FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

As I mentioned in the title, I am trying to find the most suitable grow lamp and I am torn between two models. The first model Mars Hydro TS600 100 Watt. The second led, unfortunately, does not have a model name exactly. I'll add your values. Unfortunately, I don't understand anything about these values. So I need your help. Thank you very much in advance.

Sorry I don't understand the language so cannot comment on details. I see there's a big difference between the two models, for overall size and power consumption. Are you thinking to buy 2 or 3 of the 100W panels vs one 300W panel?

For people to help you, you need to explain how you intend to use the lights - In a grow tent or open shelves? What plants? What about air temperature in your growing space?

Some lights give off quite a lot of heat. That's helpful if your growing space is too cold, not good if your space is already warm without lights. It was a problem for me when I bought Mars Hydro TS600, good lights, very bright, but putting out too much heat for my hot climate.

If you're limited to those 2 options, I'd definitely pick the Mars Hydro. The PAR map that you posted for the TS600 does not make sense. I found another PAR map for the light which looks more correct. The 1109 in your map should read 430.

I don't know how you plan to set up your grow area but the Mars Hydro will be more suitable for a shelf setup. For a 2' x 2' area, the TS600's coverage and wattage is very similar to the amount of power and PPFD map that I'm using on my shelves. Just looking at the physical dimensions of the no name light, that one needs to be hung much higher. With how small that light is and how powerful it is, you'll probably have to hang that fixture at least 24" away from the plants, maybe even 36" away, to get any descent coverage. In any case, I just can't imagine that light having a great coverage map. For 300 watts, you should be expecting to cover at least a 4' x 2' grow space. Even still 300 watts for a 4' x 2' grow space is a lot of power for carnivorous plants but considering how high you have to hang that light, it makes sense. For carnivorous plants, I feel hanging fixtures too far away wastes power. Of course, you'll need a fixture with a larger footprint to be able to hang it closer and still get an even coverage.

I don't know anything about your grow space but it seems like those two lights you picked are intended for very different grow space dimensions.

First of all, thank you all. My growing area is a cabinet measuring 45x45 (cm). The output power of the leds which is 300w is 60w. But he doesn't have any factory data that he gives me. So marshydro made more sense to me. At least there is a number of security certifications and ppfd maps. Also all of my plants are flycatchers. I think that the values offered by the Marshydro are also suitable for these plants. To solve the heating problem, I plan to install 4 2800rpm fans in the box and provide air flow.

The TS600 will give you a little bit more room to expand your grow area later on. Keep in mind the TS600 doesn't come with a dimming feature. That fixture is designed to light an area about twice as what you currently have. You can still use it though , but just keep in mind that without a dimming feature, you will be using more power than necessary with the size of your current grow space.

There's another led that I just discovered right now. I will add the link to it at the end of the article. I've seen it use Samsung led chips. More powerful than the Marshydro ts 600 model. It also has adjustable light level. Finally, it also offers an optional UV feature. However, according to what I read somewhere, the life of LED lamps that offer UV feature is generally much shorter. Marshydro gives a 5-year warranty, while this product gives a 1-year warranty. And in terms of price, 1000 units more expensive with the currency of my country. Which product would be wiser to buy in my case?

https://hps2led.com/products/monsterboard

For that price, I think you're better off going with a Mars Hydro TS1000. Again, it is much more powerful than what you currently need but the TS1000 is dimmable. It's also designed to light up to 3' x 3' space (if you can hang it high enough) for later on when your collection grows. With the dimmer, you'll be able to light a much smaller area with the fixture closer to the plants and dim the light appropriately.

I have a fixture similar to that Monster Board light you posted... That is to say, I'm using a fixture with a Quantum Board to light a 2' x 2' area per Quantum Board. I have the LED's hanging about 22" from the top of the plants. Anything closer and the coverage to the sides is not really that good. In my case though, I'm not using a tent so I have to depend on the proper hanging height to maximize the light spread.

Also with the Mars Hydro warranty, you have to read the fine print. I think only a year is fully covered where they will pay for shipping it to them. After that, you will have to pay to ship it back to them if anything goes wrong. If you have a distributor in your country, it will be better than shipping it back to Mars Hydro in China.

Be careful though. Lighting is a very slippery slope down the rabbit hole and you already have one foot in the hole and the other on a banana peel.

First of all, thank you very much for your interest. Definitely the TS1000 model is conceivable. But in my case, it will take me 5-10 years to expand my collection. Unfortunately, carnivorous plants are not easy to reach in this country. So the TS600 might be quite adequate on my system. Only if it's really important to increase or dim the light intensity over time before putting the flycatchers to sleep, or vice versa, when waking them from sleep, then I can take TS1000. I don't think light intensity matters. I could get good results by gradually decreasing/increasing the daily light duration. But obviously your experience and knowledge far exceeds mine. So what do you think about this?

AhmtBgraa wrote: ↑Thu Jul 21, 2022 9:53 am First of all, thank you very much for your interest. Definitely the TS1000 model is conceivable. But in my case, it will take me 5-10 years to expand my collection. Unfortunately, carnivorous plants are not easy to reach in this country. So the TS600 might be quite adequate on my system. Only if it's really important to increase or dim the light intensity over time before putting the flycatchers to sleep, or vice versa, when waking them from sleep, then I can take TS1000. I don't think light intensity matters. I could get good results by gradually decreasing/increasing the daily light duration. But obviously your experience and knowledge far exceeds mine. So what do you think about this?

The TS600 will work great as long as you hang it at the correct height and you don't mind wasting power because your grow space is much smaller than its rated capacity. From what I understand in what you're saying regarding varying the light duration to compensate for the lack of dimmability, you're planning on setting the light much closer to the plants to give them a more intense light but for a shorter period of time. As far as DLI is concerned, it seems you're giving the plants the same amount of light daily. I don't know how this would work out in actual practice. From what I understand though in my research on grow lights, the certain "medicinal plants" most of these powerful lights are designed for don't benefit from anything more than 1000 PPFD without supplementing CO2. I'm assuming this is also true for other plants as well. I don't know if the TS600 can reach over 1000 PPFD if you hang it close enough to the plants but it seems to me that reducing lighting period to compensate for overly intense light is not the same as giving the plants proper intensity lighting at a more appropriate amount of time.

Also, from my experience with growing indoors, the constantly changing light levels throughout the year is one of the major factors that plants rely on for their biological clock. That is to say, some of my indoor plants flowered just by setting my light timer to follow the local sunrise and sunset. You lose this benefit when you constantly change your light duration to compensate for light intensity as your grow space changes.

If it was me though, I will never get a light without dimming capabilities. Along with varying the hanging heights of the fixture, dimming gives extra flexibility as the grow area changes over time.

First of all, I would like to thank you again for your interest. You have all been very helpful in choosing the right light. What I meant was that as the winter period approached, I was using the method of shortening the duration of light without changing the light intensity to put the plants into sleep mode. Unfortunately, the height of the light will always remain constant in my growing area. At an average height of 40-45 cm. So the dimmable TS1000 made a lot more sense. Also, as you mentioned, the desire for various light intensity in various periods is also well taken care of with the adjustable light level feature. The TS600 was a great fit for my environment, but the TS1000 is a good long-term investment. That's why I chose TS1000. Finally, I had one more question. How do you set the level of light intensity that flycatchers want according to the months? Are you setting it as light intensity, which starts at low intensity in the spring period and peaks in mid-summer, then decreases again in the autumn months?

I think there is some misunderstanding. I am not setting the dimmers based on season. Since my lights are on a shelf, the height remains constant, which means the dimmers on my lights stay constant as well. My lights maxes out at 500 watts, so without a dimmer and at only 10" away from the plants, that would be way too much light for carnivorous plants. I have the lights dimmed to around 190 watts to cover a 4' x 2' grow area. What I am varying is the light duration. My timer is set to follow the local sunrise and sunset. Yes, I think the TS1000 would be a better longer term solution than the TS600.