LUMii 03-101-700 Digita Complete Hydroponic Lighting Kit - 52x30x18 cm

This contains everything you need to set up a small hydroponic growing area, although you will need a grow tent which will cost about £30-£60 on top unless you have a spare airing cupboard with suitable ventilation.The kit is excellent, including ballast and a fantastic bulb. Setup is surprisingly simple. I was connected and ready to grow my herbs (I chose coriander as my test subject) in about half an hour. After a few weeks these have grown to giants and I have more than I actually can use.

This initially seemed fine. I used it for a week without any problems and then as we were experiencing something of a heatwave switched it off and left it unplugged in my garage for about a month. When the weather changed, becoming very wet and windy I wanted to start using it again. Unfortunately this time it no longer worked properly, switching itself off for a couple of minutes every two or three minutes, so that over the course of an 18 hour period any plants are only getting about 9 hours of light. It's supposed to provide what they call "full spectrum light" within five minutes and I'm guessing that's when mine is cutting out so, presumably, it's never reaching full power. I've tried all the connections and the bulb and I even tried changing the spare fuse they provide even though I knew that if the fuse had blown the unit wouldn't work at all, but nothing makes any difference so I've obviously got a duff one. Okay, that happens - they've provided 15 to be reviewed and one of them's faulty, so a failure rate of about 7%, not great but not that bad, I suppose. However, the reason for the one star review is because Lumii seem to be almost impossible to get hold of. I went to their website to see if I could speak to someone to get some advice, but there's no phone number so I filled in the email message field but got no reply. I tried again five days later, but still no reply. I then tried the parent company Hydrogarden, but nobody in technical support ever seemed to answer the phone so I ended up speaking to someone in their Sales and Returns department instead and was advised to return the unit to Amazon and I have to say that the person I spoke to didn't seem at all surprised or concerned as they might if this was a rare occurrence. Now, if I'd bought this and I returned it to Amazon for either a replacement or a refund to buy something else I reckon, despite how good Amazon are, the whole process, including waiting for Lumii to (not) reply to me would take at least 3 weeks, which is a long time whatever you happen to be growing. So, would I buy this product? No. Because not only does it seem to be unreliable there doesn't appear to be any support from Lumii Digita at all.

I have been using this and wonder to what extent it is better than natural light - unless, of course you are using it in lieu of natural light. Using to raise seedlings over the winter, I have had some success, but it has not proved to be a miracle worker: some seeds still have not germinated. Okay, it warms the soils and, presumably, works as a substitute for sunlight, but it does not work so well in every case. Better than nothing, I suppose, in cold, low light weather, but still not great.

Works well in comparison with other products. Was easy to set up and use, whilst also feeling durable.

Well this is bigger than my previous adventures in hydroponics. I have a little table top kit that grows herbs or small veg. I feel this is for people ready to make the next step.It is a complete lighting kit but not a complete hydroponics kit. If you buy this you will need somewhere to grow your plants. You can get growing tents, which would probably be the most convienient option but im sure you could convert a shed with a bit of effort. Tents tend to come with shiny reflective inner surfaces though so are ready to use.This lighting rig is easy enough to set up (even for a tech luddite like me). Its pretty much just plug and go. It has a hoist type arrangement that you can use to move the light up as the plants grow. (hadnt even considered that needed to happen when i first started hydroponics! i mean the sun stays where it is...) You will obviously need something to affix it to (hopefully your growing tent has a central roof pole with hooks).

So I'm a rank ameteur when it comes to hydroponics, but in many ways that might be an advantage looking at this kit as I suspect it's targeting people just like me, i.e. folks with a keen interest wanting good quality, well matched kit, but who have no real idea what to look for.One thing that is clear upon receipt is that this is a well considered and nice piece of kit. Everything seems decent quality and it feels like the kind of infrastructure you need to build a hydroponics set up with minimal fuss. I set it up only after popping down to my local hydroponics place and getting a sliver lined 'growing tent' and a few other bits that are needed, like trays and such - took the advice of the guy there, looked at what he had and just bought the cheapest. I still have to sort the water supply so need to pop back soon.I was surprised I had two shops within easy walk of my place. Maybe I'm lucky or maybe it's a real growing business (see what I did there!!) So the guy told me some of the principles and practices and if you're like me and need such background then find your own local place and ask questions. So my setup is working fine it seems. I was happy with how simple it was to get up and running. it's all pretty obvious.I am going to grow my own herbs. I've not actually started growing as I'm still waiting on supplies of plants and the necessary nutrients, but I think it'll all be fine. It's not a cheap way of getting herbs at all but it should be satisfying knowing they're not full of nasty chemicals and in theory I shouldn't ever run out - Winter will be no problem I guess. It's also a nice hobby to pursue.