I totally understand your thoughts I just closeted my HPS and got a Mars Hydro 600 so far love it but I do know that I will most likely need two of them to get the results I’m after good news is they are low cost great lights so my test is on got one plant under it going to grow fully then see what I get if it’s a good yield then I know one plant will work with that light then I’ll try two plants see what happens this is my LED girl
Same here I’m using 3 mars 2 300 1 600 watts would love to go with hps I hear outcome of buds much better but then u got to deal with Temps and elec bill I’m getting some huge buds with these led’s and will continue to use them if any upgrade to better one
Was very happy with her great yield buds big fat rock hard 5oz. Dry strain gorilla glue #4 clone
What size area are they covering? I want to try to use as much of the 8’ length of my tent I can. This grow is bag seed so questionable genetics and probably from a hermie. My next grow will be WW fem from ILGM. I would think from others I’ve seen three 5-gal pots would do it. I don’t get into the science side of it as much cause it makes my eyes glaze over anymore. Trying to just be a cook, not a chef. If I can get a set routine I think I can be successful at never buying any any more (except seeds).
@Stomper I’ve got 3 ilgm white widows now, so judging by their size a 4 by 8 would easily fit 8 - 10 plants in 3 gallon pots ?
-best of luck
Cool… think that’s the big difference between led’s and hps buds density I also use couple cfl’s for corners and side lighting this my second grow first one got 11.5oz from 4 plant’s with just 300watt led’s true wattage bout 160 each
That would be cool. I am trying to keep it all legal and in Colorado we get three veg and three flower so for an old hippie who smokes like Snoop Dog can it be done? This is my test batch.
If not then I will do more plants and be paranoid 
There is a known for hps x watts per sq foot. LEDs are harder to figure out.
My tent is 3x3 and this LED true watts so it says is 280 but foot print is only about 2.5 so I think two of the same light would be great that is my plant when this one plant finishes up
Yes HPS 50 watts square foot is just right that was my last grows number and it was perfect for my first grow now I’m trying the LED thing so far like both at this stage but end result is what matters right?
Can’t go wrong think I paid bout 79.00 each for the 300 watts and 129 for the 600 heat not a problem my tent is 48"×48"×78"
I did some research on king 800 LED and they seem to be telling little fibs about specs
They are only pulling 130w and getting a very low par at 1m some thing like 60-80 when they claim 370
That is closer to a 250 or 300 led and one person stated the unit he had didnt have any certifications.
Is this the same brand you have ?
Okay my tent is alot smaller so if I add second Mars Hydro 600 you think ill be happy with the outcome you seen what my HPS grow looked like really want to top that with LED next grow haha can’t wait come on seeds come to me lol
Nice fat buds. I have my tent divided in two right now but with zippers and such I can’t fix light leak. Maybe I should go with two of the Mars 300s and get this 4x4 completely covered first and get a third for my 2x3 closet nursery. That sounds like it’s under $300 which is all I am giving myself for my birthday.
I am already getting letters from Xcel energy saying I am a juice hog so what the heck. Electric is still under 100 a month so far.
Gotcha ! …here it’s different
I didn’t notice you use LEDs, I guess that would be more difficult to dial. I’m sure it will go well !
-best of luck
That should be all you need maybe hang couple cfl’s if needed
Great gift to yourself try switching your daytime to Night helps little on bill my lights come @ 7pm off 7am doing 10/14 for last week’s of flowering what nutes u using
Horticultural industry standard for HID, like MH or HPS is 50 watts per square foot. For a quality balanced full spectrum LED, the standard wattage recommended is about 35 watts per square foot. This might vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and the recommendation from the manufacturer of any quality LED should be readily available from the manufacturer.
~MacG
Thanks for all the help. Time to do a little redesign work. It looks like the 800 w lights I have now really are equivalent to 300w lights from other brand name companies which makes their price not that impressively low (which was the original purpose of this journal) based on footprint of effective light.
What I have learned so far : LEDs need to be rated/compared by effective footprint - what’s the area covered at x lumens by each light.
It is better to do multiple LEDs to cover an area evenly than one big one due to penetration desired.
One 600 w HID can do what 4 300 w LEDs can so they are still way less expensive based on coverage area.
Yes that’s the ones. Explains why I have to have them 10" away which gives them a 24"x 24" effective footprint. I am doing some airconditioning tests today. I have an Atomic clock with a UHF sensor for the outdoor temp. I put the sensor in my grow room and I can monitor the temp from my living room where the clock is. I got the temp down to 73 and it was still dropping just by pointing the ac unit to the back of the house and keeping the door open. With the door closed the room is around 80. So I may be able to get an hps after all. Just have to figger out how to keep the cat out.
