Is this indoor grow light overkill?

[Hump]

split hairs all you want, but the power of reviews is strong for me. i have two of these: https://www.amazon.com/Flexible-Goo...6A&pd_rd_i=B07MV6TFFW&ref_=pd_bap_d_rp_1_32_t

i went with a white light version after a discussion in here on lighting. i have a decent, large, south window setup to begin with and use these on cloudy days or after work until i go to bed or until the next morning. lots of new growth on everything they face. can aim and adjust them nicely. im glad i made the purchase on them and the reviews have held up nicely. easy to get caught up in details and technicalities, enjoy some real world (500ish people i think i saw, and me) who have had nothing but great experience with them (4.5/5 = 90% satisfaction) even the other similar colored versions have great reviews, but i didnt want blue and red light, just white. with how technology moves (many times faster than any other marketable sector) these leds could be onto something

monster-a new leaf should be open when i get home from work View attachment 332389

I have to say, my wife's monstera and many other plants, grow swimmingly with just being 5 feet or so from our window. Some are even futher and have growth like that without any lights. I don't think that light is doing as much work as you think. I followed your link and the English is terrible on the Amazon description. It doesn't state any specs other than saying "somehow around 2700k light" lol. I guess for $17 bucks it doesn't matter and it's worth a try. I just wanted to be honest though. I've spent the last month solid researching lights and their affect on plants. I recently just spent $230 On some LED's to overwinter some of my tropicals.

 

[hinmo24t]

I have to say, my wife's monstera and many other plants, grow swimmingly with just being 5 feet or so from our window. Some are even futher and have growth like that without any lights. I don't think that light is doing as much work as you think. I followed your link and the English is terrible on the Amazon description. It doesn't state any specs other than saying "somehow around 2700k light" lol. I guess for $17 bucks it doesn't matter and it's worth a try. I just wanted to be honest though. I've spent the last month solid researching lights and their affect on plants. I recently just spent $230 On some LED's to overwinter some of my tropicals.

lol great pickup on the monstera, you could be onto something there. what has reacted plentifully to those lights are my 3 hoyas, and two peperomias. theres a ficus near these too and it is still pushing growth after just moving inside a week ago
and near those lights. my cuttings (pothos, xmas cactus, purple heart, arrowhead vine) all seem to be reacting to these lights, a lot.

good call on the tech specs, but in that case i was simply putting faith into real world reviews. with 500 at 90% positive (work, safe, cheap) its all i went by and got two of them, even factoring in biased or incentive based reviews, knock out 10% to 450 real ones, the ratio is attactive. im not opening the can of worms on expensive lighting for a few reasons but to each their own. im lucky i have the south facing house and these are just a bit extra

i agree that this is a cheap light w shitty specs, but ill be damned, it works, and for many others as well

 

[W3rk]

Well, I figured cheaping out wouldn’t save too much money, so I decided to buy a tried and true light: a Spider Farmer SF1000

I’m loving it! All kinds of growth coming at a rate I never got to enjoy outdoors—and I’m still at 50%! It’s not a ton of coverage but with some careful placement I can get most of plants the light exposure they want. Experimenting is tons of fun. Growing cuttings in a sealed enclosure without worrying about them overheating seems like a game changer - too early to say

I plan on adding a white poster board surround, a small fan, and a GE grow bulb for additional coverage but I’m definitely getting my money’s worth even with this suboptimal setup.

For anyone thinking about getting a grow light - do it!

I picked up that same SpiderFarmer light about a year ago last fall when I decided that I needed to up my game for overwintering my Ficus' - I was tired of having them limp through winter at best. It was a huge upgrade and a strong improvement. Here's hoping it gives us years of good light.

 

[Hump]

I picked up that same SpiderFarmer light about a year ago last fall when I decided that I needed to up my game for overwintering my Ficus' - I was tired of having them limp through winter at best. It was a huge upgrade and a strong improvement. Here's hoping it gives us years of good light.

Has it held up and how hot did it get? I don't like it doesn't have a real heatsink, but the reviews on that thing are great. Although you can get a 440w of the same thing on alibaba for the same price as the 100w spider farmer version. Maybe a little more but not by much.

 

[cmeg1]

bonsaiBart said:
if you had a green house outside where it rains a lot ...could you put some water proof LED lights to help for lack of sun??

Haha

 

[W3rk]

Has it held up and how hot did it get? I don't like it doesn't have a real heatsink, but the reviews on that thing are great. Although you can get a 440w of the same thing on alibaba for the same price as the 100w spider farmer version. Maybe a little more but not by much.

I'm only at one year - well one season, I last used it in April, and will be starting again for the Winter season. Heat was negligible, the flat surface is a fair heat sink. Definitely got really warm to the touch but it was also out in the open hanging in a spare room so it didn't really raise temps for the plants it was over. So far so good. And yeah I've heard about cheaper stuff via Alibaba but that it can also take months to arrive.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I started growing orchids under lights some 45 years ago. Back then T-12, cool white 40 watt fluorescent shop lights were "state of the art". You can get surprising good growth under crappy lights. But, I think white light, if it is white to the human eye, is better than just the blue & red. I remember the 1990's and early 2000's, when the red & blue LED grow lights had just "become the new thing". Growers got really poor results with them. The shop lights outperformed the then very expensive LED's. Now the technology is orders of magnitude better than it was 20 years ago. I'm really glad to see all the experimentation and variation.

One trick I used for the orchids. I always kept some Cryptanthus bivittatus hybrids, the earth star bromeliad, in the orchid collection. In bright shade, adequate for the slipper orchids, the bromeliad would blush pinkish. If the light was inadequate, the bromeliad would be mostly green and white. In high light, enough for Cattleya orchids, the bromeliad would be intense red bordering on sun-burnt. The photoresponse by the bromeliad was rapid enough that within a week I'd know if a particular location was bright enough. A botanical light meter. Just a little trick from an old fart.

There are other plants that flush color, that could be used that way. But I am familiar with and enjoy growing that one particular bromeliad. BRomeliad Cryptanthus bivittatus, its now pretty difficult to find the "pure" species. Problem with the hybrids is that they stay red, regardless whether in shade or sun. So the hybrids are not quite as useful. Find the species.

 

[Hump]

I'm only at one year - well one season, I last used it in April, and will be starting again for the Winter season. Heat was negligible, the flat surface is a fair heat sink. Definitely got really warm to the touch but it was also out in the open hanging in a spare room so it didn't really raise temps for the plants it was over. So far so good. And yeah I've heard about cheaper stuff via Alibaba but that it can also take months to arrive.

Thanks for the update. I went ahead and purchase a kingbrite 240w from alibaba. It says 6-10 days delivery, so I can update if that's accurate once it arrives. It's good to hear great feedback on the spider farmer and likewise others rhag just have a think passive aluminum heatsink. I need to get another one to have enough coverage so maybe this next go around I'll pick one similar to see the differences in affect