Lighting Bring your led setups here!

[TshirtNinja]

that will work for one plant just fine. the 240w will depend on how large of pots but 4 should be fine if they are in 2-3 gallon pots. I'm about to push the limits of what i have by putting 4 of those units in a 4x4 tent and im stuffing it as full of autos as i can fit.

 

[Muddy]

Welcome to the forum. I agree with Tshirt, a 240 watt Blackstar will be fine in that space. I've got two of them in a 3 x 4 area that are doing a nice job. Just a suggestion, you might want to go a little higher on your box if you can. If you get some plants pushing 2', plus the height of the pot, space to the light, the light and it's hangers you might be running out of head room at 4'. The light is usually set at between 18 to 24" during vegetative growth, then lowered to 12 to 16" in flower. So 8" for the pot, 24" for the plant, 12" space to the light, and another 6'" for the light and hangers puts you at 50". A little extra headroom is always nice to have.

I'm getting ready to build a 2'x2' box 4' tall to do 4 plants at a time (various short/med Auto strains that are fem). I've currently got a decent USA MADE 90w LED UFO (1w diodes but its still tri band and not Chinese junk). Link below. Anyway, for the time being, I'm going to use this single UFO to do just one plant, or two if you guys think it will suffice. My question is, once I'm able to upgrade/add, Would one Black Star 240w be good for the 4 short autos? Thanks for the great read so far in this thread, I read the whole thing and appreciate everyones wisdom! BTW this is will be my first grow heh

The light I already purchased.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/170437535562?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

 

[stealthy]

Thanks guys...and good call on the height.

A 240 will be in my near future.

 

[astronomy420a]

great thread! found it today,hope it keeps on rolling. i have good results using a 240w and a 135w blackstar in a 40inch square tent. people always bring up that the cost of the led lite is to much, the amount of electricity used will pay for the difference after one grow.

 

[TshirtNinja]

great thread! found it today,hope it keeps on rolling. i have good results using a 240w and a 135w blackstar in a 40inch square tent. people always bring up that the cost of the led lite is to much, the amount of electricity used will pay for the difference after one grow.

im with you there brotha its worth it. but honestly guys if you need budget gear just go with t5ho and your set if you are low on funds.

 

[Muddy]

Very true. Also, don't forget the cost of replacing HPS bulbs every 15k hours or so at $100 a pop for a good one.

great thread! found it today,hope it keeps on rolling. i have good results using a 240w and a 135w blackstar in a 40inch square tent. people always bring up that the cost of the led lite is to much, the amount of electricity used will pay for the difference after one grow.

 

[Nelson]

Well this year I am certainly gonna start converting my bubbly tank to LED. I am going to take out the middle row of CFL and add a pair of 250 watt LED panels. I am going to leave the outside rows of CFL to give the outside rows of the tank a little extra coverage. That will be about 900 watts of CFL and 500 watts of LED. It seems everyone is fairly happy with their Blackstars, My tank is 4' X 8' (32 sq. fr.). What do ya think guys ans gals?

Very true. Also, don't forget the cost of replacing HPS bulbs every 15k hours or so at $100 a pop for a good one.

 

[Muddy]

I've got the two Blackstar 240s covering a 3' x 4' area and am finding they aren't quite enough, at least compared to my GLH. I thought about adding some CFLs for side lighting but think I'm just going to add a 3rd one. The Blackstars seem to do best covering about a 2' sq. area.

Well this year I am certainly gonna start converting my bubbly tank to LED. I am going to take out the middle row of CFL and add a pair of 250 watt LED panels. I am going to leave the outside rows of CFL to give the outside rows of the tank a little extra coverage. That will be about 900 watts of CFL and 500 watts of LED. It seems everyone is fairly happy with their Blackstars, My tank is 4' X 8' (32 sq. fr.). What do ya think guys ans gals?

 

[DubV]

Great thread guys and gals! I am currently running a Magnum XL Plus developed and sold by the fine growers in BC. This is a 357 watt led that has there new par technology and I tell you what this thing is so bright it can literally burn your plants if it is too close. It is an 11 spectrum led that allows you to switch back and forth between blue, full, and red spectrums with a flip of the switch. This LED is perfect for a 4x4 area without worry or adding cfl's to support. The switch from cfl's to led has been a little struggle at first but there is no looking back now!

 

[Nelson]

Well I'm replacing about 460 watts of CFL with 480 watts of LED. Maybe I will leave the two outside CFL bulbs of the middle row thus leaving 90 watts of CFL extra. This way I would only be replacing 370 watts of the CFL. It sure isn't gonna be a watt saver but maybe I will get more light penetration and more lumens on my tank. Might be a good idea for sure. I am starting to get close to the limit on the single circuit capacity. I wonder how it will look to the naked eye.

I've got the two Blackstar 240s covering a 3' x 4' area and am finding they aren't quite enough, at least compared to my GLH. I thought about adding some CFLs for side lighting but think I'm just going to add a 3rd one. The Blackstars seem to do best covering about a 2' sq. area.