6 Best Grow Light for 4×4 Tent Choices to Boost That Yield
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Home growers are increasingly using grow tents and grow lights to provide the ideal conditions for their plants. 4×4 tents are especially popular, since they are compact enough to fit into most homes but provide enough room to grow a serious crop.
With the total control that a grow tent offers, however, there are lots of decisions you have to make. One of the first is to figure out the best grow light for 4×4 tent that you have and the types of plants you want to grow. There are tons of options out there with very different use cases and at very different price points.
That’s exactly why I’ve put together this list of excellent grow lights for 4×4 tents. You’ll be able to provide the exact wavelength of light that your plants need at the exact right time with any of these products.
Key Takeaways
I spent a lot of time thinking about my own experiences with grow lights and reading tons of customer reviews to come up with this list. Overall, I decided to recommend the RDJ Bouns 720W LED Grow Light as the best grow light for 4×4 tent as a result of its high-wattage and combination of useful features. You can adjust the light conditions for different stages of the growing process with the turn of a dial and dim the lights when you need to.
I’ve also included both budget options for newer growers, like the Yehsence Y2400 LED Grow Light, and top-of-the-line products for experienced growers, like the VIPARSPECTRA KS5000 LED Grow.
Best Overall: RDJ Bouns 720W LED Grow Light for 4×4 Grow Tent
Why This is a Quality Choice: This powerful 720 watt LED grow light from RDJ Bouns is capable of providing lots of light for any plants in a 4×4 grow tent. It’s an incredibly bright 4×4 grow light but won’t overheat as a result of its aluminum frame, which provides lots of spacing and airflow. I’d recommend this product to any home grower who wants to get the most out of their lighting setup.
Who is this for? If you’re growing light-hungry plants and want to ensure that they get everything they need, then this is the product for you.
Flaws but not deal-breakers: The main flaw of this product, its high wattage, is related to the fact that it provides very bright light to plants. If you don’t think you need that much power, you might want to go with a different option on this list.
Wattage: 720 Watt | Adjustability: Yes | Installation: 30 mins | PPFD: 916-1476 μmol/m²/s | Average PPE: 2.05 µmol/s per watt
Best Budget: Yehsence Y2400 LED Grow Light
Why This is a Quality Choice: This low-cost and low-wattage grow light from Yehsence won’t break the bank when you order it or when you turn it on. Large enough for a 4×4 grow tent, it’s easy to install and get up and running. And, with adjustable full-spectrum LED lighting, you’ll be able to run these grow lights from planting to flowering.
Who is this for? I’d recommend this product to growers who are just starting out with using grow tents and want to see how they like it.
Flaws but not deal-breakers: At 240 watts, it’s not the most powerful grow light, but it is efficient enough that it provides a lot of PPFD for its low-energy consumption.
Wattage: 240 Watt | Adjustability: Yes | Installation: 30 mins | PPFD: 624 μmol/m²/s | Average PPE: 2.6 µmol/s per watt
Best for Experienced Growers: VIPARSPECTRA KS5000 LED Grow Light
Why This is a Quality Choice: The VIPARSPECTRA KS5000 LED Grow Light is a top-of-the-line solution for growers who want to precisely control the PPF of their entire growing area. This grow light can provide uniform lighting over an entire 4×4 grow tent, saving you the trouble of needing to rotate your plants constantly.
Who is this for? This is the priciest option on this list, and I’d say that it’s best for experienced indoor growers who really know how to maximize the performance of a 4×4 grow light like this one.
Flaws but not deal-breakers: Some growers find that the light spectrum of these grow lights leans a little too much towards blue light.
Wattage: 500 Watts | Adjustability: Yes | Installation: 30 mins | PPFD: 320 – 1000 μmol/m²/s | Average PPE: 2.48 µmol/s per watt
Best Multidirectional: Barrina BU2000 LED Grow Light
Why This is a Quality Choice: The Barrina BU2000 LED Grow Light is a powerful grow light that uses a unique shape to deliver light from all angles to your plants. Instead of hanging flat above your growing surface like most other grow lights, this Barrina product has three panels whose angles can be adjusted to create multidirectional light. As a result, the grow light can deliver a central PPFD of up to 1600 μmol/m²/s at the highest setting.
Who is this for? If you’ve had trouble with providing light to all sides of a growing plant with conventionally shaped grow lights, this product might offer a solution.
Flaws but not deal-breakers: As a result of the way it focuses light, the Barrina BU2000 LED Grow Light doesn’t provide the most uniform lighting pattern. However, if you’re growing just one or two plants, you can position them in the sweet spot of its lighting coverage.
Wattage: 200 Watt | Adjustability: Yes | Installation: 30 mins | PPFD: up to 1600 μmol/m²/s | Average PPE: 2.7 µmol/s per watt
Best for Hydroponic Growing: MARS HYDRO 2024 New TS 3000 450W LED Grow Light for Indoor Plants
Why This is a Quality Choice: As the name suggests, the MARS HYDRO indoor grow light is excellent for adding to hydroponic growing systems rather than conventional pots. It has a reflector at the edges of its array of LED lights that ensures you don’t lose any valuable photons to the surrounding environment. This also helps provide uniform lighting across your entire growing surface.
Who is this for? If you’re committed to hydroponic growing and want a light that will slot into any system, this is the product for you.
Flaws but not deal-breakers: Despite drawing 450 Watts of power, its maximum PPFD isn’t as high as some other products on this list.
Wattage: 450 Watt | Adjustability: Yes | Installation: 30 mins | PPFD: 100 – 1000 μmol/m²/s | Average PPE: 2.22 µmol/s per watt
Best Low Wattage: Abriselux Dimmable Grow Light with 4x4ft Coverage
Why This is a Quality Choice: This low wattage and highly efficient grow light is a great option for home growers who want to save on their energy consumption. It provides a high enough PPFD for many types of vegetables and flowers to grow in, and it has a fully adjustable dimmer to provide ideal growing conditions.
Who is this for? This is a simple yet effective light that can help you grow inside without huge energy bills.
Flaws but not deal-breakers: Some customers have had more success using this product in smaller grow tents, but that should be an issue only if you really need its maximum power across the entire growing area.
Wattage: 150 Watt | Adjustability: Yes | Installation: 30 mins | PPFD: 200 – 900 μmol/m²/s | Average PPE: 2.6 µmol/s per watt
Buying Considerations for The Best Grow Light For 4×4 Tent
Total PPFD
The first number you should look for when shopping for a 4×4 grow light is the total PPFD (photosynthetic photon flux density) a grow light is capable of putting out. Essentially, the PPFD tells you how much usable light that a grow light delivers per square meter. This means you can use the PPFD to form an understanding of how well a grow lamp can provide your plants with what they need for photosynthesis.
Generally, a higher PPFD is better, but depending on the needs of the plants you’re planning on growing, you might want to go with a grow light that puts out a lower PPFD but is more efficient. Which brings us to…
Wattage and Average PPE
The next consideration for indoor gardeners buying a 4×4 grow light is the wattage and efficiency of a system. The wattage describes how much energy a grow light needs to function, and the PPE (photosynthetic photon efficiency) measures how well a grow light converts that electrical energy into light. The higher the wattage and better the PPE, the more cheaply and efficiently you’re going to be able to run a grow light.
That doesn’t necessarily mean you should choose the lowest watt option, since it might not deliver enough PPFD for your plants’ needs. Finding the best combination of adequate PPFD and high PPE is the name of the game when it comes to the best grow light for 4×4 tent.
Adjustability
Finally, whether or not a grow light is adjustable is another important consideration. Adjustable grow lights allow you to change the wavelength of light being emitted, which can provide the ideal conditions for plants at different stages of the growing process. Young plants need more blue light (400 – 500 nm) to help get established without stress, whereas lots of red light (620 – 780 nm) is essential in the flowering stage.
How I Choose These Products
I’ve been growing things indoors for a long time, so I have a lot of experience with optimizing my growing setup with different grow lights. I also shared some notes with my colleagues here at Gardening Product Reviews, since they’ve also written extensively about grow lights.
In the end, I decided that relying on a combination of company reputation and the light output vs. efficiency was the best way to make decisions about what products fit on this list and which didn’t make the cut. Grow lights are a significant investment for a home gardener, so I thought it was important that you get something that works great and will last a long time.
Final Verdict
Overall, the RDJ Bouns 720W LED Grow Light is the best grow light for 4×4 tent that’s out there. It provides consistent lighting to plants at several different wavelengths and boasts great efficiency figures. It can help just about any indoor grower create an excellent grow tent setup with a minimum of fuss. And, if you have different needs, one of the other lights on the list is sure to fit them!
FAQs
What size LED light do I need for a 4×4 grow tent?
There’s not really any specific dimensions that you need for a grow light since the key question is whether it will spread light over the entire growing area. Different arrangements of LED lights spread out light differently, so larger or smaller grow lights can work for a 4×4 grow tent space. Manufacturers will usually specify how much area their lights cover, so just look for a 4×4 grow light and you should be good.
How many watts is good for a 4×4 grow tent?
In general, you need at least 300 watts to run a grow light that will cover a 4×4 grow tent. However, the upper limit of wattage depends on how much power you need to grow the specific plants you’re planning on growing. Plants that have high sunlight demands will need a grow light that provides a higher PPFD and, therefore, needs a higher wattage.
