Grow light recommendations

I was wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction for grow lights? My biggest ordeal right now is WHERE can I get a good light for a decent price. I’ve looked around but I don’t want to pull the trigger on a piece of garbage. Initially They will be in a 5x5x5, thanks.

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@dbrn32 knows the in’s and outs well @Anonyboii
are you wanting to build some or just buy a light?

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DB is the goat on lighting man. Give him a budget, tent size, and a general gameplan and he will set you up!

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Thanks @BIGE @PurpNGold74.

5x5 that’s only 5’ tall will be kind of tricky. The square footage will require a lot of light if you plan to use most of it. And only being 5’ tall you need a pretty diffuse light source that will give you good coverage without having to run too far off your canopy. Two of the lights @BIGE just built would be pretty ideal. Unfortunately, you can’t really just go out and buy them ready to hang.

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I’d think, with that height restriction, quantum boards are the way to go. Or if you’re up for some diy @dbrn32 has some great advice on building lights with light strips.

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A lot of that is dependent on the cost for each. I know it sounds crappy but I can’t spend too much out the gate

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How much would lights for that size tent be? What types of heat ventilation do you recommend with the light you can build? Also, I am pretty handy so I could probably put something together but I just don’t have any experience with it. I am finishing my first grow with a few plants in that size tent. However, I want to bump up the number of plants in it and I will need A LOT more light but I don’t need overkill either. Right now I don’t need to vent the lights I have now so that is gonna be more to my expense.

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Can you enlighten me on quantum boards? I’ve never heard of them. I don’t have a vast knowledge in this area yet and learning as I go with a lot of this.

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Horticulture lighting group makes the quantum boards. Best deals on them are usually had through growers lights. The hlg-600 kit would would be standard recommended light for 5x5, it’s about $700. If you want more manageable par levels and temps, you may consider going with three xl 260 kits. The three kits would be considerably more expensive. But also more efficient, cooler, and quite a bit more overall light. And you could always start with two kits and eventually look at adding a third.

Going with a diy light would make the most sense because you’re not limited to any predetermined metric or size. Bige took a 2’x4’ piece of 1/8” aluminum plate he found a deal on Craigslist or something. Then mounted two 200 watt drivers and as many 44” bridgelux eb strips the drivers would hold on it. Two of those would work really good in a 5x5. Same thing applies, you could always build one and start growing with it, then look at another later. But if you’re worried about temps we can do things like drop the output current and add a couple of strips to make it run a little cooler.

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