LED Yeild Efficiency?

Mellodrama

Mellodrama

Well-Known Member
Budsonwheels said:
Nothing about how efficient. Just trying to get an understanding of just how much better led will be than throughout a full grow. No numbers. I'm no botanist. So I'm not expecting even 1/2lb off of all 4 plants
Click to expand...
To be fair, your thread is labeled "LED Yield Efficiency".

To address ttystikk's original comment, which I misinterpreted, before the seedlings have broken ground all you need to do is keep them warm (70 to 80 F) and hydrated. They don't need light. Once the seeds break ground and give your lights something to work with, inefficiency is inescapable because the leaves are tiny. No matter what you do most of the photons are wasted because the light is landing on dirt and floor rather than leaf.

So it's a balancing act. You definitely want the seedlings to know that there's plenty of light available because if they're unsure they'll get really leggy really quick. With your Vipar, setting the light to veg and keeping it relatively close to the seedlings oughta be fine. I'd guess no more than a foot above the leaves. Maybe some Vipar users will correct me...

If you have some elbow room around the Vipar, perhaps think about saving for some COB kits that can squeeze in on either side of the Vipar. You could buy a basic COB kit and make your own long narrow frame. Then, when money's available, build another rack of COBs. About that time the Vipar could be put into semi-retirement, only used for the first week or two then put away.

I hesitate to recommend something I haven't used, but the Quantum Boards look very interesting. I'd like to think that two QB's would blow away the Vipar and give you more even coverage over a wider area.
 
pop22

pop22

Well-Known Member
2 QB boards would blow away 3 of those vipars and use less power!

Mellodrama said:
To be fair, your thread is labeled "LED Yield Efficiency".

To address ttystikk's original comment, which I misinterpreted, before the seedlings have broken ground all you need to do is keep them warm (70 to 80 F) and hydrated. They don't need light. Once the seeds break ground and give your lights something to work with, inefficiency is inescapable because the leaves are tiny. No matter what you do most of the photons are wasted because the light is landing on dirt and floor rather than leaf.

So it's a balancing act. You definitely want the seedlings to know that there's plenty of light available because if they're unsure they'll get really leggy really quick. With your Vipar, setting the light to veg and keeping it relatively close to the seedlings oughta be fine. I'd guess no more than a foot above the leaves. Maybe some Vipar users will correct me...

If you have some elbow room around the Vipar, perhaps think about saving for some COB kits that can squeeze in on either side of the Vipar. You could buy a basic COB kit and make your own long narrow frame. Then, when money's available, build another rack of COBs. About that time the Vipar could be put into semi-retirement, only used for the first week or two then put away.

I hesitate to recommend something I haven't used, but the Quantum Boards look very interesting. I'd like to think that two QB's would blow away the Vipar and give you more even coverage over a wider area.
Click to expand...
 
NanoGadget

NanoGadget

Well-Known Member
COB is clearly the current king of LED grow lights, I don't even think it's debatable. But the unadulterated rage I see when people bring up blurple lights is a bit much I think. My CLW Solar Storm 440 has served me very well for several years now. Of course I'm looking to upgrade to COB soon, but my SS has produced some very frosty flowers and my best yield was just a bit shy of 1 gpw (.91 was the exact number I believe). I've no experience with Vipar, so it may very well suck, but there are a couple blurple panels out there that will do good work.
 
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