HELP....I Have New Light Fever

race winslow said:

Are you happy with the end results of your grow? Any need for spectrum supplemental light? Thanks

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Just bought the hlg the other day.
My cob fixture produces good results, diy not a timber.

I'm thinking that this could be a decent choice

I really like the blux 90 cri strip suggestion above. But I find that one of the best way to do a 5x5 is by 4 x 240 kits, hlg or whatever you prefer. Its a bit over powered but it would give the right spread. With that budget im pretty sure you could get 4 x double board kits of the latest hlg qb648 with enough over after for drivers and wiring. You could easily run them dimmed down 700-800w with good coverage and use the extra power to expand if you wanted to cover more. The double board qb648 kit is 289$.
If you want cheaper then theres al sorts of china boards. But i dont think anything will touch the 648 on efficiency, running them a bit soft like that you should be approachibg 3.0 / j.

Im also a fan of the blux strips, especially for the 90 cri options which offers extra red and far red for flowering. However a 5x5 is a lot of space, building a fixture out of 4' strips; it becomes rather big and encumbersome.
Another issue is light homogeneity: if you make a 4'x4' out of strips going one way over the light is not going to have homogeneous cover, unless you keep it really really close there will be somewhat of a hotspot in the middle.

I had some tests done on blux strips, they came out 2.8ppf/j at 500mA. Spectrum was my flower favorite; 2700k 90cri. Please note that efficiency is at board level, not system level like HLGs tests, the diablo is more efficient.

As a third alternative: @Grow Lights Australia sells High light boards which have good efficiency and a specialised flower spectrum with extra red and uv. 6 of those boards with maybe 800-900w would also be a good option.

Rocket Soul said:

I really like the blux 90 cri strip suggestion above. But I find that one of the best way to do a 5x5 is by 4 x 240 kits, hlg or whatever you prefer. Its a bit over powered but it would give the right spread. With that budget im pretty sure you could get 4 x double board kits of the latest hlg qb648 with enough over after for drivers and wiring. You could easily run them dimmed down 700-800w with good coverage and use the extra power to expand if you wanted to cover more. The double board qb648 kit is 289$.
If you want cheaper then theres al sorts of china boards. But i dont think anything will touch the 648 on efficiency, running them a bit soft like that you should be approachibg 3.0 / j.

Im also a fan of the blux strips, especially for the 90 cri options which offers extra red and far red for flowering. However a 5x5 is a lot of space, building a fixture out of 4' strips; it becomes rather big and encumbersome.
Another issue is light homogeneity: if you make a 4'x4' out of strips going one way over the light is not going to have homogeneous cover, unless you keep it really really close there will be somewhat of a hotspot in the middle.

I had some tests done on blux strips, they came out 2.8ppf/j at 500mA. Spectrum was my flower favorite; 2700k 90cri. Please note that efficiency is at board level, not system level like HLGs tests, the diablo is more efficient.

As a third alternative: @Grow Lights Australia sells High light boards which have good efficiency and a specialised flower spectrum with extra red and uv. 6 of those boards with maybe 800-900w would also be a good option.

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Lots of great information here, thanks!
The Australian High light is right in line with what I want.

Norml56 said:

Agreed. although with that space and budget I might think of setting up 2 4x4 areas and do veg/flower sides and still buying 2 lights. I personally don't believe that spending more money will really get you a better light. I would go 3500k and since I like the ability to move lights around and up and down and having the ability to dim some and not others I've found to be a great benefit, esp when my plants come from the veg tent where the light source isn't even close to as intense as the flower side. I would build individual QB 288 boards from HLG

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Agreed, 100%. Having two (or more) fixtures in isolated spaces so veg and bloom can be done concurrently is a great idea. (As long as those fixtures can also pull double-duty as flowering lights.)

Just picking up this thread again...

I been reading your posts and doing lots of research on a choice for a new light. After many hours I've narrowed it down to two

Here they are. Any feedback on these two would be most welcome!

https://www.ledgrowlightsdepot.com/collections/chilled-tech/products/chilled-tech-growcraft-x6-600w Price $1099

https://www.ledgrowlightsdepot.com/products/growers-choice-roi-680-led?variant=11757900103716 Price $899

Thanks in advance for any insight or comment that you can offer.

Peace,
RW

the 600w chilled would be great for a 4x4 but for a 5x5 u want this bad boy


id prolly go with that personally.

pulpoinspace said:

the 600w chilled would be great for a 4x4 but for a 5x5 u want this bad boy

Growcraft X6 - 1000W LED Grow Light - Commercial Grade

Growcraft Light Spectrum Options Passive Cooling Linear Bar Design Thin Profile – Only 1.375in Tall Rugged T Slot Bar Design Oversized surface area for maximum heat dissipation Remote Power Driver Location Lower your heat load by removing power driver outside grow area...

chilledgrowlights.com

id prolly go with that personally.

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Yeah, I've been looking at that too. You can't dim up....even running at 60 to 70 percent, it will out perform the 600. The price is up there past the Gavita. It's still a good price when you compare it to Next.

pulpoinspace said:

the 600w chilled would be great for a 4x4 but for a 5x5 u want this bad boy

Growcraft X6 - 1000W LED Grow Light - Commercial Grade

Growcraft Light Spectrum Options Passive Cooling Linear Bar Design Thin Profile – Only 1.375in Tall Rugged T Slot Bar Design Oversized surface area for maximum heat dissipation Remote Power Driver Location Lower your heat load by removing power driver outside grow area...

chilledgrowlights.com

id prolly go with that personally.

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This just shipped yesterday and i should have it in my hands on Friday!!!!

race winslow said:

Greetings,

I'd like to pose a question to all of you well informed LED advocates out their:

If you had up to $1500 to spend on a light what you buy and why?

Before answering, let me state that I intend to use the light in a 5x5 area of a 12 x 15 room. I'm looking for maximum effective coverage and it should be equally effective in both flower and veg.

Yes, I understand light efficiency and would like it to be greater than 2.3

Do I go quantum, COB, light strips? Brands? Wattage? CRI and color temp?

Growing in ProMix

Thanks in advance for your input

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New light from chilled is a little under your budget.

I would really like to see this Growcraft side by side with the new Fluence light. Since they are the same price after the Growcraft sale is over.

I emailed fluence, but they were not trying to come up off a light for my testing lol

Snob said:

This just shipped yesterday and i should have it in my hands on Friday!!!!

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Sweet! I'll be interested to find out your impression of it once it's in your hands.
It sucks that Chilled does not warranty the dyi version. Saving $300 would be nice. I just don't want to take the chance of having a problem and no backup. Good luck with it and may your crops be be beautiful and bountiful

race winslow said:

Greetings,

I'd like to pose a question to all of you well informed LED advocates out their:

If you had up to $1500 to spend on a light what you buy and why?

Before answering, let me state that I intend to use the light in a 5x5 area of a 12 x 15 room. I'm looking for maximum effective coverage and it should be equally effective in both flower and veg.

Yes, I understand light efficiency and would like it to be greater than 2.3

Do I go quantum, COB, light strips? Brands? Wattage? CRI and color temp?

Growing in ProMix

Thanks in advance for your input

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I'd want at least 50sq foot covered for that money....

ANC said:

I'd want at least 50sq foot covered for that money....

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Do you have a light bin mind that does that?

Yeah, but I can't export yet..

I'd look for a bit north of 1000W in quality LED.
you will likely not match yields exactly at this point, but you will also be running half the power bill and should not be too far south.,

Here's a new HLG with the diablo boards. It's already built. Or build your own to save a little cash.

ANC said:

Yeah, but I can't export yet..

I'd look for a bit north of 1000W in quality LED.
you will likely not match yields exactly at this point, but you will also be running half the power bill and should not be too far south.,

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I looked Bright from Australia and the Migro stuff too. Between shipping and duty/tariffs it makes it hard for them to be competitive.

Well, after several months of searching and false starts, I've ordered a light. I decide to go with this Timber Redwood VS.
I spoke with them directly and feel like I'm going to get a quality American made product that is exceedingly well made. Too many lights that I looked at were of uncertain origins and seemed to have great upfront performance levels according to their supplied lab test and sponsored reviewers. However, I was still somewhat skeptical of many of them and felt that they were not quite what I was looking for.
Anyway, as I have been using both COB's and HPS, I've decide to try and combine the best attributes of both. The light will be configured in the following way: 4 - 3k COBs on the corners and 2 - 1750K COBs in the middle. So, in theory I should be getting plenty of Red and enough Blue from the 3k. If needed, there is space on the fixture to mount a decent sized UV fixture. Additionally, Timber is going configure the light for me with the capability to have remotely mounted dual drivers for power supply redundancy. The dimmer control will also be remote. This should definitely help reduce heat in my tent.
So in summary, I'm getting a 725 watt light with decent efficiency and par readings, quite even light spread, dimmable, excellent CRI, well regarded on RIU and American made. The price including shipping was $879. I feel like I made a good purchase and got a good deal. Let's see if my plants agree. I'll be posting photos of two plants that are currently in veg. Once the light arrives my goal is to provide a grow journal in the flowering phase. Stay tuned.....thanks.

I have a diy that uses 3k and 1750. In my garden I needed to put 1750 on a separate channel because some plants do not tolerate that spectrum well.

I'm interested to see how it works out for you.

radiant Rudy said:

I have a diy that uses 3k and 1750. In my garden I needed to put 1750 on a separate channel because some plants do not tolerate that spectrum well.

I'm interested to see how it works out for you.

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I'm hoping that the 1750K presented in a LED format will provide comparable performance to a 600hps with an Eye Hortilux SHPS bulb. Understanding that led is more binary and does not have the subtilty an HPS. I'm hoping not to lose bud density, frost or terpene production. The photos won't lie and I won't try to convince myself otherwise. If it's not working I'll acknowledge it and try to find something else. That being said, I'm quite hopeful. Although, I wasn't that happy with the CLW Solar System lights with the customizable light spectrum. I feel these are a different animal and are going to need a couple of grows to figure out their idiosyncrasies.