Led Users Unite!

[jubiare]

unless you really know what your doing i wouldn't suggest building a light yourself, if you don't know what your really doing with electronics you could just waste $ and ruin your equipment.

sorry I don't mean to be correcting you for the sake of it or anything like that, but it's not that difficult to diy your own! It is also much safer than other electronics ... playing with constant current drivers is pretty safe! Yes you can fry a diode here and there but what's that?

 

[Bagsworth]

I have been growing with LED for the past year, and the info that I will put into this thread is that you need to do your research if you are going to buy a pre made LED unit. There is a lot of junk out there, but on the other hand there are a few really excellent LED products out there. I started with a 357 Magnum ( not the Magnum + ) which has been working great for me, it only draws about 180 watts and have had some pretty good yields under it, not to mention the quality increase I got over HPS, my highest yield with the Magnum was 7.5oz's and my lowest yield was around 4oz's. I have recently bought a SolarStorm 400w by California Light Works and absolutely love it, my light footprint doubled over the Magnum and intensity has been greatly increased, plant growth seems to have doubled as well. The Magnum has 3watt diodes, and the SolarStorm has 5Watt diodes. Huge difference between the two!

My advice if looking for an LED to grow with is to make sure it has at least 3watt diodes, preferably 5watt or higher for penetration.

Check out my journal at: https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/589966-bagsworths-solar-storm-400w-led.html

 

[BigJohnFRC]

Picture this in your mind if you will.

An 8’ x 26’ room with four 4’ x 4’ ScroGs set up runningdown the middle of the room length ways.

Each ScroG has 1 plant growing under it.

Each ScroG has 2’ of space all the way around it from thewalls and the other ScroGs. I do this so I have access to each plant from allfour sides.


Now, since this is the layout of my setup here is what I’mwondering about getting the right LED light systems:
1. Do I put a single high wattage LED light directly overthe center of each 4’ x 4’ ScroG?

2. Do I put more than one lower wattage lights over eachScroG?

3. Are there high enough wattage LED’s and do LED’s giveenough “Cast Off” light that if I go with enough wattage I can hang one LEDcentered between two ScroGs and another centered between the other two ScroGs?

I have contacted a few companies that sell LED’s and afew growers who use LED’s and the answers I get to these questions are all overthe board. Some, I think, don’t really care about anything other than sellingme more lights so they make more money. As we all know LED grow lights are veryexpensive. I want to buy as cheaply as possible but still want the biggest bangfor my buck so to speak. Can someone please give me yourrecommendations. Some of you I’ve contacted before and I apologize if I’m beinga bother with all these questions. It’s just that I am 100% totally new at thisLED thing and I need some educated advice on the topic. Someone will mostdefinitely get my business and it will depend on a matter of how much I trustwhat they have to say.

Thank you in advance for your time and attention in thismatter.

Sincerely,

RtS

 

[cannabiscultivation]

Picture this in your mind if you will.

An 8’ x 26’ room with four 4’ x 4’ ScroGs set up runningdown the middle of the room length ways.

Each ScroG has 1 plant growing under it.

Each ScroG has 2’ of space all the way around it from thewalls and the other ScroGs. I do this so I have access to each plant from allfour sides.


Now, since this is the layout of my setup here is what I’mwondering about getting the right LED light systems:
1. Do I put a single high wattage LED light directly overthe center of each 4’ x 4’ ScroG?

2. Do I put more than one lower wattage lights over eachScroG?

3. Are there high enough wattage LED’s and do LED’s giveenough “Cast Off” light that if I go with enough wattage I can hang one LEDcentered between two ScroGs and another centered between the other two ScroGs?

I have contacted a few companies that sell LED’s and afew growers who use LED’s and the answers I get to these questions are all overthe board. Some, I think, don’t really care about anything other than sellingme more lights so they make more money. As we all know LED grow lights are veryexpensive. I want to buy as cheaply as possible but still want the biggest bangfor my buck so to speak. Can someone please give me yourrecommendations. Some of you I’ve contacted before and I apologize if I’m beinga bother with all these questions. It’s just that I am 100% totally new at thisLED thing and I need some educated advice on the topic. Someone will mostdefinitely get my business and it will depend on a matter of how much I trustwhat they have to say.

Thank you in advance for your time and attention in thismatter.

Sincerely,

RtS

I bought two ufo LED's at 135watts each.
hung side by side over 4 square feet of grow and the buds are hard as rocks right out of the gate. very impressed. about 8 inches over the canopy.

 

[FranJan]

Don't mind me, just getting used to my new camera and posting photos again. Here's a few Hermivision shots of what I'm up to. It's too damn bright with lights on for my little POS camera phone .

2xBS240, 1xLED Star 5x60, 1xVipar A300. It's so bright it's hypnotic. Seriously. I cant stay out of the tent. I think I got that Puffenuff disease .


Some SLH, 5 weeks into flowering. This is a perfect Haze/Lemon mix. Smells like a monkeys asshole but makes your hands smell like lemons if you touch it. Very weird. Best part of the photo is the bud all the way in the lower left is the top of the plant.And no that's not mold, it's CalCarb .

Happy Growing!​

 

[Bagsworth]

Big John,

The Solar storm comes in 2 different sizes, 400w (around 340watt actual draw), and 800w (around 670w actual draw). Both of these lights work amazing and give off a great light footprint. I am not trying to sell you on getting one of these, I am just trying to give my experience with the LED lights I work with. I was so impressed with the SolarStorm after I got it that I ordered 2 more. Each SolarStorm should cover your 4' x 4' scrog at 18" - 24" above canopy with enough intensity to grow some great buds. Keep me posted on your choice, and check out my grow journal if you want to check out my lights in action.

https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/589966-bagsworths-solar-storm-400w-led.html

 

[Senseimilla]

I would go with multiple lower wattage LEDs spread evenly over the canopy. The cast off lighting is pretty good once you get multiple of them hanging. I'm personally not a big believer in high wattage LEDs unless you just have a big budget - i think multiple LEDs are always gonna be necessary for anything other than a very small 2' or 3' square grow. If you are only doing a 3' square or less grow, yeah, go for one bigger light if you want (although you really don't need a big one, I get decent yields off one 240w in that size area). I don't do scrog, but I LST for an even canopy

Don't believe anything a company tells you other than hard tech specs. Only believe the results of growers who don't seem to have any vested interest. Don't get suckered into the 'if it costs more, it's better' model -- that is not necessarily true with LEDs as far as end results.

For 4' x 4' I'd go 2 x 240w - that's a LOT of light for that area and you'll get good results once you dial it in. There are a few minor differences in growing with LEDs - watering not needed as often, light distances, etc.

Picture this in your mind if you will.

An 8’ x 26’ room with four 4’ x 4’ ScroGs set up runningdown the middle of the room length ways.

Each ScroG has 1 plant growing under it.

Each ScroG has 2’ of space all the way around it from thewalls and the other ScroGs. I do this so I have access to each plant from allfour sides.


Now, since this is the layout of my setup here is what I’mwondering about getting the right LED light systems:
1. Do I put a single high wattage LED light directly overthe center of each 4’ x 4’ ScroG?

2. Do I put more than one lower wattage lights over eachScroG?

3. Are there high enough wattage LED’s and do LED’s giveenough “Cast Off” light that if I go with enough wattage I can hang one LEDcentered between two ScroGs and another centered between the other two ScroGs?

I have contacted a few companies that sell LED’s and afew growers who use LED’s and the answers I get to these questions are all overthe board. Some, I think, don’t really care about anything other than sellingme more lights so they make more money. As we all know LED grow lights are veryexpensive. I want to buy as cheaply as possible but still want the biggest bangfor my buck so to speak. Can someone please give me yourrecommendations. Some of you I’ve contacted before and I apologize if I’m beinga bother with all these questions. It’s just that I am 100% totally new at thisLED thing and I need some educated advice on the topic. Someone will mostdefinitely get my business and it will depend on a matter of how much I trustwhat they have to say.

Thank you in advance for your time and attention in thismatter.

Sincerely,

RtS

 

[Senseimilla]

Wanted to circle back and let you I remembered some research regarding how much light plants can handle. The researcher was really working on spectrum knowledge, which is why I was reading it, but he also tested for 3 variables with regard to photosynthetic response. I recall he demonstrated a strong positive correlation between CO2 levels and ability to photosynthesize.

Wanted to make sure you were aware of this research for your test.

Was just looking back on the thread and saw this... i'm actually getting ready to add co2 to my room in the next week or two -- I do think co2 would help get the lights a bit closer to the plants as well I think they would be able to handle the light better with more co2 for extra photosynthesis, but just a theory fresh air's limited in my current space and i'm not trying to have yields held back by that

 

[PrezDickie]

i agree with senseimilla, if your looking to cover multiple scrog plants then you don't need penetration all your light needs will be at the top of the canopy so cheaper way to go would be 3w lights somewhere between 200 and 300 watts. Thou if you want a great light and have the money California light works is a nice product but i think 5w will be overkill for the set up your planning

 

[Bagsworth]

With my experience I have found that not only do higher wattage diodes penetrate more (Which I understand you don't need as much in scrog, I use scrog and LST often as well) but they also cover more area and grow at a more vigorous rate. Of course you need to look at budget as well, but the smaller wattage diode lights still cost close to the same as the higher quality higher wattage diodes. Now there is the issue of quality. If you want good results you need to invest in a quality light, and there are a very limited amount of quality LED lights out there, and few offer a good spectrum of light, and few offer quality diodes (Cree, Epistar, etc...). Stay away from the Chinese cheapies, as you will be unhappy with the results and find yourself actually wasting your money. If you take a look at my journal as listed below, you will see that one SolarStorm 400w covers my LST'd plants quite well, and my growth far exceeds that of my former 3w diode light (357 Magnum). Overall cost of buying 2 lower powered lights will cost more than buying one higher powered light. You can find the SolarStorm 400w online for around $800 delivered, I paid $700 for my 357 Magnum (not Magnum +) and it only has half the wattage and half the coverage.


So my conclusion is this: Higher wattage diodes = More coverage area and much better penetration, which = Justification for buying higher power diode lights, which = Happier plants

 

[Bagsworth]

One more thing to add to this discussion...... Right now you can enter in CLW's grower feedback program and get one of their 400w SolarStorms for only $630 delivered, you just need to blog the results every week for 3 months.

 

[PrezDickie]

bags if i had the cash on hand i would have jumped on board that feedback program as soon as they released the 400w model its the perfect size for my cabinet the 800 was too big but i love that they keep the uv-b bulbs i can't believe no other led maker has combined led and florescent yet

 

[D3monic]

Has anyone gotten par readings on the lumipro or lumigrow what ever its called? I'm thinking of grabbing one bext tax return.

 

[Bagsworth]

The lumigrow is an awesome light, I haven't had any personal experience with it but a couple friends of mine invested in some and love them. I would love to do a comparison with the SolarStorm 400w, but I have spent all my investing money, maybe my friend will trade a single light for a couple of months so I can put them side by side.....

 

[Bagsworth]

bags if i had the cash on hand i would have jumped on board that feedback program as soon as they released the 400w model its the perfect size for my cabinet the 800 was too big but i love that they keep the uv-b bulbs i can't believe no other led maker has combined led and florescent yet

Hey Prez, I guess the point of the uv-b is to increase crop potency, we will see how true that is when I finish up with this crop of Tutankhamon, I had it tested at Know Your Grow so I have a good baseline to go by. The link I left is to my last Tutankhamon testing. I will definitely post my next score when I get it in another 6 to 8 weeks when crop is done.

https://knowyourgrow.co/strain/1289

 

[PSUAGRO.]

yep that Tut is a monster.......one of the best smokes I've had/how is she growing for you, easy?

 

[Bagsworth]

She is a little tempemental during flower, but this new batch I have going is looking beautiful, I think a little LSTing did the trick, she freaking loves it.

 

[mjames.mmj]

Very informative for me to see how your room is set up, and to see the LED's in action. Keep posting those pics. Wanna see some buds!

 

[mjames.mmj]

Does anyone have any info on Hydro Grow LED's? The website advertises that they have to most potent LED grow lights and are unbeaten in grow tests against competitors' LED's. So far the best light discussed on this forum sounds like the Solar Storm...

 

[mjames.mmj]

Sorry to be the new guy, but I have a ton of questions. I'm reading other posts as I have time, but haven't found all my answers yet. What does LSTing mean?
Thanks!