Best indoor grow light?

[JerseyDevil]

So, let me know what you guys think. I've done some research and like most of things on the internet you get conflicting reviews. I see a lot of people using Mars, but why? Let me know what you guys think and why.

 

[TheEEngineer]

So here is my two cents, if you are looking at led lights the best thing you can get now would be cob based. So something like the cxb3590 or a vero29 v2 would be a good start, I have heard things about another type of lamp, citizen i believe but I dont know if they are good or bad. The individual diodes are fine but its hard to get even lighting over the entire spectrum because each diode produces a fairly narrow wavelength.
I had a Mars II, it is a good light however I was interested in going further into LEDs which brought me to cobs. Currently I am building a cxb3590 setup to cover my 3x3 scrog, is it the cheapest route no, but I would rather do that than use a 1000w hps.

 

[Icemud]

Whats you budget? what are you using now? whats your grow area space size? How do you grow your plants (tall and bushy, sea of green, scrog...) what is your goal with going LED?

The answers to these types of questions can help you narrow down your results..

I currently use Budmaster and they make excellent panels too..

It really comes down to budget, how you grow, and what size you need to cover to pick the right light.

 

[JerseyDevil]

Budget is really not much of an issue. I'm currently in the process of my first grow, which I should state is outdoor. So with that said this would be my first indoor grow. I just want to gather my materials now, so when the colder months come along i'll be ready to go. I'm in the northeast of the US. I'm an Iraq war vet, so I use cannabis as my meds. So I'm only growing 2-4 plants at a time. Nothing crazy.

I know probably every possible way to smoke weed, but am a novice at growing. Currently got 2 CKS Crown Royales and 2 CKS Early Misses growing. Outdoor in 5 gallon root pouches.

Appreciate the feedback TheEEngineer and Icemud. Ill drop some pics of my crowns down below.

 

[Icemud]

Budget is really not much of an issue. I'm currently in the process of my first grow, which I should state is outdoor. So with that said this would be my first indoor grow. I just want to gather my materials now, so when the colder months come along i'll be ready to go. I'm in the northeast of the US. I'm an Iraq war vet, so I use cannabis as my meds. So I'm only growing 2-4 plants at a time. Nothing crazy.

I know probably every possible way to smoke weed, but am a novice at growing. Currently got 2 CKS Crown Royales and 2 CKS Early Misses growing. Outdoor in 5 gallon root pouches.

Appreciate the feedback TheEEngineer and Icemud. Ill drop some pics of my crowns down below.

First and foremost I want to say "Thank you for your service, you are greatly appreciated for your sacrifices for our freedoms!"


Your plants look really healthy! So being that you plan on growing 2-4 plants, do you plan on using a grow tent indoors? or a closet? I would guess for 2-4 plants you really don't need much more than a 4'x4' tent/area max, unless you are growing indoor monsters. So i will go off a 4x4 tent for reference.

The easiest and most tried and true way to go with lighting is HPS.. and a 1000w HPS would be ideal for a 4'x4' grow tent, and probably for a whole setup which would include an extraction fan, carbon scrubber (for smell), 1000w HPS and air cooled hood you probably are looking at the cost being about $200-300 for the light, hood, bulb and ballast, and probably about $250-300 for a 6" fan, 6" ducting and carbon scrubber. So this setup would be the cheapest and most proven route at around $600, and if you live in a legal state you may even be able to find cheaper second hand on CL or another site similar.


The next option would be using another HID type bulb called a Ceramic Metal Halide or LEC (light emitting ceramic) which spectrum wise and efficiency wise is one of the best HID style grow lights on the market. Now these bulbs and setups are a little more pricey than regular HPS but the spectrum is amazing, and typically these come in 315W. Now 1x 315w wouldn't be enought to properly light up a 4x4 area, it could work, but would not be anywhere near ideal, so you would either need 2x of these, or 1x CMH and maybe some supplemental LED lights. In total to light a 4x4 tent with CMH... if you used 2 of them you are looking at around $1000 plus the cost of the extraction fan and carbon scrubber.


The next option would be LED and you can choose to go DIY, cheap economy, or premium... with LED's there is a lot of upfront cost, and its probably the most expensive route for plant lighting at the moment as the lights are much more costly up front than HID. The advantage being that LED last much longer than HID, which typically need yearly bulb replacements at around $100 per bulb, but with LED you can let them run for 5-10 years in most cases without any replacements (if the panels are build with quality parts and drivers don't fail) LED's have a different approach though as they are more directional light, so instead of using 1 high wattage LED, many times its better to get a few lower wattage LEDs because they act like spotlights and the light footprint doesn't spread far. So more quantity of LED's is typically the best route to go... DIY is a great option because you could build your own LED with either Cree CXB, Citizen LED, or Bridgelux veros and customize it to your needs. There are a lot of youtube videos on how to do this. Another route would be to buy a premade fixture, where you could either go economy at the sacrifice of longevity or you can go with a premium LED which would be very costly but give you unbelievably performance. For building a DIY LED, I'm not sure of the cost but for a 4x4 tent you probably could build a really nice LED for under $1000 with minimal electrical or mechanical knowledge. If you were to go the premium route the price would be much higher and probably for a 4x4 area you would need to spend around $2000-3000 for enough LED's to optimally light the area. If you went the economy LED premade route you probably could spend under $1000 and have a nice setup...

 

[JerseyDevil]

Oh man thanks for all this information! As for the tent, yeah thats what ill use, the 4x4. I've read all the info and checked out your bud masters link as well. Definitely looking to go the LED route. So i'll do more research with the information you've kindly laid out for me. Dude this is amazing I appreciate this greatly.

 

[dunkindabs]

right on! keep us updated.

 

[Collect THC]

A digital 600 watt dual spectrum light is the most efficient i believe. In terms of how much they cost and then how much they cost to run, they seem to be the best value for money. Theres a good write up on indoor grow lights and how to use them below

Where To Put Your Cannabis Grow Light?
When growing cannabis indoors it’s very important that you make the most of your your light, after all you are paying for it so why would you want to waste any. If you intend on making the most of the space you have to use then the information below may be very helpful to you.
How much light should i use?
A 400 watt grow light will cover a 3x3ft space.
A 600 watt grow light will cover a 4x4ft space
A 1000 watt grow light will cover a 5x5ft space.
Although it’s the amount of light that mainly determines the yield of a grow you should remember that using too much light in a small space will more then likely cause excess radiation and make the grow room to get too hot for the plants, both of these are going to result in a reduction in yield. Maintaining healthy plants is the key to a heavy yield.
How close should i keep my lights to my plants?
A 400watt lamp should be kept 30cm(1 foot) away from the plants canopy.
A 600watt lamp should be kept 45cm(1.5 foot) away from the plants canopy.
A 1000watt lamp should be kept 60cm(2 foot) away from the plants canopy.
A way you can test to see if the cannabis grow light is too close to the plants is to place the back of your hand below the light for 30 seconds, if your hand gets hot then you know know that distance is too close for the plant. If the light is too close to the plant you will notice that the leaves will begin to curl up, this is because when a plant gets too hot it can not hydrate itself fast enough and begins to dry out. Another thing you may notice if the light is too close to the plant is a fluorescent yellow colour on the tops of the buds or leaves, this is caused by excess radiation from the light and will slow growth dramatically. As plants grow you will need to raise the light to maintain the correct light to plant distance, you can hang a weight from your light on a piece of string that is the correct length to help you do this.
If you are using an air cooled light shade then you can put your light alot closer to the plants, As the light passes through the glass screen of an air cooled shade the lumens are reduced by around 20%.
So if you do happen to be using an air cooled shade you will still need to place the back of your hand under the light for 30 seconds to test out if it’s cool enough at the plants canopy. I advise you to keep an eye out for any yellowing tops and leaves because although it may seem cool enough at a particular distance the light might be a little bit too intense for the plants.

 

[TheEEngineer]

Most efficient using what metric? Certainly not when looking at how efficient the source is at taking that 600(+) watts and converting it to light. When using a blanket statement like that be careful because there is no light source that is superior in all ways.

A digital 600 watt dual spectrum light is the most efficient i believe. In terms of how much they cost and then how much they cost to run, they seem to be the best value for money. Theres a good write up on indoor grow lights and how to use them below\\Where To Put Your Cannabis Grow Light?
When growing cannabis indoors it’s very important that you make the most of your your light, after all you are paying for it so why would you want to waste any. If you intend on making the most of the space you have to use then the information below may be very helpful to you.
How much light should i use?
A 400 watt grow light will cover a 3x3ft space.
A 600 watt grow light will cover a 4x4ft space
A 1000 watt grow light will cover a 5x5ft space.
Although it’s the amount of light that mainly determines the yield of a grow you should remember that using too much light in a small space will more then likely cause excess radiation and make the grow room to get too hot for the plants, both of these are going to result in a reduction in yield. Maintaining healthy plants is the key to a heavy yield.
How close should i keep my lights to my plants?
A 400watt lamp should be kept 30cm(1 foot) away from the plants canopy.
A 600watt lamp should be kept 45cm(1.5 foot) away from the plants canopy.
A 1000watt lamp should be kept 60cm(2 foot) away from the plants canopy.
A way you can test to see if the cannabis grow light is too close to the plants is to place the back of your hand below the light for 30 seconds, if your hand gets hot then you know know that distance is too close for the plant. If the light is too close to the plant you will notice that the leaves will begin to curl up, this is because when a plant gets too hot it can not hydrate itself fast enough and begins to dry out. Another thing you may notice if the light is too close to the plant is a fluorescent yellow colour on the tops of the buds or leaves, this is caused by excess radiation from the light and will slow growth dramatically. As plants grow you will need to raise the light to maintain the correct light to plant distance, you can hang a weight from your light on a piece of string that is the correct length to help you do this.
If you are using an air cooled light shade then you can put your light alot closer to the plants, As the light passes through the glass screen of an air cooled shade the lumens are reduced by around 20%.
So if you do happen to be using an air cooled shade you will still need to place the back of your hand under the light for 30 seconds to test out if it’s cool enough at the plants canopy. I advise you to keep an eye out for any yellowing tops and leaves because although it may seem cool enough at a particular distance the light might be a little bit too intense for the plants.