5x5 grow room: 1 FC-6500 or 2 ES300V3?

C

casuallyhobo

Well-Known Member
Hello everyone.

After much deliberation on what light I should upgrade to I was somewhat set on getting the FC-6500 from Mars-Hydro, but then I saw that Electric Sky has lowered the price on their ES300V3, and now I'm back to being indecisive again.

I'm wondering if anyone could help me settle my mind on what setup I should go for. I will be growing 4 plants (Bruce Banner #3 this time) using auto pots in a 5x5 tent.

People seem to swear by the ES300's saying they get not just fatter buds, but also quite a bit more THC as well in their end products, and as the difference in price between my two choices are negligible with the September discount, as well as the ES coming with their very nice guidance dimmer, I am now leaning towards getting two of them, but I was hoping someone could ease my mind and provide some information one way or the other.

Once again I appreciate any input and help anyone is willing to give. I feel like I've spent months trying to settle on a final purchase, and each time I make up my mind, there is something that changes it again.
 
casuallyhobo said:
Hello everyone.

After much deliberation on what light I should upgrade to I was somewhat set on getting the FC-6500 from Mars-Hydro, but then I saw that Electric Sky has lowered the price on their ES300V3, and now I'm back to being indecisive again.

I'm wondering if anyone could help me settle my mind on what setup I should go for. I will be growing 4 plants (Bruce Banner #3 this time) using auto pots in a 5x5 tent.

People seem to swear by the ES300's saying they get not just fatter buds, but also quite a bit more THC as well in their end products, and as the difference in price between my two choices are negligible with the September discount, as well as the ES coming with their very nice guidance dimmer, I am now leaning towards getting two of them, but I was hoping someone could ease my mind and provide some information one way or the other.

Once again I appreciate any input and help anyone is willing to give. I feel like I've spent months trying to settle on a final purchase, and each time I make up my mind, there is something that changes it again.
Click to expand...
You have got a tough choice there. Have you checked to see what Diodes & Drivers each uses ? What Color Spectrum the Diodes are & how many of each ? Does either of them have the 730nm Far Red or the 3__ nm Blue (can't remember) ? Checked PAR levels & PPFD or ePPFD ? See if either is a little better then the other. Maybe that will help you decide. -OR- Flip a coin.
 
Thank you for your reply.

I have a friend who currently runs 1 ES300v3 and one ES180V2 with really good results. And as i mentioned, people are praising them to high heavens with testimonials such as massive increase in bud size and THC content compared to even HLG 650R, which was initially drew me towards them. All reviews and tests i have seen also seems to be of the same opinion, but i would love to get some more real life opinions from people who are more experienced than me, and probably knows a lot more about this than i do.

Below is the info on the Mars-Hydro EU page regarding their FC-6500

fc-6500 eu specs.png



FC-6500 spectrum.png



Electric Sky does not have much info on their parts besides stating it is a patent pending solution with top binned diodes, but below is the info i have managed to get regarding them:


es300v3 spectrum.png
es300 specs.png
 
Look at the par maps but the newer tec is in the mars product from the spec's.But the sky has a very weird par map to me dont look very honest highs of 2378 at 12 inch hmmm if true guess it has some power also not a very even spread.
 
The ES300v3 makes a point of utilizing the Emerson effect as a reason for the yields and high levels of THC they manage to produce. The PAR map is tested and confirmed from what i was able to find out, and even though they don't have the best spread 2 of them should be enough to adequately cover 4 plants in a 5x5 from what i have gathered, but again, others input on this, especially if anyone has any experience with the lights and can confirm, would be greatly appreciated!
 
Sound like you made up your mind my friend.And they will cover it no problem.Just i cant see you getting a better even spread from those lights as you would the mars just my 2 cent. Hope some one with some more info pops up.And the claims of more THC from any light maker is kinda false you cant make a strain stronger than it is cause you have a better light.Maybe better nugs not thc content hmm have call BS on that claim mate.Good luck im sure someone on here has more input. ;)
 
The Emerson effect is quite interesting: Emerson effect - Wikipedia
Mars-Hydro also have an article on the subject: Does Ultraviolet and Infrared Light Matter When Growing Cannabis?

Now im contemplating whether getting the FC-E6500 (as it is quite a bit cheaper than the FC-6500) and just adding a 20w IR + a 20W UV bar might be the better solution since, as you say, there is newer tech in the Mars-Hydro lights.

Goddamn this is not getting any easier!
 
The FC6500 uses a Samsung chip and has a very even PPFD distribution. For private growing spaces 5x5 is recommended and the FC6500 has been developed with a more appropriate spectrum for plants, with enhanced blue and red light. :thumb:
 
Thank you for the reply. My mind is made up to go for one of the Mars-Hydro light, but i do have one question.

I was told the difference between FC-6500 and FC-E6500 (besides the 6 vs 8 bars and there being more diodes on each bar of the FC-E6500) was the type of diodes and driver, but that the diodes on the FC-E6500 was just as good as the samsung ones. They were just cheaper to procure, and both lights would be adequate for a 5x5 tent.

Is this not correct, and the FC-6500 will perform better?
 
casuallyhobo said:
FC-6500 will perform better
Click to expand...
Actually, FC6500 performs better. FC 6500 uses Samsung chips while FC-E uses BridgeLux. FC6500 is foldable while FC-E is detachable. That's the difference. But both of them perform well.
 
Thank you for the clarification. On the European site the price difference between these is 162 Euro, which is almost 20% more.

Would you say the difference between the lights are worth the extra cost? I am ordering a light, a new 5x5 tent, and the 6 inch inline duct fan filter combo pack tomorrow, and was hoping to stay around the 1k euro mark, but if the price difference is worth it, i might have to bite the bullet and go with the increased cost.
 
Having a discount code might be the deal breaker.Have you seen 420 members get 5 or 10% of?

Also nice choice would of been mine rock soild lights the FC series i own a FC3000 myself.
 
Im sure @Mars Hydro will sort you one out.Im in the uk all i can say IF you are in the uk and trying to save a few pounds buying of the EU site dont do it will end up costing more with conversion rates to euro.If your a european customer then that advice means nothing. ;)
 
casuallyhobo said:
Thank you for the clarification. On the European site the price difference between these is 162 Euro, which is almost 20% more.

Would you say the difference between the lights are worth the extra cost? I am ordering a light, a new 5x5 tent, and the 6 inch inline duct fan filter combo pack tomorrow, and was hoping to stay around the 1k euro mark, but if the price difference is worth it, i might have to bite the bullet and go with the increased cost.
Click to expand...
I would recommend the FC-E6500. It is a more cost-effective light. The chips are different from the FC6500 but there are many chips so the difference in planting effect is minimal. A small part of the price difference is due to the shipping costs. As I said before, the FC-E is detachable, so the shipping costs are lower and the price is relatively low.
Here is the official link： Mars Hydro
This website is the same as the EU website, which is our official website. And there is a 3% discount with the discount code 420MAGZINE .
Feel free to ask any questions.:)
 
Thank you! I think im all set for ordering tomorrow then, but i noticed slight disparity in the pricing. The EU site actually end up with a lower total cost without a coupon than the .com site does with a coupon applied, so i think ill stick to the EU one. Guessing this is due to currency conversion rate or something.

EU total price without coupon:
1631102793845.png


.com price with coupon:
1631102813266.png
 
Ok, so i have gone ahead and placed my order for FC-E6500 as well as the 5x5 tent, and the inline fan / filter combo, and then i saw the lights are listed as pre order on the EU site. Yes i should probably have noticed before i clicked the purchase button, but my excitement got the best of me. I can see they are in stock on the .com site, so im wondering if @Mars Hydro might be able to give me an indication on when they would ship?

I can provide you with my order number as well if needed of course.

This should however be an amazing upgrade from my 4.5x4.5 tent with 2 outdated blurple lights!
 

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