Looking for advice on which LEDs to buy for my grow tent. I got a 6x6 tent but only plan on flowering a 4x4 area. I live in canada so plc is out of the question. Currently I’m looking at hlg 550v2 or the 600h v2 or the optic 6 or 8+. If anyone can either sway me in a good direction or tell me some other good products on the market that would be awsome.
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Lots of good suggestions here for lights, whether plug and play or diy… someone will pop on with some info for ya but seems like you have a plan going.
Welcome to OG!
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I’m not sure if I’m capable of a diy personally. I know there are many benefits of it but I think I’d rather buy a pre built one or get someone to build me one
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Then you should go to the SolStrips thread ran by @Baudelaire and see if you like some of his awesome strip setups, even prepare ones and about 1$ a watt it can’t be beat
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I’d be curious to know the par an ppfd on those or even just some peoples yeild results from those. They definitely are a good price
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Lol look around at most people’s grows, to name a few for you search for reikos auto projects amd workshop, Jellypowered’s cab adventures, Mr. Sparkles cab grows, and so many others
Aalot of growers use the SolStrips or similar but some are still using cmhs and such but the crowd here tends to favor the LED side…
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As far as par and ppfd, there should be spec sheets located somewhere to give you a better detail of it all
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Awsome thanks man I’ll deffently take a look at that I think the hlg600v2 is my kinda girl tho an the price tag isnt too horrible
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HLG fixtures aren’t a very good option for the money. Their spread is pretty terrible in PAR maps. They act like single point light sources because of the diode density on their boards, thereby eliminating three of the significant benefits of mid-power LED diode builds:
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Wide spread from multiple light sources, reducing shadows and increasing penetration. DIY single-row LED strips give the best spread for your money.
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Low density intensity allowing you to run the lights MUCH closer to the plants without excessive heat or light damage. LED strips can be run 4-6" from the top of the canopy.
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Low cooling needs from low-density, widely-spaced diodes. LED strips can be cooled literally by the aluminum U-channel they are attached to in your DIY build, no active cooling or additional heavy and expensive heatsinks required.
Check out the PAR maps of all of the HLG fixtures. They look very much like bulb lights due to the hotspots in the middle and very poor performance outside of the 1-2ft square in the middle. That means the outer half of your tent, and especially the corners, get shitty low amounts of photons. LED strip builds don’t suffer from this issue NEARLY as bad.
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I have 4 solsheets mix of 2700k and 3500k running on at 640 watts in a 5x5 and they are better than a 1000 watt hps in the same space.
Don’t waste money on cheap LEDS they don’t last and performance wise they’re shit. Good lights cost money if you’re willing to learn to DIY to save a bit thats what I’d do. Solsheets come assembled of DIY.
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I’d beg to differ that they aren’t worth the money I can get a hlg 550v2 for 1000$ compared to some of the strip lighting say like a fluence which are 2000 an up for the wattage I want I agree with you on the par maps but also those par maps are done in a open space if u read them not in a tent like most LEDs are so the values are higher in a tent and I have seen good results from them from many people. If I was to go with any strip LEDs I’d go with plc but I can’t get them to ship to where I live
Can you upload a pic of your light ? Also what’s the rough cost of it?
Sorry man, Fluence newest Spyder is $1395-1600 retail. That’s expensive, but you get a much higher build quality and much more efficacy and much better PAR maps, open room or reflective space. I’m not saying that’s worth it for the money, either, when you can build literally the exact same thing for $500 from strips.
And why would you go with PLC strips which are effectively 2x the price of comparable Samsung F strips with less warranty and no benefit? Adding extra spectrum beyond a 3000k strip might get you a 1% benefit if your grow is otherwise 100% dialed in and repeatable, but I’d bet anyone a lot of money that that’s less than the margin of error for total cannabinoid output per umol of light in a given grow. I’m talking repeatable 100% dialed in grows in the same space.
Spectrum doesn’t do very much beyond your 3000k LED strips, despite company’s attempts to sell you on it.
Your think 1600$ usd . Can it’s like $2000 or more . To build something like that close to $1500 can. Also I dont wish to build because I have no knowledge on how to wire an stuff like that. I also agree with what you are saying about spectrum tho.
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What kinda strips if I was to build would you go with an what are some sites that sell them
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When I look at the Fluence site, the latest top shelf Spyder 2 series and X series range from $1395-$1600 USD. You can build very close to the same thing in an uglier package for about 1/2 to 1/3 the price.
Read out my posts here and the following ones later in the thread: What are the best led lights available currently? They should give you the answers you’re looking for. LEDGardener.com is a great site for this stuff, but you gotta read read read read. Then watch some Youtube tutorials from Growmau5 and GreenGenesGarden - they may be talking about LED COBs instead of strips, but the principles of wiring and building the fixtures are the same when you use LED strips.
For 6X6 I’d go with this bad boy - new 630W Fluence Vypr fixture - it’s barely enough though, 1700 umol works out to 515 umol/square meter, the bare minimum for cannabis flower, 600 umol/sqm or higher would be ideal
I’m only flowering a 4x4 area I just like the extra work space of a 6x6
4X4 is 1.5 square meter, so for 600 umol/sqm you’d need a light with about 900 PPF or more
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