LED Grow Light Forum

Hello everyone and thank you in advance for any answers / advice that I might receive.

I just have a few questions regarding LEDs and their use. But first, a little about my grow setup.

I have a Secret Jardin T90 (3' X 3' X 5' 6") with a (3' X 3' X 2'6") Clone/Seedling/Veg chamber. I WILL make this tent be my own personal perpetual growing area.
I started out my first grow with topping, supercropping, and LST so I am pretty good with height management.
I grow Organically in soil in 5 Gallon smartpots.

My ISSUES:

I am currently running a 600 HPS in my flowering chamber. In the winter months it is okay as I can pull cold air from outside across the bulb and cool it to the point that my tent isn't 100+ degrees. The issue is that I CANNOT vent my hot air outside. (Super Stealthy Suburbian(That and my state isn't groovy either)) So that leaves me with heated air being pumped into the room that houses my tent raising the temp in my tent a bit less than if I just didn't vent at all. The real issue come when summer has hit and there is NO WAY to avoid me being in 90+ for most of my lights on period and topping out (last summer) at 110. The space will be full of plants (No dehumidifier) Super dry where I am and I can attach all of my fans to the posts for the tent. I need to produce as much as my tent will allow. I'm making oil out of most and keeping enough buds around that I can have a toot whenever.

I guess my Questions are:

1) How much heat do LEDs produce?
2) What wattage light will I need for my flower tent?
3) What are reliable/quality brands?
4) How much does yield suffer(might get better with less heat)?
5) Any other "Need to Knows".

Welcome to the forums!

Why couldn't you vent hot air outside, to an attic, garage or another room? No A/C? What kind of yield would you need per month to get you by?

1) A little less than an air-cooled HID light of equal size.
2) To properly flower a 3x3 tent you'd need over 450W, actual draw, assuming that you want top-shelf results and even then it wouldn't keep up with a HID of equal size. Slightly less if you don't mind reduced yield, density, etc.
3) Around here most people like their CLW SolarStorm lights, one of my local hydro shops like the blackdog LED lights. Avoid apollo lights.
4) LED doesn't not keep up with high powered HID lights. How much the yield suffers will depend on many factors but light power is certainly one of them.
5) It's a myth that smaller LEDs can keep up with bigger HIDs and it's a myth that LED lights produce little to no heat. It's also going to be hard to impossible to keep a perpetual grow with 1 tent even if it has 2 chambers. Where would you keep a mother plant?

What I'd suggest is re-evaluating your grow area, adding more tents. I'd suggest venting outside or into an A/C cooled room but if you use a portable AC you still have to vent THAT somewhere. You CAN get away with one tent if you grow from seed but not clones.

SisterMaryElephant wrote:Welcome to the forums!

Why couldn't you vent hot air outside, to an attic, garage or another room? No A/C? What kind of yield would you need per month to get you by?

1) A little less than an air-cooled HID light of equal size.
2) To properly flower a 3x3 tent you'd need over 450W, actual draw, assuming that you want top-shelf results and even then it wouldn't keep up with a HID of equal size. Slightly less if you don't mind reduced yield, density, etc.
3) Around here most people like their CLW SolarStorm lights, one of my local hydro shops like the blackdog LED lights. Avoid apollo lights.
4) LED doesn't not keep up with high powered HID lights. How much the yield suffers will depend on many factors but light power is certainly one of them.
5) It's a myth that smaller LEDs can keep up with bigger HIDs and it's a myth that LED lights produce little to no heat. It's also going to be hard to impossible to keep a perpetual grow with 1 tent even if it has 2 chambers. Where would you keep a mother plant?

What I'd suggest is re-evaluating your grow area, adding more tents. I'd suggest venting outside or into an A/C cooled room but if you use a portable AC you still have to vent THAT somewhere. You CAN get away with one tent if you grow from seed but not clones.

Well I wanted to vent through the chimney (That vents the heating unit and the water heater) but my wife won't let me "alter" that setup. I clone the clones. I want a new tent but... wifey again... I ran a perpetual in this tent for about a year and a half it's tricky but I can do it as long as I keep my plants small. If I get one that is waiting to enter the flower chamber and getting too big I just cut it down to almost nothing... Super resilient plants... (I keep 4 plants in there 2 weeks apart on all of them so i can crop every 2 weeks) How long does a ballast last and how much does it affect the light? (Sorry for the newb questions... I should really know this) Thanks again for your input!

You have to control the heat, especially in hot areas, so you'll have to do something. You're going to have to get your wife on board somehow. I vent through the ceiling (it's just a little drywall) into the attic and out a roof vent.

Oh, I see, instead of keeping a mother plant you cut up a vegged plant before it goes to flower. As long as you have your timing right but it is easier with more tents/grow rooms.

How long does a HID ballast last? Typically I think they're warrantied for 3-5 years but they can last longer. What do you mean by "affect the light?"

SisterMaryElephant wrote:You have to control the heat, especially in hot areas, so you'll have to do something. You're going to have to get your wife on board somehow. I vent through the ceiling (it's just a little drywall) into the attic and out a roof vent.

Oh, I see, instead of keeping a mother plant you cut up a vegged plant before it goes to flower. As long as you have your timing right but it is easier with more tents/grow rooms.

How long does a HID ballast last? Typically I think they're warrantied for 3-5 years but they can last longer. What do you mean by "affect the light?"

Well I got a ballast, hood, HPS, and MH light off of amazon for 300 dollars. This leads me to believe it was a cheap setup. I have since changed my HPS out for a Horilux bulb so the bulb is fine but I'm questioning the quality of my ballast now. The problem with it all is that on my last couple rounds the buds have been VERY airy but now that I'm typing it out I assume it is from all the heat + genetics. Spacebomb (They all seem to be a bit airy) Do you think a window unit directed to the intake for my flower room would be sufficient cooling during the summer months. I by no means live in a dessert or what would be considered a HOT climate but it does get 100 every once in a while where I'm at.

A cheaper ballast might not last as long but it shouldn't affect the light. The bulb is more important there, they should be replaced pretty often too.

Heat, genetics, overcrowding and not enough light can cause airy popcorn flowers. If the window AC unit can handle the temperature of the room the tent is in PLUS the load from the lights, then yes. You want the canopy temp around 80F with the lights on and 10-20F less with the lights off after a couple of weeks in flower.

SisterMaryElephant wrote:A cheaper ballast might not last as long but it shouldn't affect the light. The bulb is more important there, they should be replaced pretty often too.

Heat, genetics, overcrowding and not enough light can cause airy popcorn flowers. If the window AC unit can handle the temperature of the room the tent is in PLUS the load from the lights, then yes. You want the canopy temp around 80F with the lights on and 10-20F less with the lights off after a couple of weeks in flower.

Thank you very much SME for you help and timely responses.