Thank you very much friend! I'm pretty new to gardening as well so I do have a 600w hps but it makes my room hot as shit and come summer it will be worse. I've watched some YouTube videos on HID vs LED and the results are pretty amazing. About a third of wattage and the same or better yeild. I honestly had no clue where to start with LEDs. Do you need a big ballast to go with them?
IF you are new to LED and want help choosing what to buy, POST HERE!
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puffenuff
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No worries bud. Happy to help. We all have been there not knowing where to begin with leds. No ballast needed, led panels will come with drivers inside them that power the leds. All you need to do is plug it in.
LED isn't that good. There's a lot of hype and predation in the LED grow-light market. You'll pay a lot for good LED which may come close to HID performance. But, not all lights that cost a lot are in that category. Quite a few are just rebranded Chinese lights using epistar/epiled diodes, sold at 4x more than you could buy those lights from a Chinese seller.
The brands Puff mentioned are good. (I wouldn't include California Lightworks. They're in the over-hyped "secret sauce" category, IMO. But, maybe that's just me.).
JimmyIndica
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Day 22 flower. Really starting to put on some weight. stretchin a little which I am fine with. Lets me fill canopy out. I am running nutrient solution through em 5 times a day. I know its not gonna be max yield this first run indoor, but I am happy with em so far. The one pic is A gummy Bears 1/2 n 1/2 under KIND and Area51. They look identical so far. I have never grown with MH/HPS so I cant compare it, I want 2 AT200 next! I might change my mind few times from here to there though!Area51 got better footprint for the money. 312 watts of Area 51 covers same area as 430 watt KIND! I still like the kind for at least another 6 months or so. Sorry bout the ramble ,just smoked!
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JSB99
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How do you like the Kind? I'm torn between the k5-xl1000 and the Blackdog Platinum XL-U for a 4' x 4' space
JSB99
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I've been trying to read through all the pages to figure out which would be best for me, but there are too many opinions and arguments to try and get the info I'm looking for.
I have a mid-sized budget and I don't want to go over $2000 for the light.
That being said, I have been drawn to two LED lights but do not know enough about LEDs to do proper comparisons and it's been difficult in finding side by side comparisons of the following two LEDs:
Kind K5-XL1000 http://kindledgrowlights.com/product/led-grow-light-fixtures-k5-xl1000/ $1695
Blackdog Platinum XL-U 750w https://www.blackdogled.com/products/universal-series/platinum-xl-u-11.html $1999
Can anyone tell me which one is better for a 4' x 4' space? If there are other comparable lights in this price range I'd be interested in hearing about them as well.
I've heard a lot about the a51 LEDs. How would 4 RW-75s (one over each of my four plants) do against the Kind and Blackdog?
From what I've seen, the Kind has many more options and can use less power because of only running the spectrums needed during growth. The Blackdog seems to be much brighter, having all 5w LEDs, but runs all lights for the whole grow.
The light I want is one that will work for both veg and flower.
I have a mid-sized budget and I don't want to go over $2000 for the light.
That being said, I have been drawn to two LED lights but do not know enough about LEDs to do proper comparisons and it's been difficult in finding side by side comparisons of the following two LEDs:
Kind K5-XL1000 http://kindledgrowlights.com/product/led-grow-light-fixtures-k5-xl1000/ $1695
Blackdog Platinum XL-U 750w https://www.blackdogled.com/products/universal-series/platinum-xl-u-11.html $1999
Can anyone tell me which one is better for a 4' x 4' space? If there are other comparable lights in this price range I'd be interested in hearing about them as well.
I've heard a lot about the a51 LEDs. How would 4 RW-75s (one over each of my four plants) do against the Kind and Blackdog?
From what I've seen, the Kind has many more options and can use less power because of only running the spectrums needed during growth. The Blackdog seems to be much brighter, having all 5w LEDs, but runs all lights for the whole grow.
The light I want is one that will work for both veg and flower.
sunny747
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Just aheads up. I bought my very first LED bulb today. I don't know what I'll do with it. I was at Costco and they had these bulbs for $13. Funny how everything at costco is $13, but anyway I bought it. I may buy 3 more for my next veg. Just something to play around with.. I bought it because it was the highest lumens I have seen in this type of bulb.. I'm pretty confident that I could flower an auto with 6 of these. I'm going to do some heat tests. Otherwise I might as well just use CFLs for veg and stick with my HPS bulbs for flower.
Any thoughts? Should I try growing with these? Should I take the cover off? Should I just put it in my bedside lamp?
Any thoughts? Should I try growing with these? Should I take the cover off? Should I just put it in my bedside lamp?
sunny747
Well-Known Member
Initial observations..
Provides a pleasant light in my dining room lamp.
Weighs a TON! Weighs about as much as a cue ball.
Is bright as heck. Wish I didn't look directly at it
Almost NO heat. I burnt my fingers taking out the 26 w CFL. I can cup this bulb no problem. Just a very small amount of heat..
Provides a pleasant light in my dining room lamp.
Weighs a TON! Weighs about as much as a cue ball.
Is bright as heck. Wish I didn't look directly at it
Almost NO heat. I burnt my fingers taking out the 26 w CFL. I can cup this bulb no problem. Just a very small amount of heat..
sunny747
Well-Known Member
I'm no expert. like you, I am here learning.. From what I have read the Blackdog is just repackaged Chinese light. Kind gets good reviews on here for a junky Chinese light. It's the best of the worst sort of thing, as it has been described to me..
A51 gets awesome reviews. It seems as if two RW150s should fill that space very well. or four 4 RW 75's... I'd go that route. You save money and get a light where you actually have some recourse if it breaks. Also the guys at Area51 are serious about growing weed. I think the Chinese really don't give a crap. I think that area 51 offers free upgrades, but I am not positive.
If you but the area51 you can have peace of mind.
Any light that is "100w equiv" is 1600 lumens. Cree's 100w equiv uses 19w and produces 1600 lumens.
The risk with these Sylvania lights is is that not all white diodes produce the same spectrum. I haven't seen any reviews of it as a grow light. Anyone else should take that into consideration. (I.e., if it doesn't work out for you, don't hold it against LED lightbulbs generally. It may have been the wrong one.).
sunny747
Well-Known Member
Yea, It sates that it's 2700k, but who knows. For the price of 6-8 of these I could basically buy an okay 150w Grow light with better spectrum.
The good news is they're durable. I just knocked over the whole lamp and the bulb hit the bare floor and didn't break
After it stays on for a bit it does get warm though..What does PAR 38 mean? I see that on some posts referring to household LED bulbs..
Parabolic Aluminized Reflector. The number at the end refers to the diameter. 38 = 4.75". (I'm just copying from Wikipedia. Don't be impressed.).
Also, others can answer whether all 2700k is the same. It's my impression it's not. For example, Cree 2700k diodes come in different bins, 2-step, etc., which have to do with efficiency and uniformity of the light.
We know the Cree lightbulbs sold at Home Depot grow because we know they're made from XTE or XBD diodes which have a known spectrum and efficiency. People have also grown with them. I haven't seen Sylvania grown with. Not sure what diodes they use. It's a gamble. Hopefully it will work. The test is in flower. Anything can veg a plant.
You might google for grows and teardowns of your light to see if you can learn more. Hopefully it's good.
JimmyIndica
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Its alright but not in Area51 class! I would buy 4 Area 51 RW150 too light your area! Its the same price as the K5 1000. The main problem with The K5 series is the footprint . It will not cover the area it claims. More units = more light where u need it! Stay away from Blackdog! Buy Kind K5 before Blackdog
JimmyIndica
Well-Known Member
AZ- How much heat is 6 those Par 38 17watts putting out. Do you think I could just hookem up and not worry? I have lasko heater in room set temp, 6 inch hydrofarm intake and filter/max fan exhaust with dual fan blowing across canopy! The heat should work itself out ? Oh yeah one more question! 3000K for all of em?
JimmyIndica
Well-Known Member
You need 600watts for that area! This is the best comparison I have seen of the 2! The best I could do was a good plant 1/2 n 1/2 cause I start from seed.
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JimmyIndica
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My KIND K5 is a quality light! I like it. Its just not A51! If I have any problems with it, I just call Tom at GrowersHouse and he gets the warranty done for me. I paid premium for the Kind so I could do that. Try getting a warranty return on a ebay light! I have never even considered sending the light back! I had 90 days to do that! It runs very cool too.
JimmyIndica
Well-Known Member
I have a question. This is not the place to ask ,but I think this is where the smart pepes hang out so I have done the under prune alittle. and tucked and clipped away a few middle to top foliage. When should I do the removal of middle to top? I just don't wanna mess with any growth! I had it planned for start of week 7?? too open up light to all bud sites below!
PSUAGRO.
Well-Known Member
Then don't cut the leaves off...............simple. Plants will self defoliate anyways
JimmyIndica
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Well I know that! Its just these big indicas are blockin light!I need to know if its alright removing foliage 7 weeks flowering?
Scotch089
Well-Known Member
Tuck em. If you have some rubber bands LIGHTLY put them over the stem to hold it in place? Or a zip tie/twist tie. Wouldn't defoliate at all in 12/12, some say right before harvest is okay but do I really want to chance stunting them producing those last minute oils?
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