First indoor setup: Questions

[ThcHemplar]

Hey man I started with a cheap LED off amazon and it worked just fine. “1000w” that pulled about 200w from the wall. You can use it and it will work fine. You will get the itch tho and inevitably upgrade but LED is super easy and cheap to buy. Whatever gets you growing!

Yeah, I mean thats more my plan. I'm just trying to get a cycle of 8 week autoflowers going and probably start a second round about halfway through, if that's possible in the same tent. I'm just trying to make sure I get somewhat decent yields for now to help save up a little then take it from there. I just dont know what to expect with one light vs another if it might be going overboard. But then again being autos I really don't know what to expect in general.

 

[pontiacman]

Look into CMH (ceramic metal halide). Check out my grow in my signature to see one in action. Only 315 watts.

Check out my cmh setup. In my sig also....

 

[CannaNoob]

I personally won't use blurple lights. I prefer hps or cmh.
Flower production is outstanding with a 600 watt hps. You can get them cheap nowadays.
One 600 in a 4x4 is perfect. Just make sure you vent the heat with inline fans.

I’m gonna agree with you man... I know I’m new but I have 3! 1200w blurple leds over one of my plants in flower could have used 1 1000w hps if I had the ceiling space

 

[ThcHemplar]

I'm still pretty new to this site so I'm not sure what people mean when they say "in my sig"? Anyways, CMH actually seems pretty decent. Puts off less heat, has a smaller ballast and a "better spectrum" than hps. And even though it's only 315w I still feel like it would have enough light for a small 3'x3' setup? I just can't afford something like the Sun System, but if I can get away with a less expensive brand like Vivosun? I'd definitely prefer that over the hps for now. I'm just trying to do a small personal grow. I don't need to produce a pound or anything crazy. I just don't wanna end up with only like 5g either.

 

[CannaNoob]

I'm still pretty new to this site so I'm not sure what people mean when they say "in my sig"? Anyways, CMH actually seems pretty decent. Puts off less heat, has a smaller ballast and a "better spectrum" than hps. And even though it's only 315w I still feel like it would have enough light for a small 3'x3' setup? I just can't afford something like the Sun System, but if I can get away with a less expensive brand like Vivosun? I'd definitely prefer that over the hps for now. I'm just trying to do a small personal grow. I don't need to produce a pound or anything crazy. I just don't wanna end up with only like 5g either.

Their signature at the bottom of their reply

 

[vyserage]

I know exactly what you are going through. I had the same issue when I first started. So many unknown terms can be very off putting as you mentioned. I started out with a single viparspectra 600 (232w actual draw, $180 on Amazon) in a 4x4 tent for 4 plants in 3g soil pots and it worked just fine in Veg but was clearly lacking in flower to the point that I had to rotate the plants every night. 1 wasn't nearly enough and I ended up ordering a 2nd one during flowering. In the end it comes down to light coverage, you want all your plants to be as close as possible to directly under light. Anything not directly under light in flowering you will clearly see the lack of growth the further away from light coverage. After light coverage is Watts per square foot. For maximum yields you want 50watts per square foot. I wouldn't go any less than 35w per square foot as any less is going to be mediocre yields.

This is why I went with quantum boards in the end, so I ended up with high quality leds, coverage and watts. If 4 plants is your goal, I highly recommend getting the 4x pack of qb132 3500k for $133 on Amazon (if in stock otherwise call em and ask when in stock on Amazon)
You will have to build it yourself but there are guides to help. Total cost will be or should be just under 200 after you get frame , screws and wire from Lowes. Each board pushes out 75w (I've seen mine go higher) and you can space them out to easily cover the 4 plants. This also means you won't be blowing money on off brand leds and you can EASILY upgrade in the future to add more panels and not have spare LEDs collecting in a closet. I have 12x panels in my 4x4 for undeniable light coverage and wattage. Best part is I can easily replace a panel if 1 ever goes out. If I could go back I would have wished I started with quantum boards.

You need to first decide if you are going with MH/HID and can compensate for the high heat temps that will be coming off of them, or if you are going with little to no heat LEDs but u need more coverage.

 

[Beldinrljb]

Higrow, 1000w, pulls 400+/- 3%, quality build, dual lens, nice light