1st time & need some advice

[CandiE]

I want to start a small grow about 4x3 with 4 to 5 plants. The room I have is 5x5. I have purchased a Active air fan and filter for the odor. My next thing is lighting, I would like to get a good priced LED set up because of high electricity bill. What light do you guys recommend for my first grow. I plan on doing bigger set ups if I can get the hang of this small one first.

[coconutisland]

Hi CandiE, I would go with the cheapest LED you can afford to waste money on for a first grow... Because they are not cheap... I was looking at some new models last night and they run $2,500 USD... Now that's large and top of the line, but they start out, new at least, on the spendy side. I got a used 400 watt LED for $100.00 at the local pawn shop. It is probably the BOTTOM of the line as far as grow lights, well, maybe not that bad, but as far as serious growing, its a few years old... I can afford to waste a $100 bucks on a light that I may not like down the road, I may go with a larger light, or 2 smaller lights, one that has adjustable spectrum... But for the price, it works and gets me down the road. That size BTW, would work out fine for the size area you are looking at, I have 4 plants under it right now, 36 inches tall roughly, and a small bonsai in the middle. I could maybe squeeze 6 plants this size, but 4 seems about the limit... I would start looking at what you can find in local resale shops or online with Ebay or Craigslist, find a used model. You can always take it out and put it in another location later on, as you expand your growing... The model I got is Apollo glx80 5w (5 watt LED's)

[Saturnalia]

Hi CandiE
I have been using a pair of Spectrum King 450s and am very happy with the results. Not sure about the current price, these are a couple of years old. There's probably new technology out there that is better, but I can tell you from my experience that these work well. Being self cooling (no fans) means they are silent too, which is a big boon for me. I have a couple of grow journals in the diary section where you can check them out. In fact there are a few LED grow journals you could look at if you browse through the diary section.