Overly anxious first time grower

So this is the boyfriend speaking lol. She said you wanted to know a little about my plan for the lighting system. I probably got a little more extravagant then I should have but to cut it short I was going to put a 120 volt AC to 12 volt dc power supply on the rack that would run 400 watts efficiently to save the most energy I could. And it would look like your racks actually a lot. I was planning an soldering everything in myself wire and all. And also get the Red and Blue LED’s in the rack as well. I’ve never been a grower but the research I’ve done suggests to have both lights integrated. The only problem is how to make the pattern to make sure no light would be wasted. I did look the ratio up. But still the placing of the LED’s would be the most difficult. I never did write up actual plans for it because we had both agreed to try and find another route first. Maybe in the future I will do more and send you actual prints of what I come up with. I know this plan I am telling you is very vague so I do apologize. Later!!

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You guys are gonna love doing this!

I would prefer you ditched the 12v power supply and went with dedicated led driver. We can get away from constant voltage that way, and will provide you with more protections, and be a lot more efficient.

Same for the red and blue leds. You can get white leds that provide everything from about 410nm all the way up to about to about 720nm. They’ll grow plenty good weed all by themselves. The best part is they come in pretty much ready to use packages. No need to place individual diodes or anything, and solder free.

There’s a ton of different ways you can go. You can diy a light using boards without buying a kit and save some money. A lot of the members here seem to really like using strips from bridgelux or Samsung. Or there’s a number of different cobs you can use too. I would look around some at different diy lights and see what tickles your fancy. I’m sure I can help with whatever you like.

In the meantime, maybe some of the others can drop some pics of their lights for different ideas. @MattyBear @Myfriendis410 @Covertgrower @Bogleg @DoobieNoobie @Daddy @Momtomask @crazyots

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Here ya go. These are built with @dbrn32 knowledge and help getting the right parts. These are 200 watts each using Samsung strips.




Even this little 50 watt light for seedlings

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Damn… I’m so jealous, especially of your really high vaulted ceilings! Those look great, substantial, and so bright. How many watts is the very bottom picture with only two strips? Did you use samsung lights? Thanks so much for posting. If you don’t mind I’m going to save them to my P.C for reference.

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The little two strip light is 50 watts used 2 Samsung strips and leftover parts from the bigger build. They are insanely bright. And they seem to grow good weed.



The two small looking plants on the right I just harvested and should get about 2 ounces each roughly. The bigger ones will be done in a few days.

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@Budbrother @Budtastic @Buzzlightyear @HJL @Onlythebest79

Don’t be bashful if I forgot you. Too many to keep track of.

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@shungitewhap
Rapid LED kit
Cree CXB 3590 3000K 90 CRI coverage for a 4x4 pushing 700w

Cutter strips (DIY) Cree strip LED’s 3000K 90CRI 1/4” aluminum for heat sink Overkill in a 2x2, but could flower out a 3x3 no problem.

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Love my new HLG QB 120v2



It was fun to learn how to do it with @dbrn32 help.
Oh and I watched a ton of YouTube videos about it. Those helped me understand tremendously. Good luck growing :v:

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Super easy to make! My light is new, and I haven’t completed a grow with them yet. I went with the 3500K to get that extra bit of blue light spectrum in veg. In total it was a $214 build.

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Here’s mine.

3 sets of 10 ea Bridgelux Gen 1 EB strips, 560mm, 3,000K, 240 watts per panel.

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First of all thank you so much everyone for posting your light pics! I am heading out the door and as soon as I get back I’m going to go through and take a closer look at each of them, im so excited! I just wanted to ask a quick question before I head out the door for a few hours. This is my fifth day AFTER soaking my seeds. Out of the three seeds the longest tap root is only between and 1/8 and 1/4 of an inch with the second one only an 1/8 and the last one barely peeking out. I know I probably messed them up by not soaking them in PH’d water. (Once I told this I corrected it but damage probably already done) Do I just keep waiting for them to get a bit bigger or throw them in my medium and hope for the best? Or is it just a lost cause :frowning:

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Amazing! So bright, looks like stage lights. The black box with blue lighted display screen… is that called a Kill a watt device or…? I read about kill a watt on a different forum but yours looks different.

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Thank you so much for sharing! Those look amazing and so substantial.

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That looks amazing! The price sounds perfect too. Thanks for the extra bit of specs. P.S Your dog is really cute too. :slight_smile:

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Wow, your whole grow set up looks amazing! About how much did your build on the top one cost if you don’t mind. Got a quick unrelated question about the wall coverings. Is that just white sheets? Does it get better reflectivity then the mylar?

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$1850. a side

Yes this is Panda wrap…

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Yes this is a kilowatt meter. It tells me the amps and watts I’m using on that strip light.
The 5956 number is the total number of used watts on the meter. I didn’t reset it for the testing.
@shungitewhap

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Perfect! Thanks so much.

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@Covertgrower What do you think? Do I wait or just toss them in my medium.