PJ Diaz
Well-Known Member
I think it was a completely reasonable question. No need to resort to grade school name calling and insults. Most varieties are hybrids these days, it's pretty rare to be growing a pure line.
DIY with Quantum Boards
- Thread starter robincnn
- Start date
Barristan Whitebeard
Well-Known Member
I wish you ended your post right there.
With this addition you're presenting yourself as a thoroughly despicable human being.
pop22
Well-Known Member
No matter the latitude, sunlight is powerful. Spectrum may change some because of the angle of entry, but it still does the same job. I've a friend who lives north of the Arctic Circle who grows in a greenhouse attached to his cabin. He grows autoflowers because his season is so short. Yet he grows some mighty fine weed. I sent him some red wigglers to start a worm farm with.
The pics he posts are stunning!
The pics he posts are stunning!
PJ Diaz
Well-Known Member
I'd beg to differ, particularly in regards to UV light emitted form the sun. UV radiation from the sun varies widely not only through out the day, and based on particular latitude, but also based on altitude. UV increases by about 2% for every 1000 feet increase in altitude. We haven't even started to talk about infrared from the sun yet either.
So again I ask, if the goal is to mimic the sun as close as possible, what geographic location are we trying to mimic in these days of 99% of strains being hybrids?
TWest65
Well-Known Member
If you have hybrid weed, mimic hybrid sun locations, silly.
Does anyone have recommendations for veg lighting setup for an area about 3'x9' to 3.5'x10'?
And/or does anyone have any QB 132 veg setups they'd share?
The QB 132 says "can be powered up to 75 watts", but the HLG 100 says it's 95 watts. (EDIT: just to point out that the "HLG 100" uses a QB 132, that's why I put these wattage numbers...because 95 watts exceeds the 75 watt no heatsink 'rating', yet the HLG 100 doesn't use a heatsink...)
I was thinking that four boards per 3'x3'(ish) would be good. I'd like even coverage, and I don't wanna have to smash the boards right down onto the plants/canopy. Ceiling is relatively low (not a big deal for veg I guess) at just over 6' high.
I'd appreciate your thoughts, experience and suggestions.
Please and thanks.
(If any other, non-QB suggestions you can pm me or whatever.)
And/or does anyone have any QB 132 veg setups they'd share?
The QB 132 says "can be powered up to 75 watts", but the HLG 100 says it's 95 watts. (EDIT: just to point out that the "HLG 100" uses a QB 132, that's why I put these wattage numbers...because 95 watts exceeds the 75 watt no heatsink 'rating', yet the HLG 100 doesn't use a heatsink...)
I was thinking that four boards per 3'x3'(ish) would be good. I'd like even coverage, and I don't wanna have to smash the boards right down onto the plants/canopy. Ceiling is relatively low (not a big deal for veg I guess) at just over 6' high.
I'd appreciate your thoughts, experience and suggestions.
Please and thanks.
(If any other, non-QB suggestions you can pm me or whatever.)
Last edited:
ilovereggae
Well-Known Member
I think that is a good plan but I would consider the qb120s instead since they dont need a heatsink up to 70w. 2 of those 4 packs would be pretty nice for your space.
I have an HLG65 4000k in 2x2 tent, and a Bspec qb288 a 60W in another 2x2. I also have a cabinet where I built some strips builds on 2 shelves. After doing so I totally wish I just went for some qb120s for my cabinet. My bridgelux strips are great but was a labor intensive process. I feel like I would have gotten just a good a spread and saved myself an entire weekend of labor for a similar cost if I stuck with HLG
pop22
Well-Known Member
ilovereggae
Well-Known Member
Oh shit I dont know why I had that in my head. So besides diode count the only difference is qb120s are 24v and qb132 are 36v? Kicking myself now for not buying a bunch of the qb132 v1s. I see they are finally sold out
Thanks for chiming in, dude.
The QB 132s don't need a heatsink either, up to 75 watts, and only cost $0.75 more each ($3 more per four pack than the QB 120s). So I don't see the reason to choose QB 120s..?
Thanks for the insight on strips. The materials for building anything diy (aluminum) is a hard to get hands on around here anyway, and I'd like to stick with HLG as they've been great from day one - both products and the company.
I guess a 3'x9' is pretty close to an "x" by 8', and 8 boards might do alright for coverage. But I was thinking of keeping things... even at 4 boards per "area" (whether 3'x3' or slightly larger) and running each group of four at (up to) about 300 watts (75w per board, max). I'm rounding up a 3'x3' area to 10sq/ft, and calling that 30w / sq/ft (max), which is pretty much flowering power numbers, but...
...I didn't mention, though, that I might end up using 4 for a hot peppers section - or something else requiring flowering, so I'd like to have the optional power/coverage to do that as well. And I'd like to keep the boards farther from canopy than nearer, if possible.
Does that make sense? I duno.
Also, I have 2 spare HLG-320H-54A drivers that I was hoping to use, but the QB 132s are 36V, so I guess I'd need three new drivers anyways...shit. Haha. (Or whatever number of drivers I decide to split up and power the boards with I guess).
Edit: Just gonna @Stephenj37826 in case, for reference.
Last edited:
NukaKola
Well-Known Member
Just get a QB 288 double and 2 QB 96’s and wire them parallel to the drivers you already have. Or go with 2 QB 288 doubles or 4 QB 96’s.
I'm not sure what your suggestion is for exactly. How are the four board suggestions you've made going to cover a 3'x9' with even coverage with a ceiling of around 6'? Is that what you meant?
The spare 320H drivers are the least of my concerns, just ignore that, haha.
I'd like to use QB 132s for veg though.
(I do have two more higher power boards on my list as well, though. QB 96 or 288 Rspec I haven't decided yet.)
Thanks.
EDIT: maybe you were suggesting four QBs (of whatever model) just ran down the center of the length of the 3'x9' space? I wasn't trying to have a go at ya or anything. Just wasn't sure what you meant exactly.
Last edited:
ilovereggae
Well-Known Member
I think you would get the most even coverage with your first idea of a 4 pack of qb132s per 3x3 area. Sorry I misunderstand the initial idea.
The only thing I am unsure of is your wattage calculations. At 300W per 4 pack you would be over 30W/sf which is great for flower but you dont need anywhere near that for veg. 15 w/sf or a little more would be fine. Im coming up with a little over 400W for a 3x9 space.
I think if you ran two 4 packs spaced into 2 long rows with a 240W driver on each I think you would kill it in veg and would have plenty of coverage. Put your taller plants on the edges.
Three 4 packs I guess you could do a 150W driver per and get super efficient with the diodes. Definitely going to be awesome that way, just feel like it might be overkill.
I only came up with that 300W per four QB 132s because they can run at up to 75W each. 75W x 4 = 300W. So I thought maybe a 300W (320W) driver would be the best option, because I could/would dim it down. I do realize that's about 30W / sq/ft, which is more than needed in veg, but figured I'd have the power there in case - because at some point I'd like to grow some flowering plant(s) under four of them - like pepper plants maybe.
I guess the 240W drivers run a bit over rated wattage, but only the A-type runs significantly over rated output, from my memory...
But yea, eight might be enough for that area. I might as well get the extra and have better coverage, and not have to (want to) order another pack later.
Thanks man.
NukaKola
Well-Known Member
Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it lol. I’ve never grown autos before but it would be cool to have the option to throw in a few autos if you have some extra space.
