Looking for advice on high quality LED for 3x3 grow

Hello,
I am looking for advice on a small tent grow setup I want to build. My main goals here are to build a respectable soil-less LED setup inside a grow tent.

Grow tent size will probably be a 3X3. For plants I'm hoping for 1-3 within the tent.

I am committed to going LED for this as I want to both keep temperatures much lower than with HPS. I also like the idea of LEDs lasting so much longer without needing new bulbs.

For growing itself, I'm thinking of building a DWC out of a rubbermaid or going a bit slicker with a waterfarm for each plant. Trying to avoid soil so that I dont have to do a lot of repotting, removing for watering, etc.

My main question is on lighting. I'm aware there is no real way to do LED correctly on a budget. I also know I dont need 1000WHPS equivalent lights for a 3X3 grow tent.

I've been considering some of the higher-end LEDs such as the Amare SE250. My light budget is probably somewhere in the $500-$700 range. That being said I think my entire budget is probably in the $1000 range for this setup, if that helps.

I'm not that interested in building my own LEDs. I'm happy paying a bit more to save my own time and get something proven and reputable.

I've done 400W HPS grows before and know generally what to expect in terms of growth and yield. I'm hoping something with around 300W in LED will at least be comparable in yield.

So here are my questions:
-What is the best light within my budget that would work with a 3X3 tent?
-How much heat can I expect to be output by a 250-300W LED? Do I need high CFM fans like with a cooltube and HPS or are LEDs more of a "small fan venting air out the top drawing air in the bottom" cooling task?

400w of LED will need about the same heat removal requirements as 400w of HPS. Although the LED heat doesn't hammer your canopy like HPS heat does so it's easier to deal with somewhat.
If it were me and I was ordering today, I'd just keep it simple and get something like THIS
It's in your budget and offers top quality parts as well as dimming.
For the money you can't beat it but there are other lights out there that are a similar value. 250-300w of LED is ok but on the low side. You can also check out HLG and their Quantum Boards. Very efficient and low profile but they are popular and hard to keep in stock.

You will likely need a dedicated extraction fan to keep your tent cool. It depends on how warm you keep your house and how easy it is to cool your room down. In Canada during the fall/winter/spring months I can just crack a window and keep my room cool.

those smaller tents, air exchanged is very important.

I say mix it up, get some QB's and a COB's rig

You should shoot for 350 watts in a 3x3 tent. I would avoid amazon led lights. They are low priced and low quality, or in some cases high priced and low quality. 700 is going to be tough if you are looking for a light ready to go. If you are willing to do your own 700 is on the high end. You could make a great light for 400 to 500. This site is packed with good info and lots of people happy to help.

https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/collections/lamps/products/johnson-grow-lights-cx-6

That will get what you need but its 750. But the guys that run the site are good people

This is a great light. Timber 400w Vero 29... It would crush a 3x3.. Good price also. It's all you need. Quantum boards would be the only better option IMO
http://timbergrowlights.com/model-4vs/

As for heat yea, you still need an extraction fan, but I run a 4" vortex fan on medium/low and I have no problem in a 2x2x4 tent with a 200w Vero 29 rig.... Have your exhaust hose pull the air right from the top of the heatsinks.. You won't have a problem in a 3x3 unless you live in a really hot place.

If you run a waterfarm 1 plant will fill the 3x3 when vegged for 35 days before flip. The growth is pretty crazy.. You'll be sweating putty balls during the stretch because you'll be so worried about running out of space

4 plants is better than 3 plants just because of the way they fit into the tent.

Here is my Vero 29 200w (Actually pulls 185 watts with the dimmer attached). In a 2x2.. Hempy.. 3 weeks since flip. Yep I'm running out of space.


Here is the waterfarm under 400w of HPS in a 3.5 x 3.5. veg 35 days from sprout.
We did a pretty thorough journal on this grow. Check it out. Lot's of good discoveries..
https://www.rollitup.org/t/waterfarm-400-hps-lemon-kush-modified-scottyballz.934638/page-4

For a 3x3 tent 9 sf x 50w/sf = 450w for good PAR. There are a number of companies out there, you might seek out looking for a 3x3 area with a PAR of at least 500 - 750 umoles/w at 18 - 24". Most companies state their capabilities, PAR is the best measure for comparison. I have a diamond series XML350 love it for a 3x3 tent. just need to have good exhaust. There are plenty ChilLEdDrowlights, Kind, Spyder, ProGrowTech is nice also another cannabis oriented light developer.

VegasWinner said:

Most companies state their capabilities, PAR is the best measure for comparison. I have a diamond series XML350 love it for a 3x3 tent. just need to have good exhaust. There are plenty ChilLEdDrowlights, Kind, Spyder, ProGrowTech is nice also another cannabis oriented light developer.

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theres quite a range in your list of recommendations. some as high as 2.1 umol/J. some as low as 1.3 umol/J. obviously the lower efficiency ones will need 50% more input watts.

VegasWinner said:

For a 3x3 tent 9 sf x 50w/sf = 450w for good PAR.

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with any medium-efficiency cob or higher any new user at 50W/SF is likely going to have issues. most people use 30-40W/SF

if going the cob route, 300-350W is a good bet. 4x 75W cob rigs are popular

Tiky said:

I'm not that interested in building my own LEDs. I'm happy paying a bit more to save my own time and get something proven and reputable.

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timber prob has a 4 cob rig with a hlg320 driver. thats what you want

Since your on a budget i would go with two Quantum boards with single heatsinks. That way you can position them for maximum coverage until your able to add more lighting. From experience, this is a great starter option for a 3x3 as i got very dense fat buds from every corner of my grow with this setup. I run a short ceiling and keep my plants under 3 feet from soil. I get no larf below canopy no longer do much trimming below canopy.

ChefKimbo said:

Since your on a budget i would go with two Quantum boards with single heatsinks. That way you can position them for maximum coverage until your able to add more lighting. From experience, this is a great starter option for a 3x3 as i got very dense fat buds from every corner of my grow with this setup. I run a short ceiling and keep my plants under 3 feet from soil. I get no larf below canopy no longer do much trimming below canopy.

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How high is your tent/cabinet for this? Thanks

TIMBER

amyg88 said:

How high is your tent/cabinet for this? Thanks

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Made my cabinet 5 feet tall due to security concerns. I also run SOG along with 2-3 mainlined plants to fill up my space. IMO light spread goes along way. QBs and LED strip solutions are a great choice for small spaces.

Thanks for all the advice! I decided to go with the 4x Vero 29 fixture from Timber Lights. It will go into a 3x3x7' tent. Im planning a 4" fan sucking heat from top using a carbon filter (not critical as this is legal). Ill keep air circulating and exchanged pulling cool air in from the bottom.

May do soil first grow for simplicity then swap to waterfarm for subsequent grows.

Eager to see how this LED performs vs my last grow which was a low end 400w hps and a home depot 400w bulb.

lol. i started with aeropoinics....it did not go well. Soil sounds like a great idea for a first run.

Tiky said:

Thanks for all the advice! I decided to go with the 4x Vero 29 fixture from Timber Lights. It will go into a 3x3x7' tent. Im planning a 4" fan sucking heat from top using a carbon filter (not critical as this is legal). Ill keep air circulating and exchanged pulling cool air in from the bottom.

May do soil first grow for simplicity then swap to waterfarm for subsequent grows.

Eager to see how this LED performs vs my last grow which was a low end 400w hps and a home depot 400w bulb.

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Did you get the 400w version?

Tiky said:

Thanks for all the advice! I decided to go with the 4x Vero 29 fixture from Timber Lights. It will go into a 3x3x7' tent. Im planning a 4" fan sucking heat from top using a carbon filter (not critical as this is legal). Ill keep air circulating and exchanged pulling cool air in from the bottom.

May do soil first grow for simplicity then swap to waterfarm for subsequent grows.

Eager to see how this LED performs vs my last grow which was a low end 400w hps and a home depot 400w bulb.

Click to expand...

You could also install your fan and filter in bottom of tent and utilize the heat from the leds if you find you have trouble keeping temps up.

Danielson999 said:

Did you get the 400w version?

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Yes I went with their 4VS model.

Supposed specs:
COVERAGE AREA:
Up to 9 Square Feet at 18 inches above canopy (full cycle/flowering usage)
PPFD: 1083 μmol/m²s
POWER:
Total Wattage: 400 Watts
PAR Wattage: 200 PAR Watts
PPF: 932 μmol/s

Just bought this light. Anything to report?

I know this threads old but I have 2 lights I go back and forth for use reasons but I run a SF 4000 and a HLG 550 v2 RSpec both lights crush the 3x3 with little to no heat plants love it both lights are even good up to a 5x5 tent

I’m really considering a sf4000 I hate how much heat comes off my CMH