Best light 2022 $500-$1500 budget

[420autoflower]

I know you got it going on and I'm headed home right now to do some defoliating cause of your thread....thanks I got cheap light too!!! I got a hlg qb 2 board 240w coming soon already paid waiting for it to be shipped....also looking at Mars hydro fc-e 4800....with those 2 for my 5x5 flower tent and my cheap ones I put my 4x4 veg tent....running 10 at a time....what size is that tent you have those ilgm in?? Those are gg#4 right?

Thanks man!
Your tent is looking nice and full lately, wouldn’t hurt to pluck a few leaves. The lights you are running look fairly modern and efficient from your pics, you should be able to pull off a really nice harvest with all the plants you have growing.

 

[420autoflower]

I'm confused on what they are growing in never seen anything like that...

They are rockwool slabs that are sitting on a ebb&flow (flood and drain) tray. The tray floods a few times a day to water the plants. Great for growing SOG. I have 2 current Sawney Bean grows that are on 4x2” flood and drain trays, but don’t want to hijack the thread by posting to much here.

 

[Grimmus]

Here is my 5x5 with cheap $67 Maxisuns. 4 pounds with less than $300 in lighting. Lol
I know everybody is into bar lights these days but I like the option to be able to dial in the height of each individual fixture based on my canopy height.

I agree that you can have awesome grows under budget lights. I had my best yield per plant under a bloomspec 1200 optical, and a ts1000 in a 5x5. I credit it to the fact I had more time to baby them and also it could have been the strain.. But the fact is I got great yields under cheap lights. I will say that since I've been using the growcraft. resin,terps,and potency are noticeably better.

 

[Delps8]

There is a reason why no one uses the QB design anymore, it's the spread, However your comparison is unfair you are quoting the 4x4 chart for SE 7000, you have to scroll down the page to find the 5x5 charts.
I know it's too late but this is new

Heh, thank for point that out. I missed that. Big difference between 4 by and 5 by - 50% larger. Whole different world than my little 2 x 4!

I checked out that video. Nice light and the Migro Guy sure loves it.

 

[Delps8]

I agree that you can have awesome grows under budget lights. I had my best yield per plant under a bloomspec 1200 optical, and a ts1000 in a 5x5. I credit it to the fact I had more time to baby them and also it could have been the strain.. But the fact is I got great yields under cheap lights. I will say that since I've been using the growcraft. resin,terps,and potency are noticeably better.

I was using a Mars SP 3000 + a Royal Blue LED puck for my veg light and using an X3 for flower. I just switched them over yesterday. The plants were growing quickly, maybe 1" per day with the Mars but in the < 24 hours since firing up the X3, they've grown more than an inch.
Another big issue is how even the light is. I'm growing two plants in a 2' x 4'. The figures below are hang height ("14"); readings from the back, center, and front; and the DLI calculated from the 18.0 hours of the lights on cycle. The 20 and 42 are the standard deviation of the PPFD values for each light. It's really something to have 7 week old plants that have such a uniform amount of light. With the Mars, I had to move the blue LED around to "fill in the blanks". With the X3, there's no need to futz around like that.

 

[GreenBean]

I think you're right. Hlg is a top name. Why still make quantum boards. It seems you get more for your money with bar style lights. I don't doubt I'll grow great bud under both. But the bar style is just more practical.

I was wondering that the other day. Why? Dunno. Maybe they hate the bars?

Like…I hate tank tops, but I still sell them!

 

[GreenBean]

I personally LOVE my bars. I’ve grown with cheap bloom plus QB in the past and did well enough. If you’re going with lights that are cheaper and mostly on Amazon the bloom plus, maxi, etc are great. No reason for spending more until you start looking at the ChilLed, photontek, etc.

My 4’ bars light distribution is amazing. Last run in my 4x4 yielded 43.8 ounce from three plants.

 

[Grimmus]

I was wondering that the other day. Why? Dunno. Maybe they hate the bars?

Like…I hate tank tops, but I still sell them!

I'm hoping there's a method to their madness. People swear by hlg. I've not found a person who owns one that doesn't love the results. Maybe their spectrum is better than others. Only one way to find out. I'm going to throw a bunch of autos under it and let it rip.

 

[GreenBean]

I'm hoping there's a method to their madness. People swear by hlg. I've not found a person who owns one that doesn't love the results. Maybe their spectrum is better than others. Only one way to find out. I'm going to throw a bunch of autos under it and let it rip.

May as well. Nothing like real world, hands on experience to form an opinion.

I have a buddy that insists on getting one.

 

[Delps8]

I personally LOVE my bars. I’ve grown with cheap bloom plus QB in the past and did well enough. If you’re going with lights that are cheaper and mostly on Amazon the bloom plus, maxi, etc are great. No reason for spending more until you start looking at the ChilLed, photontek, etc.

My 4’ bars light distribution is amazing. Last run in my 4x4 yielded 43.8 ounce from three plants.

That's a great harvest and I'd put money on it that the Atreum played a big role in that. Not to take aware from your amazing skills as a grower, of course!

Boards vs bars - no doubt that the industry has moved away from boards. Bar lights have been out for a couple of years, with more coming into the market every week, it seems. The Migro Aray is an innovative design and Chilled is doing something similar with their new X6 but, frankly, that light makes me thing that Chilled is adapting to the trend by reconfiguring their existing technology rather than innovating. That's sound business but not leading edge.

What's next? To my thinking, material costs may drop, in relative terms, because LED's are getting cheaper to manufacture. I also think that more vendors will offer the ability to change the spectrum. I rolled the dice a bit with Chilled and bought a veg light during their 420 sale. It may well be that by the time I get to use it (it won't be till the fall because of Summer heat), that light will be superseded with tunable spectrum lights. I'd love to have some insights from industry pros.