Lighting Can't Choose the Right LED For Me

[Balarama]

Great find, americano! Surely the lights look the same as Spectrum King but I have doubts about the leds inside, probably not the same spectrum.
You just gave me another option to consider when buying a light:Cool bud:

 

[mauricem00]

Here's another light claiming to bring the sun indoors http://www.mkbenergy.com/#!horticulture-and-growing-/cu7t the thing I don't get is why waste so much light? Yes plants need a little of the spectrum between red and blue but not much....here's some diagrams to demonstrate.

This is 5000K White from the MKB light above.

This is from the Spectrum King site.

Here is photosyntheses peak absorption wavelengths.

Do you see where I'm coming from?

if this is true than why do HPS lights work so well their spectrum is concentrated in the 560 to 610 nm range seems like led makers can't agree on the best spectrum. very confusing for the rest of us.

 

[americano56]

Yeah, I'm with you, it does make things very confusing! They all want to be the best but they all run a different spectrum! What about the budmaster led lights? I heard they upped their prices by 50 percent at a certain point, and they are very expensive aren't they? I have seen good things with the blackdog leds as well, any ideas?

 

[mauricem00]

Yeah, I'm with you, it does make things very confusing! They all want to be the best but they all run a different spectrum! What about the budmaster led lights? I heard they upped their prices by 50 percent at a certain point, and they are very expensive aren't they? I have seen good things with the blackdog leds as well, any ideas?

many people here have had good luck with mars hydro or reflector series lights. these are close to full spectrum using 440 460 625 660 730 nm and cool white led, the spectrum is heavily weighted in the red range and not close to natural sunlight but they seem to work well for many people here. the company is coming out with a "high end" light soon but have not released any details on it except a projected price around $600. I can not afford expensive leds and the cheap ones I have tried do not perform as well as my T5s. HIDs produce to much heat for my situation.my suggestion would be to look at grow journals here and on other sites and see what models people have had success with and remember that what ever you buy will be outdated in 3 years and much better units will be available in the future for a much lower price. this is a rapidly evolving technology and we are learning new things about plant physiology all the time. recent research shows that plants use 50 to 90% of the green light they receive (average 70%) depending on species. plants adapt to their environment and many generations of growing under HPS light may have cause some strains to adapt to this kind of light. the plant that gives autos this characteristic grows a very far northern regions where the days are very long but the sun sits low on the horizon causing a red shift in the solar spectrum reaching the surface.this is a complex and rapidly evolving science. much of the information on the internet is outdated