This LED grow light from MarsHydro is a very affordable grow light, perfect for a small grow space. If you are wanting to grow your own marijuana indoors on a budget, this grow light should be on your radar. Read on to find out why.
Table of Contents
Specifications
The Mars600 measures 17 inches long by 11 inches wide by 3 inches deep and has a chip density of 1.53, which means that you know the light coverage is going to be even. The unit weighs 9.85 pounds, has a 1-year warranty, and also comes with a steel cable hanging kit so you can set it up straight away.
During the vegetative stage, the Mars600 has a coverage of 2.5 feet by 2 feet when hung at the recommended height of between 24 and 18 inches above the canopy. This changes to a coverage of 2 feet by 1.5 feet for flowering, when the light should be hung at between 12 and 24 inches above the canopy.
As for electrical setups, the Mars600 is very flexible, as it will work on a range of voltages from 85V to 265V and a range of frequencies from 50Hz to 60Hz. There is also no need to worry if you are ordering from a different country, as MarsHydro make their grow lights with whichever plug you require – simply let them know upon ordering.
Light Spectrum and Intensity
MarsHydro say this is a full spectrum grow light, however we notice that there are no ultraviolet or infrared bulbs in the unit. On the other hand, the unit does have 120 5W Epistar LED bulbs. Epistar is a well-known LED bulb manufacturer, and the name does carry the weight of good quality, so the light spectrum emitted by the Mars600 will at least be of a high standard.
In terms of wattage, the Mars600 was designed to replace a 300W HPS lamp, which it does, and efficiently too. Because of the LED bulbs, hardly any of the electricity used to power the unit goes to waste, so the Mars600 will actually only draw about 265W to produce the same amount of light.
It has a great PAR value too: 980(µmol m-2s-1) when hung at 18 inches (straight down from the centre), which dips to 510(µmol m-2s-1) at the peripheries of the coverage area of 2.5 feet by 2 feet (for flowering). This means you get deep penetration of the canopy in order to support the growth of your plants.
The only issue with this grow light is that it gives off a purple hue to the naked eye. This is fine for your plants, but when you want to check them over for discolouration you will need to either use a regular light or buy special tinted glasses.
Safety
The unit comes with two built-in cooling fans to prevent the light from overheating and/or burning the tops of your plants. It also has many safety certifications, including ETL, CE and RoHS.
Finally, this light also comes with a failsafe diode, which means that if one of your chips should fail, the rest will remain functional and the light will still work. If a chip does fail though, you should get it replaced as soon as possible to continue providing your plants with the light source they need.
Final Thoughts
The MarsHydro Mars600 LED grow light is a small, basic model that would work well for a beginner grower with a small grow space. It emits high quality, high PAR light that your plants will love. However, it does present some drawbacks, such as its lack of ultraviolet and infrared light and veg/flower switch for flexibility. If you have a small grow space and don’t want to fork out lots of cash on a newer grow light, the MarsHydro Mars600 will do the job.