Hello there, people of the forums. I want the insight of experienced growers who have worked with LED lighting before. I have read dozens of articles about LED lighting and the appropriate wattage per square foot, or wattage per plant, or PAR per square foot. There is a LOT of information, but, to no surprise, there is no universal method or one right way to set up an indoor LED grow. So, I am coming here to get your opinions and hear what has, or has not, worked for you. The scenario: An 8x8 indoor grow tent. Two rows, each row measures 3x8 feet with a 2x8 walkway in between all the way down the length of the tent for easy access to all plants. SCROG for both rows, one screen per row (Two 3x8 screens) Total area of screen: 48 square feet. So I need to cover two rows, each 3x8 feet, with LED lighting. Ok so the question: Either 4 600W KingPlus LED's or 4 1000W KingPlus LED's? (4 total, 2 per row) Or another combination of higher wattage lights, or lower wattage LED lights? EDIT: I will definitely not be going with the KingLED's after some research. Seems like the best sweet spot between price and performance is the Phlizon COB series of lights, specifically the stated 3000W (actual 625Watt). Any thoughts on this series or Phlizon as a manufacturer? The coverage area is not uniform, as toward the edges of the frames the light becomes less focused. How much should I consider this as I theorize the setup? Now, I do understand the coverage area, PAR, Lumens, Etc. changes depending on the distance that the light is hung from the plants. However, there is a lot of differing information and factors, such as true wattage vs. stated wattage, that just seems to make theorizing this difficult. So I want to ask people who have done this IN PRACTICE, not theoretical information. Thank you for your insight!
First of all, don't pay any attention to the manufacturer's equivalents or coverage for chinese blurples. Your 1000w only pulls 185 actual watts and your 600w only pulls 120 actual watts. The rule of thumb for chinese blurples is 50 actual watts per s/f of grow area.......you have 24 s/f per side. You will need about 1200 actual watts per side......2400 total for 2 sides. Even using the larger 1000w led only gives you 370 actual watts.......you need 3 times that amount per side. A better choice would be Quantum Boards.......they only require about 30 watts per s/f of grow area - 720 watts per side. You can get QB's for about $1 per watt.
8 of the QB288's v2, 4 per row. www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Best-seller-shenzhen-led-grow-light_60798814902.html?spm=a2756.order-detail-ta-ta-b.0.0.773a2fc22pjSVL&fullFirstScreen=true
I will definitely not be going with the KingLED's after some research. Seems like the best sweet spot between price and performance is the Phlizon COB series of lights, specifically the stated 3000W (actual 625Watt). Any thoughts on this series or Phlizon as a manufacturer?
Listen to HardDrive. What he is suggesting to you is what you need for maximum production, and efficiency using LED lighting. Its also probably the least expensive route, as these are Samsung LED Diodes, and it doesn't get any better than those, though I understand Osram makes the best Far Red Diodes. They sell Fluence, and are also 2x more expensive vs what HardDrive suggests, and deliver similar/same PAR for less money.