First Time Grower - Indoor Modern Setup (LEDs & Loft)

Hey everyone!

First off, what an awesome forum with such a wealth of knowledge it's great to see so many helping others.

Let me paint the scene...

Bought our first home, the loft is being renovated, builders are installing roof vents etc, its the perfect time to start to design my indoor grow, which will be in the loft.

I am growing Critical Mass CBD (seeds arrived today!). I'm growing this for pain relief for my mum, who has Insomnia (average sleep cycle is 2-3 hours a night), MS, Fibromyalgia, and has just been told by her GP she has arthritis across her body and if she wants any quality of life, she needs to come to terms with becoming addicted to opioids. Also, I will be using it for micro-dosing for my wife and me to help with anxiety and depression.

So like any first-time grower, I take to Google and get overwhelmed by the amount of different information regarding setups.

Now I have read and heard many times from people that LEDs are bad for big yields etc, but that's not my major concern. I need a low profile, heat, and running costs.

First of all I started to search for 'LED Grow Lights' on Amazon, and found a bunch, using triple diodes, and looked good but the more I read, the more I realised many of these 2500W units were closer to 100W in real terms. Madness.

So after an evening of researching for a simple, non DIY build, that had some reliable reviews and media to back it up, I settled on the Viparspectra 600W Reflector Series.

Then I started doing a little more looking online, and realised that Alibaba sell 'Viparspectra' boards, but they have no branding on them, are these the same? I mean many of the LED lights whether it is Viparspectra, King, BestVA, etc all look like the same boards with just the branding changed. Any ideas here? The price difference is massive, but I am worried these are just knock-offs.

As for growing area, I was looking at getting this grow tent, I plan to only grow 2-3 plants at a time, and don't want it crampt, my ceiling in the loft is 200cm max too. Any thoughts here? I am currently looking at the VITA5.

Lastly, is there any 'go-to' recommended extractor? Something that properly eliminates the smell before its exhausted.

Cheers!

 

Thanks Paolo, I'll check out what you've mentioned.

 

Hi All, here is a video of my grow space.
Can any of you recommend where to put my grow tent in here based upon the information in the video?
Also, any recommendations on what grow tent to buy?



Thanks for any help!

 

Hi Soil2Coco,

Unfortunately I need to grow in a tent as this room is a work/studio first, and a grow space second. So I need to keep it contained and I need to manage the smell and ventilation.

As for space, that's still to be decided as I have to deal with the sloping roof on the sides, this means 180cm max if in the middle or 110-183 if worked I to the sides. I'm now looking at an area in my loft where it is quite low but then topping the plants and keeping them shirt but bushy.

I'm aware that LEDs need to be around 20inch from the canopy. What I'm currently thinking is a plant (including pot) of 2-3 ft, then add 20 inch, and then add another half foot or so for the light and that should give me what height I must have.

Any thoughts on this?

As for area, I'm guessing a 2x3ft, or maybe a 4x4ft space (such as the roof cube tent)

Lighting wise I'm currently sold on the Viparspectra 600W Reflector Series, but open to suggestions.

Cheers!

 

Hi Soil2Coco,

Okay so last night I spent some time researching and I've got with the QB288 V3, LM301H+660nm (3500K).

Half the price and massively better, apparently.