Can anyone tell me if my "poor man's" light system is sufficient. My 1st grow and my buds look great and smoke great but are "fluffy". I used a PAR30 Full Spectrum Plant Light Bulb with Optical Lens for High PPFD, 20W Grow Bulb 200W Equivalent, E26 Base, LED Grow Lights for Indoor Plants, 1 for each plant?
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Lights
- Thread starter Jcool
- Start date
Gingerbeard
New member
Lots of factors in fluffy nugs. But...
Your 200w equivalent light. That is enough light but probably not actually what you are getting. Does the manufacturer have a recommended distance from canopy or footprint?
My beard tells me you are using a desktop/countertop type growing light that has pictures of herbs on the box or something for houseplants. Neither of those light types are appropriate for flowering weed.
Can you tell us more about your light or do you have a picture?
Your 200w equivalent light. That is enough light but probably not actually what you are getting. Does the manufacturer have a recommended distance from canopy or footprint?
My beard tells me you are using a desktop/countertop type growing light that has pictures of herbs on the box or something for houseplants. Neither of those light types are appropriate for flowering weed.
Can you tell us more about your light or do you have a picture?
E26 is a screw in bulb, not enuf for what we grow. My LEDs pull 328 watts each from the wall claims 2000 watt equivalent each and covers 4 feet by 4 feet each light. You would need 16-20 of these E26 bulbs for each 4'x4' area IF they make full spectrum light. Good LEDs are not hat expensive.
Bluey
Well-known member
You need at least 750 PPFD, which is similar to PAR, in that tent for a decent grow of photoperiod plants.
To get that you'll need 22 lights of those lights in that tent. Not worth it.
Get yourself a 480W bar light. You could try the following
Mars Hydro Smart Dimmable FC-E4800
Mars Hydro FC 4800-EVO
Spider Farmer SE5000 EVO 480W
The above are budget lights designed for a 4x4. You can spend twice as much if you want and still get the same results with what you grow. They are all well built and last.
Plenty of discount codes available and they go on sale regularly
To get that you'll need 22 lights of those lights in that tent. Not worth it.
Get yourself a 480W bar light. You could try the following
Mars Hydro Smart Dimmable FC-E4800
Mars Hydro FC 4800-EVO
Spider Farmer SE5000 EVO 480W
The above are budget lights designed for a 4x4. You can spend twice as much if you want and still get the same results with what you grow. They are all well built and last.
Plenty of discount codes available and they go on sale regularly
Rootsruler
New member
400w for $200 if you're in the US. $329 outside the US.
BESTVA BAT series grow lights for seedlings – BESTVALED​
BESTVA BAT series grow lights for seedlings – BESTVALED​
In the process of moving so everything is packed. I purchased it from Amazon, this is the description.
Brand
Briignite
Light Type
LED
Special Feature
High PPF Output, Optical Lens, High-end Aluminum Shell
Wattage
20.00
Bulb Shape Size
PAR30
Brand
Briignite
Light Type
LED
Special Feature
High PPF Output, Optical Lens, High-end Aluminum Shell
Wattage
20.00
Bulb Shape Size
PAR30
- FULL SPECTRUM & NATURAL LIGHT: PAR30 full spectrum grow light appears 4000K white to eyes but has a red/blue light spectrum. Same as natural sun shine, perfect for tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, leafy greens and herbs at all growth stages
Gingerbeard
New member
No. Not so much. Those are little better than fluorescent bulbs. The footprint alone is not enough without banking several. Great for houseplants or kitchen counter herbs.
Ok now that I have a better understanding of lights, what are ur thoughts on the soil & nutes I use?
WONDER SOIL | Organic Coco Coir Brick/Block | Ready to Plant Compressed Coco Coir Fully Loaded with Nutrients | 10 LBS Block Expands to 2.5 Cu Ft | Incl Worm Castings & Nutrients.
​​​​
Brand: Growth Science
Base A and B form the foundation of the Growth Science system. Together they provide your plants with essential macro and micro nutrients essential for growth.
Solid Start is a specially formulated veg booster created by Growth Science. It contains two types of kelp to encourage prolific vegetative growth — Giant Pacific Kelp and Norwegian Kelp. These, alongside extra Nitrogen and Potassium, assist in the advancement of a plant’s vegetative period.
Rock Solid is our proprietary bloom booster designed to help your plants reach their maximum potential in their flowering stage.
​​
WONDER SOIL | Organic Coco Coir Brick/Block | Ready to Plant Compressed Coco Coir Fully Loaded with Nutrients | 10 LBS Block Expands to 2.5 Cu Ft | Incl Worm Castings & Nutrients.
​​​​
Brand: Growth Science
Base A and B form the foundation of the Growth Science system. Together they provide your plants with essential macro and micro nutrients essential for growth.
Solid Start is a specially formulated veg booster created by Growth Science. It contains two types of kelp to encourage prolific vegetative growth — Giant Pacific Kelp and Norwegian Kelp. These, alongside extra Nitrogen and Potassium, assist in the advancement of a plant’s vegetative period.
Rock Solid is our proprietary bloom booster designed to help your plants reach their maximum potential in their flowering stage.
​​
Gingerbeard
New member
After a little google, I have to say no. That soil is for vegetative growth, not flowering. Houseplants, and such. The description says you don't need to add anything for up to six months. Depending on your seed being auto, fem, or photo you will be drawing in great amounts of veg nutrients well into flowering where you can look forward to nutrient issues. When you get to flowering, you will need to add flowering nutes.
Plus, it looks damned expensive.
I'm going to throw this out without being a dick. I can be a dick, but not this time. Stop looking for cheap and/or lazy man's solutions for your first grow. Go to the main GWE website and take a look at options. I don't mean the most expensive. I mean options that show you what is happening with water, pH, nutrients, light, and the ilk so you get a feel for what is going on in your first grow. There are example setups for budgeters and ballers. It's taken me five years to put together my cheap-to-high-end setup. If you have the cash, there are kits that have more than you need. If you are as broke as me, one good piece now is worth ten okay pieces later.
Plus, it looks damned expensive.
I'm going to throw this out without being a dick. I can be a dick, but not this time. Stop looking for cheap and/or lazy man's solutions for your first grow. Go to the main GWE website and take a look at options. I don't mean the most expensive. I mean options that show you what is happening with water, pH, nutrients, light, and the ilk so you get a feel for what is going on in your first grow. There are example setups for budgeters and ballers. It's taken me five years to put together my cheap-to-high-end setup. If you have the cash, there are kits that have more than you need. If you are as broke as me, one good piece now is worth ten okay pieces later.
Thx for not being a dick yet I appreciate it, when I say my 1st grow I literally mean bought 2 seeds "RQS" from a local (Tennessee) THC-A shop without ever growing any plant. Here I rent so I converted a side by side refrigerator so I could close it up if I needed. I am also broke as a sad joke "disabled" so I did quite a bit of research on learning the process, but I couldn't justify spending $500 on a set up not knowing if growing is something I could do without drawing unwanted attn. Now that we're moving back to MO where it's legal I'm going to build a real grow room but I can only afford to do this once, can't afford expensive (shit) or over pay for Names sake. Which is why I joined here to hopefully get good "non sponsored" advice and tips.
Rootsruler
New member
Wherever you decide to setup your grow just make sure that you set it up in a way that you can control temperature and humidity.
For an actual stick built room and not a tent I find using something like R-Tech to insulate the walls of a shed or garage makes doing that fairly easy. I've used it many times and will continue to use it until I find a product that can outperform its performance, ease of installation and most importantly, price.
A mini split is not cheap but will give you the luxury of controlling your environment.​
Just those two things will take care of 70% of what you need for a well set up grow room.
Don't forget to figure in all the electrical you'll need before you install all that stuff in case you need to upgrade it to handle the load you'll be putting on it.
This is a garage I setup for someone with R-Tech and a used 3 ton mini split. The area regularly sees temps of 105° in the summer but it stayed at 77° the whole way through without even blinking.
I installed a 12" Can Max filter and fan to scrub the air and ran it into the attic in case any odor got by the filter.
For an actual stick built room and not a tent I find using something like R-Tech to insulate the walls of a shed or garage makes doing that fairly easy. I've used it many times and will continue to use it until I find a product that can outperform its performance, ease of installation and most importantly, price.
A mini split is not cheap but will give you the luxury of controlling your environment.​
Just those two things will take care of 70% of what you need for a well set up grow room.
Don't forget to figure in all the electrical you'll need before you install all that stuff in case you need to upgrade it to handle the load you'll be putting on it.
This is a garage I setup for someone with R-Tech and a used 3 ton mini split. The area regularly sees temps of 105° in the summer but it stayed at 77° the whole way through without even blinking.
I installed a 12" Can Max filter and fan to scrub the air and ran it into the attic in case any odor got by the filter.
Gingerbeard
New member
If that is your grow space, check out the link. They sell, yes. But it is a community of people who grow in itty bitty spaces using odd whatnots.
In that space, do not use premixed soil simply because your plant will outgrow the space before the soil cools enough for flowering. Feminized seeds in coco is the way to go. You have more control of size with feminized and more control of nutrients in coco.
Space Buckets: DIY indoor gardening - Grow plants with LEDs​
In that space, do not use premixed soil simply because your plant will outgrow the space before the soil cools enough for flowering. Feminized seeds in coco is the way to go. You have more control of size with feminized and more control of nutrients in coco.
Space Buckets: DIY indoor gardening - Grow plants with LEDs​
Gingerbeard
New member
Seriously? Dude is growing in half a refrigerator.