Advanced Platinum Series P300 300w 12-band LED Grow Light - DUAL VEG/FLOWER FULL SPECTRUM

After using this light for a while I can say I'm very happy with it. It represents a strong step up from most of what's out there -- panels with single lenses over the LEDs, built with cheaper LEDs and boards, and while I haven't yet compared this light to other premium light panels in action, others have posted that info online. I must say that while this light is great, using it requires a little care; it's a precision tool that is very easy to misuse if you don't know the basics of what you're doing, so especially if you're new to indoor gardening you want to pay attention. However, if you pay attention, this is a great light.There's so much bad info and sales hype out there in the LED grow light industry, even some from the company marketing these lights, that it pays to stick with the basics that matter and that's what I want to do. These four reasons are the main ones I like LED grow lights in general and these in particular:1) plants only 'eat' specific wavelengths of light, and these lights supply more.There's only four wavelengths that the two types of chlorophyll eat to any noticeable degree, and chlorophyll is what provides nearly all of the photosynthetic heavy lifting for any plant, but there are other organic molecules within the plant that make some use of additional wavelengths. Plants do respond when you add those wavelengths in. Whether these eleven or twelve spectrum LED lights like Platinum and Kind are truly emitting eleven or twelve discrete spectra of light, as opposed to more like six spectral bands each covering a 20 nm range, is something that people argue about and I don't feel like buying the gear to answer the question myself. I can tell you that I've seen an improvement with the additional spectra, so I'll go with that.2) This light comes with full secondary lenses and there's some give and take as a result.Mostly they give more than they take, but be aware of it; by concentrating light you decrease coverage and increase the minimum safe distance between the plants and the light source. Most cheap LED panels, by way of comparison, only have primary lenses over the LEDs - without them there's no intensity to the light at all. Secondary lensing focuses more of the light downward that would otherwise radiate outward, which is why unlensed lights appear brighter from the side. This means you can have the lamp a little further away from the plants while achieving the same photosynthetically active light rating (PAR) for your plants. Light intensity drops as the square of the distance increases; if you hate math but you like vegetables, just know that this means that it pays to keep plants relatively close to their indoor point sources of light, but there's a little care that must be taken to keep them from getting too close. For a light with only primary lenses, the plants can and will frequently grow right into the light with little to no light damage resulting; for this light, with its secondary lensing, it's easy to induce chromatic bleaching (the light intensity overwhelms and destroys the chlorophyll, and that part of the plant goes pure white). Alternately, leaves may not go white, but instead start to curl and darken around the edge and even start to show purpling (it gets some people excited, that, but it's only the same process you see in the fall - chloroplasts die off, the leaf color changes - and reflects damage to the plant not enhancement). It doesn't outright kill the plant, but it does keep it from growing further. This is why you do need to pay careful attention when using these lights, they're nowhere near as dangerous as a HID but especially with fast growing plants you can end up stunting their growth prematurely if you let the plants grow within a couple inches of the surface without raising the light. Although I haven't verified it yet, I expect that the UV and possibly the blue diodes are more of the culprit here as they are more energetic. Also, with secondary lenses, the wavelengths of light are more discrete and 'patchy' when the plant is close to the light -- plants under red diodes get more red light, blue diodes get more blue, etc. It isn't until you get further away that the light mixes more and becomes fully blended together. At close range bleached photochromes are inevitable, which is one more reason to make sure the light is at least a foot away most of the time for maximum effect on your plants - and even then, watch for UV damage.As a side note - It's not a good choice to have the UV always on in bloom - it should be a third switch, really, because while there are some crops that have documented benefits when exposed to UV-B, it is also highly stressful for the plant in general, and is best saved for the last three or four weeks of a growing cycle as a result as that's where the best benefits can be found. The overall effect, I've found, depends a lot on what you're growing, so just pay attention and if you observe bleaching, move the light further away. For normal greenhouse operations where the light is usually a couple feet away from the surface the secondary lenses are an unmitigated strength as far as I'm concerned. However for compact applications like a smaller tent where there isn't a lot of excess room to begin with, it can become an issue.3) Watts mean light and heat, meaning that whatever wattage you're actually drawing at the outlet (which is MUCH DIFFERENT in most cases than what's been advertised or implied) is either turned into usable light or waste energy, mostly heat and a negligible amount of sound. This light, for example, is billed as having 100 3 watt LEDs, but it actually draws somewhere around 185-190 watts at the outlet and not the 300 implied by the title; a little math, plus the awareness that some of the juice goes to the fans and some to the boards and some's just lost, suggests that you're probably seeing an average of ~1.5 watts per diode. While to the novice that's upsetting (it's not 3!), it's a lot better than what you see on the cheaper knockoff boards which is closer to 1, and correspondingly the light is less intense. There's also good reasons not to push the LEDs much further than that as you start running into increasing heat issues and potential bleaching and you start getting away from the strength of LED lights.As an aside, the whole way the industry approaches its wattage advertisements is crap, and I respected the way Platinum used to name their lights more than the way they currently do, because their old naming conventions stayed close to true wattage use (DS200) as opposed to marketing-hyped wattage use (P300 is the new designation for the same light). The light's what matters here, though. The simple fact is that quality components make a difference in how much electricity radiates as light and how much is wasted as heat. This, as far as I'm concerned, is the reason I like Platinum. I can run one of these right next to a standard 80x3W cheap LED panel; even though that light, a nominal 240 watt light, is actually drawing something like 110 watts, its surface is actually 7 degrees F hotter than the Platinum light drawing 185 watts. That extra heat matters a LOT in a compact application, and not in a good way. An unlensed panel like that you can get much closer to the plants without causing light damage, but you don't want to do that with a cheap, hot running light -- the heat outweighs the maximized photosynthesis.4) Build quality. Aside from the superior components, this light seems to be designed and assembled as well as any other I've seen on the market, but it's not perfect; the aluminum frame distorts around the bolts fastening it shut, for example. also, the choice to punch ventilation holes in the aluminum of the chassis for the top fans, as opposed to cutting the entire hole out and bolting a wire fan guard over it, wasn't an amazing one; the remaining metal is weak and deforms easy if something gets caught in it Also, with the secondary lenses, I'd think about spacing the LEDs out a bit more, but I don't make LED panels for a living so there may be better reasons not to do that. The screw in power conduit is a step up from the standard detachable line, but keep in mind that it adds a couple inches of space overall to the length of the light -- not an issue for normal use, potentially one for compact spaces. All of these matter, but none of them are enough to knock off a star, and as the technology matures I expect most of them to be fixed. Platinum claims the P300 is made with the exact same components as the proven high quality DS lights were, aside from changes to the fans and wiring, as well as some cosmetic changes (square buttons, the Platinum logo). This sort of claim is almost impossible to verify, but the 5 year warranty suggests it's at least largely true, and performance wise I haven't seen any difference so I'm content with the official explanation. I've been running mine for a while now, and it works like a champ.All in all, this is a good investment and one that you won't feel shortchanged by. It costs a little more than the knockoff panels, it doesn't cost as much as the extreme high end professional lights; It's ideal for a home gardener with some experience but anyone can use it safely. also, a five year guarantee is a good thing, especially in a market where cheap boards often fail within three years.My bottom line; while there's still obvious room for improvement in the LED grow light industry, these lights represent a sweet spot in terms of cost vs performance. For a full blown indoor sustenance-style garden you'd want to get one of the larger ones, but if you are trying to fit an indoor fresh vegetable garden into an existing space and only have a few square feet to work with here and there, give this a try.

I've used 600/1000w bulb/ballast systems and CFLs. I'm licensed for personal medical use. So.. after tons of research, I bought the p300 for my first LED. I originally wanted 2x p150 for my 32x32x63 or a g8led 240w or a california light works, or blackdog, or area 51... but went with the p300 instead. G8led doesnt have the spectrum, CLW doesnt offer a dual function led panel in my price range, the p300 was just the overall, unbiased winner. This will be my FLOWERING light, replacing a 600w hps (1000w no longer in use). I also bought a $69.95 chinese ebay special (for clone/veg). I will update this review if anything goes wrong, but for now let me say: holy S#!%. With just the p300 plugged in, first night, i took my 6" buddies from outside in the 85 degree sun, in less than 24 hours the new growth is looking CHUNNNKYYYY. And NO HEAT. I woke up to 72 degree temps at 48% humidity and unplugged my 4" cooling can. I also tried the chinese one, the light is very red and hard to look at, has no on/off switch, and the paper says not to run it for more than 12-16 hours - ebay auction didnt mention this. Oh and the chinese one has a loose power cord connection out of the box (attaching to the panel). I didnt expect much for $69.95 so meh. It's replacing CFLs for the babies/overnight/winter. Now as for the p300, the veg light is much whiter, like daylight CFLs. Its much more pleasant to look at (flower mode is super red though, IR goggles). When the p300 arrived (free 2 day shipping btw) I put everything under it at about 30" for roughly 24 hours and they already blew up. The leaves have lots of detail as if the contrast was cranked up, the ripples in the leaves are very pronounced, wheras under cfls the leaves look kind of flat. The new growth is popping off everywhere, pointing straight up and its all super dark green. IMO this means they are super healthy/happy and will be beastly. If not, ill edit this review (I'm one of those people). All in fox farm ocean forest dirt ($12.99 mclendons hardware). I shoot for 80-100g dry weight on the big strains (bd, tw etc) and 50-60 on the little ones (ww, gsc etc). I dont sell and I keep it all within my legal limits. This 1 light is plenty for myself, cheap on the power bill, no heat issues, dual function, sturdy design, compact, medium-light weight, quiet, not straining to look at under veg, great warranty, awesome grow power.Only complaint is no paperwork or warranty info came in the box. Just the panel, power cord (looks like a standard pc power cable, non screw-in). It did come with some hefty hanging hooks and cables though. Much thicker than the chinese cables.tldnr: awesome. Will edit this review in the future only if something goes wrong or it turns out to be less than awesome. No edit = no complaints and this review holds true.