Lighting LEDs direct from china

[lax123]

I think Bilbo is right, light is just one of many factors that impact yield or outcome. Also strain and genetics play an important role.

 

[SUPERWEED]

not particularly this, but maybe this style isnt too bad
http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/600w-green-house-led-grow-lighting_1927638676.html

I think it has no extra lenses, which I think is good. Because lenses or anything you put in front of a led takes out a portion of the light. I think for glass its at least 8%...with the chinese parts its certainly more.
And it has nice reflectors. But instead of one large panel id always get several small ones, so you can put each light closer to the canopy and spread light more evenly.
And all those blue leds and such id change for warmwhite + reds.

Hey, I'll show him the light

it's always good to get some more suggestions
I told he bet on cidly and Spectrum I said take what they offer.

Do not know if cildy is good or bad but feels that they have received good reviews here on AFN .. :thank:

Tell your mate not to overthink it, get a panel or two that he has seen evidence of someone using, i.e. a grow log and once he's got used to LED growing he can start fiddling around with custom spectrums, CO2, UVB or any of the other endless things that might help an expert grower increase their yields by a few percent.

None of these thing will make a difference until you have figured out how to manage the basics properly - nutes, ph ranging, canopy temp, calmag, air circulation, water temp, light height.

Each one of these individually affects the others to the extent that if, for example your ph isn't cycled from 5.2 to 6.2 to allow the plant to absorb different compounds at different ph levels then no amount of custom spec lights will make the slightest bit of difference to why you get 50% lower yields than you could/should have!

Hey Bilbo

certainly you are right when it comes to a lot of aspects.
but then there are always things that little bit better than others when it comes to lights.

so therefore I was trying to help my friend.
I know very little about China market and better ask those who have already purchased from there so he does not buy from someone who has poor lighting.

why should he make the same mistakes as others have done, or maybe someone here bought the super lights that they are very pleased and then he can get first hand information of anyone actually using IRL
when we can all learn from each other ..

I think Bilbo is right, light is just one of many factors that impact yield or outcome. Also strain and genetics play an important role.

Ofc he only grow DP seeds and genetics :tiphat:

 

[Bilbo]

That's cool bro, always best to see someone else grow with a light first before spending your own money on it!

 

[F.N.]

My made in china lights grew wicked bud no special spectrum just what they came with. The first three pics are think different and the auto extreme. Go with apollo by cidly go with there spectrum for vegging and bloom. ledlightschina on ebay is where i got my COB 1200 watt actual draw 660 watts. proof is in the pudding. I got to weigh only three two auto extremes and on think different and had 25 ounces I grew six plants

 

[F.N.]

Sometimes with those chinese Panel sellers you can get your own configuration for spectrum. I dont know how much it is extra.
I think an astir is too expensive for its value.
Personally I also would not get any blackstar, Apollo, hydro, cidly, Mars etcs...even that astir, its cheap years old tech epistar/epiled diodes after all. All they change is the desciption "brand new tech/ new leds 2015". If he must have them, id check alibaba -same stuff costs only a fraction there.
They could improve the Panels by putting Drivers in with lower current. E.g. run those leds with 0,5W-1W per Piece. But "more watt" sells better, even if it decreased led Efficiency greatly.

There are some interesting looking cree Stadium floodlights on alibaba. But I cant tell you if its the real deal and if they really put cree inside.
Otherwise look at panels utilizing Cree/ Osram/ Phillips if you want Quality.

Everyone of those led makers make led lights that grow great weed I have seen that on here more than once. You my good man are a GN led dude They are not cellphones my good man the tech may be a few years old on some of the aboved mentioned lights but they still grow weed and huge ass plants too

 

[lax123]

Yes they grow great plants. If you get them from alibaba, for cheap its great -you get what you pay for.
But I hate those that present you a big pile of lies and charge you extra extra premium for it.

E.g. lets call them "hgrow" -you find on their homepage how imporant PAR and PAR measurements are.
Then they show you PAR measurements of their lamps and how much better the led is and how much more micromoles it puts out.

But then you can find studies by Universities and scientists in which they pit HPS vs LED Panels with actual TÜV certified measurements, with spectroradiometers, controlled test enviroments.
You find these Hgrow among others beeing OBLITERATED by gavita or epapillon HPS.
The scientists show that there will never be a return of invenstment, because it costs almost tripple the panel itself, and is only half as good. Means you even pay more in your electric bill.

Just saying, if you are promissed a ferrari, pay for a ferrari it should better be a ferrari...at least thats my opionion.

You my good man are a GN led dude

im certainly not, while beeing of good quality they have just the same insane claims/ or even more insane.

 

[elsamurai]

well this is probably a mistake, but i'll chime in. I have a mars-hydro and a taotronic's led's and neither of them were touted as a Ferrari, and they certainly didn't cost as much. I'm sure there are other's that will blow them both away. but for the price, they do what they where intended to do, grow plant's. I never put too much stock it the marketing B.S. although the translation's are a little funny. would I like a high end top of the line LED? of course I would, but the bottom line is I'm just a guy trying to keep myself supplied (and a few gift budz for friend's) so my "Chevy" light's suit me as far as performance and affordability is concerned.
just my 2 cent's. happy growing folks

 

[F.N.]

Make sure you do your homework wtih alibaba too.I have heard of people ordering high end equipment and end up with a t shirt. At least they hold your money in escrow. Alibaba is a wholeasle website. You can get samples via alibaba but aliexpress is for a retail customers. From my experience with led lights I see no hps on the planet that will touch the led tech that is now available IMO I can take a 180 watt draw apollo and grow a 500 gram auto extreme under it. Is there a HPS out there that can do that with close to comparable watt output wow that is cool can i get the link to that bulb i want to try it. Sorry to I am not a scientist so I get lost very easy when big words are used And I am not being funny either just truthfull

 

[pop22]

Yes they grow great plants. If you get them from alibaba, for cheap its great -you get what you pay for.
But I hate those that present you a big pile of lies and charge you extra extra premium for it.

E.g. lets call them "hgrow" -you find on their homepage how imporant PAR and PAR measurements are.
Then they show you PAR measurements of their lamps and how much better the led is and how much more micromoles it puts out.

But then you can find studies by Universities and scientists in which they pit HPS vs LED Panels with actual TÜV certified measurements, with spectroradiometers, controlled test enviroments.
You find these Hgrow among others beeing OBLITERATED by gavita or epapillon HPS.
The scientists show that there will never be a return of invenstment, because it costs almost tripple the panel itself, and is only half as good. Means you even pay more in your electric bill.

Just saying, if you are promissed a ferrari, pay for a ferrari it should better be a ferrari...at least thats my opionion.



im certainly not, while beeing of good quality they have just the same insane claims/ or even more insane.

The proof is in the growroom, not some testbench. Science "proved" bumlebees can't fly too............. Yes your right about buyer beware, but don't be comparing lights you've never personally tested either. Field tests I've seen show the Gavita and Epapilion to be inefficient energywise and middle of the road performance wise. One of the things that make LEDs perform well is the fact that the light is very directional. With any HPS, etc, including those you mention, the light is dispersed in a radial pattern. and every time it needs to be reflected, it loses energy. Sure, with a test probe stuck directly below it, it will seem like the greatest thing ever, Show me a grow matching true watts consumed across several lights, then we'll see what's what.

You want insane? Show me a car advertisement that tells you ANYTHING about the car their pitching. So what your comparing is deceptive advertising, not growlight performance, and yes there's a lot of deceptive advertising, even from the "best" products of any kind.

 

[lax123]

I wrote in a diff topic:
"Dont get the wrong idea, I prefer led any day over hps. Not only can they be better in efficiency, but also is their light beeing emitted in the "right" direction. You can spread the light with several smaller panels much better over the canopy. Beeing more efficient heat is reduced, spectrum can be adjusted..."

I know led can easily beat any hps W for W, not even taking efficiencies into account.
And yes, proof is in the growroom. But how many pit each new bought light in a fair comparison with same strains etc.
Deceptive advertising is one thing...its like what I said about that one led light: 2x 75W equal a 600W hps. I calculated for worst possible hps spectrum, assumed its efficiency is much lower than even 30%, for led assumed a better efficiency of 50% which is much exagerated and only best spectrum for photosyn, only red max qant eff. light. Even then the numbers are that far away from any reason...and in the end its more photons = more growth
I even contacted the seller about i, nothing more than evasion tactics. Even not the most basic numbers that would allow for such claims.
To me thats more than just saying "my car is the best".