Southerngirlj
- Posts
- 1
- Joined
- Oct 5, 2021
- Points
- 1
Hello all!
This would be our first grow and I am having trouble with the lights. I've read and read and I just end up back where I started, confused. Please forgive me ahead of time for any dumb questions. I had just about decided on a blurple LED but decided to read some more and ended up coming back around to the quantum boards and deciding those may be the better option. We don't have a huge budget. It's a 3'1"x2'1"x6'10" total area. I don't plan on packing it full, 2 larger or maybe 3 smaller plants in 5 gal pots? Or just 1 larger one if that's what my area would accommodate better. I'm open to any suggestions. I found 3 lights I'm interested in:
Hlg 100 rspec
Hlg 65 v2
Viparspectra xs1500
The whole area is 6.42sqft so going by the 40-50 watts per sqft I'd need 257-321 watts but I figure I'll probably use 4sqft of actual grow space so 160-200 watts?
The hlg 100 is only 95 actual watts. The ppfd seems in range, just low. Would this light be sufficient on its own for a good grow in my size area?
I thought I could maybe use one each of the HLGs at the same time to help boost the watts and color specs.
This is where I start getting myself all confused and wondering, Is this a dumb idea? Using both would make the wattage 160. They're different sizes so the coverage area isn't the same and since ones more red and ones more blue the plants wouldn't be getting equal coverage with the same lighting so it's a bad idea right?
Someone suggested using 2 of the hlg 65s and a separate red spectrum for flowering. That's only 135 watts for the 2 hlgs, not even the min 40 watts per sqft for 4sqft area. And the ppfd map readings seem low... 480center@12" and 290center @18". I know this is the cheapest model so we're not going to get maximum numbers. The chart i found says min/max umoles req for each stage are: S 200-300, V 306-617, F 463-925. Based on 18/6 HR days for S&V and 12/12 HR days Flow. With these readings would we get anything decent?
For adding the separate red spectrum can someone please give me some suggestions? I don't know where I would hang it if I already had the other two boards in there. When I was considering the LEDs I had read about supplemental side lighting. I started to look into red bulbs a little but couldn't figure out which of them would be better or if they were even strong enough to do anything at all.
ABI True 25w deep red 660nm
ABI True 26w red 620-630nm
Higrow 36w deep red 660nm
Both these companies also make 450-460nm blue bulbs which I thought may be useful if I ended up with a light that's higher in reds.
I'd love to do 2 of the hlg100s if that would work but I just don't think we can afford it right now.
Which is where I ended up considering the Viparspectra XS1500. It is slightly more expensive than the hlg100, has 150w actual power, ppfd readings are higher, the coverage is similar (I think), it has IR and the others don't, it does look to be higher in reds than blue. I worry about heat put off from it because I did see that complaint a couple of times but I also read the same thing a few times about the hlgs.
It seems like a lot of ppl favor hlg over Viparspectra but for the difference in specs and our budget I wonder if it would be worth it.
Someone plllllease help me!! I just want to start already! Lol I am sorry for the rambling in this post. I am learning and know I have a long way to go still. Lol Thank y'all for any advice you can give me!!
This would be our first grow and I am having trouble with the lights. I've read and read and I just end up back where I started, confused. Please forgive me ahead of time for any dumb questions. I had just about decided on a blurple LED but decided to read some more and ended up coming back around to the quantum boards and deciding those may be the better option. We don't have a huge budget. It's a 3'1"x2'1"x6'10" total area. I don't plan on packing it full, 2 larger or maybe 3 smaller plants in 5 gal pots? Or just 1 larger one if that's what my area would accommodate better. I'm open to any suggestions. I found 3 lights I'm interested in:
Hlg 100 rspec
Hlg 65 v2
Viparspectra xs1500
The whole area is 6.42sqft so going by the 40-50 watts per sqft I'd need 257-321 watts but I figure I'll probably use 4sqft of actual grow space so 160-200 watts?
The hlg 100 is only 95 actual watts. The ppfd seems in range, just low. Would this light be sufficient on its own for a good grow in my size area?
I thought I could maybe use one each of the HLGs at the same time to help boost the watts and color specs.
This is where I start getting myself all confused and wondering, Is this a dumb idea? Using both would make the wattage 160. They're different sizes so the coverage area isn't the same and since ones more red and ones more blue the plants wouldn't be getting equal coverage with the same lighting so it's a bad idea right?
Someone suggested using 2 of the hlg 65s and a separate red spectrum for flowering. That's only 135 watts for the 2 hlgs, not even the min 40 watts per sqft for 4sqft area. And the ppfd map readings seem low... 480center@12" and 290center @18". I know this is the cheapest model so we're not going to get maximum numbers. The chart i found says min/max umoles req for each stage are: S 200-300, V 306-617, F 463-925. Based on 18/6 HR days for S&V and 12/12 HR days Flow. With these readings would we get anything decent?
For adding the separate red spectrum can someone please give me some suggestions? I don't know where I would hang it if I already had the other two boards in there. When I was considering the LEDs I had read about supplemental side lighting. I started to look into red bulbs a little but couldn't figure out which of them would be better or if they were even strong enough to do anything at all.
ABI True 25w deep red 660nm
ABI True 26w red 620-630nm
Higrow 36w deep red 660nm
Both these companies also make 450-460nm blue bulbs which I thought may be useful if I ended up with a light that's higher in reds.
I'd love to do 2 of the hlg100s if that would work but I just don't think we can afford it right now.
Which is where I ended up considering the Viparspectra XS1500. It is slightly more expensive than the hlg100, has 150w actual power, ppfd readings are higher, the coverage is similar (I think), it has IR and the others don't, it does look to be higher in reds than blue. I worry about heat put off from it because I did see that complaint a couple of times but I also read the same thing a few times about the hlgs.
It seems like a lot of ppl favor hlg over Viparspectra but for the difference in specs and our budget I wonder if it would be worth it.
Someone plllllease help me!! I just want to start already! Lol I am sorry for the rambling in this post. I am learning and know I have a long way to go still. Lol Thank y'all for any advice you can give me!!