Mars Hydro FC 6500-H Commercial Full Spectrum LED Grow Lights VS FLORAFLEX® LED GROW LIGHT- 650–8 BAR LED Grow Light
Does indoor plant grow better in sunlight or artificial light? The longstanding debate continues to rage about whether indoor controlled-environment lighting or outdoor plants using natural sunlight is better.
Each camp has its firm and devoted legions that have already made up their minds. The question is: Which one is right for you?
Fortunately, there’s room for both cultivation methods in today’s growing space, and one method is unlikely to replace the other. Both types of lighting can provide excellent results. Generally, sunlight is preferred for better plant growth.
The indoor plant requires full sun or artificial radiation to thrive — it’s not a plant that enjoys a lot of shade. It soaks up the rays and grows at a fast rate. Both natural sunlight and artificial grow lights have their pros and cons.
Why Use LED Grow Lights?
Saving energy is one of the most important things
LED lights have a longer bulb life
HPS lights they emanate more heat than LED lights
Spectrum describes the different wavelengths
Saving energy is one of the most important things for anyone who is using grow light. LED Grow lights are preferred because they consume less electricity than HPS lights. According to market research, LED lights consume 90 percent less power than HPS grow lights. You have less load on your amperage and electric breakers at home because LED grow lights enhance the energy efficiency of your indoor garden.In comparison to HPS lights, LED lights have a longer bulb life. With time, HPS bulbs may become dimmer and lose efficiency. Even the actual operating cost over the lifetime of an HPS bulb increases with usage. On the other hand, LED bulbs offer a bit more power at the end of their lives.
When it comes to HPS lights they emanate more heat than LED lights, which often give you integrated heat sinks. Heat emanated from HPS lights requires ventilation which may cause additional costs. Whereas in the case of LED lights, the heat released is less than half than that of its counterpart, HPS.LED lights need less electricity to operate than HPS lights. This helps you reduce a major part of your indoor gardening expenses.Comparisons between LED and HPS lights clearly show that the LED bulb is the winner in a lot of factors. It saves you a lot of operating expenses due to built-in heat sinks. It also promises more energy efficiency than an HPS bulb. As they don’t lose efficiency quickly, they will only help you increase your savings over time.
Mars Hydro FC 6500-H Commercial Full Spectrum LED Grow Lights
Features:
The Mars Hydro LED grow light uses the best-Selling Samsung LM301B LEDs- 2688Pcs Best-Selling Samsung LM301H and Osram 660nm LEDs chips, High Efficiency Up to 2.8 µmol/J. Upgraded Full Spectrum White. This High-intensity spectrum is beneficial for plants at all stages — from veg to bloom, and creates dense buds. Expect up to a 50% higher yield and higher quality compared with the old blurple lights and HPS. Max yield Up to 2.5g/W with 30% higher Average PPFD. The new model has a dimmer knob added which makes dimming more convenient. Up to 20 lights can be daisy-chained and controlled through just one light. No-Fan Design, Aluminum Heatsink, and Removable Driver. The no-fan design means no noise or moving parts to worry about. Optimal heat dissipation while using a thick, sturdy aluminum heatsink.
FLORAFLEX® LED GROW LIGHT- 650–8 BAR LED Grow Light
Features:
FloraFlex LED grow light is a high-performance and cost-effective lighting solution for indoor cultivation. Featuring a balanced spectrum, incorporating a 3K CMH Full Phase Spectrum for superior growing power. With onboard dimming function, growers can set the ideal strength for any stage of plant growth, giving total control. Professional customization and production using the latest technology. It is higher than ordinary lamp beads, the light attenuation speed is lower, and the luminosity is higher. It provides 2.6μmol/J high-efficiency, 1700μmol/s PPF output plant light. Increase production and best quality. The LED grow light is wattage adjustable. The range can be adjusted from 10W to 650W
How Many Grow Lights Do You Need?
When it comes to indoor growing, planning is key. And one of the many things home indoor growers want and need to know is how many grow lights they need for their plants. If you have a well-defined space for growing, it makes it easier to determine the number of lights necessary to cover it.
If you have more flexibility, you’ll want to begin with how many plants you want to grow. This will determine the size of your growing space, which, in turn, will determine how many lights needed to cover it.
Measuring Plant Canopy
Plant canopy is basically the area of the top of your plants grouped together. The depth of the canopy is the distance from the top of the canopy to the surface of the soil or planter. This is important because you want light to penetrate beneath the canopy to reach the whole plant.
You will need to research a few facts to determine the number of lights required.
The size of your plants at maturity
The total number you want to grow
The distance needed between the plants for full growth
Take the total number of plants plus the distance you want between them at maturity, then measure the length and width of what will be the total area the top of the plants will cover. That measurement is your plant canopy.
Discovering Light Coverage
Plants need visible light to grow — obviously. However, whereas household lights are measured in watts and lumens, when it comes to plants, you need to know PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation). In other words, the light that can be used by the plant for photosynthesis. Don’t make the mistake of trying to determine light coverage by watts alone.
PAR is actually measured as PPFD — the number of photons in the PAR area emitted each second over one square meter (µmol/m2/s). Take a second to recover from that information. Don’t worry–read on.
A good LED grow light will have this information in the form of a PAR map which shows the PPFD at various points over the entire area and indicates the distance from the light. PAR Map or Chart
Different plants need different PAR so you will again need to research how much your specific plants require for optimal growth and production. Once you know this, you can determine how many lights you need to provide that much PAR.
Note: Beware of lights indicating just a single PPFD or an average PPFD. This can be misleading since it is only measurement of what is centered beneath the light or data from only a few places inside the area.
Full-Spectrum LED Grow Lights
These days, most indoor growers, whether commercial or small-scale, are turning to full-spectrum LED lights to provide the most efficient and efficacious light for their plants. Here’s why.
Full-Spectrum Light: LED full-spectrum white light mimics sunlight more closely than any other bright white light. Plants get more of what they need for optimal growth and flowering.
Energy-Efficient: LED lights use much less energy to produce the same amount of light as high-intensity discharge HSP lights.
Cooler Operating: Producing significantly less heat, LED lights help reduce overall costs since HVAC or ventilation systems aren’t necessary, or can be used less frequently to cool the growing space.
Placement: LED lights don’t need to be suspended as far from plants as some other types, which makes vertical growing much easier and reduces the amount of overall space needed. It also allows more light to penetrate the canopy for better production.
Lower Cost over Time: LED lights have a long life so you aren’t constantly having to replace them. And while they may be a more expensive up-front purchase, they are more cost-effective in the long run.
Conclusion
During different growth stages, indoor plants require a specific amount and intensity of light per day. But at the end of the day, it’s not that difficult to care for them or to choose the best grow lights for indoor plants.
We hope that this review provides all the basic information you need to make your best buying decision. Thanks for reading!
