between these two panels, which would be better?

frica said:

Blackdog isn't good anyway, they're just really expensive.

You can also go an other cheap route by using LED bulbs. (Pictures aren't mine, but you get the idea)
Most people who use LED bulbs don't use that many on such a small area, this one is just a bit more extreme.

Click to expand...

I love my Sylvania led spot light bulbs for veg. They absolutely Rock. Especially these ones cuz they have a nice optic beaming. There's a Company called Wicked that uses different bulbs. My Amare Freind @born2grow1 uses them w/ great success.
Great supplemental for edges in flower too.
And they offer CXA's as well as bulbs peaking in R+B. Pretty cool.
http://www.wickedlightstore.com

Osram doesn't make a bad product. Sylvania and osram same company

I'm going to bite the bullet and grab a viparspectra off amazon simply because my seedlings are already rocking (been dry and am getting itchy) and are starting to streeeeetch, curious if more wattage is always recommended, looking at both the 450 and 600 in the reflector series. not looking for other options at this time as these are on amazon.de for prime and i will have them by tuesday afternoon. will upgrade for my next grow to a DIY COB set up(atleast for flower and keep this puppy for veg)... thanks for any input also a roleadro 800 wat blurple cob is an option as well

http://www.viparspectra.com/goods.php?id=61

"Radiant:208767.0 mW"
"Power : P=137.60W"

So 20.9W of light for 137.6W of power.
15% efficient.


A normal Philips 2700K 100 lm/w bulb is around 30% efficient.
So literally twice as efficient as that panel.

And the more efficient 117-122 lm/w Philips/Osram bulbs are about 38% efficient.

So is this the true power of Epistar?


You can get the same results with a 50W CXB3070.
And better results with a 50W 3590 or gen 7 vero 29.

@frica problem is my local hardware store doesnt carry any ballasts to support these, only pre fab style lighting. and they are not on amazon prime over here in Germany. failed to prep as I was impatient with my lack of nug so now im scrambling to tie down a light source ASAP

BostonPuff said:

@frica problem is my local hardware store doesnt carry any ballasts to support these, only pre fab style lighting. and they are not on amazon prime over here in Germany. failed to prep as I was impatient with my lack of nug so now im scrambling to tie down a light source ASAP

Click to expand...

You didn't like the Wicked LED? They are much better then Viper.
They make The Wicked Stick!
Which is what most people that buy Vioer beat themselves w/. Lol!

BostonPuff said:

@frica problem is my local hardware store doesnt carry any ballasts to support these, only pre fab style lighting. and they are not on amazon prime over here in Germany. failed to prep as I was impatient with my lack of nug so now im scrambling to tie down a light source ASAP

Click to expand...

Any sort of LED bulb will do better than the ViperSpectra.

Since it's only 15% efficient (as according to themselves), you only need 70W of generic store bought LED bulbs to equal (actually trump) the light output.

A build like this is also an option.


And since you're in Germany you have access to quality bulbs.

http://www.leds.de/LED-Lampen-Leuchtmittel/Philips-CorePro-LEDbulb-13-100W-A60-E27-827-matt.html
4.68 euro for a 13w light, 117 lm/w (roughly 38% efficient)

And the Osram parathom.
http://www.leds.de/LED-Lampen-Leuchtmittel/Osram-LED-STAR-CLA150-20W-827-matt-E27.html
11.10 euro for a 20W light, 122 lm/w.

4 Osram parathoms already put out more light.
Remove the diffuser and it's even more awesome.
And if you're too lazy to screw a few screws on a piece of wood, 4 bulbs is such a small amount that you can just have them hanging around with some regular hanging sockets or however they're called.

I'm thinking of getting the Amare se-250 to start experimenting with indoor growing 1-2 small plants in 3 gallon smart pots with Live Organic Soil.
Is this and ideal choice for the price range and quality?
I just want to grow quality medicine and not have question if I am getting the max potential from my plants.

STX.OrganicGuerilla said:

I'm thinking of getting the Amare se-250 to start experimenting with indoor growing 1-2 small plants in 3 gallon smart pots with Live Organic Soil.
Is this and ideal choice for the price range and quality?
I just want to grow quality medicine and not have question if I am getting the max potential from my plants.

Click to expand...

Yea, Amare makes exellent products.

frica said:

Any sort of LED bulb will do better than the ViperSpectra.

Since it's only 15% efficient (as according to themselves), you only need 70W of generic store bought LED bulbs to equal (actually trump) the light output.

A build like this is also an option.

And since you're in Germany you have access to quality bulbs.

http://www.leds.de/LED-Lampen-Leuchtmittel/Philips-CorePro-LEDbulb-13-100W-A60-E27-827-matt.html
4.68 euro for a 13w light, 117 lm/w (roughly 38% efficient)

And the Osram parathom.
http://www.leds.de/LED-Lampen-Leuchtmittel/Osram-LED-STAR-CLA150-20W-827-matt-E27.html
11.10 euro for a 20W light, 122 lm/w.

4 Osram parathoms already put out more light.
Remove the diffuser and it's even more awesome.
And if you're too lazy to screw a few screws on a piece of wood, 4 bulbs is such a small amount that you can just have them hanging around with some regular hanging sockets or however they're called.

Click to expand...

I like these but mine are the 120-150 w equivalent. Wish I seen the 250 w equivalent in stock.
https://m.lowes.com/pd/SYLVANIA-250-W-Equivalent-Dimmable-Daylight-PAR38-LED-Flood-Light-Bulb/1000083109
The optics makes it super bright within the footprint.

STX.OrganicGuerilla said:

I'm thinking of getting the Amare se-250 to start experimenting with indoor growing 1-2 small plants in 3 gallon smart pots with Live Organic Soil.
Is this and ideal choice for the price range and quality?
I just want to grow quality medicine and not have question if I am getting the max potential from my plants.

Click to expand...

Yes, good choice!
You can always add more too if you expand. The Solar-System 1000 is 4 of the 250's connected w/ H-Brackets.

https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00S4P2B8C/ref=ya_st_dp_summary


are 4 of these sufficient to veg 2 plants?

viparspectra has too many useless led at 33% efficiency.

the meizhi is another stupid cheap board that is much more efficient. almost 50% efficiency. tons more red too.

BostonPuff said:

https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00S4P2B8C/ref=ya_st_dp_summary


are 4 of these sufficient to veg 2 plants?

Click to expand...

Don't you live in Germany?

Get 4 osram 100w equivalent LED bulbs instead.
It will save you money, because electricity is not cheap there and CFL is simply not efficient enough.

Iirc energy is 30 cent / kwh there.
One veg cycle and the Led already saved you money

STX.OrganicGuerilla said:

I'm thinking of getting the Amare se-250 to start experimenting with indoor growing 1-2 small plants in 3 gallon smart pots with Live Organic Soil.
Is this and ideal choice for the price range and quality?
I just want to grow quality medicine and not have question if I am getting the max potential from my plants.

Click to expand...

I own and love my SE 250, but not for 2+ plants. Why? Plant canopies can grow BIG under the Amares. I have one plant that was growing under my SE 250, but the branches got so big and therefore wide, I switched to the P 3

The Amare P3 is good for 2 small plants. More than that you will need something like the SE 450

Pic is pre switch to P3. The cube is 19" square. I am thinking to move it under my SPYDR in order to get best coverage

Oh, I DeFoled her today. Nothing radical, just the biggest leafs

im with frica here, led light bulbs in differ kelvin ratings would your best bet if you aren't going to get a COB/QB set up.

BostonPuff said:

I'm going to bite the bullet and grab a viparspectra off amazon simply because my seedlings are already rocking (been dry and am getting itchy) and are starting to streeeeetch, curious if more wattage is always recommended, looking at both the 450 and 600 in the reflector series. not looking for other options at this time as these are on amazon.de for prime and i will have them by tuesday afternoon. will upgrade for my next grow to a DIY COB set up(atleast for flower and keep this puppy for veg)... thanks for any input also a roleadro 800 wat blurple cob is an option as well

Click to expand...

There's a dude on GrassCity saying the Vipers are all fakes. Bad/fake certs or whatever. IDC, but thought you might wanna look into it.

@Hybridway thanks for the heads up bro, ordered some 6500k CFLs and am going to grab some LED bulbs as well for veg, and try and tie down a nice light in a few weeks for flowering

BostonPuff said:

@Hybridway thanks for the heads up bro, ordered some 6500k CFLs and am going to grab some LED bulbs as well for veg, and try and tie down a nice light in a few weeks for flowering

Click to expand...

Sounds like a good idea. Not sure how much your vegging but those cob spotlight bulbs work great & provide density to the light w/ optics.
I got mine @ Lowes. Bought the generic ones (150w replacement) ones too but the have glass diffusers on them. I don't like them as much as the ones w/ an optic lens. What I mentioned about the Vipers is posted all over GC. the guy shows proof n everything.
5k is my choice in K-temp for veg, providing enough red for root development. But mixing 5K LEDs & 65k CFL's will work well. There's plenty of good led lights out nowadays for flowering. Just have to save up a lil to get a good one or you'll only get 1/2 the yields you could get from what I see from those using burple Amazon/Alibaba lights. Can't judge them by the reviews. Those reviews are based on the top-sellers I think, not performance or anything worth using as a determining factor.
Good luck! Keep us posted w/ your veg set-up. Growing is the shit! I love it. Changed my life for the better in so many ways. Peace!
If you had $300 you could get the veg light I have. Only 100w & puts out more light then my 440w T-5. These are 16"x4' but they're available in 2'x4' too. I found myself spending more then that on CFL's n stuff when I first started, now they're all just laying around. Might save you in the long run to get a good veg light off the rip.