We've seen LED grow lights advance massively in the last 3 years. They're more afforadable than it once was, and we're spoiled for choice! In this article we'll give our top picks for the best LED grow lights available right now for a small grow tent and for different budgets. But first...

How "Small" Is A Small Grow Tent?

"Small" we define as anything from 120 x 120 x 200cm and below. 120 x 120 x 200cm grow tents are typically the standard tent for 4 plants, with one light cover that foot print; the higher the light is hung, the larger the footprint but the lower the light intensity (ie your plants get less light per second). Conversely, the lower the light, the higher the intensity but the footprint is smaller. Think of it like a hose washing your car, or a shower head. So, it’s all about finding the sweet spot.

For those who struggle for space, you could go even as low as an 80 x 80 x 180cm. Anything smaller is, in our experience, a ball ache to manage – it’s not impossible, but just not fun and you’ll soon get frustrated. Remember, the tent needs to house a fan and filter as well as a light, so you won’t be left with much space for your plant to grow!

Our grow tent recommendations for an 80 x 80 x 180cm,

• AQ80+ by HomeBox - German designed, styled with a beige canvas-like material with a white lining that’s solid and looks sexy in any room), or
• GQ80 by Green Qube - UK engineered, robust and recognised as one of the go to brands. We know these guys, and they actually care about the end user and will look after you if things aren’t quite right!

So let's get into our recommendations for the best LED Grow Lights!

Best Performing LED Grow Lights Under £200

Spider Farm SF1000 LED Grow Light

Spider Farmer is always a good choice on a tight budget - cheap and efficient! Drawing 100w at an efficiency of 2.5umol/watt, this LED grow light is incredibly efficient for the price. It has a dimmable knob on the side which makes it easy to vary the output depending on which growth phase your plant is in.

Ok, your yields aren’t going to be breaking world records with this grow light (it’s only 100w!), but for the money and what you get, the SF1000 is best in its class. In fact, we can’t think of any other light at this price that’s worth the investment! There are cheaper lights on ebay or amazon, which usually quote crazy input wattage, but they’re quoting the total possible capacity of the LED not the actual fixture input. Avoid these companies at all costs.

• Cost: £150 to £180
• Input:100w
• PPF/Watt: 2.5
• Size: 30*26.7*5.9cm

Check out our 80 x 80 x 180 LED SF1000 Complete Grow Tent as standard option, or the acoustic option

Best Performing LED Grow Lights Under £400

Telos 6 Pro Mesh 175w LED Grow Light

Telos by Grow Northern – a quintessential example of great British design and engineering company. Based in the North East made up of actual engineers who are passionate in ensuring we get the best form and functionality from their units without the sake of quality, hand building each and every fixture. Great customer support as you would expect if ever needed. The “mesh” tech means you can control this (and multiple) lights on/off times and percentage power with your phone. A solid light that you can trust and is built to last.

• Cost: £320 to £350
• Input: 175w
• PPF/Watt: 2.4
• Size: 30.9 x 23.6 x 11.34cm

Lumatek Attis 300w Pro LED Grow Light

Lumatek has been in the game for nearly two decades, and the UK support and warranty is great – we work with them closely and we are on top of any issues or questions you might have when buying their lights.

The fixture itself is lightweight and doesn’t get as hot as say the likes of the Spider Farmer (LEDs will still give off some heat! Just way way less heat than your HPS). Plays well with its own controller but out of the box has its own manual dimmer. It’s size is perfect for an 80x80 tent

• Cost: £350 to £400
• Input: 300w
• PPF/Watt: 2.7
• Size: 55.9 x 55.9 x 7.16cm

Spider Farmer SE3000 LED Grow Light

Spider Farmer are always going to be hard to beat for cost and efficiency. £350 quid drawing 300w at a 2.8umol/watt efficiency…what’s not to like??

Their SE series light are bar style designed, meaning air can travel through enabling better cooling and venting within the tent. Dimmer is attached to the driver and is easy accessible. For those wanting a bit more bang for their buck, the Spider Farmers are always to go to.

• Cost: £300 to £350
• Input: 300w
• PPF/Watt (umol/watt): 2.8
• Size: 61 x 57.5 x 0.94cm

Check out and save money with this bundled 80 x 80 x 180 LED SE3000 Grow Kit !

Invisible Sun ISH265 V3 Evo LED Grow Light

A UK electrical company turning its hand to producing LED grow lights using only the top tier diodes available. Invisible Sun are widely talked about on forums and used by many in fact, but not really seen in many grow shops…until now. You want it, we got it.

Invisible Sun provide no-nonsense fixtures that have the best-of-the-best diodes meaning high efficiency. Support and after sales being UK based again is no quibble. It’s not a faceless company and you can be sure you’re in good hands. They can even custom make LED fixtures for you! This 300w fixture is no slouch, and the most efficient in it’s class.

• Cost: £340 to £370
• Input: 300w
• PPF/Watt: 2.94
• Size: 70 x 30 x 4cm

Spider Farmer SF2000 LED Grow Light

Anyone looking for something sub £300, this is the one for you. It’s basically two SF1000 stuck together and can be dimmed with the onboard dial. Great light to grow plants all the way through veg to harvest, and can also be used as a pure veg light. There’s not much to say other than to repeat what’s already said in this article; Spider Farmer are the best value light you can get for those on a tight budget.

• Cost: £270 - £320
• Input: 200w
• PPF/Watt: 2.7
• Size: 64.8 x 26.8 x 5.9cm

Best Performing LED Grow Lights For Under £600

Spider Farmer SF4000 LED Grow Light

I’ve seen some beautiful grows under this light – in fact, I visited a customer to drop something off not too long ago who had bought one of our SF4000 tent set ups previously, running a 4 pot DWC Oxy Pot, and wow, I was suitably impressed. You will not find a better value sub £500 light for this money. Period. They do give off a little more heat than other LEDs but not enough to make it an issue.

• Cost: £450 - £500
• Input: 450w
• PPF/Watt: 2.9
• Size: 72.3 x 61 x 5.9cm

Spider Farmer SE5000 LED Grow Light

The bigger brother of the SE3000; you’re getting a 480w bar-style designed fixture pumping out at 2.75umol/watt. That efficiency is way above your traditional 600w HPS which means you can dial down this light with the onboard dimmer and STILL hit them yields. The size of this fixture is just over 87cm so the minimum tent is a 90 or a 1m square tent.

• Cost: £500 - £550
• Input: 480w
• PPF/Watt; 2.75
• Size: 86.2 x 87.5 x 9.4cm

Check out our Spider Farmer 100 x 100 x 200 SE5000 Complete LED Grow Kit

Telos 10 Pro Mesh 300w LED Grow Light

Slimline, with added mesh tech, drawing in 300w pumping out at 2.5umol/watt. With the form factor of being just over 51cm, this is a very good choice for many small tents. With it’s standard 5 year warranty with this UK engineering house, you’re in safe hands. The LEDs are under a lens which ensures even canopy coverage (rather than the diodes shooting off at all angles and beaming into your wall!) Telos are used by many commercial facilities and it’s easy to see why when you look at the quality of their yields.

• Cost: £490 - £500
• Input: 300w
• PPF/Watt: 2.5
• Size: 51.9 x 23.6 x 11.7cm

Best Performing LED Grow Lights Over £600

Invisible Sun ISH530 V3 Evo LED Grow Light

This and their ISH265 are their flagship models. Check out its efficiency – at 3.14umols/watt..thats insane! Unmatched by any other LED grow light right now. The other good thing is that it will fit in your 80 x 80cm tent – might be a bit overkill as that much light needs to be supplemented by co2 but certainly a light you can keep with you for your next bigger tent. We stock these, work closely and have a direct dial with Invisible Sun – these are their flagship and most popular product, and it’s easy to see why with stats like this.

• Cost: £670 - £740
• Input: 530w
• PPF/Watt: 3.14
• Size: 70 x 60 x 4cm

Adjust-a-Wings Hellion VS3 510w LED Grow Light

One for the uber geeks that want to dial in their grows. This light has three individual dials that dim lighting for veg, bloom and UV. You can have them in any combination, and for extra god-mode, link it to their controller that you can set each dial individually to be at a certain percentage at a certain time for a specific duration! Eg. 50% red + 40% blue for 3 hours from 4pm. Next level stuff! Adjustawings have been in the game for donkeys, so certainly know their stuff.

• Cost: £740 - £790
• Input: 510w
• PPF/Watt: 2.6
• Size: 84 x 84 x 10.6cm

Lumatek ZEUS 600W PRO 2.9 LED Grow Light

Lumatek set the standard and dominated the LED arena when they released the first 600w LED on scene in the UK back in 2019. The 600w Zeus is their flagship and is refreshed with the latest efficient tech, so you can be sure that the Zeus you buy today is using the best and latest chip set and constantly improving their lights.

Backed by Anthony and Alan (UKs version of Bruce Bugbee) in the UK office, these guys can field any issues or questions and stand by their products 100%. Solid light, solid guys, and environment being well, you will be very surprised at the quality and yields of your end harvest when jumping off a HPS. Not a light for the smaller tents as the dimensions hit just under 110cm.

• Cost: £850 - £900
• Input: 615w
• PPF/Watt: 2.9
• Size: 109.1 x 118.2 x 5.19cm

Summary

So this is our list of recommended LED grow lights for a small grow tent. Plenty to choose from but whichever light you choose, make sure to consider your plans for the next 3 or 4 grows, eg. if you're just dipping your toe in with the potential of expanding to a bigger tent, choose an LED grow light that can fill bigger foot prints. For example spending the money on a Telos 6 Pro Mesh is perfect for a small tent, but not so good for tents larger than 100 x 100 x 200cm

My own personal preference? Well, I already use the Spider Farmer SF4000 and am very happy with the results, but i'm eyeing up the SE5000, and if money was not a factor, defintely the Invisible Sun 530w! :)

The LED grow light market is constantly evolving and we will be updating this list regularly. If you have any questions or queries, be sure to give us a call, send us a message in the website chat box, or on instagram DM, or email us on info@thehydrobros.com.

Why Buy From Us?

Our mission at Hydro Bros is to help and provide first class customer service. We'll support and field any question you may have before, during and even after shopping with us. We have tight links with all the manufatcturers and any issues we can't answer, or maybe there is a warranty query, we have these guys on speed dial. There's no grow to small or too big that we can't help with. We're here to support your grind for the perfect grow. #TheHydroBros #WeGotYou