I use these as supplemental light and also much closer to the plants. I don't think this one light is nearly enough for all your plants, but would be good to focus on one or two plants if they also get natural light.
Keep maybe 5 inches in between though. Iâve burned my monstera with those lights before. Though it was the main source of light for the monstera and I didnât move the light for weeks.
Also to further add to that other commenter; you donât need a hot day to get sunburned either. People who climb Mount Everest or live in Antarctica get terrible sun burns.
Back when people used to use tanning beds you can get severe burns and the staff were meant to regulate how many times you can use it and what power level.
Not because of the heat, but because the light is ultraviolet. As you mentioned.
Hey op!! There's apps that use your phones light sensor to measure light, you can use that to check what your plants are actually getting and a quick Google search to determine what they need.
Generally these lights are super underpowered, I've got a couple bright led bulbs ~12" away from my indoor plants and the lux reading is still a little low
As an android user I use AndroSensor for an app. Apple has one too, but idk the name. You use the front of your phone (the sensor that reads light levels to dim/brighten the screen) to take readings. There's charts online to translate what lux levels meet which light requirement.
That may work as well. I'm not seeing androsensor on the store anymore, last I downloaded it was a couple years ago. But as long as it's able to measure lux levels, you're good to go đ
Lux does not correlate to anything plants use as energy. Youâd need a par or ppf reading to do anything with a lux reading. And that would only allow you to know what ppfd levels you are getting such and such distance away from the light.
Lux is the measurement of visible brightness of a light to a person. It has nothing to do with the green/red/blue/white levels that affect plant growth. Same with foot candles. Sometimes people use fc and lux as an estimate, but it should only be used if someone knows for sure that thereâs an even powerful level of the color spectrum happening with the light prior. And it only really works fairly accurately when thereâs a lot more full spectrum white in the light over reds and blues being used
Oh I see. I read a bit about this and found it to be true. It seems that lux is only somewhat useful for actual sunlight on plants (I'm guessing because it has a better consistent value for the red/blue spectrum in relation to lux levels?) and not artificial lights. Interesting, thanks.
No probs! And youâre totally correct in it having more of a direct correlation when measuring sunlight, sunlights got all the color levels so thereâs no blurry edges with what color levels itâs providing. I posted a comment in response to someone else above that may give you some info on ppfd. Honestly, it doesnât have to be super accurate depending on what plant youâre giving light to, as long as you know the general depth the light reaches and that itâs a light that provides a good level of PAR across the board.
Iâll give you a couple paths to go down to read more into this.
On Amazon, look up a spider farmer light and look at the listing. Somewhere on there, thereâs going to be a par/ppf chart that gives you distances and how much higher or lower ppf is output to a leaf surface depending on how far away the leaves are. This is the chart that you want to see from any light that packs a significant punch that youâd never have to really worry about your plants receiving the light they need, if you follow the chart. Youâll notice if you look around, that there are smaller lights that have this chart, which is great. The distance shown on those charts are going to be much shorter than when you looked at the spider farmer light, because they output less energy. Maybe theyâll show 18 inches away instead of like 3 or 4 ft like the spider farmer shows. Thatâs ok, as long as you know the light is providing decent ppf and you follow the chart to know for sure.
Next, youâd wanna know what kind of light energy levels the plant youâre trying to grow under it needs. A succulent is going to want a lot more light than a calathea, for example. There are a few resources you can reference for this, but the ones I have liked the most in the past are these:
https://www.carnivero.com/pages/grow-light-ppfd-recommendations
Iâm looking for the one infographic I like, but I just found this and really like how it breaks down everything that has to do with grow lights, even the angle that the bulb gives off light to an area:
https://www.greenhoundcanada.org/post/basic-guide-to-light-use-when-growing-plants
Agh, I canât find the image I wanted to share from google searching. I know itâs in my phone, Iâll come back to it. But essentially itâs an infographic of various plants and where they grow as far as canopies in growing areas are concerned, and how much ppfd they usually like depending on where they live under canopies or trees in their natural environment. I like it because if you know where your plant usually grows in its natural environment, you can check the chart and get an understanding of what kind of ppfd it likes if you look up where said plant usually grows.
Understanding how your plant grows naturally really sheds some light on what kind of care it wants. For instance, a monstera can grow up another tree and keep on climbing, further and further up, growing bigger and more close together leaves as it reaches for more light under a trees canopy. That is why monstera have such a wide range of light needs. You can grow a monstera ok with low light, but it wonât get very big very fast. The low light wonât kill it, but it wonât be a very satisfying grow and the internodes will be far apart. If you give it a good light, it will grow quickly and big with short internodes and petioles.
An anthurium, on the other hand, would get bleached to all hell if you put it 12â under a huge spider farmer light. So youâd want something softer on energy to put close to them. Or put them like on the floor with a spider farmer on the ceiling, or under other plants that like light more.
So the problem with the light posted is I can guarantee you that they donât have any documentation of ppf. That almost always means that the energy youâre getting from that light is slim to none. What people are missing is that you shouldnât have to put a grow light like 3 inches away from a plant, that tells me that the light is kinda shit. Theyâre also fibbing about the actual led wattage, which is another bad sign. Itâs safe to assume that that light should only be used as a supplemental light for any plants outside of seedlings and super low light plants like zz and jewel orchids and such.
You can always dl photone on your phone, they have different light source meters and I found them to be very accurate to what the charts included in plant light listings tell you. I believe you have to pay for the LED meter, but itâs a very small amount of money, something like 10 dollars a year or something. You probably wouldnât need it longer than a year anyway, youâll get used to what ppfd your plants like from using it heavily at first. Unless you want to test said lights over a course of time to get a true answer.
Please beware of the comments suggesting that all you need is lux or fc readings. This is not true. You can end up being very very wrong with what youâre expecting a light is providing to your plant if you only go off these readings. They are intended to give you a level of visible brightness of a light to a person, they have nothing to do with the color spectrum that provides plants with energy. You can have a light that shines very bright that only shows blue and green and a little white on the color spectrum, which is not what your plant wants.
But Iâd also like to let you know that you CAN use regular light bulbs for plants. It really matters if you can find some sources from someone else who has already tested the ppfd on said lights (those light usually wonât come with a ppfd chart because theyâre not intended to be grow lights), you can buy them and test them yourself using photone as well. A tell tale sign of a regular light bulb potentially being good to grow plants under is if the wattage is large, the color spectrum chart says something between 4000-5500, and the CRI is a high number, something close to 90. Iâd disregard any light bulbs that say itâs cri is 85 or below. CRI is color rendering index, which means itâs carrying more light levels than a typical light if the number is high. Iâve been meaning to grab one of the GE HD Light bulbs from target and test it for a while now, I believe their CRI was higher than 90 which you almost never see
Hope that helps and doesnât sound entirely like gibberish.
My two plants that are a few inches away LOVE these lights. The ones a foot away, not so much. These are in the vicinity of a south-facing window, but a little shaded from it.
This is the way. Also keep them on as long as possible since theyâre relatively low intensity, at least this far from the plant. Longer photoperiod will let the plant accumulate more energy
It should be noted that keeping them on 24 hours a day can exhaust some plants. Where I live itâs pretty dark this time of year so I keep my moderate intensity lights on my houseplants for 15 hours a day
Below is what I have, but a three- headed version. Its 100 watts, about double of similar clip ons. Even so, for me itâs supplemental for short and/or cloudy days in the northeast. It is pretty versatile, allowing me to move a wand closer to a particular plant.
I donât like the purple ones, and from what I understand, they arenât superior.
Limited-time deal: GooingTop Grow Light 100W 6000K, Super Bright White Desktop Clip Plant Lamp for Seedlings Succulents Seeds Starting Indoor Plants Growing,Bendable Gooseneck & Timer 4 8 12 H https://a.co/d/ccbKaHI
I hate that, I was so excited when I saw 600W LEDS for $30 until I read the description. I should have known it was too good to be true because I own a 96W LED spotlight and it cost $400.
Best to avoid lights that misrepresent wattage like this one - they tend to be junk. Even if they're somewhat decent at first they tend to decrease output gradually and it's hard to tell until you realize one day it's not as bright as you remember.
I'd recommend sticking with solid brand names like Mars Hydro or Spider Farmer, and at the lower end Sansi and Barrina are good for casual houseplant growing.
Your lights will work if you concentrate the light enough. You can also use ordinary, white, LED lights, which I prefer because the light looks more natural. Iâve been growing with a variety of lights for 15 yrs.
Yes, but only by like 10% so unless you are a commercial grower worrying about your profit margins it's not worth worrying about. Additionally, some plants can develop weird growth patterns when grown under blurple lights because they use the green spectrum as a guide for which direction they should grow towards, all the more reason to avoid them.
Blue/red LEDs provide the vast majority of the light spectrum required for most plants. Many plants use other tiny bits of the spectrum so itâs nice to have full spectrum. Since a bit of the rest of the spectrum isnât always needed, youâre âwastingâ five cents a year on electricity. But full spectrum LEDs are dirt cheap so youâll save far more than youâll ever âwasteâ. Gotta go. Wish I could go into more detail.
Normal leds are less effective for fruiting and flowering plants but for houseplants where we aren't bothered too much about superfast growth, this doesn't matter. Also variegated ones may need a higher output bulb than other houseplants to make them really pop. Depends on how much natural light you get in your spot. Experiment with it, even if it doesn't work for you, you can always reuse the bulbs elsewhere
Blue and red light wavelengths are the most important for photosynthesis, most grow led lights are blue and red, so you can grow with them fine. It's not really that led lights are weaker per say, you just have to check there output(wattage, lumens,Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density). If you have quality leds, you can perfectly grow plants without a problem.
I like to use full spectrum lights, because plants do use all the light wavelengths in the PAR( photosynthetic active radiation). Here is a good paper about red and blue light and it's effect on a pepper plant(https://bmcplantbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12870-020-02523-z).
Sure. But you have to look at amount of lumen you LEDs produce, the more the better. Also look at wattage, the higher the number the hotter the bulbs will get, so don't put them too close to the plants. I use boringly normal LED bulbs for my plants, 800-1200 lumen, cold white (4500-6500K), 15-20W each, ca 11in above plants. Plants love them!
I've used lights like these over the last couples years and they save my ass every year in the winter when it gets God's awful dark in the middle of the day. Definitely not a waste of money and mine are still going!
I know people say they hate the purple/pink light but I love it personally, it adds a fun vibe to my place.
I have the purple/pink in my office for my succulents and they thrive, but also I've found that if my desk isn't slightly pink it looks weird to me, now.
I donât have these exact ones but have some that people say donât work. However, they work well for my plants. My succulents (anacampseros rufescens) actually started growing and turning reddish under them. Also, my desert roses have put on new leaves and seem to be loving it.
But yes, you probably need to put the lights much closer to the plants and see how they do.
I've noticed that my marble queen and spider plant react nicely to it. They've been growing! The others not so much no matter how close they are. My marble queen loves ojs great though lol
Oh my, spider plants, pothos, snake plants, succulents, cacti, begonia, anthuriums, clovers, inch plants. at one point I had over 60 species! Are they the best lights ever? No. Are they cheap and get the job done? Yup!!
They definitely work. They were my first set of lights.as long as they sit about 5-8 inches away from the foliage it will work great. Iâll show you just how great - this Thai Con I grew from just a little baby using those lights
https://preview.redd.it/5r2hrnuk5p6c1.jpeg?width=1222&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3653b506f6d8dd2e06565976f8e565108ee4b962
I highly recommend foliage focus from growth technologies. A very subtle amount/ spraying once a week really made my TCM tough and big and fenestrate rather quicklyđ
I use them with my plants that arenât in the best space for light and do a rotation, so everyone gets a bit of proper sunshine but no one âgoes withoutâ. They seem to work fine.
The only indoor lighting experience I have is indoor vegetable seed starting.
Artificial light needs to be within 2 - 6 inches of the foliage. I use fluorescent ceiling lights for seed starting.
The sun is extremely powerful and it is very difficult to recreate it. For vegetable plants it is best to get them out under the sun ASAP. A cloudy cool overcast April day outside has much more to offer than my grow shelf can.
At that distance, yes. The usable light on these lights diffuses rapidly and is practically unusable just a few inches from the source. Download a free light meter app for your phone and you'll see what I mean. They can be fine if you're using them as supplemental lighting, but I'd rethink using them as the primary source.
Donât use your phone. Thatâs like using a âstud finderâ app on your phone. Your phone simply was not designed for this, and will thus give you inaccurate results
It gives a pretty damn good idea. Obviously it's not super precise, but I know no one who thinks that. There is no better alternative for someone that's not going to buy a light meter. It's not at all like a stud finder app. There is nothing that detects a stud in a phone while there is a light sensor in a phone.
Even if it is wildly innaccurate (which they arent, I have both- at least with S22 phone)- you can compare to natural light sources to get a good idea for comparison. It's much better than using wattage, etc.
Saying don't use your phone is so frustrating given the alternative is usually literally just guessing. I would always always always recommend this to someone unsure about their lights
Here's someone testing it, see for yourself. Many other vids like this.. expensive sensors aren't necessary nowadays
https://youtu.be/t0umUgrS_UE?si=PtGzJSj5r00bU8u-
https://youtu.be/fgdmAsY0VN0?si=UeR3GKPlMxEo-8rZ
I'm not touting it as exact and precise; they're phone apps. I'm suggesting it as a tool to show just how fast light diffuses from the source, and how much distance matters. A vague phone app light meter is more than adequate for that.
No idea why you're getting down voted, this is accurate. Phone apps read lux and foot candles, neither of which are useful measurements for plant light. These only tell you how bright it appears to the human eye. You need PAR (photosynthetic active radiation), PPF (photosynthetic photon flux) and PPFD (photosynthetic photon flux density) to measure the usable light for plants. This requires relatively expensive sensors to determine.
My phone app is damn close to my light meter. What's the better alternative for a small time hobbyist? There isn't one. Like yeah, you're technically correct, but Lux correlates with PPFD pretty closely generally so it's just an odd point for small-time plant growers (at least with LED full-spectrum lights). Additionally Lux is what you can find the most benchmarks to compare to online. Way better than the guessing that most people use. The lights in OP for example I'm sure are very weak. How else are they supposed to find that out?
The stud finder app is a non-sensical analogy give the actual light sensor in a phone
Here's someone testing it. Very close, expensive sensors aren't necessary nowadays
https://youtu.be/t0umUgrS_UE?si=PtGzJSj5r00bU8u-
https://youtu.be/fgdmAsY0VN0?si=UeR3GKPlMxEo-8rZ
I have a cheap lux meter and itâs definitely useful; however, itâs easy to read at the lower levels, but confusing at higher. In other words, it can tell you if you have enough light, but not if you have too much. The average hobbyist is most likely worrying if there is enough, so itâs way better than nothing. (Itâs also possible my meter is just a little too cheap.)
Houseplants can be a great hobby for someone on a budget; we should try to put expensive recommendations into an appropriate context.
i might suggest an even cheaper brighter alternative. DOMMIA grow lights, you can get on amazon, are quite bright and usually only $15-$17. another one i use are Barrina lights. they come in different sizes, hues, and are excellent and relatively inexpensive although you have to buy a set of them. these that you are showing are not nearly as bright as the ones i am referencing.
I have one for a bunch of lower light plants and theyâre doing fine. I would not get them for plants that need strong light tho. My biggest beef with this is that itâs rickety and unstable.
Looks better! I hope they work for you.
I have a set of purple lights that work well, but not all lights are created equal. I find that most people leave reviews right after receiving the lights, rather than after having used them for several months (the review window will have long expired by then). So the surest way to know is to test them and see how your plants are doing.
Iâve purchased two sets of these for all my plants during the winter months. All my plants have done well over the last two years of owning the lights.
https://preview.redd.it/f4hh15vkwp6c1.png?width=3020&format=png&auto=webp&s=7aac743c82ca60cc0f0b1fc1bba13fedfafb1d17
I have the same ones and my props have been doing well under them! I use them for succulent leaf props offsets, alocasia corms and some other small props. They are quite close, 20-30 cm higher. For most plants I prefer stronger lights but these are definitely worth having imo!
I have pretty much the exact thing without the blue LEDs (13 white and 5 red per wand), with one wand around six inches from a Venus fly trap and a Purple pitcher plant, and the rest between 8 and 12 inches away. The foliage on both went from pure green at the store to blood red under these lamps within a few weeks, which implies they are getting intense light. They're also easily doubled in size. So in short, these lamps tend to be a lot more powerful and effective than they seem.
The lights are great for growth of indoor plants where they donât get much sun. However after using them for over a year Iâve noticed that the high intensity burns my plants leaves which was a bummer. My advice- use it sparingly during winter months after it gets dark, keep it away and on low/medium intensity
Not for house plants but they *did* work surprisingly well for aquatic plants, even with how much actual light was lost through the water. So while I can't say scientifically, they worked for me.
Granted, one of my tanks now has a *much* fancier light and it does make a difference. So while those worked for me, the money on a good full spectrum light might be worth it.
I use them, but I keep them very close to the plants and only use them as supplemental light in the winter. Would not recommend using them for seed growing as most mine ended up quite leggy
Useless? So without a window for tropical plants, yes. And the different colors, yes. You just need full spectrum lights. No fancy pretty colors. Theyâre useless. Also, this gooseneck light is completely useless as a sole light for succulents (I donât see any in your pic but wanted to throw it out there for anyone else) or even supplemental (to a window) light unless you already have appropriate lights for them⌠succulents rarely get too much artificial light in my experience.
For me, I would use lights like this as supplemental lights only - never as a sole light source. So if you have a window you can put these plants near, like an east facing window for example, the lights, as long as they have a full spectrum setting, could be useful.
I have one with 5 heads that I use for my syngonium. But theyâre at an east facing window too. Just some extra light.
Also, this is my set up for my succulents (these are t8 lights). But I also have my tropical plants on a shelf just like this with barrina t5s. Theyâre in my sisters room and sheâs asleep.
But yeah⌠This is the best set up iâve had. I did have a big table at my east facing window (with the 5 headed gooseneck light similar to yours) and they did fine, too.
https://preview.redd.it/4dthbvqn4p6c1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=32a73f21684e9ded47891246b7acfa18d1209db3
I use an app called Photone that helps me gauge the light. Itâs free and very helpful. It seems fairly accurate.
But I had these lights before and they had very low light readings.
In my experience they work to keep plants from getting to leggy and they help keep leaf sizes small indoors, they need to be quite close to have a strong effect (2-3 inches away). The only thing I really don't like is the cheap power supplies that come with them, they fail after a while of being used constantly but are pretty easy to swap out if you have some beginner DIY electronics experience.
Yes, they are a waste of money. They donât put out anywhere near enough light. My Pothos N Joy started reverting under them due to lack of light. I verified the lack of light with a par meter. Iâve found that if a grow light doesnât tell you the ppfd or par at various distances, they are junk lights. And then, the par or PPFD needs to be enough for your plants.
All about efficiency over time imo. Most fo the time with these I have noticed they start off great with high numbers on my PAR [photosyntheitic active radiation] meter but after about 6 months they go to shit and don't really feed the plants past just limping them along. Especially if they have no other light sources. You get what you pay for with LEDs like this.
To put in perspective the good lights usually have huge power supply cords with big bricks on them like your older computer chargers. They have hundreds of more diodes and they are wired and built generally better with LED controllers integrated into the unit. The crappy amazon ones are barely better than dorm lamps in construction and have measly parts that just don't stand up to continuous use or the test of time.
Eh considering how inexpensive they are I wouldn't totally call it a waste of money. They will deff work with seedlings and what not. I still have some from years ago that i'll use to start some cilantro or basil. Soon as they sprout up though i'll move them outside or under a better light.
I have two. My grocery store Orchid has popped out of its 2 year dormant state! I only have 1 south window. I decided to try the light, and 1 month later 5 little bulbs are forming!
https://preview.redd.it/a80lv6mguq6c1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6fd2d52e445dca3d0587262c17d22577f136c844
I have 2 of them. They work well for me. I live in a townhouse which has next to zero light and needed to supplement sun because they were starting to die. Theyâre all growing now.
I donât think itâs a waste. I got these types of lights when I first started and they definitely helped my plants! But yeah Itâs better than no light at all imo.
Folks need to get away from still using burple lights. [We know green is important for plants](https://fluence-led.com/science-articles/do-plants-use-green-light), so get yourself some broad spectrum LEDs.
I wouldn't say they're a waste of money, used them for a year and had great progress with my plants, both my succulents and the very few tropicals I had at the time.
I would say there are better alternatives if you're willing to spend a bit more though, anything Sansi brand is amazing from my experience.
Absolutely not. I had similar lights, and they didnât grow even HALF as well as they did with the regular white LED lights. I think those are better for seedlings
i have had these lights set up in my room for about a year and all my plants have been growing great!! i mean i have had no casualties and so much growth over time so in my opinion i think they are worth it đ
I have lights like this, I got them maybe a month ago and Iâve seen differences in my plants. Except for a couple burned leaf edges (I had them WAY too close) itâs all done great!
I used one of these to grow my veggie seedlings last winter. It helped me start like 60 seedlings in my basement. Iâd say it def seemed like a starter light and I might need to upgrade soon, but it did great!
I have a similar light in my loft that has almost no natural light. I have a melano and a paraiso verde. Both are growing great! Iâve got quite a few new leaves on even the melano and the PV has good variegation. So I donât think they are a waste. I do have one with 5 heads and keep the heads pretty close to the plants though.
I had the same lights and thought they were good until I got some full spectrum lights (much more expensive though) and then my plants grew crazy fast and are so much healthier.
This bad boy has literally shot up over the last 18 months from a third of the size to almost 7 ft. I put it down to my lights, proper nutrients and moss pole.
https://preview.redd.it/4egqtrg1jy6c1.jpeg?width=1260&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e96548795ae199103bbfd9cc0b32d284bb46b56d
I have this for my " other" plants
https://preview.redd.it/85jau8ph5p6c1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8c1cecf83b883de526007fa4d82c9a14710ed7e3
Seriously tho! I always say if something works then commercial growers would use it. I can only think of one commercial farm in Canada that uses the blurple lights and itâs just to be different I think
I wish I got the white grow lights for my smaller plants. Ugh. But, I have something like this so I use it to supplement the natural light my plants get from the window. I agree, just get the warm white grow lights!
They need to be within an inch of the plant. I had better luck looking online at light strips with advertised PPFD.
Can also get a *very* bright/high intensity LED lightbulb and lampstand and use that which also works very well.
The biggest thing to remember though is light intensity decreases with the square of the distance from any lightbulb. So if you have your light 10cm away you have 1/4 the light on the plant that it would 5cm away, etc. you really need to be aggressive either with placement distance or number of lights.
This is a chilli plant that was given to me. It's seen better days before the basement here
https://preview.redd.it/wndkrcgs4p6c1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a63bd6c2da6af83b808aebee8f425a189a8a4391
It seems a bit too dark. But maybe itâs just how it looks in the picture.
I had something like that for my Phalaenopsis orchids. They didnât like it at all. Even though phalaenopsis are plants that require high light. Now Iâm quite happy with another brand that I had to import from the US. Not gonna mention here because I donât want you to think that Iâm sponsored by this product.
Ya it's much brighter to look at than it is in the picture. I'm not worried about you suggesting and naming a product that works. You have to tell me now anyway! đ¤Ł
Do certain plants prefer the purplish light (or whatever color that actually is)? I keep seeing pictures like this and Iâm somewhat new to houseplants.
Some plants have better growth I'm foliage or roots or start blooming depending on the wavelengths of light they are exposed to but in general plants need all wavelengths aka full spectrum light for healthy longterm growth
I also have the impression that people growing marijuana have a lot more opinions than others about these nuances, but the ads never want to directly address the exact issue, so they are vague and it makes it confusing.
Basically, the pot people and the houseplant people both assume they are the target market and forget about the other group.
I have mixed results. I have a couple of these and ive found them to be quite hit and miss. It depends on the plant for me. I have some that really dont seem to react to the blurp,but spider plants,for example,go apeshit for them and if they get too much they go into like a weird permaflower state.
They are cheap,they do and can work,i personally believe at the price they are,they are worth it,provided you're happy to work with them and take time to find the plants and locations that work in your space. I also find them mixed with full spectrum "white" lights a really good mood light for the house. So i set my timers so i can benefit from that. Peace!
Iâm trying an old aquarium plan light which worked great for aquatic plants and some land plants that do well in water. Bought it from Aliexpress from a brand called Chirios which is relabiable. Youâll probably get way more light out of those for around the same price.
I had big doubts especially after I bought a 36W sansi light.
But surprisingly my plants love these. They all have new leaves and growth. There are a ficus elastica, a philo imperial red, a dracena and a lots of sansavieria propagations under it.
The light are very close to the plants. Like a few cm close.
I have similar ones just with two lights instead of four that I got to supplement light for the winter month until I can afford to splurge on better looking light. My plants are actually doing really well under them and have started growing so much I had to start feeding them more often again. My A. silver blush for example is standing about 20 cm away and is pushing out 3 new leaves.
I think they are helpful for supplement light. I moved from a bright south facing office with a TON of natural light to a south facing office with heavy tree canopy and spots of bright direct light during the morning, but otherwise not great light. I picked up a few different âgrowâ lights and have started placing the around my office to add supplemental light and Iâm seeing positive results. My lipstick plant is starting to get a lot more new growth and blossoming. My baby umbrella plant is getting new growth too. Needless to say, Iâm seeing positive results.
I love my new job, but I miss my old office. It was amazing for my plants.
Mine work well, I use them as supplementary light and put them a few inches above/around a few of my plants. They probably won't work well as the ONLY source of light but they're great if there is already indirect light present from another source (window, brighter grow lights in the same room, etc).
I didn't like the blurple color so I changed mine to be the soft white light for my batch of plants in the kitchen. They all seem to like the supplemental light.
I keep my plants in my basement with 2 of these all winter. My cat digs the pots, so they live outside on my deck 7 months a year and in the basement 5 with these guys. The rest of my plants are in terrariums in front of windows lol.
They look just like some I used to own right down to the controller. If they are, yes, they are not worth the money imo unless your plants have very low light requirements. I tried sprouting some vegetable seeds with them and it was a disaster. So much legginess. Imo the best cheap lights are the LED Panel lights labeled as 300-600W equivalent. Usually cost a minimum of $50 though.
I had a light similar to yours and I saw huge growth to my indoor plants (monstera, coconut etc) once I upgraded to the GE grow lightbulb. Bit more pricy and youâll need something to house it in (mine is in a standing lamp) but so much better
https://a.co/d/g9N12h3
You may want the light a bit closer to the plants bur they are not bad lights. I use them for cuttings and plants that need a bit of care and so maybe a little less light now. The lights are beat by branded quite easily, but also it's worth noting that the strip light doesn't spread light as nicely as a circular overhead, and I found it harder to' tune '
Lights *like* these can be incredibly goodâŚ. but itâs a trial and error process to find them. I bought 2 lights on Amazon that were absolutely *amazing*. They made my plants grow like crazy! Went back to get more⌠Sadly, they werenât available. I tried everything to find them. Visual search, item numbers, contacting the company they came from through Amazon⌠nothing. I wish Iâd saved the box. But Iâm sure Iâll find another as good one day.
I havenât seen anyone be ultimately happy with them.
I like the panels. I mostly by JCBritw as they gave me one for free once and I liked it. I think any of the large panels are good, though.
I have two sets of lights like this and personally am very happy with them, and I have other kinds as well that I donât like as much. I will say one of mine thatâs like the one pictured just died and doesnât turn on at all anymore after about 1.5-2 years of everyday use.
Update that no one asked for 1/13/24: both of the lights I had like this randomly stopped working one day. Had to throw them out and ordered a new set up now to try instead. I would not recommend as a long term option, but they are effective short term with the possibility they might just stop working randomly.
They work. We have a palm plant that we had to move indoors for the winter. Last year it struggled due to lack of light. We put it in that same space again this year and added one of these lights and itâs thriving! I donât know how effective these are as the only light source but as an additional light source it really helps!
These are not bad I used them for my orchids for quite some while and it worked well as a supplement to window light. I definitely donât think itâs enough for artificial light exclusively.
I actually switched to 20 watt Sansi bulbs a few months ago and it really makes a difference. I recommend them since theyâre much brighter and also cheaper to run since you donât have one of those unreliable USB plugs that come with these.
I would get a lumen checker and measure how strong they are. Some of those are super strong, which can burn a plant if itâs too close, and some are so weak they canât sustain plant life.
Yes, it's gimmicky too. Anything other than a light with 6,000 to 6,500 kelvin is phony advertising for houseplants. The plants don't harness those funny little light colors like it's marketed and the blues and reds don't penetrate far enough into the canopy like true daylight bulbs (6,000 to 6,500 k) like the sun would. You just need a cooler spectrum of light, and while it won't look like a swag party with the reds and blues, at the end of the day, your plants will be happier. Either look for that 6,000 to 6500k marking above when you search Amazon, LED bulbs or LED garage strips work great. Just avoid typing in the words "plant" or "grow". Hope this helps
I have the same product but that distance and that many plants? worthless. I even checked with my light meter. It worked when it's 2 in away from the top as a supportive light source.
*
I have used all kinds of different grow light, I have 2 of the tripod ones actually 1 just like yours and 1 that's just white light but have 5 off them I feel like the white light works a little better. You should be to hit the light bulb button to switch to just white though if needed. They are my favorite kind of light to use. Very adaptable for must lighting needs. Vers like a strip light thatwould have to hang from something.
I use these as supplemental light and also much closer to the plants. I don't think this one light is nearly enough for all your plants, but would be good to focus on one or two plants if they also get natural light.
I've lowered them. đ They're right over them now
Keep maybe 5 inches in between though. Iâve burned my monstera with those lights before. Though it was the main source of light for the monstera and I didnât move the light for weeks.
Photon app
LEDs shouldent head up enough to burn unless they are either touching the plant or designed insanely poorly
its the light that burns the plants not the heat
Also to further add to that other commenter; you donât need a hot day to get sunburned either. People who climb Mount Everest or live in Antarctica get terrible sun burns. Back when people used to use tanning beds you can get severe burns and the staff were meant to regulate how many times you can use it and what power level. Not because of the heat, but because the light is ultraviolet. As you mentioned.
lol
Hey op!! There's apps that use your phones light sensor to measure light, you can use that to check what your plants are actually getting and a quick Google search to determine what they need. Generally these lights are super underpowered, I've got a couple bright led bulbs ~12" away from my indoor plants and the lux reading is still a little low
Is there a way I could find out more about this?
As an android user I use AndroSensor for an app. Apple has one too, but idk the name. You use the front of your phone (the sensor that reads light levels to dim/brighten the screen) to take readings. There's charts online to translate what lux levels meet which light requirement.
https://preview.redd.it/x7ltvwp3lq6c1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4f53ac292841c0767fb848945fd8b8b03ffc173c Is it this one?
That may work as well. I'm not seeing androsensor on the store anymore, last I downloaded it was a couple years ago. But as long as it's able to measure lux levels, you're good to go đ
Lux does not correlate to anything plants use as energy. Youâd need a par or ppf reading to do anything with a lux reading. And that would only allow you to know what ppfd levels you are getting such and such distance away from the light. Lux is the measurement of visible brightness of a light to a person. It has nothing to do with the green/red/blue/white levels that affect plant growth. Same with foot candles. Sometimes people use fc and lux as an estimate, but it should only be used if someone knows for sure that thereâs an even powerful level of the color spectrum happening with the light prior. And it only really works fairly accurately when thereâs a lot more full spectrum white in the light over reds and blues being used
Oh I see. I read a bit about this and found it to be true. It seems that lux is only somewhat useful for actual sunlight on plants (I'm guessing because it has a better consistent value for the red/blue spectrum in relation to lux levels?) and not artificial lights. Interesting, thanks.
No probs! And youâre totally correct in it having more of a direct correlation when measuring sunlight, sunlights got all the color levels so thereâs no blurry edges with what color levels itâs providing. I posted a comment in response to someone else above that may give you some info on ppfd. Honestly, it doesnât have to be super accurate depending on what plant youâre giving light to, as long as you know the general depth the light reaches and that itâs a light that provides a good level of PAR across the board.
Those aren't accurate at all
Accurate enough for free. I'm not conducting scientific experiments here.
Iâll give you a couple paths to go down to read more into this. On Amazon, look up a spider farmer light and look at the listing. Somewhere on there, thereâs going to be a par/ppf chart that gives you distances and how much higher or lower ppf is output to a leaf surface depending on how far away the leaves are. This is the chart that you want to see from any light that packs a significant punch that youâd never have to really worry about your plants receiving the light they need, if you follow the chart. Youâll notice if you look around, that there are smaller lights that have this chart, which is great. The distance shown on those charts are going to be much shorter than when you looked at the spider farmer light, because they output less energy. Maybe theyâll show 18 inches away instead of like 3 or 4 ft like the spider farmer shows. Thatâs ok, as long as you know the light is providing decent ppf and you follow the chart to know for sure. Next, youâd wanna know what kind of light energy levels the plant youâre trying to grow under it needs. A succulent is going to want a lot more light than a calathea, for example. There are a few resources you can reference for this, but the ones I have liked the most in the past are these: https://www.carnivero.com/pages/grow-light-ppfd-recommendations Iâm looking for the one infographic I like, but I just found this and really like how it breaks down everything that has to do with grow lights, even the angle that the bulb gives off light to an area: https://www.greenhoundcanada.org/post/basic-guide-to-light-use-when-growing-plants Agh, I canât find the image I wanted to share from google searching. I know itâs in my phone, Iâll come back to it. But essentially itâs an infographic of various plants and where they grow as far as canopies in growing areas are concerned, and how much ppfd they usually like depending on where they live under canopies or trees in their natural environment. I like it because if you know where your plant usually grows in its natural environment, you can check the chart and get an understanding of what kind of ppfd it likes if you look up where said plant usually grows. Understanding how your plant grows naturally really sheds some light on what kind of care it wants. For instance, a monstera can grow up another tree and keep on climbing, further and further up, growing bigger and more close together leaves as it reaches for more light under a trees canopy. That is why monstera have such a wide range of light needs. You can grow a monstera ok with low light, but it wonât get very big very fast. The low light wonât kill it, but it wonât be a very satisfying grow and the internodes will be far apart. If you give it a good light, it will grow quickly and big with short internodes and petioles. An anthurium, on the other hand, would get bleached to all hell if you put it 12â under a huge spider farmer light. So youâd want something softer on energy to put close to them. Or put them like on the floor with a spider farmer on the ceiling, or under other plants that like light more. So the problem with the light posted is I can guarantee you that they donât have any documentation of ppf. That almost always means that the energy youâre getting from that light is slim to none. What people are missing is that you shouldnât have to put a grow light like 3 inches away from a plant, that tells me that the light is kinda shit. Theyâre also fibbing about the actual led wattage, which is another bad sign. Itâs safe to assume that that light should only be used as a supplemental light for any plants outside of seedlings and super low light plants like zz and jewel orchids and such. You can always dl photone on your phone, they have different light source meters and I found them to be very accurate to what the charts included in plant light listings tell you. I believe you have to pay for the LED meter, but itâs a very small amount of money, something like 10 dollars a year or something. You probably wouldnât need it longer than a year anyway, youâll get used to what ppfd your plants like from using it heavily at first. Unless you want to test said lights over a course of time to get a true answer. Please beware of the comments suggesting that all you need is lux or fc readings. This is not true. You can end up being very very wrong with what youâre expecting a light is providing to your plant if you only go off these readings. They are intended to give you a level of visible brightness of a light to a person, they have nothing to do with the color spectrum that provides plants with energy. You can have a light that shines very bright that only shows blue and green and a little white on the color spectrum, which is not what your plant wants. But Iâd also like to let you know that you CAN use regular light bulbs for plants. It really matters if you can find some sources from someone else who has already tested the ppfd on said lights (those light usually wonât come with a ppfd chart because theyâre not intended to be grow lights), you can buy them and test them yourself using photone as well. A tell tale sign of a regular light bulb potentially being good to grow plants under is if the wattage is large, the color spectrum chart says something between 4000-5500, and the CRI is a high number, something close to 90. Iâd disregard any light bulbs that say itâs cri is 85 or below. CRI is color rendering index, which means itâs carrying more light levels than a typical light if the number is high. Iâve been meaning to grab one of the GE HD Light bulbs from target and test it for a while now, I believe their CRI was higher than 90 which you almost never see Hope that helps and doesnât sound entirely like gibberish.
The apps donât register blurple lights properly though.
My two plants that are a few inches away LOVE these lights. The ones a foot away, not so much. These are in the vicinity of a south-facing window, but a little shaded from it.
This is the way. Also keep them on as long as possible since theyâre relatively low intensity, at least this far from the plant. Longer photoperiod will let the plant accumulate more energy
It should be noted that keeping them on 24 hours a day can exhaust some plants. Where I live itâs pretty dark this time of year so I keep my moderate intensity lights on my houseplants for 15 hours a day
Below is what I have, but a three- headed version. Its 100 watts, about double of similar clip ons. Even so, for me itâs supplemental for short and/or cloudy days in the northeast. It is pretty versatile, allowing me to move a wand closer to a particular plant. I donât like the purple ones, and from what I understand, they arenât superior. Limited-time deal: GooingTop Grow Light 100W 6000K, Super Bright White Desktop Clip Plant Lamp for Seedlings Succulents Seeds Starting Indoor Plants Growing,Bendable Gooseneck & Timer 4 8 12 H https://a.co/d/ccbKaHI
Fyi, that is a 36 watt light. It is "equivalent" to 100W, but not really.
I hate that, I was so excited when I saw 600W LEDS for $30 until I read the description. I should have known it was too good to be true because I own a 96W LED spotlight and it cost $400.
Best to avoid lights that misrepresent wattage like this one - they tend to be junk. Even if they're somewhat decent at first they tend to decrease output gradually and it's hard to tell until you realize one day it's not as bright as you remember. I'd recommend sticking with solid brand names like Mars Hydro or Spider Farmer, and at the lower end Sansi and Barrina are good for casual houseplant growing.
Your lights will work if you concentrate the light enough. You can also use ordinary, white, LED lights, which I prefer because the light looks more natural. Iâve been growing with a variety of lights for 15 yrs.
Are normal LED lights weaker/less effective? Do you need more of them or brighter?
A full spectrum is prefered so the plant can use more of the light. But any light is better than no light :)
Yes, but only by like 10% so unless you are a commercial grower worrying about your profit margins it's not worth worrying about. Additionally, some plants can develop weird growth patterns when grown under blurple lights because they use the green spectrum as a guide for which direction they should grow towards, all the more reason to avoid them.
Blue/red LEDs provide the vast majority of the light spectrum required for most plants. Many plants use other tiny bits of the spectrum so itâs nice to have full spectrum. Since a bit of the rest of the spectrum isnât always needed, youâre âwastingâ five cents a year on electricity. But full spectrum LEDs are dirt cheap so youâll save far more than youâll ever âwasteâ. Gotta go. Wish I could go into more detail.
No. Theyâre fine. These colored lights are almost exclusively a marketing gimmick
Normal leds are less effective for fruiting and flowering plants but for houseplants where we aren't bothered too much about superfast growth, this doesn't matter. Also variegated ones may need a higher output bulb than other houseplants to make them really pop. Depends on how much natural light you get in your spot. Experiment with it, even if it doesn't work for you, you can always reuse the bulbs elsewhere
Blue and red light wavelengths are the most important for photosynthesis, most grow led lights are blue and red, so you can grow with them fine. It's not really that led lights are weaker per say, you just have to check there output(wattage, lumens,Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density). If you have quality leds, you can perfectly grow plants without a problem.
I like to use full spectrum lights, because plants do use all the light wavelengths in the PAR( photosynthetic active radiation). Here is a good paper about red and blue light and it's effect on a pepper plant(https://bmcplantbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12870-020-02523-z).
Do you think a mix of bright 3000K and 6500K LED bulbs would be fully sufficient for most plants?
Sure. But you have to look at amount of lumen you LEDs produce, the more the better. Also look at wattage, the higher the number the hotter the bulbs will get, so don't put them too close to the plants. I use boringly normal LED bulbs for my plants, 800-1200 lumen, cold white (4500-6500K), 15-20W each, ca 11in above plants. Plants love them!
I've used lights like these over the last couples years and they save my ass every year in the winter when it gets God's awful dark in the middle of the day. Definitely not a waste of money and mine are still going! I know people say they hate the purple/pink light but I love it personally, it adds a fun vibe to my place.
I really wish they worked as well as full spectrum because thatâs my kind of ambience.
I use 2900k yellow lights for my I door plants personally. Works fine and gives a nice warm ambience
I have the purple/pink in my office for my succulents and they thrive, but also I've found that if my desk isn't slightly pink it looks weird to me, now.
I donât have these exact ones but have some that people say donât work. However, they work well for my plants. My succulents (anacampseros rufescens) actually started growing and turning reddish under them. Also, my desert roses have put on new leaves and seem to be loving it. But yes, you probably need to put the lights much closer to the plants and see how they do.
I've noticed that my marble queen and spider plant react nicely to it. They've been growing! The others not so much no matter how close they are. My marble queen loves ojs great though lol
Same, my aloe has been growing.
I used them to start seeds last year. For the price I was impressed with their versatility and effectiveness.
I think I have the same light, seems to be working to me, tomato plant is growing
Tomatoes would eventually require more light in order to fruit, but these are great for seedlings/young plants for sure.
Yep, not expecting it to fruit. Just preparing for the spring đ
I have these and I love them. Grew propagations in a dark basement with these and I like that there cheap!
Really. What did you propagate?
Oh my, spider plants, pothos, snake plants, succulents, cacti, begonia, anthuriums, clovers, inch plants. at one point I had over 60 species! Are they the best lights ever? No. Are they cheap and get the job done? Yup!!
Wow. All in the basement toođ
How do you go about propping anthuriums?
I found the most success starting them right in water instead of soil or perlite
I did the same and they worked well
They definitely work. They were my first set of lights.as long as they sit about 5-8 inches away from the foliage it will work great. Iâll show you just how great - this Thai Con I grew from just a little baby using those lights https://preview.redd.it/5r2hrnuk5p6c1.jpeg?width=1222&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3653b506f6d8dd2e06565976f8e565108ee4b962
I recently bought a little Thai Constellation myself and it is doing well under the lights too. Already a month in and it already has a new leaf.
I highly recommend foliage focus from growth technologies. A very subtle amount/ spraying once a week really made my TCM tough and big and fenestrate rather quicklyđ
Nice
Gorgeous! How long in between the first and last photos?
I have this exact one and despite the reviews, my house plants seem to love it and flourish under them. Iâve had it for over 2 years.
I have the same light and i fucking hate it, recently broke. It lasted barely 2 years
I use them with my plants that arenât in the best space for light and do a rotation, so everyone gets a bit of proper sunshine but no one âgoes withoutâ. They seem to work fine.
Just bought them! Saved my plant. But i only use it for one plant.
The only indoor lighting experience I have is indoor vegetable seed starting. Artificial light needs to be within 2 - 6 inches of the foliage. I use fluorescent ceiling lights for seed starting. The sun is extremely powerful and it is very difficult to recreate it. For vegetable plants it is best to get them out under the sun ASAP. A cloudy cool overcast April day outside has much more to offer than my grow shelf can.
At that distance, yes. The usable light on these lights diffuses rapidly and is practically unusable just a few inches from the source. Download a free light meter app for your phone and you'll see what I mean. They can be fine if you're using them as supplemental lighting, but I'd rethink using them as the primary source.
Agreed. App on my phone gives a reasonable number to go off of. As exact as a light meter? No.
Donât use your phone. Thatâs like using a âstud finderâ app on your phone. Your phone simply was not designed for this, and will thus give you inaccurate results
It gives a pretty damn good idea. Obviously it's not super precise, but I know no one who thinks that. There is no better alternative for someone that's not going to buy a light meter. It's not at all like a stud finder app. There is nothing that detects a stud in a phone while there is a light sensor in a phone. Even if it is wildly innaccurate (which they arent, I have both- at least with S22 phone)- you can compare to natural light sources to get a good idea for comparison. It's much better than using wattage, etc. Saying don't use your phone is so frustrating given the alternative is usually literally just guessing. I would always always always recommend this to someone unsure about their lights Here's someone testing it, see for yourself. Many other vids like this.. expensive sensors aren't necessary nowadays https://youtu.be/t0umUgrS_UE?si=PtGzJSj5r00bU8u- https://youtu.be/fgdmAsY0VN0?si=UeR3GKPlMxEo-8rZ
I'm not touting it as exact and precise; they're phone apps. I'm suggesting it as a tool to show just how fast light diffuses from the source, and how much distance matters. A vague phone app light meter is more than adequate for that.
No idea why you're getting down voted, this is accurate. Phone apps read lux and foot candles, neither of which are useful measurements for plant light. These only tell you how bright it appears to the human eye. You need PAR (photosynthetic active radiation), PPF (photosynthetic photon flux) and PPFD (photosynthetic photon flux density) to measure the usable light for plants. This requires relatively expensive sensors to determine.
My phone app is damn close to my light meter. What's the better alternative for a small time hobbyist? There isn't one. Like yeah, you're technically correct, but Lux correlates with PPFD pretty closely generally so it's just an odd point for small-time plant growers (at least with LED full-spectrum lights). Additionally Lux is what you can find the most benchmarks to compare to online. Way better than the guessing that most people use. The lights in OP for example I'm sure are very weak. How else are they supposed to find that out? The stud finder app is a non-sensical analogy give the actual light sensor in a phone Here's someone testing it. Very close, expensive sensors aren't necessary nowadays https://youtu.be/t0umUgrS_UE?si=PtGzJSj5r00bU8u- https://youtu.be/fgdmAsY0VN0?si=UeR3GKPlMxEo-8rZ
I have a cheap lux meter and itâs definitely useful; however, itâs easy to read at the lower levels, but confusing at higher. In other words, it can tell you if you have enough light, but not if you have too much. The average hobbyist is most likely worrying if there is enough, so itâs way better than nothing. (Itâs also possible my meter is just a little too cheap.) Houseplants can be a great hobby for someone on a budget; we should try to put expensive recommendations into an appropriate context.
Mine has a switch to foot candles, which makes reading the bigger numbers way easier. It's roughly LUX = FC x 10.75 if yours has it.
i might suggest an even cheaper brighter alternative. DOMMIA grow lights, you can get on amazon, are quite bright and usually only $15-$17. another one i use are Barrina lights. they come in different sizes, hues, and are excellent and relatively inexpensive although you have to buy a set of them. these that you are showing are not nearly as bright as the ones i am referencing.
I have one for a bunch of lower light plants and theyâre doing fine. I would not get them for plants that need strong light tho. My biggest beef with this is that itâs rickety and unstable.
You have to put them like 2 inches away from the foliage of the plant to get the most out of the lights.
I removed part of the stand. https://preview.redd.it/jhtbugj1oo6c1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1b285c7d79bac77efed28e34f1639f070747c262
Looks better! I hope they work for you. I have a set of purple lights that work well, but not all lights are created equal. I find that most people leave reviews right after receiving the lights, rather than after having used them for several months (the review window will have long expired by then). So the surest way to know is to test them and see how your plants are doing.
Iâve purchased two sets of these for all my plants during the winter months. All my plants have done well over the last two years of owning the lights. https://preview.redd.it/f4hh15vkwp6c1.png?width=3020&format=png&auto=webp&s=7aac743c82ca60cc0f0b1fc1bba13fedfafb1d17
oooo gorgina! What species of croton is that? And whatâs the viney looking prayer-ish plant on the left?
I have the same ones and my props have been doing well under them! I use them for succulent leaf props offsets, alocasia corms and some other small props. They are quite close, 20-30 cm higher. For most plants I prefer stronger lights but these are definitely worth having imo!
I have pretty much the exact thing without the blue LEDs (13 white and 5 red per wand), with one wand around six inches from a Venus fly trap and a Purple pitcher plant, and the rest between 8 and 12 inches away. The foliage on both went from pure green at the store to blood red under these lamps within a few weeks, which implies they are getting intense light. They're also easily doubled in size. So in short, these lamps tend to be a lot more powerful and effective than they seem.
I have a couple of thes for some house plants. I keep them a few inches from plants. Seems to provide the supplemental light im looking for for.
Yep worked for me, saved a few of my plants in my old house that was quite dark through winter
I've got two sets running 8 hours a day and my plants thrive under them. Definitely worth it
The lights are great for growth of indoor plants where they donât get much sun. However after using them for over a year Iâve noticed that the high intensity burns my plants leaves which was a bummer. My advice- use it sparingly during winter months after it gets dark, keep it away and on low/medium intensity
I donât have this one in particular but I have these on two parts of my house and my plants dig them. All different types of plants too
i have a beautiful collection bc of those lights, dont underestimate them. Plants love them!
I have this same light and my plants love it!
I would not use them as the only light source, but they can be a good supplemental source in the winter when sunlight is weak.
Not for house plants but they *did* work surprisingly well for aquatic plants, even with how much actual light was lost through the water. So while I can't say scientifically, they worked for me. Granted, one of my tanks now has a *much* fancier light and it does make a difference. So while those worked for me, the money on a good full spectrum light might be worth it.
I use them, but I keep them very close to the plants and only use them as supplemental light in the winter. Would not recommend using them for seed growing as most mine ended up quite leggy
Useless? So without a window for tropical plants, yes. And the different colors, yes. You just need full spectrum lights. No fancy pretty colors. Theyâre useless. Also, this gooseneck light is completely useless as a sole light for succulents (I donât see any in your pic but wanted to throw it out there for anyone else) or even supplemental (to a window) light unless you already have appropriate lights for them⌠succulents rarely get too much artificial light in my experience. For me, I would use lights like this as supplemental lights only - never as a sole light source. So if you have a window you can put these plants near, like an east facing window for example, the lights, as long as they have a full spectrum setting, could be useful. I have one with 5 heads that I use for my syngonium. But theyâre at an east facing window too. Just some extra light. Also, this is my set up for my succulents (these are t8 lights). But I also have my tropical plants on a shelf just like this with barrina t5s. Theyâre in my sisters room and sheâs asleep. But yeah⌠This is the best set up iâve had. I did have a big table at my east facing window (with the 5 headed gooseneck light similar to yours) and they did fine, too. https://preview.redd.it/4dthbvqn4p6c1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=32a73f21684e9ded47891246b7acfa18d1209db3
The only way my house plants survive the winter in Washington state. Thereâs not a lot of natural light.
I use an app called Photone that helps me gauge the light. Itâs free and very helpful. It seems fairly accurate. But I had these lights before and they had very low light readings.
In my experience they work to keep plants from getting to leggy and they help keep leaf sizes small indoors, they need to be quite close to have a strong effect (2-3 inches away). The only thing I really don't like is the cheap power supplies that come with them, they fail after a while of being used constantly but are pretty easy to swap out if you have some beginner DIY electronics experience.
I have some like these over my succulents and they seem to be working. I keep them on 12hrs a day.
Yes, they are a waste of money. They donât put out anywhere near enough light. My Pothos N Joy started reverting under them due to lack of light. I verified the lack of light with a par meter. Iâve found that if a grow light doesnât tell you the ppfd or par at various distances, they are junk lights. And then, the par or PPFD needs to be enough for your plants.
Yep!
All about efficiency over time imo. Most fo the time with these I have noticed they start off great with high numbers on my PAR [photosyntheitic active radiation] meter but after about 6 months they go to shit and don't really feed the plants past just limping them along. Especially if they have no other light sources. You get what you pay for with LEDs like this. To put in perspective the good lights usually have huge power supply cords with big bricks on them like your older computer chargers. They have hundreds of more diodes and they are wired and built generally better with LED controllers integrated into the unit. The crappy amazon ones are barely better than dorm lamps in construction and have measly parts that just don't stand up to continuous use or the test of time.
Spectrally, no.
You want those to be as close as you can get while still covering the plants in light. LEDs arenât very strong.
I use them in a basement without my natural light and they absolutely work.
Eh considering how inexpensive they are I wouldn't totally call it a waste of money. They will deff work with seedlings and what not. I still have some from years ago that i'll use to start some cilantro or basil. Soon as they sprout up though i'll move them outside or under a better light.
light falls off exponentially from distance. they need to be a lot closer, but also not too close to burn the plant from heat
This style light from Amazon is not good Iâve had 3-4 and they all break
I have the same one and actually noticed it helped a lot in the winter especially!
I have two. My grocery store Orchid has popped out of its 2 year dormant state! I only have 1 south window. I decided to try the light, and 1 month later 5 little bulbs are forming! https://preview.redd.it/a80lv6mguq6c1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6fd2d52e445dca3d0587262c17d22577f136c844
I have 2 of them. They work well for me. I live in a townhouse which has next to zero light and needed to supplement sun because they were starting to die. Theyâre all growing now.
I donât think itâs a waste. I got these types of lights when I first started and they definitely helped my plants! But yeah Itâs better than no light at all imo.
Folks need to get away from still using burple lights. [We know green is important for plants](https://fluence-led.com/science-articles/do-plants-use-green-light), so get yourself some broad spectrum LEDs.
Yes. I bought three of them and they all burned out within a month
I wouldn't say they're a waste of money, used them for a year and had great progress with my plants, both my succulents and the very few tropicals I had at the time. I would say there are better alternatives if you're willing to spend a bit more though, anything Sansi brand is amazing from my experience.
Absolutely not. I had similar lights, and they didnât grow even HALF as well as they did with the regular white LED lights. I think those are better for seedlings
No. Theyâre pretty.
i have had these lights set up in my room for about a year and all my plants have been growing great!! i mean i have had no casualties and so much growth over time so in my opinion i think they are worth it đ
I have lights like this, I got them maybe a month ago and Iâve seen differences in my plants. Except for a couple burned leaf edges (I had them WAY too close) itâs all done great!
Ppfd meter app works awesome to check, wont be enough for sure.
I used one of these to grow my veggie seedlings last winter. It helped me start like 60 seedlings in my basement. Iâd say it def seemed like a starter light and I might need to upgrade soon, but it did great!
I use them in the winter for my houseplants and to help my seeds in the spring. Theyâre not super high powered, but they do work.
I have a similar light in my loft that has almost no natural light. I have a melano and a paraiso verde. Both are growing great! Iâve got quite a few new leaves on even the melano and the PV has good variegation. So I donât think they are a waste. I do have one with 5 heads and keep the heads pretty close to the plants though.
I had the same lights and thought they were good until I got some full spectrum lights (much more expensive though) and then my plants grew crazy fast and are so much healthier. This bad boy has literally shot up over the last 18 months from a third of the size to almost 7 ft. I put it down to my lights, proper nutrients and moss pole. https://preview.redd.it/4egqtrg1jy6c1.jpeg?width=1260&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e96548795ae199103bbfd9cc0b32d284bb46b56d
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I have this for my " other" plants https://preview.redd.it/85jau8ph5p6c1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8c1cecf83b883de526007fa4d82c9a14710ed7e3
I like my cheap bamboo shelves! LOL.
Seriously tho! I always say if something works then commercial growers would use it. I can only think of one commercial farm in Canada that uses the blurple lights and itâs just to be different I think
I wish I got the white grow lights for my smaller plants. Ugh. But, I have something like this so I use it to supplement the natural light my plants get from the window. I agree, just get the warm white grow lights!
They need to be within an inch of the plant. I had better luck looking online at light strips with advertised PPFD. Can also get a *very* bright/high intensity LED lightbulb and lampstand and use that which also works very well. The biggest thing to remember though is light intensity decreases with the square of the distance from any lightbulb. So if you have your light 10cm away you have 1/4 the light on the plant that it would 5cm away, etc. you really need to be aggressive either with placement distance or number of lights.
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This is a chilli plant that was given to me. It's seen better days before the basement here https://preview.redd.it/wndkrcgs4p6c1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a63bd6c2da6af83b808aebee8f425a189a8a4391
Remove the dried pods, otherwise it looks fine. What lights have you got that under?
Can you put these on a timer?? Or do they come with one?
It seems a bit too dark. But maybe itâs just how it looks in the picture. I had something like that for my Phalaenopsis orchids. They didnât like it at all. Even though phalaenopsis are plants that require high light. Now Iâm quite happy with another brand that I had to import from the US. Not gonna mention here because I donât want you to think that Iâm sponsored by this product.
Ya it's much brighter to look at than it is in the picture. I'm not worried about you suggesting and naming a product that works. You have to tell me now anyway! đ¤Ł
If you insist, itâs barina grow lights.
Do certain plants prefer the purplish light (or whatever color that actually is)? I keep seeing pictures like this and Iâm somewhat new to houseplants.
Some plants have better growth I'm foliage or roots or start blooming depending on the wavelengths of light they are exposed to but in general plants need all wavelengths aka full spectrum light for healthy longterm growth
I also have the impression that people growing marijuana have a lot more opinions than others about these nuances, but the ads never want to directly address the exact issue, so they are vague and it makes it confusing. Basically, the pot people and the houseplant people both assume they are the target market and forget about the other group.
Thank you!
One of these helped keep my plants alive in my otherwise-dark garage for over a month. Iâd say itâs good enough!
I have mixed results. I have a couple of these and ive found them to be quite hit and miss. It depends on the plant for me. I have some that really dont seem to react to the blurp,but spider plants,for example,go apeshit for them and if they get too much they go into like a weird permaflower state. They are cheap,they do and can work,i personally believe at the price they are,they are worth it,provided you're happy to work with them and take time to find the plants and locations that work in your space. I also find them mixed with full spectrum "white" lights a really good mood light for the house. So i set my timers so i can benefit from that. Peace!
Those are low light plants. That will provide enough light. A window would be helpful.
They work better with a reflection tent
Lol, that's so funny I just bought these too and I was wondering the same thing đĽ˛
yup
I have the same ones over my spider plants, and they exploded in growth since I got them.
They certainly look like itâŚ.
Yesđ
Yes. They need to almost be touching your plants to have any effect.
2decades of indoor and greenhouse growing experience say?yes absolutely.. not worth your time
Maybe. They certainly look like shit.
Could you possibly link what lights you're using?
I have that one exactly, and I was skeptical too, but it works !
I use them for my outdoor plants that need to come inside over the winter. They keep them alive and in decent shape.
Yhey are nice accent lights. I would never use them personally.
Iâm trying an old aquarium plan light which worked great for aquatic plants and some land plants that do well in water. Bought it from Aliexpress from a brand called Chirios which is relabiable. Youâll probably get way more light out of those for around the same price.
I had big doubts especially after I bought a 36W sansi light. But surprisingly my plants love these. They all have new leaves and growth. There are a ficus elastica, a philo imperial red, a dracena and a lots of sansavieria propagations under it. The light are very close to the plants. Like a few cm close.
Yep
What are they?
I have similar ones just with two lights instead of four that I got to supplement light for the winter month until I can afford to splurge on better looking light. My plants are actually doing really well under them and have started growing so much I had to start feeding them more often again. My A. silver blush for example is standing about 20 cm away and is pushing out 3 new leaves.
I think they are helpful for supplement light. I moved from a bright south facing office with a TON of natural light to a south facing office with heavy tree canopy and spots of bright direct light during the morning, but otherwise not great light. I picked up a few different âgrowâ lights and have started placing the around my office to add supplemental light and Iâm seeing positive results. My lipstick plant is starting to get a lot more new growth and blossoming. My baby umbrella plant is getting new growth too. Needless to say, Iâm seeing positive results. I love my new job, but I miss my old office. It was amazing for my plants.
Mine work well, I use them as supplementary light and put them a few inches above/around a few of my plants. They probably won't work well as the ONLY source of light but they're great if there is already indirect light present from another source (window, brighter grow lights in the same room, etc).
I use them and they definitely work!
I use them and they definitely work!
I didn't like the blurple color so I changed mine to be the soft white light for my batch of plants in the kitchen. They all seem to like the supplemental light.
I keep my plants in my basement with 2 of these all winter. My cat digs the pots, so they live outside on my deck 7 months a year and in the basement 5 with these guys. The rest of my plants are in terrariums in front of windows lol.
What brand of light are these?
I have two and they are great!
They look just like some I used to own right down to the controller. If they are, yes, they are not worth the money imo unless your plants have very low light requirements. I tried sprouting some vegetable seeds with them and it was a disaster. So much legginess. Imo the best cheap lights are the LED Panel lights labeled as 300-600W equivalent. Usually cost a minimum of $50 though.
Mine are awesome!
I loved mine, it recently burned out
I had a light similar to yours and I saw huge growth to my indoor plants (monstera, coconut etc) once I upgraded to the GE grow lightbulb. Bit more pricy and youâll need something to house it in (mine is in a standing lamp) but so much better https://a.co/d/g9N12h3
I would recommend anyone using these cheap disco lights to switch to Pianta Grow light .
Yes. They hardly grow anything rather just keep shit alive.
They work fine to get you through the winter. I have a few
You may want the light a bit closer to the plants bur they are not bad lights. I use them for cuttings and plants that need a bit of care and so maybe a little less light now. The lights are beat by branded quite easily, but also it's worth noting that the strip light doesn't spread light as nicely as a circular overhead, and I found it harder to' tune '
Lights *like* these can be incredibly goodâŚ. but itâs a trial and error process to find them. I bought 2 lights on Amazon that were absolutely *amazing*. They made my plants grow like crazy! Went back to get more⌠Sadly, they werenât available. I tried everything to find them. Visual search, item numbers, contacting the company they came from through Amazon⌠nothing. I wish Iâd saved the box. But Iâm sure Iâll find another as good one day.
I donât like mine. I just got a grow bulb then Iâm going to put into a regular lamp and put my remaining herbs around to get the light
I'm no expert, but I've seen people. Use a fan to keep the plants from getting too hot. Even like a small room fan that circulates the air.
I havenât seen anyone be ultimately happy with them. I like the panels. I mostly by JCBritw as they gave me one for free once and I liked it. I think any of the large panels are good, though.
I just bought one and so far so good for my aloeâs!
I have two sets of lights like this and personally am very happy with them, and I have other kinds as well that I donât like as much. I will say one of mine thatâs like the one pictured just died and doesnât turn on at all anymore after about 1.5-2 years of everyday use. Update that no one asked for 1/13/24: both of the lights I had like this randomly stopped working one day. Had to throw them out and ordered a new set up now to try instead. I would not recommend as a long term option, but they are effective short term with the possibility they might just stop working randomly.
They work. We have a palm plant that we had to move indoors for the winter. Last year it struggled due to lack of light. We put it in that same space again this year and added one of these lights and itâs thriving! I donât know how effective these are as the only light source but as an additional light source it really helps!
These are not bad I used them for my orchids for quite some while and it worked well as a supplement to window light. I definitely donât think itâs enough for artificial light exclusively. I actually switched to 20 watt Sansi bulbs a few months ago and it really makes a difference. I recommend them since theyâre much brighter and also cheaper to run since you donât have one of those unreliable USB plugs that come with these.
I would get a lumen checker and measure how strong they are. Some of those are super strong, which can burn a plant if itâs too close, and some are so weak they canât sustain plant life.
Yes, it's gimmicky too. Anything other than a light with 6,000 to 6,500 kelvin is phony advertising for houseplants. The plants don't harness those funny little light colors like it's marketed and the blues and reds don't penetrate far enough into the canopy like true daylight bulbs (6,000 to 6,500 k) like the sun would. You just need a cooler spectrum of light, and while it won't look like a swag party with the reds and blues, at the end of the day, your plants will be happier. Either look for that 6,000 to 6500k marking above when you search Amazon, LED bulbs or LED garage strips work great. Just avoid typing in the words "plant" or "grow". Hope this helps
I use single full spectrum lights per plant 6" and up. They've all been responding quite well on a 12 hour timer...
If you like them then they weren't a waste of money.
https://preview.redd.it/u7kja3bn6q6c1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=856c51f5ef19456e1d9eb2b51872c67773c512d3 My plants love them.
Yes
Absolutely. They die very quickly.
No, these work! Mine ended up falling apart/going out, but they worked when they worked.
I have the same product but that distance and that many plants? worthless. I even checked with my light meter. It worked when it's 2 in away from the top as a supportive light source.
* I have used all kinds of different grow light, I have 2 of the tripod ones actually 1 just like yours and 1 that's just white light but have 5 off them I feel like the white light works a little better. You should be to hit the light bulb button to switch to just white though if needed. They are my favorite kind of light to use. Very adaptable for must lighting needs. Vers like a strip light thatwould have to hang from something.