I need help buying a light

I didn’t put height, it’s 7 feet tall. custom cabinet.

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Haha sorry thought the 4.5 was height for a second… Oops
Nice yeah that’s a good height

It is and always has been but is it still necessary with auto flowers? Those genetics changed a bunch of things. Has anyone tried growing a comparison of clones from them with reduced lighting on 1 and QBs on the other. Just a thought

No autoflowers can’t be mother plants they will flower after the 30days even if they are tiny.
You can clone an auto but it’s very very finicky, you’ll have to follow a very specific process and even then you may not be successful.
When you clone autos they grow a bit and start to flower almost right away and also get stunted from the cloning process…
I mean if you found your favourite strain you could probably master it over some time but for the average person it’s really not worth it

I was talking about using the clones to compare 2 identical plants growth. One with a small amount of light and the other with an abundance of light.

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There’s been more than enough people show up with plants that don’t have enough light. They all are the same. Tall skinny and falling over from being to weak. Auto flowers are just like photos. Only difference is they have a little ruderalis genes to get them to flower regardless of light schedule.

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@DoobieNoobie I’ve seen them too. Tall spendally plants with wispy buds with no mass. However I seen a post a couple of days ago and the guy had 3 CFLs like I used for germination and he had managed to grow a couple of plants with buds as big around as a coke can. He might have been pulling my leg but I ask if he was using any other light and he said no. I’d never seen anything like it in the 40+ years of growing. The only thing I could attribute it to was the ruderallis genes. If he was bs ing me IDK but if they could cross the ability to produce fat buds from low light those would be seeds like jacks beanstalk. Lmmfao

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Have you looked at the data on the HLG lights. They crush it.

You can grow with CFL bulbs. There’s people here that done it very well. But not with 2 or 3 bulbs. @elheffe702 is the most notable I can think of and I’m sure he’s got more knowledge on that subject than me.

All my plants got vegged under CFLs and LED screw-in type bulbs.


But you’d get pretty airy buds flowering under them, I’d think.

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No doubt. They kick out some serious light. That’s not what I’m getting at though. I’m just wondering if auto flowers require a large amount of light because of the ruderalis gene. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know. I know with non auto flowering weed that light = bud but does it hold true with ALL of the autos. Just wondering

@elheffe702 I’ve always been taught that same thing. Have you had any 1st hand experience growing autos with CFLs or other meager lighting throughout budding to harvest? Fat buds with low light levels would be a better trait to cross into all of the top Cannabis Strains. Whoever could do that would make more money than they could ever spend. No need for expensive lights no increase in light bills just a couple of seeds and a desk light in the corner. Just wondering

I’ve never grown autos. I don’t think it’d be much different as far as the amount of light they require. They just don’t mind the timing of the light so much.

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I’m not sure you can genetically defy photosynthesis.

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Selling of equipment isn’t allowed here. Exchanging personal contact information is against forum policy, therefore impossible to do classified sales or similar.

I apologize profusely. I will edit my comment immediately

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@dbrn32 I have been reading up a bit on quantum Board lighting. What frequency should I buy? I seen a full spectrum 3000K mix 660nm and then they have just the 3000K’s without the 660nm’s. Some have just heat sinks and others incorporate a fan in addition to a heat sink. I was thinking of using only two 288 boards with a shared 240 driver. Does this sound okay? Would these compact lights be enough for a 3x3 area and is $230 too much money for a kit like that? Thanks again for all your help

I’m just getting started, but I spent a LOT of time running the numbers… electricity, cooling, heating, maintenance, time to do maintenance, etc…

For me, there was no contest… A good QB kit or DIY LED was wayyy out in front over the mid to long term… and almost breakeven in the short-term.

IF I only had $150.00 for a light today, I would write that money out of my register or stick it in a jar and WAIT until I could double or triple it and buy the RIGHT light and buy ONE time… vs several stepped upgrades that wind up costing more.

:slight_smile:

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I agree 100%. I’ll be purchasing the best light for the square foot to be grown in. If I expand the footage of my growing area in the future I’ll just need to purchase the best lighting for the new growing area at that time. That’s my plan anyway. Yes you’re right though. It’s foolish to spend money on something that doesn’t do the job and that you’re not happy with.

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From your description it sounds like you’re looking at knockoff boards. Hlg has yet to release 288 boards with 660nm, or lights/kits with fans. I’m not familiar with all of the knock offs. Some of them are pretty good, others have been busted using sub standard leds.

Generally speaking, two of the hlg 288 boards on hlg-240 driver would be solid in a 3x3.