Just check the hobby out gathering info and doing some home work, I live in a legal to grow state and hoping I may be able to get some info to make smart choices to start out with. Working on a plan to hopefully try my green thumb out. I have decided so far to use a small 2'X4' area (I could go to 4'X4' later easy enough) and on first try just 2 plants. My fist investment is going to be an LED light, I only have $200 to work with for that I have seen 300W lights for as low as $80 then I have seen 600W lights for just about $200. Is it better to have 2 300W lights or 1 600W light?
So then 2 of these would be better Than one of these? Is it because 2 lights cover a bigger area, in this case I would be putting out a total of 600 watts total? Any one manufacture better than another in my price range? Also looking at... VIPARSPECTRA, MEIZHI, and HIGROW
Not to sure about which brand of lights to buy. Also those lights look multi colored not sure if that going to hurt or help you in this case. Someone alot more experienced in this department should come along to tell you. But yes those 2 lights will allow you more versatility when it comes to deciding which part of the plants needs more exposure to the light. Get atleast 2 more somewhere down the line.
2 separate lights will allow you to cover more square footage. And trust me, these 2 your starting with will leave you itching to get more in the soil, especially after harvest lol so just get 2 now.
Thanks you are exactly right on the deal if I find I enjoy growing I could at a latter time upgrade or add another light, I am just trying to keep start up costs down but not sacrifice quality of grow so if they come out messed up I can say it was my fault and not the lights... I know sometimes your quality of work is only as good as the quality of the tools you use for the job at hand
So now the million dollar question is of the 300W lights out there for $100 or less who seems to make the best for good results to harvest and the most reliable? I figure there is a huge combined years of experience here on this site and many know what works and what don't and if one brand seems to stand out over the others at all. Or is this another who is better Ford or Chevy argument?? Also not sure if it means anything to consider some have switches for veg and flower, while others also have dimmers....
Well your not necessarily going to need a switch from veg to flower, you can do that manually. The dimmer switch is handy but not totally necessary for a successful grow. As far as the debate on brands, yes; it'll prob end up another ford Chevy thing. Haha ..so I would save your money and buy the less expensive model. Cheers!
Make sure when you're comparing led lights you are looking at the actual wattage, not the equivalents or the name of the light. I couldn't find enough info on either of those lights to see if 300/600w were the actual wattage of the lights. I'd stay away from any led panels that advertise a higher wattage then what they actually use. For the best light for your money I'd get a 3500k 135w QB kit, and then add on a second kit later on. 2 of those would cover a 2x4 really well. They actually go up to 150w.
yeh their stuff sells out quick. They are restocking in 2 days on the 14th. I plan on buying a second kit once they're back in stock.
That don't seem like much power for the money.... what makes it better than other lights at more power for less money??
Well it's about a dollar a watt which is pretty cheap for high end leds. These have far more lumens per watt and have much higher quality components. They also have a better lightspread and the design makes them easy to keep cool.
Efficiency. The cheap panels are probably 30-35% efficient, while the Quantum boards are 45-55% efficient. That equates to more light per watt of power. Also those budget "300W" panels are usually only 90W-135W of actual power to the diodes. I have a 300W Galaxy Hydro panel ($69.00) and when I opened it up, I found it contained two 45W LED drivers running the lights. So even thought its "actual" power draw is advertised as 135W, only 90 of those watts go to the lights. Now, here is another option for you, if you are a bit handy: Samsung Acuity Rigid DBL 56-LED N/D Light Strip KS-6 Replacement 8-Pack +BONUS! | eBay DC 24V 10A 240W Silver Regulated Switching Converter Power Supply Metal | eBay Arctic Silver ASTA-7G Premium Silver Thermal Adhesive Epoxy 2 PC SET 7 Grams | eBay Get three pieces of 3/4 aluminum U-channel ($10 for 8 foot lengths), and cut five 44 inch pieces. Most hardware stores will carry this stuff and will cut it to size for you Use the thermal adhesive to glue two strips end-to-end on each aluminum channel. Space the strips 4.5 inches apart and connect them to 18 inch pieces from your leftovers, so you have a 44x18 grid. Wire them up to the power supply and adjust it to 24V. Instant 240W light perfectly spread for 2x4 space, for less than $100. Edit - Ignore the "0-94 volts" statement on the light strips description. These strips run at 24 Volts.
Are these considered full spectrum? higgs says these are more efficient... does that equate into more light for less electricity used to help keep bill down? Thanks guys for this info I see the have a youtube video I will get a bit of time later this evening and go check it out.....
yeh man you said it. Watt for watt you're getting more light out of higher end leds. As far as full spectrum - I think of white light as full spectrum. To me full spectrum is a full array of colors from blue to red and that's what white light is. The red/blue 'blurple' panels that claim to be full spectrum usually just have red and blue leds..with maybe some uv, I don't see how they can consider that full spectrum,. That's more like targeted spectrum or something.