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Spent $60 on a fancy grow light and my seedlings still got leggy

Bought this expensive LED panel after reading reviews raving about it. Set it 6 inches from my tomato starts like they said, ran it 16 hours a day. Still ended up with pale, stretched out plants. Turns out the PAR values they advertised were way off. My cheap shop light from Walmart actually works better. Anyone else get burned by overpriced grow lights?
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2 Comments
jamiesingh
jamiesingh1mo agoMost Upvoted
In my experience, light distance matters more than brand and 6 inches can still be too far.
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the_sage
the_sage1mo ago
Yeah totally @jamiesingh, you're right on with that. I've had plants get leggy even under a good light just because the distance was off by a few inches. It's one of those things you gotta tweak based on what you're growing, not just follow the box. Some plants are thirsty for more intensity than others, so 6 inches might be perfect for a succulent but way too close for a fern. Moving stuff around and watching how they respond tells you more than any brand name ever could.
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