2 tier grow in 5x9 tent with led

whats going on growers outdoor season finished early this year due to the amount of rain we got this month! Completely ruined 2 plants with bud rot and mold my big marmalate was so heavy the stalk broke in the heavy rain and winds. Still have a fruity chronic juice and a big banana og out there still! Hoping to get the fruity chronic juice another week if the weather holds together. Banana needs two more weeks min...

Anyway on with the start of the indoor grow season!!

This year I'm looking to upgrade to led!
My ultimate goal this season is to have a 5x9 gorilla grow tent 8 foot tall. Then have a 4x8x8 2 tier bench

Have been looking into the horticultural lighting group hlg-600H
or building a grow light using the bridgelux eb Gen 2, 4 foot strips.
Which one of these would be most effective?

Here are the specs Im thinking.
Tent- 5x9x8ft
Bench- 2 tier 4x8x8ft
Grow space- 64sq Ft
Watts per 4x4- 400-600 watts per 4x4
Total watts -1600-2400 watts total
Height per grow area- 4 ft
Container height - 10 inches
Light distance to canopy- 12 inches
Plant height 10-24 inches
Sog/scrog style with 6 plants in each 4x4
8 inch inline with filter


Or do you think I would get more yeild simply using the 5x9 grow tent with two hlg 600's?

Thanks everyone I've got this all in my head been thinking about it all summer! Finally about able to pull the trigger on all the equipment I'll need! Definitely will be a step up from my 2 600 watt hps!! Hopefully I can get alot of insite on this and make it the best.i can! I will be doing a journal once I get everything set up and ready to go I'm thinking mid november I'll pop some beans! Ethos genetics humboldt seed company hopefully some dosidos!

You can definitely get more yield with double the space.

Strips will allow you to build a larger more spread out lamp that you can place closer to the canopy. It's possible to build a high powered lamp that sits 4-6 inches from the canopy.

For a 2 tier tent I would insure there was plenty of airflow through the tent, minimum using two exhaust fans located on the top of the tent. Tier divider should be well perforated to allow even airflow through the 2nd tier floor. You will need enough airflow to prevent the lower LED from warming the upper area and/or pots, etc.You can place the fans and filters on the top, won't notable affect lifespan of the filter to run them on the exhaust end.

A more complex design would isolate the tiers and exhaust them separately.

I love the strips

more whoosh and strips.

sounds rad, go for it.

subbed

Never built but I had played around with smaller scale ideas, found wire frame shelving via Chinese sources for cheap. They get as big as 34"x84"x8' but unfortunately not as large as 4x8'.

The system had a 2x10" duct that ran from the 1st tier to the top of the unit so both fans could be placed on the top of the tent while only using an additional 2" of floor space.

The tiers wouldn't have been airproof but still tight, using a hard foam board sandwiched between aluminum on the shelf to isolate the areas and prevent the upper pots from warming due to heat radiating off the lower lamp.

Local metal distributor will sell aluminum/steel sheet around $50-60 per 4x10, will also cut to order.

They probably won't bend for you, but can turn you on to someone who does that type of work.

Or, duct could be made from cardboard and do the same job as metal.

If you build the shelf from wood, a large pan would be nice to protect the wood and make cleaning easier. 4x8 sheet of aluminum with aluminum angle on the edges to form the pan. Caulk it up and it's waterproof.

Rahz said:

You can definitely get more yield with double the space.

Strips will allow you to build a larger more spread out lamp that you can place closer to the canopy. It's possible to build a high powered lamp that sits 4-6 inches from the canopy.

For a 2 tier tent I would insure there was plenty of airflow through the tent, minimum using two exhaust fans located on the top of the tent. Tier divider should be well perforated to allow even airflow through the 2nd tier floor. You will need enough airflow to prevent the lower LED from warming the upper area and/or pots, etc.You can place the fans and filters on the top, won't notable affect lifespan of the filter to run them on the exhaust end.

A more complex design would isolate the tiers and exhaust them separately.

Click to expand...

Sweet! Now is 40 watts sq ft to much? Being closer to the canopy u shouldn't need as much wattage to get the same amount of yeild correct? Am I being selfish thinking I can get around 2 lbs per 4x4?

My thinking is going to isolate the bottom and the top grows by having an 8 inch inline on the bottom backside of the tent and then a second 8 inch inline going out the top. I will then have 4 passive 8 inch inlets. Will install both 8 inch inline ducting to 10 or 12 inch carbon filter outside of the tent.

Was thinking of building my own custom length bench say a 50x100 with telescopic legs to raise and lower the bench. Then I'll be able to fit 4x4 flood trays on the bench and on the floor underneath the bench. Being able to adjust the height might come in handy if ever dealing with stretchy genetics.
Having 20 4 foot Bridgelux eb Gen 2 strips would give a power output of 28-56 watts each if I'm not mistaken so a total of 560-1120 watts but having 20 strips per 4x4 would give a pretty good light spread!

I could mount the led strips to a 1/4 inch thick aluminum sheet that is then mounted directly underneath the bench having all the led drivers mounted on a board outside the tent.

I was thinking a shallow tote dwc or drip irrigation in a coco bed with 6 plants in each 4x4. If I did the drip irrigation with say 4 drip stakes around the coco bed and 6 plants, watering once or twice a day.

I'm hoping for a perpetual harvest a 4x4 section every 2 weeks would be the dream!

BTW have yet to say I have a separate veg tent so this 5x9 will strictly be for flowering.

Okay so building the Bridgelux eb strip light sounds like the logical and slightly cheaper choice. I'm trying to go with the 3000k but have noticed they have recently been sold out. Are the plants going to see a notable difference between 3000k and 3500k?

I'm going to get the 4 foot strips now how many would you run for your 4x4 area? I'm thinking atleast 15... 20 would be better!

Which hlg-600h driver am I going to need? Not the best on the electrical knowledge. I can definitely build it just don't know exactly what I need persay...

Thanks all!

Zbud94 said:

Sweet! Now is 40 watts sq ft to much? Being closer to the canopy u shouldn't need as much wattage to get the same amount of yeild correct? Am I being selfish thinking I can get around 2 lbs per 4x4?

Click to expand...

I would shoot for 15-20 par watts per foot (750-1000 PPFD) especially in a tiered system. I'm not familiar with strips but perhaps someone can give you the skinny on available currents/drivers for running at nominal and under driving. The more strips you can run at lower current the better off your thermal management will be.

im looking at aluminum 6061 sheeting and wow very expensive.... what is everyone else using for heatsinks ?

i found the aluminum 6061flat bar is a bit cheaper could do that hooked to angle aluminum. ifi did this i could even mount some 120mm pc fans on top to cool it all down that would also keep the heats from rising into the above grow space.