Led Users Unite!

djwimbo

djwimbo

Well-Known Member
I'm not one to poo-poo LED's, but for what you want, a 4ft 6-bulb T5 would be a great solution(and cheap by comparison).

I don't know many of the umol ratings of other LED brands, https://growershouse.com/ has a handful of reviews with PAR readings that might help your decision. I know my panel should do >300umols at 36", but I'm not sure of exactly how much coverage you would have. Using a T5 setup the light would be a lot more even with one fixture, otherwise to get good coverage you would need a massive LED or multiple smaller ones.
 
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matticusn

New Member
djwimbo said:
I'm not one to poo-poo LED's, but for what you want, a 4ft 6-bulb T5 would be a great solution(and cheap by comparison).

I don't know many of the umol ratings of other LED brands, https://growershouse.com/ has a handful of reviews with PAR readings that might help your decision. I know my panel should do >300umols at 36", but I'm not sure of exactly how much coverage you would have. Using a T5 setup the light would be a lot more even with one fixture, otherwise to get good coverage you would need a massive LED or multiple smaller ones.
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What T5 bulb setup would you recommend? Got a link for a good one? How much heat do they give off? Any other info I should know? That is one solution I don't think I have ever looked into.
 
djwimbo

djwimbo

Well-Known Member
I followed a grow or two with this specific light, and if I were to venture into the T5 thing, I think this would be in my possession.

http://www.greners.com/quantum-badboy-t5-fixtures.html

Or the AgroLED T5 + LED combo is pretty nifty, I just don't like the proprietary power supply/bulbs.

http://www.greners.com/i/grow-lights/led-brand/agroled/Agroled-led-t5-ho-combination-fixtures.html

I have no affiliation with any of the companies represented, just sharing info.

Since you're dealing with a crop that won't exceed 10-12", you will only need a total of 2ft height. The T5's are cool enough that plants can almost touch them, for the intensity you need, 8-12" over the canopy should be plenty(as in not too much).
 
djwimbo

djwimbo

Well-Known Member
matticusn said:
I have an idea:

If I get some of these:
http://www.htgsupply.com/Product-GrowBright-4-Foot-6-Lamp-High-Output-T5-With-Choice-of-Bulbs.asp

Can I make levels in my grow tent to have 3 levels to get 3x the plants? Any ideas on how I can do that efficiently?
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Yes, you can. It won't be ideal, but you could run tables and do sea of green. Usually not tent-friendly since modifying is required. Many people veg under T5 then bloom under HPS, LED, or a combo of both. You are in the LED section, so that might effect the answers you get.


As far as temps from T5's, they're "low temp", not where people run into heat issues.
 
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matticusn

New Member
So one 6 bulb 4 foot T5 setup should work for a 4x4' area? If so thanks you just saved me some bucks!

EDIT: according to the site you linked me, I'd have to get a 8 bulb setup for 4x4 coverage.
 
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matticusn

New Member
djwimbo said:
Either or, I figured since you need less light a 6 bulb would work.
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As long as the light will cover the area that's okay, but I don't know how many degrees the light shines, and what height I would need for the range to equal 16square ft. Do you think I could fit the light under a fold up table and have it still cover the 16sq ft?

EDIT: For some reason I was thinking you said 4 bulb, so in my mind I was thinking of the wrong numbers.
 
djwimbo

djwimbo

Well-Known Member
I don't mess with tents, I prefer a rigid structure.

You could find any other brand T5's and just add as you need. It might make more sense to put in 3x 2-bulb fixtures to spread out the light more... and that would be like $120 from any hardware store.

If your plants only ever get 10" tall, then you only need 20" of overall height. It almost makes more sense to make 2-3 tiers on a 2ftx4ft footprint instead of a 4x4. Then you can have it stacked on top of each other.
 
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SnotBoogie

Well-Known Member
Why do you need a tent for a legal plant? climate control?

If you dont mind sharing, im curious, how come you're growing these plants? You work for a university or something? :P

Djwimbo gave some solid advice which i would agree with. The only way i would use LED for that situation (ie such large floorspace + relatively low light intensity needed) would be with a DIY aluminium C-channel heatsink plus widely spaced LEDs on stars. If this is some kind of commercial endeavour that might be viable.
 
PSUAGRO.

PSUAGRO.

Well-Known Member
matticusn said:
Hey guys, new to the forum and have probably read about 50 pages in this thread. I will be growing arabidopsis next year and I was looking at light solutions. At first I was going to go CFLs, but since I was going to do at least 16 square feet I figured that there was a better solution.

I have grown with HPS before and I know it does well (haven't tried with arabidopsis), but I had a concern with temperature. These plants are winter annuals and thrive at 72F.

Then came LEDs -- I bought some shitty LED panels before and it was an all around negative experience, but the more and more I read about how much has changed in the past 5 years or so I figure it might be a viable option.

Now, arabidopsis don't need a lot of light from what I've read. They grow fine anywhere from 80-200 μmol m-2 s-1, which is equivalent of 8,000 -15,000 lux of HPS (you can read about that here. I'm not sure how that translates into lumens or LEDs though.
[SUP]
I read about the Diamond Series 3w LED panels and they look very promising. I was going to try to see if 1 of them, situated high up to cover the whole 16ft squared would be able to be enough to keep my arabidopsis happy. Maybe someone knows how much μmol m-2 s-1 [/SUP][SUP]cannabis needs so I can compare it to that. I know the recommend range is much less than 16ft squared but if my estimate is correct, that will still be able to output enough light. My lights won't need penetration power as the arabidopsis plant doesn't really have layers to cut through.

Here is a picture of the arabidopsis.
View attachment 2656247
[/SUP][SUP] Most it will really get if I expand the veg time to 2 months will be about 6" in diameter. I am however going to veg for about a month. One thing to point out on why these plants don't need a lot of light is that, being a winter annual, they veg for <12 hours a day and flower for 12-16 hours, opposite of cannabis. Maximum height these will get is about 8" high.

I am also looking for a grow tent that doesn't gas off (I think that's the correct term) that will have some vents for me to put fans on and if possible have more than one side access. Looking for something 4' x 4' for under $175 that will suit my needs. I saw some on Amazon for in the $125 range.[/SUP][SUP]

http://www.amazon.com/Aviditi-PTU-66-Reflective-Hydroponic-48-Inch/dp/B004U6XSRC/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
[/SUP]http://www.amazon.com/Virtual-Sun-VS4800-48-48-Inch-78-Inch/dp/B005CJOANM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1368563055&sr=8-3&keywords=grow+tent

Looking for any advice and hopefully an endorsement on my belief that I will only need one of those 100W LED Diamond Series light strips. Looking forward to hear what the conversion to cannabis requirement of &#956;mol m-2 s-1 compared to what arabidopsis need.

I'm not used to this forum so the formatting of my text is all wonky, so sorry if it looks weird.
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Have you looked at Illumitex http://www.illumitex.com/ they are currently powering the largest indoor vertical garden in the world(?).....seems right up your alley

Their new neosol commercial panels are priced within reason due to the static spectra(F3) http://growershouse.com/neosol-300w-led-plant-grow-light uses 300w watts and will cover your area because of its large module spacing/fixture size. Should easily fill your umol requirements...

Oh shit just saw you don't wanna spend more than $175 !!!!! well than no doubt T5 are a very good option or a HID (cmh/mh/hps) cool tube will also suffice for your model organism research.....

good luck
 
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matticusn

New Member
SnotBoogie said:
Why do you need a tent for a legal plant? climate control?

If you dont mind sharing, im curious, how come you're growing these plants? You work for a university or something? :P

Djwimbo gave some solid advice which i would agree with. The only way i would use LED for that situation (ie such large floorspace + relatively low light intensity needed) would be with a DIY aluminium C-channel heatsink plus widely spaced LEDs on stars. If this is some kind of commercial endeavour that might be viable.
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I am using a tent for light control, as I won't have a full room I can devote to the plants. I have helped fund a project for some scientists to create a bio-luminescent species of plant.


The main reason why I want to use LEDs is because keeping the temperature as close to 72F as possible is the most important thing. These plants aren't light hungry so I thought LED would be a good option, as even the T5 create more heat than LEDs.

I was going to get one of the DS100's and if it turned out to not be enough I'd get one more.

I'm a stickler for newer ideas and technology.
 
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matticusn

New Member
PSUAGRO. said:
Have you looked at Illumitex http://www.illumitex.com/ they are currently powering the largest indoor vertical garden in the world(?).....seems right up your alley

Their new neosol commercial panels are priced within reason due to the static spectra(F3) http://growershouse.com/neosol-300w-led-plant-grow-light uses 300w watts and will cover your area because of its large module spacing/fixture size. Should easily fill your umol requirements...

Oh shit just saw you don't wanna spend more than $175 !!!!! well than no doubt T5 are a very good option or a HID (cmh/mh/hps) cool tube will also suffice for your model organism research.....

good luck
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The $175 was for a grow tent, not a light. Still no way I'm spending that much on a light though. For the right lights I'd spend 275 or so, which is what the DS would cost me.
 
D

Downinit

Active Member
A question for the thread! This is for all the DWC users. Does anyone have any idea y my ph would drop from 6.1 to 5.7 in a mater of 2 days?? :wall:
 
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