Lighting question

I have spent days reading about lighting...im going to be making a purchase tonight or tmr, and it has come down to a mars hydro 300 (old version). Im wondering is it better to get 2 300's or 1 600 hundred. Im not sure how par is affected with two of them overlapping each other compared to one 600 going. Im only using a 2.5x2.5 area..maybe 4 auto's max, but prefer to do less and get more..so 2 regulars. I have the ability to add 16, 23 watt cfl's as well. Does anyone know what the par value is of a 23 watt cfl bulb at say 3 inches or other? I haven't been able to find info on that....it would help me judge how much light I have now with just those running and how much of an increase even 1 mars hydro 300 would make. I was going to go with a viparspectra 300 or 450 reflective, but from unanimous opinions..it seems those are more for veg as the light is too far into the blue spectrum. Thanks for everyone's opinions!

well if one goes out you have an extra light, it really won't matter. you'll may have more light coverage not really sure.

This one just went back on sale on ebay and its 200 Canadian off from 333. I've read a few decent reviews for it..par values seem great for the price. http://www.ebay.ca/itm/232117631528

I use the meizhi brand does a great job . keep in mind the mars hydro 300 and 600 watt units does not have uv . suggest posting this or making a new post and ask your question in the led section

Blitz35 said:

I have spent days reading about lighting...im going to be making a purchase tonight or tmr, and it has come down to a mars hydro 300 (old version). Im wondering is it better to get 2 300's or 1 600 hundred. Im not sure how par is affected with two of them overlapping each other compared to one 600 going. Im only using a 2.5x2.5 area..maybe 4 auto's max, but prefer to do less and get more..so 2 regulars. I have the ability to add 16, 23 watt cfl's as well. Does anyone know what the par value is of a 23 watt cfl bulb at say 3 inches or other? I haven't been able to find info on that....it would help me judge how much light I have now with just those running and how much of an increase even 1 mars hydro 300 would make. I was going to go with a viparspectra 300 or 450 reflective, but from unanimous opinions..it seems those are more for veg as the light is too far into the blue spectrum. Thanks for everyone's opinions!

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Was in same boat few weeks back, did alot of reading about mars,viparspectra etc. In the end I went with a single 450w viparspectra which puts out about 220W and will be adding another 450w in a few weeks. From what I understand, unless your laying down g's and going with one of those sexy american made LEDs then chances are most of the cheap Chinese equivalents are built pretty much the same and then slapped with a brand name. Don't be fooled by the reviews or what the company states, these are the lights people warn you about, the blurples, the cheap china leds, etc etc but after reviewing alot of the brands both Viparspectra and Mars are probably the best of the worst. Both get from china, both lead you to think they have a UK/US branch. You get what you pay for and imo the £120 I dropped on my 450w,as a first time grower, is pretty decent.

PS: Another reason i went with vipar over mars was the option of a 450w w/ Veg/Bloom switch.

get the vipar spectra over the mars. its the same price the 300 watt is 89 ebay read into a cob there are people on here swearing they bitch slap these china led .

ok

Ty for the replies. I based most of my opinion on evidence I saw in videos and comments on forums regarding said lights...I don't pay too much attention to company reviews or most amazon reviews as they can be biased I ordered 1 mars 300 for now to see its affect with my cfl's. Main reason for this over viparspectra was the fact that vipar idoesnt produce as much red as the mars, and seeing as how im using it for flowering..i wanted the the extra red..which seems to be almost twice as much as from the vipar 300. I got the mars for 110 CAD shipped...the vipar 300 was 140 and I didn't see the value for flowering with it..but definitely for veg! Because of the 2 year warranty I believe..I took it over meizhi and its 3 month warranty..and the meihzi as well is more towards the blue spectrum. We'll see how it goes

are you looking at the spectrum chart ?or the color of the lights it self. light color what we see means nothing with led its all spectrum have to throw an spectrum tester under to see what they put out . i do agree there are a lot of happy people using mars hydro and some fantastic grows . please post your results . the meizhi did look to my eyes very blue i did purchase a spec meter there is a lot more red then you think in the 2000k range . i think you will be happy with the mars its very common many sold and it will blow away the cfl .

No I wasn't basing it on site...it was on youtube in a few videos where I saw par ratings for mentioned lights...and quite a few threads where the consensus was the same..that those 2 lights are not enough red for flowering. I saw one vid of the viparspectra 300 and mars 300 side by side and you can clearly see there too that mars was more red and vipar more white/blue. I haven't seen anything much on the mars 300 not being worth it..so I figured I have nothing to lose...some clips saw were very impressive for said light..with added cfls and training of course

if you have room get rid of the cfl buy some t8 led tubes use these for side lighting i do very well under these only 19 watts per bulb 3200 lum . about zero heat . look into them would be a very good combo these tubes pull some serious weight believe it or not

L S D Pepper said:

Was in same boat few weeks back, did alot of reading about mars,viparspectra etc. In the end I went with a single 450w viparspectra which puts out about 220W and will be adding another 450w in a few weeks. From what I understand, unless your laying down g's and going with one of those sexy american made LEDs then chances are most of the cheap Chinese equivalents are built pretty much the same and then slapped with a brand name. Don't be fooled by the reviews or what the company states, these are the lights people warn you about, the blurples, the cheap china leds, etc etc but after reviewing alot of the brands both Viparspectra and Mars are probably the best of the worst. Both get from china, both lead you to think they have a UK/US branch. You get what you pay for and imo the £120 I dropped on my 450w,as a first time grower, is pretty decent.

PS: Another reason i went with vipar over mars was the option of a 450w w/ Veg/Bloom switch.

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I didn't care too much for the veg/bloom switch as usually people grow with both on at the same time. Im sure most of these 'cheaper' led's are close to one in the same...but yes its what I saw aswell..that mars and viparspectra got overall decent/good reviews. In this wacky industry with so many popping up..i guess one needs something to follow..and all I can go on is other's experience with them and they can be quite good...and most importantly with cheaper led's..you need a warranty..you need some assurance and these two offer it and being 'leaders' amongst the cheapies..they have a 'name' to protect as others don't. only reason I went with mars rather than viparspectra is, from what I found...par value is slightly better for the mars but more so for the fact that it delivers considerably more of the red spectrum than the vipar. I saw quite a few people mention that it wasn't great for flower due to this.

Budmaster.co.uk has been sweet for me I got 3 cobx4 n a cobx9 my diary is in my sig

Thanks for the reply..but for me, for now, im doing it small scale...I certainly wouldn't spend 800+$ for a light! and from what I see..the actual quality of it based on their data on that site, it delivers a whole lot of unusable light to the plant (wasting energy), and also...at 1000 umol/m2 from 12 inches...the meihzi 600 reflector series actually delivers more intense light (over 1100 umol) and one costs 200$ CAD..even getting 2 of those is less than half the price of the cobx4 from the link you sent. Only difference being that the meihzi doesn't deliver as much red as the light you mentioned..but that can easily be substituted by even a small 150w hps.

Bought the ViparSpectra 600 - great light for my plants. I was a Mars Hydro guy for a while but found these to perform much better. Mars will give that distinctive BLURPLE color . But the Viparspectra does swing into a more blue / white but growth and plant health is much nicer. Stems , stalks are thicker.
I run both switches at once for full cycle , it also has IR chips.

Does the viapr 600 perform better tan a mars 600 for flowering? The ir chips was a bonus with vipar as mars 300 doesn't have it..was thinking of getting two e27 led bulbs that have both ir and uv..it was 4$ I think. I saw the color difference side by side in 2 different videos with guys using the vipar and mars 300. Yes the vipar was whiter/bluer...its why for veg I would get it for sure..but figured for 30$ less and using for flower now..i thought the added red from the mars will benefit better than vipar 300's or 600's red spectrum. If the results with this mars 300 is decent enough..i either add another one and use cfl's for veg, or I keep the cfl's for flower with the mars and use a vipar 300 for veg. Again, main reason for choice was 30$ less for mars, and better red. Happy New Year!

P.S. The light does look really nice in your pic! How many plants do you grow under it? approximate yield with just that light? Is that a 5 gallon it's in?

This guy's did alright with them

It has a superior veg growth stage ( which is just as important for setting up the plants foundation. ) as far as bloom it fairs very well , i used both brands . Mars 600 is better of the CLASSIC series. I just sold off a newr version that is now a bit whiter in spectrum than before. Originally they were a 200 led panel and that dropped to 120.
Vipar has more upscaling with daisy chain which mars dies but you have to buy a more expensive model. I have full run photos from both that i will post if you want side by side. Vipar uses 5 watt chips.

Mars Hydro 600 ( @272 watt pull ) is $139 on ebay - fair price . Vipar similar pull @wall but has better build quality. Mars hydro was able to cover 3x3 pretty well. Vipar is brighter in spread.

Thanks so much for your input, much appreciated! This mars 300 also uses 5 watt chips. I never fully understood the daisy chain appeal..i mean maybe if one has 4+ panels..but even two..its just 1 extra plug. Sure, id love to see the pics! I agree with you..not from experience but from what ive seen..that vipar is great for vegging and even flowering..but while it seems great for veg alone..it may be better if it gets some red help for flower..but I will likely end up getting one for the spring. The mars 600 was over 200 CAD on ebay...its why I was gonna get 2 300's for 110 each..bought 1 for now..see how it helps I'll be using it in a space slightly bigger than 2x2..about 5 square feet.