Setup and recommendations

[BudJaMon]

Currently I'm growing out of closet with led bulbs and honestly it just not cutting it. But it's a startup so I haven't had the time to order my setup yet. Before I do I just want your all's thoughts on what I'm going to get and if you all would have anything better to recommend before I do. I'm still new to this so I'm not familiar with which brands to get and what works. So here is what I'm planning to go for, for now. I prefer to stay with LEDs because of the energy cost but if there is another light that will not up the energy cost and work just as good or better I'd like those options as well. All feedback and recommendations are welcome and appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Grow Tent, IDAODAN 36"x36"x72" Reflective 600D Mylar Hydroponic Grow Tents for Indoor Plant Growing

Growstar 600W LED Grow Light Full Spectrum for Dense Flowers/Hydroponics/Indoor Veg/Greenhouse(12 Bands, 5Wx120pcs Leds)

 

[Acehood]

My first time growing and im using the same setup and im doing pretty good....im using 1500w leds and they are in coco

 

[BudJaMon]

My first time growing and im using the same setup and im doing pretty good....im using 1500w leds and they are in coco

1500w for a 3x3x6 or is your grow space bigger? I just don't wanna put to much light in a space and it be so much that they can't handle it.

 

[Acehood]

I started lower but it wasnt dping much they have been growing much better with since i got this light mine 4x4x6

 

[425jesse]

Remember that advertised wattage is not actual power draw. That 600w fixture has an actual draw of 250w, and 250w in a 3x3 will be a good place to start, but you may want 2 in the end. Mars hydro and Growant both have great lites and great prices. I'll gather links and share if you want.

 

[dj1714]

The 600 watt should be good in there. The only thing I don't care for on the tent is there are only pull down vents on the bottom sides and no sock openings to run electrical cords or air tubing though. I had a 2x4x5 and it had the openings at the bottom as well as the vents and that comes in handy when you run hydro. Unfortunately it wasn't high enough for me and I gave it to a friend and got one that was 2x2x6 but didn't pay attention to the openings and there are none at the bottom except for flaps. I only use it for vegging and a 300 watt LED is fine in there for that.

 

[BudJaMon]

Remember that advertised wattage is not actual power draw. That 600w fixture has an actual draw of 250w, and 250w in a 3x3 will be a good place to start, but you may want 2 in the end. Mars hydro and Growant both have great lites and great prices. I'll gather links and share if you want.

I didn't pay no attention to the true wattage. Might be why my current setup isn't working that well. I'm currently using 4 100 watt equivalents for 2 plants. They are slow growing, but making it. Might need to add in a few more for assurance. Would appreciate the links so I could check them out. Thanks

 

[BudJaMon]

The 600 watt should be good in there. The only thing I don't care for on the tent is there are only pull down vents on the bottom sides and no sock openings to run electrical cords or air tubing though. I had a 2x4x5 and it had the openings at the bottom as well as the vents and that comes in handy when you run hydro. Unfortunately it wasn't high enough for me and I gave it to a friend and got one that was 2x2x6 but didn't pay attention to the openings and there are none at the bottom except for flaps. I only use it for vegging and a 300 watt LED is fine in there for that.

I'm not gonna be doing any hydro grows any time soon. I'm mainly going to be doing soil based growing, just want a tent to seal everything up. Also I might be upgrading the tent to a slightly bigger size like 3x4x6 or possibly a 4x4x6 just need to figure out where I'm gonna setup. Didn't pay no attention to where the cords would go. I might be able to make a small hole and tape it up and make it work. But I'll see if I can find one with a decent price with one already on it. It's going to be both for veg and flower though.

 

[HigherTheHigh]

Many people have oppinions on LED lighting saying its cheaper to run, i believe if it says it pulls out 250w from the wall then your only outputting 250w, i watched a great video YT about led ect turns out the guy had a lumens tester and what it was showing was actually pulling what it said out the wall so dont believe everything these big companies are saying, i have a friend that runs a 900w led mars and his electric meter tells you it all, every hour its shooting up by 1 unit (1kw), the amount it costs for a led light you can get a great 600w hps dimmable for half the price, great yield, great light and great quality, but everyones different.

I run a 3x3 sometimes with a 600w hps in and get great results! one thing i would reccomend is if you do go for a 600w, get a 6" extractor rather than the 4".

 

[BudJaMon]

Many people have oppinions on LED lighting saying its cheaper to run, i believe if it says it pulls out 250w from the wall then your only outputting 250w, i watched a great video YT about led ect turns out the guy had a lumens tester and what it was showing was actually pulling what it said out the wall so dont believe everything these big companies are saying, i have a friend that runs a 900w led mars and his electric meter tells you it all, every hour its shooting up by 1 unit (1kw), the amount it costs for a led light you can get a great 600w hps dimmable for half the price, great yield, great light and great quality, but everyones different.

I run a 3x3 sometimes with a 600w hps in and get great results! one thing i would reccomend is if you do go for a 600w, get a 6" extractor rather than the 4".

My only concern with not using LEDs are the heat output. Running led my temperature stays around 75f-78f with a low fan and no heater. The added heat might be to much for me to do away with. So if I can find one that won't put out a lot of heat then it is an option.

 

[HigherTheHigh]

I suffered alot with heat in my gardens but since now i run cool huds/tubes its alot easier!

The best thing about dimmable ballast that it has the 250-400-600-super lumens dial so if any point you thought the garden were too hot at 600w you just simply turn the dial down to 400w, i run 3x 600w hps in a 4x8 even though there all in cool hoods it can still get hot, i just adjust the middle light and it sorts the temp out during the day as it gets colder.

You could always get a cooltube or hud and connect your fan and filter on to it, meaning very little heat is outputting.

The setup i would suggest:

3x3 or 4x4

600w dimmable hps

4" extractor fan (6" preferably)

4" intake fan (you can easily make one from fans and a bit ducting)

4 15-20L pots - coco/perlite 60/40 mix

And a starter pack of nutrients and you are set till harvest!

 

[BudJaMon]

I suffered alot with heat in my gardens but since now i run cool huds/tubes its alot easier!

The best thing about dimmable ballast that it has the 250-400-600-super lumens dial so if any point you thought the garden were too hot at 600w you just simply turn the dial down to 400w, i run 3x 600w hps in a 4x8 even though there all in cool hoods it can still get hot, i just adjust the middle light and it sorts the temp out during the day as it gets colder.

You could always get a cooltube or hud and connect your fan and filter on to it, meaning very little heat is outputting.

The setup i would suggest:

3x3 or 4x4

600w dimmable hps

4" extractor fan (6" preferably)

4" intake fan (you can easily make one from fans and a bit ducting)

4 15-20L pots - coco/perlite 60/40 mix

And a starter pack of nutrients and you are set till harvest!

The problem I'm running into with LEDs are that I can't find one that is for both veg and flower in the same light. So I'm thinking I'll have to buy 2 different ones if I go that way. Will the hps work for veg and flower without having to get a 2nd light? And care to give me some links to what you'd recommend on the hps light?

 

[HigherTheHigh]

I use a t5 for first 1-2 weeks from popping soil and you can use the same light from veg to harvest with hps.

I use a 600w mh bulb for veg then dual spectrum for flower, 1 light 2 bulbs.

Here is a perfect setup for the price of that LED:

 

[HigherTheHigh]

For a filter kit they range from about $100-$150 for fan, filter and ducting.

 

[BudJaMon]

I use a t5 for first 1-2 weeks from popping soil and you can use the same light from veg to harvest with hps.

I use a 600w mh bulb for veg then dual spectrum for flower, 1 light 2 bulbs.

Here is a perfect setup for the price of that LED:

VIVOSUN Hydroponic 600 Watt HPS MH Grow Light Air Cooled Reflector Kit - Easy to set up, High Stability & Compatibility ( Enhanced Version )

So the HPS bulb that comes with that kit has the full spectrum right? I'm gonna go ahead and do the kit sense it's the same price and has the wattage I need. Through searching I found 1000w kits with everything this one has and still has the dimmable option at the same price. Would it be worth going ahead and buying a 1000w sense it's the same price or would that just be overkill? I'm new to HPS/MH lighting and have never used one before, as well as first time "gardening/growing" so I'm learning still. But learning pretty quick.

 

[BudJaMon]

Ok so after the feedback and more research and price checking I've updated my setup and will most likely be getting HPS/MS Lighting instead of LEDs. This is now my setup for my next grow. I will be getting either a 3'x3'x6' tent or 4'x4'x6'8" tent. Probably the bigger one as it's only a few $ more.
VIVOSUN 36"x36"x72" Mylar Hydroponic Grow Tent with Observation Window and Floor Tray for Indoor Plant Growing 3'x3'

VIVOSUN 48"x48"x80" Mylar Hydroponic Grow Tent with Observation Window and Floor Tray for Indoor Plant Growing 4' x4'

If I get the 3x3 tent I'll get the 600w hps. And if I get the 4x4 which is the more likely will be the 600w hps or more preferably the 1000w hps. As the 1000w is only $40 more and would be better for future grows.

VIVOSUN Hydroponic 600 Watt HPS MH Grow Light Air Cooled Reflector Kit - Easy to set up, High Stability & Compatibility ( Enhanced Version )

VIVOSUN Hydroponic 1000 Watt HPS MH Grow Light Air Cooled Reflector Kit - Easy to set up, High Stability & Compatibility ( Enhanced Version )

And as for exhaust I'll just get the kit.

VIVOSUN 6 Inch 440 CFM Inline Fan with Speed Controller and 6" Carbon Filter 8 Feet Ducting Comb

I'll just make a DIY Intake and add a couple small fans on the inside for circulation and fresh air. As for soil and nutrients, I'll just use fox farms ocean forest and the fox farms trio nutrients to go with it. With this setup the cost comes out to be $545-$600 so not THAT expensive. If anyone sees anything wrong with this setup please leave your feedback. Other than that thank you to everyone who gave me advice and helped with my initial setup and gave me the knowledge to better it big or small. I appreciate all the help.

 

[freakbudz420]

Looks like a pretty sweet set up to get you going!! Not to shabby at all. You'll definitely get some nice buds out of either choice.

 

[BudJaMon]

Looks like a pretty sweet set up to get you going!! Not to shabby at all. You'll definitely get some nice buds out of either choice.

It's definitely better than my current homemade setup. Probably start my next grow in February/March. With that setup it'll be a little bit quicker to harvest than these will be. Just wanted to make sure I could get them to live before spending money on a better setup. They are alive, just slow growth. Definitely learned a lot out of my first grow so far to improve the next.

 

[HigherTheHigh]

Thats a great setup, yeah the reason i said about getting a 4x4 is its all the room you really need as sometimes even though the 3x3 are great, you can easily overcrowd it with a 3 week veg to 4 plants, im glad i could help you out a little!

Good luck and take care!

 

[Cultivator]

In that goot print go for 600w hps and a 6inch exhaust. You dont need an intake fan ever in run to waste extracted system which you are running. A 6inch fan will pull enough air through the tent to both cool the tent and give plants an abundance of co2.

Its true about LEDs making up claims on wattage and thats where i believe alot of people go wrong with growing LED. There are some brilliant LED lights on the market but you are going to pay $$$$ for them. Tbey dont save you on power consumption as the watts out of the wall are the same no matter what device you run.

You want minimum 400w for any grow space, less than that and its a pointless effort growing. Light is the number 1 thing to consider when growing. A 1000w hps wont work in that small space so dont waste your money. Get a quality 600w digital ballast, not the cheap ones abd a quality dual spec hps bulb such as a sunmaster dual spec, that can be used from start to finish on your grow.

A cool tube is an option, i used them for years but i dont use them at all now as i think its just as easy to cool a room using non cooltubes and you dont lose any light through the glass on cool tube and you def get better yield and quality using open shades. I use simple dutch barn style shades.