# Confused about grow room lights



## Ninaz1 (Nov 30, 2020)

Hi. As you all can tell, I'm new to this and I need some of your expertise. I've been reading (and reading...and reading  I'm overwhelmed) that when building my grow space, it needs to be light proof but they also say that plants need light. Sooooo, why does my room need to be light proof?

And can you suggest a fairly cheap LED GROW LIGHT & EXHAUSE SYSTEM that I could purchase from Amazon. I usually always order thru them because of Prime shipping. Other than that, it wouldn't be feasible to ship things here. This is what I'm looking at and with a very tight budget:

LED Light - BESTVA 1000W LED Grow Light Full Spectrum Dual-Chip Growing Lamp for Hydroponic Indoor Plants Veg and Flower x 2

Fan & Carbon Filter - iPower GLFANXSETINLINE8D25RHCTR 8 Inch 750 CFM Inline Fan Carbon Filter 25 Feet Ducting Combo with Variable Speed Controller Rope Hanger and Humidity Monitor for Grow Tent Ventilation, Kits, Silver

Mahalo.


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## BoCoGrow (Nov 30, 2020)

Ninaz1 said:


> Hi. As you all can tell, I'm new to this and I need some of your expertise. I've been reading (and reading...and reading  I'm overwhelmed) that when building my grow space, it needs to be light proof but they also say that plants need light. Sooooo, why does my room need to be light proof?



I'm assuming you will be growing photoperiod plants, which flip from vegetation to flower when the light/dark period is 12hr/12hr.  If your room isn't light proof, and during the dark hours external light is getting into the room, the plants may stay in veg because the plant is getting more than 12 hours of light.

Another type of herb you could read up on is autoflower plants.  These plants flip to flower based upon age, not the amount of light it receives.  Different folks will call out different pros and cons about autoflowers, but just wanted to share.


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## Ninaz1 (Nov 30, 2020)

BoCoGrow said:


> I'm assuming you will be growing photoperiod plants, which flip from vegetation to flower when the light/dark period is 12hr/12hr.  If your room isn't light proof, and during the dark hours external light is getting into the room, the plants may stay in veg because the plant is getting more than 12 hours of light.
> 
> Another type of herb you could read up on is autoflower plants.  These plants flip to flower based upon age, not the amount of light it receives.  Different folks will call out different pros and cons about autoflowers, but just wanted to share.



Mahalo nui.


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## sharonp (Nov 30, 2020)

I have an LED quantum board made by Spider Farmer. They cost a little bit more but are great lights for growing.


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## Chad.Westport (Nov 30, 2020)

What size of space are you trying to light?


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## cardgenius (Nov 30, 2020)

Definitely need to know the size of the area your growing in to recommend a quality light.

That said, don’t buy the light you have linked or anything that uses the old Red/Blue LEDs. They’re junk and you can get something much better for the same amount of money.


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## Ninaz1 (Dec 1, 2020)

sharonp said:


> I have an LED quantum board made by Spider Farmer. They cost a little bit more but are great lights for growing.
> [/QUOTE
> 
> I had one from Spider Farmer in my cart and this is when the confusion started..hehehe, I kept clicking & reading reviews and clicking & reading reviews and next thing I knew I was over 20 pages away from where I started. I'm overwhelmed.


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## Ninaz1 (Dec 1, 2020)

Chad.Westport said:


> What size of space are you trying to light?



I have a entire extra bedroom available but is planning on enclosing/using a 9x6 space and I'm looking at starting off with no more than 5 - 6 plants.


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## Ninaz1 (Dec 1, 2020)

cardgenius said:


> Definitely need to know the size of the area your growing in to recommend a quality light.
> 
> That said, don’t buy the light you have linked or anything that uses the old Red/Blue LEDs. They’re junk and you can get something much better for the same amount of money.



Thank you for letting me know. Thats why I'm so confused with what to buy. I have one, then it turns out not to be too good then I choose another and another. What one should I get? I have a entire extra bedroom available but is just planning on enclosing/using a 9x6 space and I'm looking at starting off with no more than 5 - 6 plants.


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## Chad.Westport (Dec 1, 2020)

Ninaz1 said:


> I have a entire extra bedroom available but is planning on enclosing/using a 9x6 space and I'm looking at starting off with no more than 5 - 6 plants.


You could likely get away with a 5x5 tent for the 5 or 6 plants. In that, I would look at the HLG 650, or potentially look at getting two lights, so that one side can accommodate taller plants. You'll want roughly 600 to 1000 watts at the wall for LEDs. Fluence makes some nice, high end lights. The industry seems to be moving more to the bar footprint instead of the boards. Rapid LED also makes some nice stuff.

Do stay away from the red and blue lights. They work, but technology has improved and the understanding of light is clearer. That was an old technology, a VHS player replaced by the dvd of full spectrum white lighting.


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## sharonp (Dec 1, 2020)

Ninaz1 said:


> Thank you for letting me know. Thats why I'm so confused with what to buy. I have one, then it turns out not to be too good then I choose another and another. What one should I get? I have a entire extra bedroom available but is just planning on enclosing/using a 9x6 space and I'm looking at starting off with no more than 5 - 6 plants.



I am growing in one of my bathrooms. That has worked out good for me. One thing I calculated wrong was the difference in space my light would cover once my plants started flowering. I only have three plants but two would have been better.  If you get an LED light it might advertise as 1000 watts but it might only be 100.


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## cardgenius (Dec 1, 2020)

Ninaz1 said:


> Thank you for letting me know. Thats why I'm so confused with what to buy. I have one, then it turns out not to be too good then I choose another and another. What one should I get? I have a entire extra bedroom available but is just planning on enclosing/using a 9x6 space and I'm looking at starting off with no more than 5 - 6 plants.


No worries! It’s easy to get overwhelmed with the amount of lighting options out there. Lights are all about how much money you can spend but the #1 thing to look for is a an LED fixture that uses Full Spectrum White LEDs.

9x6 is a large area to light properly. A good rule of thumb for LED is to shoot for 35-40 watts/square foot of grow space, which is far more space than you’ll need for 5-6 plants. You’d need roughly 1,900 watts of LED to light that space properly which is not going to be cheap. HID would be a better option if you have a small budget. 2 of those lights that you linked could do a 4x2 tent but not much more than that. 

Figure out exactly how much you can spend on lights as we’d then be able to recommend a good light based on that. To grow the best quality plants, you need a light that is properly matched to the grow space. So like Chad said, I would look into putting a grow tent into that room to start with and go from there. 3x3, 4x4 or even a 5x5 work great. And just like with your lights, you’ll want to properly size your exhaust fan to the grow space.

I use a 3x3 tent which can flower 4 decent sized plants in 7g pots. I use a 4” exhaust fan. My lights are 2x Spider Farmer SF2000 and I spent about $600 for the pair. It’s a little much for my 3x3 but I can dim the lights and it gives me the ability to upgrade to a 4x4 without having to get new lights.

To give you some ideas, Spider Farmer, Mars Hydro and Maxisun are some of the cheaper Chinese made LED fixtures that use white LEDs.


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## zem (Dec 1, 2020)

Sometimes it makes sense to get HPS if you are on a budget and/or if you need to warm up the grow space. You need about 50w/sqft in flowering and it saves on heating costs where with LEDs you would need a heater. It was not uncommon for growers in cold places to increase lighting more than needed just to add heat. I still use them for flowering, they work every time.


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## WeedHopper (Dec 2, 2020)

Best not live in a place where its hot trying to grow with HPS unless you can keep the room cool. Texas is great in the winter for HPS but sucks in the summer because this place gets hotter then hell. My buddie has to have a separate AC for his grow room because he likes HPS. They flower great thats for sure.


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## ROSTERMAN (Dec 2, 2020)

LEDS do not pop in your face either.
Am I the only one that it happened to?


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## Chad.Westport (Dec 2, 2020)

yikes, were you licking light bulbs again?


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## ROSTERMAN (Dec 2, 2020)

Chad.Westport said:


> yikes, were you licking light bulbs again?


Not really sure , the ballast (digital ) was acting up and light was going off and on by itself
I went into tent and when I move the housing and "POP" right in my face Scared the Balls out of me.
The hot embers of filament drop to floor and would have started a fire if I was not there, in my opinion .
I then started my LED search.
I also my have had a 1000watt ballast on a 600watt hps it was a while ago.
I liked my magnetic ballast but so darn hot they are.


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## ROSTERMAN (Dec 2, 2020)

Also was a brand new replacement bulb in a wrong marked box hence the 1000 and 600 difference
I always wondered if there was hand oil on the bulb maybe a customer return and no one checked before they resold it. Yep Amazon LOL


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## Growdude (Dec 2, 2020)

RosterTheCog said:


> LEDS do not pop in your face either.
> Am I the only one that it happened to?



Haven't had this happen but did have a digital ballast almost get me busted when the TV company wanted to come in and check for noise


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## WeedHopper (Dec 2, 2020)

Wait,, Roster said he lost his balls. No wonder his tongue looks like that,, he is licking his sore crotch.


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## Ninaz1 (Dec 4, 2020)

cardgenius said:


> No worries! It’s easy to get overwhelmed with the amount of lighting options out there. Lights are all about how much money you can spend but the #1 thing to look for is a an LED fixture that uses Full Spectrum White LEDs.
> 
> 9x6 is a large area to light properly. A good rule of thumb for LED is to shoot for 35-40 watts/square foot of grow space, which is far more space than you’ll need for 5-6 plants. You’d need roughly 1,900 watts of LED to light that space properly which is not going to be cheap. HID would be a better option if you have a small budget. 2 of those lights that you linked could do a 4x2 tent but not much more than that.
> 
> ...



You are my new hero! This is what I needed to know, something with a perspective of what to actually start with. I did my due deligence and researched but the more I did, the more I got overwhemled and felt like quitting even before I started. 


BoCoGrow said:


> I'm assuming you will be growing photoperiod plants, which flip from vegetation to flower when the light/dark period is 12hr/12hr.  If your room isn't light proof, and during the dark hours external light is getting into the room, the plants may stay in veg because the plant is getting more than 12 hours of light.
> 
> Another type of herb you could read up on is autoflower plants.  These plants flip to flower based upon age, not the amount of light it receives.  Different folks will call out different pros and cons about autoflowers, but just wanted to share.


Mahalo nui for the information. Aloha.


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## ROSTERMAN (Dec 4, 2020)

Growdude said:


> Haven't had this happen but did have a digital ballast almost get me busted when the TV company wanted to come in and check for noise


They make a blocker for that sort of a small faraday cage that shields your cable lines
I had that too, trucks always in front of house up and down street. They never did fix my fuzzy cable either .


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## ROSTERMAN (Dec 5, 2020)

RosterTheCog said:


> They make a blocker for that sort of a small faraday cage that shields your cable lines
> I had that too, trucks always in front of house up and down street. They never did fix my fuzzy cable either .


I could not find the thing I used from amazon it was a coil that clipped onto the ballasts power cord so  did the trick, The Ballast companies started to make better cord also that acted to block the interference .
Same type of interference that ghost hunters see .  




*EMF Meter Electromagnetic Radiation *


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## Chad.Westport (Dec 5, 2020)

Did you just debunk all of the ghost hunter shows with one sentence......?


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## ROSTERMAN (Dec 5, 2020)

Chad.Westport said:


> Did you just debunk all of the ghost hunter shows with one sentence......?


LOL
OK now ya made me dig it out


*Add an EMI filter* at the input / output of the transformer. These are also called ferrite beads or ferrite chokes.
Called Ferrite Choke 








						Ferrite bead - Wikipedia
					






					en.wikipedia.org


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## Chad.Westport (Dec 5, 2020)

RosterTheCog said:


> LOL
> OK now ya made me dig it out
> 
> 
> ...


Yeah, we had a bunch of these in the warehouse, but we were an audio company, not trying to hide ballasts. But really, I think you just blew a hole in paranormal investigations. Ancient Aliens


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## ROSTERMAN (Dec 5, 2020)

Chad.Westport said:


> Yeah, we had a bunch of these in the warehouse, but we were an audio company, not trying to hide ballasts. But really, I think you just blew a hole in paranormal investigations. Ancient Aliens


I was trying to find where I ordered them from
They must have worked the cable truck stopped climbing my dang pole everyday


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## Chad.Westport (Dec 5, 2020)

Haha, thats a good thing. I thought that the newer digital ballasts were supposed to eliminate this issue and that it was only the older magnetic type that let out noticeable amounts of RFI. But I'm sure some are made better than others. I always used a low price digital ballast and never had an issue that I was aware of.

In audio, the shorter the cord length, the less RFI you will get. Grounded TPS cables are another way of eliminating that, but I'm not sure if the cords of the ballast carry 2 or 3 wires inside. We did have a box of these to go on certain audio units.


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## ROSTERMAN (Dec 5, 2020)

Chad.Westport said:


> Haha, thats a good thing. I thought that the newer digital ballasts were supposed to eliminate this issue and that it was only the older magnetic type that let out noticeable amounts of RFI. But I'm sure some are made better than others. I always used a low price digital ballast and never had an issue that I was aware of.
> 
> In audio, the shorter the cord length, the less RFI you will get. Grounded TPS cables are another way of eliminating that, but I'm not sure if the cords of the ballast carry 2 or 3 wires inside. We did have a box of these to go on certain audio units.


Lights are the same shorter cords best, they make special cords so most likely problem has been solved

I did talk with a cable guy a few yrs back at a party and he said yes the darn growers really screw with the signal. but that was before new fiber ops came into the area


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## Growdude (Dec 5, 2020)

Chad.Westport said:


> Haha, thats a good thing. I thought that the newer digital ballasts were supposed to eliminate this issue and that it was only the older magnetic type that let out noticeable amounts of RFI.


From what I understand its the high frequency switching in a electronic ballast that produces the RFI
Magnetic ballast don't produce any RFI

I was using a High end Solis tek ballast now I switched to <font color=red>NEW!! </font> 680 Real Watt GAME CHANGER INITIATOR Led Grow Light and love it


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