Newbie question for starter leds

[Mrbiggles]

Hey guys, new to the forum. Not growing pot but instead have gotten into hot peppers this summer. I've done a lot of research into hydroponics and have got a reaper peppers I've transplanted to a kratky setup that's going well.

I had a couple questions about lights I was hoping I could get anwered. I just bought a cheap "350w" (50w actual consumption) full spectrum light off amazon (makes a yellowish daylight kind of colour). My plan was to use this for seedlings and clones to get started then grab a tent and some real lights once summer is over and moving my plants indoor. When the light arrived it came in a box that said it was a flood light with no grow markings on it other then a sticker lol.
So my question is I noticed this light makes a similar temperature to a 60w consumption led garage light I had off eBay. I downloaded a par meter phone app off eBay and the 60w light puts off similar par to the "grow light" with a slightly lower Kelvin rating. This got me wondering if there is really any difference between the 2? Is there anything special about cheaper grow lights vs regular higher powered LED lights?

I ended up setting both up on a shelf in my garage on a timer set to run 16 hours a day. I'm measuring about 600ppfd at the leaves on the reaper plant with the garage light and about 250ppfd on my attempted clones from the "grow light".

Should these lights work to get things going or should I give something else a try? I also ordered a 13x13" 35w blurple light but was recording very low ppfd levels so I'm planning to return it...

 

[jmand]

hey there is not that much difference! but the led flood light will be less efficient, and might give off a low CRI light quality.

you are kinda doing what I was doing and trying to do it cheap..

just lay down £50-100 and get some panel quantum board thing.. Like 100w (read actual power)..

there are tonnes to choose from.

Basically you will save yourself messing around with these cheaper inefficient lights. I had a led flood light, not only was it not the rated watts but it gave off so much heat in my grow tent!
You want a very efficient and bright light for the watts you are putting in and also you want it to not be super hot. The LED flood light I had was putting barely any lux out onto my plants, no where near enough for flowering. I upgraded and it easily puts out 65000 lux not even turned up max.

I think if you got even a cheap panel that is more like the daylight ones with some added red, that will be better than both those lights combined.
Stay away from that burple stuff unless its just to complement a daylight one.. to add some ir and uv in..
To really get it flowering I mean..
Also get a cheap lux meter and see what you need for them and what you are getting..

But I think you will not regret getting one more powerful higher efficiency light.

Like these:

Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.co.uk

Spider Farmer SF1000EVO LED Grow Light Samsung LM301H EVO for Grow Tent Kits 6973280370573 | eBay

LM301H EVO SAMSUNG LM301H EVO SAMSUNG LM301H EVO SAMSUNG LM301B SAMSUNG. Light SF1000D SF1000EVO SF2000EVO SF2000PRO EVO SF4000EVO SF7000 SF Series SF Grow Tent. Diode SAMSUNG LM301B SAMSUNG LM301H EVO.

www.ebay.co.uk

this one only £50:

Amazon.co.uk

There are a whole bunch to choose from and tbh are all doing pretty much the same thing hha..
Samsung diodes and Meanwell driver is a good thing!

 

[jmand]

this is my thread https://www.thcfarmer.com/threads/little-stealthy-diy-low-budget-experimental-home-grown.131201/

you can see I started with a similar set up, one led flood light and a small cheap grow light.. TBH they are both kinda useless Maybe to veg something up I would use them.
I bet if I checked the 100w led flood is more like 50w!! They just lie about ratings sometimes... Specially with cheaper things. like led flood lights.
I am not saying it cant work tho as I got some decent bud from a cheap one in a tiny grow I did.. shame it was a tiny amount of bud! But that was my technique. The bud was strong and dense enough! I just still would trust a high efficiency grow board to give it the lux it needs and flower it properly.