**ULTIMATE LED TEST** *Grow LED Hydro* VS *Blackstar* VS *Hydro Grow LED*

[GrowBigTV]

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_0340.jpg

Setup:

3 4x4x7 Lighthouse tents, each running its own 6" inline

Medium: FFOF soil
Pot: Smart Pots
Nutrients: Dyna-Gro
Strain: LA Confidential
Tents: Lighthouse Hydro
Fans: Lighthouse Hydro

*LIGHTS **UPDATED**
Lighthouse Blackstar 500
VS
Grow Led Hydro Spectra 300
VS
Hydro Grow LED Penetrator 336X

Lights will remain stationary 55" above the floor during the entire grow.
Feed will be mixed in a 5 gallon container to ensure each tent receives equivalent nutrients.
Lights will be on electronic timer to ensure all tents receive fair amounts of light.
Clones will be cut from the same mother to ensure uniform genetics.

*Clones are in cloning.. count down til the grow*
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_0329.jpg

Blackstar LED (Lighthouse)
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_0334.jpg

GLH LED (Grow Led Hydro)
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_0335.jpg

Penetrator X (Hydro Grow LED)
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_0339.jpg

[DogtowN]

OK, sign me up. :)

Looking forward to seeing how it goes for ya!

Usually these "comparisons" fade away before coming to fruition. Here's hoping yours is different! Sounds like you're giving them a level playing field. :thumbsup:

[emilya]

ok growbigtv... I am watching too. I am building lights here myself to do a similar experiment to get an idea of LED light levels that are needed in the flowering room. I am very interested in what you are doing here and will be watching careful to see the difference between these two lights. Thank you very much for doing this.

[GrowBigTV]

I have been doing threads on other forums with this grow and was was unaware the post was approved on here (: I'll be updating much more regularly from now on.. and now, will be catching this thread up to date.


I wanted to give a short review of the equipment I am using, excluding the lights.

On a 5 Star Scale:

EZ-Clone 30: 4/5

I really like this thing! Its a lot better than a clone dome and there has been little to no wilting of the clones since I put them in there.

I rated a 4 star because the lid does not seat 100% and water will accumulate and a little will jump out ever once in a while.


Tents (Lighthouse Hydro 4x4x7): 5/5

These are my first tents, but I do have to say they were extremely easy to set up, and would have been a 1 man job aside from needing a second person to help lift the mylar up and over the frame. They have ports and pockets with removable mylar patches and came with a secondary mylar liner for the bottom.

I rated 5 star because if you consider the price, it's a steal of a deal.


Fans (Lighthouse Hydro 6" inline): 5/5

Fan-tastic.

I rated 5 star because they move air like nobodies business and haven't given any issues or reasons to complain at all.

[GrowBigTV]

Blackstar: 301 watts
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3520.jpg

Hydro Grow LED: 334 watts
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3517.jpg

Grow Hydro LED: 360 watts
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3515.jpg

[GrowBigTV]

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3532.jpg

I'm going to get this thing rolling. All 3 of these moms came from the same mother plant, cut at the same time, fed with the same nutes, under the same light to date, and are really similar in size to make it even better.

I took an extra cutting which is in the cloner, so instead of transplanting these form their 3 gallon pots to larger, I will just start over with the clone and turn it into another mother (:

This first run of flowering may also show a difference in yield between pots, as I am using 5 and 7 gallon smart pots for the comparison grow, and these are in 3 gallon standard plastic pots.

This means all vegging will be done under the same light in a different tent before the plants are entered into their respectable LED flower tents.

Going to 12-12 on Friday in their own tents, flushing hard until then.

[GrowBigTV]

Day 5

Blackstar 500
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3564.jpg

Penetrator 336x
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3565.jpg

Spectra 300
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3567.jpg


GROW SETUP

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/ultsetupflat.png
Red dots represent the carbon filters I just added to upgrade garden.

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3576.jpg
I put the carbon filter cans between the small 9" gap in the back tents to maximize space.

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3574.jpg
Showing the 9" gap I have to work with.

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3580.jpg
If it was not for the side pockets on the tents, I would be unable to transfer plants from tent to tent (especially ones the size of the LA con moms).

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3578.jpg
EZ Clone machine fits perfectly in the 30" gap with 2 240s over top.

[GrowBigTV]

DAY 7 Update

Blackstar 500
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3609.jpg
Bud Site:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3612.jpg

Spectra 300
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3608.jpg
Bud Site:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3613.jpg

Penetrator 336X
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3610.jpg
Bud Site:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3611.jpg

[GrowBigTV]

Grow LED Hydro
Spectra 300
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3629.jpg
Bud Site:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3630.jpg

Hydro Grow LED
Penetrator 336X
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3631.jpg
Bud Site:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3632.jpg

Lighthouse Hydro
Blackstar 500
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3633.jpg
Bud Site:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3634.jpg

[GrowBigTV]

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3637.jpg
2 weeks of veg and then onto flower.

I'll be cutting from the Trinity Kush tonight for the next batch of clones.

[GrowBigTV]

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3639.jpg
Trinity Kush clones look about dead even (clone in back is becoming a new mother)

[canadianhemperor]

Is it just me or this does not look like the usual grow logs/test that are posted on the forum?

[GrowBigTV]

Is it just me or this does not look like the usual grow logs/test that are posted on the forum?

How so?

[GrowBigTV]

Time to pull out the macro lens.

Spectra 300 Bud Site:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3642.jpg

Blackstar 500 Bud Site:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3644.jpg

Penetrator 336X Bud Site:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3646.jpg

[GrowBigTV]

Ultimate LED Test Day 11 Walk Through - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSZpsZ32Dtg&hd=1)

[GrowBigTV]

Day 12 Flower Tents

Spectra
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3659.jpg

Blackstar
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3660.jpg

Penetrator
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3661.jpg

[bigguy1977]

ty growbigtv for this great test, which will benefit me and alot of other people, who have spend money on badly engeniered lights that dont work.
fair play to you for taking the time to show us all. may the best light win. good luck.
bigguy

[GrowBigTV]

ty growbigtv for this great test, which will benefit me and alot of other people, who have spend money on badly engeniered lights that dont work.
fair play to you for taking the time to show us all. may the best light win. good luck.
bigguy

Thanks for that! Im glad there are people out there taking interest in what I have to share.

[GrowBigTV]

Spectra
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3669.jpg

Penetrator
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3673.jpg

Blackstar
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3670.jpg

[emilya]

Thanks for that! Im glad there are people out there taking interest in what I have to share.

I am still working out how to correlate your data with the experiment that I am going to do. I am glad to see yours though, and your work should help in determining the level of "tuned" light needed for quality grows. My experiment is going to be under scrog... so the lights will be much closer than what you are working with. Secondly, I have a fixed space that needs to be lit, 2'x2'... so figuring out how many 5w and 3w lights in my custom lights in that configuration is equal to each of your lights working at a larger distance from the plants as well as larger surface area ... it is making my head hurt. Comparing your Spectra with the Penetrator is probably going to be the closest thing to my experiment, which is going to be 3 controlled stations... one T5-HO, and then 2 LED stations, one twice as many watts as the other.
The more of us that experiment and prove that LED is an effective way to go, the faster this technology will become commonplace, and eventually the prices of the LEDs will come down. I am convinced that this is how best to reduce the costs associated with this hobby. Thank you again for what you are doing. I will will be watching carefully to see the density of the budz developing in each of your stations as well as trichome development and please let us know if any in the group look to you like they are maturing a bit faster than the rest... it's sometimes hard to see from here in the pretty red light.

[GrowBigTV]

I am still working out how to correlate your data with the experiment that I am going to do. I am glad to see yours though, and your work should help in determining the level of "tuned" light needed for quality grows. My experiment is going to be under scrog... so the lights will be much closer than what you are working with. Secondly, I have a fixed space that needs to be lit, 2'x2'... so figuring out how many 5w and 3w lights in my custom lights in that configuration is equal to each of your lights working at a larger distance from the plants as well as larger surface area ... it is making my head hurt. Comparing your Spectra with the Penetrator is probably going to be the closest thing to my experiment, which is going to be 3 controlled stations... one T5-HO, and then 2 LED stations, one twice as many watts as the other.
The more of us that experiment and prove that LED is an effective way to go, the faster this technology will become commonplace, and eventually the prices of the LEDs will come down. I am convinced that this is how best to reduce the costs associated with this hobby. Thank you again for what you are doing. I will will be watching carefully to see the density of the budz developing in each of your stations as well as trichome development and please let us know if any in the group look to you like they are maturing a bit faster than the rest... it's sometimes hard to see from here in the pretty red light.

Your welcome! I'm glad to know there are some following along on the grow.

I would say at this point it looks like the Blackstar is in the lead by a bit, and the Spectra and Penetrator are about equal all the way around.

[GrowBigTV]

Spectra
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3691.jpg

Penetrator
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3696.jpg

Blackstar
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3698.jpg

[Xyz505]

lookin good man :rastasmoke::rastasmoke::rasta:

[GrowBigTV]

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3704.jpg
Blackstar in the middle with the Brand new Spectra 150s.

These will be coming out in a few weeks with the new website for GLH. Michael asked me to ask yall to bare with the old site in the meanwhile.

"The 150's use 3w true 45ml chips, red and blue wavelengths use 90* lens and the two different white led's use 120* lenses. The true draw of the panel is around 155w and uses 100 individual led's."

QUESTION:

Should I leave the Spectra 300 in, or should I replace with the new Spectra 150'?s

(The 300 model is going to discontinue so all that will be available will be the 150's in the near future)

[GrowBigTV]

Ultimate LED Test - LA Cons Day 15 - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOsT1G9xFh8)

[bigguy1977]

hi growbigtv.
if i was you i would put in the two new ones since this will be the ones that people will be investing in from now on(or at least very soon)
keep up your good work

[GrowBigTV]

hi growbigtv.
if i was you i would put in the two new ones since this will be the ones that people will be investing in from now on(or at least very soon)
keep up your good work

I plan to switch the lights out when these LA Cons are chopped (approx 5 weeks)

[GrowBigTV]

Spectra
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3706.jpg
Bud Sites:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3707.jpg

Blackstar:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3708.jpg
Bud Sites:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3709.jpg

Penetrator:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3711.jpg
Bud Sites:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3713.jpg

[Blazed Deafy]

GrowBigTv- I appreciate your effort on your endeavor. I notice that under Penetrator and Spectra the leaves are some what droopy whereas Blackstar produces healthy looking leaves.

I will be setting up a LED grow room sometime soon. I wonder if differing ratios of red and blue spectrum have any significant effect on growing and flowering

stay growing

[GrowBigTV]

GrowBigTv- I appreciate your effort on your endeavor. I notice that under Penetrator and Spectra the leaves are some what droopy whereas Blackstar produces healthy looking leaves.

I will be setting up a LED grow room sometime soon. I wonder if differing ratios of red and blue spectrum have any significant effect on growing and flowering

stay growing

They most definitely do! Make sure to do your research before you build your room, especially if you plan on building your own panel.

[GrowBigTV]

I used the flash to bring out the actual colors of the plant. It was the best I could do as I do not have regular lighting in the room.

Spectra:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3714.jpg
Bud Sites:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3717.jpg
Bud Site:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_37.jpg

Blackstar:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3719.jpg
Bud Sites:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3720.jpg
Bud Site:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3721.jpg

Penetrator:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3723.jpg
Bud Sites:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3724.jpg
Bud Site:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3726.jpg

[GrowBigTV]

Day 17 Video > Ultimate LED Test - LA Cons Day 17 - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Get852AKRtE)

[killerweed420]

Nice grow test. How are temps? It looks like the Spectra and Penetrator maybe getting a little heat stressed.

[GrowBigTV]

Frost & Pistil report.

Spectra:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3730.jpg
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3732.jpg

Blackstar:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3733.jpg
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3744.jpg

Penetrator:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3753.jpg
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3755.jpg

[GrowBigTV]

Nice grow test. How are temps? It looks like the Spectra and Penetrator maybe getting a little heat stressed.
67-77 f

[GrowBigTV]

Spectra:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3764.jpg
W/ Flash
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3776.jpg
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3782.jpg
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3779.jpg

Blackstar:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3770.jpg
W/ Flash:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3785.jpghttp://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3787.jpghttp://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3791.jpg

Penetrator:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3771.jpg
W/ Flash:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3797.jpg
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3799.jpg
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3800.jpg

[GrowBigTV]

Day 24 and the buds are looking virtually even in size across the board!
Almost to the half way mark. now things should get very interesting.

Spectra:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3835.jpg

Blackstar:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3836.jpg

Penetrator:
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3837.jpg

[GrowBigTV]

Spectra
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3914-1.jpg
Bud Site
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3915-1.jpg

Blackstar
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3916-1.jpg
Bud Site
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3928-1.jpg

Penetrator
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3929-1.jpg
Bud Site
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m486/WeJuana/IMG_3931-1.jpg

[bigguy1977]

all is looking good gbtv
can you see any differenses yet?? keep up your good work and hope all goes well

[masp84]

You're being a fool. Sorry but if you don't realize this by now you must be. Ok you proven Spectra is junk. Thank you! Now we have the blackstar 500 which cost 550$ compared to Penetrator 336X worth 2200$. Consider that with two blackstars instead of one you'd be spending 60% less and totally destroying the penetrators on PAR and effective coverage!! So better remove that Blackstar panel and replace 4 Blackstar UFO 135W. (720$ max) so you make the ultimate comparison FAIR.

Btw a Blackstar 135W only draws 80-90W so that'd be 360W tops against 520W of the penetrator.

[GrowBigTV]

You're being a fool. Sorry but if you don't realize this by now you must be. Ok you proven Spectra is junk. Thank you! Now we have the blackstar 500 which cost 550$ compared to Penetrator 336X worth 2200$. Consider that with two blackstars instead of one you'd be spending 60% less and totally destroying the penetrators on PAR and effective coverage!! So better remove that Blackstar panel and replace 4 Blackstar UFO 135W. (720$ max) so you make the ultimate comparison FAIR.

Btw a Blackstar 135W only draws 80-90W so that'd be 360W tops against 520W of the penetrator.

I can see if that is your perspective from watching the grow on this forum, but please not that this is very incomplete, and I am not using the new Spectra lights which were totally redesigned.

My purpose it not to market other websites, so please forgive my posting a link to another site, but for those interested in following the comparrison, I have a thread still active on another forum. I discontinued this one due to a lack of participation all around, and time on my part.

Ultimate LED Test still being updates @ > **ULTIMATE LED TEST** *GLH Spectra 290* VS *Blackstar 500* VS *Hydro Grow LED 336X* - Page 123 (http://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/474084-ultimate-led-test-glh-spectra-123.html)

[masp84]

That wasn't from watching the thread, this just proved me that blackstars work very good, I've been emaling gotham and other companies doing a lot of research. He explaned that it's all a mater of marketing strategy and "labelling" the products. While most companies use their approach and market their lights at the rated wattage, using the rated wattage per LED (3w in the case of the 135w Blackstar) and multiplying it by the number of diodes, there are some that market lights as the actual wattage drawn, and then charging the same, if not higher amont of money for it as those products that are sold at the rated wattage. So, at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter all that much, since most buyers/growers today are savvy enough and informed enough to know these differences and different approaches to the issue, and only base their purchasing decisions on the actual performance of lights. And this is where - I'm correct in pointing out - Blackstar truly dominate the market if you consider price vs performance. You don't have to finish the grow for me to know that "as it is" the penetrator is gonna yield more.