CharlesU Farley
Well-known member
I've been following the LED and Bud Quality thread for a while now and even an old geezer like me can't believe growers are still debating this topic. With various participants slamming their dicks/clits down, saying either LEDs suck or they're the best, I thought it might be a good idea to see just what various growers have used in the past, what you're using now, and what you think your next light will be.
My first grow light was a 4 ft Gro-Lux fluorescent tube fixture, bought in 1979. The seedlings are from the occasional seeds I would get from Jamaican sinse, smuggled into the U.S. for the Zion Coptic Church. Never got 'em to flower, not enough juice with with fluorescent and I was scoring great bags at cost, so the grow was based more on curiosity than need:
Photo developed in Miami at Fotomat, when the War on Drugs didn't include cannabis.
Moved to the mountains, started gorilla growing outside, got divorced/vindictive wife, so had to move inside. Bought this light in 1987, for a 5 by 2 grow closet. A 1 KW MH from Midwest Supplies out of Ann Arbor, from a High Times ad. Big fucking mistake, read about Operation Green Merchant. One of the few companies that didn't rat out their customers. I could debate MH vs. HPS with anyone, for my situation. I tamed those Jamaican Type I/Type II hybrids with this monster:
Obviously, heat, humidity and airflow were a challenge in a 10 sq. ft closest but after a bunch of fuckups when I first began, I started hitting my groove. Power bills, specifically paying them, could be a problem so when LEDs first appeared, I was intrigued and investigated. Got this light, a G8LED (140 watts at the wall) for $320 USD in 2013 and utilized another closet to start seedlings for a proof of concept, to see if it would work in my situation. For seedlings and early vegging, it was great:
I never bought into the "replaces a 400w HPS" hype but the seedlings thrived, so I decided to go all in. Decided to use the G8LED for spouts and seedlings in a small closet and use two of these in the 2 x 5 closet:
So I replaced a 1 kW MH with 750 watts of _adjustable_ LEDs, in the same space, for $1.5k USD! Bought it direct, so don't know the exact date purchased but I remember the price, 'cause had to scrimp, sacrifice and save just to purchase them. Originally, thought I'd hit the plants with heavy blue during veg and heavy red during flowering. Too long a story for now but turned out plants did best when hit with full burple lighting _all_ the time, rather than reduced blue or red for specific growth phases. Imagine that.
Due to the political situation here in the U.S., my wife and I's cannabis consumption dramatically increased, necessitating the need for a tent in the basement. Couldn't afford more LumiGrows but KingPlus blurples, with "new" improved 10w LED chips, were affordable. So got a pair of these, KingPlus "1800 watt" 340 actual watts lights, $239 USD in 2017:
They were decent lights but not terribly reliable. Learned to replace the PCBs myself... that they sent me a couple of times under warranty.
Was overall fairly happy but when one of 'em totally crapped out, decided to go back to a U.S. manufacturer and got this, the only "bloom booster" that actually works:
Can't remember how much it was but it was expensive, compared to other, lesser quality lights made in China. That light is built like a fucking tank, leans heavy red and still works fine even now, many years later. I don't use it anymore because the electricity use bang per buck just isn't there.
Political situation got worse and needed a bigger tent, so got an 8 x 4 to go with the 4 x 4 in the basement. Went with 2 SF2000 SMB lights, $320 USD a piece in 2020, for the 4 x 4 and 2 SF4000 lights at $600 a piece for the 8 x 4.
4 x 4 tent started deteriorating, so upgraded to a 5 x 5 tent and added a SF2000 Pro for $220 last year, definitely one I shouldn't have ordered because they no longer use Meanwell drivers.
The closet lights had some years on them, so last year decided to upgrade with this for the original closet, a ViparSpectra XS4000, for $320:
Would I make different choices now? Without a doubt. But right now all of the current lights are humming along, doing their thing, using just a bit more energy than the original 1 kW MH.
My first grow light was a 4 ft Gro-Lux fluorescent tube fixture, bought in 1979. The seedlings are from the occasional seeds I would get from Jamaican sinse, smuggled into the U.S. for the Zion Coptic Church. Never got 'em to flower, not enough juice with with fluorescent and I was scoring great bags at cost, so the grow was based more on curiosity than need:
Photo developed in Miami at Fotomat, when the War on Drugs didn't include cannabis.
Moved to the mountains, started gorilla growing outside, got divorced/vindictive wife, so had to move inside. Bought this light in 1987, for a 5 by 2 grow closet. A 1 KW MH from Midwest Supplies out of Ann Arbor, from a High Times ad. Big fucking mistake, read about Operation Green Merchant. One of the few companies that didn't rat out their customers. I could debate MH vs. HPS with anyone, for my situation. I tamed those Jamaican Type I/Type II hybrids with this monster:
Obviously, heat, humidity and airflow were a challenge in a 10 sq. ft closest but after a bunch of fuckups when I first began, I started hitting my groove. Power bills, specifically paying them, could be a problem so when LEDs first appeared, I was intrigued and investigated. Got this light, a G8LED (140 watts at the wall) for $320 USD in 2013 and utilized another closet to start seedlings for a proof of concept, to see if it would work in my situation. For seedlings and early vegging, it was great:
I never bought into the "replaces a 400w HPS" hype but the seedlings thrived, so I decided to go all in. Decided to use the G8LED for spouts and seedlings in a small closet and use two of these in the 2 x 5 closet:
So I replaced a 1 kW MH with 750 watts of _adjustable_ LEDs, in the same space, for $1.5k USD! Bought it direct, so don't know the exact date purchased but I remember the price, 'cause had to scrimp, sacrifice and save just to purchase them. Originally, thought I'd hit the plants with heavy blue during veg and heavy red during flowering. Too long a story for now but turned out plants did best when hit with full burple lighting _all_ the time, rather than reduced blue or red for specific growth phases. Imagine that.
Due to the political situation here in the U.S., my wife and I's cannabis consumption dramatically increased, necessitating the need for a tent in the basement. Couldn't afford more LumiGrows but KingPlus blurples, with "new" improved 10w LED chips, were affordable. So got a pair of these, KingPlus "1800 watt" 340 actual watts lights, $239 USD in 2017:
They were decent lights but not terribly reliable. Learned to replace the PCBs myself... that they sent me a couple of times under warranty.
Was overall fairly happy but when one of 'em totally crapped out, decided to go back to a U.S. manufacturer and got this, the only "bloom booster" that actually works
:Can't remember how much it was but it was expensive, compared to other, lesser quality lights made in China. That light is built like a fucking tank, leans heavy red and still works fine even now, many years later. I don't use it anymore because the electricity use bang per buck just isn't there.
Political situation got worse and needed a bigger tent, so got an 8 x 4 to go with the 4 x 4 in the basement. Went with 2 SF2000 SMB lights, $320 USD a piece in 2020, for the 4 x 4 and 2 SF4000 lights at $600 a piece for the 8 x 4.
4 x 4 tent started deteriorating, so upgraded to a 5 x 5 tent and added a SF2000 Pro for $220 last year, definitely one I shouldn't have ordered because they no longer use Meanwell drivers.
The closet lights had some years on them, so last year decided to upgrade with this for the original closet, a ViparSpectra XS4000, for $320:
Would I make different choices now? Without a doubt. But right now all of the current lights are humming along, doing their thing, using just a bit more energy than the original 1 kW MH.
Last edited:
