300W LED 2x4x5 Tent Soil Grow

Not really sure as this will be my first. Feel like 1200 should be a good amount of light to grow 5 plants in there. Just not sure if one continuous light is better than two 600. 1200 will have a bit more draw than the two 600 together. But I feel as though there is a lot of wasted overlap in the middle that could be eliminated with hanging two lights 6 inches apart. What do ya think?

If it were me, I would put 2 Mars Reflector 144 (5 watt diodes) in a 4x4 tent. I have one of them in my 2x4 veg tent and I love it. Getting two of them will be a very good start for you.
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If it were me, I would put 2 Mars Reflector 144 (5 watt diodes) in a 4x4 tent. I have one of them in my 2x4 veg tent and I love it. Getting two of them will be a very good start for you.
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Thanx snarly. I was leaning towards two lights just for future planning and flexibility. Gonna order some up today. Should have the seeds for planting on 420 how fitting.
 
Thanx snarly. I was leaning towards two lights just for future planning and flexibility. Gonna order some up today. Should have the seeds for planting on 420 how fitting.

Great! The Reflector 144's will give you a great footprint, and will serve you well throughout the entire grow. If you order from the Mars website, you will get the best price and warranty. And I am in no way connected with Mars other than being a happy user.
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Haha nice.. im thinking about it right now. I was thinking of putting them on bricks. Anyone have any suggestions as to what i could put the plants on? Needs to be smaller then a 2x3 area and only an inch or so tall.

Hello Toasted, much good stuff to read here and got to stop and comment before I lose my train of thought. Ive got my short ones on coffee cans. I think any platform that dosent absorb water is best, like the plastic shutter. I bought single pans for the plants at the dollar store and they work great to keep the water out of the pan and check run off. I turkey base the pan too.
About FF nutes, I noticed the schedule does N one week and not the other. I think they do this purposely. Im throwing all their crap they suggest I can. I just Sledge Hammer flushed and they loved it. The beasties and Cha ching I mix 1 teas to 5 gal water. I will flush all 3 weeks before harvest this year.
Brightlight when I got to the grow shop today Im going to talk to them about going organic. I should google it and study it. I have a feeling its the way to go. No more harsh for me!
What an interesting conversation here! I got to go but Im coming back. Great Day.
 
Not really sure as this will be my first. Feel like 1200 should be a good amount of light to grow 5 plants in there. Just not sure if one continuous light is better than two 600. 1200 will have a bit more draw than the two 600 together. But I feel as though there is a lot of wasted overlap in the middle that could be eliminated with hanging two lights 6 inches apart. What do ya think?

I agree and have been thinking the same. I wish i could have gotten teo but my bank account did not allow it. Ive only got two plants that im flowering this time around so 600 should be perfect. With 5 plants though? Id say get two 6's. OR.... two 1200 watt lamps!
 
I agree and have been thinking the same. I wish i could have gotten teo but my bank account did not allow it. Ive only got two plants that im flowering this time around so 600 should be perfect. With 5 plants though? Id say get two 6's. OR.... two 1200 watt lamps!

Thanx man. I pulled the trigger and went with two 600 Vespar reflector series. Seemed like good band for buck with full twelve spectrum. Had them in the cart for a while on the Zon. Ordered other stuff but kept trying to decide on the best fit. Then magically the Zon sends me a notice saying that two items in my cart have dropped in price. Came down about 10% in total price so I snapped them up. Now just the anticipation. Will journal when all arrives. Thanx to all for the input.
 
Adding to LED discussion....1. go for the strongest & largest light you can afford, 2. look at PAR & PPFD numbers. Some mfrs. publish PAR, some don't, probably because their's is too low. PAR charts will show light distribution over grow area. PPFD is even more important. Few mfrs. publish, some will tell you if asked. This is most important number. Shows photosynthetic intensity. If they won't share this info with you, move on to another mfr. White light is really the best as it mimics the sun. Less efficient because the white is actually a phosphor coating on usually blues, which are most efficient. So the coating will result in slight efficiency loss. Green & yellow are used by plant in small amts. so actually useful & not wasted. Green will help you see your plants as they actually appear....very helpful. Old approach was 1w,3w,5w, even 10w but now mfrs. mixing for best overall effect. My current flower light uses 1w diodes at ~25% power.....sounds almost silly nowadays but there are over 2500 of them. Result is PPFD of 1400 umol, which actually exceeds a 1000w DE HPS. Insane penetration. Grow in smaller area than LED rated flowering area. Edges & perimeters are always the worst. 300w is plenty for veg. I wouldn't even consider flowering under 500w. Divide PPFD by wall watts to get overall light efficiency number.

@4Dutchess.....moving towards organics is a fine decision. Takes awhile to learn basics but fun along the way. Amounts to lifelong learning actually. Maybe start w/ some soil mixes for your outdoor girls. Start simple & add on. Learn exactly what ea. ingredient does....for example how feather meal differs from cottonseed meal, different forms of Ca, what different guanos do, pro & cons of peat vs. coco.

Don't let grow store talk you into some bottled "organic" easy to use line. Most are quasi organic at best & often contain nitrates, salts, & EDTA's. There's but 1 single organic line of worth imo & that is NFTG. Organic chemistry at its best for cannabis. Can be simple 4 part growing or can go elaborate up to a dozen or so. Understanding organics is a definite plus when using Nectar.

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Kinda bums me out you said not to flower under 500w, ive been trying to look up supplemental lighting and thinking about it all day but i dont know whats the best and cheapest way to go.

I dont have the money to buy the light i want yet and i dont really want to buy another 300w light. I knew my light was under powered for flowering. Darn thing only gets 136 true watts. Thanks for all that info brightlight.. is it good to still get some organic stuff for my soil even though i use synthetics?
 
Kinda bums me out you said not to flower under 500w, ive been trying to look up supplemental lighting and thinking about it all day but i dont know whats the best and cheapest way to go.

I dont have the money to buy the light i want yet and i dont really want to buy another 300w light. I knew my light was under powered for flowering. Darn thing only gets 136 true watts. Thanks for all that info brightlight.. is it good to still get some organic stuff for my soil even though i use synthetics?

Hey friend, hang in there. My first grow, which I recently harvested, was almost entirely grown with a Mars II 400. Two plants in a 2x4 tent.I upgraded to a Reflector 144 for the last couple weeks of flower, but I could have easily finished the grow with the 400. I yielded just over 7.5 oz dry, and I doubt that the Reflector 144 made more than maybe half oz difference.
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Kinda bums me out you said not to flower under 500w, ive been trying to look up supplemental lighting and thinking about it all day but i dont know whats the best and cheapest way to go.

I dont have the money to buy the light i want yet and i dont really want to buy another 300w light. I knew my light was under powered for flowering. Darn thing only gets 136 true watts. Thanks for all that info brightlight.. is it good to still get some organic stuff for my soil even though i use synthetics?

You guys talking about all this organic stuff isn't helping me stick to what i have lol probably a good thing though, thanks anyway dutchess. So you add synthetics to the tea? Or you make a synthetic tea? Haha i am interested in this

That's only my opinion toasted. I've even seen some say 600w. My smallest light is 300w from the wall. Not an auto guy but tried out 5 in a 2x4 tent w/ that light & was surprised & happy w/ result...both how the light performed & how well the autos turned out. Your plants look very good so see how they turn out....maybe smaller bud size w/ that wattage but even small buds can be dank. To save $ there may be refurbished units from some mfrs. or used lights in the marketplace now that LEDs are more mainstream & flooding the market. A few posts earlier...some talk about 1 big vs 2 smaller. 2 smaller often better coverage depending on light. Some interesting new lights available in the 150w range.

There are organic snobs out there but I'm not one of them. Good herb can be grow w/ synthetics or organically. Yields larger & even faster w/ synthetics. Organic taste, fragrances, smooth intake are special. Synthetics rely on chelating agents for uptake. Not the healthiest stuff. Organics rely on microbes or natural chelation agents. Mixing isn't terrible but synthetics will kill off some of microbe population & require ongoing inoculation. If interested start reading, learning & gradually move in an organic direction. At some point you will likely say, "Hell I think I like this approach" & just dive in completely. Organics is not recipe driven....can be quite creative in what you use & when. :Namaste:
 
Hey friend, hang in there. My first grow, which I recently harvested, was almost entirely grown with a Mars II 400. Two plants in a 2x4 tent.I upgraded to a Reflector 144 for the last couple weeks of flower, but I could have easily finished the grow with the 400. I yielded just over 7.5 oz dry, and I doubt that the Reflector 144 made more than maybe half oz difference.
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Wow you got almost a half lb off two plants on your first grow?? Damn maybe i am underestimating myself, wouldnt be the first time lol thanks for the positive vibes man i appreciate it.
 
That's only my opinion toasted. I've even seen some say 600w. My smallest light is 300w from the wall. Not an auto guy but tried out 5 in a 2x4 tent w/ that light & was surprised & happy w/ result...both how the light performed & how well the autos turned out. Your plants look very good so see how they turn out....maybe smaller bud size w/ that wattage but even small buds can be dank. To save $ there may be refurbished units from some mfrs. or used lights in the marketplace now that LEDs are more mainstream & flooding the market. A few posts earlier...some talk about 1 big vs 2 smaller. 2 smaller often better coverage depending on light. Some interesting new lights available in the 150w range.

There are organic snobs out there but I'm not one of them. Good herb can be grow w/ synthetics or organically. Yields larger & even faster w/ synthetics. Organic taste, fragrances, smooth intake are special. Synthetics rely on chelating agents for uptake. Not the healthiest stuff. Organics rely on microbes or natural chelation agents. Mixing isn't terrible but synthetics will kill off some of microbe population & require ongoing inoculation. If interested start reading, learning & gradually move in an organic direction. At some point you will likely say, "Hell I think I like this approach" & just dive in completely. Organics is not recipe driven....can be quite creative in what you use & when. :Namaste:

I see that is great to know! oh yes we will see how they turn out lol im just hoping i get some denser buds, i hate airy bud. Hopefully they will get nice and frosty! There are so many options for lights its driving me nuts.. maybe i should just get another 300w now... i could get great coverage in my tent with them. But those dimmable features on the other light and its supposedly built better too.. this is tough guys lol

Yea im sure ill go organic soon enough.. i really love it when buds have lots of flavor and are smooth when you smoke them. Thats what im hoping for by adding organics i will get some of that to come through my buds.

Ive been growing these ladies for four months now and i have given them lots of love and care. I sort of feel like that is a very important aspect in any grow.. i will continue to provide the best of what i can for them until its time. I cant wait to be blessed with the fruits of labor but will gladly wait until they are ready.
 
I see that is great to know! oh yes we will see how they turn out lol im just hoping i get some denser buds, i hate airy bud. Hopefully they will get nice and frosty! There are so many options for lights its driving me nuts.. maybe i should just get another 300w now... i could get great coverage in my tent with them. But those dimmable features on the other light and its supposedly built better too.. this is tough guys lol

Yea im sure ill go organic soon enough.. i really love it when buds have lots of flavor and are smooth when you smoke them. Thats what im hoping for by adding organics i will get some of that to come through my buds.

Ive been growing these ladies for four months now and i have given them lots of love and care. I sort of feel like that is a very important aspect in any grow.. i will continue to provide the best of what i can for them until its time. I cant wait to be blessed with the fruits of labor but will gladly wait until they are ready.

Hope you get some thick dense buds as well. I'm with you hate airy stuff. There is and economical brand of led called Meizhi I think that's how it's spelled. Has full spectrum and separate veg and bloom switches in the 300 version. There par/umol ratings are pretty high. You can find some vids on the tube.
 
Great thread toasted. Im learning lots and lots to comment. Agemon nice avatar!! You people contemplating on kicking the ole lady out rethink it. Cheaper to keep her and sure youve heard this. If youve got kids do your best to work it out or youll be a broke old man in both body and spirit by time our 50 and tied to that bitch forever. One good thing is youll be able to make a nickel spend/last like a quarter. Enough said.
Damn thats one fucked up subject.
Brightlight, the medical tape is awesome. I talked to the growshop about going organic and he said do both thats what he does. I figure I'll go read what Nebula Haze says. Im leaning the organic way. I cant see making my own dirt. What a step to incorporate.
Toasted, airy buds suck and mine have been rock solid because of the beastie bloom? Or just ff regiment in general. Thats one thing I can say about ff is I get nice dense nugs. I plan to flush 3 weeks this time. If the strain has lots of sugar leafs theyre getting wet trimmed. No more harshness. I asked dude at the growshop what he thought of my weed and he said maybe dried too fast but otherwise great! FF schedule is 5 weeks to flip so you have to adjust some what. I use Ocean Forest soil so Im leary at feeding too soon. I go by theyre schedule but mix light. I mix for 3 gal but give them 5. They seem to like the Growbig and Cal/mag foliars.
Your plants look great toasted. Nice work!
 
Awesome nice to hear that about the ff nutes.. you are trying a three week flush this time. Was the two weeks of flush not getting all the harshness out of the buds? Drying and curing almost seems to be as challenging as growing the plants themselves but i tend to overthink when somethings easy. Thanks for all that man have a good one guys!
 
Wow you got almost a half lb off two plants on your first grow?? Damn maybe i am underestimating myself, wouldnt be the first time lol thanks for the positive vibes man i appreciate it.

Not only that, but some of the best dang smoke I've had since I can remember. Until I got my grow permit I was buying from LPs, and didn't realize just how crappy the legal stuff was, not properly cured, harvested early, and tasting like hay. My quick dried test buds were better than anything I got from Licensed Producers. I'm heading into the third week of cure in mason jars, and what a difference.
So yeah, hang in there, don't sweat it, and above all, be patient. :high-five:
 
Drying and curing almost seems to be as challenging as growing the plants themselves but i tend to overthink when somethings easy. Thanks for all that man have a good one guys!
If you ask me, the whole harvest experience, trimming, drying and curing is at least as challenging as the grow, if not more so. And get some Boveda 62% for the cure if you haven't already done so. I have one in every mason jar.
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