1000W LEDs for first time grow

[jimmyjams]

Longtime lurker - first time grower. Any advice much appreciated.

I am looking into buying a 1000W LED Grow Light For Plants' Flowering Stage With Double Chip 10w Leds Factory Price Growlight Plant Lamp From Qkwinled, $81.41
or
Recommeded High Cost Effective 1000w Led Grow Light With 9 Band Full Spectrum For Hydroponic Systems And Greenhouse Led Grow Light Kits Garden Lamps From Growatts, $88.8

Worth the purchase? I am worried about heat and power consumption - HPS scares me - never grown a thing in my life - not technically savvy - small grow space. I have 3 gallon pots, fox farm ocean forest soil, grow tent, fans, etc. What type of yields should I expect?

Currently my buddy gave me for free a 45w LED and some 55W CFLs, I got 8 green crack seeds that just started to germ.

Will purchasing this light for 100 bucks make my yields go from 1 ounce to 8 ounces?

 

[jimmyjams]

Hey thanks for the advice - what would the hps equivelant be if I bought their 800w or 400w version

 

[Icemud]

Hey I can try to help...

Good to see a long time lurker become a member! nice!!! I do want to give you some advice though, as 420 Mag doesn't allow linking to "non sponsor" grow lights so just wanted to give you a word to the wise so you can enjoy many years of growing here with us don't wanna see you get in trouble

Now with that being said... there are a few questions I would like to ask you about your grow. This will help other members and myself have a better understanding of your needs and what to recommend.

What size is your growing area... WxLxH?

How many plants do you put in this grow area? It sounds like you have 8 seeds so I'm assuming you will be growing all 8.

What is your budget? what would you feel comfortable spending on lighting, and what is the absolute max?

What light(s) are you using now in your tent? Do you plan on using LED with what you already have, or replacing it?


If you answer those questions you will be able to get a more detailed response from myself and many other growers here who can recommend things to meet your budget and grow area.

I would recommend checking out our sponsors Sponsors : 420 MAGAZINE (R) - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
By supporting our sponsors, this helps fund 420 magazine to keep a friendly, tidy, clean and informational forum running There are a lot of very affordable sponsors with LED lights here, and the bonus of going with a sponsor is that there are most likely many other growers here who also use the same lights, and have similar setups to help. Also not all, but some of the LED companies here have reps online that can help you with questions, issues, and product support too. Some do, some don't.

As far as your yield question... its hard to answer because you could have 10 growers all growing the same strain and clone and you could get results all over the spectrum. It depends on what light you currently are using, how skilled of a grower you are, what nutrients and soil or grow medium type, growing style, time in veg, plant training...and the list goes on... all of this can influence total yield.

Generally speaking though, if you got 1oz per plant with your current light, then adding more light (to the extent of maxing lighting out) will give you more yield. Its not linear so going from 100w to 800w for example, will not give you 8x yield, but will significantly increase your yield probably by 30-60% realistically, but the quality will be better and more trichomes.... by adding more light.

So assuming that your 8 seeds all are females, 1oz per plant is quite common in indoor grows and grow tents, and actually many growers indoors in tents can get anywhere from 1-5+oz per plant, some growers growing 1 single plant in a large pot can get lbs indoors, so it all depends again... but with that being said... 1 oz per plant is very easy to do with good lighting, good environment, good grow medium and practicing good growing methods... so if all 8 of your seeds are female, I think as long as you are getting sufficient light, you should be able to accomplish 8oz and quite possibly a lot more!!

Quite honestly, in 3 gallon pots, I'm guessing you are using at least a 2x4 tent, I think you probably could get anywhere from 1-4oz per plant average let us know more about your budget and size of your grow area and members here might be able to give you recommendations on a perfect fit for a light, but definitely check out the sponsors, as there are about 5 or 6 different LED companies that all over very affordable solutions.

Happy Growing and welcome to 420 Magazine!

 

[jimmyjams]

What size is your growing area... WxLxH?

I have a spare room with hardwood floors, thinking about purchasing a grow tent off amazon for 100 bucks. Does it make a big difference? I live in Denver with gf, so we can legally have six plants flwering, 12 total at once.

How many plants do you put in this grow area? It sounds like you have 8 seeds so I'm assuming you will be growing all 8.

I found 8 seeds in a bag I got from a rec store in denver, so I germinated them. No idea of sex, max I can have flower at once is 6.

What is your budget? what would you feel comfortable spending on lighting, and what is the absolute max?

I want to spend 100-200 bucks on lighting, 100 bucks on tent/timer/soil, would be willing to spend more than 200 if I can yield qp or hp per plant.

What light(s) are you using now in your tent? Do you plan on using LED with what you already have, or replacing it?

Current light is 'Roleadro Panel Grow Light Series,45W LED Plant Grow Light with Red Blue Spectrum for Growing&Flowering' - I have a cardboard box I cut a whole in the top with a little fan on side - I put germinated seeds in red plastic cups with foxfarm ocean forest soil - I put the light about a foot above the plants - they just started to sprout yesterday -

Probably replacing it. I figure my current light can get me through seedling stage, maybe some veg, but not flower.

Thoughts? Should I order a grow tent? Lighting advice? I have been reading about these COB LEDs and mars hydro

 

[sadhu9]

I have a 5'x 4' grow area indoors and have a 1000 watt HPS for flowering. I want to go to LED lighting and wondered what the equivalent in LED wattage would I need to replace my 1000 watt HPS set up? I found a 1000 watt LED that seems small for my grow space. I would also like to go with a DIY cob system. The videos on you tube are encouraging Thanks for any input. I hear bad and good about LED's!!!!!
!

 

[Icemud]

What size is your growing area... WxLxH?

I have a spare room with hardwood floors, thinking about purchasing a grow tent off amazon for 100 bucks. Does it make a big difference? I live in Denver with gf, so we can legally have six plants flwering, 12 total at once.

How many plants do you put in this grow area? It sounds like you have 8 seeds so I'm assuming you will be growing all 8.

I found 8 seeds in a bag I got from a rec store in denver, so I germinated them. No idea of sex, max I can have flower at once is 6.

What is your budget? what would you feel comfortable spending on lighting, and what is the absolute max?

I want to spend 100-200 bucks on lighting, 100 bucks on tent/timer/soil, would be willing to spend more than 200 if I can yield qp or hp per plant.

What light(s) are you using now in your tent? Do you plan on using LED with what you already have, or replacing it?

Current light is 'Roleadro Panel Grow Light Series,45W LED Plant Grow Light with Red Blue Spectrum for Growing&Flowering' - I have a cardboard box I cut a whole in the top with a little fan on side - I put germinated seeds in red plastic cups with foxfarm ocean forest soil - I put the light about a foot above the plants - they just started to sprout yesterday -

Probably replacing it. I figure my current light can get me through seedling stage, maybe some veg, but not flower.

Thoughts? Should I order a grow tent? Lighting advice? I have been reading about these COB LEDs and mars hydro

Well Here are my thoughts...

If you want to stay within your budget, then a grow tent would be a good purchase. For 6 plants flowering I would suggest at least a 2x4 grow tent, but a 4x4 would be ideal to really give the plants room to sprawl out and get light without being cramped. 2 tents would actually be better since you are allowed 12, 6 flowering in 1 tent, and 6 in veg in the 2nd tent. This way you can have 2 cycles going at once and cut your time between harvests in half, from around 4-5 months to just 2-3 months. Now if you did this, you would need 2 lights.

For either tent size, I would recommend getting a 600w HPS light. The reason I suggest HPS is that for the price of the light, it will do much better than getting a $200 LED which only will be good for a very small area. HPS will definitely give you more bang for your buck within that price range. You could throw the LED in there too, the one you already have, but really a 600w should do fine. You can find 600w HPS setups for around $100 bucks including ballast, bulbs, hangers and reflector. If you do decide to go the LED route, then there are a handful of cost effective LED companies on here, but realistically for what you want to spend I think the 600w HPS is the best route. For LED you would probably want to have a budget of around $500 to properly light your area as LED doesn't spread really well. There may even be sponsors here that carry HPS too, not sure though.

The light you currently have really isn't powerful enough for more than seedlings and very young vegging plants so really I would just use it for clones/seedings. You could put it in with your HPS, but really its not going to do much.

COBs are pretty much the best route for LED lighting currently for smaller growers/home growers because they are affordable and easy to make your own. For a setup that will light 6 plants you probably still need around $500 or so for a good DIY COB setup. I can't really comment on Mars as I am sponsored by another company, but I have used them and they aren't my personal cup of tea. There are a lot of people here who use them and like them. For a 4x4 tent realistically you still would need to spend around $500 to get a good amount of LED light.. this is why I say go with HPS for your budget, you will be much happier and yield much better for what you want to spend. Later on you can always go LED, but starting with HPS is fine, I did