If you are shopping for full spectrum LED grow lights, you can spend R1,900 or R3,780 and come home with a lamp bearing the same description. Before paying the difference, look at the plants you want to light. A few leafy plants sharing a small indoor space and an established indoor cannabis garden are two quite different purchases.
TheOneGrow’s MA2000 is a dimmable 200 W panel for a compact setup. The MA4000 is a 400 W option for someone who already wants a higher-powered fixture. Both are full spectrum LED grow lights that give you a broad mix of colours. The R1,880 difference buys a different size of light for a different job.
This guide explains what full spectrum means when you buy a light, how to choose between these two panels and what each would cost to run on the same schedule.
What does full spectrum actually buy you?
Full spectrum LED grow lights provide a mix of colours of light that plants use. For a home grower, the attraction is being able to use one suitable fixture as the plants develop. When shopping for full spectrum LED grow lights for the first time, keep the product name beside the chart. If a seller puts the same full spectrum label on two boxes, you still need to know how much light each supplies and how much space it covers.
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For plants next to a window
Look at the bench in the morning and again in the afternoon. You may find that the front row gets daylight for hours while a shelf shades the pots at the back. In that case, decide how to light the shaded pots first. A panel large enough for the whole room would solve a much bigger problem than the one you have. -
For plants in a tent
Once the tent is closed, the lamp may be the main source of light for every plant in it. Take the length and width of the area occupied by leaves. These are the measurements to compare with the lamp listing. The colourful spectrum diagram tells you about the colour mix; it cannot tell you whether a plant by the door gets enough light.
Will one panel cover all your plants?
Put the pots where they usually stand before measuring for full spectrum LED grow lights. A metre-long table might hold one tray in the middle and a watering can at each end. Measure the tray. If the same table will hold two trays side by side after you pot the plants on, measure those two trays together instead.
The most helpful picture on a listing is often the light map. It shows readings taken at several positions under the lamp. Find the position of the plant directly below the middle, then find your furthest pot. When comparing two full spectrum LED grow lights, use maps covering the same area at the same height. Otherwise the lamp tested closer to the plants can look more impressive simply because it was closer.
Here is a useful question to send a seller: “My plants fill a bench this wide, and this is how high I can hang the lamp. Can you show me the readings over the back row?” A reply that identifies your row is more useful than a single maximum reading. If you only use the centre of the bench, compare the two lamps there; an empty corner can wait until you have a plant for it.
Which panel should you buy at R1,900 or R3,780?
Start with what you grow now. Both of these full spectrum LED grow lights can hang above the plants, but they serve different buyers. The smaller board is the easier purchase for a first home bench; the larger board deserves a look when lighting a dedicated growing area is already part of your plan.
TheOneGrow MA2000 200 W LED Grow Light
Choose the MA2000 if you keep several plants together and want one light you can adjust between batches. When small plants take the place of larger ones, the dimmer lets you turn the light down without buying another fixture. At R1,900 it fits a R2,000 lamp budget. Check that there is somewhere to hang the panel above your usual arrangement of pots.
Price R1,900 · View this product
TheOneGrow MA4000 400 W LED Grow Light
Consider the MA4000 if you are buying a main light for an indoor cannabis tent and want a 400 W panel. You pay R1,880 more than for the MA2000. That makes sense when the higher output suits the plants and the area you have set aside for them. For a few small plants beside a window, choose a light sized to that smaller job. Buying the larger fixture now also means finding room to hang it and budgeting for the power you intend to use.
Price R3,780 · View this product
How much more does the 400 W panel cost to run?
Use the same number of hours to compare the two full spectrum LED grow lights. For example, assume both lamps run at full rated power for 12 hours a day over 30 days. That is 360 hours for the month. Your own hours will depend on what you grow. The figures below cover the lamp alone.
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MA2000, 200 W
Running this lamp for those 360 hours uses 72 kWh. At an example tariff of R3 per kWh, the lighting cost is R216 for the month. If you already use a meter for your grow space, the lamp reading on its own is the most useful figure to compare. -
MA4000, 400 W
The same 360 hours use 144 kWh, which costs R432 at that example tariff. Choosing this version adds R216 per month under these conditions, on top of the R1,880 purchase difference. Use the price per unit on your own electricity bill to repeat the comparison.
If you usually dim your full spectrum LED grow lights, use the power the lamp actually draws at that setting. A halfway mark on a dial does not give you a measured wattage. For a seasonal setup, also count how many months the lamp will actually be on before adding running costs to your purchase budget.
Conclusion
For full spectrum LED grow lights on a small home bench, start with the R1,900 MA2000. Its 200 W panel and adjustable brightness suit a grower who wants one lamp for successive batches of plants.
For a dedicated indoor cannabis tent where you want a higher-powered main light, consider the R3,780 MA4000. Budget for the extra R1,880 at purchase and the electricity at your usual setting. See both panels and current South African prices at TheOneGrow.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use one lamp for young and mature plants?
You can keep the same lamp if you can adjust its brightness or raise it as the plants grow and it covers their final spread. Check how much room remains above the tallest pot with the hangers already in place.
Do all full spectrum LED grow lights include UV?
Check the specification for the exact model if you need UV. The term full spectrum alone does not identify a separate UV channel or its output. A seller should be able to point to the wavelengths supplied by that fixture.
Is a white-looking light strong enough for my plants?
Brightness to your eyes is a poor guide to the light reaching a particular pot. Look at measurements taken at leaf height, especially at the furthest occupied position. A photograph of the switched-on lamp cannot give you that reading.
Do larger full spectrum LED grow lights always cost more to run?
Compare actual power and time. Two lamps drawing the same watts for the same hours use the same electricity. The difference calculated above applies when both panels run at their full rated power for the same length of time.