24/0 with 40w light.

[RF90]

I'm gonna give you a straight answer.
Yes. You can grow with that shitty 40watt light Iv grown plenty of 1-2 gram plants as a kid under 32 watt cfls. And that's all you'll get per plant that's worth doing. As for your other light that gets to hot. Why is it getting that hot? Im able to run 1000 watt HPS in a spare bed closet and keep temps under 90 with minimal effort. Your led should be cake work.
Is your living space hot as well? I run window ac units in the rooms to keep ambient temp low. The rest is worked by fans moving air.

I'd recommend working your temps in your grow. Getting them consistent. Then go to your next step. Otherwise. Having little light with hurt your everything and the heat with stunt or stop growth

Well my hygrometer reads like 85 high/77-75 low. But when I scan my infrared temp gauge on the soil it reads 95.. to the touch the LEDs are not hot at all.

 

[DrOgkush]

Those number seem to be fine to me. I dont run soil temps myself. Iv only done ambient and ballast temps. So I'm not the one with the best knowledge on soil temp other than outdoors go.

 

[A.k.a]

Maybe run the big light at night and then once it gets hot switch to the smaller one for a few hours.

 

[DrOgkush]

Doesn't seem like he's having a heat problem. Possibly just overthinking

I still use flouros t5 HO. 4ft 8bulb. Only able to 50% dim. And my temps run high 80s with doors shut low with them open

 

[rmax]

"4 square ft grow area"

Is it a 2'-0" x 2'-0" closet with one door? Something that maybe had a bunch of shelves in it or one top shelf with a clothes bar?

Tell us what you are working with. Here's a diagram from my Googler.

 

[RF90]

"4 square ft grow area"

Is it a 2'-0" x 2'-0" closet with one door? Something that maybe had a bunch of shelves in it or one top shelf with a clothes bar?

Tell us what you are working with. Here's a diagram from my Googler.

View attachment 4952292

Homemade grow box. Lined with foil. I have a big grow tent but wanted to try micro grow kind of thing. I have a small fan attached to the side bringing in air.

300w LED about 18/20 inches from seedling.

currently have the 40w LED on it until I figure out heat issue. To be clear closet doesn’t get very hot. The inside of the grow box does (soil surface temp).

 

[DrOgkush]

Oh. Shit. I ran in a open closet. Sliding door. A little box with foil can get hot as hell I'm sure.

 

[HydoDan]

Homemade grow box. Lined with foil. I have a big grow tent but wanted to try micro grow kind of thing. I have a small fan attached to the side bringing in air.

300w LED about 18/20 inches from seedling.

currently have the 40w LED on it until I figure out heat issue. To be clear closet doesn’t get very hot. The inside of the grow box does (soil surface temp).

I don't think that's gonna work!

 

[RF90]

I don't think that's gonna work!

worth a shot! Thinking about adding a few CFLs with the 40w. I will keep you posted!

 

[Herb & Suds]

Homemade grow box. Lined with foil. I have a big grow tent but wanted to try micro grow kind of thing. I have a small fan attached to the side bringing in air.

300w LED about 18/20 inches from seedling.

currently have the 40w LED on it until I figure out heat issue. To be clear closet doesn’t get very hot. The inside of the grow box does (soil surface temp).

I would lose the foil and go with flat white paint to reduce heat

 

[rmax]

Homemade grow box.

Nice.

Since you said top of the soil I suspect infrared heat. If this is the case you'll need to reflect the heat away.

I'm going to advise copying this tree ring design. Make one of the below out of white plastic/mylar. Make the circumeference the same as your flower pot.