my budget system, two second-hand high bay lights & two part dry hydroponics nutrients in synthetic soil. has taken tomatoes & chillies all the way to fruit without issue. my latest obsession of growing cacti from seed, pictured here, have never been under any other lights. lights cost about $15AUD each, from a local scrap metal dealer.
by NothingVerySpecific
4 Comments
not saying whatever hot brands’ growlights are bad. just unnecessary expensive, for those with a tight budget. same goes for fancy brand nutrients & mediums.
r/HandsOnComplexity is an amazing resource for anyone interested in the deep-dive from someone NOT trying to sell you overpriced growlights, who is only interested in results, electrical safety & and the science. can’t recommend enough. start at ‘Using a lux meter as a plant light meter’ would be my advice.
TLDR: normal white LED lights work great as growlights. add a cheap lux meter to dile in the intensity & you are good to grow.
People recommend Barrina led lights all the time that are cheap af and there is plenty of comments saying that you are fine with random 4-5k led lights as long as the intensity is there.
Generally what you’re paying for when you buy grow lights is to get most out of your plants, and efficiency. Also some convenience sprinkled in.
Im curious how many watts your lights use. Led grow lights are better because they have the most PAR per watt. And some have ir and uv too. Its a better light spectrum for plants.
If your lights work good, then you saved a lot of money.
You must have a lot of patience growing cacti from seed. Ive done it a couple times
I’m growing butter lettuce and other herbs under some cheap used 14w led lights i got for a couple bucks. They’re like $20 at lowes new. They are super healthy and productive. I will also add a LOT of LED comparison videos i’ve seen are straight up fake to sell a particular light or brand.