Search results

LOL, nothing really, it seems we are all on the same page and just talking in circles. ;)

That is a great link, thanks for posting it. IMO the MH approach is the 'shotgun' approach.. but it far from the most efficient. Meaning if you push 600w of MH light to a plant it will grow fine (as proven repeatedly in grow logs). If you are putting out 90% intensity in the yellow spectrum...

I agree, there is much more to light than what graphs can show... and that is where we are at today, trying to figure out the ideal intensity of different spectrums to maximize the light for plant growth while minimizing power consumption. Even after studying light for the past 20 years in...

Yes, response is the effect of absorption, which means if you provide 10% intensity in the yellow area it responds much better than other spectrums. It doesn't mean adding more yellow light is better though. When building a light we care about matching the absorption spectrum, not the response.

Both pictures taken with the same camera phone with flash on to show the meter/reading. Red/Blue LEDs are notorious for taking bad pictures under so using the flash was required, but did not change the PAR reading. Holding the meter at a slight angle is why one picture you see the flash and the...

I agree with most of your statement, but the part above I disagree with. Green and yellow light is almost useless to chlorophyll (as the first chart shows) and yellow light is not very useful overall for photosynthesis. I don't believe it comes close to reaching the 60% mark, more like 10%, and...

PAR without optics on my first grow light PAR with 80 degree optics

Personally, I don't agree that HID lighting is 'the light to beat'. Looking at a spectral graph for any MH/HPS bulb you can see it has major shortcomings, so how can that be the light to beat? I have been experimenting with LEDs for over a decade now growing various different things with them...

Honestly, I have come to hate PAR as it is about as useful as Lux due to the reasons you stated. A Red/Blue light putting out 800 PAR is equivalent to around 2000w of MH if you simply measure the same spectrums, but of course the MH will have more spectrums overall than a red/blue light. Then...

Seems legit to me. 400w MH @ 14" 140w LED @ 14", 134% increase in light while using 65% less power.

Well, it isn't out yet, and they don't specify the spectrums used in the colored LEDs, but other than that it looks like a very nice light and a good price if your willing to wait a few months to get it.

I am not talking about UV light, I am talking about blue light, big difference. Aquarium/reef lighting is more intense than any light used for plants, plus we use a 3:1 ratio of blue to white lights on aquariums, so it it certainly more relevant in the aquarium hobby than any other. Red light...

Google 'blue light harmful to eyes', there are tons of studies about this. It is more relevant to aquariums that use a lot of blue light.

LEDs do degrade like any other type of light. 24/7 use I would replace them every 3 years or so. 12/12 use I would replace them every 5-6 years (and with technology advancing so quickly, I would want to replace them in that time anyway just to get the best offering of the day). Heat and quality...

To those that are using H202, are you diluting it with water? I have some 3%, is that strong enough? Been fighting PM daily but still can't defeat it using the milk/water method.

JMD is 100% correct. I was thinking fuses to save the other strings, which you also use with resistors when doing parallel strings. Don't know where my brain was when I wrote that (actually I do, at work).

Resistors are used for parallel strings in case 1 string goes out all of the current doesn't rush to the remaining string(s) and blow the LEDs. I don't see any reason to use a resistor on a series string.

I use RO/DI water. My tap water also contains no chloramines, just chlorine. Simply letting my tap water sit WITH AN AIRSTONE over night removes the chlorine while keeping ORP levels good, not that I would ever use tap water for anything, not even drinking. My cities water report reads like a...

That price doesn't include a bulb, which normally run in the $80 range.

Tutorial: Figure out amount of LEDs and drivers you want to use, match amount of LEDs the drivers can handle Epoxy LEDs to metal Connect + to - on LEDs and first + to red wire on driver, last - to black wire on driver. Plug into wall. Done So simple a 5 year old can do it.. literally, I have...