Which UFO to buy?

Cheech Wizard

Well-Known Member
There is this one from HTG and its only like 189. My friend got it and it does work great. (hes only veged with it so far tho)
LED UFO G3 Grow Light

Generation 3, Best Design Yet, OUTGROWS ALL OTHERS

This is not the same old design LED UFO that EVERYBODY else is selling.

This is OUR latest design, custom enginereed and manufactured to our growing specifications. This unit includes spectrums that ALL others MISS!

A little background:

We are the biggest hydroponic/grow light supplier on ebay and we are huge on the internet. In fact, you might have seen us mentioned in any one of the dozens of grow discussions sites as being the best priced, best service, internet supplier out there. We also operate 2 busy retail stores, in Pennsylvania and Florida.

In the past we have sold LED UFO units made by others, (the same ones still being sold by everybody else out there). Some of our customers had decent results, others were mostly disappointed. We realized that the LED light was a big part of the future of indoor growing, and we decided it was about time that somebody produced one that actually worked. We enlisted the help of a PHD Botanist to get to the root of why the previous LED UFO lights were not working so well, and what could be done to improve them.

We discovered many things in the past 18 months in our engineering research:

1- Other LED UFO’s provide the wrong spectrum for plant growth, the spectrums are “close” but not a match to those required for maximum photosynthesis.
2- Other LED UFO’s were the same item, produced at the same Asian factory, just with different brand names.
3- The marketing for these units was vastly different depending on the seller, but most sellers stretched the truth (to say the least) when advertising the results and the spectrums produced.
4- The other LED UFO’s use of the wrong spectrums of LED was no accident; it was a cost saving measure. Buying the correct spectrum LED is much more expensive than buying an “off the shelf” LED used for traffic signals.


Plant growth 101:
Plants grow by the process of photosynthesis. Chlorophyll is vital for photosynthesis, which allows plants to obtain energy from light. Plants only absorb certain light spectrums, mostly blue and red, while nearly all others are reflected or otherwise unused by the plant. Light spectrums are measured in nanometers or “nm”. Chlorophyll production is made up of two parts, A and B. Maximum chlorophyll A production occurs at 662nm (for red) and 430nm (for blue), while maximum chlorophyll B production occurs at 642nm (for red) and 453nm (for blue). These are the peak points at which chlorophyll production is maximized, even just a few nm above or below these points will significantly reduce production. Our PHD recommended that we find these exact spectrums to maximize plant growth.

This was the baseline we had to work with. We found out that the standard LED UFO units did not provide these special spectrums. There were however, some slick sellers of these units that promised that the special spectrums were used, but when we tested them in the lab, we found that they were just the standard “red” and “blue” LED’s. While these standard LED’s are much cheaper to produce, they simply do not produce the results that are possible.


The manufacturer of the “standard” LED UFO did not want to work with us. They had no interest in producing a special unit for us, as they just wanted to sell the same old thing, over and over, making a bunch of cash, but providing sub-standard results. They actually just wanted to produce the standard units cheaper, so they could sell more and make more money.

We decided to contract a specialty lighting manufacturer to produce our own LED UFO unit. After a long and expensive search we found an LED supplier for these specialty spectrums, which are not at all the industry standards. Over the last 18 months, we tested over 12 different combinations of LED manufacturers and spectrums to see what worked the best. With many failures and successes we had prototypes ready for testing. After many prototypes and testing samples, we have created the G3 LED UFO. This Generation3 unit blew away the other LED UFO’s in our testing. We classify the G3 LED UFO as a “3-band” unit since it uses 3 different LED modules, but it is actually more than this, as the third LED unit we include is a special LED unit which is a Wide Spectrum LED.



OTHER SELLERS ADD A CHEAP ORANGE LED AND CALL IT A TRI-BAND. ORANGE LIGHT IS NOT USED BY PLANTS FOR GROWTH AT ALL, Just by quick-buck sellers who don't actually grow anything or operate hydro shops like we do.........
OTHER SELLERS HAVE INTRODUCED A "4 BAND" LED LIGHT, TO BE HONEST, OUR LIGHT, WITH THE ADDITION OF OUR WIDE SPECTRUM LED COVERS ALL OF THE MISSING SPECTRUMS, NOT JUST ONE OR TWO.





This produces an output range unmatched by all other units, providing “light nourishment” in nm spectrums that the others miss. We found that adding other orange spectrums did little to nothing for production. But, when we added the Wide Spectrum LED, plant growth was significantly increased.

G3 LED UFO INFO:

SAVE ENERGY, REDUCE HEAT, GIVE PLANTS THE LIGHT THEY LOVE AND NOTHING ELSE!

Why use our G3 LED UFO GROW LIGHT to grow plants?

Up to now the only popular choice for indoor growers has been Sodium (HPS) or Halide (MH) lights which both produce a very wide band of lighting. However less than 10% of a Sodium or Halide lamps output is actually used by the plant.
With the advent of LED lighting, we can custom tailor the output of the lamp to match exactly the band of light required for Chlorophyll production!

What does all this mean?

This means that almost 100% of the power input for our LED GROW LIGHT is used for plant production.

What are the other benefits?

Another great benefit of the G3 LED GROW LIGHT is the very small amount of heat produced. The LED GROW LIGHT operates completely cool to the touch and plants can actually grow right up to the fixture, try that with any Sodium or Halide lamp.

Here are some of the benefits of lower heat levels:

1) No HEAT SIGNATURE detectable by infrared cameras.
2) Less heat means lower grow room temperatures and lower humidity, making controlling the micro-environment of your grow room easier to maintain properly
3) No heat damage to plants like burnt out leaves that got too close to a traditional High Intensity Discharge (H.I.D.) bulb (like HPS or MH)
4) No high temperature lights to worry about. No hot light bulbs or cumbersome, heavy and hot ballast enslosures either.

The concept behind the G3 LED GROW LIGHT is simple – it uses highly efficient 1 watt LED’s, which are the very specialized exact spectrums required for photosynthesis. The 1 watt LED use wide angle directional bulbs for a wide area of coverage. The 1 watt LED is one of the most efficient light sources in the world (lumens per watt). By using only the spectrums required for plant growth, no light is wasted generating spectrums of light that do nothing for a plants growth – such as green light. Also the directional LED’s ensure 100% of the light is pointed downwards – they do not rely upon reflective materials to direct the light.
The G3 LED GROW LIGHT can be used by itself for all cycles of plant growth (covers approximately 9-25 square feet or a 3'x3' to 5’x5’ area, same as a 400w HPS system). It can also be combined with fluorescent, H.I.D. (HPS,MH) lighting as well. It's perfect for indoor growers who want a low heat/high output system that uses very little electricity. L.E.D.'s are the future of grow lights available today!

G3 LED UFO GROW LIGHT Features:

-The G3 LED UFO GROW LIGHT does not require a ballast and simply plugs into any standard household outlet.

-The G3 LED UFO GROW LIGHT is manufactured using long life LED lights. These lights have a rated life of over 100,000 hours (there are 8,760 hours in a year).

-The power use of the G3 LED UFO GROW LIGHT is approximately 90 watts each.

-The G3 LEDs are nearly 100% efficient at plant growth! This is 10 times the efficiency of a Sodium or Halide light!



- Greatly reduced power consumption (uses only 90 watts!), over a year’s time, this will reduce power bills by hundreds of dollars when compared to a 400 watt HID system.


- Less Heat Generated (very little heat, and what little heat it does generate is dissipated by the three built-in fans) Drastically reducing your cooling costs, saving even more money.


- G3 Technology, with special full spectrum output.


- Plugs into a standard household outlet




-Environmentally friendly, no hazardous components.

-Low weight, only 6 pounds.

-Low Profile: 10.5" diameter and 2.5" deep

-Uses only 90 watts but has the output equal to a 400 watt High Pressure Sodium System!

-3 Built-In Cooling Fans

-80,000 hour life expectancy


-The G3 LED GROW LIGHT comes with its own 6' Grounded Power Cord!
-The G3 LED GROW LIGHT is the most revolutionary plant lighting product since the invention of the High Intensity Discharge (H.I.D.) lamp and ballast. Consuming only 90 watts of power and producing virtually no heat, the G3 LED GROW LIGHT boasts light intensity and growth rates exceeding that of a 400W HPS.



Light Emitting Diode (L.E.D.) technology is the absolute newest technology in plant growth! These lights represent the cutting edge of horticultural lighting. LED lights are currently being used by NASA for growing plants in outer space

or this one for 350 from Prosource...
Illuminator UFO 90W Our Price: $349.00

The Illuminator UFO delivers quite a punch while measuring nearly 1 ft. in diameter, it was designed to blend the optimal spectrums & wavelengths required for both the Vegetative & Flowering Cycles. The concept of the Illuminator UFO is to offer a light that will provide for your plants through all cycles of growth. Illuminator UFO has been upgraded with High-Intensity Deep Red Wavelengths to intensify the effects during the Flowering Cycle and also employs a New 5-Band Tri-Spectrum vs. the traditional Dual-Band Red & Blue Spectrums found in 1st Gen. LED's. By far this has produced much better results druing your Bloom Cycle, as well as to provide for a very healthy Vegetation Cycle

Im just confused because HTG in their description says that orange light is useless and the one from Prosource uses red, orange and blue leds. But, I have read Irishboys thread and he uses this prosource ufo with good results.... cant decide...
 

Cheech Wizard

Well-Known Member
The HTG one is like half the price.... hmmmm..... I will be using this to veg in a small tent, but once summer comes again, I would like to use it for veg and flower becasue of summer heat issues I had with my HPS this past summer.... So, i figure I will get good use out of it.. Im not using my 400 HPS again in the summer becasue I had like 90 degree temps
 

KenWood

Active Member
The HTG one is like half the price.... hmmmm..... I will be using this to veg in a small tent, but once summer comes again, I would like to use it for veg and flower becasue of summer heat issues I had with my HPS this past summer.... So, i figure I will get good use out of it.. Im not using my 400 HPS again in the summer becasue I had like 90 degree temps
I would do a search for LED Grow lights on internet see what one you think and then see if anyone has delt with them. The one I have I got from guy close to where I live and have delt with him with printer and plotters. He is a good person and smart. After talking with him and told him what my plans are, he showed me a grow room with the light in it. Seeing helps to make up your mind. He has a web

http://www.g2led.com/lighting/grow.php
 

Cheech Wizard

Well-Known Member
Im thinking of going with HTGs.. Its almost half the price as the 90 watt Prosource.. plus, the prosource uses orange leds which according to all the text in HTGs write up does not benefit plants at all....
 

Cheech Wizard

Well-Known Member
Yeah, I know I have 2 400 watt HPS... this is for a small veg tent and then I will expieriment with flowering with UFO during hot part of summer cuz this summer my HPS brought my temps up to 90s... rest of the year I flower with HPS of course... but, rather than take next summer off like I was planning, I will try the UFO, which produces almost no heat.
 

wonderblunder

Well-Known Member
I would give LEDs a shot if I convince my growshop to let me take one home and try it for 2 monthes. Im with Dan Halen..... I have heard of some companies using LEDs from car headlights in their growlights, and they don't put out the right spectrum....... I would just cool down my HPS with AC and High velocity inline fans.
 

Cheech Wizard

Well-Known Member
Yeah, I never bought a UFO... I just bought a hydrofarm cfl fixture and a 125 watt cfl and veged 3 weeks with that and had great results. My babies have been under HPS for 3 weeks and look great.... yeah, fuck ufo's.. Ill just stick to veging with MH or cfls(cfl did work great!)
 

Dr.RR

Active Member
Yeah, I never bought a UFO... I just bought a hydrofarm cfl fixture and a 125 watt cfl and veged 3 weeks with that and had great results. My babies have been under HPS for 3 weeks and look great.... yeah, fuck ufo's.. Ill just stick to veging with MH or cfls(cfl did work great!)
so you never used one before then? Prolly shouldnt be bashin it then ;-)
 

Big Perm

Well-Known Member
I normally stay out of these, but I'll throw in some tips for any interrested.

You can make your own for about $50 with some research on the internet, if you are halfway mechanically savy, ok, more than halfway. Try to find some research notes from NASA.

470nm Blue, and 660nm Red are the minimum you need, but the 660nm are slightly harder to find, they bounce around on ebay now and then, just do a search for 660 red led.

One mistake I made when making one for my dad was I decided 640nm's on the red side would be good enough, it wasn't, so the thing became a paper weight in the flower stage, and he finished that grow with HPS.

I made him another one with some 660's he found, and he uses it, but can only pull it off on one plant at a time (he uses soil pots, and doesn't do SOG/SCROG), so he wants more made, I think he's got 3 or 4 grows on it. I'm making him 5 more for christmas, so I'll do a How-to when I do it.

$50 for something that will pull 18w (the model I made for him), and last for 10 years+ with no heat and all of the other pro's, you just make one for each plant, or in a SCROG/SOG make one biggass panel with the led's as close together as you can get them (this is what I am going to make for myself).
I used a cocktail based on the research I came across. I threw in some UV's based on some research of a very specific UVnm for THC, some 525nm's also, as well as some 620-640nm's. 660's are the key though, don't even bother starting unless you can get ahold of these.
Oh, and just because you use 1/4 watt resistors, doesn't mean you can just add all of the resistors up and divide by 4 to get your wattage. You have to do the math, something that you have to do anyway, based on the actual wattage you are putting through each resistor. I put 5 switches on it, 1 for Blue, 2 for Red, 1 for 525, 1 for UV. Flip whatever switch on you want to use in whatever stage in growth, or all 5 in the case of the last week of flowering.


The fact is this technology works. Haters have never used them, or buy those cheapass ones on the internet to save a few bucks, then bitch because they don't flower, lol. Have you noticed that most of the problems people have on here about 'this strain sucks and don't buy from these people', the subject can be about anything, but 9 times out of 10 it's because the poster is an idiot. So, you have to factor that in. Plus some people might just be plain jealous because they just dropped a shitpot of money on a sweet HPS setup, while someone else is getting acceptable results for next to nothing.
I'm not arguing which is better, and never will.
I do plan on writting up a How-To when I make these for my dad, right now all the stuff I ordered is still showing up. You guys will know when I post it.
I can answer some questions in messages, but really don't want to get a flood of questions right now.
 

cell1988

Well-Known Member
okay i know this is gonna suck to hear, but UFO's arent a good buy at all. they are fairly cheap, but i promise you will not get very good results. you would be better off growing with some cfl's or a t5. if you want to have the best results though you gotta go with hps lights. you probably didnt want to get a hps cause they create a lot of heat and they are expensive. if you have enough money, go with a hps. if you dont than just go with cfl's or t5's. just dont make the mistake of buying the UFO..... its totally not worth it.. they sound like a great deal, and they sound like they would work well, but they arent worth it dude. good luck man
 

socaldad

Member
For what its worth. I found a Guy that makes LEDs right here in the US. I Just got one sent to me from the east coast to the west coast for only $209.00 with a 2year warranty. It is a 120watt 60%red 40%blue flat. I am running this LED right along my HPS in the same room.
 

Ironlungz82

Active Member
Looking forward to your DIY LED setup. I'll be deff looking for that write up. I use LED for my grows and I'm happy with them. A lot of people who usually bash on LED grows are ones that never grew with them or used the crappy LED's with the wrong spectrum. There's someone on here who grows with UFO's and had success with it.

I normally stay out of these, but I'll throw in some tips for any interrested.

You can make your own for about $50 with some research on the internet, if you are halfway mechanically savy, ok, more than halfway. Try to find some research notes from NASA.

470nm Blue, and 660nm Red are the minimum you need, but the 660nm are slightly harder to find, they bounce around on ebay now and then, just do a search for 660 red led.

One mistake I made when making one for my dad was I decided 640nm's on the red side would be good enough, it wasn't, so the thing became a paper weight in the flower stage, and he finished that grow with HPS.

I made him another one with some 660's he found, and he uses it, but can only pull it off on one plant at a time (he uses soil pots, and doesn't do SOG/SCROG), so he wants more made, I think he's got 3 or 4 grows on it. I'm making him 5 more for christmas, so I'll do a How-to when I do it.

$50 for something that will pull 18w (the model I made for him), and last for 10 years+ with no heat and all of the other pro's, you just make one for each plant, or in a SCROG/SOG make one biggass panel with the led's as close together as you can get them (this is what I am going to make for myself).
I used a cocktail based on the research I came across. I threw in some UV's based on some research of a very specific UVnm for THC, some 525nm's also, as well as some 620-640nm's. 660's are the key though, don't even bother starting unless you can get ahold of these.
Oh, and just because you use 1/4 watt resistors, doesn't mean you can just add all of the resistors up and divide by 4 to get your wattage. You have to do the math, something that you have to do anyway, based on the actual wattage you are putting through each resistor. I put 5 switches on it, 1 for Blue, 2 for Red, 1 for 525, 1 for UV. Flip whatever switch on you want to use in whatever stage in growth, or all 5 in the case of the last week of flowering.


The fact is this technology works. Haters have never used them, or buy those cheapass ones on the internet to save a few bucks, then bitch because they don't flower, lol. Have you noticed that most of the problems people have on here about 'this strain sucks and don't buy from these people', the subject can be about anything, but 9 times out of 10 it's because the poster is an idiot. So, you have to factor that in. Plus some people might just be plain jealous because they just dropped a shitpot of money on a sweet HPS setup, while someone else is getting acceptable results for next to nothing.
I'm not arguing which is better, and never will.
I do plan on writting up a How-To when I make these for my dad, right now all the stuff I ordered is still showing up. You guys will know when I post it.
I can answer some questions in messages, but really don't want to get a flood of questions right now.
 

Megalith

Well-Known Member
I'm experimenting now with the UFO's. So. I'll add my input as well. I saw a test where the 630 nm reds out perform the 660's. If you go to sunlightsheds and go to their news section their is a video of 1 of their test. I am using 2 90 watt UFO's and about 4 weeks into flower. All is well to this point and the seem to work better than my 400 watt hps set up. They are also sold for around $199.00 a piece which I found cheaper than almost everywhere. I've seen them as much as $500
 
Im using the G3 from HTG and the thing rocks...got a 2 bulb t5 upstairs, G3 UFO on the bottom, w 2 CFLs supplementing both rooms 2700k top, 6500 bottom. Im in week 2 of veg and my plants are going crazy under the LED. as soon as the change from the t5 to the LED there were visible differences in growth whthin the first 2 days. Am in process of topping and i can practically rest the light on top of plants. Would not even need exhaust with this unit i it wernt for the smell HTG is flowering 12 tomato plants in a 4x4x8 poly tent up in mass. I did a lot of research before i invested the 185 bucks, but now my whole setup is running under 300w compared to a 250mh and a 4/600hps. Grow Big!
dont buy any LEDs unless its the Gen3, there all made very shittily in china
peace
 

smppro

Well-Known Member
If you want a good LED go to HydrogrowLED, i have 2 of their panels(126w x2) and couldnt be happier. They use the correct sprectrum, and a better lens angel than most. I believe they are the cheapest as far as how much you pay per watt. Like big perm said you can build your own, but they cost about as much, probably around $350-$400 for 126w, i paid $450 shipped, i know its built properly, and i have a 3 year warrenty on it, that the way to go in my opinion.
 
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