LED for a 4 x 4 tent

[latitude54]

For the past 16 months I've used a 600w HPS in my 4 x 4 tent. I'm looking to swap to LED in the near future but am struggling to find information on lights that'd be suitable for the space. Everything I've found online seems to be listed as suitable for 3 x 3.

 

Can anyone recommend where to start with this? What sort of wattage should I be looking for?

Edited November 11, 2023 by latitude54

[latitude54]

Reading through a few older posts, I've seen that ~450w was recommended as a suitable starting point. Is this still the case?

[Satchitananda]

https://migrolight.com/en-nl/blogs/grow-light-reviews/the-best-value-grow-light-for-a-4-x-4-grow-tent

[KC]

A 450w would probably match your 600 for yield but I think you could run a 600w if you wanted, you could always dim it if needed. I went from 1kw of hid to 630w of led and I'm well happy with it. 

[latitude54]

1 hour ago, Satchitananda said:

https://migrolight.com/en-nl/blogs/grow-light-reviews/the-best-value-grow-light-for-a-4-x-4-grow-tent

really useful info there dude. Thanks. 
 

The main reason I was looking at LED was the perceived running cost saving. But looking at what’s suitable, I’d be at 500-700w, I’m assuming that means the running cost would be pretty comparable to my existing 600w HPS? 

[Military Grade]

Look for the best ppfd par map coverage for the space not the Watts when it comes to LED

Edited November 11, 2023 by Military Grade

[catweazle1]

Migro Aray series 4x4 is worth looking at. It's 500w and more than enough unless you use carbon dioxide. It'll leave about a 6inch/150mm gap around the edge of the tent.

Edited November 11, 2023 by catweazle1

[catweazle1]

2 hours ago, latitude54 said:

really useful info there dude. Thanks. 
 

The main reason I was looking at LED was the perceived running cost saving. But looking at what’s suitable, I’d be at 500-700w, I’m assuming that means the running cost would be pretty comparable to my existing 600w HPS? 

It'll be significantly less because one is adjusting the lights power incrementally as they need it, and not full power all the way through. You aren't using full power until flowering. One is not limited by how close you can put the lights to the canopy, unlike HID.

Edited November 11, 2023 by catweazle1

[Military Grade]

I would love to see the ppfd par map for 4x XS1500 Pro's over a 4x4 space, as there's almost no spill over of light from its 2x2 footprint of light it should be the most efficient coverage there is. Wouldn't be cheap tho

[MindSoup]

You want about 30-40 watts a square foot, so 480 to 640 or so. A bar light that spans as much of area as possible or 4 smaller fixtures you could space out would be optimal. The Migro Array 8 would be perfect, the flexibility  for different canopy heights would be great. They're not the cheapest but they're hard to beat in terms of performance and build quality. They probably do a UK420 discount know they're a sponsor. 

Edited November 11, 2023 by MindSoup

[Axiom]

8 hours ago, KC said:

A 450w would probably match your 600 for yield but I think you could run a 600w if you wanted, you could always dim it if needed. I went from 1kw of hid to 630w of led and I'm well happy with it. 

 

Hey KC , do you get better bud density too? That's what I'm looking for really..

or is that down to how it dried?

 

@latitude54 Good Deals on Mars Hydro if you know whee to look .

Edited November 11, 2023 by Axiom

[KC]

Just now, Axiom said:

do you get better bud density too?

I've only ran 2 different cuts under both types of lighting and I didn't think there was any difference in density but saying that they yielded better under the diodes and they were grown the same way (same amount of veg into 11ltr pots) so they must be I suppose. 

 

Some strains don't get dense no matter  what you do. Or so I find anyway. 

[David Attenborough]

I use an Aray 8 in that space, its basically to aray 4's , 8 led bars on two drivers, dimmable. Ive net had to use them on full power and when I did the plants didnt like it, way too much light.

 

Because they are on two drivers and can be broken down into four seperate units it suited my uneven canopy.

 

Have a look through my grow diary in my sig.

[Crow River]

Yeah if you look at the Migro PPFD maps in the article, the left side is dimmed to 40% for seedling stage, 60% for veg, and 80% for flower. So, 200w for seedlings, 300w for veg, and 400w for flower... The plants can't use more than 800 umols/sec without CO2 supplementation. So if anything, for an LED light fixture of high efficiency, 500w is overkill for the majority of hobby growers.

[David Attenborough]

Just now, Crow River said:

Yeah if you look at the Migro PPFD maps in the article, the left side is dimmed to 40% for seedling stage, 60% for veg, and 80% for flower. So, 200w for seedlings, 300w for veg, and 400w for flower... The plants can't use more than 800 umols/sec without CO2 supplementation. So if anything, for an LED light fixture of high efficiency, 500w is overkill for the majority of hobby growers.

With the Aray 8 you wont even need those power consumptions, I got by in early to late veg with just one Aray 4 running (Aray 8 is just 2 aray 4's), 8 seedlings dont take up enough space to run all 8 light bars and only in late veg did I need all 8 , so 250 watt dimmed right down. Last week of veg and all flower I used the other Aray 4 to make it an Aray 8, still couldnt get it up to full power.