What is REALLY your opinion of CFL lights

A pound per plant is awfully optimistic, but not unattainable. @greenthumbfun

I can tell you that it will probably take a lot more than you’re thinking. You’ll definitely want to get into some level of commercial lighting. If you’re looking led, probably a few thousand bucks in lights alone. Then you’re gonna need some pretty solid climate control, and ventilation. Once you get that, you’ll need to veg them for probably a couple months.

Is that what you’re looking to do, or maybe a bit beyond what you had originally expected?

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got ya :wink: I figured as much, i’ll take what I can. but I am looking at investing money into the set up for the future but for now I’m want solid lighting for a good start and I do want to go with LED. with the heat and power consumption LED is the way to go. do you suggest a certain type of lamp for the 5 plant grow?

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If you’re looking to get started with something that you can build on to eventually to fill that room, I would definitely go with some sort of cob setup.

Timber grow lights offers several different configurations of a few different cobs. You can also save some money buying a kit from them and assembling yourself. Or, source all the parts individually and build your light.

If you’re looking at buying complete fixtures, the timber framework, horticulture lighting group hlg 550, or pacific lighting concepts plc-6 are all pretty good bang for your buck in commercial grow lights. Any one of them or the timber lights designed for a 4x4 would do ok with 5 plants as long as they’re kept together. Or you can look at running a few of the 2-300 watt linear cob bars. There’s a few different ways you could go, depending on budget and where you want to end up. @greenthumbfun

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@dbrn32 … my grow room is 13x13. I have a whole house window unit A/C ( I think 30,000 btu). I want to grow 2 plants, one light per plant. I’m on a fixed income, so price is a definite factor. Any suggestions? I want to use same light for veg and flower

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That’s neat that your can DIY panels, I’m looking into that

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I think the light that @greenthumbfun posted above seems like it would be reasonable for your application.

It may be a good idea to start a new thread providing a link and asking the others. As I said earlier, I know there are few here already growing with them. Their first hand input would probably be best.

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Thanks @dbrn32

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@dbrn32… I want an led light I can use for veg AND bloom. I want to do a 4 x 4 scrog. I have a budget NOT to exceed $300. What do you suggest

There’s not a lot out there in a single fixture for $300. And the lights I would recommend for a 4x4 scrog are going to start at well over twice that. I know of one off the top of my head that would do a decent job in a 3x3 scrog type grow for about $360.

The only problem with that is that it’s a square fixture, and not easily added to later. 3 42" bars between 200-300 watts of cobs would be good. I think you could start with 1 for around $300, would be just a little shy of doing half that size. And then add another down the road, and see where you’re at then.

Otherwise you’ll probably be looking at 4 $80 fixtures from amazon/ebay. In my opinion, that will still leave a lot to be desired.

When running a scrog you don’t need quite the intensity as just letting them grow natural, but you want good relatively even coverage. And it takes a fairly large fixture to provide that kind of coverage. I like using something like cobs when trying to achieve this at lower cost, because you can run them higher and spread out the intensity without getting fluffy buds. But that’s just me. They cost a little more per watt, but you’re also getting more par per watt. So running a full 50 watts per square foot isn’t necessary.

Up to you, I know what it’s like to be on a budget. But I’ve also spent more money buying stuff 2 or 3 times because I pinched a couple pennies in the beginning.

Let me know what you think is the best option for you, and I’ll see what I can up with…

I’m old and don’t understand about all this new technology. @dbrn32… Why is led better than MH/HPS light. I can get a 1000w for about $200. I have now finished 3 grows. Each one getting better, but realizing that I DESPERATELY need help in going the right direction. I GREATLY appreciate the help y’all give me.

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Led is not necessarily better than a mh/hps setup. One of the advantages of led is the ability to create more photosynthetic active radiation per watt. So the ability is there to create an equal amount of light drawing less power and creating less heat.

I think it’s important to distinguish that not every led will automatically create higher efficacy. And the really good ones get rather expensive. Despite most manufacturer suggestions, it takes the really good led’s about 600 watts to meet the par footprint of a 1000 watt hid system.

It’s also good to note that there’s a pretty big difference in light spectrum produced between the two. While it’s not as easy to replace all of the hps spectrum, led can do a very good job of replacing the blue and red wavelengths needed for photosynthetic efficiency from the same diode.

Due to the higher efficacy of the modern led’s it’s entirely possible to increase your yield per watt using them as well. But it’s not automatically given that led will yield more. The right led will, but that goes back to actually creating the same amount of output from less power consumed.

Unless you can source the parts and build a light yourself, you’re looking at a starting price of around $800 or so to actually replace a 1000 watt hid system with an led fixture. There is no magic within any $100 or $200 led light. Usually just exaggerated performance numbers. Led can be a major benefit, but you’re gonna pay for it.

@dbrn32… You are AWESOME. I have a 1000 mh/hps fixture now. I’m using 5gal buckets. Already started getting materials to build a RDWC system with 20gal trash cans. I can get another 1000w mh/hps set up for around $200, and have one light for each plant. Heat is not a problem. What would be the advantages of an $800-$1,000 led light

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If heat isn’t a problem, and you’re happy with the performance, the only real advantage I would see is lower cost on the power bill. Whether or not you can justify the expense now vs saving in the long run is up to you.

Figure it like this. 2 600 watt led fixtures could essentially replace your 2 1000 watt hid. Based on running one 12/12 and another 18/6, you’d be saving 11,200 watts per day on lights alone. Could potentially save on some cooling or ventilation costs, but that’s hard to judge.

Depending on your rate, figure even if you saved $1 a day, plus bulb replacement, you’re close to saving the cost of one fixture the first year. It’s probably actually a little more savings than that, but I’d rather be short than high on my estimates. After 2 years those savings should have you close or better than even. With several years of of service afterwards, that the same savings will just stay in your pocket.

@dbrn32… is that 600 watts at the plug? Is that the one you said would cost around $800

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Yep. I’m sorry @Grandaddy013 , I probably should’ve clarified that.

@dbrn32… thanks for your help. Your feedback kept me from buying a light that wouldn’t be sufficient. I’ve decided to get another 1000w mh/hps light. Since they have digital/dimmable ballast, I’m going to put them on 750w each

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I’m a little out of the loop on hid lighting, it’s too hard to keep up with all of the led stuff.

But I’ve read in a few places that some of the 600 watt mh/hps systems were more efficient than the 1000’s. If you plan on dimming, you may want to check some of those out. Also, the larger lec models would probably be a good option as well. I just don’t have the knowledge to point you in the exact direction.

Thanks @dbrn32… Now I’m going to start a journal if I can figure out where to put it

A grow journal? Under the beginner tab there is a specific section for grow journals. If you’re looking for info on hid lighting, post under the lighting and ventilation section, or go to the indoor tab and post in grow room section.

http://ilgmforum.com/c/beginner/grow-journals

+New Topic in the upper right corner!

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