Global Star
Growing plants indoors is a challenge no matter how experienced you are with the process and so it helps to have any advantage you can. On this site we’re taking a real close look at LED grow lights as a great alternative to traditional lighting systems, but even in this subcategory of lighting there are different options to choose from. If you’re going to have every advantage you can it’s best to look for a lighting system that covers a wide range of the color spectrum and allows you to control when that light hits your plants.
One full spectrum lighting system that allows you a great deal of control over your lights is the Global Star G02. It’s only a 300W system, but it has a lot of great features that make it an ideal choice for a small growing operation. These lights generally retail for less than $100.
For Vegetative and Flowering Stages
When you’re looking for indoor LED grow lighting at a minimum you need something that provides both red and blue bulbs that help at different stages of the growth cycle. The blue bulbs are essential to provide the right type of light during the vegetative growth stage and the red lights are what you need during the blooming stage. There are some lights out there that only offer a red light and you want to avoid these as your plants will end up looking stringy and will not provide a very good output. These lights by Global Star are ideal for both stages of growth.
Four Different Channels
What really separates these lights from the competition though is the ability to switch between different stages. This light actually has four different channels you can choose from: off, full, leaf, and bloom. Essentially you have the choice to light your plants or flowers with a full spectrum of color, a blue spectrum or a red spectrum. This allows you to manipulate the intensity of the lights when necessary to get the most out of your plant’s growth cycle.
Multiple Cooling Fans
We all like to stay cool on a hot summer day and if there’s no air-conditioning around, a fan will generally do nicely. As much as you have a need to stay cool when it’s hot the same applies to your indoor lighting system. This particular system has two aluminum cooling fans to keep your system operating efficiently and at a reduced temperature. LED lights are generally more effective at staying cool to begin with, but it doesn’t hurt to have every advantage that you can.
This Light Is Zen
If you want to avoid losing your entire lighting system when one little bulb in the chain goes out then you’ll be happy to know that the Global Star G02 has Zener protection built-in. That means if one lightbulb burns out the others will keep humming along and your plants will continue to get the level of lighting that they need for growth.
Wide Coverage
After reviewing a few different LED lighting systems for indoor growing I’ve come to the conclusion that most lighting systems are very limited in the coverage that they offer. On average an LED lighting system will cover about 4 to 5 ft.² below it – in that respect this system blows most of its competition away. Its coverage area is between 6 to 10 ft.² for the vegetative stage and 4 to 6 ft.² for the flowering stage. Those are pretty impressive numbers for a system that costs less than $100.
Intelligent Temperature Control
An extra feature that this light comes with that I found pretty impressive was its built-in intelligent temperature control system. Essentially, when the temperature of the light gets to about 70° it will automatically reduce the electrical current flowing through it; another way to help it stay cool. I haven’t seen too many indoor lighting systems that have this feature.
Disappointing Warranty
While my feelings were pretty positive towards this light I was disappointed in the length of the warranty. The warranty for this lighting system is only for one year, which is below industry standard and cause for a little bit of concern. You have to wonder why they wouldn’t offer at least a two-year warranty when most of their competitors do – it’s at least cause for making you rethink your purchase a little bit.
Switches Are Only Good When They Work
Another thing that concerned me with this light system is that there have been a few complaints by customers suggesting that the switches we mentioned above break pretty easily. It’s nice to have the option to switch between different light spectrums during different stages of the growth cycle of your plants, but that feature isn’t much use if it doesn’t work. This is especially concerning when you consider the product only has a one year warranty.
One other concern that I should mention is that one or two customers have expressed serious doubts that this light actually produces 300 watts. In fact, one or two customers actually suggest that the actual output is much closer to 50W than 300W. If that’s true, it’s a major disappointment. Fortunately, the vast majority of customers that have purchased this lighting system seem to disagree with this assessment.
Not As Bright As I’d like
I was definitely disappointed when I found out about the discrepancies between advertised wattage and the actual wattage as described by some customers, but the overwhelmingly positive reviews of this product led me to the conclusion that these problems weren’t very common. It would be nice to see this lighting system in a 500 or 1000-watt option, but it seems to me that a couple of these lights used in conjunction would likely do a pretty good job, and they are great value for the money.