Need help with led light decision!

SonsOfAvery

Well-Known Member
Hey all,
I'm doing my fist grow, indoor in a 4x4x7' tent. I'm torn between a few choices and wanted to know from people with experience with LEDs which would be best. I'm limited on price, and so far these are the best I've found. I have 3 white widow x big bud that I've started in a homemade mini tent, and need to get them under some better light in about two weeks time.
Viparspecta 450w
Mars hydro 600w
Mars hydro 300w X 2


Unfortunately I can't post links, because I'm such a noob. Sorry.
 

legalcanada

Well-Known Member
the most important thing about LEDs is actual wattage is all that matters.... I thought i was getting a great deal on some "1200w" blurple off amazon turns out it's only 200w actual draw.... replaced that with 4x QBs for a 4x4 area
 

SonsOfAvery

Well-Known Member
the most important thing about LEDs is actual wattage is all that matters.... I thought i was getting a great deal on some "1200w" blurple off amazon turns out it's only 200w actual draw.... replaced that with 4x QBs for a 4x4 area
Thanks, I'll keep that I mind, maybe worth investing in a meter to test them when they arrive then.

Growgorilla, thanks for the info, I'm limited on price at the moment however, and cob are slightly out of my range. But I'll bear that in mind come end of the year when I can upgrade my setup.
 

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
Thanks, I'll keep that I mind, maybe worth investing in a meter to test them when they arrive then.

Growgorilla, thanks for the info, I'm limited on price at the moment however, and cob are slightly out of my range. But I'll bear that in mind come end of the year when I can upgrade my setup.
What did you buy then? And what did they cost you?
 

SonsOfAvery

Well-Known Member
Meizhi 900Watt

1200W does 5x4 so 900 will be close.

My first grow with it but its producing chunky Blueberry buds at 6 weeks.
Thanks for the recommendation, I've checked out some of those Meizhi lights, like I say I'm limited by cost at the moment too. Best I could afford is the Meizhi 600w at the moment. But I'm liking the specs and also the fact I could daisy chain them when I can afford another one.
 

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
They look identical to the mars. They are a bit more honest though, the 300w version is 135w and says it can replace a 150w hps, so scale that up to 600w and you have something possibly equal to a 300w hps. If it were me with that budget I would just buy a 600w hps and have done with it. Then you can upgrade to quality LED if you feel the need.
 

SonsOfAvery

Well-Known Member
What did you buy then? And what did they cost you?
I haven't purchase yet, I'm discussing with my girlfriend at the moment and buying tomorrow.
I like the spectrum on the Mars, but I'm wary of them about now from some reviews I've got.
And after Craigson recommended the Meizhi I'm now leaning towards that.
The options I've found are
Meizhi £114 ($150)
Mars 600w or 2x 300w each at £113
Viparspectra 450w £116
All on eBay.
 

TacoMac

Well-Known Member
I haven't purchase yet, I'm discussing with my girlfriend at the moment and buying tomorrow.
I like the spectrum on the Mars, but I'm wary of them about now from some reviews I've got.
And after Craigson recommended the Meizhi I'm now leaning towards that.
The options I've found are
Meizhi £114 ($150)
Mars 600w or 2x 300w each at £113
Viparspectra 450w £116
All on eBay.
None of those are going to be anywhere near powerful enough to utilize the whole tent. At best, you'll be able to grow 2 plants effectively to a good yeild.

Unfortunately, there is no cheap way out for LED/COB. You get what you pay for...and all of those are, sorry to say, cheap and not anywhere near good enough for your area.

If you were doing a 2 x 2, they would be fine.
 

SonsOfAvery

Well-Known Member
I have a friend who can loan me a 600w HPS but my setup isn't capable of handling the heat from it.
I'm wanting to get an LED for the reduced heat output at the moment..

In future I'll be looking to run two tents eventually and have separate veg/flower grows.
By then I'll hopefully have sufficient cooling in place and will be able to run the HPS for flowering tent and whatever LED I go with, for the veg.
 

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
I haven't purchase yet, I'm discussing with my girlfriend at the moment and buying tomorrow.
I like the spectrum on the Mars, but I'm wary of them about now from some reviews I've got.
And after Craigson recommended the Meizhi I'm now leaning towards that.
The options I've found are
Meizhi £114 ($150)
Mars 600w or 2x 300w each at £113
Viparspectra 450w £116
All on eBay.
I can tell you why the Mars is a bad idea, they have a terrible reputation for making outrageous claims, they break, sometimes half the diodes will go out in the first few weeks, sometimes you might get lucky and get a whole grow out of them. Because of the lies they tell about what HPS they can replace people then see failure in flower because they just don't have enough light.
The vipar are much the same but built better and I do not see a million people reporting failed diodes as with the mars.
The Meizhi, I know little about, but it does worry me slightly that they are almost identical to the mars in appearance, but appearances can be deceptive, its whats on the inside that counts.
For less money you could light up a 4x4 with a 600w hps and out perform any of those lights. But I wont preach on about that.

Here's my set up, I was just about to post it on the QB thread but since I'm on here I will post it here first.
2x 260w Quantum board kits on the right, in the distance to the left 660w of Cobs. Other pic is just the QB side

IMG_0139.JPG IMG_0140.JPG
 

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
I have a friend who can loan me a 600w HPS but my setup isn't capable of handling the heat from it.
I'm wanting to get an LED for the reduced heat output at the moment..

In future I'll be looking to run two tents eventually and have separate veg/flower grows.
By then I'll hopefully have sufficient cooling in place and will be able to run the HPS for flowering tent and whatever LED I go with, for the veg.
Yeah I get your reasoning, as long as you understand there is less heat because there is less wattage and less wattage means less light means less area covered enough to fully flower plants to their potential.
 

TacoMac

Well-Known Member
I have a friend who can loan me a 600w HPS but my setup isn't capable of handling the heat from it.
I'm wanting to get an LED for the reduced heat output at the moment..
If your friend is willing to lend you the 600 HPS, then use it and use the money you would have spent on a light on a cool tube hood to put it in if it isn't in one already.

It's not the LED that puts off that much less heat; it's the fact that they're so much less powerful to begin with.
 

SonsOfAvery

Well-Known Member
Yeh I'm thinking mars is basically a no go now. It's between the viparspectra and Meizhi...
I understand I'll be losing out on light with these LED vs. the HPS.
I'll be upgrading in future and taking all of this onboard. The help is much appreciated.
 
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