FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I'm researching grow lights and I read a very nice compilation of grow light science here https://www.reddit.com/r/HandsOnComplex ... _together/

Anyway, the guide lists the best grow lights on the market as (based on the uMol/Joule):
-Philips LED at up to 2.7 uMol/j.
-Fluence at 2-2.1 uMol/j. Formerly BML
-Lighting Science Group at 1.8 uMol/j. Red/blue only.
-BiosLighting at 1.74uMol/j. White/red.
-PARSource at 1.8-1.9uMol/j.

Does anyone have experience with any of these lights?

Some of these are really expensive, but some are more affordable. I looked up the Philips green power grow light bar (48" is less than $150) but it appears to be red/blue only. I would prefer a white colored light since it's more aesthetically pleasing to look at. Fluence has white spectrum lighting but they are more pricey.

Any thoughts? I'm wondering how these compare to the lights I see more commonly used around here--Marshydro, KIND, other brands.

I have built a full spectrum purple LED grow light from cheap Chinese bought LED chips. I've had cool/warm white LED combination before that were roughly the same power. I can just say they were not nearly as effective as the full spectrum LED light.

I was even thinking about making a "two light" system which would change lights to purple when there's no one around and normal, white light when there are people in the room. I could connect it to a light switch on the wall or something.

I'm sure there is difference in LED chip quality and light spectrum related photosynthesis efficiency. I'm not convinced that the difference could be high enough, to compensate for extreme difference in price, though. According to the research you posted, there is actually quite a big difference.

I get good growth under $20 lithonia t8 lights.

I also own a taotronic bulb that I use for seedlings. It works great so far.

Tarzanus--when you say full spectrum purple, do you mean you added in some white lights to a mainly red-blue light? I believe red-blue alone wouldn't be considered full spectrum.

Tarzanus--Oh, I see from your old posts that you got some kind of COB chip that has a variety of different colors on it. Just wondering, what's the fire danger risk from a DIY setup? The lowest cost LED setups appear to be from DIY but I'm not experienced with wiring/soldering so I'm worried about doing something wrong and having my house go up in flames.

ErikHI--yeah, I see a lot of people have good results with T8, but I'd rather go with newer LED technology because T8 bulbs have to be replaced periodically. I've seen the taotronics bulb posted before but it seems to have very small growth area.

coffeenflowers wrote:Tarzanus--Oh, I see from your old posts that you got some kind of COB chip that has a variety of different colors on it. Just wondering, what's the fire danger risk from a DIY setup? The lowest cost LED setups appear to be from DIY but I'm not experienced with wiring/soldering so I'm worried about doing something wrong and having my house go up in flames.

ErikHI--yeah, I see a lot of people have good results with T8, but I'd rather go with newer LED technology because T8 bulbs have to be replaced periodically. I've seen the taotronics bulb posted before but it seems to have very small growth area.

Fair enough. I'm gonna be making the upgrade to T5HOs soon

I tried researching LEDs vs. t8/t5s and found that some LEDs don't have their peaks in the proper spectrum. Nonetheless they still work effectively and people swear by them. It just depends.

I'm just not one for buying questionable Chinese products that get mixed reviews and reviews that were influenced in exchange for free product.

I did however order the taotronic bulb to test out LEDs. And yes the taotronic growth area is extremely small. (I ended up receiving it for free due to erroneous Amazon shipping)

Preferably I would want to order a platinum LED panel, but that price range is out of the question when my t8s are effective as is. Can't wait to see the efficacy of T5s

erikHIplants wrote:
Fair enough. I'm gonna be making the upgrade to T5HOs soon

I tried researching LEDs vs. t8/t5s and found that some LEDs don't have their peaks in the proper spectrum. Nonetheless they still work effectively and people swear by them. It just depends.

I'm just not one for buying questionable Chinese products that get mixed reviews and reviews that were influenced in exchange for free product.

I did however order the taotronic bulb to test out LEDs. And yes the taotronic growth area is extremely small. (I ended up receiving it for free due to erroneous Amazon shipping)

Preferably I would want to order a platinum LED panel, but that price range is out of the question when my t8s are effective as is. Can't wait to see the efficacy of T5s

Ooh, I hadn't seen platinum LED before. Looking at their smallest panel and it's only ~$50 more than the Fluence 22" panel I'm looking at. I'm pretty interested in it since the veg setting only uses 50w. (I pay ~19cents/kwh so I don't want a super high wattage panel)

coffeenflowers wrote:

erikHIplants wrote:
Fair enough. I'm gonna be making the upgrade to T5HOs soon

I tried researching LEDs vs. t8/t5s and found that some LEDs don't have their peaks in the proper spectrum. Nonetheless they still work effectively and people swear by them. It just depends.

I'm just not one for buying questionable Chinese products that get mixed reviews and reviews that were influenced in exchange for free product.

I did however order the taotronic bulb to test out LEDs. And yes the taotronic growth area is extremely small. (I ended up receiving it for free due to erroneous Amazon shipping)

Preferably I would want to order a platinum LED panel, but that price range is out of the question when my t8s are effective as is. Can't wait to see the efficacy of T5s

Ooh, I hadn't seen platinum LED before. Looking at their smallest panel and it's only ~$50 more than the Fluence 22" panel I'm looking at. I'm pretty interested in it since the veg setting only uses 50w. (I pay ~19cents/kwh so I don't want a super high wattage panel)

Yeah 5 year warranty is exceptional and you can have it repaired here in the US. That was a plus for me.

You're lucky, it's 29 cents per kWh here

Fire hazard varies from non existent to high.
If you use good, thick enough copper wires, and make sure you connected everything properly, if you make sure LED is cooling down enough and if you use power supply with a fuse that disconnects the power if somehow short circuit occurs.

There's usually water around plants, which means you have to be extremely careful about that as well. Everything you put together should be water tight or kept away from source of water, sprayer,...

There are full spectrum light bulbs. Usually a bit lower wattage, but they should work the same way with much less hassle.

I've heard good things about the marshydro 300w. i plan on getting myself one this year.

HeliamphoraWalnut wrote:I've heard good things about the marshydro 300w. i plan on getting myself one this year.

Hmm, so some consensus among people who have experience with LEDs is that marshydro is a made-in-china version of the platinum LED stuff. It's cheaper and does a good job. Seems to be well liked but no idea how good the support is in case of warranty issues.

Crystal
grow list: http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=32983

I just ordered:
Product: RAY22
Spectrum: PhysioSpec Greenhouse
Cord length: 15 Feet
Plug type: NEMA 5-15P

The 2 must-haves for me were:
1. No fans.
2. Aesthetically pleasing color temp, because this is also my display.

I contacted Fluence about color temperature. They said:
Our PhysioSpec Indoor is approximately 3000 Kelvin and our PhysioSpec Greenhouse is approximately 5000 Kelvin.

We'll see how it goes!

coffeenflowers wrote:

HeliamphoraWalnut wrote:I've heard good things about the marshydro 300w. i plan on getting myself one this year.

Hmm, so some consensus among people who have experience with LEDs is that marshydro is a made-in-china version of the platinum LED stuff. It's cheaper and does a good job. Seems to be well liked but no idea how good the support is in case of warranty issues.

Crystal
grow list: http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=32983

On many (let's just say Other Plants) forums, marshydro responded quickly and offered replacement parts .

Well. I'm still trying to decide if I want to get the fluence fixture. Till then, I bought rapidled's moonlight kit with various colors to experiment with.

Crystal
grow list: http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=32983

coffeenflowers wrote:Well. I'm still trying to decide if I want to get the fluence fixture. Till then, I bought rapidled's moonlight kit with various colors to experiment with.

Crystal
grow list: http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=32983

Sounds like a fun project. You can check out my Fluence light after I set it up. Probably still another 2-3 weeks for delivery.


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