A Guide to Low Power USB Indoor Growing Lights - For Hydroponics etc.

I think the quoted '80w' by some manufacturers is the output equivalent of the LED lights compared to incandescent bulbs - they can't be drawing 60w or 80w from a normal USB cable. Power consumption will be extremely low and likely be between 2.5w and 5w.
Basically 'daylight' spectrum for leafy veg and anything with a red spectrum for fruiting plants. Very simplified but true. Nothing will take the place of sunlight as that has everything every plant needs but if you're growing indoors these lights will allow you to take something from seedling to fully grown plant no problem. All the lights featured here have built in timers and depending on the manufacturer they can be 3/9/12 hours or 4/8/12 hours - that's handy since they will come on the same time every day. I generally set mine for 12 hours on from 7am.
Lights are available all over the internet and sellers come and go so some of these links may not be relevant by the time you click the links:
Daylight spectrum lights: geni.us/E7m5ogF
Full spectrum lights: geni.us/ZhDdasL
Finding the other types of lights is hit-and-miss so do some searching. I think I got the round lights from Ebay about 6 months ago but at that time they were also available on Amazon. Now I can't find them on Amazon but they will no doubt be available somewhere.......
Damn the internet, lol

[@ThousandYardStare]

I think the quoted '80w' by some manufacturers is the output equivalent of the LED lights compared to incandescent bulbs - they can't be drawing 60w or 80w from a normal USB cable. Power consumption will be extremely low and likely be between 2.5w and 5w. Basically 'daylight' spectrum for leafy veg and anything with a red spectrum for fruiting plants. Very simplified but true. Nothing will take the place of sunlight as that has everything every plant needs but if you're growing indoors these lights will allow you to take something from seedling to fully grown plant no problem. All the lights featured here have built in timers and depending on the manufacturer they can be 3/9/12 hours or 4/8/12 hours - that's handy since they will come on the same time every day. I generally set mine for 12 hours on from 7am. Lights are available all over the internet and sellers come and go so some of these links may not be relevant by the time you click the links: Daylight spectrum lights: geni.us/E7m5ogF Full spectrum lights: geni.us/ZhDdasL Finding the other types of lights is hit-and-miss so do some searching. I think I got the round lights from Ebay about 6 months ago but at that time they were also available on Amazon. Now I can't find them on Amazon but they will no doubt be available somewhere....... Damn the internet, lol

[@SoldierDemps]

I’ve just been back on your Pondguru page, i entered a competition 7 years ago and won a silver hammerhead shark coin from you. I recently moved home and have lost the coin in the move, im so dissapointed in myself. 😅 Was just commenting to say, thanks for putting out all the informative content you do and have done over the years. Mikey

[@ThousandYardStare]

Dear Mikey, That's no worries and a major bummer that the coin has gone missing. I bought quite a few silver coins before doing that series of give aways as the price of silver was about half what it is now. I haven't bought any silver in a long time but even at today's prices it is a good investment. I hope you moved to a house where you have a good opportunity to be more self sufficient and grow food or hunt / fish. I'm finding it quite hard to put videos out on either channel due to spending lots of time in the garden and greenhouse. We're also having an extension built on the house (at possibly the worst time in history....) so that's consuming some time too. For the last few years I've been madly building infrastructure and although most of it was in place before the nonsense of 2020 there is always more to do - there are nothing but benefits from securing food and power since 'money' is already worth very little and will soon go digital (and be linked to a 'health pass' / social credit score) which I won't be part of. If I didn't have work I'd quite happily make videos every day since I have so many hobbies but even the hobbies have taken a back seat in recent years. I hope you're keeping well and feel free to phone any time. Regards, Richard

[@GarageWeekends]

Thank you! Great info, I have been looking at grow lights for the past few days for my lettuce and brocoli. It's good to know I don't really need red and blue light. It would be great if the information was a little bit more squashed in a shorter video ❤

[@ThousandYardStare]

That's a very valid point but I never plan what I'm going to say for the videos so everything is unscripted. If I actually planned what I was going to say in the videos I reckon they would do better but planning videos feels like school work, lol

[@keepingitkoi]

Great video Richard I've always wondered about buying separate grow lights 😊👍

[@ThousandYardStare]

Unless I was growing leafy veg I wouldn't grow indoors and they will grow under just about any light, lol I tend to use my lights as a supplementary source to allow me to grow in the greenhouse during the Winter and they will get turned off in the next few weeks as the days are getting longer - if I get really stick for growing space I've got the option of growing under benches in the greenhouse so if that is the case I can set up the lights there. I've done that before for small chilli plants and it worked quite well.

[@keepingitkoi]

@@ThousandYardStare thanks 😊 very useful to know 👍

[@MARTINREN1231]

I currently have the 2 head version of the last one. I got mine for very cheap ($2) . Im currently testing them if they can grow some basil, lemon mint, cherry tomato, perilla and bell peppers.

[@pondguru]

I'm not sure they would be good for fruiting vegetables since the light work really well for leafy veg (e.g. Lettuce, Swiss Chard etc.) but not good for anything producing tomatoes or peppers. You will need a different light spectrum (red / pink) for fruiting plants. Sunlight is by far the best spectrum of light and artificial light is a pale imitation.

[@cristianocollia]

thanks for the review, I have a question: are these lamps powered by USB or direct line 110/220 volts?

[@ThousandYardStare]

They are all USB powered so are very low consumption.

[@cristianocollia]

@@ThousandYardStare thanks 💪

[@RandomTuber782]

Weed grower here. The white lights are great for most plants UNTIL you're ready to bud/fruit, then you can swap to a more red/orange light. You get more yield this way but if you're not too picky go with the recommendation above.

[@ThousandYardStare]

It's the same for some edible veg too as it's generally white for leaves and red for fruit. I'm in the UK so I'd have half a dozen police knocking on the door if I was growing medicinal plants - some of the laws here are properly retarded.

[@fabianocastellano5921]

I have the third one you showed, what would you think is the best distance from seedlings like tomatoes and peppers?

[@pondguru]

You can have these sorts of lights almost touching the seedlings since they don't give off heat unlike traditional fluorescent T5 / T8 bulbs. Best to go with the full spectrum setting which will mimic sunlight better.

[@fabianocastellano5921]

@@pondguru thanks man

[@wiggledytoes]

Geo thermal greenhouse build 😁

[@BOBPortlandOr]

screw buying fixtures. Buy 6 cree 100w 20,000 lums cxb3590 cob chip (I've seen for as little as $6 USD) and mount to custom SS heat sink. For cooling use: 1-1/2" x 1/2" SS Tube cut to 1-3/8" length and Plug SS with 1-1/2" x 1/2" plastic end plugs (2 per fixture). Connect the 6 units together with 3/8", plastic tubes, barbed fittings (use short 1/2" tube as a crimp on clamp to barb inside SS as a means to lock 3/8" to SS), and hang all from adjustable wood frame. Include Dimmer and water tank and you have a very inexpensive lighting system for 4x4 foot area. As the water in the SS and tube heats up it will rise up to a water tank installed overhead and colder water in the tank will flow down to replace the hot water.