What's up Growers Global? Phoah, my first post & review on the Growers Global community forum! What could be better than a grow light review, hey?
Let's keep this one simple, yet informative, so you can decide whether the VIPARSPECTRA KS5000 is the right grow light for you, and your babies.
Why did I choose the KS5000?
At the time of purchase, back around 2022(ish), I didn't have too much knowledge behind the specifics of LED grow lights - all I knew was Samsung LED diodes was the one major key point to look for. However, years later, after gaining a bit more knowledge, things have obviously chanced since then. Back then, I took the specifications of grow lights at face value, without actually comparing true, real-world specifications. Embarrassing, I know.
Fast forward to today, with two brand new Spider Farmer SE7000's en route, but that's for another conversation.
Based on all the research I done at the time, the price to performance of the KS5000 was an amazing option - it boasted Samsung LM301H diodes, with a 2.52 diodes per W of power. What's not to love about this light, well, at the time? It has and is one of the leading-industry grow lights out of China, beating even some locally-manufactured and imported grow lights. That says a lot.
Looking at the PAR & ePAR tests, specifically from beloved Dr MJ Coco, the light boasts a superior 2.43 umol/w. This is great for a Chinese-branded grow light, and surpasses many other brands in the segment, at the time this light was released.
See the specs here: https://www.cocoforcannabis.com/grow-light-guide/viparspectra-ks5000-par-epar-tests-and-review/
Given its relative uniformity in the ePAR charts, offering an amazing 824.1umol/m2 at a height of 28cm (11 inches), defeats many earlier-series LED grow lights around this era. You can see why it's an impressive light even to today's standard, albeit a bit on the "weaker" side, if you will.
How were the end-results of the KS5000?
If I am going to be fairly honest, I've had fairly shitty results over the past year or so due to ongoing issues, due to no fault of the light - more so my negligence.
However, as an over-all, the light has been amazing contender. The light has offered great uniform growth and flower development, and overall yields have been absolutely amazing under these lights. Running two of these bad boys in a 4x8ft (120x240cm) grow tent provided an amazing amount of light.
The KS5000 grow light was able to produce some very, very nice flowers, I must admit. The vegetative growth absolutely loved the KS5000, and I had no dramas getting huge, bushy, tight inter-nodes on all my plants. For the price to performance, I couldn't be anymore happy. The lights were able to do a reasonable job at canopy penetration, providing a regular defoliation, and the lights never ran too hot for concern - except on extremely hot days.
Overall, the end results from using the KS5000 grow light prove that the light was indeed a great choice at the time. I can't fault it.
What are some things I would improve on the KS5000?
Overall, the grow light is great, there's not too much to fault. However, there are a couple of key points I'd like to note. This may, or may not break the decision when purchasing the grow light.
- The driver can't be mounted on-top of the grow light, it doesn't have any fixtures for mounting onto the light.
- The grow light could do with modification to the LED positioning, to allow for slightly better corner PAR results.
- The dial on the driver only gives you pre-set options (25, 50, 75, and 100% brightness), it doesn't allow for more granular control.
- The dial knob on two of my lights has failed (the plastic knob that sits on the actual turn dial), as the plastic has threaded itself. Poor quality? User-error? I don't know.
- Perhaps a re-design is due - a modular style would be great, similar to the Spider Farmer's SE and G range of lights.
- The frame is a bit heavy when compared to other lights, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but also isn't a good thing when you're setting up or taking them down.
Would I recommend the KS5000?
Look, given it's 2024, and there are so many options out there on the market, it's kind of hard to recommend the KS5000 - especially now that there are alternative models out on the market. The price to performance back when I initially purchased the grow light was amazing, and still is to this day. However, there are alternative models out there that boasts more power and slightly better efficiencies than the KS5000, for slightly more. (At least comparing to the Australian market).
While I can go on, and on, and on, with a long-winded "maybe", I will just keep it short and simple. IT DEPENDS. Given its current price, I can't recommend the KS5000 given there are alternative lights on the market that cut the mustard slightly better than what the KS5000 can offer. However, if you can get it on sale, perhaps below AU$600, then I'd say it's an absolute steal! Anything more than $600-ish, I'd really consider alternative options. That's just my personal thoughts on it. Unfortunately, we get the shit end of the stick, and have to fork out more dollars than our US counterparts, so if we're talking in USD, I'd be looking around the US$300-350 on the top end mark for this particular grow light. Keep your eyes peeled for regular promotions - as that'd be your best time to purchase.