1st MARS LED question - Older 300w vs 150w vs 400w

[VoidSpace]

Alright this is my first post after creeping and lurking for a long while it seems!
Bear with me because I'm chalked full of burning questions.
I'll post links to each of the lights in question at the end.

Just ordered my 1st lil bb seeds (lemon kush) (taking any advice on nutes and soil for seed/veg/flower stages cause im a noob and only know brands like biobizz and fox farm so far)
Planning on a 4x4x6.5 mylar tent with 2x 4" pc fans for ventilation and an oscillating fan
Not sure if I should start with 1 plant or 2 to start for my 1st time, also taking suggestions on that

My biggest curiosity is quality of the lights between varying models and brands. Settled on LED b/c low cost, and low heat. Found a cheap 300w Marshydro unit presumably a couple years old. Also found a newer 150w for around the same price. Both these lights run around $110-$130 (*CAD*) shipping included ORRRR I could just order a brand spanking new 400w str8 from marshydro for the extra 130 (cad) because it's 210 before exchange rate... so for the US people out there: $90-$110 bucks for the 300w or 150w and obviously $210 for the 400w.

THE ISSUE is the mars 300w is 60x5w instead of 100x3w, how much of a difference does this really make? Enough to justify the purchase of 2 separate 150w units? If so might as well get a 400w for the same price! Or is one 150w more than enough for just 1 plant? Because thats an idea! (Slow and steady wins teh race)
Orrrr.....

I also found a very random no name brand 300w (100x3w), ebay says 900+ have been sold with a 99% feedback so it seems to good to be true?... Or I'm paranoid and theres tons of you guys actually using no name ebay 300w lights for some savings?

If any of you guys have heard of, or even better, had any experience at all with any of the above lights please chime in

tl;dr
old Mars 300w
vs
new Mars 150w
vs
New Mars 400w
vs
NoName 300w

This will be implemented into a 4x4x6.5 mylar setup with 1-2 lemon kush plants

->>all input will be loved and cherished<<-

links:

mars 150w: Marshydro 150W LED Grow Light 95W Power Draw Flower Switchable Leds Plant Panel | eBay

mars 300w:Marshydro 300W LED Grow Light Full Spectrum 125 130W True Power FOR Indoor Plant | eBay

noname 300w: 300W IR Full Spectrum LED Grow Light Panel FOR Medical Indoor VEG Flower Plants | eBay

mars 400w: Mars II LED Grow Light 400W - Mars Hydro

 

[DukeO]

I own many old Mar's and a new 400w.

I would get the 400w Mars 2.

But even that will be under powered for a 4x4 tent. LED's from china are rated for potential pull and not pull from the wall like they are rated in the US.

30to50w per sqf of LED works best. That means up to 800w of real draw or 1600w of Chinese rated LED's.

Newer 5w LED's are better then older 3w ones. But 3's will work.

Marshyrdo are the best deal out there that I know of right now for LED's

I love mine and have had no issues with them.

That 400w would be good for one med sized plant.

It will pay for itself the first run you do.

A good grower should be able to pull 200grams per run with it.

So the 400w would be a good start. But if you wanted to fill the tent. You would need more light.

 

[VoidSpace]

I own many old Mar's and a new 400w.

So I guess one of my biggest question then is how does the 300w (60x5) compare to the 400w II, because after all it is a 160 dollar difference!

And keep in mind only 1 plant for now I think, also if your saying 4x4 is too big for single marsII 400w maybe i should drop down to 3x3 or 2x2?

Then later in life buy a 4x4 and a 400w PLUS my 300w for flowering cycles and keep the 2x2 with CFL's for veg cycles?


Thanks for the reply Duke, much appreciated!

 

[DukeO]

I would go with the 400w in a 3x3. The 400w has a wider spectrum then the 300w.

A 3x3 tent could hold a 700w. That would give you a lot more power for flowering the whole 3x3. I would not go any smaller then a 3x3 tent.

You will want the airspace even if your not flowering all the way to the edges of the tent.

I own a 400and 900w Mars2's and really like then.

A Mars2 in a 3x3 will grow you a real nice plant.

You should be able to pull 4to6 oz's off each run of a good plant with a 400w in a 3x3

 

[VoidSpace]

400w in a 3x3 is probably what I'll end up doing! Thanks so much for the support.

Now as far as tents go..Can i cheap out on a chinese tent for like 150 or should I go with a brand like Apollo or Gorilla I know people love?..

Once again Duke, thanks so much for the quick replies!

 

[DukeO]

A cheap tent should work fine in most cases with LED. Apollo or MarsHydro have some good ones for the price.

But it can have to do with your setup and how bad it would be if any light leaked out and how you are venting.

With LED I just hang a honeywell trubo fan against the high side vent to exhaust out and I leave across the bottom of it unzipped and low side vents open and I have a very little fan inside below the light mixing the air around the plant.

Mine is in a spare bedroom. I do not care if a little light leaks out.

 

[VoidSpace]

Thanks so much for the suggestions probably gonna get the 39''x39''x70'' mars. Time to read more about each aspect of the build! Gonna study mediums, nutrients, and all that good stuff for a while now will report back later regarding strain specific questions probably happy blazing

 

[DukeO]

Surething! Glad to help.

I do DWC with 5gal buckets and GH 3part nutes with z7 Water Treatment and Hydroguard.

Works great once you understand it all. A good meter is a must.

I gave up dirt and moved to Hydro and love it.

It is a great setup for little tents.

Thanks so much for the suggestions probably gonna get the 39''x39''x70'' mars. Time to read more about each aspect of the build! Gonna study mediums, nutrients, and all that good stuff for a while now will report back later regarding strain specific questions probably happy blazing

 

[VoidSpace]

Im reading good things about Coco + Perl and some Verm? so far, the book I'm reading has also briefly touched on hydroponics! Looks super gratifying yield wise and also seems better for root growth? Lots of reading to do lol, your fert/nute instructions confused me pretty hard which means im more of a noob than previously thought. Every hobby has such a deep rabbit whole of information to just effortlessly fall down, personally never had so much fun than I've had reading people journals of success and small errors on here. Love being so close to the community and watching everyones progress, just wish some of the threads would cater to the noobs or small builds somehow lol? oh well thats what the books are for!

 

[Mars Hydro]

Hello VoidSpace, if it's within the buget, I advise you to choose MarsII 400w. For one plant in 4'x4' grow tent, MarsII 400w is enough. Compared to the Old Mode, MarsII has better quality in materials used and led chips. And we also have stock of Grow Tent in Canada. Your plant will love to see them.

 

[VoidSpace]

Thanks for the input Sara!

Just ordered a used mars II (400w full spectrum) for 150 USD and a 3.3x3.3x5.11 Mars tent fresh from their website for 100 USD
Now for some more questions!

I've heard FFOF is kinda hot and tough to be great at for a beginner so i'm thinking coco+verm/perlite?
General Hydroponics Flora series for nutrients, do i need anything more than just the FloraMicro, FloraGrow, and FloraBloom?
recommended calcium and magnesium brands for a small grow? plus what else for all the micro's?
Is a CO2 bag of mushrooms really essential for a 3x3 build? i plan on fitting a 4" pc fan for intake and exhaust
Are worm castings/tea worth the extra cash, effort, smell, and hassle?

lastly would learning to properly scrog be beneficial for 1-2 plants in a 3x3 or is topping/lst enough for extra growth?


I'm going off a book called Grow great weed by cameron lee, great info just seems like theres too many methods/brands/techniques for everything!

So many people have had so much success with so many varying methods/strains etc i guess its just come to this boil over point of knowledge that noobs can get overwhelmed by lololol

Thanks again guys! lots of love started here on a first thread xD