate.
I think the light is probably pretty good. Efficiency is affected by number of diodes, placement, and temp as well as watts. 1.84 usable ppfd/w

 

[totamus]

What's your ppfd with one light read at 14"? Bestva claims 1356 @ 12" and 816 @ 18:" Migro says 880 @ 14"

I just looked up the Bestva rating. The 1356 ppfd is for a 2000W model (pulls 210 actual Watts). The rating for 1000W is 956 PPFD. When I first got the PAR meter, I checked outputs vs claim, and it was very close. In the Amazon ad, they show the same coverage chart regardless of the unit selected - that might be where you got the 1356 ppfd?

All of these lights operate using similar or identical diodes, so the output will be identical if the driver is also the same. I believe that a more significant number is the actual wattage consumed, the number of LEDS.


1000W coverage (105actual watts)

2000W coverage (210 actual watts)

 

[growsince79]

Lying bestva claim on amazon.

About this item​

• 【INCREASE YIELDS UP to 50%】ENVIOUSLY LARGE HARVESTS LED GROW LIGHTS. Compared with traditional 200W HPS/MH grow lamp while consuming only 105W true output with 224PCS LEDs, more scientifically and energy-efficient! The plant lights perfect for 6' x 6' growing Coverage at 18" height. Adjusting the height and brightness according to your plants desired level for optimal growth.

LOL just a typo I guess. What about this? Is this a typo? I call Bullshit.

Power Consumption	105W±5%	210W±5%	415W±5%
PPE	2.9 umol/J	2.9 umol/J	2.9 umol/J
Input Voltage	AC 100V-240V	AC 100V-240V	AC 100V-240V
Veg Coverage	2.8'x2.8’	4.5'x4.5’	7.5'x7.5’
Bloom Coverage	2.5'x2.5’	4'x4’	6'x6’
Light Dimension	345*270.2*66.2 mm	429*362*77 mm	543*512.6*77 mm
Maintain	3 years	3 years	3 years

 

[Anthem]

I think I can grow a 1lb plant in my 2 x 4 if I tried. In a 4 x 4 its easy to do. Idk why anyone would want to do that, but it can be done in 5 months.

That is the exact point why ?