Why I like LED

FiveAM · Jul 12, 2013

Kebz said:
250watt hybrid frankenstein LED and CFL veg space.
View attachment 324887

View attachment 324888

is it me, or are those plants leaning towards the cfl?

Kebz · Jul 13, 2013

Which plants? The ones with only a cfl positioned above them at the very front? Then yup, sure. What else would we expect them to grow towards? Its the nearest and brightest light source! Well spotted, used your eyes and everything.....

FiveAM · Jul 13, 2013

Kebz said:
Which plants? The ones with only a cfl positioned above them at the very front? Then yup, sure. What else would we expect them to grow towards? Its the nearest and brightest light source! Well spotted, used your eyes and everything.....

really? is that how you talk to people..

my mistake, i should have been more clear. obviously the one's that aren't under light directly are going toward the light.

the one i was referring to, sits directly in the middle of the picture, where it looks like half the plant is leaning to the left towards the cfl..

i wast trying to figure out if these are just that much brighter then the led or what's the story.

didn't mean it like your grow was bad .

Kebz · Jul 13, 2013

lol, Yep, thats how I talk to folk, with a twinkle in my eye!

Sometimes my grows bad, if i'm lazy, too anxious or just too hands on to leave well enough alone. I'm not egotistical enough to say sometimes things always right. (sometimes is much more like it)!

Now Five, thank you sir, for your clarification, I was unsure as to the intent, implication or question in your post. The short answer to the original post would I suppose would be 'yes'.

The plants are moved around as are the 3 cfl's and I move the plants or lights, to as close as tolerances will allow. The led's are mixed in wattage from about 4 -10 watts, the 10watts (the red and blue led in the middle) gives me trouble it wants to burn plants, until they harden off against it!. Well not burn, I mean bleach the leaves until they seemingly burn.

20 watts of led is VERY bright and quite hard to look at, but it acts like a very direct narrow beam of light a bit like a flash light. Its different to 20 watts of clf. The fluorescents have much less penetration and give more of a wide cover on the top of the canopy. In total the space uses about 250watts and about 50 of that is cfl. I also have a 50watt led at the back of the space above the biggest plants. If I had to turn of one set of lights, either led or cfl, the cfl's would have the smallest impact

Think not which is brightest, but what job is each of the bulbs doing.
I have used both individually and have found mixing them gives better results for me.

Feel free to ask and i'll try and give an answer that makes sense.
As for my sense of humour, please pay no attention five, its pointed but not ill intended.

tags420 · Jul 13, 2013

I saw the plant he was talking about. And I also thought it was an led bashing statement at first too.
Kinda looks like the plant was LST'ed.

Kebz · Jul 13, 2013

It did seem a strange post in a thread entitled 'Why I like led'!

No comment on any of the led pics just a curious
'is it me...........'.

The question or lack thereof (much more an inference) left me unsure how to respond.
As I said earlier I could just have replied, 'No'.

However clarification in five's second post allowed for a more sensible discussion to ensue.

Thank you for the interjection tags, your right. The structure of the plant has it leaning in several directions! I top, fim and lst! Also it was sitting next to a different cfl to the one in shot, its almost an optical illusion. The space we are looking at is approx 4ft x 2ft its difficult to see the depth in the shot and hard to judge the relative position of objects. Directly in the middle of the space (and pointing in different directions) are three red and blue diode bulbs, the 10watt being the most powerful. You can see the the colour on the leaves below.

Reviewing things, I guess, yes, five was right, half the plant was under (or 'leaning' as five stated/questioned/speculated) a cfl but not the one visible in shot and not because it just grew there. More because its my job to make small adjustments to get the most from my plants and my small space. I sir, am a farmer :-)

FiveAM · Jul 14, 2013

Do I own LED's? Nope.

Do I want LED's? it's possible.

I'm definitely a skeptic. wasn't hard to figure out.

so basically i value this topic, opinion and input. I was trying to figure out, if that plant was indeed leaning towards the cfl over the led.

thanks for clearing that up for me. my research goes on.

It's just a conversation. no harm no foul.

tags420 · Jul 14, 2013

My questions for five are...
1)What kind/size of system(hps, mh, T5) are you trying to replace? And what kind of yields were/are you getting? Or maybe just a veg system?
2) Grow space?
3)What's your budget?

FiveAM · Jul 14, 2013

i've got 3k hps for flower and a 400mh and 4x4 t5 for veg.

all soil

Honestly it would be more of an add on to either of those., the only possible thing "replaced" would be the t5.

i grow in my basement, i keep them short, never more then 4' at a time and depending on strains the yields vary.

i;ve got plenty of room, i try to keep things under control for my med card limits(3 patients).

the budget. well that's a loaded question. see, if the returns are worth the investment. i can't put a limit on something like that.

seems you have a product in mind or a suggestion, please share your input.

thanks. peace

tags420 · Jul 14, 2013

You have a good full scale setup and those are hard to truly replace for a decent price.
My first recommendation for anyone is to look into T8led tubes. They have 2.5X the output of a T5 and are the cheapest easiest way to get a foot into LED's. And most HPS growers have/use T5's or floro setups so it is easier to make the switch.

As for replacing hps for flowering it will cost a little more and you want to get a quality panel(s) and not go cheap if your wanting real results and no problems.

I am loyal to apache, but know a lot about all led's out and will say what is true about no matter the brand. To compare to 400w-600w hps there are a few good brands out. But to compare to a 1k it is hard and expensive. The ones that do in power don't in coverage. DIY is best for bigger setups, but apache has a new unit that should actually do it. But it pulls 660 so it is closer to watt for watt...which LED will dominate, but no one ever does it. They all want to save power, and go too far on saving and don't get the yields.

Kebz · Jul 15, 2013

Sound advice tags, as always.

Nothing wrong with a bit of honest scepticism five, there have been a lot of claims made which led lights have on the whole failed to really meet. As tags points out for led to be effective, you need good amounts of useable light for the plants and the power savings aren't what they are really cracked up to be.

Good luck with your research, you have a sweet sounding set up.

tags420 · Jul 15, 2013

Assuming you get quality units...it takes about 60% of you original wattage to truly replace.
So if you run 1000 hps it will take about 600w of actual led power to replace. Maybe bring that down to <50% with a next tech jump. Literally every year there is like a 40% increase in output for led's the last few years.

If prices were equal I think a lot of people would be using led's watt for watt with their hps systems.

Kebz · Jul 25, 2013

A quick look in. I started a lot outdoors this year...a lot, maybe too much! Indoors seemed a little spacious, so......Breath in ladies!

Hazeman Mystery girl nug.

Kebz · Jul 25, 2013

Bodhi's, Goji OG>>>>>>>>

Kebz · Jul 25, 2013

More Hazemans Mystery Girl, she's been in a dark corner, finishing off. Small rock hard nuggs on this one.

Kebz · Aug 5, 2013

Busy Busy Busy. Busy outdoors, busy indoors. I am liking this summer.
Update time. Not much to see ....

Roll on bloom......

vaporedout · Aug 5, 2013

did ya run outta crutches and start using your rolling paper cardboard flap? thats how my packs look, :)

Kebz · Aug 5, 2013

;) You too know how useful a bit of rolled up cardboard can be in an emergency!

Kebz · Aug 5, 2013

The vernacular is a peculiar thing :pompus: . In England we call them books of roaches! Not even sure why. Tradition (where i'm from) see's most obliterate the rolling paper pack as opposed to buying a book/pack of roaches or crutches. Guess I learned to smoke with the cheap folk. T'was long before head shops starting appearing on every high street of every town. Thinking about it, it makes sense. Most people buy rolling papers from small stores which sell tobacco and papers but no of roaches/crutches, hence the destruction of the packet!

Seamaiden · Aug 6, 2013

vaporedout said:
did ya run outta crutches and start using your rolling paper cardboard flap? thats how my packs look, :)

I *really* need to learn how to roll with a filter.

Why I like LED

Why I like LED

FiveAM

Kebz

FiveAM

Kebz

tags420

Kebz

FiveAM

tags420

FiveAM

tags420

Kebz

tags420

Kebz

Kebz

Kebz

Attachments

Kebz

vaporedout

Kebz

Kebz

Seamaiden

Living dead girl

Why I like LED

Why I like LED

FiveAM

Kebz

FiveAM

Kebz

tags420

Kebz

FiveAM

tags420

FiveAM

tags420

Kebz

tags420

Kebz

Kebz

Kebz

Attachments

Kebz

vaporedout

Kebz

Kebz

Seamaiden

Living dead girl

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency