What Can The Advanced Platinum Series LED Grow Light Do For You As An Indoor Gardener?

For a while when I first started indoor gardening I got tired of buying LED grow lights that were so costly to me at the time and produced little to no results. I thought to myself, “I guess indoor gardening wasn’t for me”. I later learned that I wasn’t using the best grow lights for the types of crops I was trying to grow.

I’ve owned and still own quite a few grow lights, but if your looking for a grow light that I’ve had nothing but success out of well, look no further than the Advanced Platinum Series P600 LED Grow Light. Whether it’s for the growth of buds, flowers or any other plant, this product will not disappoint you. It’s not only pocket-friendly but also produces the desired results in such a short amount of time.

Before I go into the details of this light and my experience you can see the current price and rating below from Amazon.com:

Features At A Glance

* Platinum LED lights have the HIGHEST PAR/LUMEN OUTPUT PER WATT of any LED grow light! 2x-3x the intensity of any other lights!

* SUPERIOR 12-band full spectrum from the depths of UV to the heights of IR – The most complete and efficient spectral output available

* Selectable VEG/FLOWER switches with 4x high speed whisper quiet fans plus ALL NEW upgraded aluminum cooling heat sinks

* 800w HPS replacement with 6ft x 4ft coverage at 18″ height PERFECT for large applications or using multiple units for even coverage in commercial application

* COMPLETE 5 YEAR WARRANTY plus our exclusive 90 DAY SATISFACTION OR RETURN GUARANTEE. Amperage (Veg + Bloom) :3.1A @ 110V / 1.6A @ 220V,Amperage (Veg Switch Only) :1.7A @ 110V / 0.8A @ 220V

About Advanced Platinum

The Advanced Platinum Series P600 is one among the many models produced by Platinum LED. This company is well-known for the production of LED growers that have the highest Photo-synthetic Active Radiation per watt in the market. Their LEDs consist of three top-tier brands: CREE, Bridglux, and Epistar.

Honestly I haven’t see no match to these LED grow lights on the market so far. In fact, the PAR per watt is about three times as much as any other competitor on the market, meaning that the plants grow faster and produce a higher yield in a short period.

The Advanced Platinum Series P600 has a PAR of 3000+ at 6″. This 22 pound LED grower has many other features. Let’s find out what makes it useful when it comes to increment of yield in plants.

Features Coverage

The Advanced Platinum Series P600 can cover a wide area due to its size; (36 by 3 inches). At 18 inches off the ground, the P600 LED grow light covers a pretty decent area of 6 feet by 3.75 feet. It means that two P600 LED growers can comfortably cover a 4 by 4 space.

What I did since these are a bit on the pricey side, I bought one and used a light mover to be able to move the light back and forth over a large area that I needed coverage for. The best light mover that I found that works well is this one.

You also can increase maximum coverage by increasing the height above the ground. By doing this it also means that the PAR will decrease to 1140 at 24 inches above the ground as opposed to when the gadget is at 6 inches as stated above. It entirely depends on your preference.

Power Input VS. Power Output

There have been numerous complaints of high power input to low or no results at all regarding plant growth and yield. Many have been disappointed by some brands. Let me break it down for you.

There are two stages in the growth of a plant, and the creators of the P600 LED grower considered that and came up with the bloom power and the vegetative setting.

The bloom power uses the most watts; 345 watts. The high amount of watts is used to enhance the size of the buds thus increasing the overall yield.

The vegetative power helps the plant to grow. For the newbie, the vegetative stage of a plant is the period where plants stock up to give them the ability to flower. If the right amount of photosynthesis does not occur at this stage, then the plant will just die, wither or have stunted growth. It will occur due to lack of nutrition obtained from light, C02 and water. It’s a sensitive stage, and that is why the P600 can produce a range of light specifically for this purpose.

You must switch on both the veg switch and the blooming switch during the flowering stage. The total amount of voltage you will use for this will be 220 volts, and that will draw 1 .6 amps while 110 volts will draw 3.1 amps. You don’t have to worry about this because the lights are self-adjusting and can sense the amount of voltage and adjust accordingly.

The power input is 345 watts on the higher side, and the power output is 800 watts due to the number of bulbs on the surface area of the P600. You really cannot compare to HPS power input which ranges at a staggering 600 watts.

The Actual LED Bulbs

This is the way the P600 looks like down in my basement. Check out those cool looking bulbs.

The main feature that I really liked about this grow light despite of it’s price is the 90 degrees focus lens on the LED lights. The focus lens can focus light on the lower areas of the plant. No matter how large the leaves are, the P600 will ensure light reaches every part.

The primary goal here is to increase yield. By guaranteeing the lower parts of the plant receive that required light, the P600 makes this a none issue, that is, if you decide to purchase this product.

That is not all; the P600 LED grower’s bulbs do not require replacement over the course of five years as compared to other products which may need you to change the bulbs after every six months. How cool is that! This within itself is a feature that makes the Advanced Platinum series of grow lights worth every penny you pay for them, because you will save money in the long run.

THE 12 BAND LED SPECTRUM

PlatinumLED 12-Band Spectral Output vs Chlorophyl Absorption

Now, the power behind the P600 is merely this well thought out Band spectrum suited to accelerate photosynthesis. It’s a broad range that covers Ultra violet rays, blue light, red light, green light, to infrared light.

Various stages use different wavelengths of light. The blue light is used during the vegetative stage, and the red light is vital in the flowering stage. Some may say that UV light is dangerous for plants, but it is essential in enhancing color, aroma and overall taste of the plant.

The benefit of having the 12 band spectrum is that each frequency of light actively plays its role simultaneously thus allowing for efficient, fast growth of plants with larger buds, sweeter fruits.

You can learn more about grow light spectrum here.

No Heat Emission

Heat emission from grow lights has been an ongoing issue that many indoor gardeners have to face. This is a problem, because too much heat in the growth environment of your plants could hinder proper growth and yield.

These are the fans on the back of the P600. This photo is in one of my friend’s cannabis grow tents where he is running 5 of these at one time.

The amount of heat produced by some grow lights on the market today can be overwhelming for your plants, but with the P600 LED grow light, I didn’t find that to be a problem. As a matter of fact there is no heat emission as this light has inbuilt fans that help to control the heat which is something else I really loved about it.

Lifespan

The P600 has a lifespan of 50,000 to 100,000 hours, a warranty of 5 years and a 90-day money back guarantee. That is a sweet deal and not too many grow light companies can give such type of warranty. It just goes to show that the company is confident in the quality of the product that they have created.

What About The Cost?

The Advanced Platinum Series P600 at first glance looks like it is the most expensive grow light out there. As I mentioned above, just the fact that the bulbs don’t have to be replaced but every 5 years or so makes this grow light pay for itself. If you don’t believe me that’s not saving just take a look on Amazon.com how much just one grow light bulb costs.

Now you know what I mean when I say this light pays for itself overtime and since it combines efficiency with a low maintenance cost all you have left to do is the math. The cost of maintenance plus power input minus the amount of yield produced in five years in some other products will give you the profit margin.

If you’re growing for commercial purposes, that figure does not compare to the profit margin you would accumulate if you were to use the P600 LED grow light. The P600 price and rating is listed below:

Other Advanced LED Models Available

Advanced LED currently provides 5 other models of the P series of grow lights each with it’s different features and specs. They are the following which you can click on to get detailed specs and the price of each model:

Advanced Platinum LED P150

Advanced Platinum LED P300

Advanced Platinum LED P450

Advanced Platinum LED P900

Advanced Platinum LED P1200

Pros At A Glance Of The P600

1. No maintenance required thus making it cost effective.

2. It facilitates faster growth of plants and produces larger buds, sweeter fruits, stronger aroma accompanied with a deeper color.

3. It possesses a long lifespan of 50,000 to 100,000 hours.

4. It facilitates a higher yield over a short period of time.

5. It requires low power input.

6. No heat emission.

7. It provides wide coverage.

8. There is a volume discount on this product.

9. Excellent customer support.

Cons

The one thing that I personally experienced from this product that I personally dislike and wish they would change in future versions of this model is the fact that you have to alternate the blooming switch and the vegetable switch in different stages of plant growth.

It would be nice if was just a set it and forget it type of light, but I guess I can’t complain too much because this manual aspect of it is the reason why it brings forth such good plant and vegetable growth for me. It makes you pay attention to your plants from seedling to a mature plant.

Final Verdict & My Personal Opinion

As far as grow lights that you definitely get what you pay for, I would have to say the Advanced LED P series and the Viparspectra grow lights definitely deliver just that. I own the P600 and the P450 and I must say I’m really happy with my purchase of these two grow lights.

They certainly are pricey lights and they are best if you need to grow big batches of plants quickly, but if speed of growth isn’t important to you, but you still want the same quality, wattage, budget friendly and great customer support then something like the Galaxyhydro 600W LED Grow Light would be just what you are looking for.

The Galaxyhydro 600 Watt Full Spectrum LED Grow Light by Roleadro

I personally own the Galaxyhydro 600w and while it is not my favorite Grow Light, this is by far my favorite brand which makes my favorite grow light the Galaxyhydro 300w which you can read a full review on here.

Grow lights are complicated, especially for us humans. Before I got into indoor gardening, I expected all lights to be pretty much the same. After all, they all glow when you flip the switch.

Boy, was I wrong. Light is just a narrow band of a larger physical phenomenon called the electromagnetic spectrum. What we see as changes in color are more like changes in the pitch of a sound or the choppiness of the ocean. This might not matter much to our eyes, but when it comes to plants, small differences in color (or wavelength) can have a big deal.

This is just one of the factors that complicate grow lights. Different plants prefer different colors of light. This means that two grow lights that are different in color will have different effects on the same plant.

The very best grow lights use an array of different types of light to counteract this. Rather than relying on a small number of bulbs and a small number of colors, these lights have banks full of many small lights that cover the whole relevant spectrum. Some of these lights may even provide infrared or ultraviolet light, which is invisible to humans (but totally helpful for plants).

GalaxyHydro’s 600W LED Grow Light bank is one such product. It’s a carefully chosen array of LEDs in different sizes and wavelengths. This particular grow light has an abundance of red bulbs to help with flowering. This means it’s ideal for any plants that have beautiful flowers that you want to cultivate.

Before we continue you can view below the current price and rating of the Galaxyhydro 600w LED Dimmable Grow Light by Roleadro on Amazon.com


Features at a Glance

  • The Galaxyhydro series 600W Led grow light is comprised of 200pcs high powered 3 Watt Light Emitting Diodes featuring a proprietary intensified spectrum designed for plants growing and flowering large yields. Your Galaxyhydro grow lamp will cultivate record breaking yields, both in quantity and quality.
  • Professional spectrum provided by over 9 years researching and producing grow lights experience manufacturer, which has more bandwidths (7), equals a much fuller and more complete spectrum (crucial when it comes to photosynthesis). It provides plants Veg and Flower all stages with everything they desire in the natural sunlight.
  • 2 big high speed cooling fans and upgraded aluminum heated sinks makes this plant light superior. While running, it’s quieter, cooler, and more efficiently than any other grow lights. Efficient cooling systems make your plant grow lights durable to use. Service Lifespan up to 50000hrs.
  • UV function sterilizes growth and kills bacteria which seriously influence plant’s growth and ability to produce abundant healthy flowers. The IR function promotes cell division which improves growth in both vegetation and flowering phases. This can increase the yield to a certain degree.
  • Daisy-chain connection is available. Two or more light can be connected together with the standard included power cord. Perfect for a 3×3’ growing area at 24’’ height (Max coverage 4×4’)
  • 2 year warranty and 30 day return service policy to ensure that you are 100% satisfied with our products. Any problem, please feel free to contact Galaxyhydro by Amazon E-mail.

Energy Consumption & Heat Dispersion

Two other important factors to consider are energy use and heat. LED grow lights (like this one) are the best type of grow light long-term because of these factors. While LEDs are more expensive up front, they’re incredibly efficient. Not only does this mean they use less power, they also generate less waste heat.

In addition, the bulbs themselves have a lifespan that’s usually longer than the power supply in your unit. This means that you’ll save money when you choose this 600W LED grow light over a cheaper HOD or fluorescent bank.

In order to help manage the minimal heat that the LED bulbs produce, this unit comes with two built-in cooling fans. It’s quite quiet while it’s in operation, meaning you won’t disturb the human occupants of your house with your grow operation.


Full UV Light Spectrum

One of the 7 distinct wavelengths this product outputs is a band of the UV spectrum that kills harmful bacteria outright. This means that this grow light will help you save money on pesticides and ensure that your plants grow up healthy and strong.

The other wavelengths were carefully chosen after years of intense research. Among other things, they provide the necessary energy for photosynthesis, promote cellular division, and direct your plants to grow in the correct direction.

The best part of this light is the carefully balanced spectrum of lights. There’s plenty of red for healthy flowering and cell division, while the whites and blues provide raw energy to your plants.

UV works to help kill bacteria, while infrared provides an even bigger boost to flowering and growth. The final mix delivers impressive results when it comes to healthy plant development.

As I mentioned above, I personally own a Galaxyhydro 600w and have to say that I saw a big improvement in my plants over the first 30 days of using this light.


The Daisy Chain Effect

That said, the most important feature possessed by this grow light is the ability to daisy chain it together with other lights. It’s got both input and output plugs, meaning you can plug it into an extension cord, the wall, or another glow light and then power more glow lights from the plugs built into this light.

In other words, it makes running a large, complex indoor grow operation fairly simple. It also makes it trivially easy to scale up your indoor garden into something larger. You can simply plug your new lamps right into this one!

Each of these lights can illuminate between 20 and 40 square feet of indoor garden. It’s recommended that you hang this light between one and six feet above your plants. It’s not very heavy, so you should have no problems finding an appropriate stand.


What Is A Zener?

While some cheaper LED glow lights won’t work if a single LED is broken, the GalaxyHydro 600W utilizes a Zener. This capacitor-like circuit ensures that your light will still work after a few individual LEDs fail. This won’t happen fast, however. It’s estimated that this light should work for about 50,000 hours before you have to replace it.


Pros 

Does it work? Absolutely. The technology in this light ensures that it’s one of the best options on the market when it comes to powering your grow operation. It’s got plenty of light in all the right wavelengths, it’s long lasting, it doesn’t use much power, and it’s fairly cool and quiet. In other words, it’s just what you want.


Cons

That said, it’s not going to run your whole operation for you. While this may be one of the best lights available, you still have to manage your soil, your water, and the temperature in your grow room.

You also have to hang the light at the right angle and distance and make sure that it’s at the right level for the plants you’re trying to grow. In other words, while this is an excellent tool, you still have to use it right.


My Final Conclusion

Overall, the GalaxyHydro 600W is a top option for anyone who wants a big, serious LED for their indoor gardening projects. It’s a bit pricey up front, but the electricity savings will more than pay for the increased unit cost over the course of a year or two. With over 50,000 of expected unit life, you’ll be sure to have this light for more than long enough for it to pay for itself.

I’m happy with the 2 GalaxyHydro 600W’s that I own. I like my 300w’s better, but each grow light serves it’s intended purpose and depending on how much wattage you need to use will be the main determining factor of which model to choose.

If you think you’ll be running your indoor gardening project a year from now, the GalaxyHydro 600W is a perfect choice for you. You’ll save money on electricity while providing your plants with the right spectrum of light.

The ability to daisy chain them together gives you easy scalability should you want to make your operation bigger in the future. If you’re thinking about getting serious, the GalaxyHydro 600W is the grow light for you.



Other Resources & Interests

The Advanced Platinum P600 LED Grow Light Review

See what Grow Lights helped my seedlings mature quicker

See what my Top 4 Gardening Tips That Every Beginner Should Know…

For more information about grow lights and indoor plant growing visit this link

The Importance Of Lighting To Indoor Plants

As a hardcore indoor gardener I want the best for my indoor babies. I would imagine that you do too if you really care for your indoor garden. One of the aspects of indoor gardening that you cannot get away from is lighting for your plants. From seedlings to mature adult plants, botany life cannot live without proper light.

If you are a beginner and would like to know more about lighting in general you can read my post on the Top 4 Indoor Gardening Tips that Every Beginner Should Know.

What Are The Signs Of A Good Grow Light

The best grow lights share several characteristics, if I can put it that way. The first one is that they generate light at the frequencies that support plant growth at whatever phase you want to foster. In this regard, bright lights don’t matter as much as lights that put out more red light to accelerate leaf growth and vegetative phase growth along with some blue light for strong stems and overall plant health.

The overall luminosity matters, especially if growing sun-loving plants, but there’s a point where you can have too much. You need grow lights that will put out the energy you need without too much heat, since that can dry out or burn plants. The ideal grow lights will put out light but barely any heat, since this is correlated to good energy efficiency.

Well made grow lights such as the Galaxyhydro 300W have simple hardware where you get both the lights and everything you need to mount it and run it in one box. The ideal grow lights let you plug them in to the wall and be done, instead of having to figure out where to put cables, how to connect fans and whether or not you can plug in timers and reflectors.

There is one reason why we can’t say there is one perfect grow lamp, and that is the fact that the best grow lights for your situation depend on the application. Different grow lights provide differing coverage areas and are often designed for optimizing growth at specific stages. For that reason, we can recommend several good grow lights but not a single, ideal grow light for every single use case.


300 Watt Grow Light by JHOTEC

This full spectrum grow light is good for plants in the vegetative stage like seedlings and flowering plants. It mimics natural sunlight except for the UV light. It has both strong light and deeper than average penetration.

This particular grow light is energy efficient, and the light gets amplified when you switch between growth or bloom mode (though you can do both at once). This means you could have it put out only red light when encouraging micro-vegetables and seedlings and use less power than a grow light that puts out predominately blue light.

This grow light covers a 2 foot square growing area when two feet above the plants. Its maximum coverage is 3’ square if you have plants that don’t need high intensity light or you’re using the grow light as a supplement to delay blooms.

The Grow Light by JHOTEC comes with built in fans to keep them from overheating. The only downside of these models is the tendency to burn out bulbs rather quickly. Conversely, you can connect them in a daisy chain fashion so you only need a single timer to control a whole series of the lights.

The Current Price and Amazon Rating is listed below:


EnerEco 100 Watt Grow Light Bulb

This is not a complete grow light per se, but it is bulbs that I have bought to replace burnt out ones. I have to say, they pack a punch. The 100 Watt bulb is designed for almost any application. It is good for seedlings, vegetable growth, hydroponics and greenhouses. It puts out roughly three times as much red light as blue light, fostering leaf growth without resulting in weak plants.

The EnerEco bulb is energy efficient ad has excellent heat dissipation. Consider this bulb as a good light source for a single large plant or 2’ square area of seedlings. I’ve personally used it as supplementary light for plants receiving natural light to accelerate growth or delay flowering.

Another option would be to use a network of these bulbs in an enclosed area where no natural light gets in. This really comes in handy especially if you are doing your growing in a basement where there are no windows at all. I recommend that you do not handle these bulbs or install them in the socket without proper eye protection.

The Current Price and Amazon Rating is listed below:


GrowLED LED Indoor Garden Light

I remember when I started my indoor gardening endeavors and started using indoor garden lighting I started with something similar to this…(Nostalgia is setting in). This is great for beginners or those just getting started with indoor gardening/hydroponics.

The GrowLED indoor garden light as I mentioned is designed for novices. Its clean, minimalist aesthetic makes it perfect for putting in a windowsill or sitting on the kitchen counter as you grow sprouts, micro-vegetables or herbs.

The broad spectrum white light is safe to put in the open, a strong contrast to other grow lights you can’t risk the kids looking at. However, that doesn’t mean you should stare at the bulbs.

It comes with a timer for 16 hours on and 8 hours off to fuel plant growth. Unfortunately you can’t dim the lights on this unit. According to user reviews it is best that you don’t put it right next to the sink where it could get really wet. Light sprays of water as you mist the plants to maintain the right humidity or splashed water as you do dishes is fine and won’t hurt the electrical parts of the unit.

It seems that the main downside of this unit is that the manufacturer shows the lights as being part of an entire kit when in reality it doesn’t come with pots or containers for the plants which is a bummer to say the least.

The Current Price and Amazon Rating is listed below:


Black Aspect 20W Luxury LED Grow Light

There are times we want grow lights that don’t look like industrial grow lights. In comes the Black Aspect brand luxury grow light. This 20 Watt LED grow light looks like a classic black hanging lamp while it produces supplemental lights for anything from potted plants to dwarf trees.

This unit is capable of covering a small area suitable for a few small plants or one larger one. One benefit of this model is that it runs cool enough that it doesn’t need a fan, which is perfect for putting in the corner with a plant that needs extra light without looking like an actual grow light. Note, that a 40 watt model is available, and the same grow light comes in white and silver so you can find something that suits your décor.

Seriously, when I saw that someone had actually come up with something like this I knew I had to get one for myself because that would give me the opportunity to have plants growing upstairs without having it look like it. I highly recommend it even though it’s a little pricey. Here’s a picture of my setup with this light.

The Current Price and Amazon Rating is listed below:


Hgrope 14W Indoor Grow Light Bar

This indoor grow light bar not only is convenient, but is a very affordable way to get several lights in one place without much hassle. The Hgrope Light Bar puts out 20 watts of light and generates red light, blue light and even UV light. It comes with two separate rows of bulbs, each on their own flexible arms.

These LED grow lights are perfect supplemental lights, since you can position them to help a specific bunch of flowers or any level of the under-layer of any plant.

As I mentioned above you can use them as mobile supplementary light sources as well such as providing some extra light when the autumn summer sun isn’t giving your herb garden enough light or the plants on your desk seem to be suffering.

You can even choose whether to run one or two of the rows of lights. I’ve managed to put about 6 of these together to cover a big area of plants when I first started indoor gardening, but quickly realized that this defeats the purpose of the mobility aspect that these lights were originally made for.

Another cool aspect of these lights is that they intentionally generate heat, making them a good choice as a supplementary light and heat for a single planter if that is all you will be using it for.

The Current Price and Amazon Rating is listed below:


Additional Resources

Click here to read more about grow lights and indoor gardening


From personal experience I’ve come to find out that it is almost impossible to grow florae in unsuitable environments. Plants may object to overly cold temperatures or too much dampness. Yet, experienced horticulturalists have the capability of growing seedlings despite these conditions.

They do it by using LED grow lights to imitate the sunlight that enables photosynthesis to take place. Choosing a grow light is a challenge. You have to decide on spectrum, PAR, and penetration. There are so many available on the market today.

Because of this, I decided to list my top 5 favorite LED Grow Lights, that I have personally used and invested money in that brought excellent results in my indoor gardening endeavors. These are not listed in any particular order as that was so tough to do, but what I did was narrowed it down to the top 5 in my personal opinion.

I didn’t add it to this list, but there is a 6th favorite grow light of mine which was worthy of a detailed review of it’s own, and that is the Galaxyhydro 300w LED Grow Light. Without further a do, here are the Top 5 LED Grow Lights of 2018.

GoGrow’s V3 Master Grower LED Grow Light

GoGrow is one of the market’s most trusted suppliers of LED growing systems. They pride themselves on the durability of their grow lights and are conscious of the expense in using these lights over time.

A grow light will operate for approximately eleven hours each day, and if the unit outputs are high, the cost of electricity will increase significantly. This is no longer an issue with their V3. GoGrow uses red LED lights as opposed to the blue variety. The latter consume 50% more power and actually yield poor results.

The V3 is made specifically for home-growing vegetables and flowers. It provides 12 spectrums and a high PAR penetration. If you are a new horticulturalist, you are probably wondering what that all means. People and plants respond differently to light.

If you’re a human, you will be more sensitive to green or yellow light than you are to blue or red. Measuring the intensity of light for plants is a littledifferent. Plants are much more efficient when using red and blue light. PAR simply defines the most optimal kinds of light needed to enable photosynthesis.

While it is true that red LED lights promote better growing conditions than their blue counterparts, red lights are also far more expensive. Some go as high as $1200. The GoGrow V3 will cost a little less than half that.

The main reasons I like the Go Grow V3-Master Grower is that it is small enough to fit in a small grow tent while at the same time filling it with abundant lighting. I was impressed with how much light it gives off with only 130 watts with no excess heat dangerous to your plants.

I haven’t had to contact the company for any support but, according to customer reviews the company is very responsive and helpful and that’s always a plus.

The current price and rating is listed below:


King Plus 1000w LED Grow Light

KingLED’s King Plus is a grow light built with 10W double chips, something seasoned growers are raving about including me. Not only does it use less energy, making it more efficient and brighter, but it also provides a full spectrum of light, making it ideal for a wide range of plants and vegetables that can be grown indoors.

Most scientists agree that wavelengths from 400 to 700 nanometers are sufficient for plant growth, but a full spectrum has a real effect on their development.

The King Plus 1000w has a shelf life of 100,000 hours and can manage even 12 – 14 hour days. It comes with a timer, so you control precisely when the light is used, and the recommended distance to place it above the saplings is only 2 to 3 feet.

It has a coverage area of approximately 3.4 x 3.8 feet, and KingLED provides a 3-year warranty and a 30 day money back guarantee. This light is less expensive than GoGrow’s line of products, but it does requires a fan which is it’s main downside.

I especially like the control of the light exposure it gives off with the built-in timer. The light is large enough to cover a pretty large area of around 4×4 in square footage. The price was another reason why I liked this grow light. I felt that I got a good bang for my buck.

I noticed a discrepancy in how KingLED has measured their product. They are promoting it as 1000w; however, grow light wattage should not be compared to electrical watts. Electricity won’t help your plants grow, but the amount of light that is emitted by a grow light will so I’m not sure what that’s about.

The current price and rating is listed below:


Mars Hydro 300W LED Grow Light

Mars Hydro has created an LED grow light that is getting quite a few positive reviews. Its simulated full spectrum of light operates between 400 and 800 nanometers. This is the measure of the frequency of light in billionths of a meter. Plants can respond to lights in a wider range than humans, so the wider the range, the more conversion of light into photosynthesis.

It is another energy saver that covers a 2 x 2 foot growing area. It is ideal for hydroponics plants which do not necessarily need soil, like basil, lettuce, and spinach as well as other common fruits and vegetables. It comes with an auto-timer and works well in tents, grow rooms, and other indoor environments.

The Mars Hydro grow lamps have the stamp of approval of a nationally recognized testing laboratory and have been tested against ETL standards. That means this product has been tested for safety. It includes a 12-month authentic warranty and a 30-day money back guarantee.

I was skeptical of this grow light the first time I started using it but quickly noticed that is produced quality lighting. This in turn provided fast growth for my plants compared to other lamps that I have used even on this top 5 list.

Unfortunately, the lifespan of this grow light is much shorter than that of equivalent grow lights at 50,000 hours and also it is smaller in size dimensions compared to other models. You may need more than one lamp if you have to cover more than 4×4 square footage of plants.

The current price and rating is listed below:


Apollo Horticulture GL60 Grow Light

The Apollo GL60 is one of the least expensive LED grow lamps on the market and offers many of the same benefits that more expensive lights do. It has a 5 feet square coverage area and only draws 109 watts of power. This might be due to its 6-band spectrum that ranges from 430 to 730 nanometers, which is not too far off from its competitors.

It’s appropriate for tents, greenhouses, H2O systems and most hydroponic systems. It includes a quiet cooling fan and weighs less than other systems. Apollo offers a limited 2-year warranty.

I used this on my plants in one of my grow tents and got some pretty good results. I think it is mainly due to the fact that the light is more concentrated on the plant since it is round which is the reason I wanted to test the Apollo.

I also loved the fact that it is so light and easy to hang and mount inside a grow tent. I can’t say that it’s the best grow light from the other 4 of this Top 5 list but it will do the job well especially if you are not able to shell out big money for a grow lamp.

According to some of the customer reviews on Amazon, there are some downsides to the GL60. The grow lamp has a short shelf life of 50,000 hours, and its limited spectrum that might slow plant growth efficiency. It is not suitable for apartments due to its potential as a fire hazard, and there is a tendency for the panels to go out.

The current price and rating is listed below:


Viparspectra Reflector Series 600w LED Grow Light

Viparspectra has created a full spectrum grow light that is perfectly suitable to growing plants, vegetables, and flowers indoors. It is a powerful light that is perfect for people who are just cutting their teeth as horticulturalists.

The Reflector Series 600w provides outstanding results within all growth stages, and offers a uniform balance of both the PAR output and its coverage. It conserves power and runs approximately 70% cooler than its predecessors.

Additionally, this grow light has an impressive lifespan of 100,000 hours. It provides vegetative coverage of 9 square feet and slightly less for flowering coverage. The Viparspectra has a 3-year warranty as well.

This growing system weighs much more than the average LED grow light and comes in at almost 10 lbs. Its cooling fans have the reputation for making a lot of noise, running hot, and a few other issues. Apart from these few drawbacks, the Viparspectra did a great job of and my plants knew it and felt it.

I especially loved the fact that one of these lamps covers such a big area of almost 9 square feet. If you want to pay just a little more for one lamp but get almost double the coverage from one lamp, this is the one to go with.

The current price and rating is listed below:



Overall Pick/Final Thoughts

I’ve gone pretty long on this article but there you have it, my top 5 favorite LED grow lights of 2018. If I had to ultimately choose one out of the 5 given the prices, durability, and features of each of the five listed, the GoGrow V3 Master Grower ultimately has the edge.




Other Resources

Read my Top 4 Indoor Gardening Tips for Beginners here…

The Galaxyhydro 300w Dimmable LED Grow Light by Roleadro

The name Galaxyhydro now owned by Roleadro is not a stranger when it comes to grow lights. According to Roleadro, their dimmable 300w LED grow light was originated from years of rigorous research and development.

There is no doubt that Roleadro (Galaxyhydro) makes some of the best and most cutting edge grow lights on the market for plants and the Galaxyhydro 300w LED Grow Light is not an exemption.

I personally own this grow light as well as the Galaxyhydro 600w which is also an excellent grow light with the main difference being the wattage it outputs. You can read my detailed review of the Galaxyhydro 600w here.

Of course this review is on the 300 Watt version so before we continue you can view it’s current price and rating below from Amazon.com


Features at a Glance

  • Unique Dimmer Design: The Galaxyhydro dimmable plant grow light is exclusive on Amazon, and not only is it high-quality but also very affordable.The light comes with a dimmer on the backside of the grow light, that allows you to adjust the brightness of the bulbs from 0% to 100%.
  • Adjust the brightness by the dimmer knob to apply different amounts of light through all of the different stages of plant growth instead of having to adjust the hanging height of the actual plant light. It’s a perfect solution for all your plants growth stages.
  • Full Spectrum: Includes 430-440nm, 450-460nm, 610-615nm, 620-630nm, 650-660nm, white, IR(730nm) , UV 380-400nm, 470nm. These lights contain the most useful light needed by plants without any useless light.
  • Blue and red light provide the best results for plants, which of course increase your harvest yield. UV light is also capable of killing bacteria which reduces the chance of plant disease and help promote healthy cell division as well.
  • Efficient Cooling System: The unit comes with three quiet cooling fans, which provide better heat dissipation than most grow lights which only come with 2 fans. The light emitted by the unit doesn’t generate any extra heat. As a matter of fact it can work up 6hrs a day straight without emitting any extra heat.
  • Daisy-Chain Function: The unit is daisy chain compatible which allows you to connect to more lights to extend the light coverage and also help in cord control. This works by having two or more lights connected and used together by their power cords. This provides not only Energy saving but money and time saving as well.
  • Warranty and Customer Service: A 2 year warranty plus a 30 days money back guarantee is provided. Galaxyhydro (Roleadro) are a specialized grow light manufacturer  that produce grow lamps with excellent quality.

Why Grow Plants Indoors?

Growing plants indoors creates an attractive internal environment and if your and indoor plant aficionado like me, it makes you want to stay indoors all the time just to enjoy the serenity created by the plants. To create it however requires you to have a grow light that is quite similar to the sun in terms of producing the light as well as the spectrum bands that are produced by the sun.

If you are growing the plants in dark areas like a basement, you definitely need to buy an effective grow light that can support the plants at different stages as it grows. The Galaxyhydro 300W LED Grow Light has been specifically designed to provide just that right amount of light to help give you the best possible results that you can get out of your indoor gardening endeavors.


Grow Light Specifications

The Galaxyhydro LED Grow Light only weighs 6.8 pounds. This of course makes it pretty portable within the house. It measures around 15.8 inches length by 8.3 inches width and 2.4 inches height. When I hung it in my basement area where I usually use the lights I immediately noticed the minimal space it took up. This of course made me wonder how do you get such power and value yet so minimal in both space and weight.

In terms of power consumption, it is rated 300W although it consumes 140 watts on average from the tests that I did. The LED lights are placed at 90 degrees and 120 degree angles in order to enhance proper distribution and dissipation of light. The complete package comes with 1 power cord, 1 dimmable grow light and 1 stainless ratchet hanger.

Click picture on the right to see dimensions and specifications in detail.


Let’s Talk About Features

The Galaxyhydro 300w grow light comes with several features to ensure that you grow plants indoors with great comfort. The plants grow naturally as if they were exposed to the natural sun. Below is a look at it’s main features and what these can do for your indoor plants.

The Dimmable Setting

The Galaxyhydro comes with a unique dimmer knob that you can use to adjust the intensity and brightness of light. This means that as the plant grows, you don’t have to adjust the hanging height of the actual light fixture as the plant grows like you do with most plant lights.

The knob can be adjusted between 0% and 100% depending on the stages of the plants. This also means that you can use this grow light for the seedling, vegetative, as well as the flowering stages of the plants just by turning the knob and increasing the brightness with each stage.

The Cooling System

We all know that most grow lights produce both light and heat. However, with the Galaxyhydro 300w, all of the heat is dissipated away by 3 built-in cooling fans. This assures you that your plants won’t be harmed by the excess heat produced by the bulbs.

Full Spectrum Lighting

The Galaxyhydro also produces a full spectrum of bands between 380nm and 730nm. It thus contains all the spectrum bands useful for growth and flowering of plants. The blue and red wavelength bands are very key when it comes to flowering and fruition.


The Infrared promotes cell division while the UV rays destroy any bacteria that could harm the plants. This full spectrum aspect was so key when I tested it on my basement plants because for one, you don’t have to have multiple lights to help the plant grow in each of it’s different growth stages, but two, the harmful bacteria protection it provides to the plant means less chemical spraying on your plants.

100 LEDs Bulbs

The Galaxyhydro comes with 100 LED bulbs that produce enough light intensity and brightness to your growing plants. It is good to note that the better the brightness of the bulbs the faster the blooming. This also means that this grow light can be used on indoor plants that require high light intensity.

Furthermore, the bulbs are placed at 90 degrees and 120 degrees angles in an alternating fashion in order to increase coverage and minimize the risk of ‘hot spots’.

The Daisy Chain

One of the other convenience features of this grow light is the fact that you can daisy chain multiple grow lights at one time. There might be times where you have quite a few plants that you are trying to provide light to which means more grow lights are required.

The daisy chain feature can help you connect one grow light to another using it’s power cord and having only one of the lights be connected directly to your main power source. Very handy and convenient especially if you are a hard-core grower like me.

Below is an image of how this feature would work (Click image to enlarge):


Pros & Cons

Like most grow lights on the market today the Galaxyhydro 300w is not without it’s pros and cons. Below I’ve listed some of the pros and cons that I personally experienced using this light for a few months.

Pros

– Low energy consumption since it consumes about 150 watts

– Flexibility in terms of varying the light intensity and brightness using the knob without having to physically reposition the light.

– Produces healthy plants since it produces all of the light spectrum needed by the plants.

– It is super durable as it does not overheat thanks to it’s 3 built-in cooling fans.

– Can be used at all plant growth stages for most indoor plants.

Cons

– One of the main complaints and cons that me and many other users have run into is the lack of light coverage if you are using just one grow light. However this con is quickly mitigated by the daisy chain feature that the light provides.

If you are going to be purchasing more than one grow light anyways, then the convenience of the daisy chain feature to hook multiple lights up in order to expand the light coverage is incredibly convenient.


Pricing & Warranty

With just $86.99, you can actually get the Galaxyhydro 300W on Amazon. The bulb comes with a 2 year warranty as well as a money back guarantee 30 days after you purchase. However, almost everyone who has bought it before says it is an amazing grow light and the percentage of customer returns is very minimal. I personally haven’t returned mine yet. 🙂


Overall Conclusion

The Galaxyhydro 300W grow light would be the only grow light you would ever need especially if you are just wanting to cover a small area of plants. However, because of the grow light’s smaller dimensions it wouldn’t be ideal for larger area coverage.

This of course is where the daisy chain connection feature of multiple lights comes in handy because of the minimal stress and hassle of connecting multiple grow lights at one time. Not to mention the affordable price for a full spectrum grow light makes this a very useful and all-around grow light that will benefit your plants at all of their growth stages.



Other Resources & Interests

The Advanced Platinum P600 LED Grow Light Review

See what my Top 5 Favorite LED Grow Lights of 2018 are…

See what my Top 4 Gardening Tips That Every Beginner Should Know…

For more information about grow lights and indoor plant growing visit this link