I just wrapped up my last harvest a few weeks ago and buds are currently curing. I’m running 2 autos that a week in and I thought now might be a good time to upgrade so I can have more vertical space. I’m looking at the vivosun 2.7x2.7 grow tent, but I don’t want to use there light. I wanted to try spider farmer or mars hydro. Do they work with the e43 grow hub controller from vivosun? I’m upgrading from a 2x2x4, so I’m going to be using all the same equipment, inline fans, etc. my question is what light that is around 200 watts that works with the grow hub controller and produces amazing results? I managed to pull 89 grams from a 100w so bigger is better right? I want maybe a half pound per plant or close to it if that helps any
I grow in a 2' x 4' and use a variety of lights during a grow (Vipar XS 1500, Mars SP3000, Growcraft X3 veg light, Growcraft X3 flower light + Spider GlowR80's). Lots of lights, yes, but each light has a specific purpose.
Your tent measure 32" x 32" so a light for a 3' x 3' is the place to start looking. I looked at lights from Spider, Mars, and Migro. I was psyched when Migro came out with their new lights recently and their 250S is a great fit for your tent.
The
Spider Farmer G3000 has great digital integration if you wanted to go with electronics from Spider. Looking at the PPFD map, there's good light in the center but, frankly, the PPFD values collapse around the edges. Their G/SE4500 is a runaway winner for a 2' x 4' tent but the G/SE3000 is not in the same league.
Mars has some great lights but they're not covering themselves in glory in the 3' market. At 12", the PPFD map is strangely uneven. At 18" the light is a little better but it's got the same problem around the edges as it does as 12" in that it's verging on DAWA ("dark as a whale's ass") territory.
For my money, I'd go with
one of the new Migro lights. The PPFD map (below) is for a 16" hang height and it's pushing out just under 1100µmol in the center and well over 800 along the front and back. One advantage of having an even PPFD map at 16" hang height is the you can run the light at max power and, because it's that far above the canopy, the canopy won't get as warm as it would at just a few inches lower. And, just checked, the driver can be dismounted and run via its 15' cord.
Migro revamped the entire product line and released their new models about a month ago. Shane, the owner of the company, is an engineer and he's pretty involved in the design of his products as well as day to day operations of the company. I found a typo on their web page and sent in an email. I got an answer back from Shane the next morning.
All three of those lights are $200± but the Spider and the Mars aren't up to the level of the new Migro light which stands out above the rest in terms of delivering photons.
Will the Migro (or others) work with the E42A? Yes, according to Migro. The Migro product page states: "Lighting controller compatible incl. AC Infinity(type B adaptor), Vivosun, Trolmaster (LMA-14), Telos Growcast, Grow flux". Best thing to do is to contact Vivosun and double check, just to make sure.
Note - another option would be two Vipar XS 1500 Pro lights or one of their XS3000 Pro's which is two 1500's on held together by a bracket. The XS1500 is a good choice for a 2' tent but runs out of gas around if you put it in a 3' tent.
And, yes, Migro makes a light for a 2' tent, which I believe pushes the XS1500 Pro off the throne as the best 2' light but the Migro light is 18" x 18", so you can't get two of them in a 32" tent, and at 150 watts, it just doesn't have the oomph to light up a 3' wide grow area.
