Buying a 3rd light

MarsHydrofactory

Well-Known Member
I want to purchase another LED light I have a Mars hydro and a Viparspectra.. any recommendations
1 pcs TSW 2000 would be perfect for your grow area. May I know where do you want it ship to? it is needed for us to recommend the right light for you. since there is a great demand on them. it is already out of stock for some country.

Waiting for your kind response to proceed.
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RonnieB2

Well-Known Member
That would be great if all manufacturers stated output in umoles, but the majority don't.
Using the actual power draw as a metric is the easiest way to compare different fixtures.
After a bit of research, you'll discover the relation between watts in and photons out.
Then you can use a simple metric to see if that fixture will generate sufficient ppf for the area you're trying to light.
That's why you will read suggestions like 50 watts/ sq ft for HID and blurple leds.
Top-tier diodes only need approx. 30 watts/ sq ft to achieve the same ppfd
I guess it seemed i was speaking in absolutes. I wasn't, watts do matter to a degree. You need 15w per square foot to sprout seeds. However that isn't a measurement of light. One big misleading example is a 250w led vs a 450. If the 450 has fans, and it probably does. They draw from that 450w. So its very possible the 250w led is brighter or just as bright. When shopping for a LED they come in 1,3, and 5 watt. There may be a 10w out now, but most are 1,3 or 5. The most efficient is the 3w. Its not guaranteed but very possible the 3 will out perform the 5 due to fans and how efficient the other is. The efficiency of an led can vary by 200% between manufacturers. A really good led is 80% efficient the other 20 is heat. What manufacturers aren't telling us is how efficient they really are. Afew good points to remember is if the light has fans, their draw comes from the advertised watts. Typically 3w LEDs are more efficient than 5w, usually. The waters are muddled a bit. That's why i stick with the par reading. The higher the efficiency means more light per watt. If you were comparing two fixtures, one with 100 x 1 watt bulbs and the other with 100 x 5 watt bulbs, you would reasonable conclude that the latter produces five times as much light (assuming equal efficiency). You would be wrong. The 100 x 5 watt unit probably has circuits that run at about 50% capacity. That means the 100 x 5 watt unit is actually only 2.5 times as bright.
 

2feather18

Well-Known Member
You said you were going to veg and flower in the 4x4 section.
You are seriously under lit for flowering with what you currently have.

The mars ts600 will flower a 1.5x1.5ft.
There are various versions of the vipar spectra 600 with different wattages so not sure which one you have.
However even at best case your short on light by 50%

Using the sf 2000 as an example you would need two of those for the 4x4 in flower.

The 1x4 is an awkward space to light, not really any great pre made options of good led for that but if your only going to be starting seeds or rooting clones then a couple of t5/t8 fluorescents would fit nice.
Yes I just found out I'm under lit and now I just found out that the spider farmer 1000 that i just ordered only covers maybe one or two plants .so now I'm probably going to have to fit all three in my 4×4 tent .is that sound about good ..I just found out that I'm under lighting my plants and then I hear from you..
. confirmed
 

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
Expensive I just ordered the spider farmer 1000 and I'm pretty pissed because I heard you can only grow one good plant with it
Think in terms of square footage rather than plant count. 1.5x 1.5ft at a stretch 2x2. You can grow a good plant in that space.

Least you can add another when the wallet allows and you will have nice light distribution
 

RonnieB2

Well-Known Member
Think in terms of square footage rather than plant count. 1.5x 1.5ft at a stretch 2x2. You can grow a good plant in that space.

Least you can add another when the wallet allows and you will have nice light distribution
I found that I get more coverage by buying two 1.5x1.5 veg, lights than 1 more expensive light. You save money, get more coverage, and if one burns out, its easier to replace. As of today I am running two TS600 and one Valspectra par600 which gives me a 6x6 area, very high par values for less than 350 dollars. I couldn't get this much light anywhere else for that price
 

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
I found that I get more coverage by buying two 1.5x1.5 veg, lights than 1 more expensive light. You save money, get more coverage, and if one burns out, its easier to replace. As of today I am running two TS600 and one Valspectra par600 which gives me a 6x6 area, very high par values for less than 350 dollars. I couldn't get this much light anywhere else for that price
Yeah I agree with the better coverage .

Your running those lights in veg only I take it?
 

RonnieB2

Well-Known Member
No, they're being used for sprout to finish. Their par lowest number tested well over 900 at 18 inches and the par600 is 1020 at 18 inches. both are full Spectrum and from what i am seeing, im happy. The reviews are almost 5 stars with some beautiful grow pictures. Im confident these are more than enough for 4 plants. The par600 is available for review on Growdiaries.com in the drop down menu select lights then valspectra, select the par600, then click on the grow diaries and look at the pictures and customer ratings. Growdiaries.com is an extremely handy page. If you're not aware its grows that people recorded. They include growing media, nutrients brands used, lights used, training methods used, temp, humidity, well you get the idea. This page is great if you are thinking about buying new seeds. You can look at a bunch of different grow diaries and see how they come out
 

RonnieB2

Well-Known Member
The par600 is rated 4x4 but I dont want to spread the plants out that much. Im actually at 7x7 flower, i think. But these lights are new to me. I want to try a small grow before I SOG them
 

2feather18

Well-Known Member
No, they're being used for sprout to finish. Their par lowest number tested well over 900 at 18 inches and the par600 is 1020 at 18 inches. both are full Spectrum and from what i am seeing, im happy. The reviews are almost 5 stars with some beautiful grow pictures. Im confident these are more than enough for 4 plants. The par600 is available for review on Growdiaries.com in the drop down menu select lights then valspectra, select the par600, then click on the grow diaries and look at the pictures and customer ratings. Growdiaries.com is an extremely handy page. If you're not aware its grows that people recorded. They include growing media, nutrients brands used, lights used, training methods used, temp, humidity, well you get the idea. This page is great if you are thinking about buying new seeds. You can look at a bunch of different grow diaries and see how they come out
So I have 6 plants in a 4×4 viparspectra 600w and Mars Hydro ts600w and now a spider farmer sf1000 is that good enough to cover all six plants
 

2feather18

Well-Known Member
I found that I get more coverage by buying two 1.5x1.5 veg, lights than 1 more expensive light. You save money, get more coverage, and if one burns out, its easier to replace. As of today I am running two TS600 and one Valspectra par600 which gives me a 6x6 area, very high par values for less than 350 dollars. I couldn't get this much light anywhere else for that price
so by adding spider farmer 1000 should do it I won't be under lit
 

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RonnieB2

Well-Known Member
so by adding spider farmer 1000 should do it I won't be under lit
Im assuming yes, but dont know the coverage or par of that light. But you can easily look it up on Google or it may be on the Amazon site. If not let me know and Ill try to look it up.
 
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