ECO Farm DBL3000 Full Spectrum LED Grow Light 320W VS Spectrum King Phoenix 340W LED Grow light
Looking for the perfect lighting system for a grow takes a lot of work between actual research and getting through the litany of marketing copy and reviews online. It’s a big industry these days, and especially so with LEDs.
To get the most out of an LED system you need a light that can provide the proper spectrums to your plant during all stages of growth. Indoor plants tend to respond to different colors depending on whether it’s a seedling, vegetating or in the flowering stage.
Let’s take a look at the best LED grow lights we’ve found on the market for both general and niche use. Read on at your leisure and take the time to make an informed decision.
How to use LED grow lights to get better results?
LED grow lights have become the most widely used grow lights in recent years by virtue of their own advantages. Because compared with other traditional grow lights, LED grow lights have more advantages, such as: less heat, small space, low power consumption, etc. According to the survey data, LED plant lights can not only greatly increase the yield of crops, but also control the growth rate of crops and achieve multi-season yield increases. More and more relevant professionals choose to use LED plant lights to fill light, so how to use LED plant lights to achieve the desired effect?
The effect of plant lights on plant growth is very extensive, so in order to achieve better use effects, it is first necessary to select appropriate LED plant lights according to the different growth stages of crops. Different crops have different requirements for light time and light intensity, and different growth stages of crops have different requirements for light time and light intensity. Therefore, when choosing a plant light, pay attention to the spectrum and power of the LED plant growth light. For crops that need coloring and flowering and fruiting, you can choose LED grow lights that combine red and blue. For leafy vegetables, full-spectrum LED grow lights are best. For plants that like light, high-power LED grow lights should be selected.
When the lamp is working, it will generate a lot of heat, and the plant lamp is no exception. The plant lamp will generate a certain amount of heat when it is working. If the designed plant light is too close to the plant, it will burn the plant and cause certain damage to the plant. However, if the distance between the plant light and the plant is too far, the utilization rate of the light of the plant light will be greatly reduced, which will greatly affect the fill light effect of the plant light.
The use time of the plant light is closely related to the weather of the day. When the light is weak in the morning, it can fill the plant with light for 2–3 hours. In cloudy or dimly lit weather, you can use grow lights throughout the day to encourage plant growth and ensure normal plant growth later in the day. Of course, plant lighting is also time-limited, and 10 hours of light a day is ideal because plants also need to rest and breathe at night.
ECO Farm DBL3000 Full Spectrum LED Grow Light 320W
Features:
With 864 pcs SAMSUNG LM281B diodes, the ECO Farm Led grow lights draw 320 watts achieving an impressive PPE of 2.5 umol/J, coverage for 3'x3′ of high-yielding full-cycle growth. Excellent full-spectrum LED grow lights deliver optimal light-spectrum coverage for your blooms, Improved uniformity of PPFD, Uniform growth distribution and Highly efficient photosynthesis for increasing overall leaf chlorophyll levels, Full-spectrum is not only cost-effective but also produces better yields. The LED plant lamp has a dimming knob that makes it adaptable to different growing periods of your plant; For mixed vegetative /flowering environments and to tune the amount of light to the cultivars you grow, the fixture can be dimmed to 50% without any loss of efficiency. Can adapt to the growing needs of plants in different periods, the germination, seedling, veg and bloom stages, the first choice for a large area of indoor growing and commercial planting.
Spectrum King Phoenix 340W LED Grow light
Features:
Spectrum King’s Phoenix 340W Veg is the most efficient LED light fixture on the market with a dedicated plant spectrum. SK Cryo-Therm cooling technology enables ultra-thin profiles, maximizes airflow and minimizes microclimates. It has unmatched performance and reliability in its class. It is optimized for single or multi-level planting near the canopy. The Spectrum King Phoenix 340W Veg sets a new benchmark for what’s possible with grow lights. The full spectrum is ideal for most light-loving plant seedlings, vegetation and the entire growth stage of flowering. IP65 waterproof horticultural lighting system, can be used in humid or water vapor environment, easy to use, plug and play.
Important Factors to Consider
There are many mistakes newcomers make when it comes to indoor lighting. Here are important factors to consider for your lighting setup.
Different light types
Many industries are coming to terms with how standardised lighting has sustained unintended adverse consequences. From the film industry to the science world, sources of lighting were traditionally high-intensity discharge (HID) lights. These heat up very quickly and intensely, even to the point of endangering work environments. Such lights can also endanger your plants crop, burning them if a light gets too close. You are trying to achieve precise temperature control of your crop, but the heat from the lights is not helping, and it’s ultimately wasted energy. As a result, the industry in particular is starting to realise that this lack of energy efficiency has an unacceptable environmental impact. There are now more options available for low-heat lighting, like LEDs.
The Power Needs of Your Grow Lights
Once you have your lights set up, you need to make sure there is a reliable power supply. It has to be suitable for the wattage of your lights. Lights with higher wattage will deliver more powerful output. This, however, can be hard to gauge with precision, since different manufacturers will have different outputs from their lights. As a rough guideline, we could estimate — in terms of light hitting the plant — around 15,000–30,000 lumens per square metre is needed at a minimum during the vegetative phase. During the flowering stage, the rough figure to follow is 30,000–50,000 per square metre.
Grow Light Intensity
The intensity of the light itself will increase your yield. This is provided the amount of light available to your plants is optimal. This requires even distribution of the light, as well as an appropriate distance from the plants. The above calculations presumed a distance of 7–10cm from the plant.
It is possible to calculate the distribution of lumens, and therefore, how far they need to travel for best results. The Inverse Square Law states that the intensity of light changes in inverse proportion to the square distance. In other words, the further light travels, the less intense it becomes. Consider that the next time you feel the distant sun’s heat on your face. We advise using a few low-wattage bulbs rather than risking too much intensity from a high-wattage bulb. You will have multiple light sources for your plant that can be more easily adjusted for optimal light penetration.
Distance And Position of Lights
The distance and placing of lights will be especially important to consider when assembling your grow setup. Some growers prefer to arrange plants in tiered rows around a central light source. Others have vertical towers constructed around a central light source. Ideally, lighting from above gives you the best option for exposing light to as much of the plant as possible. You don’t want it too close to the plant and risk burning. You also don’t want the lights to be so far away that plants don’t reach their full potential.
Finding the sweet spot will depend on calculating the light’s intensity. This may require contacting the manufacturer for precise specifications. For example, LEDs can be hard to gauge. As ballpark figures, LED bulbs of 1W should be at least 30cm from the plant; 3W or 5W bulbs should be 45 centimetres away; high-wattage bulbs of 300W or more need 75cm. This is only a rough guideline however. Again, consult the manufacturer with any doubts.
Spacing of Indoor Plants
When cultivating multiple plants together, you will need to make efficient use of space. Once again, it’s all about balance. If you pack your plants too tightly together, you restrict airflow and run the risk of mould and other diseases. Furthermore, the amount of light exposure each plant receives will be cut down significantly due to crowding. Unless growing in a sea of green (SOG) setup, plants should generally not be touching or forced to compete for space. This will culminate in uneven results and fewer banger buds to boot.
If you can, ensure that the light hits the plant from top to bottom, as well as side to side. This way, the entire perimeter of the plant is exposed to adequate light. This allows for a much better chance of achieving optimal light penetration. If your plants continue to grow towards each other and start touching, prune and tie as necessary. Your yield may even be more successful with fewer, larger plants.
Hours of Light
When your lighting setup is finally in place, now is the time to start learning the key skill of indoor growing. Light cycles involve the hours of light exposure and darkness your plants receive over a 24-hour period. This can be a high maintenance aspect of growing plants, requiring a consistent regiment of turning on and off lights at regular times. However, this process can be automated with the right devices and a little overhead.
During the seedling stage, cultivators typically leave lights on for between 16–24 hours a day. Leaving lights on 24/7 is sometimes expensively done, even during the clone stage, although 0–6 hours of darkness is recommended. There is less room for adjustment as the plant starts to grow, with 18 hours of light and 6 of darkness needed for the vegetative state. During the flowering stage, an even 12–12 light cycle is recommended for best results. Do ensure the room is tightly sealed, with no light getting in during darkness. This is the crucial phase of “starving” the plant of light to encourage more robust blooming when the lights are turned back on. Of course, these light cycles only really apply to photoperiod plants; autoflowering plants don’t rely on specific light cycles to grow and bloom.
Using The Light Spectrum To Your Advantage
There is one more issue to consider that is often overlooked in lighting. Lights can vary greatly in terms of colour temperature. This means lights can actually project at very specific parts of the light spectrum, of which only a small percentage is visible to the human eye. Within the visible light spectrum, we can recognise that bluer colours have shorter wavelengths, or higher frequency. Colours closer to the red end of the visible light spectrum have longer wavelengths, meaning a lower frequency. Shifts in the frequency of light waves can alter so much about a plant. Scientists have actually experimented with cultivating strawberries and found they can change colour when the colour of their lighting was changed.
If you want vegetative growth to continue to delay natural flowering, then bluer lights will help achieve that. Towards the other end of the spectrum, red lights will encourage floral propagation and sturdier plants. It’s worth adjusting the colour temperature of your lights if it is possible to do so. It may be that extra tweak at delicate stages in the development of your plant that results in a perfect harvest.
Conclusion
The best grow lights are really important for plants grown in closed environments. However, not all lamps can prove promising. For example, you need to choose one based on the growth stage of the plant. To avoid regrets, limit your choices to the products mentioned in this article.
