Lighting Help me setup my next grow tent

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I am planning on ramping up from my 2x2 tent with 1 qb288 v2 from HLG. I was originally thinking about getting 6 lights on 2 heatsinks with 2 power supplies in a 5 by 5 tent. Now I'm thinking about getting a 8 x 4 tent with 6 lights on 6 heatsinks, still with 2 320w power supplies. in either setup I want to run 6 plants. In the 5x5 tent I'd do more of a sea of green style buy in the 8 x 4 I thought i could but 4 18 inch pots along the back and 1 on each side with a light directly above each.
 
@Ravenor :welcome:Welcome to AFN:welcome:The most important part of your new setup will be the lights. There are so many good choices out there. I spent my first stimulus payment on new ChilLed Growcraft lamps and I am growing the best crops ever. In a space that large you should get several independent lamps. This will give you some flexibility for how to grow various different plants.
 
I am planning on ramping up from my 2x2 tent with 1 qb288 v2 from HLG. I was originally thinking about getting 6 lights on 2 heatsinks with 2 power supplies in a 5 by 5 tent. Now I'm thinking about getting a 8 x 4 tent with 6 lights on 6 heatsinks, still with 2 320w power supplies. in either setup I want to run 6 plants. In the 5x5 tent I'd do more of a sea of green style buy in the 8 x 4 I thought i could but 4 18 inch pots along the back and 1 on each side with a light directly above each.

What's your budget like?
What do you want in your light - waterproofing, high cri, high efficiency, etc.?

For a 5x5

For a 8x4 - there are all kinds of lights - Autocobs are an option that gives you a lot of flexibility.

Is DIY an option? HLG has the QB96 Elites v2 that would cover your 5x5 or 4x8 pretty well for under $1400 but it wouldn't require 660/730nm supplementation. UVA/B could be something with LED or t5s. HLG has a 10% code here so it's even cheaper.

On the low end of the budget there is Mars and Spiderfarmer or something from Amazon. Alibaba also has cheap LEDs. Covering a 4x4 or 5x5 space is expensive, if you can swing the budget I really suggest getting lights from a company that properly advertises their metrics. Lights cost too much to compromise long quality if you can afford it.
 
What's your budget like?
What do you want in your light - waterproofing, high cri, high efficiency, etc.?

My Budget is flexible, and I want all of those things! :crying:

I already have two of these those and would like use them for this. I like using multiple power supplies if I can so if one goes out I'm not totally in the dark waiting to switch out the bad one.


I really like those dialblos and the qb96 look nice but I was think of going with

It seems worth it to get 6 of those to space out more evenly putting one directly above each plant over getting 2 of these:

Including the 2 power supplies I already have and 6 of the qb288v2 with the discount code thats about 675 plus probably another 50 - 75 to get all of the stuff I need to wire it up.

Also in the 8x4 tent there would be about 8 square feet of dead space in the front center. I'm probably going to have to run a humidifier so i figured that'd be a good place to put that and a couple fans.

If the 6 qb evenly spread out wont be enough light I'd also consider putting a hanging 315w CMH on a light rail.
 
My Budget is flexible, and I want all of those things! :crying:

I already have two of these those and would like use them for this. I like using multiple power supplies if I can so if one goes out I'm not totally in the dark waiting to switch out the bad one.


I really like those dialblos and the qb96 look nice but I was think of going with

It seems worth it to get 6 of those to space out more evenly putting one directly above each plant over getting 2 of these:

Including the 2 power supplies I already have and 6 of the qb288v2 with the discount code thats about 675 plus probably another 50 - 75 to get all of the stuff I need to wire it up.

Also in the 8x4 tent there would be about 8 square feet of dead space in the front center. I'm probably going to have to run a humidifier so i figured that'd be a good place to put that and a couple fans.

If the 6 qb evenly spread out wont be enough light I'd also consider putting a hanging 315w CMH on a light rail.

Your idea will work fine. If you can, try renting or even buying Apogee's cheapest USB par meter so you can spread everything out evenly. 7-800ppfd over your canopy is a good start.
 
Your idea will work fine. If you can, try renting or even buying Apogee's cheapest USB par meter so you can spread everything out evenly. 7-800ppfd over your canopy is a good start.

Awesome thanks! ordered my 6 qb last night and they should be here Wednesday. I really want one of those light meters now, but probably wont get one for this grow. It also looked like they have some pretty cool other meters. I did find this blog post from HLG of one qb with a 120 W power supply

 
+1 for the QB96 Elites. Give each one it's own 185W driver separated from the light, the tiny footprint, lightness, and easy positioning at strange angles, make it easy to finagle this lights into perfect positions.
 
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