New grow tent

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dpala

New Member
Hi All,

I'm still fairly new to growing and hope some assistance can be provided.
I just purchased a 80cm x 80cm X 160cm grow tent and I'm a little stumped on which lights to use. I was initially using cfls in my last setup, yet as I now have more room I want to have more than 1 plant going at a time which is where I get stuck on the lighting issue.

I'm unsure on if i should continue the cfl setup or switch to mh & hps.

As the room is 6.75 Sq ft, on 7000 lumens per Sq ft I'm going to need 47,000 lumens.

I don't have an awful lot to spend at this current moment and my very max would be $200, although I'd prefer to spend around the $150 mark.

I've found some 250w MH/HPS lights on ebay for $120 (aus) which cover the 4200k and 2100k spectrum (4200k isn't ideal, I found a 6700k mh globe for $30, would it be best to use that instead?). lumens are 20,500 & 29,000. If I was to go the 400w version, I still don't make the required 47,000 for veg.

The other issue I run into is the heat and having to keep the lights so high which I GUESS will cause stretch?

So at the moment I'm stuck between the 2 options below. If anyone could take a look and let me know which would be the best option, I would really appreciate it.

The MH/HPS im looking at is - http://m.ebay.com.au/itm/151034717674?nav=SEARCH

CFL - http://m.ebay.com.au/itm/140944049021?nav=SEARCH
 
Last edited:
ficklejester

ficklejester

Well-Known Member
Have you considered LED? Self-contained, much cooler temps.

Also, lumens mean nothing to your plant. Do some research on PAR, photosynthetically active radiation.
 
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dpala

New Member
I looked at a few LED panels on ebay, but have heard the eBay versions art the best quality and to steer away. I was reading a forum where they were saying a good LED setup can come to around 1k+.
Once I read that, I stopped looking into LED's.
How accurate that info was I don't know.

I'll start looking into PAR now.

My tent arrives in 2 days, so I need to have this sorted ASAP so the current plant can go straight into it
 
rob333

rob333

Well-Known Member
dpala said:
Hi All,

I'm still fairly new to growing and hope some assistance can be provided.
I just purchased a 80cm x 80cm X 160cm grow tent and I'm a little stumped on which lights to use. I was initially using cfls in my last setup, yet as I now have more room I want to have more than 1 plant going at a time which is where I get stuck on the lighting issue.

I'm unsure on if i should continue the cfl setup or switch to mh & hps.

As the room is 6.75 Sq ft, on 7000 lumens per Sq ft I'm going to need 47,000 lumens.

I don't have an awful lot to spend at this current moment and my very max would be $200, although I'd prefer to spend around the $150 mark.

I've found some 250w MH/HPS lights on ebay for $120 (aus) which cover the 4200k and 2100k spectrum (4200k isn't ideal, I found a 6th mh globe for $30, would it be best to use that instead?). lumens are 20,500 & 29,000. If I was to go the 400w version, I still don't make the required 47,000 for veg.

The other issue I run into is the heat and having to keep the lights so high which I GUESS will cause stretch?

So at the moment I'm stuck between the 2 options below. If anyone could take a look and let me know which would be the best option, I would really appreciate it.

The MH/HPS im looking at is - http://m.ebay.com.au/itm/151034717674?nav=SEARCH

CFL - http://m.ebay.com.au/itm/140944049021?nav=SEARCH
Click to expand...
hps man all the way if u wanna no how to run lights in a grow tent we,ll hit me up i run 2 600watt hps bulbs in a 2.2x1.2 grow tent lets just say that small of space with near on 1200 watts of light psyco plants
 
green217

green217

Well-Known Member
HID man until i saw your tent dimensions. Doesn't seem like enough height for HID, I'd try one of the cheap leds myself if I had the room you have. I don't feel like cfl's yield enough imho. Seems like rob333 has the formula to make a HID work in your tent. If you can swing that i'd definitely go with the HID with the highest watts you could make work.
 
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dpala

New Member
Hey Rob,
Just sent you a message mate.

I would have liked to have given LED a try, but I'm just skeptic on the eBay ones and if they don't work as advertised, I don't want to have wasted the $
 
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dpala

New Member
Will do fecklejester.

Does anyone have any recommendations? I'm waiting to hear back on robs suggestion on how to sort the HID, but the tents arrived today, and my plant really needs to be moved asap.
 
Deusracing

Deusracing

Well-Known Member
dpala said:
Will do fecklejester.

Does anyone have any recommendations? I'm waiting to hear back on robs suggestion on how to sort the HID, but the tents arrived today, and my plant really needs to be moved asap.
Click to expand...
YES VIRTUAL SUN products best and lowest priced with best quality bar none for inexpensive grows. 208 delivered will get you 400 mh/hps and digital ballast
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Virtual-Sun-400W-HPS-MH-Grow-Light-Hood-Reflector-Digital-Ballast-Kit-400-Watt-/400511563566?pt=US_Hydroponics&hash=item5d4059772e
and if you don't believe me check out my photos from jan till april this bitch rocks i got 3/4 pound dried along with over 200 peppers on same grow top that lol
 
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dpala

New Member
What square footage are you running that in duesracing?
I'm not sure my tent is large enough for that.

I've been brain storming on the best way to use cfls and to reach the lumens I need, I'd need way to many globes.

Ive up with 3 options at the moment which incorporate cfls and T8 tubes.
From my diagrams below, which would be the best do you think? I know option 2 reaches the lumens I was after, but I'm wondering if I can get away with less as in option 1 or 3
 

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Admortis

Admortis

Active Member
dpala, if you buy a light that just barely covers your needs you will regret it in the long run. I would say in a 2.5 /2.5 grow tent I would go with a 2 foot 4 bulb t5 which is only 100watts. They come with the veg light and you could go two ways with it. Either by two sets of lights and change them based upon what you are doing or mix it and have 2 3000k and 2 6500k in the light at all times (I have two sets of bulbs). The t5 is going to be easier on the heat issue but will not eliminate the problem. To solve that will depend on your setup. If the tent is in an air-conditioned room you could get away with just having exhaust suck the heat off the top of the light but you may need to use a window shaker a/c unit to get the magic 75 that plants love. At one point I had a 150watt hps in the top with a 4 bulb t5 on teh back and never could get the temps right. High temps really are an issue so if money is a problem I would say just use the t5 with exhaust to suck the heat off the top.
 
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dpala

New Member
I never thought lights would be so difficult. I basically need 47000 lumens for my tent, but nothing I can find will provide that without exceeding temps to a ridiculous degree.
 
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