GroErr, not suggesting you dump them, as they will be fine as supplements, when combined with ~ 50% white lights, whether those lights are t5/t8, hps, led, or induction
What I'm trying to do is, prevent others from buying them as a single light source
Peace out
I get it, makes sense where you're coming from. But, I always go back to the overriding reason I wanted to document this run. To see what these relatively low cost, off-the-shelf lights, can do if grown in a stable environment, using more or less standard growing methods.
Not all growers here can or want to afford top tier lights. Some want to switch/try LED and be rid of CFL's or dealing with heat issues, some are new, or running small cabs and want LED's for the low heat dissipation. They don't care about 100% efficiency, they just want to grow some personal smoke and not break the bank doing it. Even less want to bother with DIY. In fact, the more time I spend on here, the more I sense is that the majority of particularly hobby/personal growers, tend to buy low-end, chinese lights. And we all know there are hundreds of Chinese LED companies out there more than willing to take our money and run, shipping out crap (as i've experienced first-hand), not honouring warranties, the stories abound...
So, with that in mind and since I can afford to do it (if I don't get a good run, my son will always supply me at cost
), I've spent some time and money sifting through a few lights, and found one of 100's of brands out there that for the price, perform acceptably. Again, for the reasons I've stated many times: They will remain in my garden for, clone, seed, veg. Flowering is yet to be determined in a few weeks for all to see.
Of course I'll move on, change brands, use supplemental lighting, try new shit, (I need to continuously feed my Attention Deficit Disorder). But if these lights can flower acceptably, hopefully this will help some of the small/hobby growers or those looking to get their feet wet with LED's.