The latest and greatest for 2025??

[L3dnov]

I use Cree COBs 3070 and by now that is already old school. They still work great, no doubts and worries there. I am just looking for the latest and greatest. Back in the day I have read, re-read and re-re-read @SupraSPL thread over and over again. I am well familiar with the basics and then some.

What I am not familiar with, is what is latest and greatest. Looks like it has moved from COB to QB to Bars.
Now I do not mind some reading learning and studying. So I am looking for some good articles about where to go from. And is it still worth it to DIY? As far as I can tell, it is pretty much manufactured for you. And on that note, is Kingbrite still a good vendor?

I am sure this info is buried somewhere, I sure can use a Quick Guide for 2025...

 

[H G Griffin]

In for education.

 

[Rocket Soul]

Is diy still worth it? That depends on why you wanna do it. If its strictly for cash savings then probably not. If you have a specific spectrum in mind then yes, most current lights are the same design for best efficiency: cold white diodes with 660 reds; im not very in favor of this.
But if you want a cheap light then id recommend kingbrite or any of the other cheapo brands. I think philzon have a few descent offeing and even some stuff on giveaway right now here on the forum.

Diy may also be useful if your space is of strange dimensions. Or if you want specific features.

 

[L3dnov]

DIY is fun. At least, for me it is. I like sourcing and looking for the 'best' possible out come. And no, DIY does not save any cash, at all. I have seen lights that is way cheaper than I could ever make it for.
No strange dimensions, just a 60 by 120 cm tent, (2 by 4)> I am just wondering what is out there. I noticed that even after a decade, people are still fixated on Watts.... How to get to a power output you want, that is the question and I am all to find out how to do that in 2025!

 

[Rocket Soul]

DIY is fun. At least, for me it is. I like sourcing and looking for the 'best' possible out come. And no, DIY does not save any cash, at all. I have seen lights that is way cheaper than I could ever make it for.
No strange dimensions, just a 60 by 120 cm tent, (2 by 4)> I am just wondering what is out there. I noticed that even after a decade, people are still fixated on Watts.... How to get to a power output you want, that is the question and I am all to find out how to do that in 2025!

Indeed it is great fun
Currently for efficiency the samsung 301b/h and latest cree midpowers seem to be the best output in terms of efficiency. Nichia aswell is great but very hard to find gear with these diodes.

Do you grow full cycle in the same tent?
The best form factor for a 4x2 imo is 2 foot strips (56cm; 2 "led feet" are a bit shorter) across the short side. This allows you to weight the output slightly towards the sides to get the most uniform light on cannopy. F 4foot strips across the space will give a slight hotspot in the middle.
If you already have a plant setup in mind, like 3 plants in a row, you may also consider putting 3 boards in there, one over each plant to get better nrs in light on cannopy.

For growstrips cutter electronics have some nice gear. Grow lights australia have some excellent gear, both strips and boards, which are still om discount until end of february.
Ive tried the strips and i was very happy with the results, they have a fully weed specific spectrum, fully water proof and can be hosed down, high efficiency and uva and red sup incorprated. The uva gives an unmistakeable improvement in taste and smells in every blind test ive run on several different strain we tried. Though not the cheapest option...

Its easier to help if you can give an idea of which market youre in, US/Ca/Eu since shipping and import taxes are a big contributing cost...

 

[Rocket Soul]

Indeed it is great fun
Currently for efficiency the samsung 301b/h and latest cree midpowers seem to be the best output in terms of efficiency. Nichia aswell is great but very hard to find gear with these diodes.

Do you grow full cycle in the same tent?
The best form factor for a 4x2 imo is 2 foot strips (56cm; 2 "led feet" are a bit shorter) across the short side. This allows you to weight the output slightly towards the sides to get the most uniform light on cannopy. F 4foot strips across the space will give a slight hotspot in the middle.
If you already have a plant setup in mind, like 3 plants in a row, you may also consider putting 3 boards in there, one over each plant to get better nrs in light on cannopy.

For growstrips cutter electronics have some nice gear. Grow lights australia have some excellent gear, both strips and boards, which are still om discount until end of february.
Ive tried the strips and i was very happy with the results, they have a fully weed specific spectrum, fully water proof and can be hosed down, high efficiency and uva and red sup incorprated. The uva gives an unmistakeable improvement in taste and smells in every blind test ive run on several different strain we tried. Though not the cheapest option...

Its easier to help if you can give an idea of which market youre in, US/Ca/Eu since shipping and import taxes are a big contributing cost...

L3dnov; if youre still in the eu region led-tech.de is a good outlet of diy grow gear.

 

[1212ham]

The best form factor for a 4x2 imo is 2 foot strips (56cm; 2 "led feet" are a bit shorter) across the short side. This allows you to weight the output slightly towards the sides to get the most uniform light on cannopy. F 4foot strips across the space will give a slight hotspot in the middle.

I have four GLA strips in a 20" x 36" (51 x 92cm) and was surprised at the spacing needed for even coverage, over 12" between the two center strips at 16" from canopy. They're closer now since my Mephisto auto doesn't quite fill the tent. They're also easy to move on my light, an advantage of DIY.

I'm courious, what canopy distance and wattage or PPFD are you using with your GLA light?

 

[Rocket Soul]

I have four GLA strips in a 20" x 36" (51 x 92cm) and was surprised at the spacing needed for even coverage, over 12" between the two center strips at 16" from canopy. They're closer now since my Mephisto auto doesn't quite fill the tent. They're also easy to move on my light, an advantage of DIY.

I'm courious, what canopy distance and wattage or PPFD are you using with your GLA light?

8 on a 320 driver, around 1.1m wide fixture, 25ish cm i think, or even a bit less. Slightly more spacing in the middle but mostly even spacing. But we measure for even light spread with a lux meter.

 

[1212ham]

I use Cree COBs 3070 and by now that is already old school. They still work great, no doubts and worries there. I am just looking for the latest and greatest. Back in the day I have read, re-read and re-re-read @SupraSPL thread over and over again. I am well familiar with the basics and then some.

What I am not familiar with, is what is latest and greatest. Looks like it has moved from COB to QB to Bars.
Now I do not mind some reading learning and studying. So I am looking for some good articles about where to go from. And is it still worth it to DIY? As far as I can tell, it is pretty much manufactured for you. And on that note, is Kingbrite still a good vendor?

I am sure this info is buried somewhere, I sure can use a Quick Guide for 2025...

The Viparspectra XS1500 Pro was an interesting and popular development due to it unique lens design, very even coverage.

ViparSpectra® 2024 Lens Design XS1500 Pro 150W LED Grow Light

Discover ViparSpectra online store. Buy high quality LED grow lights, grow tents and grow tools. Free shipping. Fast delivery. Best customer service.

www.viparspectra.com

ViparSpectra® 2024 Lens Design XS3000 Pro 300W LED Grow Light

Discover ViparSpectra online store. Buy high quality LED grow lights, grow tents and grow tools. Free shipping. Fast delivery. Best customer service.

www.viparspectra.com

 

[Rocket Soul]

The Viparspectra XS1500 Pro was an interesting and popular development due to it unique lens design, very even coverage.

ViparSpectra® 2024 Lens Design XS1500 Pro 150W LED Grow Light

Discover ViparSpectra online store. Buy high quality LED grow lights, grow tents and grow tools. Free shipping. Fast delivery. Best customer service.

www.viparspectra.com

ViparSpectra® 2024 Lens Design XS3000 Pro 300W LED Grow Light

Discover ViparSpectra online store. Buy high quality LED grow lights, grow tents and grow tools. Free shipping. Fast delivery. Best customer service.

www.viparspectra.com

+1 on these as a bang for buck, get it done light fixture. The on cannopy numbers are really good and even. The spectrum is just a little more than base white, only the smallest of red boost.
If OP wanna play around with adding a nice wide red sup abd some uv on separate channels this could be a good start.

 

[L3dnov]

Do you grow full cycle in the same tent?

Pretty much yes. Germination is under Tneon 36 Watts lamp, because they really don't need much else. within a week they are in the flowering tent, where I go 12/12. A because of height restrictions (160 CM) and B, because couple days more vegetation does not really bring that much to the table. So I save some on electricity.

If you already have a plant setup in mind, like 3 plants in a row, you may also consider putting 3 boards in there, one over each plant to get better nrs in light on cannopy.

8 in 18 liter pots, perhaps 15 in 11L.

For growstrips cutter electronics have some nice gear. Grow lights australia have some excellent gear, both strips and boards, which are still om discount until end of february.
Ive tried the strips and i was very happy with the results, they have a fully weed specific spectrum, fully water proof and can be hosed down, high efficiency and uva and red sup incorprated. The uva gives an unmistakeable improvement in taste and smells in every blind test ive run on several different strain we tried. Though not the cheapest option...

Its easier to help if you can give an idea of which market youre in, US/Ca/Eu since shipping and import taxes are a big contributing cost...

I remember Cutter, I remember them also being expensive as hell. I pass on GL Ozzie, that discount is probabaly lost in shipping, if they even shop to EU. Because yes, still in EU

 

[Rocket Soul]

Pretty much yes. Germination is under Tneon 36 Watts lamp, because they really don't need much else. within a week they are in the flowering tent, where I go 12/12. A because of height restrictions (160 CM) and B, because couple days more vegetation does not really bring that much to the table. So I save some on electricity.

8 in 18 liter pots, perhaps 15 in 11L.


I remember Cutter, I remember them also being expensive as hell. I pass on GL Ozzie, that discount is probabaly lost in shipping, if they even shop to EU. Because yes, still in EU

Cutter usually have some type of discounts hanging about, just look around their site cause theres used to be a a 10% promise for first time buyers. GLA the same but i think discounts is only lasting today out. Its worth it to mention that aus $ are much cheaper than usd but shipping is a killer.

With low height restriction you should defo look for strips and not boards.

Diy with arrow

What is the mint green mammoth bars? Are those available aftermarket? Those are built for they're lights at mammoth with Samsung lm301h Evo mint chips mixed In with other whites and reds, bunch o hype imo, I purposely avoid anything samsung but I'll check to see if any h influx or f series...

www.rollitup.org

This is a thread on current deals but it probably not the latest and the greatest, but cheap

 

[Rocket Soul]

For a short tent youre likely best off chosing something with high blue content, or a separate blue/uv channel do dial in node distance.

 

[L3dnov]

This is a thread on current deals but it probably not the latest and the greatest, but cheap

Doesn't need to be the that latest and greatest, it also needs to be some cost effective. Please help me understand why LM301H EVO is better than LM301B | Rollitup In that topic, people make valid points, the Evo is just only so much better, that you hardly will ever notice the difference, unless you scale things up significantly.

It is the reason why I more or less go 12/12 straight away, keeps it short, and as said, I hardly notice the extra grams it may give me if I grow a little bit longer.

 

[Rocket Soul]

Doesn't need to be the that latest and greatest, it also needs to be some cost effective. Please help me understand why LM301H EVO is better than LM301B | Rollitup In that topic, people make valid points, the Evo is just only so much better, that you hardly will ever notice the difference, unless you scale things up significantly.

It is the reason why I more or less go 12/12 straight away, keeps it short, and as said, I hardly notice the extra grams it may give me if I grow a little bit longer.

The evo has a different blue photon pump which should be a bit better for plants (hits borh chloro a and b, instead of hust one of them) but i havent tried it myself. The efficiency gain i think is fairly marginal; probably down to evos having more blue in the spectrum for the same cct.

 

[Rocket Soul]

From your previous build, do you have a driver that you can/want to reuse?

 

[Zogs]

I use Cree COBs 3070 and by now that is already old school. They still work great, no doubts and worries there. I am just looking for the latest and greatest. Back in the day I have read, re-read and re-re-read @SupraSPL thread over and over again. I am well familiar with the basics and then some.

What I am not familiar with, is what is latest and greatest. Looks like it has moved from COB to QB to Bars.
Now I do not mind some reading learning and studying. So I am looking for some good articles about where to go from. And is it still worth it to DIY? As far as I can tell, it is pretty much manufactured for you. And on that note, is Kingbrite still a good vendor?

I am sure this info is buried somewhere, I sure can use a Quick Guide for 2025...

Interesting you bring this up. I've hit some of my best Grams per watt per plant under (bigsmo I think) cobb lighting. I've moved on to QB panels and bars. I don't find them to be "better", however they are by far cheaper and cover more space. I had a 6 ounce autoflower under one 68w cobb.

 

[L3dnov]

that is weird, pretty sure I wrote a reply...
Anyway

Yes I do have old drivers, and do want to reuse them if possible.
I have 1 Mean Well HLG-185H-C700B
And 2 Mean Well HLG-185H-C1400B

 

[L3dnov]

Interesting you bring this up. I think I've hit some of my best Grams per watt per plant under (bigsmo I think) cobb lighting. I've moved on to QB panels and bars. I don't find them to be "better", however they are by far cheaper and cover more space. A 6 ounce autoflower under one 68w cobb.

That is why this topic as well, is it worth to 'upgrade'. those COBs always did their job, and then some. If not, then well I still have a good resource topic to fall back on when the COB eventually do die out on me.

 

[Zogs]

That is why this topic as well, is it worth to 'upgrade'. those COBs always did their job, and then some. If not, then well I still have a good resource topic to fall back on when the COB eventually do die out on me.

I've noticed the cobs do start to die after a few years. If you take a photo of them you can see some of the small diodes inside start to go dark. It's usually starts around the perimeter of the chip. You wouldn't notice without taking a photo.