Lighting

[golfnrl]

I'm sure everyone reads the Sunday blog posts that Nebula Haze sends out. Well...at least I do. Those posts led me to rethink the lighting for my grow set up. Based on what I've read, I thought my light was/is undersized. I'm relatively new to growing weed having been enjoying this hobby for about a year. Still can't believe I'm doing it. But I digress. As I have tried to learn about lighting the more I read the more confused I became. I want to understand the 'why' about the various aspects of growing weed, what works and what doesn't, but the sheer volume of technical terms about lighting are off-putting at the least. It finally dawned on me that there is no perfect lighting system. Every kind of grow light has it's own unique characteristics. Each has it's own pros and cons. For a person like me, I really don't need to know all of the technical terms for lighting, I'm not investing in a light meter, and I'm not going to try and weigh in on a technical discussion about the various measurements that one can get into discussing grow lights. I think most people just want to know if a light will work in their particular grow set up. And I concluded, from reading and watching videos, that wattage at the wall is the best measurement for what is needed for a particular grow set up. There a lots of considerations about lighting but, correct me if I've drawn the wrong conclusion, wattage measured against the square footage of the grow area is the most usable calculation for coverage and penetration. Everything else is personal preference. I have a 3x3x7 Gorilla tent. I really just wanted to know, after selecting the type of light, what light fixture will suffice for veg and what will be needed for flower. That's it. I chose LED over other types of grow lighting simply for the heat considerations. After all of the reading and video reviews my suggestion is select a light manufacturer and fixture that appeals to you, in the price range you can afford, and give it a go. Just my .02.

[SoOrbudgal]

Totally agree golfnrl. I grow indoors with what i can afford to just supply our family and a couple friends or who else needs it. I don't think commercial operation when i got into this indoor just to suppliment and have a great hobby which i love doing. I'm no expert on anything with electrical i got no help when i first looked at lighting except what i read and study i went for what was easy for me to do not what " others " say to do. I always looked at it as " watt from the wall and size of tent "

[gbauto]

golfnrl, I also think that lighting is dependent on the environmental conditions you're trying to grow in.
Colder rooms benefit from HID lighting because of the added thermal load it injects into the space.
Leds can offer some benefits by letting you run the room 4-5 degF warmer but efficiency can vary quite a bit.
Older 'blurple' panels need at least 50 watts/ sq ft of canopy to achieve adequate light levels.
Current tech diodes are much more efficient at converting watts of electricity into photons of light, so 30 watts/ sq ft of canopy will give you the same light level.
The fixture you have will absolutley rock that 3x3, just try to maintain some headroom. That is almost equivalent to a 600w HPS fixture.

[SoOrbudgal]

I agree with gbauto it's gonna kick bud!

[geokenn55]

I’m currently using 2 300 watt viparspectra and the V450 viparspectra in a 2x4x5 tent will this be enough wattage compared to 600mh/hps set up

[D.A.A.S.69]

You've got a great setup, 9sq. ft. That HLG, Will kick some butt, for sure.
Have fun.