Supplement for Viparspectra 400 in 32x32 tent?

I currently have the Viparspectra 450 (200 actual watts). My tent is 32x32x63. That puts me at about 28 watts per square foot.
Some sources say that is sufficient while some say I need closer to 50w/sq. ft. of LED to finish flower optimally. So I need about 150 more actual watts to be in the sweet spot.
If anyone is getting optimum growth per square foot with LED, what is your watt per square foot? Am I trying to get too much light now? My tent is ventilated.
Should I just go with what I have or pick up a 300w led (120w actual) to supplement the one I have?
Not sure how much it matters but I have room for about 2 ft tall finished plants after accounting for pots, light hang, light distance.
Now I know this is asked alot but the answers are all over the board depending where you look and how old the info is. Can anyone help me out with real experience here?
Here is my journal. https://www.rollitup.org/t/dankdave420s-mixed-strain-soil-grow-from-seed.951427/#post-13848887

Get a new fixture, check out TastyLED, Timber, HLG, RapidLED, etc.

DankDave420 said:

I currently have the Viparspectra 450 (200 actual watts). My tent is 32x32x63. That puts me at about 28 watts per square foot.
Some sources say that is sufficient while some say I need closer to 50w/sq. ft. of LED to finish flower optimally. So I need about 150 more actual watts to be in the sweet spot.
If anyone is getting optimum growth per square foot with LED, what is your watt per square foot? Am I trying to get too much light now? My tent is ventilated.
Should I just go with what I have or pick up a 300w led (120w actual) to supplement the one I have?
Not sure how much it matters but I have room for about 2 ft tall finished plants after accounting for pots, light hang, light distance.
Now I know this is asked alot but the answers are all over the board depending where you look and how old the info is. Can anyonehelp me out with real experience here?
Here is my journal. https://www.rollitup.org/t/dankdave420s-mixed-strain-soil-grow-from-seed.951427/#post-13848887

Click to expand...

you could add a few LED light bulbs or even a 2nd 450 watt light.that would give you 54 watts of radiant power or 7.7 watts per sq/ft of "par watts". if your into DIY then you would be better off building a light with bridgelux or samsung 561 smd strip lights. those cheap Chinese grow lights use very low bin diodes and are not very efficient. really the only way to get a decent LED grow light without spending $1000 is to build your own

Lol. Thanks guys. So I guess I don't have enough light so I will look into getting another Viparspectra. I have smoked buds from a Viparspectra 300 in a 2x2 and I gotta say isn't no way I am ever paying a grand for an LED for a hardly noticable improvement in bud quality and yield over a $130 light. The quality of light or life time improvement doesn't justify paying 8 times more to me. To each thier own. That's why I was trying to talk more about actual quantifiable unit of measurements as opposed to brands and equivalent wattage nonsense. I shouldn't of named the brand I guess, that is my fault, I knew what that would start. All I really need to know is how much light I need. Unfortunately I also don't have a par meter, as with the unlimited, but sometimes non-factual, knowledge available on the ww web, it shouldn't be necessary to do all of the testing myself on a commercially manufactured light. Maybe the variances in suggested watt per sq. ft. take diode quality into account, so I guess since mine is cheaper I should aim for the higher end of the spectrum. Which is double the lower. Twice my cost would be $260 plus I'm getting the added benefit of having my light coming from 2 separate sources. Just think, I can go through 8 lights and still have paid less than some, and I have barely seen anyone getting double, let alone 8x the bud or quality from any light over the high rated cheapos. Considering I couldn't even afford one of those lights, and the fact that I will be producing quality bud that will pay for one of those lights in several harvests if they are so much better, it sounds like the cheap light is a good initial investment. I don't feel bad about the light at all. Seems good quality. Wouldnt mind upgrading to COB eventually. Having experience with HPS and MH, if these lights are that bad, maybe I will be in the don't buy these category after I harvest. Then I would switch back to HPS before I spend a grand on a light. Very few people that actually have harvested with these have many complaints that I can find, is why I bought after researching. I could potentially build one one day but didn't have time for that when I started. So that being said, what watt per sq. ft. do you recommend for high quality LED? Cheapo LED? Thanks again guys.

mauricem00 said:

you could add a few LED light bulbs or even a 2nd 450 watt light.that would give you 54 watts of radiant power or 7.7 watts per sq/ft of "par watts". if your into DIY then you would be better off building a light with bridgelux or samsung 561 smd strip lights. those cheap Chinese grow lights use very low bin diodes and are not very efficient. really the only way to get a decent LED grow light without spending $1000 is to build your own

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Haven't heard of Par Watts yet. No easy answers anymore are there? Besides buy a more expensive light. Which seems to be about half the answers on these forums. Lol. I will look into building a light for my next go.

I might get flamed for this. But if you really only want to consider cheap lights, something like this might be a decent addition to your vipar https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IVQ96MW

Yes, I know it's not in the same league as this: https://growerslights.com/collections/horticulture-lighting-group-quantum-board-led-kits/products/horticulture-lighting-group-260-watt-quantum-board-led-kit

But it might just work decently with your existing light.

Thanks. It looks like a better spectrum then the Viparspectra. I did look at that light while researching. I just heard so many good things about the Viparspectra. Wonder how it really compares. It might also just be too much additional wattage for my space. I am not pulling the trigger too quick. I have a while to decide. They don't make these choices easy. I am hearing that the full spectrum type like that is better than the red/blue "blurple" type as well. The first gen it replaced was a blurple I believe.

DankDave420 said:

Haven't heard of Par Watts yet. No easy answers anymore are there? Besides buy a more expensive light. Which seems to be about half the answers on these forums. Lol. I will look into building a light for my next go.

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par watts is just radiant power in the 400-700nm range. it is a popular term with LED growers. unfortunately growing with LEDs does have a high start up cost. but thats what you asked about. for a tent that size I would use one of these https://www.ebay.com/itm/VIVOSUN-315w-Watt-Ceramic-Metal-Halide-CMH-CDM-Grow-Light-Fixture-Ballast-Kit-/172745313101?var=&epid=16003913997&hash=item28386c4b4d:m:mNC9Aofn5QQk0uyYanaib2A but I'm just a PU MMJ grower and make no profit from my crops so I look for the most cost effective way to produce good quality medicine

Yeah those are nice too. Price isn't too bad either. Nice spectrum. I hadn't looked too much at those, I was set on LED. Only thing I don't like is the bulkiness and the price of bulbs. I will def consider that if I don't like the way my LED grow turns out. I have a thing for LED I guess and really wanted to try out a grow with it without dumping too much cash into it. Maybe a stupid move, I will find out. I already own HPS and T5 grow lights that are just sitting in storage. Worst case scenario I can just go grab that. I was worried about heat and space. And I like LED's.

I thought this was kind of neat. Screw in COB with built in fan. No reviews yet. Cheapo brand.though. But I could see those being nice for supplemental lighting if you only need one or two. 33w true power and heavy in reds.
Well I can't post links but you get the idea.

If it helps, I've got 2 450w ViparSpectra in a cupboard just a little larger than yours and they do great on there own, but I feel like I should have 3 450w , or 2 600w in there for them to shine.
I "supplement" with a 250w hps that I crank up to 400w when it's a bit colder. The combo definately comes off the winner, but these LEDs don't exactly lose.