Outdoor Grower Looking to Learn Indoor Cultivation

[sonofagrower]

Hi fellow growers,

I’ve been growing cannabis outdoors for several years and have always enjoyed working with natural sunlight and seasonal grows. This year I’m thinking about setting up my first indoor garden so I can grow year-round and have more control over the environment.

I’m currently trying to decide between a 600W LED and a 315W LEC/CMH setup. I’ve read good things about both, but I’d love to hear from growers with real experience regarding yield, quality, electricity consumption, and overall ease of use.

If you were starting an indoor grow today, which option would you choose and why?

Looking forward to learning from you all!

 

[Joheim]

Personally, LED all the way. No changing bulbs, significantly longer time before output drop off, and they run cooler. I love my LEDs

 

[droptopchevy]

LED all the way.

When determining what size light to go with you must consider the square footage of your growing area. Will you be using a tent and if so what size?
Do you have room for dedicated veg and flower spaces?

Whatever LED you get make sure it has a dimmer. I'm personally running 2, 200 watt LED panels from a company called Barrina. I haven't seen many people use these but they have served me pretty well. I only have a couple square ft growing area so you may want something with some more power.

I'd recommend a good quality grow tent unless you plan to dedicate an entire room. With that you will want some oscillating fans, an inline fan (6" or better) with carbon filter. If you go with a brand like AC Infinity, their temp / humidity controller integrates with their fans and even their lights, humidifier etc.

You will also want a way to regulate humidity and temp. The benefit of LED's is they put off a fraction of heat compared to "old school" HPS / metal halide lights.

A lot of things to consider but if you've grown inside you won't have a problem. Pest management is much easier!

 

[Varinaut]

Agree with @Joheim and @droptopchevy; Wholly recommend LEDs. A few experiential pointers to add:

• Match your wattage to your canopy at 40W/sqft or more; e.g. I run a 400W of LED over a 2' x 4' scrog canopy which is close the max PPFD the plants can utilize.
• If you're into efficient growing a ScrOG is the way to go. Get/build a "bar" light as opposed to a panel or COB, and spread the LEDs as evenly as possible over your entire canopy. Philzon has some excellent options for <$0.50/watt.
• If you can handle basic wiring, you can DIY an amazing light for about 1/2 the cost using bridgelux or samsung strips. Here's a build I did a few years ago; https://www.rollitup.org/t/bridgelux-eb-series-on-a-2-x-4-scrog.943414/
• There's a *lot* to consider when building an indoor grow room. I went through 3 iterations -- inside closet, inside tent, outbuilding closet -- before solving the problems of heat, humidity and odor control. Plan carefully and bounce ideas off folks with experience.