Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light Discussion

Would you recommend going CFL then?

Absolutely. CFL or T5/T8 would be your best option. And you'll need to LST, and top them to control the height if you plant to keep them in that cabinet all through flower.

That would also be a great cabinet for starting seeds, or clones, and you can always add a taller flower cabinet in the future. You'll want to have at least a 4' tall cabinet.

Typical 5gal/19l containers are anywhere from 12"-18" tall. You'll need 24" between the plant and light, that allows for a 12" tall plant in Veg, and as you enter flower, the light can get a little closer. I suggest 4' cabinet height as a bare minimum for LEDs. A closet, or armoire is perfect for a small LED grow.
 
Hi there, just finalising a shopping list for my first grow :)

Looking to get a 1.2m x 1.2m x 2m tent. Def going for a Mars II but not sure what size to get. Should I get the recommended 900w for this size tent or step up to the 1200w. Would I get a better grow with the extra 300w?

Also, I like the idea of growing Auto's as I'm a newbie and want to make life as easy as possible at the start. So am I best altering the height of one panel for the different stages of growing or better getting say 2 or 3 x 400w panels and turn more on as I go along?

With so much info on the internet my head is exploding and can't see the wood for the tree's. Need a smoke ;) …..

p.s. any top tips for a newbie would also be appreciated!
 
Also, I like the idea of growing Auto's as I'm a newbie and want to make life as easy as possible at the start. So am I best altering the height of one panel for the different stages of growing or better getting say 2 or 3 x 400w panels and turn more on as I go along?

I do a lot of auto's myself, and I always start out my plants with some CFL's from seedlings, then once they grow about 10 days to 2 weeks I switch over to my 400 watt Mars II. I like my plants to stay smaller because you cant cut an autoflower and prune it back, it will stunt the growth and then you lose growing time. So I try to keep it smaller using the 400 watter. Once I notice it going into flower, I then switch over to my 900 watt so the buds will grow as big as they can.

Like I said, I do this to keep mine shorter and smaller. I put more light on one plant sooner in a grow I did, and the plant went crazy and was growing out of the closet door, and I had the light up to the ceiling it got so tall. As a newbie you will learn as you go along. I never thought I'd be able to do what I'm doing, you will do fine.

:thumb:
 
Hi there, just finalising a shopping list for my first grow :)

Looking to get a 1.2m x 1.2m x 2m tent. Def going for a Mars II but not sure what size to get. Should I get the recommended 900w for this size tent or step up to the 1200w. Would I get a better grow with the extra 300w?

Also, I like the idea of growing Auto's as I'm a newbie and want to make life as easy as possible at the start. So am I best altering the height of one panel for the different stages of growing or better getting say 2 or 3 x 400w panels and turn more on as I go along?

With so much info on the internet my head is exploding and can't see the wood for the tree's. Need a smoke ;) …..

p.s. any top tips for a newbie would also be appreciated!

Don't forget. You don't have to raise and lower the lights. You can raise and lower the plants. I had a box of leftover 8"x8" tiles and I use them as a platform to raise the smaller plants up to keep the top of my plants even.
 
Hey guys, thanks for the advice, I won't order through Ebay.

I have another question. I was looking at the Advanced LED XTE (which seems to be the best home grow light) and their spectrum is similar to the Mars II.

Mars II: 430~440nm, 450~475nm 620~630nm, 650~660nm, IR, and white

But the Advanced LED has more light at 670 red than it does at 660, and it has much more at 660 than it does at 620:

On the Mars Hydro website it says: LED wavelengths can be specified by the customer, we recommend using the 620-630nm and 640-660nm for red light, 450-460nm and 460-470nm for blue light. Red light is used to promote plant germination, flowering; blue light is used to promote plant growth. You can choose a more suitable wavelength and color scale for plant growth.

Has anyone tried factory ordering a Mars light with this in mind? I would think you'd get better flowering results if maybe 20% of the current reds were replaced with 670nm.


Edit: Second question: does anyone know why Mars wavelengths are listed in ranges like that? Everyone else puts exact numbers
 
Absolutely. CFL or T5/T8 would be your best option. And you'll need to LST, and top them to control the height if you plant to keep them in that cabinet all through flower.

That would also be a great cabinet for starting seeds, or clones, and you can always add a taller flower cabinet in the future. You'll want to have at least a 4' tall cabinet.

Typical 5gal/19l containers are anywhere from 12"-18" tall. You'll need 24" between the plant and light, that allows for a 12" tall plant in Veg, and as you enter flower, the light can get a little closer. I suggest 4' cabinet height as a bare minimum for LEDs. A closet, or armoire is perfect for a small LED grow.

Thank you im glad I asked! I assumed you could use the light very close to the plants like I have to in this box I will look into the CFL bulb, I think most T5/T8 lights will be too long
 
Hey guys.


Edit: Second question: does anyone know why Mars wavelengths are listed in ranges like that? Everyone else puts exact numbers

I'm not positive, but I'd say for the same reason febreeze says they kill 99.9% of the germs. A company that gives exact and falls short of can get in trouble for falso advertising and what ever else the buyer has money and time to push for.

Led has had such a bad name in the last 10+ years I'm aware of to where any company that speaks in exact without actual physical proof is taken with a grain of salt. Just like the wattage they pull from wall, every unit is a little different. Can't speak in certainty.

I&I

Edit : for instance your or i could make a light spectrum graph for mars hydro so they could claim they were exact. But do they have the pictures from inside the factory showing this fancy sphere object they use to find the spectrums? I'm far from knowing what I'm talking about here but I'm sure it's hard to get consistently Light spectrum in any bulbs
 
Hi there, just finalising a shopping list for my first grow :)

Looking to get a 1.2m x 1.2m x 2m tent. Def going for a Mars II but not sure what size to get. Should I get the recommended 900w for this size tent or step up to the 1200w. Would I get a better grow with the extra 300w?

Also, I like the idea of growing Auto's as I'm a newbie and want to make life as easy as possible at the start. So am I best altering the height of one panel for the different stages of growing or better getting say 2 or 3 x 400w panels and turn more on as I go along?

With so much info on the internet my head is exploding and can't see the wood for the tree's. Need a smoke ;) …..

p.s. any top tips for a newbie would also be appreciated!

:welcome:

if you have the extra money, i will go for 1200marsII but is alright with 900 and even 700 depends how many plants you want to grow. check my journal. I do Autos. :thanks::Namaste:
 
Thank you im glad I asked! I assumed you could use the light very close to the plants like I have to in this box I will look into the CFL bulb, I think most T5/T8 lights will be too long

When I used CFLs I when to Lowes or Home Depot (don't remember which) and got several desk lights on the flexible necks. I put a "Y" adapter in and put 2 CFL bulbs in each lamp. This way they could be moved and adjusted daily.
 
Thank you im glad I asked! I assumed you could use the light very close to the plants like I have to in this box I will look into the CFL bulb, I think most T5/T8 lights will be too long

I'm glad that I could help you out. I'm using an LED panel from Mars-Hydro now, and I absolutely love it. I grew with CFLs before this.

And as much as I'd love to see you buy an LED panel and have some great equipment to work with, it's not the best to use in a smaller area, and I'd like to help as much as I can, make every first growers experience, a positive one.

But when you get a bigger grow space for flowering, make sure you come back to check out a Mars-Hydro LED panel. I bought their 'Old Model' and it really kicks serious ass in the grow room. The Reflector, and MARS II models are even better.

When you're ready, we'll help you pick out the right LED panel(s) for your new grow space!

And make sure you start a grow journal brother, we'll be able to follow along and help out.
:Namaste:
 
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