LED light set up for 4x8 tent.... seedling, veg, and bloom

You can veg easily under some CFLs ....not nearly as expensive and will get the job done. I would invest in a T4 or a T8...something designed to veg the plants. But use the LEDs for the flowering portion of the grow for sure, regardless of which model you go with. I would caution you not to overload your space with plants since crowding a bunch under one lamp just to get them light only crowds or shades out any growth below the canopy. Regardless of which lights you get, you have to be very realistic about just how many plants each can take care of and force the plant to give all it's got. Most of the LED's I've seen only shine straight down which heavily limits the coverage per sq. foot you get. Raising the light covers more sq. footage, but it also decreases the affect the light has on the plants. Your lights need to be adjustable so you can use them to their best effect, and you need to be careful getting them too close to young seedlings because they'll singe a young plant. Hang them high and then lower over time as plants become used to that form of lighting. Read up on the plant, tending it and keeping it happy if you have limited grow experience. The setup is only half the battle. You must know how to tend the plant to keep it alive, happy and growing at full strength. But the key to growing the best product possible is for each plant to have adequate light and space to grow. Good luck! TWW

 

What I don't like about vegging with most LED's that have different modes is you actually turn half the light off to change the light spectrum to more blue. My P450 is only 137watts in veg mode and 255 in bloom. I'm changing my veg setup over to California Lightworks vegmaster lights. They're veg lights only so all the leds are used instead of only have half of them on. I paid $270 each for mine and I'm going to be running 2 in a 4x4. Only 85 watts each. They are rated to veg a 3x3 by themselves.
SolarStorm 110 VegMaster™ ** MSRP $329 | California Lightworks

Have you looked into the DIY kits? PRODUCTS - DIY GROW LIGHT KITS - Timber Grow Lights

Fitting more plants in a tent is not better. In an indoor environment to get the most yield you'll want to train and shape your plants to your grow space. I think the most you should attempt to bud in a 4x4 is 4 especially if you prune or LST some. They're going to get big and fill the space. It's possible if you don't veg them that long you could fit 6 smaller plants in a 4x4 but I don't think it's ideal. It depends on your goals and plans for the grow as far as how long you veg the plants and what strain they are. I veg for about 6 weeks and fit 4 plants in a 4x4 with little room to spare.

Those T8 and T4 fluorescent fixtures mentioned earlier are great for vegging as well and very cost effective if you're trying to come in under a tight budget.

 

As far as I know I haven't seen a grow journal with those lights. They appear to be the new mars pro series with cree and epistar leds. They look nice. I'm curious. Mars is learning with each model they come out with they may be making some good moves to come out into the upper end market by using cree and epistar.

Wow that epistar 320 is 760 real watts in bloom. That's going to be pretty badass in a 4x4. That's a lot of led light.

I like the looks of the ProII cree256.
680watts in bloom 510watts veg. That should be good for a 4x4.
mars hydro led grow light-CREE256S

That cob link looks like a POS compared to the new mars pro series. I haven't seen anyone talking up these new mars lights. I think they may change the game. It looks like some high quality components and huge power outputs in the new lights. They're learning.

 

You threw out a curve. I thought I knew all there was to know about mars lights. I've never seen those. They look really nice and they are really high power. Their marsII 1200 was only like 550 watts. The one you're looking at is almost 800. By their old rating system they should call it the mars 2000. The mars II 1600 is 730 watts.

I don't have a "seedling" light. I just put them in the far corner of the veg room and crowd the lights towards the opposite side a little. They don't get direct light and since they're so short it's not too intense. That works just fine for me. Some people like to put the seedlings/clones on a shelf and use a 4' fluorescent mounted right above them. That's all they really need. I like the light spillover method. If they want more you bring them closer to the veg light and put them on a spacer to get them taller to match heights with the other veg plants.

 

Hi @eL PHAMO now all our lights can use for veg and bloom.
the coverage of Mars Pro II epistar 320 is 4x4, the coverage of reflector 96 is 2x3. both lights have two switches during the Veg stage.you can just turn the veg switch on, but if your power is not enough,you can turn both veg and flower switches on.
During the flowering stage. You need to turn both veg and flower switches on, thatmeans veg switch included.

 

Yeah, you are right @Tbone Shuffle Mars Pro II epistar 3209 is our new light, actually there are a few people have already used those new light, if you want to know the plant growth with the new light maybe you can pm Boomboom4200 he also on the GC.

 

Perfect light for seedlings. They shouldn't need more than 2 weeks under it. It depends on what you mean by "seedlings" are you going to be running clones once you get going? I like a 24 hour veg cycle. You can use that or anything between 24 and 18/6off. I like about 6 weeks of veg time. It really depends on how big you want your plants. That's for 4 plants in the bud tent. If you're going for 10 plants in the bud tent I would veg them for 2 weeks then stick them in 12/12. Veg time also depends on strain some sativas can stretch dramatically in 2 weeks.

Good plan for light cycle: 24 hours for first 2 weeks. 4 weeks in veg tent at 18/6. 8-10 weeks in bud room at 12/12.

The plant will tell you what it can tolerate by the condition of the leaves if you pay close attention. You'll get heat/light stress if you give it too much light or get the light too close. Different strains have different tolerances to heat, light, and nutrients.

Different strains and plants grown under different conditions mature at different rates. Flowering times vary from 7 to 16 weeks with 8 to 10 being more the norm for your modern hybrid growing in soil. I harvested my first plant at 8 weeks on the button with 6 weeks of veg from seed in dwc hydro with nothing but my p450 in veg and the p900 in bud, no dedicated early veg light. Other plants harvested at 9 and 10 weeks from the same strain. You have to watch them close to know when to cut them down.

 

Sounds good. Maybe a 1.5 or 2 gallon for mid stage and I transplant into 5 gallon smart pots/fabric bags a week before putting them in the bud side. Soil plants you want to graduate to bigger pots instead of trying to jump to a big one right away. It help it keep growing instead of a growing just roots for an extended period. I've been using DWC hydro and secondarily soil for the overflow plants but I have 4 soil plants in the bud tent right now.

 

Daisy chain doesn't reduce overall load it just puts it on one plug instead of two. The cord is way able to carry plenty of current for two light so it's just a more ideal and simple setup to have multiple lights on one cord.

I plug the timer into a surge protector and then plug another surge protector into the timer for the lights. That way you have a current tripping device on each side of the timer. It's under that amount of wattage so it should work. Two timers would put less stress on the contacts. smokesara would know about the daisy chain. I don't know much about these lights they are very new. Like I said I didn't know they existed and haven't seen an journal on them. My gut makes me personally want to order the cree version but the epistar looks very nice for the price and plenty powerful enough for a 4x4 for sure.

You want ducting and possibly a penetration kit for the fan. If you own your home or can cut a hole just buy a 6" kitchen exhaust fan penetration kit. It will come with a spring loaded flapper/screen/rainhood/duct attachment. Cut a 6 1/4" hole in the wall. Mount it and hook a flex duct to it from your fan. That's the other thing you may want to order is a 25' 6" flex duct kit with hose clamps for each side.