Lighting in the KISS category

Hi…I am looking for advice on fairly inexpensive lighting options for a 3x5 space in a basement. I am still new at this and want to start with something simple but also don’t want to waste money on something that doesn’t work. I have done a ton of reading and researching on this forum but I think I am even more confused now…lol!

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Gday@Paizley, I dont have any experience using led lights so I can only recommend H I D lighting.For the space you have I would recommend a 600w digital dimmable ballast with a metal halide for vegging and transition and a HPS for flowering. Its old school compared to some of the top line LEDs available but still more than capable of producing top quality buds.If temps could be an issue get yourself an aircooled hood and connect it to your exhaust fan. Good luck with your grow.

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Fairly inexpensive? What are you thinking of spending? If you want to grow something decent in 3x5 @Paizley, you would need at least 600 actual watts of LED lights. That would be 2 of the better 600W lights from Amazon. If the temps are cool enough in your basement, you may want to go with @mountainman1 suggestion and use a 600 watt HPS light. It’s probably the cheaper option.

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https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com.au%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F192164845020

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That’s what I’ve just bought ($300 AU) , couple days left for code that saves $30,Was number one pick 2018 LEDS, hoping should perform very well in a 4ft x 4ft tent.

AUNCUJYRTRHLKBM , enter that code for $30 saving,only couple days left with that offer,apparently this light was very impressive on the flower cycle.

@Fabes I’m sorry, but that light is only 340w at the wall. If you plan on filling up the 4x4 tent, then you will be pretty under lit. You would need 2 of them to flower a 4x4 tent at least.
If you dont plan on filling the tent up, then you might be able to get away with just using 1, just letting you know so you arent disappointed come harvest time.

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@Aolelon how do you know what the actual watts are versus what they are telling you on the site?

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Yea it’s a 340w light, but they advertise it as 1800w-2000w hence the name, Bestva 2000w.
It says it’s full spectrum, but its actually missing a huge part of the green spectrum. It also says it can replace a 1200w HPS, using only 340w, which is just ridiculous.

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@Aolelon ugh so how do I know when I’m looking? Is it in the description somewhere?

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Yes look under item description for Actual Wattage:

@Aolelon thank you so much!! :blush: They are always tying to find ways to trick you!!

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Yes, I dont like amazon lights for that reason. Nee growers dont know any better. Then read the reviews, which are always way over hyped. Then they try to stick it in way to big of a tent, with way to many plants. And end up wondering what’s wrong.
Dont get me wrong. These lights can grow some dank bud, you just need to use them to their capabilities. This light would be good for maybe a 3x3.

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If you look, it says it gets 60 lumens per watt… there are lights on market right now that are pulling near 200 lumens per watt. that’s 3x more light with the same wattage. Albeit slightly more expensive, you make the money back in 1 harvest.

Ok thanks for that info! I am growing 3 to 5 plants in a 3x5 space. They are WW autos so will be smallish in size.

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There are plenty of options out right now that are easy. Good LEDs have a slightly higher upfront cost, but you can easily recover fees in one or two harvest just by the extra bud you can grow with them. Or if you’d like to just stick with that until you can get something better. That is fine.
But just know, almost everyone I’ve talked to, has upgraded from these lights to better ones eventually.
HPS is always an option. They are still doing amazing with low upfront cost.
Maintaining them is where that comes in to play, with bulb costs ect.

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I recommend 2 315w cmh grow lights. That way you can spread out the lights some and have a bigger footprint

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Aren’t LED’s cheaper on your electric bill as well?

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01MT2SGER/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_l1XWBb09AHESD

Do you mean that something posted on google land is misleading? Thanks for the heads up I may have to go to the thread “making your own light “ and add , didn’t have the coin to go top shelf so I guess probably give it a go with two autos and see how results turn out.

It’s understandable. I’m not trying to push you away from using the light or anything. Just giving you a heads up, they are very misleading and that you should start smaller rather than bigger first, to see what its capable of. Then move forward.

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