Thank you for the quick reply FranJan! I'd sure love to grow some 5ft trees, the only limiting factor being our start up capital. We have in the region of $300 for the light.
What would be the most cost effective lighting option for a room of this size? How many plants should I try to grow effectively with that sort of cash? Would it be better to look at the lumens for each spectrum LED, or is it more to do with the quality of the individual diodes (having only worked with HID bulbs before im really unsure of what to look for in quality/cost effective LEDs)
Many thanks once again.
Hey AD, sadly 300 bucks isn't going to get you too far, especially for the size of your grow. Also 4 plants of any decent size would be difficult at best. IMO you need to start small and work your way up, otherwise you're talking 2 to 4 larger panels and quite a few extra light$ because of the plant'$ $ize. Best bet IMO is to get a Hans panel with some T5s and do a SCroG, (you could go with something from Cidly instead of Hans but I'm kinda down on most Chinese panels nowadays). SCroGGing will offer you the best way to maximize your yield with small or cheap LED panels and Han's little panel is very good for it's size and price and it and some T5s, (or some CREE Bulbs
), will get you a good yield where you could upgrade to another 2 panels, and so on...
Quality of the diodes is of the utmost importance but there is something to be said for a good grower who knows how to use his equipment, check out sleezy1's 2xBS500 (BlackStar) journal for how to grow with less than ideal equipment. And when it comes to diodes you want to get something that uses diodes from one of the big companies, i.e. CREE, Philips, Osram, Nichia, unless the company selling the panel has an established track record and a generous return policy. Stick to companies that you can identify their diodes/LEDs, quality of diode really does make your LED grow a bit easier. And better yielding! Good Luck AD.