Beginner auto flower grow advice needed

chronnie49 said:

You can always get a bigger fan than you need and put it on a speed controller. I use a 8 inch 750 cfm fan in a 5x5 and turn the controller down to 40 percent and its almost silent.

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That's what I was thinking, but I was figuring a 6 inch would be bigger than I need, so I could run it low.

pookiepal said:

Great price, but I gotta tell you, I'm a little nervous about buying chinese brands. They are notorious for cutting quality. How long have you had them?

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Almost everything you buy is going to be made in china. I havent used the 220 watt boards yet but I just finished a run with a 110 watt board and it works great.

If you look up kingbrite or meijiu you will see a lot of people buy direct from china and have great grows with them.

Sounds like you're considering mars hydro which is a chinese brand and they dont use Samsung diodes or meanwell drivers except on their new light.

Macncheesehaze said:

In the 2x4? I just set it up but I’m only gonna do 2 plants. In the 32x32 I’ve done 2,3,4 and 40 lol just filled it with square 2.6 liter pots, pulled 179.6 gs out of it so not too bad. Hoping adding another light and my new autopot set up will help me pull more.

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Cool, sounds like lots of buds. I see auto pot is a watering system. I'll have to read the website.

pookiepal said:

Cool, sounds like lots of buds. I see auto pot is a watering system. I'll have to read the website.

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Yeah it’s a pretty neat set up.

chronnie49 said:

Sounds like you're considering mars hydro which is a chinese brand and they dont use Samsung diodes or meanwell drivers except on their new light.

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Thanks for all the added info, chronnie. I am only at the point of checking them out. Knowing they don't use meanwell drivers would be a big strike against them.

pookiepal said:

Thanks for all the added info, chronnie. I am only at the point of checking them out. Knowing they don't use meanwell drivers would be a big strike against them.

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Yea theres a lot options out there for led. Whats your budget?

chronnie49 said:

Yea theres a lot options out there for led. Whats your budget?

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I was hoping to not go over $200., but I'm sure I will have to go higher.

pookiepal said:

I can understand the appeal of HPS, but a lot of factors make LEDs the best choice for me.
The first is noise, HPS means a lot more fan.
Second is economy, our rates are among the highest in the country, I'm constantly trying to conserve energy.
Third is simplicity, as a beginner I want to keep it as simple as possible.
I could be wrong about some of these assumptions, as I have no experience.

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Yea i read that your tent was 4x5 thats why i suggested HPS and so many watts. for 2x4 yes LEDs are better. LEDs are higher initial cost and if you want the same results, well you cant use much less watts, unless you get some really good highend LEDs that cost a fortune. Or if you DIY then you can get really good LED for not that much, but even cheap LEDs are good there, but you wont be saving too much energy, also they have fans on them most likely and easily end up being more noisy than HPS, especially if you were to run exhaust air through cooltube. You need to have the same inline fan for exhaustion with LEDs or HPS, but LEDs have usually fans their own. Ofc if you were to run separate air through cooltube and use secondary inline fan just for that, then it would be more noisy than noisy LEDs

pookiepal said:

I was hoping to not go over $200., but I'm sure I will have to go higher.

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You can only get used/cheap LEDs on that budget. I got a mars hydro 2, which draws 150w from wall. Is noisy and not that optimal spectrum, but i paid 80 bucks for it used and its good for the value. Two of them would be enough for your tent. But im not sure if 315W CMH would be better, most likely it would(as it has pretty damn good spectrum), but LEDs might be easier to handle so they might be a smarter buy

Making LEDs yourself is easy enough that even if you dont have any experience, but have some common sense, you can build one based on guides. You basically need a LED, holder for it, electronics, which is one box, heatsink and maybe a fan for the heatsink, then connect these, maybe put few parts in there between wires. You dont need to make your own boards or anything and is closer to building an ikea shelf if you got the parts and instructions form internet.

I'm not against a diy, but if I went that way it will take forever to get going.
The fans are a factor, that's why I'm interested in these lights without fans.
I see so many reviews on the spider farmers, it looks like they give out a lot of test lights.
I came across these guys, a little more $$ but 250 watts
https://www.budgetgrowlights.com/collections/lighting-for-mid-sized-grow-spaces-up-to-a-3-x-3/products/series-3-red-spec-250-watt-dimmable-grow-light?variant=31326148558914
What do you think about them?

I don't see how $350.00 is "budget"

Johiem said:

I don't see how $350.00 is "budget"

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I didn't say it was. I'm still trying to get some perspective on what's good, that's why I asked for input.
I prefer dealing with companies in the USA, so their product is worth my attention.

pookiepal said:

Hi Everyone,

A couple of years ago I bought a 2x4x5 tent, for autos, but family stuff interrupted my plans.
After reading, I guess I should have looked for a taller tent.

I'm looking to get things started and need some advice on lighting and ventilation choices.
I'm not sure how much light I need for such a small space. Would one or two of those spider lights, be a good choice?
There are people living above me, so odor control, and noise are important. Can anyone suggest good choices for a quite exhaust fan and appropriate carbon scrubber?

Thanks for your advice!

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i happen to have a 2x4 set up with LED and i'm in northern US.. my day temps are around 77F/RH wanders between 44%-55% I have a 4inch 295cfm exhaust going thru a carbon filter and all odors are non existent outside the tent.

I'm using 2x Philzon n"Newest" 600 LED lights. pulling 108W each from the wall. both bloom and veg switches flipped.
Passive intake from an AC cooled room / Ambient RH around 50% mostly.

There is a 4 inch inline fan on the floor there I used to use just to push air around under the canopy until I got a tower fan. I sit it on a small bucket to boost it up and it circulates the air under and throughout the plant including above the canopy. I got a 2 in 1 use doing that with the 1 fan.

If it were me I would go this way. There are cheaper options but I think these items would cover you well in that space.

HydroKid239 said:

i happen to have a 2x4 set up with LED and i'm in northern US.. my day temps are around 77F/RH wanders between 44%-55% I have a 4inch 295cfm exhaust going thru a carbon filter and all odors are non existent outside the tent.

I'm using 2x Philzon n"Newest" 600 LED lights. pulling 108W each from the wall. both bloom and veg switches flipped.
Passive intake from an AC cooled room / Ambient RH around 50% mostly.

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Thanks for sharing your data, HydroKid, that is very helpful. I'm starting to consider a 4 inch fan, now.

Those lights have some very good reviews, but I'm leaning towards a fan less, quantum style design.
Thanks for showing your set up.

pookiepal said:

Thanks for sharing your data, HydroKid, that is very helpful. I'm starting to consider a 4 inch fan, now.

Those lights have some very good reviews, but I'm leaning towards a fan less, quantum style design.
Thanks for showing your set up.

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These have dual fans up top but I don't recall them ever needing to turn on.

Doug Dawson said:

If it were me I would go this way. There are cheaper options but I think these items would cover you well in that space.

Amazon.com : SPIDER FARMER SF-2000 LED Grow Light 2x4 ft Flower Compatible with Samsung LM301B Diodes & MeanWell Driver Dimmable Grow Lights Full Spectrum for Indoor Hydroponic Plants Veg Bloom 606pcs LEDs : Garden & Outdoor

Amazon.com : SPIDER FARMER SF-2000 LED Grow Light 2x4 ft Flower Compatible with Samsung LM301B Diodes & MeanWell Driver Dimmable Grow Lights Full Spectrum for Indoor Hydroponic Plants Veg Bloom 606pcs LEDs : Garden & Outdoor

www.amazon.com

Amazon.com: iPower GLFANXEXPSET4D25CHUMD 4 Inch 150 CFM Inline Filter 25 Feet Ducting with Fan Speed Controller and Temperature Humidity Monitor and Grow Tent Ventilation, 4" Kits, Black: Garden & Outdoor

Amazon.com: iPower GLFANXEXPSET4D25CHUMD 4 Inch 150 CFM Inline Filter 25 Feet Ducting with Fan Speed Controller and Temperature Humidity Monitor and Grow Tent Ventilation, 4" Kits, Black: Garden & Outdoor

www.amazon.com

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I agree with you on the spider farmer, Doug. I like them a lot, but if I'm going up to $300. the Budget Grow light with more power also becomes attractive at $350.. Do you have an opinion of them?
Thanks for the exhaust link, if I get a 4inch instead of 6 inch, the savings go to the light.