New grower, having trouble finding the ideal lights. Please halp!!!

[COOTG]

Im totally new to this, and have been getting overwhelmed with the difference in all the information available. My grow room is 2'x5'. I have 6' of usable height to grow, the air filter and lights take up the rest. My lights are on adjustable hangers, and currently using 2 Agrobrite FLT24 T5 lighting systems, with 4 of their 24w 6400k lights per system for veg stage, and 4 of Vivosuns 24w 3000k lights per system for flowering. Ultimately, Im just wanting to balance the best yield and potency without breaking the bank. I simply cant afford to throw $1000 worth of lights in their. I live in a hot and humid area, so ideally something that doesnt put off too much heat. Im only planning on growing 2 plants at a time. Does anyone have any suggestions? TIA

 

[Aqua Man]

Budget would help

 

[COOTG]

Budget would help

Limited lol. I might be able to swing 500-600 on lights for both plants next month.

 

[COOTG]

That could be just for veg stage lights, and I would be able to spend more on flowering stage lights later

 

[BloodShot]

You could check out this place, I purchased a few of their panels and not regretting it.
I saved some dollars by building a frame and wiring them up but it's a piece of cake and they sell everything you need.
I had them shipped from China in 4 days!
https://atreumlighting.com/products...full-spectrum-grow-light-panel-samsung-lm301b

 

[COOTG]

You could check out this place, I purchased a few of their panels and not regretting it.
I saved some dollars by building a frame and wiring them up but it's a piece of cake and they sell everything you need.
I had them shipped from China in 4 days!
https://atreumlighting.com/products...full-spectrum-grow-light-panel-samsung-lm301b

Id rather not build anything I dont have to. Im sure I could, and if it comes down to it, I will. But Id much rather buy a plug and play setup.

 

[Bubba kush]

You can get some good LeD lights for that. Look at some COB lights too

 

[Gemini]

Im totally new to this, and have been getting overwhelmed with the difference in all the information available. My grow room is 2'x5'. I have 6' of usable height to grow, the air filter and lights take up the rest. My lights are on adjustable hangers, and currently using 2 Agrobrite FLT24 T5 lighting systems, with 4 of their 24w 6400k lights per system for veg stage, and 4 of Vivosuns 24w 3000k lights per system for flowering. Ultimately, Im just wanting to balance the best yield and potency without breaking the bank. I simply cant afford to throw $1000 worth of lights in their. I live in a hot and humid area, so ideally something that doesnt put off too much heat. Im only planning on growing 2 plants at a time. Does anyone have any suggestions? TIA

I am in Oklahoma we built everything ourselves pretty much from Walmart and Lowe’s except panda film and this light I have had 6 plants under this one light and these plants have always looked great my light a t5 double lux 8 spent 85$ eBay have not needed another light and then have a lil led light over clones which was 25$

 

[COOTG]

I am in Oklahoma we built everything ourselves pretty much from Walmart and Lowe’s except panda film and this light I have had 6 plants under this one light and these plants have always looked great my light a t5 double lux 8 spent 85$ eBay have not needed another light and then have a lil led light over clones which was 25$

So thats with CFL? They looks great!

 

[Migrower]

Alibaba dot com.

 

[Migrower]

Do research on companies you are interested in. My opinion is kingbrite for boards but their are many. Look up ul and el or ctl if want. I recommend for safety.

 

[Dan789]

@COOTG by not believing you can build a light from a kit, you’re removing some really good, lower cost options. Good luck.

 

[BigCube]

If it's your first time around, I suggest reading and researching as much as you possibly can before you even spend a penny. It will save you lots of money and troubleshooting down the line.

There is a thing called PAR. All manufacturers will give you the stats on their unit. Sometimes they use PAR and sometimes unimol. Basically PAR is the amount of light that is actually available for photosynthesis.

Manufacturers will provide charts and graphs showing par footprints by distance. You basically want around 600 par when veg and 1000 when flowering.

So when choosing a light, choose one that can cover your footprint with as close to 600-1000 par as you can get.
When you look at the par footprint the manufacturer provides, you will see its strongest in the middle and fades at the edges. If you use reflective paint or mylar it will bring the outside numbers up. Or you can get multiple smaller lights to get you there.


Then there is spectrum. I won't go in to that cause its highly debated. But basically all you need is some red and blue in the right range and it will do. These are called burple. Cause of the purple light they give off. I don't like these for a couple reasons. One being looking at your plants is very hard to do under burple. Two because when I choose a spectrum, I choose one that looks as close to the suns actual spectrum. Research suggests spectrum matters a lot when it comes to flavor, health of the plant and other beneficial things. But let's not get into it here lol.

Basically if the spectrum has a lot of red and or blue it's good. If you want to use one light to veg and flower u will want one that has lots of red and blue.

Don't fall for name brands, you just pay more for the same thing. Look at the stats. If you want to know what I would choose for your footprint. Let me know I'll post some links.

 

[COOTG]

If it's your first time around, I suggest reading and researching as much as you possibly can before you even spend a penny. It will save you lots of money and troubleshooting down the line.

There is a thing called PAR. All manufacturers will give you the stats on their unit. Sometimes they use PAR and sometimes unimol. Basically PAR is the amount of light that is actually available for photosynthesis.

Manufacturers will provide charts and graphs showing par footprints by distance. You basically want around 600 par when veg and 1000 when flowering.

So when choosing a light, choose one that can cover your footprint with as close to 600-1000 par as you can get.
When you look at the par footprint the manufacturer provides, you will see its strongest in the middle and fades at the edges. If you use reflective paint or mylar it will bring the outside numbers up. Or you can get multiple smaller lights to get you there.


Then there is spectrum. I won't go in to that cause its highly debated. But basically all you need is some red and blue in the right range and it will do. These are called burple. Cause of the purple light they give off. I don't like these for a couple reasons. One being looking at your plants is very hard to do under burple. Two because when I choose a spectrum, I choose one that looks as close to the suns actual spectrum. Research suggests spectrum matters a lot when it comes to flavor, health of the plant and other beneficial things. But let's not get into it here lol.

Basically if the spectrum has a lot of red and or blue it's good. If you want to use one light to veg and flower u will want one that has lots of red and blue.

Don't fall for name brands, you just pay more for the same thing. Look at the stats. If you want to know what I would choose for your footprint. Let me know I'll post some links.

Good info, ive been looking at all of that. The lights I have now I havent found and PAR info on, but Im reading in several places that CFL lights just really dont produce well, unless you have a bunch of them all around the plants. If you have some specific product recommendations, Id like to check them out. Im always hesitant about purchasing online, because there are so many knock off companies that just sell shitty look a likes. And now days you cant even trust some reviews, because they are paid for. Thanks for the well informed comment!

 

[COOTG]

I was looking at something like this, 2 of them for my space. But just unsure if its a reliable product
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0185OLBPK/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_3?smid=A26I3HLV1WKXWW&psc=1

 

[BloodShot]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0185OLBPK/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_3?smid=A26I3HLV1WKXWW&psc=1

I was looking at something like this, 2 of them for my space. But just unsure if its a reliable product

Advertises as 1000 W but really just consumes about 185 W as per their ad.
It's cheap enough and I assume they are using epistar diodes which would be about nine year old tech?
Heat, fans and cheap diodes is what you will get.
I'm sure it will grow though.

 

[COOTG]

The panel in the link you posted was 120w? How many of those would I need for a 2x5 space? I wish things were more clear as to what you actually get. If its 156.33 watts, it should be labeled as such.

 

[BigCube]

For sure man. If it was me, I would gi with the x5 or x6 cobs. I am getting rather good results from them.

X5 COB 1500W LED Grow Light，Sunshine Full Spectrum Grow Light for Greenhouse and Indoor Plant Flowering Growing (White

I prefer these to the burple due to them being a nice white light. They provide the par charts and the spectrum as well.
They are also around the same price as a 1000w burple and outperform them with par output and spectrum.

I have a 3x3 tent with 1 in it right now. It's doing so good I bought 2 more for my dad's grow.

They are cheap(ish) they come with a warranty, they perform well. Not much else to say. They aren't the best led light around, but they are the best I've found for the price.

From the chart you can see at 2ft you get a coverage of 4x4 with a center of over 1100 par and edges of over 600 par.
You can work out your needs from there.

Hope that helps without breaking the bank.

 

[COOTG]

Thank you. So I know you said you didnt want to really get into it, but Ive read a lot that says the veg stage and flowering stage should have different lighting. Do you have an opinion on that, any experience trying it both ways to see the difference?

 

[Wood74]

I run 2 Gavita 1650ML LED’s in my 8x8 grow room. I run a RDWC with Advanced Nutrients.They’re awesome lights. They were about $1200 a piece. Combined with the nutrients I will recoup the cost in one cycle.