As human beings we want “our way” to be right but I have learned many years ago that there are 50 roads to Rome and they all get there. Some are faster and some are prettier but in the end you end up in the same place.
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First off welcome to the forum @monkman , the @ in front of some ones name will get their attention (if you did not know).Every grow is as different as all of us who are growing, there are known and controllable variables and then you have some unknown or uncontrollable. What you find in most cases is that when you start you realize you still need to research more, because of technology , technique, necessity or personal preference changes. You are in the right place to figure all that out. No matter what style or methods you choose ,chances are it is happening here. Happy grows brother, now where did I put that pipe?
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Cool fam I will do that for u and yes start it early but remember that u need to leave some on top cause that’s we’re most off the intensity of the light is but the ones at the bottom well jst block the light that u need
u mite have to do a zoom in so u will see that I only got on top and all the small one that come off the stem I hope it a ok foto
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Thanks for the heads-up @Holmes and thanks for the pic @Shuggz. I will put my order in tomorrow so i can go down to the bank. I think I will try the bank transfer for my first and order ten WW to get the extra seeds. I am real excited to jump into this endeavor.
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@monkman there are good and bad to be said for HID and LED, in my limited use of either I have found LED to be equal to and in most cases far superior to HID in all areas. Heat generation, efficiency, penetration, and all around performance. Do a search on COBs, Quantum Boards and strips and check dbrn32s DIY LED light thread
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Is this the Phototron you mention?
Or at least the type you had/have?
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Hey, @Skydiver, I don’t think it is. on the first page of your pdf it says 6 bulbs and mine had 3 “u” shaped twisted florescents. also my instruction manual was different than this one. i got rid of my phototron 30 years ago much to my chagrin now lol.
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Hi. When you top your plant it will create two tops. @monkman Many people leave all the leaves on the plant. I do not. Once i see a true branch shoot get a good start, i clip that sucker leaf. That works for me. you can do LST, bending the stems by tying them with string to the pot or an anchor of some type. It will help with height, air flow and sunlight exposure. Try it. Its easy to do. You will like it. Use this portal. Read a lot of topics. Ask questions. Very good people here. Good luck. 
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If you have any light questions… go no further than @dbrn32 Lightman guru. He will be happy to help. I just tagged him for you. Good luck. Great grow.
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I heard abt the phototron and always wanted one I was a teenager and it cost 500 bucks it had six sealed sections and supposedly could yield budsitetes on each inch of the plant. And I believe it was self watering. Man that was 35 years ago. Crazy
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For the record, I never suggested there was an issue with what you were planning on doing. Just that I wasn’t familiar with it. 30 years ago I didn’t even know what weed was lol. Looks pretty neat, but I would be unable to help you much with what would be best in those.
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I think back then was the beginning of indoor growing and closet farming. The new revolution. I was just a teenager lol
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Thanks anyway @dbrn32. I haven’t had one in 30 years but wish i had one now lol I am really enjoying talking to folks on here but suspect i have been smoking for longer than a lot have been alive lol. I have spent the last 3 hours looking at stuff online after searching for “best LED grow light for marijuana” on google. the list i was looking at tonight was for 2019, which was different than the one from last month. i had my favorite picked out from then but it wasn’t even on this one. What do you suggest for a 4x4x6 ft grow tent in LED. I saw one in the 2019 list that looked pretty good that was 1000 or 1200 watts. I don’t remember the name off hand, but it was $389 so it wasn’t bad. looking at some are suggesting makes it hard for me to go for as i don’t want to put 700 to a grand in. I read a bit in your DIY about the Q board and building your own. though i was controls eng, i was not allowed to use tools and that was lucky, i can almost kill myself with a screwdriver so I don’t want to try building one. I just hope I can get my tent assembled without destroying it 
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ah ha, found it, it is the Vipraspectra series 300 1200
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Lmao, you’ve probably been smoking longer than I’ve been around anyway. I’m not sure which reviews you were reading, but chances are none of them were the best lights available.
In my opinion, Fluence probably has the best thing going right now. They’re also $1200-$1600 lights. What you see with the quantum boards is getting you up in that area of performance with a no frills package at a significantly lower price. From that perspective, there’s a handful of light manufacturers that offer lights of similar technology. All of those are going to be way above the lights you’re seeing on Amazon in performance.
If I had to guess, your mentor has experience with the Amazon style led fixtures. In which case I wouldn’t blame her for growing with hps instead. I probably would too! If you want a good led light for a 4x4, I would expect to pay at least $700 if not a little more. If that’s not in the budget, I would suggest looking at cmh or just going with an air cooled hps. There’s nothing magic about led fixtures that cost a couple hundred bucks, you’ll just be paying less for lower performance.
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wow, kk thanks for the heads-up @dbrn32 I will save my money and wait til they come down some. I won’t try some of the “ready made” for a while yet, but I also think that they are making strides in those by the pics I saw. I think I will be able to get the HPS to work for the tents for a while and might be able to upgrade in a year when they die off.
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Don’t get me wrong, the vipar will definitely grow weed. But I feel you’ll be disappointed if you expect it to outgrow hps. If you needed a low cost light to get started they fit the bill. But if you already have hps you’ll do as good or better with that.
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looking at the footprint it barely covers 3.5x3.5 so it is not quite right for my tent, was thinking of having to put two in, but then you are up at 700 bucks anyway. what i liked about it was the switches for growth and flower and it had both uv and ir. I haven’t bought any lights yet, but am going with the HPS for the first tent as that is what my support group do and they have good luck with it. I really wanted to try LED’s for my second because it will be in an upstairs bedroom and was worried about blowing heat into the room in the summer. I figured having two HPS up there wouldn’t be that easy to deal with. For the most part, heat was the reason I was going to the LEDs.
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Barely covers that big too, those par measurements are pretty low. Don’t be fooled by the claims of uv either. It’s not uvb, which is typically what would be wanted for growing weed.
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@dbrn32 I just got to thinking I should ask you about the HPS so I know what i’m dealing with when I go to my friends at the med pot store. What should I be getting in the way of HPS for my 4x4x6 tent with 4 plants in it. I was just reading on another forum thread about cobs also but that looked like a hassle.
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