Give me your ratings and receipts! Would love to hear everybodys favorite led brands?
- Thread starter notyourdad
- Start date
tstick
Well-Known Member
I've bought lights from several companies over the years. I've had one fuse blow in my Nextlight Mini and that's the only problem I've ever had with any light. Once I determined it was a blown fuse, it took me a couple minutes to replace it. Too bad they went out of business. I heard they might be coming back.
Both my HLG lights work flawlessly.
Even my OLD HydroFarm Metal Halide fixture and ballast still work like new.
My Area 51 light from 2013 works like new -mmmmmmaybe a bit of fan noise, but I'm sure it's easy to replace the fan if I ever want to.
Of all the new lights I have tried, I think my current favorites are my little 150 watt Viparspectra XS 1500 Pros. They appear to be really well-made/independantly-reviewed and they are the best value of any lights I have purchased. I have two of them, currently, and that's enough for my 3 X 3 tent. I got mine on the last Black Friday sale for $70 each!
Both my HLG lights work flawlessly.
Even my OLD HydroFarm Metal Halide fixture and ballast still work like new.
My Area 51 light from 2013 works like new -mmmmmmaybe a bit of fan noise, but I'm sure it's easy to replace the fan if I ever want to.
Of all the new lights I have tried, I think my current favorites are my little 150 watt Viparspectra XS 1500 Pros. They appear to be really well-made/independantly-reviewed and they are the best value of any lights I have purchased. I have two of them, currently, and that's enough for my 3 X 3 tent. I got mine on the last Black Friday sale for $70 each!
Bud man 43
Well-Known Member
Viparspectra
Moflow
Well-Known Member
Jonesfamily7715
Well-Known Member
Yeah, not as popular an option these days but I have fun with it
In terms of yield, spectrum is well down the list. I wouldn't run a flower light (HLG R lights or the old Growcraft flower lights) without adding in some blue (eg. a Rapid LED Royal Blue puck) but light spectrum shapes plants, light quantity drives yield.
I'm no fan of Migro lights, the main reason being that they don't generate the PPFD levels that I want for my grows. That changed last night when I decided to see if Shane was hawking anything new and I was very surprised and very pleasantly surprised. He's added a light labeled "MIGRO ARAY 4X4 HIGH PAR CO2" and the PPFD map is the best I've seen from any grow light.
I believe in feeding my plants well, meaning giving them as much light as they can tolerate. My reason for that is that research shows that, assuming that light is the limiting factor, cannabis yields continue to improve as PPFD/DLI increases for PPFD's in excess of 1800µmol, in ambient CO2*. I've grown autos at DLI's in the 80's and run my photos, in veg, at that level and in flower, at 42±mols. At those light levels, yields are signficant and, again per the research, there is no degradation quality, where quality means the amount of secondary metabolites.
There are a variety of reasons why Shane labels that light "CO2". That moniker falls in line with the rest of his lights but it has no meaning in terms of how it can be best employed. If I could get a light in my 2' x 4' tent with a PPFD map like that, it would be in my tent. The closest I can get is the Spider SE4500 which does have very high PPFD values but it's not as even as the Migro. (I have three year old Growcraft lights and will probably replace the flower light with the Spider for my next grow.**)
The only other competitor that I'm aware of, though it's been a few months since I've checked the market, is the Spider SE-7000. That fixture has a higher PPFD but it's not as even as the Migro.
*"Frontiers in Plant Science - Yield, Potency, and Photosynthesis in Increasing Light Levels"; the Future Cannabis Project video by Mitch Westmoreland; the YT video "Manipulating Environmental Factors to Improve Cannabis Yield with Mitchell Westmoreland" by Mitch Westmoreland. Westmoreland is a PhD candidate studying under Dr. Bruce Bugbee. The last two videos cover some of the research that he performed for his PhD thesis.
**Why wouldn't I recommend a Growcraft? The new Growcraft lights have been out for about six months but they haven't published their PPFD maps so that's a no go for me.
notyourdad
Member
Sounds mighty tasty! ..Drools',..
That's impressive! my freaking last tv stopped working after 18 months! lol
old phototrons @Moflow This is your tents grandpa and he fucked!
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notyourdad
Member
Thats awesome I had thought that was gonna be my plan. But decided to go other way. I don't really trust myself enough as an electrician with heavy amperage, but I've done enough to have wired some arcades up with Raz pis and made a competitive side by side street fighter arcade controller out of a long cardboard box for fun once. kept it for like a year after lofl. DIY GIY!
I do think they need some blue too. I think @Tolerance Break mentioned earlier the suns almighty, and she pumps out a fair amount of uv and hidden light/energy. As did MH/HPS. Here's one conundrum I'm having on spectrum tho, this mint green EVO hype, supposed to deter pest and sanitize, (like uv) does, but I thought herb took in less light from green than any other color on the visible spectrum. Very curios to see those minty grows tho. I only know that i know nothing
I agree that PPFD is way more critical than spectrum tho. Interesting note, I don't plan to CO2,but there's a vid i mentioned earlier where Shane and Dr. Bugbee talk about co2 and the doc says absolutely every single grow benefits from co2 even at very low wattages. I think it took Shane by surprise.
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amneziaHaze
Well-Known Member
Attis.little more expensive but you get more ppfd per watt.
Yea co2 gives 10% more i think at low wattage
Yea co2 gives 10% more i think at low wattage
Drop That Sound
Well-Known Member
Nissan 
notyourdad
Member
I cant believe they let you in here @Drop That Sound !get outta here with that nonsense! 
Just kidding! Had a family member with a nissan that had an electrical demon in it frying out the pita to get to alternator. never did solve it. Had to replace Alt 3 times before i gave up every tech after made it worse. que sera RIP
Just kidding! Had a family member with a nissan that had an electrical demon in it frying out the pita to get to alternator. never did solve it. Had to replace Alt 3 times before i gave up every tech after made it worse. que sera RIP
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notyourdad
Member
10% at low wattage is actually pretty significant, and i bet itd take less, could probably just crack a coke in there and theyd be good for a couple days
amneziaHaze
Well-Known Member
I usually just do 1 candle10% at low wattage is actually pretty significant, and i bet itd take less, could probably just crack a coke in there and theyd be good for a couple days
Rocket Soul
Well-Known Member
+1 DIYer
Diying gives you the possibility to make any light configuration you want, specifically for your situation.
On ppfd and spectrum: personally i like very much fannying about with spectrum. No, spectrum wont change yield very much but it can bring up quality and speed up flowering. But no amount of spectrum will make up for low ppfd.
Generally spectrum tweaking comes at a cost of either money or efficiency. But you can always gain efficiency back by running more boards soft. Or simply just spec your light at a higher wattage range, 35-40w per square foot.
But the real kicker with diy is the feeling of accomplishment when you light it up for the first time and blind yourself, then beat your own grow metrics with your own designed light.
HLG sells some boards for as little as 50$ with heatsink. 8 of those, some alu angle or similar for hanging, and a some drivers and you could have an exceptional light with perfectly spread light. It also allows you to setup sections so for example if you have your boards setup in a square you can have the corners on a little bit stronger driver and counteract light loss at corners due to less cross light. For example a 480 driver for corners and then a 320 driver for the 4 non corner boards: this gives you +800 w for your 5x5 which should be plenty for you.
notyourdad
Member
Thanks everybody for all the great info! A lot to consider!
I'm pretty sure Bugbee has said at least 4% blue in flower so I suspect that any grow light will have at least that amount. I use Growcraft veg and flower lights and I'm sure it's >=4%.
Re the spectrum of the sun - I don't buy into the "it's nature, it's optimal". We have a really good handle on the radiation that plants use, so much so that there's even a name for it.
Based the new research that Westmoreland has laid down, I'm probably going to end up retiring my two year old Growcraft and replacing it with a Spider SE4500 or a 500 watt Growcraft (if they ever get their head out of their ass and publish PPFD values).
Re pest - the research that I've read (vs the marketing BS) it's UV C that is very effective against nasties and UV-C is very expensive and is, itself, nasty shit. What data are there on UV A or B that retard or eliminate the bad stuff?
Cannabis absorbs green very well.
Bugbee has been saying, for at least three years, light quality (spectrum) shapes plants, light quantity drives yield. Between the Frontiers paper and the research that Westmoreland did for his PhD thesis, there's little question that's the case. Full disclosure - Mitch Westmoreland is/was a PhD student under Bugbee at Utah State.
That was pretty funny - "deer in the headlights".
Did you also see Shane's reaction when Bugbee laid out going to 1kµmol? That was a come to Jesus moment for Shane but it all fits. Check out the Migro array lights. They're a great design but those little 240 watt drivers poop out at 900 or so vs the offerings from Mars, Spider, etc. which go over 1k. I figured Shane was doing that to keep price down, giving him a price advantage, but, after seeing how he reacted to Bugbee on that point, I get the feeling he actually didn't know about it.
Re. CO2 - no doubt. 25-30% increase in photosynthesis. I've attached the Chandra paper. It's been out for years so Shane should have read it a long time ago.
Below a chart from the paper.
One thing to keep in mind about the Chandra paper is that the data are based on removing leaves from the plants and testing them in a small chamber, about the size of a big shoe box. Also, the paper looks at net photosynthesis. When I read that, it irked me because I'm not harvesting "net photosynthesis", I want to harvest lots of weed. That issue is addressed in the Frontiers paper, attached, in a not very subtle way.
Open the document and do a "Find" for "plastic". It's in the Discussion paragraph. That was a big f'ing deal for me when I read it because Chandra shows that the net P curve rolls off pretty quickly above 500µmol but the Frontiers paper shows why that's misleading. I was pretty psyched when I read that and, since then, I jumped on the high light bandwagon.
twistedgardener43
Well-Known Member
I'm pretty happy with my KS 5000's. They've delivered dense, full of flavor, gooey and potent buds for me. Even the "larf" is nicer than alot of bud I see lol. They may not be top line but I liked my first one enough to buy a second. I run them 16-24" above the canopy at 75% through veg and 100 during flower.
shnkrmn
Well-Known Member
I have one. It absolutely punches above it's weight but won't fry your plants. Attractive price too.
twistedgardener43
Well-Known Member
How high above your canopy do you keep them? I've found anything lower than 16 tends too wear them out well before lights out.
shnkrmn
Well-Known Member
Probably about that. No closer than 12 anyway.