I am just starting my journey into the world of growing in general let alone inside. I know the light is the heart of my system and fully expect to spend quality dollars for quality product. I have decided on the ROI brand of lights the size of the tent will determine which light I get. So my quandary is do I save a bit of money and get a 4x4 like the Vivosun or get a 3x3 gorilla tent. I could also just increase my budget a little bit and get the gorilla 4x4. I am really afraid that a 3x3 may be too small and the 4 x4 may be too big. I going to start growing to make my own medicine so any advice would be great.
.png)
I’m no expert I’m still new at growing too but I would say whatever fits your real estate I started mine In a 4 x 4 in my garage do to space reason But it got too hot in there and felt like I was going to ruin everything so I made the decision to move them in bathroom till I’m done Building my grow room. I wanted lots of plants also , I think you should see how many you want but that being said I’m still really really new at this I would ask around
@rocha.24.rocha thanks I have a big empty bed room so the size of the space it plenty big. I am just going to use the plants for myself so I do not need a field 1-4 I think should be okay. What would you advise now and I value options from every level of grower. I have never grown anything so you are an expert to me lol
For me this is one of the hardest questions to answer. I believe what you'll have to factor is how many plant you intend to grow, how big, what equipment you may also need in the tent(extra fan, humidifier, ac, etc).
@mwhite9829 thanks the light is going to be an ROI-E680 or ROI-E420 depending on the size of the tent with a 3x3 it will be the 420 and the 4x4 will be the 680. the number of plants well since this is my very first time ever attempting to grow anything other than my gut lol do not really know. I think 1-4 if a good starting point. How big they get will I am not really sure. I guess that depends on how well I have learned to top and LST and I plan on using the net to help with canopy spread. I am going to try eliminate my disperary. I will need a dehumidifier I plan to run 2 fans. I have not decided if I am going to use both tent pole fans or one tent pole fan and one fan on the floor I can add another fan if I need too.
Me personally I'd go with the 4x4 w/e680. I was reading the tech info and I definitely wouldn't run the light at 6 inches like it says on there, must be a typo that says burnt plants to me.
Better to have more than not enough is my thought
Okay so the size is now determined any suggestion on brands there are a ton of them out there. From what I have seen the Gorilla tents seem to be the best. Do I need the Lamborghini? If I do not get the Lamborghini then should I expect pin hole leaks around the seems and how much do those pin holes matter? I have watch and listened intently and my sense is that if its not total black there could be problems. If in the long run the better choice would be to get the best right off the bat then I am prepared to do that. But if I can ride around comfortable in a Camaro for a year or so that would do wonders on the budget. As I said if I the advice from you Yoda's is invest in the lambo I will do that. Thanks to everyone for the help and advice I really do appreciate the responses
id go With the gorilla just cause they get taller
I am using a 4x4 now and am really glad I didn't go smaller. Even with the 4x4 I struggle a bit with space when the plants are getting larger.
@dale do you have a Brand that prefer or like @mwhite9829 has stated if the light is good enough then any brand tent should do? Which will help with the budget a bit. Again I do not mind extending my budget if the tent is as important as the light. So if the Light is the heart , what would that make the tent. If the test if like my arm I can live with out it. If its like my pancreas then I would treat it the same as my heart I cant live with out that.
@Jeffrey Glick Mr. White knows. If the light is decent then it won't matter. The tents all have the reflective interior, so it'll really be personal preference.
@Dale thank you
I don't grow in tents anymore to help you out with what brand. I know I have off name cheaper tents I used for a while that worked just fine. Now I just use them for drying.
If youre going with e680 almost any brand tent should lit up like the sun regardless.
I’m with everyone else. It’s better to have the space and not need it than to not have it and need it. Tents are where I went cheap. I started out with 3 tents though. One for each stage, veg, flower, & dry. Small light leaks will not be an issue with the light you’re using, and if you can keep the room the tents are in dark or the lighting low when the grow lights are off you’ll be fine. I’m on my third grow and this community has been very welcoming and a great resource when issues arise, and they will arise. Lol Good luck with everything.
I am finding that out I really appreciate the advice. Thank you
True story, I bought a cheap 4x4x6 tent on Amazon I think it was like $75. When I got and put it together I thought I'd get inside and close it to see if any light leaks in. When got to the end of zipper the pull tab broke off. After about 5 minutes of frantically trying to pinch the top of the zipper to pull open then I realized I had my phone and twist ties in my pocket😂. I was a few seconds away from going bull in a china shop, I don't like being stuck in small spaces and the pitch black made it worse 😂😂.
Thanks for making me laugh I could see you jumping around and the tent moving all over the place with you trying to get out. Glad you made it out to share that with the rest of us along with the knowledge you clearly possess from the other posts I have read so far. So again I truly do appreciate you answering I know it can be time consuming
No problem, any time.
@Jeffrey Glick This is what 4 plants in 5 Gal pots in a 4x4 looks like. I’m on Day 2 of Flower and the plants will double in size over the next 2-3 weeks. I have plenty of room around the tent for air flow, and I can move the plants around easily when I need to get to them.
thanks for this its awesome and gives me the prefect idea of what I need. Thanks for taking the time to send it I appreciate it
@MicB Nice setup!
@Mr. Grow It @mwhite9829 Thanks. The copper deficiency that you guys helped me with cleared up within 2-3 days once I raised and dimmed the lights over the plants. I was able to send the plants into flower knowing that all plants were now healthy. I have really bad anxiety, and seeing the plants bounce back so quickly was a HUGE relief. Much love and appreciation for the help.
Thanks for the picture that looks awesome. Is that an egg? You also build your own tent brace for the trellis are they just 1x2 with eye hooks ?
@Scott Ahh organic bug killer smart and again I really do appreciate the information and pictures helps a ton.
I would go with a cheap tent and patch up any pinholes. That's just me. The reflective material is the same on the cheaper tent vs the more expensive tent. If you don't want to have to worry about pinholes at all, go with the Gorilla tent. I ran the E680 in a 4x4 for several grows and never put the light up to 100%. The plants didn't need all that light. I was going to try to run an E420 in a 4x4 but went a different direction. The E420 should be fine in a 4x4 imo. Some may complain that the edges aren't sufficiently covered but that's really only a concern for those who expect to have their plants cover from wall-to-wall. Hope this helps.
@Mr. Grow It thank you for the input I really do appreciate any and everyone's input Even if to say dude you are nuts for xxx... By the way I enjoyed your book and I read it all in one night and will have your cheat sheets as my growling bible. Now after I read the book picked out both my tent and light set up, now I have to think some more because you took my light and my tent and said I don't need my Lamborghini set up.? After much searching and reading and watching a ton of PAR PPFD and even one from Apogee that talked about DLI (Daily Light Integral). I thought I was on a good path with my equipment and am wiling to invest what is required so it will last me a really long time.
Good evening all, I made a choice and decided to go with the gorilla 4x4 and the ROI 680 sent the request to the sales person asking for them to get an invoice together for me. I get a reply saying that the other option I can go with is a light called the Photontek X600W pro. I have never heard of that light and me being the ocd person that I am I went and started doing some digging. I came across a par test of the light along with a nifty Grow light calculator, I know that its only as good as the date entered so here are the results compared side by side. I could use a little help interpreting the results. The data for the ROI was input using the manufactures data The Photontek was input by the tester using the results from the par test that I watch them conduct, Here are the results.
ROI Power Draw 680W, Cost $899.00 , Calculated PPF 1710umol or 2.60umol/w, Estimated usable PPF -1298, Photon efficiency -1.91umol/w Cost efficiency $0.69, Fixture coverage 20.0 sq. Feet or 1.85 sq. Meters harvest potential low 714 g or 25.5 oz benchmark 973G or 34.8 oz
Photontek X 600w Pro Power Draw 624W Cost $950.00 Measured usable ppf 1427.1 umol or 2.7 Umol/w Photon efficiency 2.29 umol/w cost efficiency $0.67 Fixture coverage 22.0 sq Feet or 2.04 Sq Meters Harvest potential low 785 G or 28.0 oz benchmark 1070 g or 38.2 oz
So that is the date from the calculator can someone please change this into a form of English that I can use and if you need to do it in Spanish I can adapt you pick Russian or Chinese and I will be in trouble thanks for taking the time to read all this data I will thank all in advance and will more then likely also thank each and everyone who responds
Ppf, ppfd, umol, those are @Mr. Grow It questions. What I can suggest is don't pay much attention to the grams and ounces they say, it's misleading.
@Jeffrey Glick Those lights are pretty much the same. What exactly are you looking for in a grow light? The ROI has a higher PPF which means it emits more light. The Photontek has a higher photon efficiency which means it's more efficient. Ask yourself, do you care more about PAR output or efficiency? Even if the Photontek is more efficient, it comes with a higher price tag. Probably not worth the extra $ imo. Like @mwhite9829 suggests, don't pay attention to the harvest potential or sometimes stated as "grams per watt". Things such as genetics, nutrition, and how long you veg for also impact yield so stating a potential yield for a light is somewhat misleading. Also, not sure where you were planning to get them from but I do have a discount code for you if you're looking to save some money. Discount code: MRGROWIT All items on Happy Hydro. Link: http://bit.ly/2k14RoQ
@Mr. Grow It Thanks again for the awesome advice.
@mwhite9829 That was the first time I have ever seen it or even heard of it and it was on the calculator thing that I used. The science behind photons and measuring them gives me a headache. That is why I appreciate this forum. I @Mr. Grow It and others have done and still do a lot of the stuff for us which I now appreciate even more.
So I am now officially on my way 1; Gorilla grow tent 4x4 2. ROI-E680 LED 3.Inch AC Infinity. All ordered. I am working on an RO system for the water. Once everything is set up I will post some pictures. I live in a very hot humid climate so I plan to take a trick from @Mr. Grow It and install my fan outside my tent along with another fan hooked up to help put some cool air in the tent should the need arise to help control the heat. Thanks for the guidance and assistance everyone provided I really appreciate it.