Now that’s not a bad light, doesn’t have the spread of 2 HLG 260 XL’s but good led boards and good driver, good parts. If you can’t squeezes out a little more for HLGs, that would certainly work.
When you say “spread” you mean ability to mount with distance between? That would make sense. I’ve seen an ad for
260w Quantum LED Grow Light Kit QB288 Samsung LM301H Rspec V3 w/ Meanwell HLG for $250 each. So you would go that way? They offer 3000K 3500K or 4000K versions. which to choose? I May have to do some wiring, but I’m fine with that.
The 260 XL (extra long) is meant for 4 foot long or wide tent so the led boards are further apart on 3 foot long heatsinks, rather than right next to each other, and yes with having 2 separate units also allows some distance between them as well.
3000k=flowering
3500k=whole grow
4000k=veg
If you plan on the whole grow under these lights (veg and flowering), then 3500k is the way to go.
Ah ha! Now I’ve learned what HLG stands for, and the “XL” too. The ones I’ve seen were not the XL ones. The only place I can find them for sale is Horticulture Lighting’s website, and they sure are pricey, and it’s hard to justify when comparing the actual content. Quantum has the newer LM301H with RSPEC. Since I’m a first time grower squeezing the overall cost, it’s going to be the Quantum V3 550. I’ll keep posting about how this progresses. Perhaps I can improve the spread by modifying the mounting setup. We’ll see. Tell me more if thoughts pop up.
Thanks again for your time on this.
@JMN67, You’ve certainly put a lot of thought into it and asked a lot of questions before buying, which is a great thing to do. It’s like any hobby, buy the good stuff first and you save money by not having to replace the cheap stuff you bought first before doing the research. Good growing!
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I just priced a pair of 260w Quantum LED Grow Light Kit QB288 Samsung LM301H Rspec V3 w/ Meanwell HLG dimmable and they come out just below the single unit. I’ll get some spread separating them, and also can lengthen each board to get closer to the XL length. Woo Hoo, I’m pulling the trigger. Thanks for helping me find optimization techniques.
I really do not want to throw a wrench into your thoughts on pricing, but I learned somewhere on one of @dbrn32 s threads that the reason HLG’s may be a bit more expensive is because they only use top bin diodes. After assembly the LEDs all go through quality control testing and individually get rated (I think on efficiency and maybe output.) The best of the best go in the top bin and cost the most. That is all HLG uses. The lower bins are lower quality to differing degrees and therefore lower cost, so not all of the same LED’s are actually the same. I’m not sure what the other company uses. I’ve just learned a bunch about why HLG lights are expensive and efficient while in search of lights myself.
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301h isn’t newer than 301b. It’s the same led provided with different data sheet to show radiometric efficacy instead of luminous efficacy.
Well I guess their marketers got me! So same results as the B model. Thanks for correcting my understanding. Still seems a pretty decent setup, unless I misunderstood something else. Old saying: it’s not what you don’t know that will get you. It’s what you think you know that turns out to be wrong.
Thanks again.
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No worries, you’re definitely not alone.
So I’m new to growing. These sprouts look awful leggy to me. They’re in front of a west facing picture window. I sprouted 3 different varieties of bagseeds. These are the only ones that popped, (they were the newest seeds). I have more seeds left. They range 3 to 4" and as you can see the won’t hold their weight. I planted them in “seed starter” commercial soil. I’m not going to pitch them, I think, regardless. But is this normal growth pattern? Perhaps the soil was too heavy on fertilizer causing them to shoot up?
What light they under?
That’s normal for not using a light and counting on the window light.
You can salvage them by propping them up with toothpicks and twist ties or something along those lines, but they will need to be under a decent light quickly to stop stretching.
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Hi @silverback. The light is sunlight thru the window daytime. Incandescent lights in the room at night.
thanks
I should mention that the soil is “Seeding Soil” from Miracle Grow which includes fertilizer.
This is normal growth for a seedling
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Yeah, that’s not ideal.
@hellraiser thanks. My grow stuff should be here first week in May… any tips in the meantime other than tying them up to sticks?
Much obliged.
That’s not helping either and also contributing to stretch.
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Gotta keep them off the ground or they’ll rot and die. They need some strong plant friendly light, got any cfls or fluorescents around the house, they are much better than incandescent.
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