Getting Things Together

Soon I will be moving to Southern California, so I will finally be able to grow some dank bud! I've certainly made some half-assed attempts in the past, but now I have some money and time to plan. I would like to have the entire setup before I move.

Right now I would prefer to have one light to run full-cycle, and I'm not afraid of a little DIY assembly. I've looked around on HLG and perused LEDGARDENER's lighting plans, but there is so much information and jargon that it's difficult to get up to speed from the CFL days.

For context: I'm pretty well set on using a grow-tent to start off, in either a 3'*3' or 2'*4' format, definitely in soil, probably just simple containers to start off.

Curious, what's your reasoning for wanting LEDs? Power consumption? Depending on the amount your wanting to grow 3x3 would be easier to move around in with the plants. With 4 decent size girls, a 4x4x8 like I got gets crowded fairly easy and it's not much more coin than the others.

Blindeye said:

Curious, what's your reasoning for wanting LEDs? Power consumption? Depending on the amount your wanting to grow 3x3 would be easier to move around in with the plants. With 4 decent size girls, a 4x4x8 like I got gets crowded fairly easy and it's not much more coin than the others.

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Power consumption is the primary reason I'm looking at LEDs. It's also helpful that the DIY systems can be made fairly modular with the ability to add various wavelengths and switches as time goes on.

3×3 sounds like the way to go based on your recommendation. Really, I'd be happy growing enough to support myself and gain experience in the beginning. 4 plants the first few runs and, after a while, maybe add some light and pack the tent with 6 or more.

Honestly I didnt know much on the diy leds. That's got me curious now. That's what I'm doing, growing for myself. Idk what I'm gonna get off ol girl.in there but shes covered in buds. I had a kingsled for life on some dwarf autos, didnt yield much at all, so I use it as a veg light. So far it does great at that. Not so well for flower development. I went semi old school this time n got a 600w hid kit. That's proven to be a winner so far.

*Bump*

Anybody have recommendations? I've been looking at HLG's stuff but still not entirely sure what specs I should be looking for.

MrVanker said:

*Bump*

Anybody have recommendations? I've been looking at HLG's stuff but still not entirely sure what specs I should be looking for.

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You in the US?
Settled on 3x3?

MrVanker said:

*Bump*

Anybody have recommendations? I've been looking at HLG's stuff but still not entirely sure what specs I should be looking for.

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Id go for some size where atleast one side is dividable by 2 feet. 3 feet and 1m is an unnecessary complication in diy if your starting from scratch, there are toons of 2 feet strips.

For a 3x3 id rec 4 boards, one for each corner. Or maybe 8x qb132 from HLG, they are diy friendly no heatsink required.

coreywebster said:

You in the US?
Settled on 3x3?

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3×3 seems like a good size, 2×4 could be doable as well. I'm really just looking to grow a mostly personal amount.

I was looking at a 3 panel setup from HLG. I was toying with the idea of cutting the one long heatsink into 3, and arranging them at 60° angles to hang in the center of a 3×3. Then I can add blue or red spectrum in the center hole, and the triangles between the light panels. I know that it's overkill, but would also facilitate some expansion later on.

I think it was this one: https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/collections/all/products/320w-xl-qb-v2-led-kit

Looking at the QB132s now.

MrVanker said:

3×3 seems like a good size, 2×4 could be doable as well. I'm really just looking to grow a mostly personal amount.

I was looking at a 3 panel setup from HLG. I was toying with the idea of cutting the one long heatsink into 3, and arranging them at 60° angles to hang in the center of a 3×3. Then I can add blue or red spectrum in the center hole, and the triangles between the light panels. I know that it's overkill, but would also facilitate some expansion later on.

I think it was this one: https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/collections/all/products/320w-xl-qb-v2-led-kit

Looking at the QB132s now.

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As rocket said 2x4 is a simpler option and also has the benefit of easy access, as in you have no issue reaching the back of the plants and not leaning over too much plant.

In this case a 260w kit would be good. Though a bunch of 132s will allow more spread and allows your light to be a bit closer to plants.

They sell the rspec twin board and sink for $185, add a driver and your saving a lot of cash for literally doing nothing. Plus you get your 5-7 year warranty on the driver direct from the retailer if it ever fails.

For me it depends on the height of the tent. 5ft and the best option would be the 132s, 6ft and either option is golden.

So, if I go with 8 QB132 panels running at the full 75w gives me 66W/ft². Does that give me enough wriggle room to run 4 blue panels and 4 reds (adjusting for veg and flower), or am I better off just using the 3000k at full wattage?

MrVanker said:

So, if I go with 8 QB132 panels running at the full 75w gives me 66W/ft². Does that give me enough wriggle room to run 4 blue panels and 4 reds (adjusting for veg and flower), or am I better off just using the 3000k at full wattage?

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You wouldn't run them at max. Aim for 280-320w across the whole tent.
You could add some monos if you wanted but you certainly don't need to.

coreywebster said:

You wouldn't run them at max. Aim for 280-320w across the whole tent.
You could add some monos if you wanted but you certainly don't need to.

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Okay, thanks for that. I figured that full 75W/board was probably not ideal. Running 8 boards at 40W sounds easy enough.

Now, I believe this will be my last question for a little while: Any tent recommendations? I've been browsing Amazon, but I'm open to other suppliers. I assume that every tent will have light-leaks of some sort. I just don't want one that is going to fall apart on me real fast.

Thank you for all the help. Just got my UI straightened out (just in time to go back to work), so I should be ordering my stuff soon!

MrVanker said:

Okay, thanks for that. I figured that full 75W/board was probably not ideal. Running 8 boards at 40W sounds easy enough.

Now, I believe this will be my last question for a little while: Any tent recommendations? I've been browsing Amazon, but I'm open to other suppliers. I assume that every tent will have light-leaks of some sort. I just don't want one that is going to fall apart on me real fast.

Thank you for all the help. Just got my UI straightened out (just in time to go back to work), so I should be ordering my stuff soon!

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In my opinion most tents are perfectly fine for the job, hear bad things about secret jardin tents these days.
Look for metal poles and corners and you should be right. Brands where I am are probably different to where you live so I wont pick a specific brand but there's been little difference in all the tents ive had.
Only one that really stands out above all else is gorilla tents and I don't see the cost been worth it.