First timer looking for lighting advice

tablelegslim

tablelegslim

Well-Known Member
Hello fellow partakers,

Im a first timer looking for advice. I had 4 plants pop up within the last day. They were all germinated and planted at the same time. All of them are different in size and im not sure it was the lights that caused the size difference. The way they looked because the first one was shortest and the last was the tallest. I have a grow light led and a 5000k led as well. I wasnt paying attention when i moved them to notice which one was closest to which light. Ill post photos below of my current setup thanks in advance for any help
 

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tablelegslim said:
Hello fellow partakers,

Im a first timer looking for advice. I had 4 plants pop up within the last day. They were all germinated and planted at the same time. All of them are different in size and im not sure it was the lights that caused the size difference. The way they looked because the first one was shortest and the last was the tallest. I have a grow light led and a 5000k led as well. I wasnt paying attention when i moved them to notice which one was closest to which light. Ill post photos below of my current setup thanks in advance for any help
Click to expand...
You can veg under that light, but you might have a little trouble when it comes to budding. You need more watts brother. How many watts is that bulb?
 
tablelegslim said:
Hello fellow partakers,

Im a first timer looking for advice. I had 4 plants pop up within the last day. They were all germinated and planted at the same time. All of them are different in size and im not sure it was the lights that caused the size difference. The way they looked because the first one was shortest and the last was the tallest. I have a grow light led and a 5000k led as well. I wasnt paying attention when i moved them to notice which one was closest to which light. Ill post photos below of my current setup thanks in advance for any help
Click to expand...
If you try and bud with that bulb you will start running into all kind of problems.
 
Oz3 thanks for the advice. Which light the 5000k LED is only 28w-250m is what the bulb said. And im not real sure what the grow light is but almost positive it will not be enough wattage. What is ideal wattage for vegetation and flowering. thanks again for your expertise and advice
 
With good LED's you can go with 35 watts per sq foot in flowering
More is better if you can manage heat problems.
Quantum boards and strips generally run cooler than HSP/MH/CMH
But those meanwell drivers can get very hot when fully maxed.
 
tablelegslim said:
So is it wattage that is needed more and not so much the amount of lumens or type of light being emitted?
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I'd worry more about true wattage, but you also need the correct spectrum (shown as a "K" number") The light you have now is high spectrum which is ok for veg early on but not for flower. If you just want to run one light than most people like to go with a 3500K spectrum. Combine the correct spectrum with the right wattage and you'll be off to a great start. A lot of companies will list false wattage for their lights, the better companies will have a full breakdown of the output of their lights. They aren't all bad but I would avoid most the "blurple" lights you see on Amazon and eBay. I've grown great yields with them combined with high-wattage CFLs but there is definitely better technology available.

What's your budget like? And how big is your grow space? Once you get lighting set you'll want to make sure you have good control over heat and humidity and have good airflow.
 
tablelegslim said:
Oz3 thanks for the advice. Which light the 5000k LED is only 28w-250m is what the bulb said. And im not real sure what the grow light is but almost positive it will not be enough wattage. What is ideal wattage for vegetation and flowering. thanks again for your expertise and advice
Click to expand...
Can you afford to spend say $200 /250 on a light ? If so, get yourself a 1000 watt min 2000 watt LED quantum board style unit . I am being vague cause I don’t want to get in trouble with TR anymore lol
Just google if you don’t already know what I’m talking about but this type light is the most affordable, reliable in veg and bloom , energy efficient, easy to hang and move , light weight , etc. they are even as low as 150

now if Money is an issue and you need to make do with what you can find, others will have some McGuiver type stuff for ya
Best of luck
 
Ill definitely be looking into that for sure. Where i have them at now is 2x2x4.5 but i have another spot i planned on moving them when they get a little bigger that is 3x3x12. How many board style quantum lights would be needed for each area? I stopped on the way home and picked up some different bulbs to try out until i get the proper setup. Will these do a little better job for about a week or so? Just got home been away for the weekend and everything seems ok but i have coloring of the little stalks. Does that indicate a issue with rooting or some sort of deficiency?
 

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I placed one of those 200w bulbs and its definitely putting out more heat for sure. Should i place the other one as well on the other side of my box or just take the other one out and go the way i was? And should i keep them directly under the light , place them between the two with the bullshit grow light in the middle im not sure how to situate my little grow. I put 4 under that 200w i just got and 2 under the grow light. Just trying to see how each of them fair underneath each light. I hope im not sacrificing 4 for 2 here that would be upsetting. Ill send a picture of the setup i know someone on here can educate me im in kindergarten when it comes to this. sorry about all the questions
 

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tablelegslim said:
So is it wattage that is needed more and not so much the amount of lumens or type of light being emitted?
Click to expand...
Correct brother. You don't need to worry about all that stuff if your doing home grows. Just grab ya something 1000 watts if u can. You'll be good.
 
Do those bulbs even have a color temp ? Regular incandescent lights don't work. LED or CFL with a 6500 K (Kelvin Temp) is what you needed. I don't think the lights you bought are the right kind.
 
True Wattage is a main concern; but Lumens, Par, Lux or whatever are important too. Usually with enough wattage comes the latter, but not always the case. None the less, unless you're willing to spend at least $200 on a light you wont get a decent one. You don't want one of those cheapo lights as they are an electrical hazzard. I had the plugs on 3 of them melt & could have started a fire.
 
Oz3 said:
Correct brother. You don't need to worry about all that stuff if your doing home grows. Just grab ya something 1000 watts if u can. You'll be good.
Click to expand...
Is the wattage needed simply for the heat source or there are other sciences to it besides just that.
 
tablelegslim said:
Ill definitely be looking into that for sure. Where i have them at now is 2x2x4.5 but i have another spot i planned on moving them when they get a little bigger that is 3x3x12. How many board style quantum lights would be needed for each area? I stopped on the way home and picked up some different bulbs to try out until i get the proper setup. Will these do a little better job for about a week or so? Just got home been away for the weekend and everything seems ok but i have coloring of the little stalks. Does that indicate a issue with rooting or some sort of deficiency?
Click to expand...
That all depends on the board . If it’s a 23 inch by 11 inch that will cover a 2 foot by 4 foot area . Those are typically your 2000 watt advertised LEDs. Heck Mars Hydro makes a QB board . They are a sponsor so I can plug those guys the step down covers a 3by3 roughly . Best of luck , your in the right spot. I’ll tell you I’ve bought 6 lights now and I’ve been growing for less than a year . Sold the ones I don’t use anymore . I opted for a much lighter light in the QB style lights and did away with some really good burple lights . They were too damn heavy and light Bill was high. Also kept tent temps really high
 
I forgot about it but i do have a hps mh light i believe i think it was a street light. Would that work better than the current setup
 
My Mars Hydro TSW 2000 (White LED) Light covers a 4' x 4' Veg & 3' x 3' Flower area. It was $250.
I run 2 of these in a closet for 3 plants.
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I sure appreciate it i will be buying one next week save a little more and get another. It will be lots of trials and errors before i get there. Thanks again ill be bothering about something else before long
 
I went the alibaba knockoff quantum board option. Pretty happy with the light so far. I got a 240W job delivered for under $200 USD. I'm not sure if I can mention the manufacturer because they are not a sponsor. I've heard the new Mars Hydro are good and also Budget LED are a sponsor that do some good lights.

Edit: I chose a 3500K spectrum to use for both veg and flower
 
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