Mali_macchiato said:

Greetings everyone,

First of all let me apologize in advance if this is the wrong forum or if this has already been asked but I couldn't find any info that would solve my issue.

Anyways, I've finally decided to bring my dream into reality, saved some money and now it's time to invest that into a proper setup.

Lights, however, are anything but my expertise. Understanding all those PAR/PPFD formulas and calculating them is giving me a headache and knowing me I'll prolly end up making a mistake at one point. That's where I need your help, boys.

The setup is squared 7x8m (26x29ft). I was thinking of 3-4 horizontal rows (depending on the lights) which would take around 45m2 so consider this the surface that needs light.

For the love of god, can someone help me choose the best lights out there? I'm inbetween Mars FC6500 or TS3000 but if you guys have any better ideas, I'm completely open to suggestions.

In the attached you will find 3 setups;

Setup#1 which includes SP250.
Setup#2 which includes FC6500.
Setup#3 which includes TS3000.

Each square/rectangle presents area light coverage and each light.

I need something that isnt the most expensive nor the cheapest, something that will give fat quality buds and cover the area perfectly. I was using Mars products and gotta say have been pretty satisfied, but this requires some in-depth calculating and I don't trust myself enough for that. I know Im asking too much, but I exhausted all the other options.

Thanks in advance!

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If you're going led, you want to go with ether quantum board type or quantum bar type fixture running samsung lm301 chips off mean well drivers. Many options to choose from, I use kingbrite fixtures due to their known quality and good price.

As for how much you need, the rule is generally 30 to 35 watts per square foot.

Depending on how much of your square footage you're going to light up, will most likely dictate how many and what fixture you will run.

I would start by choosing a plan, calculating the square footage you need to light up and do the calculations

BigCube said:

If you're going led, you want to go with ether quantum board type or quantum bar type fixture running samsung lm301 chips off mean well drivers. Many options to choose from, I use kingbrite fixtures due to their known quality and good price.

As for how much you need, the rule is generally 30 to 35 watts per square foot.

Depending on how much of your square footage you're going to light up, will most likely dictate how many and what fixture you will run.

I would start by choosing a plan, calculating the square footage you need to light up and do the calculations

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info mate!
I’ll most defo go with quantum boards, after re-doing some math, turns out its better to go with expensive lights because while they consume a little more electricity the yields are simply insane and for the same area Id need around 7-8 bars which wont even have as good coverage as the boards. Thanks again mate!

Are you semi handy with wiring? If so building your own lights is not that difficult. Many of the kits are 80-90% assembled.

cobkits has a lot of them to choose from or you can purchase parts from other sources and build them

I've got this VivaLed 660actual watts that flowers 5.5x5.5feet and veg 7x7 feet it's basically 6 boards with 3 meanwell drivers and Samsung 301b LED with IR as well. Just started using it a week ago. Or I'd look at HLG foldable lights with UV and IR no wasted space and way more efficient than what you listed also no wasted space and great penetration

Homesteader said:

Are you semi handy with wiring? If so building your own lights is not that difficult. Many of the kits are 80-90% assembled.

cobkits has a lot of them to choose from or you can purchase parts from other sources and build them

CobKits.com – DIY kits and accessories

cobkits.com

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I am actually more comfortable doing the wiring than doing the calculations. I'll definitely look more into it because in most cases - it is the best option, considering you know what youre doing lol.

RookieBC said:

I've got this VivaLed 660actual watts that flowers 5.5x5.5feet View attachment 1113417and veg 7x7 feet it's basically 6 boards with 3 meanwell drivers and Samsung 301b LED with IR as well. Just started using it a week ago. Or I'd look at HLG foldable lights with UV and IR no wasted space and way more efficient than what you listed also no wasted space and great penetration

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VivaLed is one of the 3 I was considering, didnt know about the IR. This definitely sparks my interest. Ill do another model with these ones and see how the math works out. Thanks a lot mate!

Personally I'd go HLG, Gavita or other quality brand.

Choose style based on height restrictions. Boards are OK if you have more height but do lose a bit more to ppfd due to the hanging height.

Strips can be run very close and make (IMO) the most ppfd to the actual plants per watt because they don't lose as much light to side bleeding.

30w/sq ft is plenty. Calculate for the actual space to be covered by the plants. Eg, a gavita 1700e and an HLG Scorpion diablo will both cover a 5x5 in flower. Where as an hlg 600 may but because of the distance of the boards you will have to hang higher and I would say much more suited to a 4x4. However with multiples you can prob get away with 5x5 with the overlap for each fixture.

MAKE SURE you buy a light that had a warranty that covers humid conditions and others that we require to grow. I don't believe Mars does and many others also state no warranty if used in humid areas.

There is a lot more to buying a light than just the light. Especially when spending a lot. The risk vs reward is up to you.

Aqua Man said:

Personally I'd go HLG, Gavita or other quality brand.

Choose style based on height restrictions. Boards are OK if you have more height but do lose a bit more to ppfd due to the hanging height.

Strips can be run very close and make (IMO) the most ppfd to the actual plants per watt because they don't lose as much light to side bleeding.

30w/sq ft is plenty. Calculate for the actual space to be covered by the plants. Eg, a gavita 1700e and an HLG Scorpion diablo will both cover a 5x5 in flower. Where as an hlg 600 may but because of the distance of the boards you will have to hang higher and I would say much more suited to a 4x4. However with multiples you can prob get away with 5x5 with the overlap for each fixture.

MAKE SURE you buy a light that had a warranty that covers humid conditions and others that we require to grow. I don't believe Mars does and many others also state no warranty if used in humid areas.

There is a lot more to buying a light than just the light. Especially when spending a lot. The risk vs reward is up to you.

Click to expand...

Remember this guy is a fisherman and they well like to tell fishing stories. In all honest Aquaman is right, but the fact remains the cost for said fixtures is much more than the knock offs. Do not go with the Gavita's IMO. I own the 1700e and the 1650e, both are excellent lights, but Gavita being Gavita has done a few dirties on their lights. The worst one being trying to hook up their lights to a controller. I was at one time running the 1650e's without a controller and I got great yields. Since than I have upgraded to a controller to take care of environment, humidity, and lighting and I was fighting yield every since. Well it turns out after all the manufacturers came together and agreed to run their lights on 1 to 10 volts old Gavita did one dirty, if you run their lights thru a controller the light will be dimmed 15 percent over running it straight from a wall socket at 100 percent output. This more than likely goes back to their HPS fixtures that have a knob on them that will allow you to run the light at 115 percent or that is my assumption. Also the Gavita's require you to purchase an E series Adaptor to run their lights thru an controller. Those are a buck thirty each. All in the HLG mentioned is the best light and offers excellent value at that price point. I would also consider the Fluence Syder 2I for that grow. The only advantage I see with Fluence, which is owned by Osram. Is the fluence fixture can be ran much closer to the plants than the Gavita, if head height is a challenge the fluence might be the best fixture.

If I was setting all those lights up I would call the led companies for advice and quotes not ask strangers here. No offense meant to any of us.