Ok I have been reading for 3 days now and I’m still not sure what to get. I’m retired on a fixed income and looking for the best light. There are a couple of things I’m wondering but since I rode the short bus to school and it’s hard to teach old dogs new tricks this could be hard. 1 I’m thinking I’ll end up going to a 3x3x73 grow tent and growing in soil. 2 the lights type with cost to run and up front cost. And I want to say thanks and remember the short bus
do yourself a big favor and save up for a great light…quantium boards,strip lights,pucks…
i am in the same boat and wasted hundreds on mediocre lighting with varied results…
@perry2 if you want to talk specifics @dbrn32 is the man with the knowledge…
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Others will be commenting soon. But, have you decided to go digital or incandescent?
Incandescent are very good, but, hot and use more electric than digital.
Digital would be best long term. But, cost is noticeably more than the other.
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Very true, I’d like to put qb light in my flower tent, like veg tent. The upfront is to much right now. A HID setup will worm for you very well. Get a cool tube, and temps are a non issue. At least for me, and many others. For 3x3, a 400 watt HID will do well, and a cool tube will fix temp issue. QB lights are awesome, and love having it in my veg tent, but if you have 150 and not 350. It is still a nice light for good grows.
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Great questions by the other members. Best light is always subjective to some extent. The best light spectrum is generally looked at as cmh. The 315 version is a great fit for a 3x3. If you want the most amout of light for the lowest power consumption, then a quantum board or similarly styled led light would be leader in efficacy. They also have lights specifically for a 3x3.
A lot of us assemble our own using the high end leds. If you don’t mind a little diy project, that’s the easiest way to get most for your money. I can help you with this, should you choose it a good option for you. Your first step would be to nail down your space so we can make sure lighting requirements are satisfied.
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“Good Cheap Lights” do not exist.!!
there r cheap lights that will flower cannabis, but it is not good.
the best lighting for the money is the DIY QB LED boards and drivers,
about the same cost as a good HID, but will save u money on the electric bill.!
tell the driver to pull that short bus over and let u off,
u got a light to build.!!
look on here and u-tube for QB 120 and 132 builds.
4x QB 132’s would be good for a 3x3 tent.!
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Looks like I need to look more in to doing a build on the QB I have seen that you can get adjustable ballist. Right now I have a phlizon 600w in a 26x26x45 grow area but I know that is not going to do very well for flowers
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I throw my vote in for DIY QB assembly. It works great, got the best bag for the buck, and it was fun.
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Get a 315w cmh with 3100k color temp. You’ll be happy with it
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Ya you would think a 324 would be stronger than a 132. Oh a side note I just tried my new ph meter and found the house water is 5.3 so I put 3 cap full of ph up in a gal of water I think you guys know how that went
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take baby steps @perry2 write down how many ml of ph down needed for water…
do it again with your regular feeding solution…
for instance,my water used to take four drops to get ph right…on a gallon…
i use advanced nutrients and they are ph perfect…
Ya I Need to get an eye dropper I don’t think I’ll ever need to buy ph up or down again
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Here are some of my opinions. @dbrn32will correct me where I am wrong.
One advantage is that the QB120 and 134s do not require a heat sink, so there is a cost savings. They run warm, not hot. You can run them at about 60w each, if you rate the drivers right. I think The 324 runs about 175w
A pro or con is that the 120/132s have more spread out LEDs, so it helps spread the light across the foot print you are covering, but isn’t as intense in the middle of the grow area,. So it’s better in a tent size that is like 2x4 The 324s are more dense and perhaps better suited for a square footprint.
The average ppfd of 4 132s V2s I have in my 2x4 tent is about 800, more than enough for standard flowering, assuming 2.5umol per joule, which is a little higher than the V1 rating listed on the site. A single 324 is maybe 575, assuming the same 2.5 rating which isn’t listed on the website.
I love my QB132s. The ones on the site are V1s at the moment.
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idk, have not looked into the 324’s.
give me a day or 3.!! lol
can u tag me with a link.?
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A 400 watt mh/hps with a dimming ballast will provide all you need and wont cost a lot up front and will give ample light . Only cost about 120 on amazon.
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But what do i know. Maybe a smaller one lie a 250 watt for a smaller tent
Slowoldguy https://growerslights.com/products/horticulture-lighting-group-320-watt-xl-quantum-board-324-led-kit
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LMAO @perry2 w the caps of pH up…I did a cap of pH down in my gallon pitcher the first time after letting my water sit for couple hours to get room temp, adding my nutes & checking ppm… LMAO " WTF is this pure acid" I said… too funny
I’m still rolling on floor… Oh the screw ups I have done… burning tops with lights too low, cooking my room w an added dehumidifier… Live n learn they still love you… shit I still haven’t ever tried a HEAVY feeding by the bottles standards…