Thanks Corey I appreciate the feedback so quickly, firstly. I'll definitely take all the advice I can get, especially from experienced growers. I'm growing in about a 2x2 area and my plant is about 3weeks old and is 4.5 inches right now.
"Ignore the claimed wattage and look at the power draw..", Are you talking about the amount of Lums it puts off, if not I'm not sure how to check the true power draw (Newbie here for sure when it comes to most things indoor growing)
What's the lowest watt you would use for a blue light, I really want to try using the blue light at some point, and what's the lowest watt for a white light you would trust to make good buds?
Last question on my mind is about using white bulbs and a colored blue bulb at the same time or if it's better to just go with one or the other?
I will try and provide an example.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VIPARSPECTRA-600W-LED-Grow-Light-12-Band-Full-Spectrum-with-VEG-BLOOM-Switches-/282904158300
The above link is selling a "600w" grow light. But all it is 120 5w diodes, they like to add that up so they can call it a 600w light.
But it doesn't work that way since you don't run led diodes at full power because they wouldn't last long if you did. So they use a driver to set the current and prolong the life of the whole unit . The lower a diode is run the more efficient it is.
You can see below the add in the specs that the average power draw is actually 269w and that the max flower footprint is 2.5ftx2.5ft
So you have a light which actually isn't that cheap or powerful to light up a small space.
If you look at something like the HLG 135w quantum board kit.
here
https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/products/135w-led-board-kit
You will see far more useful info. For example they use the real power consumption , it is an actual 135w light.
They give you the efficacy of the unit. This gives you a better idea of how much light per watt your getting.
Really LED is about efficiency for most people. Been able to light up a space for less wattage and thus have less heat to control or light up a space with the same wattage and have more light for the power consumption.
That HLG 135w kit will perform excellent in a 2x2 and that is a fact. Where those vipar lights will perform average in the space they are recommended for. When taking that into account the HLG is cheaper and far better than the cheap blurple option even though the wattage difference, the fact is your getting far more light per watt with something like the HLG than the vipar and much better value.
I wont talk about the spectrum differences because I'm a dunce when it comes to the details. But basically the idea that plants only need blue and red is an old concept that is very outdated.
