Yeah, I thought about that and used what I had. Two conductor wire worked well for that extra jacket, and larger conductor count could work, but then you have wires going across more than one strip, or the same pigtail just shorter. The biggest thing that would clean it up imho is a terminal strip with bus wires between the terminals. But thatās more money and part of me doing this is to save money vs. something I could buy.
Speaking to that point, there is no value or savings to be realized from making your own DIY soldered boards. Youād be much better off engineering and laying out the boards, then sending your Gerber files to a Chinese QB shop and getting them shipped to you. Thatās how a lot of folks have done it on other forums, but itās only really worthwhile if you have a 50pc minimum. Or just buy from the huge selection of boards that are already out there. Or just buy strips and call it good, since their spread is better from a heat and light distribution perspective than boards anyway. 
Thanks for stopping by and adding to the discussion. 
I think the SolStix are a decent product from a good company, but I personally donāt want to use them for a few reasons.
First and foremost, I have to ask why would someone want a tunable light? Whatās the use case scenario? Itās a reasonable thing, but it feels like weāve been marketed to believe thereās some benefit. Yet, curiously, I havenāt seen much science showing a benefit from modulating the spectrum. Is there proof that changing the spectrum helps any cultivar over its lifespan? Seems like added complexity for no return. In my mind, the value proposition for tunable lights is really narrow - essentially only maybe benefiting a single growspace from seedling to harvest, and even then itās questionable. I also donāt want to have to supplement anything to my lights, so getting it all from one diode reduces the cost and complexity of my build.
Secondly, I prefer single row diode strips instead of boards or multi-row strips for two reasons - heat and light distribution. In a home grow, I want the most diodes spread evenly across the largest area above my canopy. This reduces hotspots for both temps and light spread, making it easier to cool without the need for expensive and bulky heatsinks, and making light penetration better because there are no shadows in a properly-defoliated canopy.
Penetration has always been a silly thing since stoners mistakenly equate penetration with light intensity. Theyāre not the same thing. Pretty much only green and red photons penetrate (go through) multiple leaves, and even then itās a ridiculous concept because theyāre not helping you photosynthesize in the leaves they go through. Shadows mean essentially no penetration and no photosynthesis below anywhere thatās shaded. You reduce shadows by having as many point sources for every single calyx in your canopy, and removing leaves selectively to achieve that.
Lastly, I want lots of diodes run at very low power for maximum efficiency so I can run the fixtures closest to the tops without heat or light stress, reducing wall losses (walls are only 85% reflective, at most, meaning you lose photons for all reflections). Higher density boards usually try to accomplish the opposite - fewer diodes run at higher power, meaning you have to run them higher power and height both for light spread and intensity. This defeats the purpose of my using LEDs, to some degree, and also lowers lifespan from the diodes. Higher current and heat = shorter lifespan in all electronics.
I think the better thing to do is to hone your craft. Get better at growing. Everyone will see much much MUCH bigger gains from simply getting better at growing than they will from extra complex and expensive lighting. And this goes for me as much as it goes for anyone. We all want to theorycraft every angle, but in the end, simply picking better phenos and practicing growing will result in a lot more tangible gain than any of the complexity weāve been sold on by the cannabis lighting industry.
Anyway, those are my thoughts. I could be wrong on all accounts - Iām no expert - so Iād love to see the data supporting tunable lights.
Amazon! Search for 3 conductor gland connectors. Thereās tons of options.
. But yes mainly for flower. Iāll probably grab some t5s for veg. They always sufficed to be honest.
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