What is Reddit's opinion of Hytekgro LED Grow Light 45W Plant Lights Red Blue White Panel Growing Lamps for Indoor Plants Seedling Vegetable and Flower (2 Pack)?

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Most say the "cheap" lights are junk, but I think they expect too much of them. If used correctly, I think they can be effective. Their spec sheets will say that they are good for covering a 2ft x 2ft area with the light at 18" and thats complete bull. At that height, light may reach 2ft, but it has the equivalent light energy of a night light and not enough to grow anything. The solution is to hang them closer to the plants. For seedlings, I would say 4-6" above them. However, that means that light will only cover basically the foot print of the light. If you're only growing a few plants, that's fine. If you're growing 4 flats of seedlings, it will be more cost effective to have 1 big light instead of several weak lights.

That's my theory at least. I just purchased some of the Hytekgro 45W lights to use on a shelf and test my theory. I have them within an inch or 2 of some overwintered plants and so far so good. If you've only got $40 to spend, I think it's worth it.

Here's the 2 pack I bought: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GWQW8GM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_y.lbGbF4BMX98

The mister is house of hydro 5 disk. The lighting is cheap ones from amazon but they have done well with my plants for the past month. Grow lights

I'm not 100% sure which ones I have because they were a gift and came in very generic packaging, but I think they're these - Hytekgro LED Grow Light 45W Plant Lights Red Blue White Panel Growing Lamps for Indoor Plants Seedling Vegetable and Flower (2 Pack) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GWQW8GM/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_BPVVQYPCHDX49SZHD1M4

They seem to work well enough for small plants that are directly under them, atleast for the smaller stuff I grow. I use them to start seedlings and keep a few small sets of greens, both hydroponic and in soil growing. The one thing I really don't like about them is there is no switch, you turn them on and off by plugging and unplugging them. I've got mine plugged into a smart plug so I can just ask Alexa to turn my plant light on and off, and also put them on a schedule.

As for hydroponics, it's loads of fun. I am really enjoying playing with cheap growing ideas andnif I get a few leaves of some exotic green to toss into my salads out of it then that's a bonus. There are a number of great YouTube channels dedicated to making hydroponics easy and affordable using everyday stuff. At bare minimum your cost is the nutrients and some seeds to start, almost everything else can be scrounged up. And nutrients cost a bit up front - I spent $18 for a package but it will last forever - my cans of greens probably hold a couple of pennies worth of nutrients at a time if even that. I mix it up at double strength and store in a gallon milk jug, and dilute it with an equal amount of water whenever I am refilling anything.

Also one of the great things about hydroponics indoors is you can do it year round. I did baby greens in soil last year and they were great but I kept getting fungus gnats, which doesn't seem to be an issue with hydroponics!

These are the Hytekgro leds - https://www.amazon.com/Hytekgro-Lights-Growing-Seedling-Vegetable/dp/B07GWQW8GM/ref=mp_s_a_1_17?dchild=1&keywords=grow+lights&qid=1618515273&sr=8-17

I also have some of the roleadro ones too, but haven’t set them up yet.

I haven’t been using them long, so I can’t tell you anything about reliability

I bought this growlight after reading about them on this sub and elsewhere: https://www.amazon.com/Hytekgro-Lights-Growing-Seedling-Vegetable/dp/B07GWQW8GM

Here are the specs: LED Power: 45 Watts Input : AC100-240V LED QTY: 225 x SMD2835 Spectrum: Red: 620-630nm, Blue: 450-460nm, White: 6500K.

I’ve had it going for about a week and I want to make sure it’s all good before winter! I bought this specifically for my succulents.

I think the blue and red LED bulbs would be good. Maybe you could order a square grow light you can hang from the ceiling from Amazon, they would be good for those too.

Here's something i found i thought you might like. :)

You can get 2 for $40 at amazon that should be pretty good for a small succulent like that.

so in retrospect i realized that was waaaay to many tomato plants… i figured since it’s my first time some might die so i have backups lol! definitely not doing that many next time…

looking at the peat right now and it LOOKS moist and feels moist but like not oversaturated it that makes sense.

added a picture of it in below link! also i just googled/amazoned a light and found one that’s fairly cheap. i read that you really only need it for the seedlings/early stages so i hope i wasn’t wrong i’m assuming that this light will be good enough for about a month…? 😬

the lights

tomato peats

Thanks Gjr - I THINK the buckets will be ok.. there really is just an airstone and a pipe, but the internal pipe inlet extends up higher than the netpot roots, so I don't think it should become too clogged.

In terms of lights, I got these pretty inexpensive ones off Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GWQW8GM/

They are very highly rated and SEEM to be doing a good job so far... I had similar ones that were more WHITE light in my NFT rail setup last year - they did a good job with lettuce.. I just read that tomatoes like this red/blue light better (but I very well may be wrong!)

I am about 99.999% sure they are these - they were a gift so it's hard to be 100% sure when there are so many listings on Amazon for similar lights. The only thing I don't love about them is that there is no light switch in them, I have to unplug them to turn them off. That said, I plan on plugging them into a smart plug so I can set upna schedule, and also have Alexa turn the lights off for me before I even enter the room if I want to go in and check on the plants while the lights are on. The glare from them is rather intense, and right now I am donning sunglasses anytime I enter the area to unplug them.

This is how I have them set up right now - http://imgur.com/gallery/zl8QXsu, and before you assume the light from the aerogarden had anything to do with the kales success, I just set that up recently and the kale has been on the other side of the grey trays at the bottom until this morning when I rearranged everything. The 2 grey trays are an assortment of greens mixes that are also thriving. I took this pic 4 days ago and they are already noticably bigger today. Infact they are almost as big in just under 3 weeks than the same plants got to be outside in 2 months in the heat. I'll be trying a hydroponic setup with the next set of seedlings I have started to see how they fare so I can not have to worry about watering if I go visit family for a few days. One thing I intend to do soon is to swap out the legs of the shelves with some longer lengths of PVC as some of the plants are starting to reach pretty close to the lights and I don't want them to burn.

I'm still fairly new to this and still learning but I'll be happy to answer any other questions you have to the best of my ability.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GWQW8GM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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I bought two of these for my seed shelf, I hang them pretty close to the soil and then gradually raise the light as they reach upwards. I've used them for a wide variety of seeds and cuttings to boost their growth and these are pretty effective for my setups.

I'm having to move my succulents out of my windows during the winter due to them being too cold next to them and I might be needing to supplement some light for them if I can't find room near the window(s) they were in. I've read the overwinter threads and looking at 6500k lights I found a few and I'm just wondering if any of these three would be better than the others or if any of them would be good. Wherever I move them too they will still get some natural light, just not nearly as much as they would be if they could stay in the window.

Hytekgro LED Grow Light

Dommia LED Grow Light Panel

or these which I've seen mentioned in some other threads about grow lights: Barrina LED T5

Thanks in advance!

I'm having to move my succulents out of my windows during the winter due to them being too cold next to them and I might be needing to supplement some light for them if I can't find room near the window(s) they were in. I've read the overwinter threads and looking at 6500k lights I found a few and I'm just wondering if any of these three would be better than the others or if any of them would be good. Wherever I move them too they will still get some natural light, just not nearly as much as they would be if they could stay in the window.

Hytekgro LED Grow Light

Dommia LED Grow Light Panel

or these which I've seen mentioned in some other threads about grow lights: Barrina LED T5

Thanks in advance!

I’m not using any nutrients yet. I wasn’t sure based on some saying it’s ok to add at seedling stage and some saying it’s risky.

I’m using a grow light: Hytekgro LED Grow Light 45W Plant Lights Red Blue White Panel Growing Lamps for Indoor Plants Seedling Vegetable and Flower (2 Pack) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GWQW8GM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_TJNCFbFTE6KA4

(This isn’t the exact model but similar in functionality)

Side by side with this bulb on a high blue setting : Smart Light Bulbs 60 Watts Equivalent Full Color Changing Bulbs Smart LED Bulbs Compatible with Amazon Alexa Google Home and Siri No Hub Required 2.4GHz WiFi Bulbs AISIRER 2 Pack A19 E26 Bulbs https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XZ43YT2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_QLNCFbWEGVSCZ