I have two LED (claim to pull 200w each) and augmented with 6 CFL in a 4x2 tent.
I am going to see how it goes, but I am pretty interested in HLG HLW Xl QB324 and XL QB kits. Both are 320 watts. The kit with two boards looks updated, but not sure what difference it would make. The three board kit might give better coverage? @dbrn32 do you have any opinion between the two?
As I said I will likely stick with my 4x2 for a while so these seemed like a nice option.
Any of them are nice options for a 2x4. The 324 board is indeed new, and major difference to other boards is that is uses some 90cri diodes. Those provide a little more intensity deeper in red wavelengths.
The 3 board kit will provide a little more coverage, but runs on lower current to fit all 3 boards on same driver. If that makes sense?
It does make sense. I was leaning towards the 3 board, but now I think the two board setup since it is not a lot of space to light up. Thanks a bunch @dbrn32. Appreciate the feedback!! 
No problem!
@dbrn32 I did have another thought. One of the options for the light is a 90 degree optics. Looks like a plastic affair to me around $45. Any thoughts about buying it with the light?
I’m still talking about the 320W XL QB324 LED KIT at HLG.
I have mixed feelings about them. They do make the light more focused, but they also block a little bit of the light. I wouldn’t think they’re needed, but if it’s something you want, then fair enough too.
Ok, this is my first time growing and posting. I have a lot of questions but will start off slowly. I have 2- 4 x 8 x 80" grow tents. I plan on 1 for flowering and 1 for veg. I have 3-5" cow pots for the seeds. 1 auto flower, 1 fem, and the other is just from some seeds found in a purchase. I am guessing it is regular or fem. Either way a few questions… I think in the veg stage once the fem is ready to flower I will move it to the other tent. Is it ok to keep the auto flower in the veg tent with lights 24/7 or not? Also, I have a few LED lights. 1- 2400w, 1-2000w , 1-1200w, 1-300w. Once it is time to transplant the 5" pots, I have 5-gallon fabric pots. Do you think they are too big to transplant the 5" pots into. I am just putting plant and pot together in the larger one. Eventually, I want to grow 2 mothers. Both will be fem. Should I be able to keep them in veg stage and for how long so I can keep taking clones? Tons of questions. Looked all over for answers but seems I have mixed answers.
I would keep the autoflower kn your veg room to flower. No I dont think the 5gal are 2 big to transplant in to just as long as you make sure not to overwater them.
You cant have 2 mothers unless they are female, that would be considered 2 fathers… sorry I had to. Found that quite funny. You can keep mothers in veg as long as you want and take clones off them, as long as you keep them happy. They can be kept in veg for years and supply clones.
Great! Thank you. That is what I wanted to hear. So keeping 2 female mothers of different strains in the same room with lights on 24/7 along with veg stage of clones will work… What do you think of the LED lights. too much? I also have the co2 pouch to help. your thoughts?
I’m not sure what led lights you’re using. I’m sure they’re just the same as any other with the true led wattage hidden. You need to look at the actual wattage of your lights to figure out how strong they are. So a 2400w isnt really 2400w they just use that as a marketing tactic.
They say it uses 450 w of electricity but I thought LED lights used less electricity but put out the same watts as they claim?
No, It uses 450w of electricity so it puts out 450w of electricity. Youre not going to get 2400w from 450w. Like i said its a marketing tactic used by chinese grow light manufacturers to make their lights seem like more watts then they are. They use 240 10w lights which means 2400w. but if they ran those 10w leds at max those chips wouldnt last very long. So they are running them at around 1/4 of their rated power to extend life of the chip. @jt123
OK. Thank you for the insight. So in a 4 x 8 grow tent, how many watts should I have?
Not to forget potential heat issues due to a lack of cooling if run “full”, you try to dissipate that through the poor cooling system these things have and it won’t be long before it goes “flashy flashy” as heat issues surface, also ruining the life of the ultra-cheap and nasty drivers and LED’s.
There’s a reason these things are cheap…
You want around 30-40w per sqft so in a 4x8 you would want around 1100w of real watts…
Which do you recommend then? I also have one of those portable air conditioners and vent the heat out one of the tent sleeves
I dunno, for that space you’re looking at a LOT of watts, you could probably look at @Aolelon’s post above as being a minimum. so I’d likely be looking at QB’s IF I thought about doing such a test. I mean, I’ve seen a vlog thing, well I zipped through it, but you could see a comparable growth of tomatoes, same age, with a Viparspectra 300, real power draw less than half of that, and a 65w QB. So on the QB there alone that’s comparable growth to something with twice the power draw.
It’s all about the efficiency, you want the best efficiency possible so the airco doesn’t have to work so hard and good ventilation, and these “grow lights” are not the most efficient or long lasting. So, as a comparable price to your “2400w” grow light you would probably get a better result from a 260w QB set, if you can find one, purely due to it chewing up slightly over half of the power but arguably producing more usable light.
You can use the lights you have. Just make sure you check the actual wattage of the lights and add it up to around 1100-1500W.
Everyone has there own opinions on various lights. That said, I am running several Dimgogo (by Morsen LED) fixtures (1400 watts) with good results. I will not hesitate purchasing additional Morsen LED products if I need more lights.
Now, I have not used them for multiple grows yet, don’t know about expect life or reliability over time.