New Girl Here! Been Reading The Forums For Awhile & Still Going To Have Some Questions. --HELP-- I think I may have messed up before my 1st upcoming grow begins

I would follow @dbrn32 around like a puppy dog until you have a new light picked out lol. He’s an illumination god hahaha!

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I know the budget problems like no other lol. My first set up was a total of $115 in all. I built my grow box from scraps, couldn’t afford good lights and found some 85watt cfl on Amazon(ran me $14 each x3) nutes, ph adjustment kit, airpump, airstone. The lights worked ok but needed way more seeing my space is 11.5sqft. I am now running 2 galaxyhydro 300 watts and the difference is night and day.

first pic is week 3 of flower first grow. Pic 2 is week 5 veg of my current grow

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It’s perfectly fine to start small. Back when HID bulbs were all the rage, people used one 250 watt MH bulb and then switched to a 250 watt HPS bulb to grow one plant in a 2.5 x 2.5 space. Or just used an HPS bulb for the whole thing. Still works fine. LEDs just draw a bit less power so your electric bill is lower.

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I’d love to follow @dbrn32 around like a puppy but don’t want to impose upon his time too much. I am going bonkers over ‘lights’!!! My seeds arrived yayyy…but no lights or tent yet to get started. I planned on a 3 x 3 x 72 tent but am willing to go for smaller tent to accommodate a light that will be effective and cost-forgiving. I live right next door to my landlord who includes electric in my rent… if he see’s (and he will) a substantial spark-up in the bill… Big Red Flag Up! Not cool!! I’ve got a pretty good grip on MJ both Medically/Adult but it’s the dang lights presenting the obstacle :grimacing: And I need to keep their purchase cost under $100. Gheesh LOL Sorry for lengthy reply but I’m freaking.

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Thanks Dwells, wow your set-up is very nice…love the way you used mylar to cover buckets and your scrog rocks – your babies look happy/healthy. I’ve checked out galaxyhydro 300 watts (reviews are awesome) and have it on my ‘light’ shopping list for @dbrn32 to check out, amongst others I’ve viewed. He’s the Light God :star_struck: Wish I would have signed up here first bcuz there’s a lot of misinformation on the web regarding issues i.e lighting, etc. Have a great day!!

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[quote=“1BigFella, post:23, topic:17467, full:true”]
It’s perfectly fine to start small. Back when HID bulbs were all the rage, people used one 250 watt MH bulb and then switched to a 250 watt HPS bulb to grow one plant in a 2.5 x 2.5 space. Or just used an HPS bulb for the whole thing. Still works fine. LEDs just draw a bit less power so your electric bill is lower.
[/quotes]

Hi BigFella, I actually started considering the Old School Ways with lighting…thought it might be less costly all the way around…well I guess not …put that idea 6 deep lol. I normally grasp things very fast but not this lighting situation. They talk about amount of watts pulled directly from wall & I’m just not getting it!!! Besides not wanting my landlord to see an abnormal spike in electric (he includes in my rent)… most of the lights I’ve looked at run on 120v but I have 110v. Seeds are in just waiting on lights & to order tent which I planned on 3x3x6 but willing to go with a smaller size to save on lighting.

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110v is a slang term for a 120 volt nominal system. Same thing with 115v. They’re all referencing the same standard U.S. wall outlet.

I wouldn’t personally go down in tent size to be ideal with less light. You can always purchase another light later to add to your current lighting. It’s a lot easier to tune on a larger space than to try and get more out of a smaller space in my opinion. There’s no real replacement for square footage.

For $100 I’ll have to spend some time looking around at what’s out there. It seems to change pretty regularly. But I’m sure there’s something fair that will get you started well

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OMG! Seeing you pop up just made my day brighter!! I’ve been looking & bookmarking a few to show you: [Morsen 600w LED

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0778K6TR2?tag=greenrel-20

[MarsHydro LED]

https://www.amazon.com/MarsHydro-Spectrum-Hydroponic-Indoor-Growing/dp/B00XC3LBI2?tag=greenrel-20

… [GalaxyHydro]

https://www.amazon.com/Galaxyhydro-Dimmable-Indoor-Plants-Lights/dp/B00NAPA7GE?tag=greenrel-20

… there’s others I saw on site(s) which can’t be posted here. I trust in your advice on a good pick even if not any of these I posted. Thank you so much !!!

(EDIT: I fixed your links. Please don’t link text as many users wont recognize these as clickable links. If you enter the links on their own separate line you get a nice letter box view as above. @bob31 )

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Look at the Meizhi and Viparspectra and Roleadro too.

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The three of them are very close, if it were me I like the light spectrum produced by the mars the best.

I haven’t had a lot of time to look, but I found one that offers about twice the par levels of those for not too much more than $100. If you’re able to swing it, I think this light would do very well for you.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01J19ADTI?tag=greenrel-20

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Viparspectra makes a nice 450w led. I have one and its not bad. I have it paired with a 600w meizhi led in my 4x4

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I agree. I would simply be showing preference to the models with a little more production on red end of spectrum. I think the viparspectra lights are also a fair buy at the price point.

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If you are concerned about the landlord seeing the spike in your electric bill, this is very easy to calculate. Say you have a 2 x 2 tent with a 200 watt light. (Watts matter, not volts.) That’s 0.2 kilowatt hours per hour x 18 hours per day = 9 kilowatt hours per day. If your electricity costs $0.15 per killowatt hour that is $1.35 per day or $40.50 per month. Think he would notice that? Would he notice $81 per month if you went with a 400 watt light?

I think maybe any artificially lighted inside grow may be something a landlord getting the electric bill will notice. That may not be a practical situation unless your landlord gets cut in and agrees to it. Maybe you need a place with it’s own electric bill.

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My Morsen 1k are phenomenal! Good luck shopping and grow confident and happy

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Thank you dbrn for all you’ve been doing to help me. You’ve given me your expertise, your time, and, a few solid options to decide from… I’ll be growing soon!!! :sunglasses:

(P.S.) My apologies about messing up on the links.

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Out of likes sorry, you’re welcome!

If you are only doing 1 at a time you could keep elec down buy putting in sun light and only use lights when its dark out. That’s assuming you are in a legal state or have a good hiding spot lol

@Key2THC thanks. Works great only problem I’m running into is it’s not tall enough. Ill be taking the floor out so plants gain another 2feet grow room. My girls almost ready for the scrog to go back in

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Oh hell no… not growing outside in this barbaric State! LOL :grimacing: I’m trying to picture you taking the floor out of tent…please show pix after it’s all done. IPower has a 36 x 36 x 72’ tent for $80 & that would give you a lot more room…j/s in case materials are going to run some $$ to convert your room. I did decide on a light… it’s the MEIZHI that @dbrn suggested.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01J19ADTI/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I31CO8R2555GIQ&colid=1WNCQ8OXPW3OF&psc=
The more I read about it the more excited I am to receive it. Will be growing soon!!! Hope my link shows correctly cuz I messed up last time.

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I think there are several members here that would agree you made a good selection. Very good bang for your buck there. With more or less budget may have been some other options, but I think you’ll be pretty happy. Can’t wait to see you get some ladies underneath it!

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