Spider Farmer SF 7000 Review

The Spider Farmer SF 7000 is their new flagship fixture. It is a large foldable Quantum board style LED grow light. It features four of the popular Spider Farmer panels mounted to aluminum heat sinks. It has an advertised power draw of 650 watts and is meant for 5’ x 5’ coverage.

Spider Farmer has earned a solid reputation with home growers. I tested the SF 2000 last year. The SF series Quantum boards are reliable, highly efficient, easy to use, and produce an excellent light for growing indoor cannabis. They have been very popular with home growers and frequently imitated by other manufacturers.

The SF 7000 is the largest fixture in the line. It uses two aluminum heat sinks which are hinged together in the middle. The hinge allows the fixture to be folded in half for easier shipping and storage. Unfolded, the SF 7000 is 73.7 x 55.8cm (29 x 22in).

Each aluminum heat sink hosts two Spider Farmer quantum board panels featuring Seoul diodes. They use a mix of 3000k and 5000k full spectrum diodes along with 660nm red diodes. Each board has 429 diodes, which gives the SF 7000 a total of 1716 diodes. The published power draw is 650 watts, so there are 2.64 diodes per watt. The diodes are excellent, but the number of diodes per watt is lower than some competitive fixtures.

Spider Farmer uses a large Inventronics driver to power the SF-7000. Inventronics is one of the top driver manufacturers. You have the option to mount the driver on top of the heat sinks, but they include plenty of cable, which allows you to put it elsewhere.

I tested the Spider Farmer SF 7000 in a 150 x 150cm (5 x 5ft) area. It has very dense light directly below the four quantum boards. I had to hang it up at 64cm (25in) above the sensor. At that height, the maximum PPFD was 1000 µmol/m².

The relatively high hanging height may create an issue in some tent grows. However, it is important to get good density light out to the edges. The physical size of the SF 7000 is considerably smaller than the intended coverage area. If it were hung too close to the canopy the edges and the corners would not receive adequate light.

The PAR map from my official test shows that the SF 7000 can produce a lot of light. Across the center of the map the values are excellent. However, even at 64cm, it doesn’t reach the 500 µmol/m² threshold around most of the perimeter. The corners are in the 300 µmol/m² range, and most of the edges are in the 400s.

The Average PPFD across the PAR map is 569.1 µmol/m². This converts to a Usable PPF of 1280.5 µmol. During the test I measured a power draw of 605 watts on 120 volts at a dimmer setting of 100%. The measured Usable Photon Efficiency is a very respectable 2.12 µmol/w.

I measured the maximum temperature on the driver at 60.4C (140.7F). The heat sink got up to 59.2C (138.6F). As you can see below, I also tested the dimmer. The dimmer is continuously adjustable with markings at 20, 40, 60, and 80%. The Maximum PPFD was a little above at 80%, and a little below at the other settings, but it is reasonably accurate.

I think the Spider Farmer SF 7000 is a solid fixture and it is going to be popular with home growers. It is well made and convenient to use. The Photon Efficiency is very respectable. However, the hanging height could present an issue for some, and the distribution to the edges is less than ideal.

For a 5 x 5ft space, I recommend a Usable PPF of 1625 µmol. The 1280.5 µmol that I measured from the SF 7000 is not going to be enough light to fully fill in a 5 x 5ft PAR map even if the distribution were perfect. That said, I cannot help but think that the four panels on the SF 7000 are too close together. The distribution and hanging height would benefit from moving them further apart.

Some growers may want to put the SF 7000 in a 4 x 4ft space. It will physically fit, but at 100% power it is too much light and the hanging height would be very high. In a 4 x 4ft space, I recommend only 1040 µmol, so I would recommend dimming the SF 7000 to about 80%.

The list price is $999.99, but it is offered at just under $800 on spider-farmer.com. You can get an additional discount with Discount Code: CCFC. The cost efficiency is about $0.61/µmol, which is comparable to other fixtures in this class.

We also have a chance for you to win the Spider Farmer SF-7000 that I tested! We’re giving it away in the Strain Review Giveaway. Each month we give away a different LED grow light to growers who write Strain Reviews. The SF 7000 is our Prize for Strain Reviews written in June 2021. You just need to write a strain review to enter to win. I will ship the SF-7000 to one lucky grower in the USA. International growers are also eligible to win! Spider Farmer has agreed to send an SF 4000 to one lucky international grower. See the Strain Review Giveaway page for complete rules and all the details.