hey fellow stoners. We were going to do a 2.5x5 in our top floor but have decided to insulate and wall in our back porch to accommodate a larger and more out of the way, discrete grow room. My plan is to start with a 5x5 tent and let the air conditioner keep it at a constant 75*F. I will run hundifiers and dehumidifiers as necessary. I plan on starting with 4-6 plants and also will run a 4” exhaust to a carbon filter as well as a few oscillating fans to keep the air moving. What size LED grow light should I use? I see amazon has some 1000w LEDs with bloom mode and daisy-chainable for only $100. Good ratings too. But I want to do this right. I know it’s a learning curve anyways but the least amount of potential negative variables, the better.
For 100$ there is no LED on amazon thats going to grow 6 plants. You could grow probably do 1 small plant with one of those "1000W" blurple LED on amazon and get an ounce or 2 off of it, possibly. The 1000W is actually 100W, and the light has 0 penetration power. Go with at least a 600W HPS for 4-6 plants if you want a good yield. A 5 by 5 is a big space, and realistically you need more than 1000W for your plants to be growing to full potential. You can get a 1000W hps ballast kit on amazon for 180$ I just bought one the other day. I bought the Vivosun kit
Those $100 lights on Amazon are crap. Ignore the equivalents and the ratings - wattage from the wall is what matters. Most of those 1000w Chinese blurples don't even pull 200w. If you want to do things right like you say, I suggest Quantum Boards. Wattage required is based on the sq. ft. of your space. Your space is 25 sf. Quantum Boards - 30 watts per sq.ft. - 25 s/f x 30 = 750 actual watts. Blurples or HID - 40-50 watts per sq.ft. - 25 x 40 = 1000 actual watts. You can plan on about $1 per watt for good quality lighting. Good luck. If you only do 4 plants, a 4 x 4 would work better.