Grow Room & Light Fixtures

If the grow room has a good height 10 ft or greater one could use double ended 1000 watt hps 12 ft high ceiling would be even better. Yes your LEDs will burn a lot less watts per light fixture. But the double ended with the horizontal mounted fixture will likely give usable light throughout your 10x16 room with just two light fixtures. These lights are very hot so 10 ft really is the minimum to broadcast light throughout your 10x16 dimension a little fig tree rotation in the room will go a long way . On the other hand I am old school. There are so many new lights out there. I will ask the family expert what to use BTW we used to call them double hung back in the day
 
I’m going to resurrect this thread because I really need to understand this better.

@Figgin' A what’s your opinion on light spectrum versus the brute intensity that you’re providing the plant?

For instance… And I may be way off base here but I can get 1000 W high-pressure sodium light that really packs a punch for a fairly low price comparable to some of the grow lights discussed above …

For instance: https://a.co/d/hlqkUbw

That said, I think it’s pretty much limited to a colour temp of about 2000k.l. If the purpose is to encourage fruit set, do you think this could this at least be adequate?

there is the matter of heat and ventilation but this is going to be in a semi outdoor, greenhouse(ish) environment so not a big problem there. Possibly even help.

I completely appreciate everything noted here… I suppose I’m trying to determine not so much what is optimal, but if I can get to a place that’s adequate given what I have to work with.

Im also trying to figure out what was being used before the LED options became so readily available.
Joe, the intensity/PPF is critical; it should come first and foremost, IME. Both have pros and cons. If you want to stay within a budget, HPS should deliver adequate results. I can't say more as I've never tested those. I always recommend researching and consulting with professionals. Here is a good comparison of LED and HPS by someone whose opinion I respect.
 
Joe, the intensity/PPF is critical; it should come first and foremost, IME. Both have pros and cons. If you want to stay within a budget, HPS should deliver adequate results. I can't say more as I've never tested those. I always recommend researching and consulting with professionals. Here is a good comparison of LED and HPS by someone whose opinion I respect.

Thank you so much! This is the most informative piece I’ve ever seen on this and answers a lot of the questions that I had.

I think you’re right that the HPS would suffice but now I’m second-guessing because, while I knew they were hot… I had no idea I was dealing with that kind of heat. Now I’m very hesitant to put one of those in an even moderately confined area.

This was also an excellent explanation on how the HPS would actually cost a great deal more within a relatively short period of time given the energy costs.

So now I’m back to the drawing board to decide on what specific LED fixture I need to look at.

Are you generally using 1000 W units? Or are most of your fixtures in the 400 to 600 W range… On first glance, they seem more popular
 
I think you guys all missed the insane coverage provided by double ended thousand watt HPS horizontal mounted lights. I happens to have very high ceilings in my old Construction house. I started using double ended thousand watt HPS bulbs just for mother trees for a cloning operation. You could also buy them in a metal halide configuration that was virtually the same, but shortened internodal length to provide more conventional looking clones. The double ended thousand Watts bulbs in the horizontal reflectors provide enough coverage to catch up with the LED fixtures where everything has to be right under the light. Those double ended bulbs provide usable light everywhere in a room that is high enough. Due to the intense heat output variability of height adjustment is essential. Also as I said a little rotation goes a long ways a 12x16 room would need at least four LED fixtures or more to provide the same usable coverage. I think overall there wouldn't be that much difference in wattage use. I spent Humpty Dumpty years growing indoors, I think double-ended HPS horizontally mounted fixtures shouldn't be written out of the family will. I really have a lot of experience with indoor growing and Lighting. The one thing I did not include was the use of Styrofoam insulation sheets. When they're one and a half to two inches thick they can be cut up into 12 inch squares and continually adjusted to maintain an even canopy. So the outer fig trees would still grow at a even pace, and provide a relatively flat canopy. When growing indoors canopy control is everything. One or two taller trees completely screws up a indoor grow room
 
This is one of my grow spots, they are cheap Amazon 48” led shop lights that do very well. I had zero issues transitioning to sunlight and the leaves get a nice dark green. Many in this photo were just put under these lights the day before the photo because of frost threats coming in.
 

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I’m actually considering getting a growing tent up and running this winter and have been looking at Vivosun:


Not sure how it stacks up against other brands but I use their heat mats and timers already, and these lights have built in air circulation, which I have neglected in the past… while seemingly gimmicky, I lost a lot of tomato seedlings last year to fungal issues because I don’t have good air flow in my basement…
 
Thank you so much! This is the most informative piece I’ve ever seen on this and answers a lot of the questions that I had.

I think you’re right that the HPS would suffice but now I’m second-guessing because, while I knew they were hot… I had no idea I was dealing with that kind of heat. Now I’m very hesitant to put one of those in an even moderately confined area.

This was also an excellent explanation on how the HPS would actually cost a great deal more within a relatively short period of time given the energy costs.

So now I’m back to the drawing board to decide on what specific LED fixture I need to look at.

Are you generally using 1000 W units? Or are most of your fixtures in the 400 to 600 W range… On first glance, they seem more popular
No problem. Glad you found it helpful.

Heat control is a huge consideration. I went with LED exactly because of that. Let me give you some examples. In my 5x5 tent in the 68F basement, my 1000W grow light running at 80-85% easily raises the temp in the tent to about 85-89F, at which point the exhaust fan comes on to vent the heat out.

In my 4x8 grow tent in the cool (this is early to late spring) unheated garage two 800W grow lights raise the temps to 82-83F. I generally don't vent the heat out from there.

Once you start venting heat out into an unheated garage, you will get a ton of condensation on the walls, windows, etc. Then you need to run a dehumidifier. If you start venting out loads of heat into a unheated, unisulated or lightly insulated garage, that becomes an even greater problem to deal with. Risk of mold development, etc.

I only have a 1000W light in my 5x5 tent. I don't need the full 1000W, but the 1000W bar light is wider, covering the tent pretty much from side to side, providing an even PPF across the board. An 800W light has a smaller footprint, leading to a significant PPF drop on the periphery. Rotatable bars like on my King Brite lights help with that, but only on the sides, not front and back. Other than that, a 800W light would have been fine.

In the 4x8 tent, two 800W work fine for me, providing a very good side-to-side coverage.

I also have another 600W bar light and 480W quantum light. The 600W light is over my 4x5 grow table and I run it at 60-80%, depending on plant age. I can also stick 3 fig trees on the side of the table there, but I also have a large window on the other side where the figs go, so they get plenty of supplemental light from the window on one side. It works.

The 480W light is good for 3-4 mature trees (or 7-9 small ones) for the initial 2-2.5 months, but won't provide good canopy penetration after that, which will lead to lower leaf drop. I also use it in combination with supplemental light from a large south facing glass door.

I would say, it all depends on how you want to use them, how many trees you want to light up, and what results you want to get. Start with one light and see how it goes. Once you play with it you will get a better idea.

In general, you want a minimum of 5 sf per mature fig tree headstarted in our climate in February, or 4 sf if headtarted in March. Assuming moving them outside in late May. Now, find a light that will provide an even 700PPF or more to cover your grow area and you will see some amazing results. Up to 180-200 figs per tree. Most of my later ripening varieties take about 100-105 days to ripen with this setup and transition outside in late May.
 
No problem. Glad you found it helpful.

Heat control is a huge consideration. I went with LED exactly because of that. Let me give you some examples. In my 5x5 tent in the 68F basement, my 1000W grow light running at 80-85% easily raises the temp in the tent to about 85-89F, at which point the exhaust fan comes on to vent the heat out.

In my 4x8 grow tent in the cool (this is early to late spring) unheated garage two 800W grow lights raise the temps to 82-83F. I generally don't vent the heat out from there.

Once you start venting heat out into an unheated garage, you will get a ton of condensation on the walls, windows, etc. Then you need to run a dehumidifier. If you start venting out loads of heat into a unheated, unisulated or lightly insulated garage, that becomes an even greater problem to deal with. Risk of mold development, etc.

I only have a 1000W light in my 5x5 tent. I don't need the full 1000W, but the 1000W bar light is wider, covering the tent pretty much from side to side, providing an even PPF across the board. An 800W light has a smaller footprint, leading to a significant PPF drop on the periphery. Rotatable bars like on my King Brite lights help with that, but only on the sides, not front and back. Other than that, a 800W light would have been fine.

In the 4x8 tent, two 800W work fine for me, providing a very good side-to-side coverage.

I also have another 600W bar light and 480W quantum light. The 600W light is over my 4x5 grow table and I run it at 60-80%, depending on plant age. I can also stick 3 fig trees on the side of the table there, but I also have a large window on the other side where the figs go, so they get plenty of supplemental light from the window on one side. It works.

The 480W light is good for 3-4 mature trees (or 7-9 small ones) for the initial 2-2.5 months, but won't provide good canopy penetration after that, which will lead to lower leaf drop. I also use it in combination with supplemental light from a large south facing glass door.

I would say, it all depends on how you want to use them, how many trees you want to light up, and what results you want to get. Start with one light and see how it goes. Once you play with it you will get a better idea.

In general, you want a minimum of 5 sf per mature fig tree headstarted in our climate in February, or 4 sf if headtarted in March. Assuming moving them outside in late May. Now, find a light that will provide an even 700PPF or more to cover your grow area and you will see some amazing results. Up to 180-200 figs per tree. Most of my later ripening varieties take about 100-105 days to ripen with this setup and transition outside in late May.

This is excellent. Now that it’s more clear I’m sold. It makes complete sense even if just comparing dollar value in the fairly near-term.

Only dilemma now is on which specific fixture to start with. You’re very correct about the abundance of options. Alibaba/Aliexpress seems to be the place but I find some of the listings less than clear
 
The above is assuming 12 hours on, 12 hours off. I do it to take advantage of our low peak hydro pricing 7pm to 7am. You could run lower powered lights for 24 hours, I know some people do and swear by that method... I can't comment as I've never tried that, and I believe plants need a proper light on and light off cycle to function properly. Though, you could do something like 18 hours on, 6 hours off to give them a break. That would require a lower PPF. 700PPF for 12 hours equals 470ppf for 16 hours. But that won't eliminate the low light intensity on the periphery. Perhaps using two lower-powered lights instead of one higher-powered one. There are so many options and configurations.:)
 
This is excellent. Now that it’s more clear I’m sold. It makes complete sense even if just comparing dollar value in the fairly near-term.

Only dilemma now is on which specific fixture to start with. You’re very correct about the abundance of options. Alibaba/Aliexpress seems to be the place but I find some of the listings less than clear
Someone somewhere a long time ago recommended King Brite on Alibaba and many others echoed the recommendation. I bought one light from them, then another, and another... all my lights are from them. I am very happy, FWIW.

They used to have a lot of them, various kinds and configurations. Nowadays the lineup of LED lighs is pretty small... You want the P55 lights....
https://kingbriteled.en.alibaba.com/productgrouplist-951202329/_P55_Grow_Bar.html

SAMSUNG LM301H EVO LED are the best of the best right now. My latest addition has those LEDs.
 
The above is assuming 12 hours on, 12 hours off. I do it to take advantage of our low peak hydro pricing 7pm to 7am. You could run lower powered lights for 24 hours, I know some people do and swear by that method... I can't comment as I've never tried that, and I believe plants need a proper light on and light off cycle to function properly. Though, you could do something like 18 hours on, 6 hours off to give them a break. That would require a lower PPF. 700PPF for 12 hours equals 470ppf for 16 hours. But that won't eliminate the low light intensity on the periphery. Perhaps using two lower-powered lights instead of one higher-powered one. There are so many options and configurations.:)

Right!?!? It’s almost like trying to come up with a recipe from scratch… but for light!
 
Anything plain, simple and cheap to keep some rooted cuttings growing throughout the winter months.
I think the answer to this is, absolutely. So there’s no confusion, my goal here is dense fruit set with short node spacing and perhaps some season stretching

If you just want to babysit cuttings through the winter I think you could use something like I use on my hydroponic greens. I found this very adequate for vegetative growth.

 
Someone somewhere a long time ago recommended King Brite on Alibaba and many others echoed the recommendation. I bought one light from them, then another, and another... all my lights are from them. I am very happy, FWIW.

They used to have a lot of them, various kinds and configurations. Nowadays the lineup of LED lighs is pretty small... You want the P55 lights....
https://kingbriteled.en.alibaba.com/productgrouplist-951202329/_P55_Grow_Bar.html

SAMSUNG LM301H EVO LED are the best of the best right now. My latest addition has those LEDs.


@Figgin' A

The Samsungs you noted. Like an array of these? One dedicated per plant?
 
@Figgin' A

The Samsungs you noted. Like an array of these? One dedicated per plant?
I was referring to bar lights using the Samsung LM301H EVO LED chips as opposed to LM301H or LM281B. If you look at King Brite's site linked above, they have light fixtures using any of the three listed above, LM281B being the budget version and LM301H EVO being the most advanced currently.
 
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