ECO Farm ECO-Panel Samsung LM301B 320W Quantum Board LED Grow Light VS PHOTOBIO X3 340W S4 Full Spectrum LED Grow Light

Recently, when people choose LED grow lights, they have an increasing preference to buy multi-bar style lights. Multi-bar style LED grow lights have uniform PPFD distribution, supreme heat dissipation, and can be applied to any kind of growing scenario. As a result, it has apparently become the new grow trend.

With so many multi-bar LED Grow Lights on the market, it can be challenging to find the right one. With so many models out there and vague technical specifications, a simple search turns into hours of research.

Luckily, there are reliable and efficient multi-bar LED grow lights on the market, but you need to know how to find them. That’s why we’re going to show you how.

Continue reading below to find out useful tips for choosing the best multi-bar style LED grow light that will give you your best crop yet.

Best light spectrum to grow plants

For a very long time, researchers in various institutions are still trying to understand the light spectral quality. Although their work is not yet completed, it is obvious right that plants do better when exposed to light, similar to natural sunlight. The best light spectrums to grow plants in are;

Narrow spectrum
Initially, most people thought that plant photosynthesis could only be increased by red and blue light. Chlorophyll which is the green pigment that plants use to seizure light, has summits of engagement in the red and blue areas.

Blue and Red LEDs are installed in most multi spectrum LED grow lights; hence they have the highest photon efficacy. Therefore, this enables a large number of protons to be converted by electric energy. Dual spectrum LED grow lights drive photosynthesis in plants on the upper leaves. All available photons in LEDs are used at the top of the canopy as it is the region where red and blue light is absorbed efficiently. Plants growing under red and blue lights are habitually very compact.

Full-spectrum
Full-spectrum grow lights release light that has photons from the whole spectral region. Plants use a full spectrum grow light of at least 350–750nm. Horticultural light producers often miscommunicate the phrase “full spectrum.” Most full spectrum grow lights in the market lack short blue and UV light as they only release light covering photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) only. Moreover, they contain minimal amounts of far-red hence it is fair to term them as broad-spectrum lights.

When you use broad or full spectrum LED grow lights, you will be assured of growing healthy plants, provided there is adequate light intensity. On the other hand, it is essential to choose the spectrum composition carefully for the best results and yield.

ECO Farm ECO-Panel Samsung LM301B 320W Quantum Board LED Grow Light

Features:

With LED chips-warm light(3000K),blue light(5000K), Red light(660nm), this ECO Farm LED grow light can generate light that is infinitely close to sunlight, meet the light needs of plants at all growth stages, take care of your plants from seed to flower, then have a great harvest! With 1232 pcs high quality led chips, this grow light consumes only 320 watts(equivalent to 600W HPS light), has the highest energy efficiency(2.4 umol/J). Increase your yields by 30% while saving your electricity bills. Compared to a single aluminum plate of other brands, this grow light’s new aluminum back structure has a larger heat dissipation area, which helps to achieve the best heat dissipation. Suit for 3'x3' plant grow tent. This grow light uses aluminum heat dissipation structures to replace traditional fans, specially designed for indoor planting, help your plants grow up while protecting you from noise.

PHOTOBIO X3 340W S4 Full Spectrum LED Grow Light

Features:

PHOTOBIO grow light abandons the bar style concept in favor of a more efficient contiguous circuit board where proprietary spacing between diodes is optimized to deliver unparalleled PPFD uniformity to the canopy. A highly reflective panel between the boards redirect photons reflected off leaf surfaces back down to the canopy which equates to a 2% increase in PPFD. Extensive thermal modeling and testing was conducted to ensure diodes remain well below operating temperature to maintain consistent light output and yields for over a decade. PHOTOBIO•X is designed for the serious horticultural professional looking to increase business sustainability by reducing power consumption while simultaneously improving crop performance and yield.

What you should know when choosing Grow Lights

Watts (W) — This indicator reflects the amount of energy consumed by the luminaire. But to consume does not mean to give. For example, let’s take a 400 W HPS grow light. This figure indicates that it consumes 400 watts, but how much of this energy is converted into useful light, given that its operating temperature can exceed 600 degrees? The average efficiency of sodium grow light is only about 30%. For this reason, a 180 W LED grow light can easily surpass HPS in energy efficiency.

Lumen (Lm) is a measure of the amount of light emitted from a grow light and is closely related to lux, a value about which is below. Lumen refers to how much light a source can produce in principle. But the amount of light is not at all equal to its quality. What difference does it make how brightly the conventional Ilyich’s grow light burns if there is not even a hint of a useful spectrum in it, and the plants die?

Lux (Lx) — this parameter shows how much light falls on one square meter. Again, not the most basic indicator for a gardener, because it does not give an understanding of what kind of light we are talking about.

PAR — but this is closer to the truth. In general, the abbreviation PAR stands for photosynthetically active radiation and is not a measure like a watt, kilogram or the same lumen. PAR is basically a wavelength range of 400 to 700 Nm.

PPF — and this is exactly what you should pay close attention to. This metric reflects the number of photons from the PAR region that fall per square meter of foliage every second. PPF is measured in umol / m² * s (micromole per second per square meter).

On a sunny day outdoors, the PPF is about 2000 moles per square. Some grow lights provide even greater efficiency. But in general, a plant bush with a margin will be enough for an indicator of 500 μmol per square meter per second.

Please note that this parameter depends not only on the power of the grow light but also on its distance from the plant. The main thing is to provide such a distance that as many photons as possible fall on the bush. We will discuss this below.

PPFD is the number of light photons that hit a surface (your plant canopy) in one second. It’s measured in units called micromoles (μmols). Simply speaking — it’s the strength of the light that reaches your plants.

The light loses strength as it travels from source to endpoint (from grow light to plant). You’ll notice on most grow light intensity charts, the PPFD numbers decrease with increased distance from the light.

Conclusion

Every grower has different needs and will use certain LED grow lights to match their style. Though some of the points outlined in this article might make the decision for you, it is important to remember that you should always research a product of this calibre prior to investing in one. Choosing a product that offers a good long-term experience and supports your needs while you grow high-quality plant can take a little bit of time, but when you find the right fit, you will be glad that you put in the work to find the best option for your growing process!

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