48"x48"x80" Tent- Advice on setup and use

This is going to be my first grow and some things already but would like to have any advice on my set upI have:
Vivosun 48”x48”x80” grow tent

6 inch Duct silencer

Carbon Filter, 6in by 16 in

6 inch fan with a 6inx16in carbon filter. Both 312 CFM

An extra Carbon Filter- 6inx6in

Advanced Platinum Series P300 300w 12-band LED Grow Light - DUAL VEG/FLOWER FULL SPECTRUM

I was thinking of starting off the grow with 4 plants, but if anyone thinks I can do more then I will. I don't know if what I have would even be good enough. I thought maybe of adding another fan and filter for pushing air into the tent, but don't know if I need it. Any advice one equipment I should change out or what.

Hey mate,

It all looks good try out with the 6in exhaust and passive intake. You can run more plants if you want to veg less, what's your grow time?

I'm on 4x8' tent 6in exhaust passive intake and it's working great. 12 autopots under 800w cob lighting.

Looked up the light, its damn expensive for what it is. Its only a 185w light and claims to replace a 400w hps. If that's true and I kind of doubt it then a 400w hps is good for a 3x3ft space at best. The light you have claims to cover a rectangle of 4.5x3.8ft so as long as your a bit within that then see how many plants you can put under it.
You could do one plant and fill that space or 9 small plants. It comes down to how long you veg them and pot size and how you train them to fill that space.
The light itself, although making the usual crazy claims does seem to be better than the usual Chinese cheap LEDs, for that price tag I hope it performs well. Be interested to see how it performs in flower. If you do a journal please tag me so I can see the progress.

P.S sorry if I sound doubtful or negative, just see a lot of light manufacturers make claims which give LEDs a bad name.

coreywebster said:

Looked up the light, its damn expensive for what it is. Its only a 185w light and claims to replace a 400w hps. If that's true and I kind of doubt it then a 400w hps is good for a 3x3ft space at best. The light you have claims to cover a rectangle of 4.5x3.8ft so as long as your a bit within that then see how many plants you can put under it.
You could do one plant and fill that space or 9 small plants. It comes down to how long you veg them and pot size and how you train them to fill that space.
The light itself, although making the usual crazy claims does seem to be better than the usual Chinese cheap LEDs, for that price tag I hope it performs well. Be interested to see how it performs in flower. If you do a journal please tag me so I can see the progress.

P.S sorry if I sound doubtful or negative, just see a lot of light manufacturers make claims which give LEDs a bad name.

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Thanks for the help; I was reading through the forums on LED's here and theres a lot of information as well as what people prefer. I got mine doing some research on youtube and other sites, then I found this site after buying it. It seemed good at the time and does promise a lot, but as with most things you don't really know thill you try it.
I was going to do a basic scrog net and see if some get tall enough for a second one. This will be my first grow so will see.

Carboardbox said:

Hey mate,

It all looks good try out with the 6in exhaust and passive intake. You can run more plants if you want to veg less, what's your grow time?

I'm on 4x8' tent 6in exhaust passive intake and it's working great. 12 autopots under 800w cob lighting.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the input, Im just worried about the smell and mold with a passive intake choice. Thats why I was considering two fans and filters- one for intake and the other for exhaust.
As for grow time, since I was thinking of doing it with four plants and it being my first grow, I was thinking of veging for 4-6 weeks, depending on how much my light can hit the plants.

With that light 4 is max and I'd look at supplementing.
Vero 18 gen 7s are inexpensive.
look into diy, id shoot for 400 watts actual as a minimum in my 3x3.
If you bought another adv plat 300 you'd grow fine but cobs would be cheaper.

morgwar said:

With that light 4 is max and I'd look at supplementing.
Vero 18 gen 7s are inexpensive.
look into diy, id shoot for 400 watts actual as a minimum in my 3x3.
If you bought another adv plat 300 you'd grow fine but cobs would be cheaper.

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Yeah, I got to excited and bought without doing enough research. Found the LED form here and have seen a lot of DIY set ups that look cheap to make. Only fear is that Im not an electrician and don't want my place to burn when I could have just shelled out that extra money for something safe.
If anything, I only need four plants make for myself and while that crop is being used I would definitely like to do more research on everything. Still, thanks for the input. Any other advice would help too

@SFPLRR35 ,It happens all too often mate. These manufacturers send a few free units out to Youtubers and fill a few reviews in on amazon and suddenly there are rave reviews all over the internet, except for where it counts most, places like this forum.
Its frustrating, with that budget you have so many options. I built my Cob set up which is 660 true watts and nearly as powerful as a 1000hps for not much more than that light cost, I bought my Quantum boards for even less.
The good news is, it will grow you some plants and with this hobby you can always reinvest when you get your first crop.
In the last few months there are so many more options for super efficient LED set ups. You could get your first crop done and add a few quantum boards to fully light up your tent, or some cobs, or some Sol Skin boards or chilLEDs, its a really good time to get into LEDs. By the time you feel like an upgrade there will be even more new boards out and prices will be even better.

Your on the right track with the Scrog screen, I would go with fewer plants and veg them until your screens full then flower them. Its a sure fire way to get the most out of your light. I had a little play with Scrog for the first time last crop, only scrogging one plant while I let the other two grow normally. I pulled 9.5oz from a screen which was only 18"x24" and all buds are pretty much equal in size and density.

One thing to note about Scrogs, a proper one will really yield well, many folks these days slap a bunch of plants in and whack a few nets over them, you don't see the full benefit that way, its essentially just a support net rather than a scrog.

Check out this dudes thread for a great example of a Scrog and of Quantum boards
https://www.rollitup.org/t/quantum-boards-across-the-pond-in-the-uk.935279/

SFPLRR35 said:

Yeah, I got to excited and bought without doing enough research. Found the LED form here and have seen a lot of DIY set ups that look cheap to make. Only fear is that Im not an electrician and don't want my place to burn when I could have just shelled out that extra money for something safe.
If anything, I only need four plants make for myself and while that crop is being used I would definitely like to do more research on everything. Still, thanks for the input. Any other advice would help too

Click to expand...

I'll be honest, 180w is not gonna be close to enough for a 4x4 area. If I were you, I'd try and return that light. I don't want to be a dick, but you paid a lot of money for a weak light. It says it's comparable to a 400w hid, which it really is not. A 400w hid wouldn't be enough for a 4x4 anyways. a 600w is barely even enough, I know from experience because I've ran a 600w hid in a 4x4 for a couple years.

I'll reiterate because I'm not trying to disappoint you. that light will grows a plant or 2 under it, but you'll only be getting enough light for about a third of the space. That may be just fine for your needs, but if you do plan on eventually wanting to use that whole space to flower, you'll need more light, and it might be more beneficial to return that light and start off with something bigger and better that will save you alot of money in the grand scheme. Alternatively you can keep it and add a more light as you go, but from a financial aspect, you'll probably save more starting off with the right equipment.
If you can, I highly suggest returning that light and spending the money on a 600w hid, or build a quantum board or cob fixture. You'll spend a lot more money building an led compared to buying a cheap 600w ballast/hood/light combo, but you'll make it back after a few grows.

I'd definitely recommend a 1000w hid in a 4x4 tent over a 600w,but heat can be a serious issue in tents, and I found that I couldn't maintain the correct Temps with a 1000w.

Best of luck to you

Rapid led has a great kit, 240 watt 3 COB vero 29. They have a solder free option as well. Great setup for the money. $220. That paired with the light you have would do you very well i think. Just an idea. Amazon has some great low cfm option that would do well as an intake though i would suggest filtering it. The setup you have should be enough to get you up and going at least.

ganjafather27 said:

I'll be honest, 180w is not gonna be close to enough for a 4x4 area. If I were you, I'd try and return that light. I don't want to be a dick, but you paid a lot of money for a weak light. It says it's comparable to a 400w hid, which it really is not. A 400w hid wouldn't be enough for a 4x4 anyways. a 600w is barely even enough, I know from experience because I've ran a 600w hid in a 4x4 for a couple years.

I'll reiterate because I'm not trying to disappoint you. that light will grows a plant or 2 under it, but you'll only be getting enough light for about a third of the space. That may be just fine for your needs, but if you do plan on eventually wanting to use that whole space to flower, you'll need more light, and it might be more beneficial to return that light and start off with something bigger and better that will save you alot of money in the grand scheme. Alternatively you can keep it and add a more light as you go, but from a financial aspect, you'll probably save more starting off with the right equipment.
If you can, I highly suggest returning that light and spending the money on a 600w hid, or build a quantum board or cob fixture. You'll spend a lot more money building an led compared to buying a cheap 600w ballast/hood/light combo, but you'll make it back after a few grows.

I'd definitely recommend a 1000w hid in a 4x4 tent over a 600w,but heat can be a serious issue in tents, and I found that I couldn't maintain the correct Temps with a 1000w.

Best of luck to you

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Yeah, The course of wanting to start growing to soon and not doing enough research. I can't return my light its been a while since I bought it. I think Ill try it with four plants and see how much I get out of it. I'll try a grow journal and give my experience with it. Next time though, I think Im going to save up for a Spectrum King light. I've seen some grows do well with those. As for other lights, I think I want to stay an LED guy, things are going crazy with that tech.; if I do decide to do more I'm for sure going to read these forums on DIY LED set ups to complement or just replace the light I have. Thanks for the input.

Cletus clem said:

Rapid led has a great kit, 240 watt 3 COB vero 29. They have a solder free option as well. Great setup for the money. $220. That paired with the light you have would do you very well i think. Just an idea. Amazon has some great low cfm option that would do well as an intake though i would suggest filtering it. The setup you have should be enough to get you up and going at least.

Click to expand...

Yeah, four plants for the light I have might be the limit if not stretching it. I wanted to know if it would be worth it getting another fan and filter combo for intake to combat smell and mold/spores and that kind of stuff. My main concern is smell.
As for adding, that seems to be the way to go if I want to increase my set up. If I do want more plants I'll probably look into DIY for cheap. I would rather save my money in the long run for a Spectrum King though

SFPLRR35 said:

Yeah, four plants for the light I have might be the limit if not stretching it. I wanted to know if it would be worth it getting another fan and filter combo for intake to combat smell and mold/spores and that kind of stuff. My main concern is smell.
As for adding, that seems to be the way to go if I want to increase my set up. If I do want more plants I'll probably look into DIY for cheap. I would rather save my money in the long run for a Spectrum King though

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Imo spectrum king makes a great light. If you are considering building your own, it will probably be a move backwards though. Building your own allows you to customize it for exactly your space. For the price of an sk600 you could build a far better light using COB or quantum boards, or both! Being able to spread that intensity over your entire canopy is very beneficial and with your light sources being modular it gives you the flexibility to dial the spectrum in to your liking. You can also incorperate monos to compliment your main light source. For instance, a channel of far reds and one of far blues that you can alternate running between veg and bloom. It may be something you have to build up to, but a diy build will allow you to modify as you go. If you feel you can build your own light, i say go for it. Some people just dont even want to consider it. For the, spectrum king is on my list of suggested lights, though not the top. Pacific light concepts and horticulture lighting group have some top notch rigs and both of their owners are members of this forum! As is cob kits if you are considering diy.

If it's your first grow don't worry about the lack of light too much for now. You can always add more later. Right now concentrate on getting your plants healthy threw to the end.

You won't need an intake fan right now either. As long as you are venting your exhaust outside it will suck in fresh air, which is critical.

If you exhaust into the same room you will have two problems, probably. One is the exhausted air being drawn back in will be depleted of co2 and rich in oxygen, which will choke out the plants (and look like nute deficiencies). Two, you may run into heat problems.

SFPLRR35 said:

Yeah, four plants for the light I have might be the limit if not stretching it. I wanted to know if it would be worth it getting another fan and filter combo for intake to combat smell and mold/spores and that kind of stuff. My main concern is smell.
As for adding, that seems to be the way to go if I want to increase my set up. If I do want more plants I'll probably look into DIY for cheap. I would rather save my money in the long run for a Spectrum King though

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Intake air doesn't smell, you don't need to filter it for smell.

You need to ensure you are taking more air out of the tent than is going in (negative pressure - tent walls get sucked in slightly). That way air going out HAS to go through your carbon filter and will come out non smelling. If you add a fan to your intake you run the risk of putting more air in than is going out, which is positive pressure (tent walls bulge outwards). That means air will try and escape any way it can and not always through your filter. That means unfiltered, smelly air escapes - seriously not good.

If you want to stop stuff coming into your tent what about putting a fine mesh over the intake or some kind of cooker hood filter / HEPA filter which will still allow airflow but stop insects etc. I don't use a tent personally but I am sure you should be able to rig something up.

Gquebed said:

If it's your first grow don't worry about the lack of light too much for now. You can always add more later. Right now concentrate on getting your plants healthy threw to the end.

You won't need an intake fan right now either. As long as you are venting your exhaust outside it will suck in fresh air, which is critical.

If you exhaust into the same room you will have two problems, probably. One is the exhausted air being drawn back in will be depleted of co2 and rich in oxygen, which will choke out the plants (and look like nute deficiencies). Two, you may run into heat problems.

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I totally agree, the only thing i dont like about passive intake though is the open vents create potential light leaks so that may or may not be an option? Just my outlook on the matter. I have 2, 2.5x2.5x5 tents. I run a 6" 390cfm exhaust fan t'd off running to both tents. Fan sits on top of the filter outside the tent. For intake i use a 6" duct booster fan, "quiet" model that pushes 190cfm. I rigged up a hepa grade filter using a ducting component and have that going to each tent. As long as your exhaust fan has a higher cfm rating than your intake youll have negative pressure. Passive intake may work fine for you, it will be easier and cheaper with the only difference in the air youre exchanging will be using a fan with a hepa filter will be cleaner going into the tent. The volume of air moving wont really change. So, if you feel you need to run an intake fan, thats how id do it! Good luck with your grow

SFPLRR35 said:

Yeah, The course of wanting to start growing to soon and not doing enough research. I can't return my light its been a while since I bought it. I think Ill try it with four plants and see how much I get out of it. I'll try a grow journal and give my experience with it. Next time though, I think Im going to save up for a Spectrum King light. I've seen some grows do well with those. As for other lights, I think I want to stay an LED guy, things are going crazy with that tech.; if I do decide to do more I'm for sure going to read these forums on DIY LED set ups to complement or just replace the light I have. Thanks for the input.

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Yeah I understand, it's easy to jump the gun your first go, but it will definitely be a positive learning experience, and you will get some bud from the light.

I have no experience with spectrum king lights, but I did check out the specs on a couple rigs and it seems overpriced. Weak mid range diodes that are over amped. Basically means you will get bad efficiency and mediocre output of par photons. The whole name of the game when it comes to led grow lights is efficiency. If less energy is going to par photons than heat then you might as well just go with an hid and save yourself 1000$. And the price tags on some of those units are just crazy for what they actually are.

Look into diy cobs. If you add 2 Rails of 4 cobs each to go on each side of the unit you already have, you'll be perfect. Get hlg-185h-c1400 drivers with some citi 1212 cobs and you can build eah rail for about 180$ a piece, 360$ total price. That driver wires in series so it's extremely simple to build, in fact growmau5 has a great step by step guide to building a 4 cob rail on YouTube.

If you can, return that light. Multiband lights are a joke, All e need is a ~ 90% white light augmented with some blues and reds as provided by Amare Technologies

Crawl, don't run

If you are stuck with that light, put it in one corner and grow 2 plants

Some filter in front of the intake hole to prevent dust is more than enough in my opinion. No need for an intake fan or filter at this size. You will never smell anything, because of depression.

I did some Bridgelux EB series addon to my light, to get a better coverage. Maybe something you want to consider. I really like ghese strips. Just swapped every light I had for them, and customized perfectly for my cabinet. The 4' strips would be pretty good for you, as alternitive to qb & co.

SFPLRR35 said:

Yeah, four plants for the light I have might be the limit if not stretching it. I wanted to know if it would be worth it getting another fan and filter combo for intake to combat smell and mold/spores and that kind of stuff. My main concern is smell.
As for adding, that seems to be the way to go if I want to increase my set up. If I do want more plants I'll probably look into DIY for cheap. I would rather save my money in the long run for a Spectrum King though

Click to expand...

I use a spectrum king sk400 in a 4 x 4 and it covers great. (YouTube link in my sig has some videos of my grow with it)

It's worth saving up for imo, but don't let that stop you. Nothing wrong with getting your feet wet and trying a single plant or something under a smaller light first to prepare yourself for a larger grow.