Mars Hydro TS & SP Series White LED Grow Light Review

Mars Hydro finally jumped on the quantum board bandwagon and released several full-spectrum white LED grow lights.

In fact, they released two lines of lights: the SP series and the TS series. They are very similar, but they do have a few key differences, which I’ll cover below.

The important thing is that both use mostly full-spectrum white LED diodes, with a mix of cool white and warm white.

They supplement that white light with additional red diodes. The SP series also adds in IR and UV light.

This mix of light gives them a spectrum that is very similar to the HLG quantum board lights or to COB LEDs, with additional red. It is the perfect spectrum for plants and the biggest strength of Mars Hydro’s newest fixtures.

Let’s take a look at each light in the SP and TS series, before we get into a more in-depth review of each series.

Full Spectrum White Mars LED Comparison Table

Model	Size	Wattage	Coverage	PPFD
SP 150 Check Price	Weight: 5.9 lbs. Dimensions: 23.6" x 3.2" x 2.0"	Actual: 140 watts HID Equiv: 250 watts	1.5' x 3'	275 umol/m²/s @ 18 inches
SP 250 Check Price	Weight: 11.3 lbs. Dimensions: 42.5" x 3.5" x 3.2"	Actual: 245 watts HID Equiv: 400 watts	2' x 4'	490 umol/m²/s @ 18 inches
TS 1000 Check Price	Weight: 3.8 lbs. Dimensions: 14.2" x 13.2" x 2.4"	Actual: 150 watts HID Equiv: 250 watts	2' x 2'	552 umol/m²/s @ 18 inches
TSW 2000 Check Price	Weight: 7.7 lbs. Dimensions: 19.6" x 17.3" x 3.5"	Actual: 310 watts HID Equiv: 450 watts	3' x 3'	980 umol/m²/s @ 18 inches
TSW 3000 Check Price	Weight: 11.3 lbs. Dimensions: 25.3" x 22.8" x 2.7"	Actual: 450 watts HID Equiv: 750 watts	4' x 4'	1152 umol/m²/s @ 18 inches
TSL 2000 Check Price	Weight: 7.9 lbs. Dimensions: 39.2" x 10.0" x 3.5"	Actual: 300 watts HID Equiv: 450 watts	2' x 4'	972 umol/m²/s @ 18 inches

Mars Hydro SP Series Review

This review focuses on the Mars Hydro SP 250, but everything written here goes for the SP 150 as well, apart from the individual specifications. The table above shows the differences in specs.

Features

• Uses 245 watts — save about 50% on your electric bill over HID lights
• Equivalent to a 400 watt HID system — but costs less to buy AND to operate
• Ideal spectrum for plants — the perfect light for all stages of growth, with peaks on red and blue and a lot of light in every other color, plus UV and IR
• Highly efficient — great output from a low power usage (2.7 μmol/J)
• 2 by 4 foot core coverage — the coverage for vegging is a bit larger at 3 by 5 feet
• Epistar diodes — not the best on the market, but very good and keeps costs down
• Dimmable Driver — modeled after the Meanwell driver (nice way to say knock-off); it is dimmable and can be removed from the unit and placed outside your grow tent to keep heat down
• Rated for 50,000 hours — 4-5 years with no bulb changes
• 3 year warranty — and a 30 day money back guarantee

Advantages

The three strongest points of the Mars Hydro SP Series are the color spectrum, the high output per watt consumed and the low cost.

Let’s begin with the spectrum. The industry is finally moving away from the blurple color spectrum and moving to spectra that contain at least some white diodes. Many lights have mostly white, and some use nothing but white.

I am so happy to see Mars Hydro join the “white light revolution”.

They do so using white SMD diodes from Epistar, which makes them very similar to the quantum board lights.

But Mars actually went one better, by adding IR and UV diodes to round out the spectrum in the areas where all-white LEDs fall a bit short. In the SP 250, they also added red diodes. The addition of red, IR and UV is similar to what the top COB lights do.

Basically, Mars uses the quantum board spectrum, but fixes that spectrum’s biggest weaknesses: the lack of UV and IR. Plus they add some red light to the SP 250 for good measure.

The end result is the perfect spectrum for every stage of growth. It is very similar to natural sunlight, with added red and blue light, since those are the colors of light plants need the most.

The Epistar diodes are driven by a Chinese-made dimmable driver that is basically a Meanwell knock-off. It drives them at around 245 watts at full power and is highly efficient (2.7μmol/J), giving you an output equivalent to a 400 watt HID system.

Specifically, it achieves a PPFD of 944 umol/m²/s dead center at 12 inches from the canopy, which is how high you would hang the light during bloom, for a 2 by 4 foot coverage area.

During the vegetative stage, you would hang it around 18 inches, where it achieves a PPFD dead center of 632 umol/m²/s.

I have included the PAR footprint provided by Mars Hydro (at an 18 inch hanging height), so you can see some of the PPFD numbers as you move away from the center.

For some reason, Mars only took measurements for a square coverage area of 2.5 by 2.5 feet, which seems odd given this light’s rectangular coverage area. They’re doing a lot better as a company than they used to, but sometimes their choices still baffle me.

Apart from that, the long rectangular form factor of the two SP series lights is a big advantage to some. If you have a small, square grow tent, it probably won’t work for you. That’s where the TS series comes in (see below).

But if you have a larger operation, with several rows of plants (perhaps even stacked vertically), the long form factor can be a huge advantage.

It allows you to install the long lights directly above each row of plants and not waste light by lighting the aisles, as square lights often end up doing, because their coverage is wider than a row of plants.

The large size of the fixtures has another major advantage. It gives you a more even coverage. A smaller fixture emits light from a smaller point. The light then spreads outward. It has to travel further to get to the corners of the coverage area, which means the light is much less intense in the corners.

A larger fixture means the light does not travel as far to reach the outsides of the coverage area, so the light does not lose as much intensity. This results in smaller PPFD readings in the middle, but higher ones around the outside. In other words, a more even coverage.

In the past, customer service was always a huge disadvantage of Mars Hydro (as with most Chinese manufacturers), but now that they have service centers in the US, it is much easier to get help, if you need it.

That’s why this is now an advantage, especially when compared with other budget lights.

And to add to that, Mars now gives you a 3 year warranty and they let you return the light for a full refund within 30 days of your purchase (that is obviously not enough time to try out the light for a full grow, but you can at least test it and see that it is as powerful as advertised).

Disadvantages

As just mentioned, the long form factor could be a disadvantage, if you have a square tent, or one that is too small for one of these long lights.

Apart from that, probably the biggest disadvantage of the SP series of lights is the heat output. They use only heat sinks, with no fans whatsoever. This means a silent operation, but it also means that the lights can get pretty hot.

If you are growing in an enclosed space, you’ll probably have to include some extra ventilation for these lights. Not as much as you’d need for an HID system, but definitely more than you’d need for a similarly powered LED grow light.

Another disadvantage for some is the general dishonesty of the company. When these lights first came out, there were photos of Meanwell drivers on the product pages and Mars called their driver a Meanwell. It is not. It is a knock-off and they know this. Despite that, they decided to lie.

This is a common practice for Mars and I just don’t get it. They make good lights. They are cheaper than HLG, so no one expects them to have the high quality Samsung and Meanwell components. Why lie about that and harm your brand’s reputation? I just don’t get it.

SP Series LED Grow Light Review: Final Verdict

The Mars Hydro SP 250 LED Grow Light and its little brother, the SP 150, are a great addition to Mars’ lineup. More than that, they are easily the best lights in that lineup (along with the TS series reviewed below).

They give you a color spectrum similar to the quantum boards, but add in IR and UV light. In the case of the 250, they also add more red light. This gives them a very similar spectrum to the top COB grow light manufacturers on the market (Amare and Optic), as well as Green Sunshine Company.

But at a much lower cost.

The only lights that can compete on price are the Spider Farm SF LED grow lights reviewed here. They cost a bit more, but they are an actual quantum board light, with Samsung chips and Meanwell drivers. As such, they use higher quality components than Mars, but they do not have UV diodes.

And now that Mars Hydro has service centers in the US, you don’t have to worry about dealing with a huge hassle to get your light repaired or replaced if something goes wrong. Help is much easier to come by than it used to be.

Given the high efficiency and ideal spectrum of this light, and the great price, it gets a Grow Light Info rating of 4.7 out of 5.

Mars Hydro TS Series Review

The TS series has four lights: the 1000 is the smallest, the 3000 is the largest and the TSW 2000 and TSL 2000 are both in the middle and about the same, differing mainly in their form factor.

The TSW is almost square and gives you a square coverage area, while the TSL is long and gives you a rectangular coverage area similar to the SP series of lights.

This review focuses on the Mars Hydro TSW 2000, but everything written here goes for the other three lights as well, apart from the individual specifications. The table above shows the differences in specs.

Features

• Uses 310 watts — save about 50% on your electric bill over HID lights
• Equivalent to 450 HID watts — but costs less to operate
• Ideal spectrum for plants — the perfect light for all stages of growth, with peaks on red and blue and a lot of light in every other color
• Highly efficient — great output from a low power usage (2.35 μmol/J)
• 3 by 3 foot core coverage — the coverage for vegging is a bit larger at 4 by 4 feet
• Epistar diodes — not the best on the market, but very good and keeps costs down
• Dimmable Driver — modeled after the industry standard Meanwell driver; it is dimmable and can be removed from the unit and placed outside your grow tent to keep heat down
• Rated for 50,000 hours — 4-5 years with no bulb changes
• 3 year warranty — and a 30 day money back guarantee