Grow Room Suggestions needed

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Mycius

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Hi everybody, I'm new to the forum. So... first things first: thanks for your time, everybody, you are really inspiring!

I've been lurking a lot and I have seen your micro grows, solo cup grows, etc. and I have been thinking. For the future I may be able to have a 20x50x60 cm enclosure available and I would like to try a micro grow.
I will probably try a "semi" dwc setup, as I've seen videos with good results using shallow, but wide water containers, so I will probably have a 40-45cm height for the plant to grow, but I am concerned about suitable lights, so any suggestion or help is welcome.
I am deeply unsure about the lighting though: I know for sure I'd prefer to go led, but... I've just found out the existence of three completely different and tempting candidates and I need your help.

1) JCBritw 30w plus led grow light panel full spectrum Veg/Bloom dual mode https://www.jcbritw.com/product-pag...light-panel-full-spectrum-veg-bloom-dual-mode

2) JCBritw 60W LED grow light dimmable with timer https://www.jcbritw.com/product-pag...ight-dimmable-with-auto-on-off-timer-function

3) HLG QB96 Elite V2 https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/collections/all/products/qb96-v2-quantum-board

I have seen a guy using the 30w with apparently good results, but he's only halfway with the growth cicle and I would really like to go HLG, because of the full spectrum, but I am afraid it would be too much and it would develop too much heat in such a small space... What do you think?
 
Mycius said:
Hi everybody, I'm new to the forum. So... first things first: thanks for your time, everybody, you are really inspiring!

I've been lurking a lot and I have seen your micro grows, solo cup grows, etc. and I have been thinking. For the future I may be able to have a 20x50x60 cm enclosure available and I would like to try a micro grow.
I will probably try a "semi" dwc setup, as I've seen videos with good results using shallow, but wide water containers, so I will probably have a 40-45cm height for the plant to grow, but I am concerned about suitable lights, so any suggestion or help is welcome.
I am deeply unsure about the lighting though: I know for sure I'd prefer to go led, but... I've just found out the existence of three completely different and tempting candidates and I need your help.

1) JCBritw 30w plus led grow light panel full spectrum Veg/Bloom dual mode https://www.jcbritw.com/product-pag...light-panel-full-spectrum-veg-bloom-dual-mode

2) JCBritw 60W LED grow light dimmable with timer https://www.jcbritw.com/product-pag...ight-dimmable-with-auto-on-off-timer-function

3) HLG QB96 Elite V2 https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/collections/all/products/qb96-v2-quantum-board

I have seen a guy using the 30w with apparently good results, but he's only halfway with the growth cicle and I would really like to go HLG, because of the full spectrum, but I am afraid it would be too much and it would develop too much heat in such a small space... What do you think?
Click to expand...


Hey bud,

The HLG lights you linked would need to be mounted to something and connected to a driver, which you'd also need to buy. In a space that is only 2 feet tall you would probably need a driver with a dimmer if using LEDs. It's easy to give a plant too much light with newer generation LEDs so a dimmer can help keep lighting and heat at lower levels.

I personally would stay away from any lights that don't already have a good reputation for growing cannabis. HLG is a great choice, they are well regarded everywhere, but JCBritw is rather unknown and not worth the gamble IMO.

If you are handy with electronics at all, building your own dimmable LED would be a good bet. If not, you might honestly consider CFLs or screw in LED bulbs due to the limited height.

DWC is going to make it really hard to keep plants small. It can be done, but it would be easier to keep plants a smaller size using soil or soilless. Also, with only 2 feet of height you might need to use a net of sorts.

Growing in small spaces makes everything significantly more difficult. You should definitely still go for it, but it's important to know up front that you'll have additional challenges. I did a couple years growing in small cabinets and it was surprisingly challenging, but also taught me a ton.

Good luck whatever you decide!
 
You have approximately 1 sq ft of floor area.
About 30 watts per sq ft is all that's needed with good LEDs (not outmoded blurples).
The first light is a 20 watt blurple that is inadequate.
The second light is 20 watts.
The HLG light is by far the best choice, but will probably put out too much heat, and you'll have to assemble it.

Your main problem is likely to be too much heat, so you want as few watts as necessary.
Personally I'd consider something like this
Amazon product ASIN B07NNT3G7JAny full spectrum light (white, not blurple) of 25-30 watts should work, including plain old LED white light bulbs.

You will have height problems.
Autos can get huge.
 
Animatey said:
Hey bud,

The HLG lights you linked would need to be mounted to something and connected to a driver, which you'd also need to buy. In a space that is only 2 feet tall you would probably need a driver with a dimmer if using LEDs. It's easy to give a plant too much light with newer generation LEDs so a dimmer can help keep lighting and heat at lower levels.

I personally would stay away from any lights that don't already have a good reputation for growing cannabis. HLG is a great choice, they are well regarded everywhere, but JCBritw is rather unknown and not worth the gamble IMO.

If you are handy with electronics at all, building your own dimmable LED would be a good bet. If not, you might honestly consider CFLs or screw in LED bulbs due to the limited height.

DWC is going to make it really hard to keep plants small. It can be done, but it would be easier to keep plants a smaller size using soil or soilless. Also, with only 2 feet of height you might need to use a net of sorts.

Growing in small spaces makes everything significantly more difficult. You should definitely still go for it, but it's important to know up front that you'll have additional challenges. I did a couple years growing in small cabinets and it was surprisingly challenging, but also taught me a ton.

Good luck whatever you decide!
Click to expand...

Thank you for the imputs!
Yeah, I was not very clear, I was thinking to mount the HLG on a heatsink with a dimmer and a driver, of course, handywork is not a problem.

The challenges of growing this small are one of the reasons to do it (probably the main one, honestly); in the past 7 years life has been quite tough, but I also noticed that I learned a lot beacause of the challanges I had to face, so -now that life seems to has become a little bit lighter- I think it would be a good way to learn something more.

What do you mean when you talk about going soilless? I am not exactly sure, you know, English is not my first language, and although everyday English and scientific English are not a problem... I still need to acquire some "horticultural tecnicalities", so to say
 
Simplicio said:
You have approximately 1 sq ft of floor area.
About 30 watts per sq ft is all that's needed with good LEDs (not outmoded blurples).
The first light is a 20 watt blurple that is inadequate.
The second light is 20 watts.
The HLG light is by far the best choice, but will probably put out too much heat, and you'll have to assemble it.

Your main problem is likely to be too much heat, so you want as few watts as necessary.
Personally I'd consider something like this
Amazon product ASIN B07NNT3G7JAny full spectrum light (white, not blurple) of 25-30 watts should work, including plain old LED white light bulbs.

You will have height problems.
Autos can get huge.
Click to expand...

Thank you Simplicio!

I honestly did not even think this kind of bulb would be suitable, nice to know!
So, am I correct saying that you are suggesting me photos over autos?
 
Mycius said:
Thank you for the imputs!
Yeah, I was not very clear, I was thinking to mount the HLG on a heatsink with a dimmer and a driver, of course, handywork is not a problem.

The challenges of growing this small are one of the reasons to do it (probably the main one, honestly); in the past 7 years life has been quite tough, but I also noticed that I learned a lot beacause of the challanges I had to face, so -now that life seems to has become a little bit lighter- I think it would be a good way to learn something more.

What do you mean when you talk about going soilless? I am not exactly sure, you know, English is not my first language, and although everyday English and scientific English are not a problem... I still need to acquire some "horticultural tecnicalities", so to say
Click to expand...

Soilless would be like coco coir, or basically any potting mix that contains no nutrition (perlite/vermiculite). In these mixes you provide the nutrients when you water.

If you can wire up HLG boards with a dimmable driver that would be a great way to go IMO. Any HLG board will work great.

Cheaper option would be Bridgelux EB strips. That's what I used to build my most recent light. First grow with it was able to hit 1.4 grams per watt:


They also come in 2 foot lengths.

Autos can get enormous in soilless or dwc, so personally I'd stick to photoperiods. With a SCRoG method (screen of green) you could make that small space work most efficiently.

Good luck!
 
Allright, you know, in my first language the word "soil" means any kind of substrate, so I didn't think you meant coco, vermiculite, etc. good to know.

Well, I have a lot of time to get photoperiodic strains seeds, so I will find some suitable ones, I guess...
 
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