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Looking for some advice on lights, please!

S

Smelly

New member
I'm hopefully a soon-to-be-first time grower as we are very likely moving to a legal state (or maybe country) in 3-4 months. So I'm looking at setups and have a million questions. But the biggest issue for me is the lights. I have no clue which ones are good and which are a waste.

I'm looking at hopefully getting both a 2x4 tent and a 4x4 or 5x5 tent and using soil with photos. Since we are moving to a warm climate, I'm concerned mainly about heat and cost. Does anyone have any advice for a new grower? I've read a ton of articles on advice and recs, but many of them seem to be old, and I'm not sure if they still make sense or are even available, as many links say out of stock or not available. I'm not in a rush, but any and all advice is appreciated.

Thanks to all!
 
Welcome to the forum and congratulations on starting your grow journey!!!

How much do you need to harvest in a given time frame in order to fulfill your needs? My wife and I consume a little under a 1/2 ounce of flower per week each and with my setup I can harvest every 70 days. So I need to harvest 9-10 ounces every 70 days to keep us from buying.

What are your plans for your 2 spaces? Do you plan to veg in the 2x4 and flower in the larger tent or do you plan to flower in both?

How warm is the climate and what do you anticipate the ambient temperature to be inside the home?

A 600 watt HPS with a good air cooled hood and properly sized exhaust fan will run a 4x4 about 5-10 degrees Fahrenheit higher than room temperature.

How much $$ can you afford to spend on lighting? How much can you afford to spend on your monthly electric bill?
 
I've looked at that I think a million times. Honestly, there are so many variables that it can be confusing. I think I have everything else down, just the lights are the hard thing for me to settle on a shortlist and decide. It's partially analysis paralysis and partially I don't want to mess up one of the most important parts, lol! Thanks, and I'll post below!
 
Further information -

Target would be an ounce a week, but with good stuff, maybe 2 ounces every 3 weeks? My wife has a laundry list of medical issues, and would drive consumption needs. So sometimes more, sometimes less.

upfront cost is a big issue, as I'm waiting on unemployment to kick in. Monthly cost isn't as critical, but yeah I'd prefer efficient and reliable.

Climate is highly likely AZ or southern CA, but we run a humidifier for my wife, so between hot and humid and just hot. Cold not really a worry for me. Ambient is likely 75 degrees or so indoors. I have thermostat set at 76 now, as wife likes it warmer than I do.

plans for tents are that I may be able to get the 2x4 from a friend for cheap. I would like to get the bigger tent. But I'd likely use the small one from time to time to grow herbs and flowers for my wife. Big tent would be just weed. Didn't even think that I could do different steps in either though! If that speeds the process, I could be down with that!

in fact, I jsut saw this light. It seems like it might be pretty decent price for output. Can't get link to work so here it is - MAXSISUN 2020 Latest QB Style PB 2000 LED Grow Light, High PPFD Rating Sunlike Full Spectrum LED Grow Lights for Indoor Plants Veg and Bloom, Plant Growing Lamps to Cover a 3x3.5 ft Flowering Space

There are so many different options, I have a hard time choosing. Would the heat from the 400W or 600W MH/HPS grow examples generate heat? Those grow examples seem like the best bang for the price of about $800...
 
I do not know anything about those lights, but from the description it does not look bad. Selecting lights was a bit of a hit and miss for me, in the old days I used HID and HPS with big bulky transformers etc. After trying several blurble type lights (with decent results) I ended up with the following light.
https://www.amazon.com/MARS-HYDRO-Hy...dDbGljaz10cnVl
After getting this light for my little over 2X4 grow, I realized I needed a shorter light to stagger my grows, so this year I will be purchasing and adding to my existing light.
https://www.amazon.com/MARS-HYDRO-Hy...NrPXRydWU&th=1
I do have a spyder 100 that I use to start seedlings and clones (I did not do clones this year, only autos).

Hope that helps, the light does produce some awesome grows. My last grow Amnesia Haze was grown completely under the first light.

Hope this helps
 
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