That is some very nice looking plants.
Anyone tried one of these yet? I am awfully tempted by a $55 panel that could grow some veg or do a seed run:
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Wow, that seems like as great price point for a proven brand.
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i mean 281b diodes are now “old tech” but worth giving it a go, that viparspectra v1000 would be a comparison to that, which i think are running cheaper have 30+ more diodes and something im willing to try
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I will check that one out! I am just trying to make sense of what lights I’m leaving long-term in each of my tents for seedling/clones/moms, veg, and flower, and then seeing what I have left or is out there for cheap to get. We have a big old house with a lot of room and windows and I want to grow a lot more food this winter using either grow lights alone or as supplements to the natural light on our sunporch or other places, so I’m thinking smaller lights, but I want to stick with the dedicated grow panels like this because of how much better the efficiency is. I could definitely run a couple 50-100w panels for 12 hours a day on our house electricity budget and grow a lot of food this winter! So I’m not attached to the latest diodes as long as they’re decent and reputable.
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state side looks like a 30% coupon so $50usd
So about the same just possibly better due to diode count
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and id try that cocoforcannabis code cause it could work, doesnt up here though
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I guess this is the thread for this…
The 1st light i ever bought has died on me, I need an LED propagation light.
My space is a 4’ wide, 2’ deep, and 39" tall cabinet. I clone and keep small moms within it. Mom’s are in 1/2 gallon nursery pots 6" tall. I routinely root extra clones for shorter moms and toss the bigger… but planning another tent to flower older moms.
I haven’t looked into it much other than a Migro Aray1, and I figure I would need two. The only info I can’t find is how close can this 65w strip get to canopy?
Is there a different light/s you would suggest? 2x Aray1’s would be about $200.
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Deal alert! Lightning deal on Amzone for Viparspectra KS5000. Only 269! Get it while you can!
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Just ordered of of these for a smaller tent for $120 shipped. Will see how well it works. Mainly will be used for chucking/testers etc.
I grabbed one of these back in April of 2021. Been running it every day with no issues.
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Not cheap but highly recommended.
https://www.thriveagritech.com/
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anyone making led strips on their own? i’m about to outfit a small building and want to spend about $200 in lights for the entire 8’x10’ area. i figure i can get all materials needed for that if i buy it all in bulk. the stepdown transformer is about $35, 50 delivered, the ac-dc converter is about the same and if i get a bunch of the right kind of leds and resistors, i have heat sinks, fans, and mounting hardware. i figure i could make at least enough to do that area and put together a step by step tutorial while i’m doing it if i remember to stop and take pictures sometimes. this is one area where being a packrat with a whole bunch of electronic crap pays off. hopefully.
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Simple answer , no and avoid the hassle, even strip builds are not cost effective now adays essepically as you go bigger area wise.
Consider on the low side not counting your efficiency losses your gonna be in the 2500w range, most of the LEDs people use now are 0.1w chips , bumping up to say big cobs some of them run in the 90w range and about $30+CND a piece so yeah… Sure there’s cheap stuff but efficency is horrible
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I second everything @Mr.Sparkle said @sfzombie13
If you have extra time on your hands, spend it on researching/locating a good deal on quality premade lights at a discount.
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i am not gonna have any more money but i will have time. i can buy leds at a quarter each, and if i run a room wide ac-dc converter with a step down transformer supplying 24v dc to each light i should be able to make a 200w light for about $10 each, so it doesn’t matter how bad the efficiency is. it doesn’t matter how long they last either since i can replace them all individually at a quarter a pop plus the time to solder them on. at that price i can make extras so i can swap a light out to repair. the thing that got me on this is having all the stuff to make them lying around and having a $25 100w led i’m using now. that thing is junk but it works and i figure i could do better.
i’ve been looking at cobs but the price point isn’t there for what i plan to do. i also plan on adding a raspberry pi zero to each one so i can control them but that will only work for three since that’s all the pi’s i have right now. that is the last part and doesn’t matter if it ever gets done though. if you know where i can get four 200w leds for $200 delivered i’d be willing to give up this idea but that sounds like more chinese junk that i’ve already got hanging. i’ll post a link to the tutorial when i get done. considering i will absolutely not avoid the hassle, any pertinent info is appreciated. like things that may bite me in the arse that i don’t know that i don’t know about building an led. that sentence sounds horrible. it’s based on “you don’t know what you don’t know”…
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unpopular opinion - a photon is a photon. grow lights are overpriced compared to other consumer lighting and it’s all greed.
just looked on Amazon.com - 24 pack of 8.5w LED light bulbs = $26.99. that’s 204w. you can get them in warm white or cool white, your choice. that’s cheaper than a 200w grow light for sure.
led shop lights can be bought in bulk if you need bulk light for flowering. i paid $680 for my grow light on sale and it’s 730w. i can buy the same amount (wattage) in shop lights for ~$240. shop lights are a bit harder to find in warm white but they are out there.
food for thought!
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Do it so we can all learn from your mistakes. I’m not saying that in a bad way. I’m saying that someone stepping up and willing to try something and document it will only push knowledge forward and that’s never bad and I would love to watch a build. I spent over 5 k on my lights and if you can show me a way to make my own cheaper and you post good results that’s a win for everyone. I hope you nail it
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i will and it will take me at least three attempts. i just cannot see paying almost $150 for $20 worth of parts, most of which i have lying around taking up space. and that was just a cheap one.
The problem with the dedomed bulb builds is the efficiency, the money you save on the build will more than get eaten up nowadays by the extra power cost vs running some cheap grow light with Bridgelux or even Samsung diodes, in the first year most likely.
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