Which light should I get for my 2x2x4?

[Rathunter83]

Hello everyone. I have found myself in a pickle trying to decide which light to get. So here are my options. I'm using a 2x2x4 ft grow tent. Trying to keep the plants flat and bushy with a scrog net and fim/lst, due to my restricted ceiling height. I am currently using a homemade LED fixture running 4-9 watt 5000k bulbs around 3200 lumens.

I had purchased a Meizhi 450 reflector but quickly realized I got a little overzealous with my purchase and had no room left to adjust the light height. So I sold that light and am looking for a new one.

I can't decide between a 2ft, 4 bulb T5 and swap bulbs come flower time. Or I have been considering the Maxisun 300 watt dimmable LED light. I think the T5 would be good for my small tent but I am skeptical about light penetration. The LED on the other hand is much more intense lighting but I would need to constantly adjust the dimmers to not burn/bleach the plant. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[TheFertilizer]

Well, I think I would go with T5 in consideration of how small the space is and the low ceiling height. You will want to be able to get the canopy very close, and since you're planning to use scrog, and the tent footprint is about the same size as your desired light, then I think penetration and distribution would be optimal. With scrog the whole point is to keep the canopy level and flush, so that penetration isn't as much as a factor as distribution. The other thing to consider is the heat difference from running the LED versus the T5. I can't really speak about that from personal experience, but I know the T5 runs very cool, and I hear that LEDs can heat the space up pretty fast.

This is my T5 of the same size in a 4x4x8... The plants are just arranged like that for the photo, but anyway thought maybe that would give you an idea of the light penetration/distribution. That's in a space literally twice as large too.

 

[Rathunter83]

Thank you for the input. I had the 450 in the tent for a single light cycle and temps stayed around 75 with the exhaust running. May I ask which T5 you use and how you like it? I was leaning towards the Durolux fixture.

 

[TheFertilizer]

Thank you for the input. I had the 450 in the tent for a single light cycle and temps stayed around 75 with the exhaust running. May I ask which T5 you use and how you like it? I was leaning towards the Durolux fixture.

Mine seems to be rather generic but the brand is called DoubleLux. Some of them go for a lot more than others and I'm not really sure what justifies the price, just find something with a warranty and that's UL or ETL listed. This one ran me about $100 I do like it but I think I've seen better reflective material on one a buddy had. This one has a diffused, kind of "pitted" surface, the other one I've seen had a flat glossy mirror surface. Some say those are actually worse, but it seems like it works just as well, but to the eye the one with the shiny reflector looked brighter.

I think the biggest advantage with the T5 would be how close you can get your plants to it. I may be wrong but I think there's still some issues with getting plants too close to an LED, but with a T5 you can get them practically right underneath the light.

 

[Rathunter83]

I know the general rule with LED is 18"-24" above the canopy. I know a guy who has two AK48 in a 2x4x78" and he still has his light 24" away in flower.

I've settled on the Durolux brand. 2ft-4 bulb for $52 on amazon. Im also very interested in the Eye Hortilux bulbs. There is a fixture that GrowBright make called the Tek fixture. A 2ft-4 bulb Tek light puts out twice the lumens of the Durolux but it seems to use double tube/single end bulbs that I haven't seen anywhere for sale. Thanks again for the info.

 

[Agemon]

I have a king plus 600 watt LED and a 300 watt Viparspectra. If i did it all over again id get the 900 watt Viparspectra.

 

[Agemon]

Ive learned something new. You can now buy LED bulbs that will fit a T5 fixture. I know this is late info.

 

[Weezze]

I have a Mars-Hydro Mars Pro II 80 in my 2'x2' tent, its great!
I keep it around 8" from the top of the plant.