Yeah I just got one of the A/C controllers and once I switch my 6" Vivosun fan for the A/C one I got, then I can get my dry room closer to what it should be. My biggest issue there is getting the temp low enough seems to stay at 72.5-75 and around 55% but with the controller I can at least get the humidity dialed in. So you think I'm shorting myself on the lights ? I was going to switch from the wing to two separate AE150's I was thinking about swapping out for the 200 wing. What do you think on that or just get new lights period. I think when I started I couldn't afford much and Vivosun seemed like decent mid range or slightly above, so that's why I have a lot of their gear. I was also looking at the new Vivosun bar lights or A/C Ion Frame, don't think I want to go back to the board style. Also they both offer removable ballast. Any thoughts on those ? Thanks for the response, I appreciate it.
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- Thread starter Oldfartnoclue58
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There are likely only small differences in performance between what you have and more upscale models. Rather than all new, perhaps figure out what you think your setups are missing and then consider getting any needed supplemental lighting.
If I were buying totally new, I'd go for bar (or board) style with the LEDs arranged so the area covered has even/consistent light intensity/PPFD. I'd avoid the still predominant lights with intensity concentrated in their center. Ideally, the bar light would have fully adjustable sliding bars.
If I were buying totally new, I'd go for bar (or board) style with the LEDs arranged so the area covered has even/consistent light intensity/PPFD. I'd avoid the still predominant lights with intensity concentrated in their center. Ideally, the bar light would have fully adjustable sliding bars.
Thanks 
. I appreciate the input. I started another post about the bar lights I'm looking at and what I have and asking for advice/ input thoughts. But thanks again.
. I appreciate the input. I started another post about the bar lights I'm looking at and what I have and asking for advice/ input thoughts. But thanks again.
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I know you said you started a new thread for lights specifically, but I'll just answer here.
Removable ballasts are a cool feature, helps keep the heat outside the tent since the ballast (driver) is where 70% of the heat from the light comes from. The other 30% comes from the energy loss between the power and the loss from consumption of the LED itself. If you're looking to keep the ballast (driver)outside the tent just make sure the power cord is long enough. I believe most come with a 4-6ft cord which in most cases, unless you leave your light at the top of the tent, isn't long enough to keep it outside the tent. Food for thought their, but most manufacturers will have an extension available, or you can find one on Amazon. I can't speak to the performance of bar style lights though as Im still using the Ionboard S44. Its done me right so far so I'll keep using it till it dies, then I'll upgrade.
One thing to note is the Ionframe lights from ac infinity all have built in UV A diodes that ARE NOT individually controllable. So they are on 100% of the time and UV diodes have a fraction of the life of regular diodes. Im afraid that if one burns out the whole bar will go along with it.
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Well that's about a stupid design on their part. I don't know really, I'm kind of depending on getting honest input from the people here and I feel like so far everyone has been straight forward with their comments or advice. I appreciate the info on the a/c lights, they were looking good. The Vivosun doesn't list the par readings. I think for now I'll switch out the 200 for the 2 150's and see how it goes from there. Thanks again.
Not sure if that was for me but, being the shy, quiet type….
For dry/cure mid-70's is higher than "optimal" but a walk-in Cannatrol would be pretty spendy. Thinking of which—if you're only doing a pound± at a time, I think Vivosun has a drying/curing device that's not too painfully priced. Another alternative is to convert a Koolatron wine cooler. That's sufficiently simple that even a programmer can make one. Let me know if you're interested in that as an option and I'll try to put together the documentation on how to do it (I found it on another forum and I don't want to just copy and paste the instructions).
No surprise, I have an opinion on lights. Before I launch into that, you might have talked me into getting a Terraformer
but that's for another time.Re lights—I did one grow in 2017, archived my tent, started again in 2021. Light in 2017 was a Kind blurple. About a week after I unarchived my tent in 2021, that went out and I replaced it with a Mars SP3000. I've spent a lot of time learning about grow lights and how plants respond to light and I know enough to know the basics and to know that it's an unfolding story and "the research" is beginning to dig below the surface.
You're in a 2' x 4', same here. Vivosun doesn't strike me as a company that's creating cutting edge lights. They've just recently released some really nice looking products for the grow environment but looking at the metrics, they're "not bad".
I can't make a compelling argument for AC Infinity lights. They have excellent grow hardware but the PPFD map on their lights has the same "hot spot" that board lights have which are a carry over from the light pattern generated by HPS lamps. "hot spot" meaning a lot of light in the center with a rapid fall off. It's cheaper to design and manufacture a light like that but they don't generate an even spread of light that makes it easier to grow a better crop. They're OK to put a plant or two under them but if you try to fill the tent with a canopy, the plants around the edges simply aren't getting very much light.
If you're looking for an excellent light for a 2' x 4', the Spider G4500 is an excellent choice. If I was buying a new light, that's where I'd send my $$. It's a well known manufacturer in the personal/small grower space, they support it (meaning they have a presence on multiple cannabis sites), the spectrum is good, and the PPFD map is superb. Oh, it's just over $200. Can't beat it.
If you were to grow multiple plants/cultivars or were in a 2' x 2' tent, the Migro Aray 150 is the king of the hill. Migro revamped their line of lights a couple of months ago and the Aray 150 is excellent and it's $150. The previous 2' champ, the Vipar XS 1500 Pro, is only ~$90 but it doesn't have the PPFD map that the Migro does. One reason to think about the Migro in a 2' x 4' is that you can put two of them in the tent and that will let you adjust the hang height so you can have one plant that's in flower (and getting 1kµmol) while the seedlings on the other side of the tent are at 300µmol. There's also the redundancy factor but modern electronics are very reliable so it's not that big and issue.
The main lights I use are from Growcraft (I use a veg light and then a flower light) but Growcraft went out of business about 18 months ago. Per above, if I were buying a new light for a 2' x 4' or a 4' x 4', I'd use the G4500 (two of them in the 4' tent).
Those lights will do very well for you and they generate enough light to far exceed seed seller's estimates in terms of yield. That's a metric I pay attention to, per the comments in my signature block.
I'm happy to discuss why I think these are excellent lights so let me know if you want more info about them, or any other light for that matter. There are only a handful of characteristics to look at and the impact that each of them have on a cannabis grow is pretty well understood.
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