Led Lights

[purklize]

Are you getting as much per watt as you would with HPS?

[Ezrah]

Are you getting as much per watt as you would with HPS?

 

When I started I got all my genetics from a caregiver that has traditional lighting and Hydro, both traditionally high yielders. I grow organic soil and LED and total weight seems to be the same, we do a fair amount of comparison. He usually yields slightly more then me but I think that has more to do with soil and organic then the lights. I also grow a lot of Kush, its very sticky and very flavorful, now that my room is fully lite I have meds for patients and will have a little regular overage come January that speaks more to yield then anything else, with a $140 a month electric bill.

[red hairs]

I also grow led and will report my findings when i am done with my grow i used to grow MH HPS 1000 watt. this is my first run with led I am using a GLH that pulls 250 watts a Blackstar that pulls 250 and a DR.growrite that pulls 80 watts I haven't completed a harvest yet but i am guessing my watt per gram will be about the same maybe a little more, with less heat, but the lights where about 4 times more then the hids. I am hoping my quality will be better due to the fact that light degrades the resin produced by the plants. and leds put out less lumens. form my experience so far the grow per watt is about the same if not a little better then hid, I will tell you one thing it's not close to what they advertise my 250 watt GLH is supposed to be the equivalent to a 600 watt hid wrong. I am pulling 600 watts of real led power according to them i should be producing over 1500 watts of hid, i would guess i am between 600 and 800 equivalent watts with all the lights i am using.

[Ezrah]

For those of you that are interested, I put in a new photo album called "light show", this has some flowering room and veg room overview shots along with some plant and some harvest pics enjoy.

[bmf725]

I use 4 Blackstar 600 watt led's in conjunction with 1 1000 watt hps air cooled all on light rails. The Led's lack coverage area and the light movers help with this. they work great and the added UVB in the led panels really makes the buds frost up much more than HID alone. If you want extremely frosty cannabis use led's and the HID adds the "penetration power" to get through the canopy.

[kzoocares]

Nice I really like the idea of a green grow with solar.

[Budz-4-U]

The spectrums for bloom are just not quite dialed in yet.

 

The spectrum is dialed in perfectly. The issue is lumens. They work ok for veg, because during that cycle you don't need as much light.

 

Flowering is different. You need to blast them with a ton of light, and LED's just can't compare to a bright HPS lamp.

 

You can't stare at the sun for long. You can't stare at a 1,000 watt HPS light for long. You can look at LED's all day long.

[Ezrah]

The spectrum is dialed in perfectly. The issue is lumens. They work ok for veg, because during that cycle you don't need as much light.

 

Flowering is different. You need to blast them with a ton of light, and LED's just can't compare to a bright HPS lamp.

 

You can't stare at the sun for long. You can't stare at a 1,000 watt HPS light for long. You can look at LED's all day long.

 

 

I guess you need to tell my plants they cant grow well in Flowering under LED lights cause they do all day long. There is a vast difference with LED lights 3Watt bulbs in the right configuration work well, and they are the future my friend. I must admit I get a little aggravated when I see blanket statements like these, I feel like people are telling me my grow sucks. I guess you and I will have to agree to disagree.

[red hairs]

mr.buddz4you i got $50 bucks saying you wont look into my leds allday without being blind of flash burned by the end of the day have you ever looked at a high watt led before like a grow led hydro. they can do the job they just do it differently. they do work.

[bmf725]

The spectrum is dialed in perfectly. The issue is lumens. They work ok for veg, because during that cycle you don't need as much light.

 

Flowering is different. You need to blast them with a ton of light, and LED's just can't compare to a bright HPS lamp.

 

You can't stare at the sun for long. You can't stare at a 1,000 watt HPS light for long. You can look at LED's all day long.

 

 

I have to wear dark sunglasses when I am in the room with LED's on. I will be testing HID vs LED, same strain, same room, and compare results. I will be running 750 watt HPS vs 600 watts of led.

[juniper420]

I have to wear dark sunglasses when I am in the room with LED's on. I will be testing HID vs LED, same strain, same room, and compare results. I will be running 750 watt HPS vs 600 watts of led.

I bought my LED lights from SmartLightingShop.com and have used nothing else. I grew a Godbud and it yielded 3.5 oz and someone else grew a clone I gave to them and they got the same yield using HID/HPS lights.

[hofner67]

Because I'm growing in a basement, I don't have alot of height and I was thinking of goin with LED, what store is the best place to look

you could make your own...which I've done...but check out the 240 watt lamp. Pretty reasonable. I am hesitant to advocate...but gotham has been good with me and I am satisfied with their product.

 

I suspect others may have different ideas and I haven't shopped it around at all. But...the price seems hard to beat.

 

http://www.gothamhydroponics.com/

[PRStoner13]

I have 5 Led lights and I don't think they work all that well. You need many units to properly cover the same sq area in a garden and my yield results were way better using HPS and MH than LEDs. I was using 3 x HidHut UFO as well as 2 x Supernova. My 1k out grew them all! Led yielded 1.8 oz, same genetic strain grown under HPS during the same flower period produced 4.5 oz. I openly admit that LEDs run cooler and cheaper after the initial expense. I won't be using LED except for my plant tissue propagation center. I think that this technology has some promise but it does not merit the expense at this point in time. Its just smarter to invest into solar power and use stronger lights in my viewpoint. I do wish anyone using LEDs the best of luck though.

[Budz-4-U]

I bought my LED lights from SmartLightingShop.com and have used nothing else. I grew a Godbud and it yielded 3.5 oz and someone else grew a clone I gave to them and they got the same yield using HID/HPS lights.

 

I know numerous people who discontinue growing a certain strain when the yield is only 3.5 ounces per plant...... esp. God Bud.

 

The people I know who are getting 6 - 16 ounces per plant are using MH and HPS lights, with CFL's, T5's, T8's, or LED's for filler..... NOT for their main lighting.

 

Of course, they are paying $200 - $600 per month to re-create the sun in their basement. That, to me, is their main advantage. Very low light bill..... and low heat.

 

All I am saying is there is a reason why LED companies are trying to make comparisons to MH and HPS lights. It would be cool to use 90% less power and get the same results.

 

Are they getting better ? Yes. Are they the same as or better than MH/HPS ? Hell no..... not yet, anyway. I would use them, in the future, when everyone is getting more yield and more THC.

 

That is not happening today. I keep following them..... but they are not there, yet.

[Ezrah]

Because I'm growing in a basement, I don't have alot of height and I was thinking of goin with LED, what store is the best place to look

 

 

Hey Cindy,

 

Most LED peeps sell direct not through shops. Go online and shop around I use Advanced lights, they have a 90 day money back so if you do a grow with them start to finish and not satisfied you can send them back, only use 3 watt lights and if you go with advanced use the new light series for sure.

 

Good luck, and PM me if you have any questions.

[Ezrah]

"All I am saying is there is a reason why LED companies are trying to make comparisons to MH and HPS lights. It would be cool to use 90% less power and get the same results"

 

I think this is done because this is what people started using, or the originally technology used. I suggest to anyone who is curious buy a light from Advanced, they have a 90 day money back you can do a grow all the way though if you are not happy you can send it back full refund, really can't beat that offer. I can grow with lower ceilings, with less heat and top shelf meds. If you do get a LED light do your research, if you buy crap if you misapply it you will have poor results. I have found 3 manufactures that have quality lights and many that offer crap lights that a cheep and cheaply made, so you get what you pay for.

 

I think its ill informed to say LED's do not work, I think many people prefer not to use LED and that's cool, but I am using them, others are, they obviously work. Some people like Hydor, some soil, some organic some not, they are all done differently. What I think is cool is everyone has a grow that is different from one another and we all seem to like what we all do best, that is the great value of a caregiver system lots of growers lots of diversity.

 

So please don't make blanket statements like LED don't work, they are just like any other lighting system with knowledgeable application and quality equipment you can get quality results.

[mrd]

Cindy to some degree you get what u pay for. From what I have read the advances in LED lighting are a bit like the advances in computing. There are now much more intense led lights available than most of the cheap stuff on ebay. I have not tested them but they seem be reported to have greater penetration.

[hofner67]

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?itemId=270757748497&index=3&nav=SEARCH&nid=33962286678

 

I came across these LED light panels on eBay, I'm wondering why this is so cheap.

I also am starting a grow in the basement and I fear height and heat will be an issue, also can light movers be used with LED lights?

Cindy, I would think you'd need a light rated above 200 watts, made up of atleast 3 watt leds. The lamp you linked to was only rated at 14 watts. Very low power. You are looking for a fixture with at least 60 to 80 3 watt leds. Gotham hydroponics has a site and they r also on eBay.

[mike44]

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?itemId=270757748497&index=3&nav=SEARCH&nid=33962286678

 

I came across these LED light panels on eBay, I'm wondering why this is so cheap.

I also am starting a grow in the basement and I fear height and heat will be an issue, also can light movers be used with LED lights?

The reason that light is so inexpensive is because it uses .06W LED's. You should get one with a minimum of 3W LED's to grow anything besides a Philedendron. Yes you can use a mover with LED's but I have never heard of anyone saying it was a good idea, and my thought would be no.

The light you posted on ebay is 14 Watts total, and it would not support Cannabis growth except maybe a small seedling.

[hofner67]

There r many different producers and distributors. Gotham is just the one I know of. Look to spend about 250 for a 200 watt lamp.

[Ezrah]

You want total watts and watts per light, I use 200 watt LED panels they cover 3' x 3' and cost $500, this is average cost for a high end LED. If you bought HID for example you would pay about 200 assuming no cooling, and replace bulbs ever year or so, with LED they will go for 7-10 years so hardware wise you are paying up front but saving in the long run hardware to hardware, and the electrical savings is just icing on the cake. If you are going to flower 12 plants plan on 3 or 4 lights at about $500 per, dont be seduced by cheep lights and like others said before me min of 3 watt bulbs and 200 watt total.

 

that's my two cents

[Nix]

Use LEDs if you want to grow a bonzai style plant. They don't have the lumens needed for a flowering plant.

[Ezrah]

Use LEDs if you want to grow a bonzai style plant. They don't have the lumens needed for a flowering plant.

 

 

Please tell my 5' plants they should be smaller and should not be growing so large silly plants don't know what they are doing under those weakling LED lights. Bad plants bad plants, don't you know you cant grow under LED lights, sorry dude no bonzi plants in my grow room and I only use LED from start to finish. Have you used LED's?

[Estimated Prophet]

Interested in the possibility of using an LED as additional lighting that would generate little heat.

Which Advanced setup would you recommend for flowering 2 medium sized plants in a room already lit with 2 600w HID?

[Nix]

Have you used LED's?

 

No I have not. So I do not have the knowledge you do. However for the price vs. lumems HID still trumps LEDs. I'm all for experimentation with new tech though so cheers to you.