****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I’m a fan, plants love these bulbs and they’ve been going for close to two years without issue. However, a week ago, the led strip detached from the inside and fell down. There’s no way to fix this. I don’t think it affects the output any but it just looks weird. Has me wondering how many more will detach? :(I originally ordered their 4' LED Sun Bright LED T5 4 tube fixture last week and still have it. It came without damage, was packed like it was fine china and looks nice. However, as an experiment, I removed the T5 tubes from that fixture and tried them out in my current AgriGrow fixture I had to see if they worked since I already had LED tubes installed in it with the proper ballast. I was pleased that they worked because are really bright and are of a far better color spectrum than my older combo red/blue LED tubes I had in there already. My eyes were pleased as well because I'm not trying to produce flowers and my eyes would literally see green after looking at those lights. My cacti look amazing under those new LED tubes too. So since I wanted both fixtures working for my other plants, I ordered just a set of 4 T5 4' LED tubes to reinstall back into their fixture so that I could use that as well. When I opened the box today however, I was very unhappy. The one end I happened to open up had almost no padding to protect the ends of the tubes. The middle and other end was well protected with a nice air tube setup. As such, one of the tubes was cracked, probably from a drop during shipping. But what's worse was that they were all T8 tubes, not the T5's I ordered. I will update my review to 5 stars if I actually receive the replacement T5 LED tubes as originally ordered and unbroken, because right now, I do not have the warm and fuzzies that they will get it right the second time. It was a pretty lame mistake to make on packing and to top it off, send the wrong tubes too, for a product that expensive. The shipping companies are making money off my order at this rate.Update: The seller contacted me directly and told me that Amazon is currently sending out the wrong tubes, T8's instead of T5's, that the mistake was not on the seller's part and this is the first they've heard of it. In fact, the exchange I just received from Amazon today was STILL the wrong T8's. The seller asked me for my address so that they could directly send me the correct T5 tubes. I am updating my review to 5 stars to reflect the prompt response I got from the seller to remedy this issue. The seller claims they have fixed the issue with Amazon as well.All grow lights are not created equal -- it is no small feat to successfully replicate the natural sunlight that plants have evolved with for eons. What looks bright and pleasing to humans is not necessarily what is most valuable to plants (for photosynthesis). I've found this out through trial and error, and a lot of research, to enhance my orchid growing. At the moment, I count six different LED grow lights in operation for different types of orchids, using LEDs for both supplemental and sole sources of light.I'm taking the time to write a review, which I rarely do, because the ActiveGrow LEDs are the best full spectrum grow lighting that I've found so far for orchid seedlings, and blooming size Paphiopedilums and Phalaenopsis. I particularly note the robust year-round root growth on the Paphs, including multi-floral and higher light species. I run my lights 9-10 hours/day -- which has been plenty for flowering the lower light Paphs, and fewer hours than I comparably used T5 HO fluorescents.I'm also trying some higher light species under the ActiveGrow lights as well. The near blooming size Dendrobiums are growing well, with a few flowers emerging on the largest seedlings.I also note that recently deflasked orchid seedlings do not dry out as quickly under these LED lights, compared to the T5 HO fluorescents. This is very beneficial given their shallow root systems, and many of the smaller seedlings are establishing more easily.I have replaced all of the bulbs in my Hydrofarm Agrobrite T5 fixtures with these conversion tubes. They did not work in my older SunBlaster fixtures. However, I liked the ActiveGrow light spectrum and growing results so much that I decided to just replace three of my 108W SunBlaster T5 light fixtures with the ActiveGrow 40W two-bulb fixture, for the light spectrum quality, energy savings, and lower heat output. (https://smile.amazon.com/Active-Grow-Fixture-Gardens-Microgreens/dp/B07DF5Z4SS/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1546458544&sr=8-5&keywords=active+grow+led).As another reviewer mentioned, there is a thick plastic shrinkwrap on each bulb which is difficult to remove. Difficult enough that I'm questioning whether or not that was meant to stay on the bulb. There is no mention in the instructions of the shrinkwrap. In the photo you can see what the removed (bottom) vs kept on (top) looks like. The plastic does seem to diffuse the light a bit, but I'm not sure that's necessary or desired. I'm inclined to remove the rest since none of the product images show it left on, I just hope that it isn't functional and imparting some kind of effect to the spectrum the bulb outputs.Otherwise, the brightness is comparible with the flourescent tubes I'm replacing, though the light itself is more yellow (which I was expecting).One of the four lamps burned out within a few hours. Double checked all my wiring and swapped locations to check and the lamp is still kaput. I will update the review once my warranty claim is resolved.Update: One day after emailing I have a new fully functional lamp. Great customer service! Taylor with Active Grow was very helpful. If you have issues with one of their products definitely reach out to them before returning to Amazon.As for the lamps, I am quite pleased so far. They seem very bright, but the light is not off-putting like other grow LEDs I have seen. I even prefer it to the full spectrum fluorescent lamps they replaced. Hopefully the plants like them just as much!
