Which new light should I get and what to do with old one?

[bibsoconner]

Hi, I have a BLOOM PLUS LED Grow Light BP 1000W (which I'm told is really 90W??!!). I got it from Amazon and it cost about $40. I got it because price was a consideration AND because I'm new and I figured I should start small and get something better at some point. Based on my limited research, it seemed like a good bet. It had decent reviews.

I'm interested in a new, better light for 2 reasons:
1) I've been told (on these forums!) that what I have is probably sufficient for seedling and veg stages, but not flowering. And some folks mentioned it's not that great period. It is not adjustable wattage. Not sure if that's a big deal. You can adjust the height by letting the pulleys out/in.

2) I'm thinking I need two areas, one for seedlings/veg and one for flowering. That is, I want an area that is 12/12 for lights and one that is 18/6 for lights.

Can you make some recommendations? Remember, I'm a novice, AND as I indicated, cost is a concern. I suppose I could go up to $100.00 . I see "ViparSpectra" mentioned a lot here, but I can't tell if that is because the company itself keeps posting here, or if folks really like them. I should close my saying I have a preference for Amazon. Not that I love huge businesses, but I know them; I know I can return stuff to Amazon if it's wrong or broken, etc.
My plan is to use the new, more powerful light for flowering, and the older, weaker one for veg phase. Sound good?
Thanks!

 

[GreenGalaxyFarm]

Can you make some recommendations? Remember, I'm a novice, AND as I indicated, cost is a concern. I suppose I could go up to $100.00 . I see "ViparSpectra" mentioned a lot here, but I can't tell if that is because the company itself keeps posting here, or if folks really like them. I should close my saying I have a preference for Amazon. Not that I love huge businesses, but I know them; I know I can return stuff to Amazon if it's wrong or broken, etc.
My plan is to use the new, more powerful light for flowering, and the older, weaker one for veg phase. Sound good?
Thanks!

sounds good nice idea having separate spaces for flower and veg. sorry cant recommend leds as i use hps, i can however recommend you not buy hps
doing similar, indoor veg, outdoor flower

 

[Gmix]

Depends bud
90w will be ok to veg one plant & £100 won’t get you much I wouldn’t expect a known brand to sell a 200w led for less than £250 you can buy some Chinese stuff some here use them

 

[GreenGalaxyFarm]

amazon has some 150 options..imo let her stay veg for a while and save up for a nice light, the light will usually be your limiting factor for as long as you grow

Depends bud
90w will be ok to veg one plant & £100 won’t get you much I wouldn’t expect a known brand to sell a 200w led for less than £250 you can buy some Chinese stuff some here use them

 

[bibsoconner]

sounds good nice idea having separate spaces for flower and veg. sorry cant recommend leds as i use hps, i can however recommend you not buy hps
doing similar, indoor veg, outdoor flower

Thanks for the quick reply @GreenGalaxyFarm . I'm not wedded to leds. Whatever folks think is best. My basic research indicates leds are better for beginners and cheaper to run, but I'm prepared to be told otherwise!
Regarding you comment about doing flower outdoor... Are you flowering stuff outside now (1/24/2023) and where are you located roughly? I had some other threads (that I think you responded to :)). The general consensus seemed to be I needed to do the flowering inside (on 12/12 scedule) because of (1) light pollution outside even though hours of daylight are about 10.5 in southern california right now and (2) days are getting longer right now and plant might decide "I should keep vegging as days are getting longer. I'll flower in October when days start getting shorter".
That said, as an experiment, I currently have one of my babies inside (12/12) and one outside. They are both flowering, but the one inside seems to be doing better since I separated them. Plant has gotten bigger than one outside and buds seem bigger. I'll be posting a question about that soon. I have no idea when the buds are done!

 

[citrus7144]

You can get a spider farmer or Mars hydro each for about 130 or 140 on Amazon both 100 watt lights that will work. It also depends on how much space your trying to cover if you have a2x2 then you are fine if your trying to cover more than that then your going to have to spend more. I have 3 100 watt spider farmer lights I got for about 100 and a 300 watt spider farmer I use for flower in a 3x3 I am moving to a 600 watt light for flower soon. You can always use Afirm or one of those pay by the month deals to get something a bit better. It is worth it to spend more for better gear you get what you pay for every time. Have agood day.

 

[GreenGalaxyFarm]

Thanks for the quick

no worries bro

I'm not wedded to leds.

but you should be they have long surpassed hid, i just cant afford to buy leds for my 188sqft space still have lots to buy
longterm im losing out tho but i have a plan on reusing ballast and running them as driver for led in future.

cheaper to run

noone can argue

Regarding you comment about doing flower outdoor... Are you flowering stuff outside now (1/24/2023) and where are you located roughly?

no im getting my stock ready for planting outdoor, this will be first official (to scale)outdoor grow in the ''new'' house.
capetown south africa, we have 9 months of summer

"I should keep vegging as days are getting longer.

yes if daylight is increasing they might still go into flower outdoor while more than 12hours of darkness but they might reveg as soon as that cycle changes over to less than 12 dark per day depending on how much dark the genetic variable requires

 

[BigBlonde]

Can you make some recommendations?

I have ViparSpectra lights and recommend them. There are many good LED lights available, though. That said, it's a good idea to match the light to the grow space. Usually, about 30 watts per square foot is recommended. So, for example, a 2x4 tent has 8 square feet of floor space. Multiply that by 30 and 240 watts would be the light's power. That, to continue the example, would be a ViparSpectra XS2000 for a 2x4 tent.

 

[bibsoconner]

no worries bro

but you should be they have long surpassed hid, i just cant afford to buy leds for my 188sqft space still have lots to buy
longterm im losing out tho but i have a plan on reusing ballast and running them as driver for led in future.

noone can argue

no im getting my stock ready for planting outdoor, this will be first official (to scale)outdoor grow in the ''new'' house.
capetown south africa, we have 9 months of summer

yes if daylight is increasing they might still go into flower outdoor while more than 12hours of darkness but they might reveg as soon as that cycle changes over to less than 12 dark per day depending on how much dark the genetic variable requires

Ah, @GreenGalaxyFarm you are confusing me! I was never a good student and had trouble grasping the concept of southern vs. northern hemisphere and reversed summers and water going down clockwise or counterclockwise :). Seriously, this cool site let me see what the light is like in Johannesburg. https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/south-africa/johannesburg Mid June is our longest day at about 14 hours, mid-june is your shortest day. Your days are getting shorter right now, ours are getting longer. And I can appreciate (after looking at a map :)) that you are further from the equator than us so thus have longer days in your summer and your winter days aren't as short as ours. Looks like you are in a pot growing paradise! I'm wondering why you even muck with indoor growing :)

 

[Newbgrower1]

Try this one. I have a pre dimmer sf1000 by spider farmer that I got for around $50 and one of these. Both are in my flower closet and they seam to be working great. I find the one pictured is a little stronger than the spider farmer but I’m sure the sf1000 will last longer. I’m just started my 5th week of flower and I’m very happy with both lights.

I also added a pic of my plant that is using those cheap lights. I can’t tell you how long they will last, but so far so good.

 

[GreenGalaxyFarm]

Looks like you are in a pot growing paradise! I'm wondering why you even muck with indoor growing :)

simon(strainhunters) did say south africa is the best place to grow cannabis in the world. i feel the young ones need the extra love its difficult babying a plant outside also im keeping mothers

 

[Newbgrower1]

Plus if you don’t need your current light for veg. You can run both for flower. And bring you close to 200w

 

[GreenGalaxyFarm]

Seriously, this cool site let me see what the light is like in Johannesburg.

yeah thanks for sharing, bookmarked on browser, should have planted sooner but with moving and all its been a weird time but ill still get some harvest atleast, 100 percent sativa can go further into winter without risk of rot

 

[BigBlonde]

Your days are getting shorter right now, ours are getting longer.

Where are you? Up in the higher northern latitudes, our days are getting longer now. In South Africa, they're getting shorter. We passed the solstice in December.

 

[GreenGalaxyFarm]

Where are you? Up in the higher northern latitudes, our days are getting longer now. In South Africa, they're getting shorter. We passed the solstice in December.

thats what i got from what he said. but literally only getting shorter like now

 

[GreenGalaxyFarm]

Ah, @GreenGalaxyFarm you are confusing me!

im confusing you, i have to deal with posts in dollars and imperial measurements and then the foreign language(didnt grow up speaking english took it in highschool lol) its has changed since then. and a lot of guys arnt typing properly as well adds up

 

[bibsoconner]

im confusing you, i have to deal with posts in dollars and imperial measurements and then the foreign language(didnt grow up speaking english took it in highschool lol) its has changed since then. and a lot of guys arnt typing properly as well adds up

You're doing great! I was convinced you are a native English speaker based on your posts. I think what you are referring to as "imperial", I think of as "english" units. Ounces, gallons, miles, Fahrenheit, etc. We use these in the United States, but amazingly, the English don't use "english" units (except for some things like "pints" of beer). Personally, I find the metric system incredibly complicated. To go from millimeter to meter you need to multiply by 1000, and then to go to kilometer you need to multiply by 1000 again. Where's the logic in that? In the english system you multiply 1 inch by 12 to get 1 foot. Then by 3 to get 1 yard, and then by 1760 to get 1 mile. Completely logical! :).

 

[GreenGalaxyFarm]

Where's the logic in that? In the english system you multiply 1 inch by 12 to get 1 foot. Then by 3 to get 1 yard, and then by 1760 to get 1 mile. Completely logical! :).

this makes no sense

 

[GreenGalaxyFarm]

To go from millimeter to meter you need to multiply by 1000, and then to go to kilometer you need to multiply by 1000 again.

exactly this is not easy af? be honest

 

[bibsoconner]

exactly this is not easy af? be honest

I was of course joking. Metric is much easier than Imperial (aka "english"). In fact, I had to Google "how many yards are in a mile", because I could not remember and there is no way (that I know of) to reason it out by logic. Then there is the complicated business of "how many ounces are in a pint?" In the United States the answer is 16, in the United Kingdom, the answer is 20. Then there are 2 pints in a quart, but 4 quarts in a gallon! It is very hard to remember.
The only parts of metric that are difficult for me, are the different prefixes, such as nanometer (1 m=10^9 nm), decimeter (1 m=10decimeters), and of course micron, aka micrometer (1 meter = 10^6 micron). But this is due to me not using them enough. I remember "centi", "mili", and "kilo" .
I frequently confuse nanometer and micron.