Anyone use side lights?

[Cannaficionado]

I was thinking about buying ac infinity's 16 inch supplemental light bars later on in my grow to help beef up anything under the main canopy. But im not sure if its worth it. Theres no info and par or anything just that its 3000k and 5000k leds and that it runs at 40watts.

 

[Delps8]

I was thinking about buying ac infinity's 16 inch supplemental light bars later on in my grow to help beef up anything under the main canopy. But im not sure if its worth it. Theres no info and par or anything just that its 3000k and 5000k leds and that it runs at 40watts.

AC Infinity has a lot of excellent products. I've got 6 of their devices for my 2' x 4'. They're very well engineered, the fit and finish are good, and they're an excellent value.

When I look at the specs for their lights, I can't figure out why they've created products like that. My hunch is that they're scooping up newbies or selling them as part of their tents but only reasons they stand out is that they integrate very well with the rest of the ACI ecosystem and their specs are awful.

As standalone products, it's hard to find another product line that is so uniformly mediocre. Perhaps they're just very high margin and that's being used to try to fund R&D (maybe one reason why they're out of stock on their products so much is that they're under capitalized?).
All told, though, I'd go to just about any other vendor for a light.

Migro has a nice seedling light but there's not a lot of oomph. If I were buying a small light today, it would be the Vipar XS-1500 Pro. I've got the XS-1500 and it is a good little light. Vipar has done a superb job increasing the uniformity of their large bar style lights. The PPFD map of the SF 7000 is exemplary. That technology/mindset trickled down to the XS-1500 Pro. It's about $100, has a good spectrum, and has a light cast that is high and amazingly uniform.

If you want to spend more, you might look into the Chilled X1. It's double the price of the Vipar but it's a 40" light bar that generates a serious amount of PAR. I considered getting it for veg but ended up with an X2, instead.

HLG has a good small board lights as does Atreum. LED Tonic had some good products but I think the name and their marketing failed them. Their site is gone and their products are on Amazon it looks like they've "left the building".

For my money, I'd go with the XS-1500 Pro.

 

[Cannaficionado]

AC Infinity has a lot of excellent products. I've got 6 of their devices for my 2' x 4'. They're very well engineered, the fit and finish are good, and they're an excellent value.

When I look at the specs for their lights, I can't figure out why they've created products like that. My hunch is that they're scooping up newbies or selling them as part of their tents but only reasons they stand out is that they integrate very well with the rest of the ACI ecosystem and their specs are awful.

As standalone products, it's hard to find another product line that is so uniformly mediocre. Perhaps they're just very high margin and that's being used to try to fund R&D (maybe one reason why they're out of stock on their products so much is that they're under capitalized?).
All told, though, I'd go to just about any other vendor for a light.

Migro has a nice seedling light but there's not a lot of oomph. If I were buying a small light today, it would be the Vipar XS-1500 Pro. I've got the XS-1500 and it is a good little light. Vipar has done a superb job increasing the uniformity of their large bar style lights. The PPFD map of the SF 7000 is exemplary. That technology/mindset trickled down to the XS-1500 Pro. It's about $100, has a good spectrum, and has a light cast that is high and amazingly uniform.

If you want to spend more, you might look into the Chilled X1. It's double the price of the Vipar but it's a 40" light bar that generates a serious amount of PAR. I considered getting it for veg but ended up with an X2, instead.

HLG has a good small board lights as does Atreum. LED Tonic had some good products but I think the name and their marketing failed them. Their site is gone and their products are on Amazon it looks like they've "left the building".

For my money, I'd go with the XS-1500 Pro.

I like my main light just fine, its just once my canopy fills the space light has a hard time getting below the canopy which is why i was thinking of the bar style, putting one on each tent pole or in the middle of each wall to get some light bouncing around under the canopy. In reality I just need a bigger tent when I pack it so full, but Im holding off on that because I'll be too temped to just start a 2nd tent and as of right now I dont have time or space or a need for that much.

 

[Talonxracer]

I like my main light just fine, its just once my canopy fills the space light has a hard time getting below the canopy which is why i was thinking of the bar style, putting one on each tent pole or in the middle of each wall to get some light bouncing around under the canopy. In reality I just need a bigger tent when I pack it so full, but Im holding off on that because I'll be too temped to just start a 2nd tent and as of right now I dont have time or space or a need for that much.

I am seriously considering making up a new light that uses 2 of the same strips I use in my main light in a + shape placed between the four plants aimed directly upwards to light up the under side of the foliage.

 

[Cannaficionado]

I am seriously considering making up a new light that uses 2 of the same strips I use in my main light in a + shape placed between the four plants aimed directly upwards to light up the under side of the foliage.

Thats a good idea! I would have never thought about that.

 

[InkAddict$]

When I was just growing single plants in a tent the side lighting was easy, but my last grow and the current one has 4 plants packed into a .8m x .8m x 1.8m cabinet, so no side lighting. Here is a pic from 3 grows back... By harvest time the buds were massive, this pic is with a month left!View attachment 1573130

Would you run your side lights in Veg? Or only in flower? I've been told to keep off till flower

 

[MrAutoGrower]

Would you run your side lights in Veg? Or only in flower? I've been told to keep off till flower

Bro as much light you can give them is better. Unless they start showing signs of heat/light stress. If they don’t produce much heat then definitely use in mid veg. I wouldn’t use them when the plants are small as your main light will provide enough light for them. I’d turn them on around week three of veg and just keep them on all the way through

 

[InkAddict$]

Bro as much light you can give them is better. Unless they start showing signs of heat/light stress. If they don’t produce much heat then definitely use in mid veg. I wouldn’t use them when the plants are small as your main light will provide enough light for them. I’d turn them on around week three of veg and just keep them on all the way through

I'll turn the 3 on today....leave the 11 day old ones off....all on I get temps in 80s but I keep humidity regulated to any temp....

 

[InkAddict$]

Bro as much light you can give them is better. Unless they start showing signs of heat/light stress. If they don’t produce much heat then definitely use in mid veg. I wouldn’t use them when the plants are small as your main light will provide enough light for them. I’d turn them on around week three of veg and just keep them on all the way through

They only give off around 600ppfd max

 

[Talonxracer]

Would you run your side lights in Veg? Or only in flower? I've been told to keep off till flower

I run the side lights as the stretch and flowering get going in earnest.