LED + Scrog

[racer123]

Hello fellow 420'ers!

I am in the need of a little bit advise. Currently my grow room is a 4x4x7 ft. with a 600-Watt HPS.
Anyways, I am looking to improve my current method of growing and have some questions.

1. How big of LED's should I be looking for? I am planning on growing 4 plants in Scrog hydroponically.
500 Watt LED Would this be sufficient for my grow area? should I be getting 2x300W or 2x400W instead?

2. Would upgrading from a 600 Watt HID to LED be worth it? I can afford it money wise and I heard it does increase yield and speed up the grow by about a week or two.

3. I am planning on running a scrog with 4x 5 Gallon Hydroponic buckets. Planning on growing 4 different strains (Girls Scout Cookies, Train Wreck, NYPD, and Haze). My biggest issue is changing the reservoirs. Without moving the plants it is a pain in the ass. Previously I have just filled up with nutrients when the water got low. This method actually worked quite well, however, I am worried about the unknown levels of left-overs and possible deficiencies. I want to improve this process, I have heard of people using pumps before to suck the water out? What kind of pump am I looking for?


All help is greatly appreciated, thank you.

 

[brightlight]

Hello Racer. While there are many experienced LED growers here, I'm replying since my new set up is similar to what you are thinking about. It's 520w in a 4x4x8 area. Working well and happy with it so far. I was getting antsy waiting for release of my model and was considering 2 of same mfr.'s 300w, but glad I waited. Might have gotten a bit crowded in there, and considering temperature, I wouldn't want it any warmer than it ended up. If you like, check out a posted pic taken 20 days into 12/12.

 

[racer123]

Hello Racer. While there are many experienced LED growers here, I'm replying since my new set up is similar to what you are thinking about. It's 520w in a 4x4x8 area. Working well and happy with it so far. I was getting antsy waiting for release of my model and was considering 2 of same mfr.'s 300w, but glad I waited. Might have gotten a bit crowded in there, and considering temperature, I wouldn't want it any warmer than it ended up. If you like, check out a posted pic taken 20 days into 12/12.

Is 520 Watt efficient enough for full coverage? From reading around and looking at stickies, I think I read somewhere that the minimum for flowering is 35W per SQ/FT. So 16SQ/FT would be 560 Watts minimum. Are you seeing any lack of coverage? Also how high are your lights from canopy?

 

[brightlight]

Well I sure as heck hope so otherwise the joke is on me. It's an Illumitex Neosol DS. I'm unable to say much because they aren't a 420 sponsor. Not the conventional design. Passive cooling. 1536 diodes. Like I said grow is looking good to me. Distance? Now at 100% power ~20-22" from canopy. Vegged at closer distances and far less power.