Take my word for it don’t skimp on the light or LED for growing!! Don’t buy a 60$ Amazon LED I’m telling you man your plants will thank you! I’m new but I learned early on and the hard way thankfully I had a new better LED shipped to my door in time to save my grow from being little spindly twigs fighting for the little bit of light that’s probably centered at one small spot in the very middle.
In my opinion you have to learn to buy the proper lights for $60 and i feel that is the huge difference lost often. Thats why a full spectrum light meter not an intensity meter so many people use are the right way to go. Think how many people spend $40 to tell them the light is bright. Thats the beauty of it all you can put opinion aside every time and use science to judge. I personally believe the quantum apogee meter. But if you dont have an apogee meter is a simple method everyone can do to check how good their lights are.
induce cold temps wait for phosphorus deficiency(i mistakenly always call it potassium deficiency). you can see 2 lamps penetrates well below 50% of the canopy at 80% output any higher top buds get scorched. every leaf turning purple is indicating its getting full light.
Neither of these were twigs clinging for light thats only about $95 in lights. There is a small screw in light in this tent. But that is a cheap light. I hang down for bottom buds.
king brite style panels that i never have gone over 80% intensity on didnt need to. these were the photos before i got sick and was out for 2 months. but they filled the tent by time they finished about 4-6 weeks after this was taken. depended on the plant and we do cut backs so we start at the top work our way down. I couldnt do it but thats what they did to help me.
Then you compare them to outdoors using the sun as our benchmark. Dont mind the wind damage.
all of those plants were grown under full deficiency in my tents from cold temps Fully finished. $40 lights compare to the $160 lights that honestly have more uniform coverage for some good buds over the sun growing in tents without the losses from the wind. So lots of benefit to the tent than outdoors when we compare the damage/ losses of au natural growth.
i mean sure you can buy a kingbrite style. Or you can save 61.2245% and buy something thats within 20% of a kingbrite. You can get pretty close to the same conditions as the sun. obviously the sun going to be a
bit more intense(*sarcasm). ITS THE SUN!
im ok with the kingbrites i own 12 of the style but for 61.2245% less i can buy 2 of those and the money i save can buy even more lights increase my ability to pump wattage and lighting efficiency. Its relative. Just have to look for the right lights at the right price point. No one should be afraid to save money. Thats why i try so many lights so i can go through the crap to find the gold.
In capitalism never equate price to quality. Low price doesnt mean low quality and high price doesnt mean high quality. This is a common consumer misconception. Cost benefit analysis is the way to go in these situations. If spending 2000% more doesnt equate to 2000% more in production. You wasted your resources. But if spending 2000% more gives you 2000% higher quality it can definitely be worth it. There is more metrics in the equation than just final produciton numbers. because genetics and all those factors.
So i agree with it in the spiritual sense not to skimp on lights. But will say you can grow some great buds with entry level priced lights. over spending 61.2245% more for the preferred quantum variant. I can guarantee they arent producing 61.2245% more buds. Its like 7% more in a king brite tent vs any thing else blurple,cheap lights. Lots of tents lots of data. quality was relative from the testing i had done. within 1% of each other. So my growing routine and conditions were able to achieve the same quality across the board.
It really ventures on unethical the claimed gains some people make (not in this instance but search the forum) people claim one light has from another. But if you write out all the numbers its BS time and time again and psuedo science.
when people say my $200 light out performs their previous $40 light is not a person on this forum that will prove those lights are outputting 133.333% more production from the switch. its possible if we are talking scam brands and not name brands with somewhat ethical lights regardless of style. But it can however have the ability to achieve 133.333% higher quality buds. But they all can grow high quality buds. Every style of lights its been done by someone. It takes some understanding not being under wattage or not over packing em with plants.
far too often people are being unrealistic about their equipments abilities and try to push more out of the space than capable. Thats never the lights fault but the growers. You pack 10 plants under 1 small light and wonder why they wont grow into giant plants its not the cheap lights fault. But we all blame it on cheap lights. There definitely is cheap cheap crappy lights tho. But dont be afraid to save. Science is our friend.
Disclaimer:
every time it gets brought it up i will keep bringing up this as a reference. This is in no way a negativity towards anyone. In no way do i hope this was written in a way that makes it come across as negative to any individuals. Just sharing my ideology on applying real metrics and data to how we approach equipment buying. I personally believe that efficiency is the key to high GPW(grams per watt) + GPL (grams per light) & that everyone is capable of being efficient with whatever they grow with. But all the data for the pros/cons is there no matter the choice and can be made to work. As long as they are realistic about their equipments abilities as well as their own.
We cant help them before the forum avoid those cheap crappy lights. But we certainly can help them find lights within those price points that are the best offerings available to fit any budget. In no way is any entry point at any budget a negative on individuals for trying to start somewhere. My personal buying is between those 2 price points. Im either buying a cheap entry level light to get a new tent expansion going or im saving up to upgrade them to real quantum boards. The key to growing is space and time. Cant waste either of them to be truly successful.
much love and respect - Red