minimum amount of led light to prevent flowering?

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K

kindest

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I use the sun for all of my grows but with shorter days coming I need to supplement extra lighting to prevent flowering. It has to be LED because of heat issues. The ? is what do yo u guys think the minium amount of light needed to prevent flowering.

from RapidLED they have some nice DIY kits (12 leds or 24)



and from BuildmyLED they have some nice led lights as well 15 leds, 30, etc.

and also please correct me if I am wrong but I was going to get all Royal Blue leds since all I will be using it for is veg (flowering I can use 100% sun)
 
tags420

tags420

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There are a couple cheaper options than a full panel if you are just trying to keep a crop in veg...like greenhouse growers do basically. It all depends on how big and how many are you trying to cover. And how much time per day you are supplementing for.

You could do led T8 tubes. Only 18w per 4foot tube. 2x the out put of t5/w.
 
Kebz

Kebz

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I saw the post hesitated to respond as I seem to post far too much and within moments help had arrived! Hey Kindest, tags as usual correctly gets to the crux of the matter. As all your doing is 'fooling the plants', as long as they are reached by useful light, the intensity doesn't have too be great to prevent the onset of flowering. The 4ft's sound a great solution and due to the low wattage there would be no danger of burning/bleaching issues and very little additional heat.
 
K

kindest

10
3
ok thanks. it will be in an outside greenhouse I will have to cover at night so its not a lighthouse (hence the low heat needed) and its about 41" wide x 18" and 4ft tall. Should never be more then 3 plants in there and to get the optimum hours of light (18) the leds would be on a maximum of 6 hours to go with 12 hours of sun.


and do I have the blue led right (best for just veg)
 
K

kindest

10
3
DSC00564


this is what I am talking about. During the summer I use it as a flowering tent after 12 hours in the sun I throw the plants in there. Its a canvas tarp that I sprayed glue reflectix radiant barrier to so it doesn't fry shit on the inside actually stays pretty cool even in 100+ degree. During the winter I will convert the tarp to clear greenhouse film.
 
tags420

tags420

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That's not that bad and basically any light source will keep them in veg. The question is are you trying to get a light that will have some strong growth power for those 6hrs. It's not necessary...many just bath their plants for only like an hour in the middle of the night to interrupt the flowering and keep in veg longer.
there is a video with either ed or jorge and a guy goes out with a lamp and runs it up and down his garden a few times at midnight

And for just 3 plants even a couple cree house bulbs or plain old cfl's.
 
K

kindest

10
3
those leds look awesome but t8's are 48" long and I only have about 41" wide to work with I could put them vertically but that will lead to other problems I'd rather not deal with. I too thought that any light would prevent flowering but I use a 13watt 800lumen led bulb as well as a 10watt 6500 daylight CFL under clones at night and some of them still flower :wtf: Damn sun is so strong that plants think these puny light bulbs are the moon. That's why I am thinking all royal blue leds something like
http://www.buildmyled.com/450nm-royal-blue/ 24" (30 leds)
 
Oregon Panda

Oregon Panda

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tags420 said:
It's not necessary...many just bath their plants for only like an hour in the middle of the night to interrupt the flowering and keep in veg longer.
Click to expand...

This this this.

A blip in the night is plenty to keep em outta flower. Cost effective as well.
 
tags420

tags420

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You can get the T8led tubes in 2foot also...even 8foot too. and they have higher output than those buildmyled(junk). All white all the way.

But like I said any light source for a 1/2hour to disrupt the flowering hormones will do. Hell even just regular t8's would probably be enough.
 
K

kindest

10
3
tags420 said:
You can get the T8led tubes in 2foot also...even 8foot too. and they have higher output than those buildmyled(junk). All white all the way.

But like I said any light source for a 1/2hour to disrupt the flowering hormones will do. Hell even just regular t8's would probably be enough.
Click to expand...

oh damn I didn't know they had different sizes I can't find any info on their website. Yes I like that idea.
 
tags420

tags420

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You have to contact apache for the tubes but they only have the 4' and 8'. But any brand t8led tubes are all about the same. The top ones do about 1800-2000lm for the 18w category.
 
K

kindest

10
3
tags420 said:
You have to contact apache for the tubes but they only have the 4' and 8'. But any brand t8led tubes are all about the same. The top ones do about 1800-2000lm for the 18w category.
Click to expand...

any other reputable places that carry the T8led in different sizes I am having a hard time finding any.
 
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