Guys, any LED light you buy is likely going to be made in China. Just because they're made in China doesn't mean they're junk. The Chinese factories are capable of building amazing precision products, or crap.. They build what they're commissioned to build. Matter of fact, most of the LED lights on the market are made by one of the few manufacturers in China, and simply labeled with a brand. When you see LED lights that claim to use Cree brand diodes, keep in mind that Cree doesn't make many LEDs that are within the common spectrum utilized by plants. So usually, only the white diodes, in an LED array are the Cree brand diodes. Regarding penetration, of LED light. If you get the 2-3+ watt diodes, they have excellent penetration. I bought two of the Blackstar 240w (made with 3 watt LEDs) for flowering. They make several models. If you're only growing one plant, you may wish to consider the "UFO style" 100 watt (made with 2w LEDs) for $139. I highly suggest the Blackstar lights. Check these out, or you can search ebay for "blackstar led" blackstar led | eBay Cheers, Past
donno where you got your info but cree makes color leds ... called hi-brightness leds .. which happen to be the ones in your light ...
The High Brightness line has a few limited colors, not all the colors used in our lights. By no means are all the LEDs in the Blackstar lights made by Cree, only some. What I'm trying to get at is just because you hear the term Cree being thrown around, doesn't make it the best light. Though they do contain some Cree diodes, in my opinion, they are one of the least important to flowering. I may very well be off base, I haven't opened the light to look inside it. My point is that people can't hear the term Cree used to describe a light then assume it's made in the USA, or is superior to another light. Even if the diodes are made in the USA, the units are made in China, even the high end models. Here's a description of the light. Lighthouse Hydro Blackstar 240w LED Grow Light 3w Cree Chips
That 240w led light is the one I have along with 4 cfls, my main reason for the cfls was to be able to see the green in my plants, led makes it look purple.
Just got the delivery of my 240w Blackstar today and first impression of the light was that it is rather small. After plugging it in, I was impressed by the overall brightness of the panel. Blackstars use of 60 degree Lenses gives this unit a straight down penetration and looks to have a 2x2 core coverage area. I'm curious to see the actual Lumen output with a lux meter. After hearing reviews of how loud the 3 fans emit, I was expecting jet engines but was pleasantly surprised by it's overall soft whirling. It's sounds just like the fans in your computer or playstation, which don't bother me and once in the closet they were virtually silent. We'll see if the cost of the unit is comeasurate with it's puny one year warranty.
I am using HTG LED's, Lighthouse Blackstar and Mr. Growrite LED's and they are American made and all have Cree diodes. For my 1st grow I am getting really good results. Just started flowering and I am very impressed.
I have a few china made 90 watt ufo’s that I no longer use, I use lighthouse hydro’s Blackstar 180watt panel shipping + tax is $280 ish. I own a few of these lights now and they work perfectly
Because they advertise they use Cree doesn't mean they use the best available. DIY is still the way to go with LED and probably will always be the way to go. You can't trust a company that wants to make money to build you the best possible light for a reasonable price can you?
Chances are that Blackstar was made in China as well. Its odd that people think all these lights have different components. Half the companies out there dealing LED lights all use the same emitters, and most likely the same Chinese supplier. It is obvious when you look at them. All the same form factor and same light patterns. Only a couple companies stand out, but the rest are all overpriced junk. GrowLEDHydro and Lumigrow stand out from the rest in my opinion. Anything else is just lumped into the heap of mediocrity.
with LED panels do you hang them as close to the plants as possible to avoid stretch or can you mount it up higher like to the top of your grow box?
Early on I had them about a foot off the tops to get all my girls in there and the nodes were really close together. During the flowering stage I have the LED's 4 inches off the tops and the tops have hit the lights and I didn't get any burn. It really depends onthe LED lenses. 120 degree, 60 degree or 40 degree? As an example 120 have a broader coverage area but don't penetrate the canopy very deep. the 60 degree penetrate 2x deeper than the 120's and the 40's penetrate 3 to 4 x's deeper than the 60 degree lenses with a narrower coverage area.
For the record I sell Blackstar LED panels in Canada. Not here to sell you but can probably provide some general info. No question, the higher the wattage the better the result. I haven't seen any complete cycles with low wattage led's, however have seen several with high output led's. Most have been 500Watts and up. As far as where there made I agree with Original Past, most are in China. Differences will be on standards laid out by the factory or by the company directing the manufacturer as to what specs they want, what components are being used and the quality control at the factory. Just like finding a good mechanic, do your research and find out what is working well, comes with a decent warranty and where you can get parts or have it serviced. No one wants to throw there there money away.
Here is like 15 days of 12/12. 90w UFO Illuminator (from pro source). $299 I have some 4' Hydrofarm T12s on the ends for more light, but honestly I dont think they are doing much. I'd put this all on the shoulders of 1 small light. I do plan to upgrade to another 90w UFO and a flower accelerator and see what that does for me. I just wanted to see some results before dumping almost $900.
I'm kinda thinking about using a UFO in a 2x2 tent with 4 plants as a personal stash/micro grow. Would the penetration suck if I had it high enough above the canopies to cover the entire 2x2 area?
I think you would be ok for vegging, but you need to get the light closer for flower, and then the coverage area drops. I have 2 plants under mine right now flowering and they are doing well. I could be underestimating my lights capabilities, but I am already making plans to add more UFO's. You can see my progress here - http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/839861-beezes-ufo-grow.html
Hi. We got 4-6 small plants and figured out that we need a light source. Notice that we are beginners and would really appreciate any response therefore we are now considering buying either 3x50w ufo led lamps or a 135w ufo led lamp. The first alternative seems to be the one we are going for as the shop offered us the same price for each setup/alternative (3x50w vs 135w). The 135w LED lamp equals about 550w HPS lamp. While a 50w LED equals about 200w. Would this setup with 3x50w LED equal a 600w hps lamp? would the effect of a 3x50w setup be the same as a single 150w led? Thank you for answers Cheers
Be very, very careful about "cheap/inexpensive" LEDs. This is one field where you get what you pay for, usually. If it seems too good to be true... I dont know where these people get off with the claims about matching an HPS of much higher wattage. I would really like to see the lights you are thinking about purchasing. I've found that if you are getting a GOOD led light, you will be paying ~$2-$3+ per watt used ( a 100 watt light will cost $200-$300) There is a very good reason why there is such a price difference in LED grow lights. Chances are if you buy the cheaper ones, you will be buying the quality ones later In regards to buying 1 larger unit or a few smaller ones of similar wattage, I prefer the multiple smaller units so I can play around with light coverage. Just my 2 cents. If you like, you can check out my grow. Im currently using 1, 90W Illuminator (from prosource) and I have 2 plants under it. They seem to be doing fine, but I do want more light.