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**ChadWestport** · 10-09-2020, 12:59 AM

I've liked the Spider Farmer 1000 light. Perfect for a 2x2 tent, comes with a dimmer and anything under 80% power produces absolutely no additional heat, I'd lick it. Full strength, it does let off a little heat but manageable and doesn't burn to touch. All of the other SF units for larger areas are the same SF 1000, just more of them, so my happiness should translate to those as well. I just bought a couple more to try in the flower area.

**MeEasy** · 10-09-2020, 05:41 AM

I run the spider farmer 2000 and love it. Of course there are better lights out there but sf is definitely close to the top of your mid level quantum board lights. Sf uses the same components as HLG and has three year warranty and they replaced a light for my brother after 2 years which is why I went with them

**golfnrl** · 10-09-2020, 06:45 AM

Currently running an HLG 360 Elite built from a kit. I like it. I've got 2 HLG 100 V2 lights left over from my first tent which was a 2.5x2.5. Putting together a new 4x4 set up and am also looking at lights. I've looked at the SF 1000. I like HLG products but am looking at hang height, distance from the plants, and heat. I'm considering something like the HT-02 Uniformity Pro 640 by FGI or ROI-680 by Growers Choice.

**bboyfromwayback** · 10-09-2020, 07:36 AM

My last couple grows have been under 2 ES180’s. They’re a little pricey but worth every penny IMO. You can’t go wrong with a HLG RSpec either. They’re cheaper than the Electric Sky but were on back order and I used the stimulus check to purchase so I didn’t care to pay more instead of waiting on the HLG. I grow in my basement which stays around 70 degrees and the 2 ES180’s running at 100% only heats the tent up to 81 degrees with fan on low. Win!

**JSH1973** · 10-09-2020, 08:38 AM

I just put up a 2/4/6 tent and put two Mars Hydro TS1000 lights in it, they are dimmable too.

**Farmbuck** · 10-09-2020, 08:41 AM

Just finish my grow with a ViparSpectra P1500 and so far I'm happy with it. I'm thinking of replacing my blurples with the VS2000 series.

**ChadWestport** · 10-09-2020, 04:16 PM

So, I am totally borrowing this from another forum, the message was posted today by a poster named BURNER HERZOG and it made sense and totally relates to this conversation. Just food for though, but I wanted to share the ideas he was expressing. Again, I did not write this, credit to the poster Burner Herzog.

____ UPGRADING TO LEDS: MATH VS. BRAND LOYALTY

Are your plants lacking “top bin” LEDs and name brand recognition or are they lacking IR light and under canopy lighting? And in your personal life, are you lacking money, or clout?

What if I told you 576 “top bin” Samsung LM3018 diodes are better than 606 “best” Samsung LM3018 diodes, but we’ll run them all hotter to compensate? What if I told you that those 30 fewer diodes were going to cost you an extra $150? If I were you at this point I’d start to look at fluff terminology like “top bin” and “best” and ask if it is worth paying much more per diode, and getting fewer diodes based on a marketing term.

But if we’re going to fluff lets get to it. The “top bin” to me sounds like a place where all the dust collects, that’s not just a fact, its a law of nature. Where would I put my finest product? Not in that dusty top bin. Now “best”, well nothing is better than “best”. That’s a law of language. Where is the “best” bin? They’ll never tell you but it sure as shit isn’t at the top. The “top bin”, perhaps is for foreign buyers, the “best” bin could be for locals and friends who can repay favors. But this is all fluffing, and we have become fluffers.

Whatever quality “top bin” may or may not have is not great enough to overcome 30 additional “best” diodes from the same manufacturer on their competitors product. That difference also won’t amount to much considering their competitor uses the same brand of driver (Mean Well). Their competitor has two 760nm IR light diodes, they have none. To compensate for the numerical inferiority they run more watts through fewer diodes than their competitor. To top it all off they charge you $150 more for less product than their competitor.

At this point the bin debate goes to independent laboratory testing to defend “top bin”. The more expensive option has one listing from one trade organization and a letter from a lab in Anaheim, CA. The less expensive option has that same listing, and no letter from Anaheim, CA. So now we’re at less diodes, no IR, name brand recognition, some official stationary from Anaheim, CA and hotter diodes on average all for the low low price increase of $150.

So at this point you need to chose either $450 plus fluff and heat or $300 plus IR, 30 additional diodes, and less heat.

MATH vs BRAND LOYALTY:

$300 : (SPIDER FARMER) {SF-2000} 606 diodes (28 deep red diodes, 2 760 nm IR diodes, 576 LM3018 3000-5000k mixed diodes) 2 IR diodes plus 28 deep red diodes, (identical number of white/blue diodes as HLG total number of diodes)

or

$450 : (HORTICULTURE LIGHTING GROUP) {HLG 300L V2 RSpec} 576 diodes (32 deep red LM3018 3500k) No IR Diodes 30 less diodes overall

Or lets say you’ve been looking at a HLG 550 RSpec:

$800 : (HORTICULTURE LIGHTING GROUP) {HLG 550 V2 RSpec} 1152 diodes (64 deep red 1088 LM3018 3500k) No IR diodes 60 less diodes overall

vs

$600 (2X SF-2000 @ $300) : (SPIDER FARMER) {SF-2000 (two fixtures)} 1212 diodes (56 deep red diodes, 4 760nm IR diodes, and 1,152 LM3018 3000-5000k mixed diodes) 2 IR diodes, plus 28 deep red diodes, (identical number of white/blue diodes as HLG total number of diodes)

My personal experience with the SF2000 is that it produces a stem on every leaf and when mated with a hybrid aquaponic/hydroponic setup I get about four stems forming per week, every week of veg. The two larger plants below spent 10-14 days in seed starting mix before being transplanted into the hybrid A/H mini barrels on September 7th. Today is October 7th.

(Girl Scout Cookie plant to the far left is from May 31st and part of a semi disappointing bonsai experiment, that’s where the unusual branching comes from)

Final Points:

So at this point if the quality of quantity isn’t enough, and a fuller spectrum means nothing, lets look at performance. We do not have a lab that will work for free, but we do have AlboPepper on YouTube, which is the same thing minus a neighboring Target and Starbucks. A single SF-2000 will achieve a PPFD of 1054 in a 20×36 space, meaning your DLI is 45.5 for a 12 hour flower. Outdoor flowering light is 60 DLI for comparison. Reference material: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK28aiRQ_Vs Go to 3:20 to skip straight to it

Why and how is PPFD of 45.5 very good? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID9rE5JewVg&t=756s 22:00 for PPFD to DLI

Why LEDs are inherently better grow lights https://www.canr.msu.edu/floricultur...teefficacy.pdf

P.S.

Q: “Wait, where’s the under canopy lighting coming from?”

A: The money you saved.

-Burner “the power of china compels me” Herzog

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