Grow Lights

[gman420]

I'm looking for input on what are some of the better grow lights that won't break the bank. I have a 3x3x6 grow tent and am maybe looking to grow 1-2 plants possibly. I don't want to dump a lot of money into lights because I'm not sure if indoor growing is my best option due to having kids. Does anybody use or recommend Spider Farmer LED (SF1000 LED Grow Light)? I have seen them amazon and they don't seem too expensive. All input is appreciated!

[Toker1]

HID is cheap. You can buy a used ballast and an air cooled hood for $40-50 in my neighborhood. Another $20-30 for a used fan. Put a new MH bulb in it for veg and first 2-3 weeks of flower. Then put a new HPS bulb for flower. You can wait on buying the HPS bulb... veg takes time. Gives you an opportunity to replenish funds.
LED will be much more costly upfront. A quantum board will cost less to run (electricity bill). For a truly efficient LED (not blurple) you can get away with 30 watts per square foot where a HID will require 50 watts per square foot.
do not buy a used LED. I hear good things about the spider... never used one. If they produce as many lumens per watt that a quantum board or HPS can, it’s all good. Read the specs and do some comparisons.
good luck!!

[golfnrl]

I'm shopping for a new grow light as well. Trying to sort through all of the jargon and tech specs is mind boggling. I grow with LED's cause that's all I've ever used. Spider Farmer lights are on my list to compare to. I think several on this forum use them. I'm also looking at HLG, Growers Choice, Forever Green Indoors, and Optic grow lights. I'm going to compare actual watts from the wall, number and type of LED's, hang height from the plants, veg/flower SqFt capabilities, and heat. Oh...and price...just cause she said I could have another grow tent doesn't mean I can break the bank.

[RagWeedDWC]

I use spider 100 for vegging and a MARS Hydro sp 250 for flowering, at the end of this year I will upgrade to the new https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and switch the lights between veg and grow.

Heat in my small space is no longer a problem, I love the spider for its compactness and the Mars because its one light that fits my grow space (basically 3X4X9

[FunkyButtLovin]

Spider Farmer is good stuff and I'd be proud to own it but it's just as generic as everything else that uses 301B diodes and a Meanwell driver. HLG and Viparspectra XS series (start at 150w) use the same diodes and drivers and the Vivosun VS uses 301H diodes but a Sosen driver. For $40 less than the 100w Spider Farmer you can get the 100w VS1000 or for about $25 less, you can get the 150w Viparspectra XS1500.

After balking at an ROI-E680 purchase, I went through the same shit comparing all the 100-150w qb leds and decided that more light for less money sounded attractive so I started crunching numbers and the best value in QBs in my opinion right now is the Viparspectra P1000 which uses slightly lower quality SMD diodes (same as Mars-Hydro has been using) and a Meanwell driver. I would prefer to have the Samsung 301B or 301H diodes in everything but the cost difference is considerable and I opted for a lot more of a slightly lower quality light vs a lot less of a slightly higher quality light. I have bought 2 Vivosun VS1000s, 1 Viparspectra P600, 1 P1500 and 11, yes 11 of the P1000s in the last month. I now have as much light as I want and with many small, dimmable panels I have so much adjustability I should be able to get some nice results once I'm on top of the LED learning curve.

[golfnrl]

@FunkyButtLovin...I am comparing the ROI-680/720, Optic Grow Lights 600H slim, HLG 600 R Spec, and a Spider Farmer. The Optics light appeals because of the number/type of leds, hang height, dimmability, heat, 10 year warranty, and would fit a 4x4 tent real nice. Pullin' that trigger is tough though.

[FunkyButtLovin]

I looked pretty hard at all of those for my 4 x 4s and had settled on the ROI-E680s but they're so new there's not much user feedback out there yet combined with the cost and knowing something better is probably coming out soon not to mention if something does burn out on that high dollar bastard you're out of light for however long it takes to get replaced so I decided to wait but it's still way too warm here for 1600w of HID so I picked up a bunch of cheap QBs. If one or two burn out I still have so many I can work with to figure something out and keep things well lit while waiting for replacements and I can now either light up more area or the same area with less draw from the wall than my HIDs.

[Toker1]

Eye Hortilux 1000w HPS is kicking out 145 lumens per watt.
take this as your minimum when comparing.
I have seen some LED’s closer to 200 lumens per watt. The truly efficient lights you can purchase today will be somewhat close or with in this range (maybe greater?). In the future they will be engineering better lights. These will be over 200. Only time will tell.