First Grow Tent

Sup exaaact!

Your right about piecing together the grow like putting together parts of the computer...often cheaper than buying a full setup, anddd more fun too!

It's interesting that you would post a LED lamp because normally I would say no if it's your first time or if you are inexperienced but you seem to have some background and on top of that....that's one cheap LED lamp!!! I mean I don't think I've ever seen one with that low of a price tag! And the reviews seemed to be pretty good..4 stars is good enough for me anyways.

If you have the funds I would say jump on that 300watt LED. For 3 reasons...

Simplicity: you can use it for veg and flowering cycles. On top of that, LED do not give off very much heat so you don't have to worry bout aircooled hoods or trying to synchronize your temperature and all that stuff.

Efficiency: puts out more power and uses less energy to do so means more $$$ in your pocket at the end of every month.

Quality: the light spectrum for LED lamps is the best that plants can receive in comparison to all other lamps. That's why LED is the future if growing.

If you can't afford LED or you're feeling unsure, go with a interchangeable ballast and buy either a winged hood or an aircooled hood along with one Metal Hallide bulb and one High Pressure Sodium bulb.

But if it were me....I would jump on that LED lamp!😉

Happy growzzzz bro and good luck!

Lata!


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That light is 170 actual watts, if I had to use this setup I'd want 2 of those lights in that 2x4. Personally I'd rather have 2x 250w hps lights in a double-ended 6" cooltube with a 4" fan/filter combo running separate from the lights, but that's only if I absolutely had to use a 2x4 tent. If you run 2 of those "300w" LED lights (340w total for both) then I'd use a 6" fan/filter combo to cool them.
 
I'm no professor, but the difference between LED and HID is that you can cool an HID light separate from your odor control. For those of us who must conceal the odor from our crops, the heat our lights throw off into our grow chambers are a major consideration when building a ventilation system. I'm hitting 10,000 lumens per sq ft with my air-cooled HID and no air conditioner, plants touching the glass on my 1kw hood. Try hitting those lumens with an LED and your grow chamber will be an oven, much less the vertical productivity you lose having to keep them a certain distance away from your plants.
 
Watt for watt, an air-cooled HID runs a LOT cooler than an LED, meaning you can pack in more light energy and utilize more growspace without having to run an a/c or an outrageous filtration system. A major consideration when growing an illegal crop that must be filtered and kept hidden in a tent, not so much with a legal crop growing openly with no concern for odor control or concealment.
 
Sorry for rambling like that, it's just that a lot of variables come into play when choosing which type of lighting to go with. You should ask your professor why he uses 20x 400w HID's if LED is so much better. LOL, good luck man

 

Thicken Dense, I can tell you're very knowledgable and know you're stuff when it comes to expertise in cannabis growing...

However I would have to disagree when you say that HID produces less heat watt for watt than LEDs. This is why..."LEDs convert electrons to light while HIDs convert the energy first to heat and then to light." So by nature, it's obvious that HIDs are in fact hotter watt for watt.

If you throw an air cooled hood into the mix than that's a different story, but if you had the option of going for a 300w LED or an aircooled 300w HID why not choose the LED. MUCH less trouble setting it up, better light spectrum for plants, more efficient as well, and I believe I also read something about them lasting longer than HID. The only negative about them is the price, but the one mentioned above is cheap and worth a shot. And who really needs the blades of their plant up against the glass of their aircooled HID?? 4-6 inches from the light is fine by me.

And why doesn't his professor have 20 x 400w LEDs? Uhhhhh probably because he's not a walking bank..jus sayin'


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An air-cooled hood does change the game, that's my point. It's an advantage over LED.
 
The "300w" LED is in fact, not 300w. It is 170w. It might be a more efficient use of 170w, but it doesn't beat a larger HID running at the same temps in the same footprint.
 
If your goal is to pinch pennies on your electric bill that's one thing and we all do it in different ways, but if you want the most bang for your buck with a concealed grow, then HID is the logical choice.

 

 
Because it's not an economical use of resources?

 

 
I buy Lumatek, but I haven't heard anything bad about Apollo. Got a 3 year warranty with that?

 

I run an air cooled 600w HPS in my tent. The room the tent is in is 23℃ and the the temperature inside the tent at canopy level is 25℃.
 
If I had a 1200w LED in there instead (uses around the same electricity(650watts)) then I would need better ventilation because the heat would be unreal. And that LED light would cost 3 or 4 times the cost of the HPS set up. Plant growth will be around the same with these two lights btw.
 
I have a 350w LED panel in my veg tent. This uses 270 watts and gives off the same heat that my previously used 250w metal halide (that also used 270 watts) did. This moves the temperature from 23℃ to 28℃
 
LEDs work, no doubt about that, but compared to an air cooled HPS of the same growing power they use the same amount of electricity, cause more heat build up, and cost 3 or 4 times the amount to buy. 
 
Also, to replace an HPS bulb it will cost about £20, when it's time to replace the LED it will cost several hundred

 

What are the 4 you are looking at?

 

Opt for the air cooled hood (tube), but only if you have an inline fan and ducting to connect to it, otherwise it's pointless. The concept is this:
 
View attachment 1509196
 
It allows you to attach a carbon filter, to "scrub" the air as it exhausts through the cooled hood, sucking out the heat + smell together, and exhausting clean smelling (but hot) air out of the tent.
 
Always go for the air cooled option, versus an open batwing hood. Not only will it stay cooler, but your plants will be happier overall. But you need to invest in an inline fan to make it all work. Otherwise, go for the batwing and find alternatives to sucking out hot air...which will still involve a fan in some way shape or form