UFO LED Grow Light Review – Is this the right

grow light for your hydroponic garden?

The key to establishing a

successful hydroponic garden is

to implement proper lighting that

will let you grow vegetables,

fruits and herbs all year long.

Below is a quick review on the

benefits of LED grow lights and a

special opportunity for a Free

Consultation.

Click here for the Original Illuminator LED Grow Light - the BEST on the

market.

LED grow lights have much more light intensity than HPS or MH indoor grow

lights and they last longer - up to 10 years in fact.  Now I am not saying that a 

90W LED Grow Light can ever match the lumen output of a 400W HID bulb,

however, they are equal when it comes to the amount of absorb-able light

they emit.  In addition, they produce a fraction of the heat of HID setups and 

therefore do not require cooling fans.  The lights only use 20 to 30 percent of 

the electricity that HID lights use.  Above all, LED grow lights do not require 

other equipment such as ballasts and reflectors like most grow lights do.

There are many different types of LED grow lights and it is very important to

choose the best one for your hydroponic garden.  One of the most popular 

ones on the market is the UFO grow light.

Benefits of UFO LED Grow Lights

n Uses 90 watts of power that are more intense and result in faster growth

rates than HID lights.

n Does not produce any heat and will not burn your plants or cause excess

evaporation.

n All of the light is directed at the plants and the light that is emitted

matches the spectrum of light necessary for photosynthesis.

n Produces thicker vegetative growth, larger blooms, and increased yields

over equivalent HID lights.

Aside from standard red/blue UFO Grow lights, many people prefer to use

Tri-band LED grow lights.  The benefit of using a Tri-band Spectrum is that

the plants absorb the key spectrum of red, blue and orange light.  These lights 

are designed to provide key wavelengths for optimal growth at all stages.

Now, a new addition to the LED Grow Light team is the 5 Band LED Grow

Light which offers a red, blue, and orange arrangement with 2 different bands

in each of the red and blue spectrum.

To choose the correct LED grow light for your plant, you have to determine

the needs of your hydroponic garden.  Are you growing leafy, short plants or 

taller, flowering plants?  What are the dimensions of your grow space? Would 

you prefer an all-in-one grow light solution or would you like your color

panels separate to allow tweaking during specific stages?

HERE IS YOUR BEST BET - C O N T A C T M E F O R A F R E E

G R O W LI G H T S

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WILL HELP YOU DETERMINE THE APPROPRIATE LIGHTS FOR YOU.

To Guarantee Poor Results, Buy Cheap Imitators

I have been told by a few people that they have experienced less than optimal

results from their LED grow lights (and nowhere near what the hype says is

possible).  Without fail the number one reason for failure is that they bought 

cheap, discount LED grow lights that were horribly underpowered.

Don't worry - I get it.  To start out, LED grow lights are a bit more expensive 

than their HID light counterparts, however, that gap is shrinking all the time

and is easily recovered (and then some) in reduced electricity bills and by not

needing expensive heat removal systems or ballasts.  It is easy to gravitate to 

the less expensive models if you are on a budget but don't!  You will be 

disappointed.

The cheap LED grow lights on the market are ridiculously underpowered.  On 

Ebay right now, you can find dozens of LED grow light panels in which each

individual LED light is rated at 0.06 Watts.  So in a typical 225 LED panel of 

red and blue, you end up with a total power consumption of about 14 Watts.  

Sounds great right?  Not so fast - you see, these units are good for maybe 2

square feet at a distance of less than 12 inches.  Does that describe your 

growing space? Not likely.

Take a typical growing space of 5x5 feet or 25 square feet . . . if you bought

the above light, you would need at least 12 of these units to effectively cover

the space.  And that is assuming you don't want to grow anything over a few 

inches tall.

As a rule, you should never buy an LED grow light unless each LED has an

output of 1 Watt.  In the above example, you would need only one 90W LED

grow light to cover up to 25 square feet and it would have the power to

penetrate a leafy canopy if growing taller plants.

While some people use natural sunlight, others who want indoor gardens find

that one of the best choices for lighting are LED grow lights.  They are more 

economical, energy efficient and can be controlled for best results in your

hydroponic garden.

Check out the following to buy a UFO LED grow light - The Illuminator 5

Band Spectrum Grow Light from our partner site.

All purchases enjoy a 90 day risk-free trial period where you can return unit

for a full refund if not satisfied.  In addition, it comes with a 3 year warranty.

Please contact me for a quantity discount or for the 180W, 350W, or 700W

models.

Tagged as: Grow Lights, LED Grow Lights

{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }

Richard December 16, 2009 at 5:26 pm

I’m interested in purchesing an led light but i’m still a little confused

about the whole deal. Why are some lights so expensive and some arn’t?

What does the orange and white leds do to the plant? does the number of

leds matter or is it the watts? for example. a 225 leds that runs on 14 watts

compared to 190 leds thats 90 watts. any recomendations for leds?

admin December 18, 2009 at 3:17 pm

Hi Richard!

I sent you an email with the info you are looking for. Thanks for stopping

by!

-Mathew

looky December 23, 2009 at 12:13 am

I use Quad Band RED,BLUE,ORANGE,WHITE. Its very useful

believe me its worth the money.

Budget January 5, 2010 at 8:14 am

I am also interested in Richards question. Would a handful (5) 225

led 14W panels work for a small hydroponic garden. If they are offered in

all red all blue and a mix (mix is something like 3/4 red 1/4 blue) should I

get all mixed ones or an assortment. Any other advice would be greatly

appreciated as I’m on a budget and a little confused with this new

technology.

Thanks

admin January 5, 2010 at 10:08 am

Budget –

I just sent you an email to help you out!

Thanks,

Mathew

Slim January 7, 2010 at 12:27 am

admin-

I am also curious about the different lights and specifically what color to

use for each stage of growing when to mix etc. Any help would be

appreciated.

Rick January 13, 2010 at 12:27 am

I’m also interested in led. I use 4×4 trays and usually have 12 to 22 

plants and from the looks of the picture one light doesnt seem like it would

cover the plants on the outer edges especially if you are only 12 to 14 inches

away. Can you give me some insight to help me make a decision. Also im

curious about the five band as opposed to the tri band and if its really a

major difference. Last but not least I’ve been reading in different forums

about under performance in the flowering stage can you address that

please.

charles March 2, 2010 at 4:21 am

what is the difference between the triband and quad band as far as

effectiveness? Some quads use red, blue, and white while others use red,

blue, orange, and yellow. The triband only uses the red, blue, and orange

sprctrums and i was wondering if it would work the same as a quad because

ive read that white light can be pretty useless these days. Explain to me the

difference between the 5 band and the rest i have listed above and whether

its worth buying.

thank you,

charles

admin March 2, 2010 at 9:51 am

Hi Charles – Thanks for stopping by!

The difference in effectiveness between tri-band and quad band can be

minimal and dependent on the type of plant you are growing. For example, I

have found that it can be tricky (but not impossible) to grow tomatoes

indoors using a tri-band instead of a 5 band as they have a tendency to get a

bit leggy. That being said, if you already have a tri-band, I would not

necessarily recommend going to a quad band at all and only get a 5 band if

you are having difficulty with what ever it is you are growing. Reason being

– for most plants, it just does not make a big difference.

But . . .

If you do not have any LED grow light, I would just cut to the

chase and get a 5 band. Check here for 5 band LED grow lights

information.

The short story is that the Illuminator 5 band LED produces light as follows

–

2 bands in the RED spectrum – for flowering and fruiting stages. Big

flowers, More buds, Bigger yield.

2 bands in the BLUE spectrum – for vegetative growth during early

stages to produce thick, stocky plants to support the weight of all those

buds.

1 band in the Orange spectrum – to round out production in the

flowering/fruiting stage and addresses issues with certain plants as

noted above

What LED grow light do

is take advantage of

scientific discoveries

that show plants

respond to light at very

specific wavelengths

(spectrum). See the

picture? It is at these

peaks that plants use

light most efficiently

for photosynthesis; the

idea with peak targeting

is to supply the plant exactly what it needs, when it needs it for ideal

growth and little wasted energy.

My personal opinion on LED grow lights using a white light band is this –

waste of money. What they are doing is trying to compensate for a poor

design and lack of research going into their light. You can’t just throw

together some red lights, blue lights, etc and expect everything to work out.

The quality of an LED grow light is in the configuration of the LED’s

themselves (what wavelength they emit and how much power). White light

is not efficient – only around 15% of the light emitted is absorbable (able to

benefit the plant). Compare that to these 5 band LED grow lights at 95% and

it becomes obvious.

Let me know if this answers your question completely or if you need more

info. Thanks again for stopping by!

-Mathew

Duffey April 28, 2010 at 8:05 pm

I learned more about LED lighting in the last 20 minutes than I ever

knew before. Just by reading your Q&A section. Thanks for enlightening

me.

marcus April 29, 2010 at 1:38 pm

Hi

I am very interested in moving from HPS to LED however the store I buy all

my gear from won’t give them the time of day. My SOG is 5×10 what would 

be the best configuration, what is the cost and do I operate them the same ie

veg 18 hours and flower 12, cheers

admin April 29, 2010 at 5:48 pm

Thanks for visiting Duffey! I am glad I could help. . . Keep your eye

on this site as there will be some exciting changes coming this summer!

-Mathew

admin April 29, 2010 at 8:28 pm

Hi Marcus –

First – thanks for coming by!

Second – don’t worry too much about your local store – sometimes it’s

tough to embrace change

To get to your question:

Starting with light cycles . . . what you want to do is 24/7 on veg and 12/12

for flowering. Distance from plant is about 8-10 inches for a heavy yield.

Effective coverage for this stage is about a 2-3 foot square using the 180W

light – so to really maximize your output you would want 6-8 lights in a 2×3 

or 2×4 grid.

I will be sending you an email to see if we can work out a deal for you if you

buy that many lights!

Thanks,

Mathew

spider May 1, 2010 at 4:12 pm

G’Day, I agree with Duffey…Thanks heaps…Would it be better to

have two 90 watt or one 180 watt unit?

cheers

admin May 2, 2010 at 8:01 pm

Spider –

It depends on the growing space you have and the height of the plants you

are growing. Shorter plants in a rectangle configuration – go with the 90w.

Taller plants in a square – go for the 180w.

Hope this helps!

Mathew

spider May 3, 2010 at 7:20 am

Thanks for that,Mathew. I wish to buy one of your units.My grow

room is 5 feet x 5 feet. I’m just wondering whether to go for a 180watt or

start with one 90 watt and get another 90watt later if need be. Does two

90watt acheive the same result as one 180watt? I’m just wondering this

because the units would be placed apart.

cheers

spider May 3, 2010 at 9:55 am

2x 90 watt units would give a certain flexibility, would it not. Rather

than one 180watt unit? sometimes being able to just use one. eg.,gow with

one….flower with two.

cheers

admin May 3, 2010 at 5:52 pm

Spider –

To answer your questions . . . .

Here is what you want for coverage

First – a single 90w can take care of a 4×4 in the vegetative stage and about 

2×2 for heavy fruiting. So you would need at least 2, perhaps 3 90w units to

be 100% effective.

Second – A single 180w can do 5×5 for veg stage and 3×3 for heavy fruiting 

stage. So you can get away with a single 180w but to be 100% effective, I

would go for 2.

Of course it all depends on the actual space your plants are taking up in

your 5×5 space. For example, if you whole room is 5×5 but you are only 

growing on a U shaped table that measures18 inches wide, that would

change the coverage strategy a bit.

Send me an email and I can set you up with free shipping when you are

ready!

Thanks again,

Mathew

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