Multiple Used VirsaSpectra LEDs extra cheap- worth it?

[TheBeardedBudzman]

I get it, I get it... VirsaSpectra is the more costly of the cheapo’s. Overall lower quality than choice LED for a multitude of reasons. I get it.

But I’m starting my first grow soon. I’m gathering equipment; patiently piecing together local bargains where I can. I’ve gotten a pretty good GENERAL idea of popular opinion on these threads, about what lights, grow mediums, techniques, and equipment are best, worst, and just usable. You’ve all taught me a lot so far and I am very appreciative. I’ve enjoyed learning and rigorously dissecting your grow journals and growing from your experiences. Thank you.

I’ve got 4 big fat enormously populated worm bins going. 40,000 worms. 40 lbs!! 10lbs per bin.

I’ve got my hot compost system up and going (hard work gathering and starting a big pile from scratch). There are multiple separate piles, all chemical and pesticide free. My main pile is manure-free, just leaves(collected from state park) and plant waste and kitchen scraps. I’m composting cow, horse and chicken manure from my own animals (neighbors cows, my horses and chickens) separately, more for science than anything. I’d like to compare the use of different manures in my outdoor garden veggies and flowers also, so why not.

I’ll be building a living soil, likely from a base of 33% compost (half WC half cooked), 33% Peat, and 33% aeration- not sure of the exact mix I’ll choose or aeration I’ll choose yet. I’ve got a list (not subcools) of stuff to beef it up with that I’ll be using, (mainly from following a few well known members here)

I’ve got a 6” air cooled hood, 1000w digital ballast and some good hps/mh bulbs already. Plan as of now- Veg with 400-600mh, flower 1000hps. Still in the market for a couple tents (in abundance used in surrounding counties) fans and filters, and some other stuff. I plan on a 4x4 flower tent, similar or slightly smaller veg tent.

You all may say, well none of that info has anything to do with your question why are you telling us about yourself jerk?! But it has everything to do with my question. I want you all to see how important this shit is to me, dammit. It matters to me about the quality and efficiency and care and love that goes into/comes out of my shit.

So. That being said. I was looking for equipment on my local craigslist, and found someone selling a buttload of virsaspectra lights super cheap that were only used for 3 months (a failed grow).

These belong to someone on the last leg of life, losing a battle with cancer I’ve spoken with her on the phone. She told me she bought them all brand new, still under warranty, she failed her first grow and now there’s no time to start again. She wants to make $500(firm) back on her $1300 investment.

Post here:
ONE OF THESE:
VIPARSPECTRA Dimmable Series PAR1200 1200W LED Grow Light - 2 Dimmers 12-Band Full Spectrum for Indoor Plants Veg/Bloom
Price: $479.00 Free Shipping for Prime

TWO OF THESE:
VIPARSPECTRA Dimmable Series PAR700 700W LED Grow Light - 3 Dimmers 12-Band Full Spectrum for Indoor Plants Veg/Bloom
Price: $329.00 Free Shipping for Prime Members

TWO OF THESE:
VIPARSPECTRA Reflector-Series 450W LED Grow Light Full Spectrum for Indoor Plants Veg and Flower
Price: $129.00 Free Shipping for Prime Members

All used for only 6 months, fully functional still, and under manufacturers warranty

“The above cost me $1369. Firm price is $500 for all 5 lights plus hanging pulleys, etc.
Email me for more details, please.”

So even though they’re cheap lights even before the cheap price for them all, are they SUFFICIENT enough to host some great veg/flower action?!

Is their inadequacy in the lack of overall power, an issue that could be solved by Putting two lights in?

Or is their inadequacy in the lack of broad-spectrum light...lacking a type of light my plant needs that even multiple lights won’t give?

Could I take advantage on a good price but use the LEDs PAIRED with HPS or MH during some cycle?

Is there ANY LOGIC OR BENEFIT to buying these lights at this price?

Or would I just be wasting $500 instead of $1300 on all these shitty lights?!?

Maybe a supah-smaht guy can tell me WHY these lights are/aren’t what my plants need. Lumens and fuckin’ red and blue and PAR all that jazz

**oh yeah- when considering what lights are and aren’t good for my situation- I’ll be sticking to canopy-style growing, particularly “8-16 main” mainlining, through a screen or grid, or just topping training and scrogging.

Flat canopies no trees.

Sorry for the length of post I’m just a newb

-Beard

 

[TheBeardedBudzman]

She also said she’d include all her “other stuff that goes with the setup”....

I think I better go check this out.

 

[Rocket Soul]

Looks like ur growing for yourself and not for profit, right? So why do you need more light? Another tent? 1000w hps should be enough for a 4x4 or even 5x5.

Have you looked into how to control your enviroment? Before buying more of any lights set up your tent and see what temps and RH its hitting, and check how stable you can keep it, especially for temp drop after lights off. Remember RH will be really different with plants. You need to check so that you can keep a stable environment with your conditions and climate, otherwise its wiser to invest in some automated fan controller or similar. If you get environment right you should be able to grow with any lights and any nutes.

 

[whitebb2727]

Yea. Go check them out. If they work and no burnt diodes go for it.

 

[ANC]

Go buy a secondhand HID unit and use the money from your run to upgrade.
LEDs last too long to buy shit.

 

[whitebb2727]

Then when the diodes donstart burning out you can do the upgrade where you remove the diodes and install cobs.

 

[Humple]

Looks like ur growing for yourself and not for profit, right? So why do you need more light? Another tent? 1000w hps should be enough for a 4x4 or even 5x5.

Have you looked into how to control your enviroment? Before buying more of any lights set up your tent and see what temps and RH its hitting, and check how stable you can keep it, especially for temp drop after lights off. Remember RH will be really different with plants. You need to check so that you can keep a stable environment with your conditions and climate, otherwise its wiser to invest in some automated fan controller or similar. If you get environment right you should be able to grow with any lights and any nutes.

^^^^This, 1,000 times over. Temps and humidity matter more than the lights you use. Apart from water, I don't think any other factor matters as much as environment.

 

[ANC]

Yeah, I already have AC/dehumidifier and humidifier, so I can run environmental controls, otherwise, I would have run cheaper gear and spend the money on the above rather.
Made a mistake taking on the winter in an oversized room vs the grow size. I planned to have another tray up so I would have had just over 1kW of heat in the room, but the clones took forever and are now in their own room still vegging, they should have been flipped last week. I now regret cheaping out and not buying a tent for vegging, so I can keep all the heat in one room. would be closer to 1.5kW with everything in one room. Guess I'll be switching bedrooms seasonally.

 

[TheBeardedBudzman]

Thanks everyone for the responses.

@Rocket Soul, I’m looking for extra lights because I’m new and want to have a.) backups, and b.) diversity for the sake of learning.

I live in south central Florida. We get lots of heavy rain; it is always extremely humid; It’s outrageous when temps go into the 60s. I keep my central AC on 77 regularly, or 74 when my wife is being a whiney brat. Inside is always very comfortable. But it’s another reason I want multiple types of lights. I live in a tropical climate and grow environment regulation may mean switching up lights. Who knows. Also, it may just be a good deal if they’re good lights.

And I’d love to have a second tent. Yes I’m growing for myself, but I’d still like to have plants in veg while I have plants in flower. Why not? I want to play and experiment, and take care of plants. If I end up with “too much bud” for myself, I can share.

I think a 4x4x7, with multiple small oscillating fans inside, an intake fan and an exhaust fan, (350cfm+), I should be able to regulate environment fairly easily, I’d expect. Especially with adjustable settings on the fans.

I also own a small dehu if I need it.

As far as water, I collect rain for my plants. I keep 55gal drums on all 4 corners of my house. It all gets used pretty quickly but fills up fast. I recommend it for everyone. Just remember to keep your main source higher than where it’ll be distributed to.

 

[ANC]

You can never have too much bud... maybe too much to smoke as flowers, but once you start making oils, concentrates and edibles, pounds fly quickly.

 

[TheBeardedBudzman]

You can never have too much bud... maybe too much to smoke as flowers, but once you start making oils, concentrates and edibles, pounds fly quickly.

Know what I’ll be reading up on tonight!

 

[coreywebster]

Combined its 1275 true watts for $500.
If that's a good deal is subjective I suppose.
I mean round my neck of the woods I could buy probably 4000-6000w (thousand) of second hand HPS.
Roughly speaking you need 600w of those lights to replace 600w of HPS.
If you have the money to burn and want to mess about trying to mix spectrums up a bit then why not.
If its a case of best bang for your buck then I wouldn't be buying them.

 

[nfhiggs]

I get it, I get it... VirsaSpectra is the more costly of the cheapo’s. Overall lower quality than choice LED for a multitude of reasons. I get it.

But I’m starting my first grow soon. I’m gathering equipment; patiently piecing together local bargains where I can. I’ve gotten a pretty good GENERAL idea of popular opinion on these threads, about what lights, grow mediums, techniques, and equipment are best, worst, and just usable. You’ve all taught me a lot so far and I am very appreciative. I’ve enjoyed learning and rigorously dissecting your grow journals and growing from your experiences. Thank you.

I’ve got 4 big fat enormously populated worm bins going. 40,000 worms. 40 lbs!! 10lbs per bin.

I’ve got my hot compost system up and going (hard work gathering and starting a big pile from scratch). There are multiple separate piles, all chemical and pesticide free. My main pile is manure-free, just leaves(collected from state park) and plant waste and kitchen scraps. I’m composting cow, horse and chicken manure from my own animals (neighbors cows, my horses and chickens) separately, more for science than anything. I’d like to compare the use of different manures in my outdoor garden veggies and flowers also, so why not.

I’ll be building a living soil, likely from a base of 33% compost (half WC half cooked), 33% Peat, and 33% aeration- not sure of the exact mix I’ll choose or aeration I’ll choose yet. I’ve got a list (not subcools) of stuff to beef it up with that I’ll be using, (mainly from following a few well known members here)

I’ve got a 6” air cooled hood, 1000w digital ballast and some good hps/mh bulbs already. Plan as of now- Veg with 400-600mh, flower 1000hps. Still in the market for a couple tents (in abundance used in surrounding counties) fans and filters, and some other stuff. I plan on a 4x4 flower tent, similar or slightly smaller veg tent.

You all may say, well none of that info has anything to do with your question why are you telling us about yourself jerk?! But it has everything to do with my question. I want you all to see how important this shit is to me, dammit. It matters to me about the quality and efficiency and care and love that goes into/comes out of my shit.

So. That being said. I was looking for equipment on my local craigslist, and found someone selling a buttload of virsaspectra lights super cheap that were only used for 3 months (a failed grow).

These belong to someone on the last leg of life, losing a battle with cancer I’ve spoken with her on the phone. She told me she bought them all brand new, still under warranty, she failed her first grow and now there’s no time to start again. She wants to make $500(firm) back on her $1300 investment.

Post here:
ONE OF THESE:
VIPARSPECTRA Dimmable Series PAR1200 1200W LED Grow Light - 2 Dimmers 12-Band Full Spectrum for Indoor Plants Veg/Bloom
Price: $479.00 Free Shipping for Prime

TWO OF THESE:
VIPARSPECTRA Dimmable Series PAR700 700W LED Grow Light - 3 Dimmers 12-Band Full Spectrum for Indoor Plants Veg/Bloom
Price: $329.00 Free Shipping for Prime Members

TWO OF THESE:
VIPARSPECTRA Reflector-Series 450W LED Grow Light Full Spectrum for Indoor Plants Veg and Flower
Price: $129.00 Free Shipping for Prime Members

All used for only 6 months, fully functional still, and under manufacturers warranty

“The above cost me $1369. Firm price is $500 for all 5 lights plus hanging pulleys, etc.
Email me for more details, please.”

So even though they’re cheap lights even before the cheap price for them all, are they SUFFICIENT enough to host some great veg/flower action?!

Is their inadequacy in the lack of overall power, an issue that could be solved by Putting two lights in?

Or is their inadequacy in the lack of broad-spectrum light...lacking a type of light my plant needs that even multiple lights won’t give?

Could I take advantage on a good price but use the LEDs PAIRED with HPS or MH during some cycle?

Is there ANY LOGIC OR BENEFIT to buying these lights at this price?

Or would I just be wasting $500 instead of $1300 on all these shitty lights?!?

Maybe a supah-smaht guy can tell me WHY these lights are/aren’t what my plants need. Lumens and fuckin’ red and blue and PAR all that jazz

**oh yeah- when considering what lights are and aren’t good for my situation- I’ll be sticking to canopy-style growing, particularly “8-16 main” mainlining, through a screen or grid, or just topping training and scrogging.

Flat canopies no trees.

Sorry for the length of post I’m just a newb

-Beard

I'd pass. Used blurples are not worth $100 each, not in my book. For $500 you can get a couple of 600W HPS lights, or some strip lights or quantum board setups.

 

[TheBeardedBudzman]

Combined its 1275 true watts for $500.
If that's a good deal is subjective I suppose.
I mean round my neck of the woods I could buy probably 4000-6000w (thousand) of second hand HPS.
Roughly speaking you need 600w of those lights to replace 600w of HPS.
If you have the money to burn and want to mess about trying to mix spectrums up a bit then why not.
If its a case of best bang for your buck then I wouldn't be buying them.

I’m glad someone said it really. I think I may just be excited about getting new shit. The money could be used for so many other things.

...I think I’ll let someone else take advantage of the deal, and go buy all my soil stuffs.

 

[TheBeardedBudzman]

I'd pass. Used blurples are not worth $100 each, not in my book. For $500 you can get a couple of 600W HPS lights, or some strip lights or quantum board setups.

I think I need a little indoor experience before I get into fancy quantum boards. I think I’m satisfied with what I have for lights now to start. I’ve got a 600w MH for veg and 1000w HPS for flower. I’m confident it’s the best route to start with.

While you’re all looking l, now that my question is answered, let me ask one more before you all bounce.

I’ve got some time to put this set up together. I’m making my own soil, so I’ve got some time before I get a girl in the ground.

Off the top of anyone’s head, any suggestion would be appreciated...

I’d like a high potency, high yielding strain to mainline and maintain a canopy in a screen.

I don’t care about the challenge of training sativas in limited space, I can do it. As long as it’ll knock me on my ass when I smoke it, and give me lots of dry weight if I do it right.

Suggestions on seeds AND WHERE TO ORDER THEM from?!?

1000w hps grow, organic soil

 

[Tim1987]

Bearded man,

I may seem biased in what i say here. But its my honest experience with Viparspectra.

I purchased a "900watt Reflector Series". Its a giant lemon, as useful as a box of rocks. Doesn't even make a good doorstop.
Don't get me wrong. It grew a decent plant or two, even gave me some good healthy seeds. BUT, the good stops there.
There's too much blue in the spectrum, and it gave me issues. The plants actually grew better with only the flower switch on.
Also after about 6 months my diodes started dying, and a fan burnt out. I tried to claim warranty. Their return policy was SHIT. I had to pay for shipping to send it to China to get repaired, or replaced. They prefer to fix them if they can. Rather than send you a brand new unit. Also to check if we didn't tamper with it. Also it takes a few weeks or longer to get the light back from them. This is all very well and good, but WTF do we do in the meantime about a full garden with no light?
I ended up not bothering about the warranty, too much of a PITA. It's a bit of a scam imo. They don't make claiming warranty easy, and i feel its quite deliberate.
Even performance wise, i have to say. I personally opted for a 600watt hps, from beginning of veg to end of flower. To put performance into perspective hps dimmed to 400watts smashed the Viparspectra. Id say by 20% at least. Just had more foliage, thicker stems, bigger fan leaves, better node spacing, lusher foliage etc, etc. Everything was just better with 400watts of hps. 600watts is total murder, not even in the same ballpark.

Its shit what she's having to go through. Only reason i'd buy the lights if i'm honest is out of sympathy. Or to sell them individually to make a little profit. But honestly no one will buy them secondhand.
Personally i definitely have sympathy for her considering the cancer. But the sympathy would have to stop there for me.

Sorry to be blunt. But its my honest experience using Viparspectra.

 

[TheBeardedBudzman]

Bearded man,

I may seem biased in what i say here. But its my honest experience with Viparspectra.

I purchased a "900watt Reflector Series". Its a giant lemon, as useful as a box of rocks. Doesn't even make a good doorstop.
Don't get me wrong. It grew a decent plant or two, even gave me some good healthy seeds. BUT, the good stops there.
There's too much blue in the spectrum, and it gave me issues. The plants actually grew better with only the flower switch on.
Also after about 6 months my diodes started dying, and a fan burnt out. I tried to claim warranty. Their return policy was SHIT. I had to pay for shipping to send it to China to get repaired, or replaced. They prefer to fix them if they can. Rather than send you a brand new unit. Also to check if we didn't tamper with it. Also it takes a few weeks or longer to get the light back from them. This is all very well and good, but WTF do we do in the meantime about a full garden with no light?
I ended up not bothering about the warranty, too much of a PITA. It's a bit of a scam imo. They don't make claiming warranty easy, and i feel its quite deliberate.
Even performance wise, i have to say. I personally opted for a 600watt hps, from beginning of veg to end of flower. To put performance into perspective hps dimmed to 400watts smashed the Viparspectra. Id say by 20% at least. Just had more foliage, thicker stems, bigger fan leaves, better node spacing, lusher foliage etc, etc. Everything was just better with 400watts of hps. 600watts is total murder, not even in the same ballpark.

Its shit what she's having to go through. Only reason i'd buy the lights if i'm honest is out of sympathy. Or to sell them individually to make a little profit. But honestly no one will buy them secondhand.
Personally i definitely have sympathy for her considering the cancer. But the sympathy would have to stop there for me.

Sorry to be blunt. But its my honest experience using Viparspectra.

I’d have to agree.

I’ve been hearing MH is the way to go for veg. For the Blue, right? Do you find your plants lacking in veg with hps? Also, what do you see happens to plants in veg increasing from 400 to 600? Does it just promote overall rapid growth or does it make the plants stretch and necessarily effect node spacing? Just trying to understand why you couldnt just keep it at 1000w thru veg. Especially mainlining or scrogging, maybe to compensate for prolonged veg times for plants to recover from all the stress??....

Am I chasing my tail?

 

[Tim1987]

I’d have to agree.

I’ve been hearing MH is the way to go for veg. For the Blue, right? Do you find your plants lacking in veg with hps? Also, what do you see happens to plants in veg increasing from 400 to 600? Does it just promote overall rapid growth or does it make the plants stretch and necessarily effect node spacing? Just trying to understand why you couldnt just keep it at 1000w thru veg. Especially mainlining or scrogging, maybe to compensate for prolonged veg times for plants to recover from all the stress??....

Am I chasing my tail?

I'll let you form your own opinion, on the topic.
It's pretty subjective dude.

My opinion is if you have a super hps bulb the difference would be pretty negligible.

I'll show these current plants to give my POV.
Take into consideration these sprouted on the 1st of July.
Transplanted a week ago.
My 600watt hps is fixed to the top of my tent. No yo-yo hangers or anything. Bulb is about 6 feet high at the top of the tent.

In my opinion the node spacing has always been fine. Enough so, that I've never felt the need for MH.

I appollogise for the shitty photos too. My camera is crap. I've had a little trouble with sodium as well early on, but they're coming good now.
This brand of block coir I bought was especially shitty this time. But they're recovering.

DAY OF TRANSPLANT





TODAY, JUST NOW.





HPS veg's fine for me.



P.S.
Anyone else having trouble uploading photos on RIU today? Shit was just whacked for me.

 

[TheBeardedBudzman]

I'll let you form your own opinion, on the topic.
It's pretty subjective dude.

My opinion is if you have a super hps bulb the difference would be pretty negligible.

I'll show these current plants to give my POV.
Take into consideration these sprouted on the 1st of July.
Transplanted a week ago.
My 600watt hps is fixed to the top of my tent. No yo-yo hangers or anything. Bulb is about 6 feet high at the top of the tent.

In my opinion the node spacing has always been fine. Enough so, that I've never felt the need for MH.

I appollogise for the shitty photos too. My camera is crap. I've had a little trouble with sodium as well early on, but they're coming good now.
This brand of block coir I bought was especially shitty this time. But they're recovering.

DAY OF TRANSPLANT

View attachment 4171080



TODAY, JUST NOW.



View attachment 4171092 View attachment 4171100 View attachment 4171108 View attachment 4171109

HPS veg's fine for me.



P.S.
Anyone else having trouble uploading photos on RIU today? Shit was just whacked for me.

Those are looking great! Maybe I’ll give it a try hps all the way thru on my first run.

 

[Tim1987]

Those are looking great! Maybe I’ll give it a try hps all the way thru on my first run.

It's really up to you. If you can bare the cost in electricity i think your hps will be fine.
My opinion is its better to let the plants grow into a powerful light source. Rather than switching bulbs, or adjusting light hight. I believe it emulates the sun better.
But it really works either way.

An interesting tid bit i read the other day, is that blue light travels further (its brighter). Also that the suns spectrum never changes. But its the distance, and position the Earth's facing the Sun that determines the spectrum changes during the seasons.
So the sun during summer is higher, than during winter. Which means more blue spectrum.
During early or late season, the sun is lower. So theres more red spectrum.
Well it works the same for all light.
So my 600watt hps, at 6 feet high, with 4 or 5 feet distance between the canopy during veg. Means the spectrum the plants are receiving has more blue, than what exactly the same light source has 1 or 2 feet away.

I say phuck it dude. Give your 1000watt a whirl. See how it goes.

Happy grow, and enjoy the experimenting.