Lights Advise

[HowTheHell]

Hi people. Wondering if anybody could offer some solid advice based on first hand experience ideally. New to all this and have setup a grow tent. Hastily bought 2 Viparspectra 450's. Found great reviews on line but since I bought them I have come across a lot of bad comments about flowering and not enough red spectrum.

I am considering returning and getting something better. Bear in mind my tent is only 5' high so that may rule out anything COB from what I understand. Also it's in an attic that's hot at times so guess this rules out traditional bulbs or makes them less attractive at least.

Maybe the QB types make sense? another factor is the tent is 2×4 so I am thinking one long light instead of square would be best suited and possibly avoid the need for getting two.

In summary I guess I'm asking can anybody recommend a proven single QB light setup that suits a 2×4×5 tent? Budget maybe 400 to 500 euro max. Also I'm in europe so US brands not too available from what I see. (Or alternatively advise that im talking rubbish)

A spiderfarmer 2000 looks to fit the bill but im finding on line reviews hard to trust at this stage. I found lots of vipar reviews that were very positive with no mention of flowering issues. I'm guessing they are sponsored or whatever in hindsight.

Another alternative is bloom booster lights but not sure.

[UndergroundFarmer]

With that short of a tent, the best things to do are:
1. Get a larger tent and use the short one for seedlings, clones, etc.
2. Switch to a T5 fluorescent panel.
3. Grow autos or other shorties and use the LED panel that best fits the space and your budget.

I've heard good things about Spiderfarmer but I've got no experience with one. I'm using Advanced Platinum because they're assembled in my country and have a mighty long warranty for such a product. They're also not cheap and for a good reason. I chose them because I'm going to be growing for quite a while. The technology is evolving fast with LED boards, so some products' history of trouble may be just history by now.

[HowTheHell]

Thanks for that. Had a look, seem to be good lights from the reading I have done alright. Dont seem to be available this side of the pond from what I see however.

Also for my tent its crammed in the only possible spot I have so no options to go higher.

[JDU]

Are your Vipras new? Like UndergroundFarmer said- LED tech is evolving & most old reviews are just that- old. I think you'll like them just fine. If you decide to keep shopping- The Mars Hydro sp250 would rock that tent- idk how hot it gets. The 150 doesn't get very hot. The TS 600s run pretty cool too.

Edit. Nevermind- I just realized Mars Hydro might not work for your short tent. I have mine 32in above the canopy & the Black Cherry is still tacoing. Last run the sweet spot was 16-18in during flower.

[HowTheHell]

Thanks, yes they are brand new. Not sure if they have evolved or have updated chips or whatever. Will look into that. Not so sure though, never saw it mentioned.

Was looking at the mars looks to tick all the boxes alright. Worried to see what you say about the height though.

Maybe I should really be looking at something that can go low. With a viper hanging in the tent and tiny seedlings I can get a max of 27" with supplied hanging kit. At a push I'd say I could get 30, that is until the plants start growing. Better keep those plants well trained to have the space.

Are the QB type in general able to go closer do you know?

I thought gardening would be good for stress relief, how wrong I was!!

[JDU]

In a pinch you can get an xtra few inches by removing the ratcheting hangers & zip tie right to the supports too. As far as I know the lights that sit the lowest are T5s. & they aren't all that bad. I flowered my 1st grow with T5s & it was good tight flavorful stone.
Hahaha! Yeah it's kinda confusing gettin started & stressin on making the right investments. Best to just hit the bong a few times, relax & just grow. I'm learnin that it's exactly as stressful as you let it be.

[HowTheHell]

That's my problem, the bong is empty. Have one starting to flower in the greenhouse but as I live in a housing estate that's another stress fest brewing. Stress increases with the smell!

About rising the lights to the max would imagine you need a bit of a gap above the lights for the fans to be effective. I guess 2 or 3 inches anyway.

[HowTheHell]

She that Black Cherry is well into veg and 32 is too close? Wow powerful light.

[JDU]

Sensitive strain. 32 is perfect for the rest.

[JDU]

That's the min clearance Mars recommends too.

[HowTheHell]

Right, no go for me so. Cheers. I need to buy a bigger house.

[HowTheHell]

Seriously tempted by the spider SF2000, fits the tent size and can being down to 12" for flower, dimmable, 200w power draw. Practically zero negative comments.

[Obi-Wan]

Personally, I think you’d be better of with 2 of the SpiderFarmer 1000 lights, 3 would be best if you can squeeze it into your budget. More smaller lights will give you better spread and a more even cast of light across the entire 2x4 area. The 2000 is 25” long so you’ll see a drop off in light on the 12” of canopy on both sides of your tent. I like your way of thinking trying to get the fixture closer to the canopy for light penetration but lighting follows the inverse square rule so if you set them at 12” in flower the fixture won’t cast its light beyond its physical dimensions.

[HowTheHell]

Thanks Obi Wan. I hear you in that regard, I know more small lights is more flexible but had a look at the cost and it's a bit much for me. I would be happy with the single light, I will be doing two or three of the same strain each time I plant, all planted at the same time so dont think i will need as much flexibility as others. I can live with the lack of efficiency too I guess if I'm already stepping up from the vipars.

To be honest my concern about being able to keep the light low is that I'm just afraid of running out of head room in a 5' tent. I figure a light that is both thinner and can get closer reduces the risk of that.

Is this a legit concern, will it be a struggle with the height if I stick with the vipars and even with the spiders? First time grow so completely clueless. It would be a shame to run out of space and mess it up at the end, burning the plants and all that. It really would.

I have standard 3 gallon pots too, I'm half thinking of swapping for wider more squat pots of similar volume to save a few inches. Not sure if this is advised csnt find any info on it.

[HowTheHell]

Personally, I think you’d be better of with 2 of the SpiderFarmer 1000 lights, 3 would be best if you can squeeze it into your budget. More smaller lights will give you better spread and a more even cast of light across the entire 2x4 area. The 2000 is 25” long so you’ll see a drop off in light on the 12” of canopy on both sides of your tent. I like your way of thinking trying to get the fixture closer to the canopy for light penetration but lighting follows the inverse square rule so if you set them at 12” in flower the fixture won’t cast its light beyond its physical dimensions.

Seems on the spider website 2 1000's is same cost as one 2000. Not quite as efficient on Amazon. Either way it's a nice bit cheaper on the website so yes makes sense to have the flexibility for the price. Could afford two alright.

I'll keep 1 vipar eitherway at this stage as i have some seedlings under it now. Could return the other and get the 2 SF1000's.

Anybody have any thoughts on height issues? Would the QBs run lower to the plants and therefore give more effective height in the tent?

[gbauto]

HTH, if you're stuck with using that tent you're going to either keep the plants really squat(most qb type fixtures need 20" headroom from the canopy) or use multiple light strips run at lower wattage/strip.
8 sq ft of canopy will need about 240 watts of top-tier diodes, so 2 qb panels or as many strips as you can afford/fit into the space.
If you're somewhat mechanically inclined, a simple DIY solution would be a aluminum baking sheet as a frame/heatsink for strip lights.

[JDU]

Not to hijack yer thread here HowTheHell but I wanted to ask Obi-Wan a question while I have him here & y'all were talkin about smaller vs larger lights.... So I have 1 big (Mars TSW 2000) & 4 small (2x Mars SP600, a Mars SP 150 & an old generic 1000w (lol- pulls 150w) blurple in a 4x6x8 ft tent. I use about 4x4 of it & some branches drift beyond that. How would you arrange that collection? Center the 2000 & put a small on each corner or stick the 2000 in a corner & the rest above the plants however they may spread?

[Obi-Wan]

I’d tape off the 4x4 section and center the 2000 in that 4x4 area. Then I’d put a SP600 on opposing corners on either side of the 2000 with the other lights filling the other opposing corners. So it would look something like this.

600—150
—2000–
150—600

[JDU]

Thanks! That's how they are now but I was 2nd guessin myself. I can't tape it off though that's where I enter the tent & the AC comes in & some of the fans live in those 2ft