What light to use for 4x2
- Thread starter Banana21
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Phytoplankton
Well-Known Member
For a 4X2, the SP3000. You want between 30-40 watts per Sq. ft, with about 32-35 watts per sq. ft. being optimum.
Cookie Rider
Well-Known Member
I use a sp3000 in 2x4 with great success. The dimmer is needed to not fry your plants to a crisp.
RuggedWombat
Well-Known Member
Also throwing in reco for SF GS4500. bar style LED with dimmer and removable driver. Great output and fits perfect in a 4x2.
5fot or 60inc
My grow is in a 2' x 4' tent and I bought the SP 3000 when I started growing in 2021. The PPFD map on the SP 3000 is better and the spectrum in the SP 3000 has less blue and more red. Blue light tends to make plants short and compact, red light is far more efficient so you'll get more photons on the canopy and, therefore, a higher yield.
Another nice thing about the SP 3000 is the form factor. Being a single bar light, I've used hung it across the front of my tent, to light "the front row" and it's also a good option for under canopy lighting. The TSL is much bigger so it would be very hard to get aim it up, under a canopy.
If you've got other options, the Spider G4500 is a stunner. It's got a bit more blue than I like but the PPFD map is superb, not just in the sense of a huge amount of photons is generates but Spider has thrown down the gauntlet in terms of how even the PPFD map is. If you look at the PPFD for the SP 3000 and compare it to the G4500, well, it's no comparison.
TSL2000
SP 3000
I couldn't find another PPFD map for the SP3000 but dropping to 16" will increase PPFD by maybe 150µmol so the G4500 is still far and away a better light. At 19", the amount of light on the margins will be…95±%. Really amazing.
There are a few reasons for the different performance levels. The SP 3000 has been out for at least three years so it's a 4 to 5 year old design and it's a $300 device. The G4500 is a new design and it's retailing for $400.
A valid response is "Heh, I don't need all of that light." I understand the argument but having all of that extra light allows you to raise the hang height. As hang height increases, so the does evenness of the light cast and that's the trick - more light across the entire canopy = large, high quality yields.
It's a $$ tradeoff but, if budget allows, the G4500 is the cat's meow. For $100 less you get the SP 3000 and it's no slouch, either.