Green__Zer0
Active Member
Led recommendation for personal home grow for me and my family.
Best led for 3x3 tent, help
- Thread starter Green__Zer0
- Start date
Why are you considering LED? Often people look at LED without knowing why. Ceramic Metal Halide (CMH) would work well in that space if it's 7' tall. Otherwise, T5HO for a small tent. Those are better than the typical inexpensive LED fixtures you see on eBay and Amazon.
If you really want to do LED to reduce energy costs or heat, you'll have to DIY a COB system (see the threads here) or buy something like Area51.
If you really want to do LED to reduce energy costs or heat, you'll have to DIY a COB system (see the threads here) or buy something like Area51.
FranJan
Well-Known Member
For a 3x3 I would totally talk to this company, http://www.pacificlightconcepts.com/product/cx300/. The owner of this company is a member here and has a ton of expertise with LED growing so his expertise is so worth it for growers, especially those new to LEDs. A51 isn't a bad choice either.Led recommendation for personal home grow for me and my family.
topcat
Well-Known Member
I also have a 3x3 tent. In addition to Area 51 and Pacific Light Concepts, I looked at Tasty LED, Johnson Grow Lights, Go Green LED and Optic grow lights. They are pretty close in price for comparable models at the $650 to $800 level. There are more expensive ones but I'm just getting my feet wet and those mentioned will have what a 3x3 needs. They are all made with the best quality parts, too.
The people on this site have me considering a DIY, myself. The LES technology is exciting.
The people on this site have me considering a DIY, myself. The LES technology is exciting.
HockeyBeard
Well-Known Member
You're on the right track. You've covered anything I'd recommend
Green__Zer0
Active Member
Thanks. Is the DIY led as good as the $650 models.
Green__Zer0
Active Member
which is the better light diy or other models? and what size pots do you use for your 3x3? thanks in advance
Green__Zer0
Active Member
Is that new mars pro epistar160 any good?
1. I would stay away from anything with "epi" in the name.
2. I wouldn't put that much money into anything from MarsHydro (there are reports from people who were denied warranty coverage).
3. $475 is a lot of money to cover a 2x4 space. It doesn't fit your 3x3 space well. And, the way MarsHydro has a reputation for overstating the coverage, you'd probably need two. Now you're at $950.
You could get four Area51s for $700. Each one covers 20x20. Lifetime warranty (replacement parts at wholesale).
Mars is playing catch-up. In the past they've played off epi-whatever as being as good as anything else. Now they've expanded into the "pro" line with Cree LEDs (which means they've been selling substandard stuff the whole time they claimed they weren't).
They don't publish the spectrum they use, keeping it secret-saucy as a selling point. But, they lifted Area51's flowering spectrum a few years ago and used it in their MarsII flower-spectrum model.
$200 to get started in a 2x2 tent? Sure, you won't lose much. But, you're talking some serious investment. I wouldn't do that with MarsHydro. They're sketchy.
Here's an example of what's sketchy about MarsHydro. I noticed the Epi160 you mentioned draws 375w. They say it covers 2x4. That's 47w/sq ft.
So, you're paying more, for a "Pro" model, and you have to run more wattage per square foot than you do with the ordinary epi-whatever Mars II. (They're typically understated as 37w/sq ft when those buyers really need 55w/sq ft from that light.).
So, I guess they're charging a premium to be honest about the light? I don't get it. They charge you more for the power you'd need from the ordinary Mars II? And they call it Pro?
So, you're paying more, for a "Pro" model, and you have to run more wattage per square foot than you do with the ordinary epi-whatever Mars II. (They're typically understated as 37w/sq ft when those buyers really need 55w/sq ft from that light.).
So, I guess they're charging a premium to be honest about the light? I don't get it. They charge you more for the power you'd need from the ordinary Mars II? And they call it Pro?
HockeyBeard
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't invest in anything other than COB tech, with my understanding of lighting dynamics. But I'm in it for the long haul. You have to be willing to put up a few bucks on the COB tech. Top quality chips. Top quality drivers. Full spectrum light comparable to HID without the hotspots. In a couple years, this conversation will be silly.
churchhaze
Well-Known Member
Hey Vegeta.... what does your scouter say about his power level?Led recommendation for personal home grow for me and my family.
doobie57z
Well-Known Member
I was laid off this past summer, and decided I wanted to try a grow. No experience, and didnt want to spend a shit ton. Paid $248 US for a Mars2 400w and a 2'3" square tent, deliverd to my door. Paid like $60 for a bag of FF ocean, a bag of happy frog, bag of perlite and 5 five gallon pots. Paid $40 for FF nute trio. Had some seeds someone gave me from "medical" weed, and ordered some White widow. Had to do short veg, 30 days "med" seed, little less on WW. I ended up doing one med plant and 2 WWs in that tent. Got 1 3/4 ozs of good hard buds from med, 2 1/2 from WW. These are both incredibly potent, 2 hit shit. I also used some cfl side lights i got at walmart. In my area, the WW would easily be $300/oz, if i could find it, so right there i figure I more than paid for my stuff. I have learned a lot from that first grow, without breaking the bank. Its a awesome hobby. Oh, and I also have enough trim and larfy lower bud to make at least 2 pounds of butter, smokin's bad, m'kay? Google Marshydro, they do work.
I would never say "they don't work." The problem is that they don't work as advertised. You're running yours at 46w/sq ft. You'll get fair results at that intensity, especially if you're growing shorter plants. 55w/sq ft is more typical of what epi-whatever lights need, especially for taller plants. (Mars specs that light at 37w/sq ft, which really won't work.).
The real issue is one of cost benefit. T5HO would do at 40w/sq ft what the Mars will do at 45. They cost less up front. And, the bulbs are easily replaceable. It is a long-term investment, not a consumable.
topcat
Well-Known Member
DIY is where those lights got their start. Building a lamp would be a hobby for me, while I grow with a pre-made lamp.
I'm an outdoor grower and just got this tent in January. It allows me to keep gardening and eliminate the "postpartum" blues after the Summer season ends. I'm going to try 4 plants in 3 gal. pots. Others with more experience growing in tents can give you more information.
I've only been researching COB technology for 3 weeks but I was convinced early on that they were the way to go, if you can possibly afford it. I had considered one of those "mono" diode types (Platinum LED), but the contributors here set me straight. We've all had the experience of trying to go cheaper, just to end up buying the better one, anyway. I grew under fluorescent shop lights over 30 years ago. I could grow excellent cannabis, just very little of it. The mono type fixtures and T5 will work but there are so many things to consider when growing under lights that taking the lighting question out of the mix makes growing easier. With the COB's, I won't wonder if the plants are getting enough light. Watts measurements are not equal. For instance, I've read that it takes 5 times the fluorescent wattage to equal HID wattage. Thirty watts per sq. ft. of HID, or COB, requires 150 watts of T5. PPFD is the important stat to look at with LES.
I went with 4 Area 51 W90's, but I'm already thinking of another tent, this time in 2x4. Tasty LED has some models that would fit that tent well. I'm growing produce as well. Garden on!
doobie57z
Well-Known Member
lol, yeah. I just grew some cannabis so I could get high. You people want to make it into a religion. Again, if I was selling, perhaps, but Ive moved to two tents and one harvest of 1/4 plus trim a month is way more than I can consume. Good luck, and OP, decide what you want for an outcome, then you know how much to invest. Im out of this...
If you were replying to me, no I'm not commercial. Just hobby. I don't "have a problem" with Mars anymore than you have a problem with buying based upon quality and value. The numbers just don't add up for Mars. T5HO or CMH are better value (lower initial expense and longer-term viability).
Mars epi-whatever lights will grow. But, not at the 37w/sq ft Mars-Hydro advertises (more accurately, it will, but with airy buds). By the time you get up to 45-55w/sq ft, T5HO and CMH are less costly to get into, more efficient to run, less heat to manage, longer lasting, etc.
That's all that drives my opinion on the matter. They don't add up. I can understand buying one as a new grower. I bought similar lights. You google, you find things, you hear others gushing about their lights (but you don't know enough to compare w/sq ft), etc. It's not a massive problem to buy one. But, when you understand the factors involved, they don't add up. They aren't cost-justifiable. It doesn't make sense to promote them or encourage others to buy them. (But, they're not horrible for the money either.).
Good luck.
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