Hey, I started my first grow, and everything is going great!! Thanks to this form site, and everyone’s comments. Big shout out to “Optimum Hydroponicx” from Laval Quebec for thier support with the nutrients. Finally Canadian government for getting there Sh!t together and legalizing home cultivation So here is my scenario...... I want to add a light to the grow room. Also just having two is great for unexpected breakdowns. I have a 400w HPS (pic include). I will be adding a LED OR Quantim board... both of which I’ve heard of on this website. But I’m confused. My room is about 8ft long 5ft wife 7ft high. 4 plants, unfortunately closely spaced with no pruning. (Wanted to keep it simple, so far so good) Right now I have one 400w light centered to the room, I would like to have two lights side by side. If you would like to recommend a light for me please do If you could send an amazon link that would be great. (ships to Canada) I kinda suck at online shopping and internet stuff in general. I guess I would need a different light meter for led or qb? I use a LUX meter for my HPS and Metal Halide. Different glasses to? I got some fancy glasses for HPS lights that correct the colour. Thanks in advance!!
How many plants are in that pic? First suggestion would be to open up that wing-reflector...looks like you have squared it off.
Hey, 4 plants, the reflector is the same shape as from the store. However I could mess around a bit with it, and my LUX meter and see if there is a difference in coverage strenths
I guess you just need to answer the question of whether you want to reflect to the other side of the reflector or down towards the plant.
Horticulture Lighting Group, the maker of the qb boards does have a Canadian company but they sell a limited selection. You have a giant size area. It would be hard to fill the whole thing. I think a better approach would be to create a flowering area that has the same dimensions as your light's footprint. A 400hps is going to be about 3x3 max, maybe 2x4. If you team that up with another similar fixture you could fill a 4x4 flower space bright and wall to wall. Having separate veg and flower areas will near double your production. Every 2 months when the flowering plants are harvested new plants ready to flower are brought right in the flower area. This can also save you money because you don't need to veg with expensive high intensity flower lighting levels. You can veg an area with about half the watts per square foot that flowers well. You could put one of these next to your 400 and those together would fill a 4x4 for flower well. 260W QB V2 LED Kit You could also order two of these boards instead. QB96 Elite V2 Engine Team them up with a meanwell HLG-320h-54a. I just ordered two of those qb96 boards to see what they performed like and I'm very impressed. This is 40 days from flip to 12/12. As you can see I also own two of those 260 kits I linked further up. I run my 260's dimmed all the way right now and the 96's on full power with the 320h driver. Running about 550-600 watts in my 4x4. You can only get away with that low of watts flowering a 4x4 with qb's and high end cobs. If you use an HPS for half if it, it will take you more power.
ALL 2x 260w XL boards will cover a 4x4 quite nicely.!! I swapped from 400w HID to QB's, replaced my 400w MH with a 135w v2 and a 400w HPS to 2x 135w v2's, better spread and penetration.!!