Bonsai SCROG Training and Micro Managing

[Miiikke]

Ok so I read through it very thoroughly and thank you for taking the time to give ne all of those equations. I think from what you said I am close to the watts I think, like I said I have 560 up too, I think Im pushing it tho, cause I stay constantly as close as 80* will let me, i have them wrapped in aluminum foil and they are directly above so aim not waisting much, but I do see what could be more of light burn but that May have been distracted by a few defficiencies that have already improved. I will use your equation to maintain close to the max levels you speak of by easily lifting the lights if needed. I have never found that or knew that so thank you! I ask alot of questions on here and tha was by far the best answer Ive had. You cleared up alot at once. But I think a bit of closed mindness here is limiting you to see the potential and the success of this. I believe my environment is very well and now hopefully my nutes, cause I keep telling you guys its growing fast, but Im growing out on a micro scale, which is hard to do and impossible without having defoliation, you’ll see what as I mean as it continues to grow up, Im already lifting off the screen fast, colas are stsrting to form now but just the base, the whole top 6” of each full cola will be about another foot or so above where they are now and you’ll see more of what you are use to.

So blurple targests just the plants A & B chlorophyl receptors, which are the most responsive but “full spectrum” wides the usefulness of whats absorbed. Thats the science I was looking for but wasnt sure exactly what to search. You numbers educsted me alot tho. So from what I learned I think adding a cfl to balance the spectrum should be efficient correct?

 

[lvstealth]

look into the lights a bit more, just seeing the kind and number of leds, a guess would be that your 8 lights are about 125 "true" watts. but i know nothing. very interesting training though. and a great goal! if it is therapeutic, that is all that matters! take lots of pics and keep us up to date!

 

[Miiikke]

look into the lights a bit more, just seeing the kind and number of leds, a guess would be that your 8 lights are about 125 "true" watts. but i know nothing. very interesting training though. and a great goal! if it is therapeutic, that is all that matters! take lots of pics and keep us up to date!

What!!!??? Are you being sarcastic, do you really know that? Im gonna check with a meter tonight! That would suck but I can still save that. 125 would have been fine for the 17”x17” screen so far right? With two bulbs on the undersides? No way that 94 dollars got me 42 watts right? Why would you that if they advertise specifically 80 watt power draw? And they are bright af. I have 8 true watt br30 bulbs and they were about 10 times dimmer then one of my lights now so I never measured these.

 

[lvstealth]

no sarcasm, although i have lots hidden inside oft times...as i said, i know nothing - im just an in-flight missile tech (<---SARCASM alert)

if the diodes are what they should be and you are using the number indicated, then the math says about 20w per 100 led labeled watts, you have 640 led watts, that is about 125 "true" watts. but you are checking and you will soon know!

LED rules allow them to say 80 watt and not mean the actual usage, it never says "power draw". usually if you look under energy savings they will turn and brag that it is only using about a fifth of what is listed. but if the growing is a therapy, it will still work out.

 

[Miiikke]

 

[Miiikke]

no sarcasm, although i have lots hidden inside oft times...as i said, i know nothing - im just an in-flight missile tech (<---SARCASM alert)

if the diodes are what they should be and you are using the number indicated, then the math says about 20w per 100 led labeled watts, you have 640 led watts, that is about 125 "true" watts. but you are checking and you will soon know!

LED rules allow them to say 80 watt and not mean the actual usage, it never says "power draw". usually if you look under energy savings they will turn and brag that it is only using about a fifth of what is listed. but if the growing is a therapy, it will still work out.

Thats what Im saying, I had 8 power draw, 65 watt equivent br 30s for 10 dollars a piece, When I realized I needed true watts (power draw) I switched to these which listed 80 watts power draw per, I paid almost 25 each when tney werent on sale, its cheaper if you by more, but I saw instantly that they were about 10 times brighter, Ill check into diodes, thanks, and Im gonna grab a meter soon! My question was more of is the purple bad, Ive gotten alot of not not really but full spectrum is better supposedly. So I think all new blurple growers who thought that was a proper grow light would like to know if adding in a cfl or two to neutralize color would fix whatever the issue is that some novice growers have with it, and they can stop saying “uh looks blurple” to every question

 

[gorillaglueaaron]

You can't measure wattage by diode count. You could run (for argument's sake) 10W through 10 diodes or 10W through 40 diodes.

 

[Miiikke]

You can't measure wattage by diode count. You could run (for argument's sake) 10W through 10 diodes or 10W through 40 diodes.

I thought so! Thanks!

 

[M0nStarNuggety]

"Blurples" is simply a cover all word. Any LED light containing red and blue will look that way. Many LED strips use RGB LEDs to "create" a white look when all colors are combined.
Will they grow you buds? YES!!
Ive run QBs (hlg & unbranded) and "blurple" lights as well. Still have it, love it for veg rooms as I can control spectrum to manipulate the nodes tightness, same as others here. You don't need a Cadillac or Mercedes just to drive do you? Many are biased against lights, seems buying certain brands causes cheerleaders to be born. In the end the LED racket online is a swamp of misinformation and money hunger. Look into youtube reviews on grow lighting, MiGrow does decent side by sides and testing but there are many others that go deeper into the LED rabbit hole.

 

[lvstealth]

dont know if purple is bad, it is not as good as some others though. i would say that it is the dollar v the amount better. when you take the pictures, turn off the purple, then no one will say anything looks purple, if that is the only issue. the sun is the best, barring the dollars to make that happen, then full spectrum is closest to the sun (or they try to make it so), but again the dollar to benefit value has to be weighed.

just check the usage at the wall, you will have the proper numbers then. To calculate an LED's power use, multiply the LED's voltage (and i am only guessing, but with a tad of experience-that rocket science thing) by the LED's current (pretty well known - samsung diodes 65mA or a 5mm LED the maximum current is about 20mA, but a guess too). The result (measured in watts) is the amount of power your LEDs use, times the number of LEDs... anyway, so if your LED has a voltage of 3.6 and a current of 20 mA, it will use 72 milliwatts, times 120 is about 8.64 watts times 8 bulbs is about 70 watts total - or 3.6 times 65mA ends up with 225w with all 8, so if your diodes are the "good ones" the samsung, it is still only 225W with all 8 bulbs. but again, that is a guess (with a modicum of experience). just check, then you know! but the LEDs are all labeled like that it is how the laws say they do it, sort of like the "feels like" temp, it is a "lights like" thing. what you showed us doesnt say "true" or "real" just shows what the industry standard says they should, which is the "lights like" numbers they are told to use.

if you have had them a bit, you can check your power bill for usage. look at what it was pre-lights, then note the usage the month you had them (if it is 640 watts that will defnitely be noticable on the bill!)... you will have to do some calculations, but you can come close estimating. just remember pie (p=ie)

 

[gorillaglueaaron]

Just reminding you I went through this myself before buying my full spec and made a post about it. Every question you could have about blurples is in there.

I linked it a couple pages ago.

 

[Miiikke]

Just reminding you I went through this myself before buying my full spec and made a post about it. Every question you could have about blurples is in there.

I linked it a couple pages ago.

Oh sh*t, ok thanks. Ill check that out!!

 

[Miiikke]

dont know if purple is bad, it is not as good as some others though. i would say that it is the dollar v the amount better. when you take the pictures, turn off the purple, then no one will say anything looks purple, if that is the only issue. the sun is the best, barring the dollars to make that happen, then full spectrum is closest to the sun (or they try to make it so), but again the dollar to benefit value has to be weighed.

just check the usage at the wall, you will have the proper numbers then. To calculate an LED's power use, multiply the LED's voltage (and i am only guessing, but with a tad of experience-that rocket science thing) by the LED's current (pretty well known - samsung diodes 65mA or a 5mm LED the maximum current is about 20mA, but a guess too). The result (measured in watts) is the amount of power your LEDs use, times the number of LEDs... anyway, so if your LED has a voltage of 3.6 and a current of 20 mA, it will use 72 milliwatts, times 120 is about 8.64 watts times 8 bulbs is about 70 watts total - or 3.6 times 65mA ends up with 225w with all 8, so if your diodes are the "good ones" the samsung, it is still only 225W with all 8 bulbs. but again, that is a guess (with a modicum of experience). just check, then you know! but the LEDs are all labeled like that it is how the laws say they do it, sort of like the "feels like" temp, it is a "lights like" thing. what you showed us doesnt say "true" or "real" just shows what the industry standard says they should, which is the "lights like" numbers they are told to use.

if you have had them a bit, you can check your power bill for usage. look at what it was pre-lights, then note the usage the month you had them (if it is 640 watts that will defnitely be noticable on the bill!)... you will have to do some calculations, but you can come close estimating. just remember pie (p=ie)

Thanks so much for all of that!! Very useful, going off the dollar value tho I paid $182 just in bulbs for lower quality half spectrum? Now way they would cost that much or be that bright. I know true watts, I know equivalent those are common knowledge understandings. They usually label equivalent bigger but always power draw in the details. My current bulbs are listed 80W power draw in the description, they make them bigger for more, and they all face down and have vented channels on the side and maintain a very low temp. I had 8 true watt, 65 equivalent bulbs for my first seedling and early veg when I got the 80 true watt, they were about 10 times brighter, and my plants are thriving, So either I found a good deal, or I got super ripped off, we’ll see

 

[growsince79]

dont know if purple is bad, it is not as good as some others though. i would say that it is the dollar v the amount better. when you take the pictures, turn off the purple, then no one will say anything looks purple, if that is the only issue. the sun is the best, barring the dollars to make that happen, then full spectrum is closest to the sun (or they try to make it so), but again the dollar to benefit value has to be weighed.

just check the usage at the wall, you will have the proper numbers then. To calculate an LED's power use, multiply the LED's voltage (and i am only guessing, but with a tad of experience-that rocket science thing) by the LED's current (pretty well known - samsung diodes 65mA or a 5mm LED the maximum current is about 20mA, but a guess too). The result (measured in watts) is the amount of power your LEDs use, times the number of LEDs... anyway, so if your LED has a voltage of 3.6 and a current of 20 mA, it will use 72 milliwatts, times 120 is about 8.64 watts times 8 bulbs is about 70 watts total - or 3.6 times 65mA ends up with 225w with all 8, so if your diodes are the "good ones" the samsung, it is still only 225W with all 8 bulbs. but again, that is a guess (with a modicum of experience). just check, then you know! but the LEDs are all labeled like that it is how the laws say they do it, sort of like the "feels like" temp, it is a "lights like" thing. what you showed us doesnt say "true" or "real" just shows what the industry standard says they should, which is the "lights like" numbers they are told to use.

if you have had them a bit, you can check your power bill for usage. look at what it was pre-lights, then note the usage the month you had them (if it is 640 watts that will defnitely be noticable on the bill!)... you will have to do some calculations, but you can come close estimating. just remember pie (p=ie)

My whole setup costs 60 cents per day. That includes lights and fans for 2*4 and veg cabinet.

 

[Miiikke]

"Blurples" is simply a cover all word. Any LED light containing red and blue will look that way. Many LED strips use RGB LEDs to "create" a white look when all colors are combined.
Will they grow you buds? YES!!
Ive run QBs (hlg & unbranded) and "blurple" lights as well. Still have it, love it for veg rooms as I can control spectrum to manipulate the nodes tightness, same as others here. You don't need a Cadillac or Mercedes just to drive do you? Many are biased against lights, seems buying certain brands causes cheerleaders to be born. In the end the LED racket online is a swamp of misinformation and money hunger. Look into youtube reviews on grow lighting, MiGrow does decent side by sides and testing but there are many others that go deeper into the LED rabbit hole.

Thanks!! So my true watt blurple, will still be just as beneficial adding in cfls to manipulate the spectrum closer to the sun? Or would white leds be better for now until I convert? Cfls are very hot, but some white cfls I tried were even hotter lol, I want best spectrum with less heat Cause I stay as close as possible. I really want to measure my watts cause someone told me that if I had 560 true watts up there my olant would be sizzled with quoted limits. I think its the heat that does that, seems like realistically it would take an insane amount of brightness to fry a plant at 80 degrees and youd never be able to maintain 80 degrees with that much light anyway, Im comfortable becuase Im 80* around 1 ‘ or less away in a 72* environment Thats how I measure my lights usefuleness. Now to add some white to to target not just the A&B chromosomes I think would be good realistic advice, and thats what Im mostly hearing should happen

 

[lvstealth]

ok... i finally found the actual chips in your lights, your brand MeAddHome, is at walmart here, i called and got the actual brand of the diode then went and found the literature on it:

Specification:
1. Chips Brand: Epistar SMD5730(copper bracket , long lifespan)
2. Double rayer Good FPCB
3. Emitted Color: 4000-4500K
4. Protection Rate NON Waterproof IP21
5. Working Voltage: DC 12V
6. Power : about 12-15w/m
7. LED Quantity: 120leds / m
8. FPCB width: 10mm
9. View angle: 120 ° ~ 140 °
10. Working Temperature: -20 ° to 50 °
11. Width Size: 10mm

this is just one of the colors, but the others are the same wattage.

if it is the higher number, the 15w, then it is total 120w for 8 bulbs.

 

[Miiikke]

ok... i finally found the actual chips in your lights, your brand MeAddHome, is at walmart here, i called and got the actual brand of the diode then went and found the literature on it:

Specification:
1. Chips Brand: Epistar SMD5730(copper bracket , long lifespan)
2. Double rayer Good FPCB
3. Emitted Color: 4000-4500K
4. Protection Rate NON Waterproof IP21
5. Working Voltage: DC 12V
6. Power : about 12-15w/m
7. LED Quantity: 120leds / m
8. FPCB width: 10mm
9. View angle: 120 ° ~ 140 °
10. Working Temperature: -20 ° to 50 °
11. Width Size: 10mm

this is just one of the colors, but the others are the same wattage.

if it is the higher number, the 15w, then it is total 120w for 8 bulbs.

Thanks so much! Thats sucks!! I should be able to return for description discrepancy with Walmart. And the 120 would have been enough for now. If Im gonna flower over individual max 3’ x3’ screens. Just for that surface , which full spectrum light would be best id like to have about 1000 true watt leds per setup. I have 12 of those and was about to by more. I thought I was stacking up watts

 

[Miiikke]

Thanks so much for all of that!! Very useful, going off the dollar value tho I paid $182 just in bulbs for lower quality half spectrum? Now way they would cost that much or be that bright. I know true watts, I know equivalent those are common knowledge understandings. They usually label equivalent bigger but always power draw in the details. My current bulbs are listed 80W power draw in the description, they make them bigger for more, and they all face down and have vented channels on the side and maintain a very low temp. I had 8 true watt, 65 equivalent bulbs for my first seedling and early veg when I got the 80 true watt, they were about 10 times brighter, and my plants are thriving, So either I found a good deal, or I got super ripped off, we’ll see

Disregard please, help received. Thanks!

 

[Miiikke]

Thanks!! So my true watt blurple, will still be just as beneficial adding in cfls to manipulate the spectrum closer to the sun? Or would white leds be better for now until I convert? Cfls are very hot, but some white cfls I tried were even hotter lol, I want best spectrum with less heat Cause I stay as close as possible. I really want to measure my watts cause someone told me that if I had 560 true watts up there my olant would be sizzled with quoted limits. I think its the heat that does that, seems like realistically it would take an insane amount of brightness to fry a plant at 80 degrees and youd never be able to maintain 80 degrees with that much light anyway, Im comfortable becuase Im 80* around 1 ‘ or less away in a 72* environment Thats how I measure my lights usefuleness. Now to add some white to to target not just the A&B chromosomes I think would be good realistic advice, and thats what Im mostly hearing should happen

Disregaurd. Help received. Thanks!

 

[Miiikke]

Id have to add 82 more of those for success