What would you do???

shan1784

Member
So I'm new, done alot of research, bought QB's a few months back and built a light fixture. Now I'm rethinking my design and overall way of running my first grow. So I'll list what I've got, what my original plan is then what my new thoughts are. I'm hoping you experts will steer me in the right direction.

What I've got -
Lights:
2x qb288 v1 5000k
4x qb304 v1 2700k
3x qb96 v1 5000k

Drivers:
HLG-240H-C2100A (for 2x qb288's in series)
HLG-80H-48A (for 2x qb96's in series)

Tent:
Ipower 4x4x6.5

Pic of existing built fixture:
20181111_210842.jpg

Location and laws:
Live in michigan, allowed 12 plants per residence and 10oz finished bud.

Original plan:
4 plants in 4x4 tent for veg
Built fixture with the 2x qb288's and 2x qb96 which currently pull 400w at the wall (used one of those kill a watt monitors off of amazon)

Before flipping to flower I was going to buy another 4x4 or maybe 5x5, build fixture to run 4x qb304's, will need to get drivers for this as well. Then obviously move plants to this tent to flower.

If all worked out I was going to start more plants in veg and continue into my second grow.

My concerns:
1) Limiting veg to only 5000k and limit flower to 2700k.
2) Not enough light in both veg and flower tents.
3) Exceeding 10oz limit
4) To much to manage with 2 tents
5) Extra cost for second tent with separate light fixture, electricity cost running 2 fixtures, cost for more ventilation equipment, etc.

New potential plan:
Run 4 plants in 1 tent, 4x4, for both veg and flower. Rebuild existing fixture to run qb288's, qb96's (might not include the 96's, instead eventually setup a clone station and use for this), and 2 qb304's.

My thoughts on benefits of new plan:
1) Should be plenty of light and good coverage for a 4x4.
2) Save $$$ on electricity
3) Save $$$ on extra equipment
4) Easier to manage
5) Hopefully yield will be in legal limits (10oz will last me a very long time, I don't smoke much and also use vape carts as well)
6) I thought there was a benefit of mixing the spectrums, correct me if I'm wrong please.

So looking for direction here so any thoughts, new ideas, etc are greatly appreciated.
 
Last edited:

goatlicker

Well-Known Member
Only thing i can help you with is your 10oz allowance.
I grow 2 plants under a 400w mh/hps setup and can get close to 10oz.
You're going to go way over if you have 4 plants.
 

shan1784

Member
Only thing i can help you with is your 10oz allowance.
I grow 2 plants under a 400w mh/hps setup and can get close to 10oz.
You're going to go way over if you have 4 plants.
Oh really, good to know. I could always start off with 2 plants then and see how I fare I suppose.
 

shan1784

Member
Well my first grow i got 3oz of each plant. So something like that?
I figured my first run through would be a smaller yield due to experience but thinking about it if I do get better I'd eventually get more then wanted and thus have extra DWC buckets just sitting around. Or could just give extra away as well maybe?
 

shan1784

Member
So I decided to go the route of one tent for veg and flower. I'm rebuilding my light fixture to have the 4 304's, 2 288's, and 3 96's. Will be a ton of light for this 4x4 but I'm planning to turn drivers down so it's not too intense. Looking to run 500-600 watts total.

This is the layout for the new fixture. 304's in the corners and 288's / 96's in the middle. Using a 1/16" aluminum sheet for a big heatsink. This is temporary until I get 4 more hlg heatsinks.
20181114_212625.jpg
 

Midnight Warrior

Well-Known Member
I would look into some wago connectors. Would save you a bunch of time from having to solder and heatshrink, and it's a whole lot easier to disassemble if you figure out a better way.
 
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