I’ve had a few successful grows in my space buckets using CFL’s since I started growing a year ago. Thanks for everyone’s help on that.
I’m purchasing a 2 x 4 x 5 foot grow tent and I need a light for it. Want to use a LED panel but which one and what wattage? Might just use the tent for flowering but I haven’t decided that as of yet. Can I get anything half decent for $200. There is so much out there and it’s a bit confusing.
My thinking is to veg my plants in my buckets under CFL and LED bulbs then move them into the tent for flowering. OPINIONS?
Yes you can get a meizhi 900w light for you tent or 2 600w meizhis. Great brand of light it’s right in the middle price range for less and I recommend it to you. That’s all I use is meizhi and very please with the produce of my plants. This is just my opinion as I’m pretty sure more will chime in later
VIPARSPECTRA
4.7 out of 5 stars 54 Reviews
VIPARSPECTRA Reflector-Series 450W LED Grow Light Full Spectrum for Indoor Plants Veg and Flower
Roleadro LED Grow Light, Galaxyhydro Series 300W Indoor Plant Grow Lights Red Blue White Spectrum with UV&IR for Veg and Flower
MARS HYDRO
4.5 out of 5 stars 199 Reviews
MarsHydro Mars 300w 600w LED Grow Light Full Spectrum For Indoor Plant Growth And Flowering Spectrum ETL Certification(Mars 300W the 132W True Watt Panel)
For 200 you could grab a few different lights roladero makes a real nice 2nd Gen full spectrum lights you could get 3 300w for around 210. The reason I use multiple 300w is because I can configure any way I want. My last harvest was one plant under 3 of these lights and it was over 1lb wet and almost 4 oz dried out
What wattage am I looking at for that size of tent? Been reading in the forum that a 300 watt LED is really only 150 true watts. Is this true for all LED light panels or are there some that what is listed is true wattage. On amazon pricing goes from under $100 to thousands of dollars for some lights. What’s the best bang for the buck? The more I read the more I’m confused.
That’s an awesome harvest @Sirsmokes I’m hoping to get there. With my current grows under CFL’s I’m getting 10 to 12 grams per plant.
Really it depends on what you trying to do. I say unless you are trying to go commercial I wouldn’t recommend spending the top dollar. The meizhi are pretty great lights as a couple of the moderators use these lights and have been getting great results along with me. Here’s a post of the the wattage pulled from the wall on most meizhis.
I would lean toward a bigger footprint, like what @Onlythebest79 has it seems… So instead of 1 900 watt, get 3 300 watt lights or 3 600 watt so they cover more of the plants… IMHO @HJL
I currently have a 900 watt viper spectra light and 2 mars hydro 300… I may get 2 more 600 watt meizhi lights and increase my footprint next grow…that may free up one of the mars hydro to use just for veg or something like that @HJL
@HJL If you are going to use the tent mostly for flowering, stay away from the Viparspectra. It is a great light for a complete grow, but they are veg heavy on the light spectrums and wouldn’t be the best for a flower only tent…
And agree with @Zombo , I would get a few smaller wattage lights than one big one, just to spread the footprint out more…
@Onlythebest79
Checked on Amazon for the meizhi lights. 300 Watt is $125 Canadian dollars (I’m in Canada) On the U.S. Amazon site it is $65.99 USD. I’m assuming it is the same light.
If there was way for me to get your address I’d buy the lights for you to get at a cheaper price and I’ll ship to you. But this site has restrictions in place and they are for a good reason. But I hope you are happy with whatever you pick. Check eBay pricing also you might find some being auctioned off for a great price.
There are 2 kinds of Meizhi lights. One is the Reflector Series and the other. …isnt! Haha. That’s the $65 one. The Reflector Series in the States is $83.
Light spectrum and coverage is important and more light is needed in flower. Meizhi is weak in red spectrum which makes it a better veg light. That’s what I use.
Flowering is where the rubber meets the road. This is where a lot of wattage of the correct spectrum will pay dividends. The Roleadro COB’s are a little white for my taste (I have 2).
If you get the wattage up, you will be amazed at your yield. I have a 4 X 6 box that delivers 2 pounds of bud from 3 plants every 2 months. (I veg in a small tent).
That’s a 20 square foot tent! Pretty big and if you get the minimum 40 real watts per square foot, you need 800 watts of LEDs. 1000 watts would be better. Besides buying several lights to get that much, you have to pay the electric bill every month as well. ($1000 per year, where I live.) Do you really need that much weed? Something to think about.
I don’t think you will get 1000 watts for $200. If you paid $80 for 150 real watts, then you would need 7 of them. So it’s more like $560. To find the best deal, you can just calculate $/real watt.
The best bang for your buck would be a single Meizhi 900W. You can get one off eBay for $199 with free shipping. Not sure how that translates to Canadian dollars and if there is a charge for shipping there. I am using 3 of these lights in a 4x8x7 foot tent and they are great! One of these should be plenty. Since you’ve got such a small space, you may want to do a scrog grow and maximize your usage and soak up as much of the light as you can.
@HJL. You only have 8 square feet. So if you go with the true 55watts per square foot then you will only need 400 true Watts. The roleadro cobs pull about 200, so two panels will work. Or get two of the roleadro 300 2and generation and one cob, put cob in middle between the two. The spectrum it puts off😀 my plants love it
China light called Laputa supposed to be 1,000 watt blah blah blah. 3 of those, 2 Roleadro 400 watt cobs and 3 Meizhi 300 watt, 2 of which are for veg.
The Laputa is very red shifted and is better for flower. All up I have 1,340 watts pointed down into 24 square feet.
If you wanna try your hand at a diy led panel you will get the most performance for your money. For $200 you’d have a few different options. All of which would provide higher par levels than anything you’re going to buy for the same amount.
Otherwise take a peek at the long and narrow mars or meizhi fixtures. 2 small or 1 large. They seem to keep the happiest customers for seed to finish grow lights. But a large square one is not the best for your application.
Agreed: For a 4 x 5 tent, you want to spread the lights out a bit or else you are going to get very weak light in the corners. I would think about 4 small lights in a 2 by 2 array rather than one great big one in the middle.
