Thinking of an LED grow!!
- Thread starter cwilly006
- Start date
I think for a 2x2 space the light you are considering would be OK.
IMO....
Rock it out for your first round. The lack of heat will make life easier for you and I don't think a newbie is gonna pull more than .5gpw on a 250w HPS in that size space regardless. ( also by the time you get a fan to cool it and everything it will cost more than the LED plus more for electricity.) If you ever want to upgrade to a larger flower room/ light then you can use the LED for veg. I don't see how t5's would even fit in that situation, a 2ft X 4tube model only pushes 104 watts so I think your better off with 100watts of LED rather than 100w of T'5s.
Just my 2 cents. I just started using the UFO's in flower.....
IMO....
Rock it out for your first round. The lack of heat will make life easier for you and I don't think a newbie is gonna pull more than .5gpw on a 250w HPS in that size space regardless. ( also by the time you get a fan to cool it and everything it will cost more than the LED plus more for electricity.) If you ever want to upgrade to a larger flower room/ light then you can use the LED for veg. I don't see how t5's would even fit in that situation, a 2ft X 4tube model only pushes 104 watts so I think your better off with 100watts of LED rather than 100w of T'5s.
Just my 2 cents. I just started using the UFO's in flower.....
303hydro, for T5's I think he is looking at the light strip ones that are very slim HO T5's and don't have a fixture. You can mount them virtually anywhere and they use very little space.
The sunblaster or sunblaze strip lights are two to consider not sure which is better just as long as you get the full spectrum 6400/6500k ones.
The sunblaster or sunblaze strip lights are two to consider not sure which is better just as long as you get the full spectrum 6400/6500k ones.
Good advice for your led grow so far here. They do need some floros cause something's missing in them. Keep it as close to the plants as you can. The best thing about imo is not needing to vent super heated air from hps lights. You can vent from a cab or tent right into the room and not raise the house AC bill. The higher wattage ones get a little warm, but not too bad.
Cool man, let us know how it goes and take some pics! I would shop around for the best deal on those T5 striplights since they have some sales going on everywhere lately it seems. Haight seems to have a decent product and they do have the higher wattage LED's in them which is always better than those wimpy little 1 watt chips in the ufo's and such which just don't have much if any penetration regardless of what angle the lenses are but it would not be my first choice unless of course I was on a tight budget. They will likely get you through a grow or two with decent results but I would be concered with the longevity of the LED's and power supply, etc. But really at like $265 remember you do get what you pay for and it's only 90 watts of light even though it is named the PPF-400. They will likely get you to where you need to be though if you have healthy plants, a small space AND supplement with the T5's. I would still go pawn something or borrow a few bucks and get the damn Lumigrow for the few hundred extra because you know it's gonna last and has a 3 times longer warranty than the Haight in the 165 watt model and 5 times longer warranty for the 330 watt one. Looks like Greners has the 165 watt version for $565 with 5.95 shipping to Cali http://www.greners.com/lumigrow-es-165-led-grow-light.html
Again, totally up to you man but I know for a fact the LG will grow some big quality nugs and they are built extremely well. A 165 watt LG in that small space with 6500k T5's in the corners would be absolutely perfect for your plants.
You don't have to supplement but it definitely improves everything overall and plants seem to fill out better in flower with no big delays in the flowering response which used to plague LED growers when there was no 740 nm in the spectrum, or even 660 for that matter. In general and regardless of the primary lighting used, some supplemental full spectrum side lighting always is a good thing for any plants grown indoors!
Again, totally up to you man but I know for a fact the LG will grow some big quality nugs and they are built extremely well. A 165 watt LG in that small space with 6500k T5's in the corners would be absolutely perfect for your plants.
You don't have to supplement but it definitely improves everything overall and plants seem to fill out better in flower with no big delays in the flowering response which used to plague LED growers when there was no 740 nm in the spectrum, or even 660 for that matter. In general and regardless of the primary lighting used, some supplemental full spectrum side lighting always is a good thing for any plants grown indoors!
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Gahhhhh your making me want to do that but with 40,000 in school loans, trying to buy a car, and other financial difficulties it is not possible at the moment. I am going to go with the Haight and then once I get caught up financially I will purchase a Lumigrow model and use the Haight for flowering so I can have a perpetual setup. I appreciate all the help and the honest opinions from everyone. I will be documenting my grow so you guys will be able to see the progress. Thanks again!!
Well as of right now it is going to be what the dispensary has for clones and I haven't been in there for a while. I would like to order some seeds but I don't know how safe that is this day and age so I am going to hold off on that. Unfortunately (and fortunately) I live in Mammoth so I don't have the plethora of options that other people have in Cali. I also have a buddy who is going to have some clones too. If I were to order some seeds what would you suggest?
cwilly006 said:
Seriously?
Definitely a Sativa/Indica hybrid and neither a pure Indica or pure Sativa which are much more challenging to grow under LED for several reasons like too much stretch or the lack there of. Dutchgrown has some excellent gear to consider, like the Sweetest Cindy for instance which is a Sweet Tooth #3 x C99 F1 hybrid that has some excellent characteristics which would make it the ideal type of strain to grow in your set-up and it would respond well to topping out into a bush or growing in a single top cola style plant plus it would have good early stretch during the first week or two of flowering to help it yield and fill out well under the LED. LED grows with high output fixtures heavy in the blue spectrum have notoriously short stout plants with tight internodes and the lack of stretch in some pure Indica strains can really bring down the yields simply do to lack of the plant opening up the bud sites so you end up with a short little dense plant with just one small top bud. In the event you do grow something very Indica dominant like Deep Chunk for instance or some of the slower growing Kushes in clone form just keep this in mind and if possible pruine the plant out early into several different top branches for better yields.
With pure Sativa's they may get several feet tall during their long flowering periods and with most LED's (even the Lumigrow) you just are not going to have decent penetration down past the top 2 feet or so of the canopy so forget about growing a 6 foot tall pure Sativa under LED that flowers for 12 weeks it just is going to become a mess unless you are a pro plant trainer. I am telling you this from experience so look for a strain with good early stretch in flower like a Sweet Tooth cross, pure Sweet Tooth
, Cindy 99 / C99, AK-47, Blue Satellite 2.2 (half Sweet Tooth), and I am sure there are plenty of other Sativa/Indica hybrids available but those are just a few reliable ones off the top of my head and I am a bit biased towards the Sweeter side of life. But thanks for asking! Good luck in your growing adventures
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I think you've gotta keep in mind what you want out of it. A light personal grower can really get by fine vegging with 90W UFO and maybe firing in a T5 for flowering. And still come away with excellent meds.
I've had 5 or 6 runs and tweek and add different stuff each time. I've gone from using just CFLs, to putting in a 150W HPS and Vortex fan. Now I use a 90w UFO for veg and 180w UFO to flower. Even a tri-band LED vegs good. I'm currently using a 180W, 7 band UFO to flower and see what she yields (first time using it. Freaking bright, has bleached some leaves).
What I'm trying to get at is, that it's a great hobby, but you can easily get caught up spending way more than you intended. Yet you don't have to. I like how you are cautious and doing your research, and I think LEDs are the way to go for us small time hobbyists.
PS: BTW, I've read it many times, lotta people say, a person's first grow stays in their memory as one of their best. Mine was Blueberry. Only maybe 10 grams. But YUMMO! Definitely one of my best (in MY mind anyway). So, you've got a lot to look forward to.
I've had 5 or 6 runs and tweek and add different stuff each time. I've gone from using just CFLs, to putting in a 150W HPS and Vortex fan. Now I use a 90w UFO for veg and 180w UFO to flower. Even a tri-band LED vegs good. I'm currently using a 180W, 7 band UFO to flower and see what she yields (first time using it. Freaking bright, has bleached some leaves).
What I'm trying to get at is, that it's a great hobby, but you can easily get caught up spending way more than you intended. Yet you don't have to. I like how you are cautious and doing your research, and I think LEDs are the way to go for us small time hobbyists.
PS: BTW, I've read it many times, lotta people say, a person's first grow stays in their memory as one of their best. Mine was Blueberry. Only maybe 10 grams. But YUMMO! Definitely one of my best (in MY mind anyway). So, you've got a lot to look forward to.
Blueberry and all variations thereof 
The only caution I have is pure Blueberry (I used DJ Shorts) can be really finicky. Maybe like SOFT indicated, a cross might be best for a newb. I go 100% organic so feeding strong chemicals wasn't an issue with me. Maintaining stress free temps, times, and good medium is critical for success. I still had a couple failures before rockin' it. Kinda expensive failures.
T
tuinman
Chiming in on the DJ Shorts blueberry being rather finicky, it'll take some fun getting it dialed in.
